Tim Navin Home

Reality: July 30, 2010


	Friday, 1-12-07 Cold. It's a cold one this morning. Or at least in comparison to the unusually warm weather to date. It's a new year, filled with hope and optimism. I've got my tea steeping and all is well. I visited South Dakota to attend my aunts funeral. It was good to see some long lost relatives. Visiting the corn palace was a highlight! I'll post some funky pics soon.

	Wednesday, 11-1-06 sunny. but chilly Ok, the day after halloween. My sister's birthday. Better give her a call. We had a good crop of tricksters last night. Mostly recognizable neighborhood kids. I was able to save a couple of candy bars from the ravenous hordes. Chocolate today! Now, what to do with the pumpkins. Wait for some youths to deal with them for me? ie, smash... or wait until they shrivel up. Hmmm.

	Wednesday, 10-25-06 Sun!!!!! Yea, it's a sun-shiny day. I'm clattering away at the keyboard. {sad face} Hopefully I'll get the chance to zoom around the lakes on me' bike in lieu of lunch. Biz is gearing up. J's keeping me busy. The fence is still standing. All is good.

	Tuesday, 10-24-06 Snicker. New Element on Periodic Table A major research institution has just announced the discovery of the densest element yet known to science. The new element has been named "Bushcronium." Bushcronium has one neutron, 12 assistant neutrons, 75 deputy neutrons, and 224 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 311. These particles are held together by dark forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. The symbol for Bushcronium is "W". Bushcronium's mass actually increases over time, as morons randomly interact with various elements in the atmosphere and become assistant deputy neutrons in a Bushcronium molecule, forming isodopes. This characteristic of moron-promotion leads some scientists to believe that Bushcronium is formed whenever morons reach a certain quantity in concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as "Critical Morass". When catalyzed with money, Bushcronium activates Foxnewsium, an element that radiates orders of magnitude more energy, albeit as incoherent noise, since it has 1/2 as many peons but twice as many morons. ~ unknown

	Thursday, 10-19-06 cloudy with the hope for sun My CSS style doesn't want to stick. Weird. Today's the day for a little sunshine. Or so they say... Reagrdless, I was wet yesterday, I don't feel like getting damp today. I picked up the power saw from my friend Ric yesterday. All the pieces are in place for the decorative fence erection this weekend. (hee hee, I just typed erection...) Digging the post holes, cutting the fence sections to size, I even have an offer for help from Julie's husband (by Julie, of course...I wonder if Chris knows yet?) I'm getting more and more serious about getting my hair cut. Just need to pull the trigger. Time is always the issue of the day. I need more.

	Wednesday, 10-18-06 dank. Suppose to snow. Come on... snow already. I'm on my bike 'n need to reacquaint myself with gyroscopic precession.

	Monday, 10-16-06 Misty, rainy, dreary. Art show decompression mode. I had a fantastic show this weekend. Although the turnout was less than previous events, the quality of patrons was much better. There is a strong demand for my work now, and that pleases me. The color pieces I was debuting were very well received, I even sold one. The other high point was the sale of one of my B&W pieces. I titled the piece, n5h1, after the avain bird flu, in hopes of reminding myself and others about the lack of discussion of that form of terror, only to find out another child has recently died of the virus overseas. I don't like it when that happens. Real as it may be. On a happier note, things are going much better at home. I've been reconnecting myself to the peace of the house, and am feeling much better after a miserable September. It feels as if I threw the month away. The months are flying by these days, I don't have the luxury of waste much longer...

	Friday, 10-13-06 Light reading. The war in Iraq: we're mostly agreed that it's unwinnable, unjust, illegal, a catastrophic waste of American and Iraqui lives. Strategically, it's stupid and always was: while the U.S. has gotten away with less overt acts of political violence in the middle east for a long time, and probably could still have done so for years--arguably an important tool of our policy in the region--outright war and frankly deposing a government is something that previous administrations have avoided (the latter) or pursued very cautiously indeed (the former). This not only because our interference is resented in the region--pretty much most nations are going to resent foreign strongarming--but because, duh, the middle east is not without power over us. We care about what's happening there not only out of some abstract sense of concern (e.g., Darfur) or because longer-term thinking recognizes that instability is, well, destabilizing; but because Iraq and Iran and Syria and Jordan and especially Saudi Arabia and even Palestine (etc.) have actual, real power over us in the forms of oil, alliances, and their own potentials for violence as a policy tool (e.g., terrorism, attacking Israel). ~ Bitch Phd

