Where to go with my camera from here

From Christmas Day at my parent's home.

The photo above is one of the best I've done. Out of a hundred frames, if I get one this good, I'm happy. But, it's time to up my game.

Last week I read something on a blog, suggesting a project of daily photographs on a particular theme, subject or concept. After some dithering, I've chosen portraits. One portrait photograph taken each day, of a person not previously seen in the project, and published on Flickr and here, starting January 1st.

Yours,

Stephen

Thanksgiving Morning

Bird and dressing.

I added mushrooms, green onions, celery and a touch of ginger to Mrs. Cubbison's Cube Stuffing, Herb Seasoned. Just got the bird into the oven. In about 4 hours it will be time to eat.

I am thankfull for all the things we usually cite. In this country there are few who are not. I am also thankfull I was born in a democratic republic where that is more than just a false label. I am thankfull that my parents made sure I knew I was loved and shared their faith with me, but didn't force-feed it to me. I am thankfull I was able to receive a good education that opened my mind instead of closing it.

I'm thinking of, and thankfull for, all of the people I have met in my life; you have all had a part in shaping who I am. I am thankfull for who I am.

Love and gratitude,
Stephen

It jist growed that way.

I thought I would pare down the virtual San Joaquin Railway to a
"diminutive elegance", as I declared to my model railroading friends,
recently. Now, three iterations hence, the plan has gotten just as big
as it had been before. The time has come to bow to the inevetable -
it's going to be a big, and, somewhat, complicated operation.
Completely impractical, of course, since it looks to take a month to
cycle through all the operations; my interchange partners may get a
bit impatient.

I'm sure I can explain all of this. Well, probably not. I have so many
industries that I delight in that I could not leave them out. As a
result the SJRY still has Port Costa Brick, Orangekatz Metals, Mother
Mavis' Marvelous Munchies and the Chrono-Synclastic Corporation, to
name only a few. I still have the means to amuse my friends while I
dream up improbable commodities and destinations.

Love, and "Look for the Train",

Stephen

--
Stephen,
The Archeoferroequinologist
(parse that one out, if you dare)
http://twitter.com/StephenHFoster
http://offtherails-shf.blogspot.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shf/

Oakland Morning

Oakland Morning, originally uploaded by Stephen Foster.

Morning light is magical. The best reason to rise before the sun is to be here when he rises.

Remembering Loma Prieta

Twenty years ago, this afternoon, I was stopped at a red light when I thought I had been hit from behind by another motorist. The car behind was too far away to be the culprit. At the same time the signal went into flashing mode and my radio station went off the air. Within the next mile I saw two more flashing signals and a broken water main.

I was commuting home through Orinda to Richmond along Camino Pablo and San Pablo Dam Road. I may have learned on the way that it had been an earthquake, in which case I would have fearing what I might see as I came near San Pablo Dam. Otherwise, I did not suspect anything until I came around the ridge into Richmond and saw smoke rising from San Francisco. I spent the rest of the evening glued to the TV and checking in with family and friends.

For most of us in the Bay Area the disaster never rose above the level of inconvenience. I had a day or two off work and never missed out on groceries. My electricity never failed. Perhaps we who have it so easy fail to appreciate the potential severity of such an event. Living in a society with good building codes and emergency services has shielded us from the level of suffering endured by so much of the world in disasters. For perspective; the death and destruction in New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina is probably worth more than 50 years of seismic activity in all of California.

Here's hoping you take time to prepare for what is likely coming your way.

The Thin Blue Line

I am currently working on a utility construction project in Oakland, California. Police officers are assigned to the worksites for security and traffic control. I have time to talk with them, frequently at length. This is not about the police, but about human nature.

People working in law enforcement are constantly forced into close proximity with the worst of human nature. The natural conclusion one would make, serving in such capacity, would be that these are the worst humans. It is easy to conclude that some people are just incapable of civilized behavior. This conclusion is born out by the frequent use of excretory metaphors by police officers when referring to micreants.

I would like to suggest, instead, the we are, all of us, fully capable of uncivilized behavior. Under the manners and consideration, we are all still savages. Psychological profiles of Hitler's henchmen did not reveal monsters, but men who were quite normal. Any society is capable of committing a holocaust. In Nazi Germany the social permission for the Holocaust was created by the unrelenting anti-semitic rhetoric of the propaganda machine and the expectation by the perpetrators that there would be no accounting.

The evolution of cultural institutions has been, generally, in the direction of peace and stability. That evolution, however, is in the web of habits and obligations of the way we deal with each other, not in the fundimental structures of who we are. It is learned behavior that we are all able to unlearn under the wrong conditions.

Love, and consideration,
Stephen

Playing at Playing Trains

This roughly drawn plan is where I indulge my penchant for model railroading. It is a base image used by Train Player, software for animating a line drawing of a track plan.

I expect to never actually build a model railroad; I have so many things I tell myself I want to do - I have to actually pick one as the overriding commitment. I picked photography.