I really wouldn't call myself an extrovert. I mean, sure, I love to swim every day with 30 or 40 or my closest swim friends, can't bear not meeting somebody to have coffee with, mid-morning, and like to have a lunch date booked with a friend or client (or in the best of all worlds, both) two or three days a week... but "extrovert"? Well, I have made a career out of being in the middle of events, cajoling grumpy executives into looking their best, and always tickled to go out for a happy hour with colleagues; or anyone else who will have me along... But I've never really thought of myself as outgoing. Couldn't live without blogging, and answering comments, and rarely make it back from a walk around downtown without meeting at least a couple of new people, but isn't that pretty much the same for everyone? Can't wait to get to the theater to watch shows and mix in the lobby during intermission with a drink in my left and and a friends all around (leaving the right hand free to shake hands --- oh. Yeah. That's so last year. No more handshaking, must learn to bow).
So being "locked down" and "sheltering in place" for over 30 days in a row is becoming an amazing exercise in endurance for me. And it's made all the more difficult by having a spouse who is quiet, self-contained, calm, not chatty, and happy to be isolated in her rambling, comfortable home, taking advantage of her home office to do "all of the projects I've never had enough time to get to." And after that? "I have a stack of books this high (motions four feet off the floor) that I've been wanting to get to."
I'm beginning to think that if I didn't try to pull her into conversations she might go days without uttering a word...
So, as hard as it's been for me not to be out, around, deep in conversation with everyone I know, it's probably been equally hard having me around constantly trying to....engage. Chat. Reminisce. Question. and generally disrupt everything just because of cabin fever and lack of continuous social contact. Did I read somewhere that humans are social animals? Did introverts not get the message?
If the virus doesn't kill me I'm thinking a nearly complete shut down of my social network will. Don't jump in and suggest I "Zoom" with people or "FaceTime" with people; it's just not the same. Not into online socializing beyond the blog and a few texts (mostly to make sure Ben is still okay...). What I really look forward to, and what you can help with, is a bit of life on the blog. If you are an introvert (and who knew there were so many of you?) have a little sympathy for quasi-extroverts like me. If, in the back of your mind you thought for even a second about posting a comment, gird up your firewalls and grit your teeth and belt that comment out. I may not love what you have to say but I will be grateful to know you are out there....
I don't want your money and I don't have anything to sell you but I love to hear from fellow photographers and creative people. Maybe I just need to write more clickbait-y stuff and get into arguments about "Sony versus Fuji" (the current current) but maybe I just need to ask you to join in. We'll see.
I can't believe I'm one of the first people to comment on your post.
ReplyDeleteAlso, sorry to be the bearer of bad extrovert news but (as I'm sure you already know) until a vaccine has been developed and tested that is shown to be safe and effective, plus produced in millions of doses and taken by millions of people so that herd immunity can kick it, the normal extrovert activities of plays, dinners out, coffee meetings, cruises, etc will need to be curtailed. Hope for a quick fix is of course eternal but this could all easily take a couple of years.
Also it's very possible that the vaccine will be an annual exercise, like flu shots.
Luckily the beautiful outdoors is the safest and healthiest place to be, so long as you stay away from other people.
Jeff
OK, I have to say that, on the personal level ONLY, I'm finally in the promised land. I've been furloughed by my employer; I know I'm too old to be asked back and I'm fine with that. I'm way old enough to "retire" and not have to defend it to anyone. I do hope that the younger photographers in the museum, all with children and living in a very expensive city, will be asked to return; I think they will but who knows when? I'm working on personal work. I have a wonderful 24" Canon printer and I photograph to make prints. For the past some months, I've been creating a database (Tapforms software) of my prints in order that someone later will know what's important and where each one is, whether sold or stored here. So far, 180 entries and lots to go. I have a personal library of a few thousand books, I have music and I've just subscribed to Criterion Cinema. I'm in a neighborhood that is not so dense that my glorious spouse and I can't go for a walk and negotiate the correct distances. I bike either indoors or outdoors each day. I am determined to make this next stage of my life a better one, using what I've learned from all the not so good earlier stages. I could be better set up financially for retirement but it will have to do. I think the gallery that represents me will survive this but obviously many small businesses we love are not going to be around. I think this country will go through a short period of acting "serious" but greed will carry the day and it will be back to business as usual, very unfortunately, all too soon. I don't like it but I won't be surprised: all of my causes have been lost causes. So individual level, fine; beyond that, without much hope. There you are. Hope you're not sorry you asked! Keep on keeping on. You're doing a good job with the blog but could write more about billiards (joke).