	Thursday, 10-12-06 A chilly morn. I ran a colossal amount of errands yesterday. Dusted off the car the event. I was soooo hungry during my running around, that I even stopped at a McDonalds. First time in a long time. My memories of why I avoid that place came flooding back as a torrential wave. Forget the whole act of the drive thru. If I want to behave and be treated like a sheep, I'll vote republican. Never mind the fact I got a little sick to my stomach shortly after my disappointing $2.14 "quick supper". With my commitment to organic natural foods and how I physically have been feeling better as a result, it makes me wonder just what the hell is in my cheeseburger. Somehow it just tasted artificial. Coincidence? Hmm. I won't even get started about the "I'm entitled to stellar customer service for my $4 value meal" mentality of the boatload of custom orders in the minivan in front of me. I must say this got me thinking about my own sense of frustration at why I should be upset it took 5 minutes to get through this ordeal versus the 3 minutes I was expecting. All in all, I needed the reminder of why I abandoned this life style a couple of years ago. So today I'm playing catch-up. Back on the bike, a little sluggish going up the first hill. Could a day's rest from the bike really make a difference? Icy breeze on the face was welcomed. Still getting whacked by a few falling leaves. They hurt, but it's a fun pain. (-_~) A lot of fellow bicyclists on the trail today. I like a sense of camaraderie. Mostly faces I see daily. Art show this weekend! My new color pieces are looking fabulous! Someone get me a dribble cup!

	Wednesday, 10-11-06 Chew on this .... "Let's say you have 3 people who are neighbors. Neighbor 1, whom we will call George, has a problem with neighbor 2, whom we will call Kim. Kim seems to like to randomly use a slingshot to hit poor frat boys who wander up the street to George's house, and this burns up George because the frat boys always have plenty of bourbon on hand. But George doesn't want to say anything to Kim, so he sends a buddy to talk to neighbor 3, whom we will call Mao. Mao says, "Sure, I'll talk to Kim". So Mao gets on his coal powered riding mower and heads down to Kim's place. After talking, Mao discovers that he also would like to take potshots at the frat boys. Furthermore, Kim and Mao discover that they don't really care much for George. In fact, they think George is kind of a dumbass because he never talks to anyone in the neighborhood and he lets his dog poop on everyone's lawn. So pretty soon, Kim and Mao start to corral the bourbon, which they soon use to devise plans to take out the damn dog." ~ TR

	Thursday, 9-28-06 Or this .... "If the threat of global warmer is correct, and the planet really does act like one big self-regulating organism, then what's coming won't be the end of life on earth, but rather the fever that kills the germs (think of the human race as a particularly nasty yeast infection) and restores the patient to her former health." ~unknown

	Monday, 8-21-06 It's been over a year! I figured I may as well slap something up. Of course the usual comment about how much has changed in my life would be in order, but that comment is like stating the obvious. However, I will highlight a few points; I went to California over last Christmas. Saw my parents and the side of my family that I usually only hear about. Met my brother's family. Cool kids. Moved into a duplex with one of my best friends. Living large. Massive gardens everywhere. Free vegetables are the order of the day this fall. The T1 is spewing bytes to the world, all is good. Janelle's the coolest neighbor I could possibly ask for. Me so happy. Continuing my photographic project. Still working on the national parks and monuments. I've been slowing down this year, due to the ever-increasing cost of petroleum-based fuel. Forced to re-work some of the more local parks, etc. Working art shows. Made a couple of sales. I'm getting a small following. I need to develop a new series. My darkroom needs are growing. Once I left my old art studio, I lost the darkroom. I still am progressing towards a home-based facility, but I already am taking a lot of space in the basement for the wood shop. Building my own frames and getting into woodworking has been a fun, learning experience. Perhaps I should explore another studio under the auspices of a collective of photographer/artists. Oh, the possibilities. I've been spending the better part of this year researching the political state of our country and the world. No time to expound on what I've found, suffice it to say, I'm very disappointed in the sheep-like society we've become. Looking forward to the day when there's automatic-weapon-toting storm troopers on the street corner making sure you live according to the narrow ideology that the republicon automatons envision. (I used to say comments like that are "just me being sarcastic", no more.) I do find it interesting how the federal government continually flaunts their illegal activities and manufactures distractions to placate the population. I guess we have proven one thing as a society, we can take a lot of abuse. But then again, we're too afraid to stand up for ourselves. (THAT was sarcastic!) I'd really like to fly somewhere, but I don't know how I could tolerate getting through an airport in the current climate of fear and oppression. Let's leave it at this: these people don't speak for me, and "history" will paint a very unfavorable picture of our time. Oh, and I'm working as the system administrator for a large publishing company. We publish a wide variety of material, some of which is mildly inflammatory. I'm pleased. Lastly, I'm chipping away at the dozens of rolls of film I need to process. Just whipped up a new batch of chemistry, I now have the excuse to use it before it "expires". Yummy.