ReplyDeleteKeep those posts coming, I look forward to your daily, sometimes more than daily posts. I m trying to edit all of my files but I keep enjoying them and decide not too, it's not good editing style. Thanks for all your tips.
ReplyDeleteWe all suffer of this forced isolation, even introverts are rarely so much introvert! However, I love your blog, even though I comment rarely, and it's great company for quarantine. I post rarely on Instagram these days but am going through old images, and that's good. As to gear, I'm probably not up for any significant contribution: I am one of those photographers who, according to your definition, try to fit a system into a shoebox. Except that my preferred system fits in a shoebox with room to spare. I go out with an olympus camera (either a pen mini, e-pm1, or an omd 10ii) a 17 mm f:2.8 and either a 40-150 mm f:4-5.6 or a 45 mm f:1.8. A couple of filters, a spare battery and that's all! I don't print larger than a3 and it seems to me that my images have nothing wrong in the technical sense. I could be a better photographer, that's sure, but this is not a fault of olympus! Stay safe and best wishes, Andrea
ReplyDeleteKirk, there are many people like me who enjoy reading your blog daily, or several times a day, and do not comment. It's much more fun to read than to write for some of us. If you could keep them portraits coming, along with your walk and theater photos, that would be great. Even the ones we have seen many times.
ReplyDeleteHey. I'm a quasi extrovert too. I work with loads of people who are bone deep introverts, so am known as 'the chatty one' but have always been okay with my own company.
ReplyDeleteThe crisis is forcing me to spend hours each day videoconferencing for my work, then trying to keep in touch with family and friends (the badminton club I run, book group, gig going friends, photographers and art fans).
I'm all talked out.
We've been trying going to jazz and folk gigs online and last night virtually watched Jane Eyre at the national theatre. Superb. Pre theatre drinks and a catchup then watching the stream. Ice cream in the interval. Then post match analysis.
I'd highly recommend it.
(Jane Eyre too, after the gloomy opening half hour...)
I write novels for a living so being alone with a computer is my way of life; but this virus is a whole different thing. Between the virus reports and the stock market, I'm finding it hard to get any work done, and the enforced physical idleness here in New Mexico seems to add to this. I just can't get it up to do much, even mindless stuff like clean the studio. A friend who is an avid fisherman went up the Rio Grande a few days ago, figuring that nothing could be safer than a solitary fisherman with a fly rod, and came back to tell me that apparently every fisherman in the state felt the same way, and the stream was jammed with people...
ReplyDeleteI've meant to thank you for some encouragement about swimming, though even that is closed down now. I belong to a golf club with a 25-meter pool and I swam all winter. I actually spent quite a bit of time trying to improve technique, based on a book you recommended (I can't remember the title right now, and the book is in another place, and I'm so suffused with ennui that I can't rouse myself to find it.) Anyway, when I started my three-times-a-week swim routine, I could make a hundred meters before I felt like was going to sink. By the end of the winter, I was swimming five hundred meters twice a week and 1,000 meters a third day, and I'm fairly sure I could do a mile without too much trouble. I got into it because I was looking for an exercise that would combine strength work with cardiovascular, and, most important for somebody my age, wouldn't hurt me. I'm 76, and exercise injuries at my age are hard to come back from. Anyway, you got me thinking about swimming, and the pool was right there, and the rest is history. Unfortunately, the pool is now closed, and I'm on a home exercise bike. Can't wait to get back to it. And thank you.
JC, Thanks so much! Here is my current favorite swimming Youtube channel. Great, great tips for improving everything about swimming. Love it: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKoeXneqNktkY1ijItuKFBQ
ReplyDeleteHope you stay well and rediscover the need to do: stuff.
Thanks, Kirk
Greg, Thanks for the comment! I too am wondering if I will be too old by the time this is over to get "called back." And whether the business will even be recognizable...
ReplyDeleteHi Kirk,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your regular blogging. It seems you are making it a point to post something new every day, and it is much appreciated. I'm pretty much of an introvert myself, but certainly miss the personal contact with friends and family and just everyday normal activities that we all took for granted. I get out and walk with a camera when the weather is reasonably good, but not in the rain as you seem to like to do!
I'm occupying my time other than with the awful news and a few photography blogs and forums, mostly by reading via ebooks. We're so lucky to have that resource at our fingertips, and there's not much else to spend money on, for sure. I can't seem to get interested in any new photography gear these days. The camera manufacturers were already hurting of course, but who knows how many will survive when things get back to whatever normal will be.
Hang in there, it's all we can do.
Dick
I worked for 35 years as a homebuilder in remote locations. Usually myself and one or two buddies. Built big custom houses from the ground up and subbed nothing out. Even built the furniture for some of the houses. Some houses took nearly 3 years to build. 13 years ago I started a left hand guitar business on my 6 acres out in the country. Average about a visitor per day (I mostly ship guitars all over the world) until the mess we're in now. So I'm accustomed to being alone a lot. My girlfriend, my dogs and cats, a home gym, a 1.3 mile running track, and a 3 mile paved loop with no through traffic. Only 7 miles from all the shopping/restaurants/movies/etc a person could want, but I never wanted much. So this suits me just fine. I do hope there is a huge "reset" of what this country considers important. But that will likely not happen.
ReplyDeleteKeep writing and I'll keep reading.
ReplyDeleteAs a committed introvert I find myself talking more with more people during confinement than in normal life -- even if it is all text and messaging. I don't know if I'm reacting to forced confinement (as opposed to staying home by choice) or it's just that more of us are spending time online.
I figure we still have a ways to go, so hang in there.
JR / Gato
Hi Kirk, if you keep writing I'll keep reading. I am also an introvert who probably has less to type than I do to say. I've been forced to work from home, which suits me just fine. Your description of your wife could pretty much sum up me as well.
ReplyDeleteI had an issue (with my phone) trying to respond to your self-made mask video last weekend, but it occurred to me then that I had never heard you speak before. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but your voice is more pleasant than I thought it would be. Shame on me for thinking you would be gruff.
Hoping you get to enjoy Rome and Berlin sooner, rather than later.
Kirk, I have been reading your blog almost daily for I guess getting on for 10 years now, and that tells you that you must be doing something right. You have persuaded me (not that I took a lot of persuasion) to buy into Olympus, I was already into Fuji courtesy of Zack Arias. I was previously into Nikon since the late 60s so moving systems was a big wrench for me, but I am happy now with Olympus although I still hanker for some kit I loved in the past (I still have a drawer full of old lenses).
ReplyDeleteI consider myself introspective rather than introverted; my wife says I am just plain rude (she is an extrovert). I used to be indecisive, but nowadays I'm not so sure . . . Keep safe, keep the family safe and keep on writing, please.
Hello Kirk,
ReplyDeleteI’m a long time reader, not so often a responder.
Most of my photography happens when I’m out walking, exploring parks, neighborhoods and the city of Seattle while keeping my distance as my work benefits from solitary and quiet walks.
My wife and I visit Vancouver a great deal as we lived there some time ago. We miss the parks, neighborhoods and our Canadian friends. My Vancouver portfolio grew with each visit, however now that the borders are closed, this work has ceased.
However, I’ve been reviewing my work from 1982 and 83, scanning negatives that somehow escaped printing back then. So in essence, I’m still out walking the neighborhoods and parks of Deep Cove and Vancouver.
Even with the ”stay at home” recommendation I get an overpowering itch get outside for exercise and photography. My wife sees it and encourages me to go. I often think to myself that if I don’t go, I don’t see. That thought puts me in the mood to take my camera out for a walk.
So, the 6 Foot Rule: We now have a new hire to help us (me) remember, as I’m going out, to be vigilant.
At my site you can read about our new Safety and Health Officer. She also has an assistant and they are now on board(s).
Visit my website; www.GarySutto.com to follow the link to read about the 6 Foot Rule.
To your Health and Cheers, in moderation of course.
Gary
OK, I'll flap my jaws (actually type on my keyboard) in an attempt to provide some hope one can survive semi-isolated from society.