	Thursday, 7-28-05 Shooting locally these days. Developing my first gallery portfolio. I finally feel as if I have enough content to put together a nice series. I'm seriously considering re-vamping the web site, but but I have several other projects going, so it may have to wait a little... Stay tuned! >> Ceramics. Painting. I'm getting my fingers dirty again. And having Fun!

	Friday, 7-8-05 Summer is in full swing. Every weekend has been a trip somewhere in the country. I've canvassed the majority of the national parks in the midwest region, so each additional trip is getting further and farther away. I'm still expanding on the shoots of the state park system. There was talk of the state government closing the state parks during the government shutdown, but they decided to keep them open. Unfortunately, the rest stops on the highway system are shut down, which is very much of an irritant. My road trips are generally straight shots driving with little stops along the way to refresh myself. minnesota has made that very difficult.

	Monday, 4-11-05 My last couple of trips have been to parks with water dynamics. There sure is a lot of water flowing around the state at this time of year! Not only are the waterfalls "gushing", but the river levels seem very high as well. Case in point; the Taylor's Falls area has a boat launch on the St. Croix river that's completely submerged. A bizarre sight. I took my 50 MM lens in for repairs, but it doesn't look good. Apparently, parts for Hassleblad "C" series lenses are not manufactured any longer. My repair shop is doing me a favor and looking at it anyway...Let's Hope!

	Wednesday, 3-23-05 So it's been awhile since my last update. I'm still busy shooting, and been busy with work. (Gotta pay for the photo fun somehow!) I made some significant changes to my home page. I like the new format, plus it will be easy on the folks with lower monitor settings. New project Alert! - I finally decided to do all of Wisconsin's parks this year. Look for this new section soon.

	Thursday, 1-13-05 Well, I finally got around to adding up the totals of my activities last year. The tally page sums things up. It looks like my long term goal of shooting every national park will continue this year. I have yet to decide on a primary goal for the coming year, I was originally thinking of photographing Wisconsin's park system, I'll make up my mind soon. I'm excited for my road trip tomorrow. This will be the first time in a long time since I've been to Canada. Coupled with the bitter cold that's expected, it should be an adventure!

	Thursday, 12-2-04 Ok, here's the deal. I've been shooting like crazy. Hence the lack of content on the web site. However, there's good news and bad news. The bad news (for me) is that my film backs on my Hasselblad have all lost their dark slide inserts and as a result are creating light leaks. I'm also having problems with my favorite lens. The good news (for you) is that this is going to push into the studio for the winter. So I'm hopeful that I'll get a lot of content up in the next few weeks. Those of you that have been following my work know that I've completed my Minnesota State Park project. I'm now embarking on my long term goal of photographing every National Park. Since there are 584 parks in the national system, I expect this to last for quite some time, although I've already done the majority of parks in the midwest region. A sampling is on-line as the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, aka, the Gateway Arch.

	Tuesday, 9-28-04 Time for an update. (Finally!) I've been hanging around Duluth a lot lately. I have been exploring different parts of the city, trying to get a feel for the culture and purpose of the town. Considering my original intent was to go through the city to get at some areas further north for the fall colors, It's been nice to find enough interesting sites that are keeping in town.

	Monday, 7-12-04 Summer is in full swing. I have completed my visits to every state park. I will adding portfolios of each of the parks over the coming weeks. I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed experiencing each park. I got to visit the majority of the state, and have a newfound appreciation for the resources it has to offer. I'm in the decision making process of what to do next. Perhaps a second time around is in order. I've revisited a couple of parks and I have a much more relaxed disposition. I think I will spend more time at each park exploring it in-depth.

	Tuesday, 4-20-04 OK, so I haven't been keeping up with the site as fast as I'd like to. I have been out shooting. I'm up to 47 parks photographed so far. Compared with the 13 I have on-line, I say it's time to get crackin'. Well, after some "crackin'", I decided to revamp the entire passport section. You will notice the navigation is different, plus I spruced up the logo. By the way, since my last update, I have been awarded two additional patches, the gopher and walleye. One more and I get the fourth.