ReplyDeleteAs you know by my last few comments, I've worked for myself as a consultant for may years. I started out with 2 main customers, one in Cleveland, OH and one in Indianapolis, IN. I'm on the east coast in Virginia. Go back to circa 1989 and there is no internet. Basically 2 ways to interact with customers; the phone (landline) and in person. The latter at that point in time involved a plane ride out to the customer. For a few years I did this about once a month for the better part of a week and the other 3 weeks or so in my home office talking regularly (often several times a day) on the phone with my customers about their projects. So 1/4 in person 3/4 away using the phone for interaction with the customer. Worked well for me, but of course at the end of the day I could go out and socialize so a bit different than our current situation.
As technology steamrolled ahead, texts and emails replaced my frequent phone interactions with the people I worked for. I actually missed talking to people and have many times over the years urged customers to just call me up and talk about issues, but it seems the modern world prefers texts and emails.
I do think we've forgotten how to have a good engaging phone conversation. Texts and emails have replaced much of what was once done on the phone. While a phone call is not in person, we do hear the persons voice and that surely is much more personal than reading someones text or email. So maybe a few good old fashioned phone calls might make one feel a bit more connected with those who we cannot see in person (sure beats a text in my book).
In the later years of my work I no longer had customers flung across the country. All were within an hour or so drive and I would typically spend about half of my time actually on-site at the customer and the rest in my home office. This did get me into a bit of a typical workplace feel as I went into the customers site and interacted with people face to face on a regular basis. Kind of like a regular part time job mixed with a part time work from home job. When my personal version of the pandemic (at least as far as work goes) came I initially missed the act of going somewhere a few days a week to work. I missed the one on one interaction, at least with most people. I've adjusted. I don't interact with as many people, but I now chose who I interact with, as none are 'required' due to work. Not a bad trade off really.
My wife like yours loves to read and it makes the shutdown easier for her. I am a ravenous consumer of news and just about any written article of interest to me, but have never been a reader of novels. It is harder to just kill a few hours that way vs. being able to just keep reading one book.
We have always taken a good long walk each day weather permitting. Now we try to do 2 or maybe even 3 on some days. I envy your swimming abilities. Best exercise there is, but I just plain suck at it. I'm sure it is tough not having that outlet, but you seem to like to walk so just do as much of it as possible.
We did Zoom with a few friends the other night. Seemed a bit strange to me, but I guess better than nothing. I'd still probably call each one individually and talk.
On a side note, I specialized in working with the products of an Austin based company for most of my career. National Instruments makes hardware and software for the test and measurement industry that I worked in. I've been to their yearly conventions in Austin a few times. Not sure why they held them in August as as it is rather hot there, but I guess convention space is probably cheaper then.
Well, not sure if that helped with anything, but it was long, so at least it took up a few minutes of the day!
"but isn't that pretty much the same for everyone?" ehh ... No.
ReplyDeleteI usually keep to myself. My wife, on the other hand, is quite gregarious. Lunch dates with co-workers. Singing groups. Volunteer activities. She can talk to anyone, always seems to strike up conversations with complete strangers. She had planned to retire in a few weeks, plans that got put on hold since "travel" has been big on our list of joint retirement activities. Even road trips in the USA currently are not realistic.
So our mutual joke is, that when she retires, I am not enough people for her, and she is too many people for me.
This isolation at home regime is sort of a test for both of us. Fortunately, we both have our own office/studio.
(I can't think of a way to conclude this comment, except, please keep posting, Kirk. Maybe it's one of the ways we all can keep our cool.)
Please be sure that we are here reading every word you post. In normal times, I visit your blog regularly but now, it’s several times a day, just on the off chance you decided to post more than once that day. Let’s see some more of your portrait portfolio when you have a chance.
ReplyDeleteI'm one of the millions who's been recently laid off (Television Producer/Editor in Atlanta). I was thinking of quiting this year anyway but they beat me to it! The future looks like a freelance one to me, and I'm lucky to be in a position to pick and choose what work to take. Funnily enough, all the TV producers I know would probably describe themselves as introverts, including myself. We can turn on the charm when necessary but prefer to be left alone. Happiness is a warm, dark editing room!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your blog. Its one of the best things out there.
NOT a photographer for a living, but have used one off and on all my life since childhood and my Kodak Starmite II. Bought a Pen-F as a retirement gift to me about a year and a half ago and it's been a fun trip. Someday, I may even figure it all out and know how to use it.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy seeing what you do as a professional photographer, which includes your life and business philosophy. You convey it well and I find it positive and uplifting. Two of my favorite books on management are by John Cowan - Small Decencies: Reflections and Meditations on Being Human at Work; and The Common Table: Reflections and Meditations on Community and Spirituality in the Workplace.