	Thursday, 2-5-04 As I'm hoping you have noticed, there is a fair amount of new content added to the site. The Passport club adventures are coming along nicely, and the images can reached by using the jump menu link at the right navigation column. I have visited 10 parks to date, and new content for the web site will be added shortly. I also scored my first patch, the loon. Now I just have to decide what to stitch it on. I'm getting the feeling that the nature gallery is getting pretty long for the list of images. I may have to reorganize the section with multiple page views in addition to the list format. Stay tuned...

	Thursday, 1-29-04 OK, Here's the latest...I have signed up for the Passport Club, a Minnesota DNR sponsored activity. The goal is to visit all the state parks. Once you accomplish that you will receive a plaque commemorating the event. I have visited 7 of the 69 parks required so far this year. My personal goal is to visit all the parks this year. (Stay tuned...) To document the shoots at the parks, I am going to expand on the "Gallivanting About" links. Be forewarned: I will be changing the delivery of the images, so if you have pop-ups disabled on your browser, you will lose out! For those who would like a demonstration: pipestudy.cfm I have been putting my manual Hassleblad through some grueling winter shoots. For years I have been using my Pentax 6x7 for my medium format work. I picked up a couple 'blads about a year and a half ago, but I never really embraced them. I have since made a conscious decision to become familiar with them. I've 3 lens for them, a wide, normal, and a slight telephoto. Furthermore, I plan on sticking to my vision through the viewfinder, so the square format of the Hassleblad will start appearing. So far so good!

	Friday, 1-2-04 Ahh, the new year. This is a good time to finish the darkroom in the studio. I can't wait to get my hands in the chemistry again. It's been too long. So far the winter hasn't been too extreme. However, I have had the opportunity to get out a couple of times to do some snow scenery shots. I need the control of hand processing to get the most out of my latent images. Hence the aforementioned desire to get the darkroom up! I've also been interested in going into the archives of previous work, so look for a variety of themes during the coming winter months...

	Friday, 10-10-03 At the request of my sister, I have updated the database to show recent addtions...sorry Terri, it will never happen again! The fall colors are peaking around here. I've already got quite a bit of shots done, more to come...

	Friday, 9-19-03 It's about time for an update! I have changing every aspect of my life...(practically). New home, new work, and a new outlook on things. My state park adventures haven't been as frequent as I'd like, but I've committed to get a lot of fall color imagery accomplished. Look for a autumn theme to my work in the next few weeks.

	Saturday, 6-28-03 I just got back from my week of driving around Minnesota. I went to the northern and southern borders of the state. Got quite a bit of shooting done in 8 state parks. Sunrise update: In case you haven't noticed by now, I have put the sunrise project on hiatus for the time being. Perhaps I'll revive the project at a later date.

	Sunday, 4-13-03 I'm actively shooting around Minnesota. Forcing at least 1 trip per weekend. Look for mini portfolios of my excursions. "Gallivants" I call them. Sunrise update: Finally getting back into a schedule after the change of daylight savings time. There have been a few opportunities these past mornings.

	Thursday, 3-13-03 Not much happening lately. I feel scanning inspiration is chasing me... which means I will be adding more content to the gallery soon. Sunrise update: We are getting some spring snow these days. As a result, not much happening in the way of unique morning sun... Got a shot this morning of the sunrise with some vapor trails streaking across the sky...Funny how it looks similar to Monday's shot as well!

	Saturday, 3-1-03 For a limited time, a nice misty shot of the first morning of March. It is on regular display in the City section. Sunrise update: A slick shot of the pink sun peeking through the clouds...With the sun rising earlier these days, my alacrity to explore new images is there.

	Wednesday, 2-19-03 Not much happening of late. I put up an additional sunset image from a couple of days ago. Sunrise update: A little cloudy this morning, a cool opening in the cloud cover. The sun's angle isn't providing much color these days. However, I will keep the vigil for color!

	Saturday, 2-1-03 I've updated the gallery section of the site. Look for new content in the City section. Sunrise update: Well, it's still cloudy and overcast these mornings. I slapped a couple of images up for kicks. I'm anxious to see what the future of February holds in store for us.

Thursday, 1-30-03 Sunrise update: Ahh, to indite the status of my dailies... Not many photographic opportunities this week. We had measurable snowfall this week. This generates some significant cloud cover leading to the noticeable lack of the sunshine. Hopefully there will be some color soon.

Saturday, 1-25-03 I've updated the gallery section of the site. Look for new content in the Reflection section and the Portraiture section. Sunrise update: Today provided me with a very short window of opportunity to grab an image. The sliver of color was visible for around 25 minutes. The first shots didn't really come out the way I wanted, the second batch was OK. See for yourself...


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