Quiet by Susan Cain is an interesting read on the contributions of introverts, as well.
Merle
Kirk, I'm one of those introverts but this is getting hard even for me because I'm a 'wandering introvert'. I like hiking in the Adirondacks and although I prefer solitude, it is comforting to come across fellow wandering introverts, if only for the knowledge that if I got injured I'm not 4-5 miles from anywhere with no one else around. I confess I also enjoy having brief chats with those I meet.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is, with the lock-down I can only go on local trails and everyone else is going hiking too. I'd probably have better luck social distancing if I went to town and walked down the main drag.
I too wonder how the world will change after this is over. They say it could take 18 months to come up with a vaccine and I'm pretty sure a lot of local businesses can't hold out that long. I'm retired (75 years old) and wondering if I will be alive to see "normal" again, not just the end of the virus threat but also getting over the quiet anxiety of wondering whether I have touched something I shouldn't have, whether I washed your hands well enough, etc. It could become an obsession that isn't easy to shake. For several years I have (half joking) told my family and friends that I plan to live to be 105 or die trying. I don't have big plans but I'm not ready to do the latter.
As a lifelong loner, I can sympathize, but not empathize. I can't feel your pain, but I do know it's real. I think of myself as a friendly introvert -- friendly, but not outgoing. I have no doubt that my business would have been more successful if I had been able to be a little more extroverted.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, I'm fortunate to live in a remote part of northwest Georgia where I can drive my truck along backroads all day if I wish, and if I see a police car (not likely), it's even less likely that he would stop me.
As you know, I enjoy reading your blog, so when you feel some lonely coming on, go write something. :o)
I am very much an introvert. I am kind to everyone I meet and interact with but it is difficult for me (not the being kind part, the interacting part). I'm not a shut-in but put me in a social situation and I'll be heading for the door in a hurry. Staying home and isolating myself from others is not very difficult for me. I do feel for people who need to socialize and interact with others on a regular basis. I know this is a very stressful and upsetting time for many. Without being overly dramatic, I think we need to accept this pandemic as a long-term event and prepare ourselves for a new normal, a new reality, once a vaccine does arrive. I've been thinking about that a lot lately. What will this new reality be? We fill our lives with such unnecessary garbage here in North American culture. It's so clear to me now, all the unnecessary I have in my life. Anyway, I'm off-topic and rambling. Stay safe and stay sane.
ReplyDeleteAnother "very much an introvert here". Just before we got pretty much locked down here in Sydney Australia I moved into a new house with my son, daughter in law and granddaughter. Between unpacking, starting a garden, some DIY renovations and having the family around, I haven't had much inclination to go out. If anything I'd be happier with LESS interpersonal interaction rather than more!
ReplyDeleteBut the really big downside is that I can't see my other son and his family, who are struggling with the isolation and could do with a hand with their kids :-(
That and the fact that I'm just not in the right headspace to be creative right now. Hopefully that'll kick back in soon but right now I'm struggling to pick up a camera.
Let's see where we can go with interaction and potential blog topics. I am spurred by your portrait using the Leica film camera and the direction you can go with the topic. Though I still have some digital to shoot with I have migrated back to film. Obvious pros and cons, almost impossible if you want to be generating income, but an entirely different way to think and operate that is definitely helping my brain. Maybe there is more to talk about if you think it's interesting to write about. If not, I won't worry about saying additional things or join into a discussion if it will never go beyond where you are at now.
ReplyDeleteKirk,
ReplyDeleteSerendipity indeed. My Twitter feed brought the website culturefix.digital to my attention earlier today. Someone has gone to the trouble of pulling together all the galleries, museums and theatres that are offering free showings of filmed events while normal shows are not possible. What should I find on the home page but Zach Theatre, photographer in residence, Kirk Tuck. I was going to add a comment to whatever post I found when checking in today, regardless of how irrelevant to the topic, as I thought you may want to flag their show up to your readership - given your connection to them.
Please keep up the good work on the blog. Don’t be afraid of going a bit off topic if photographic inspiration fails occasionally. You could always take a picture of your coffee machine in action rather than a freshly brewed cup in cafe Medici.
Cheers, Andy
First Kirk your blog has been my morning highlight!
ReplyDeleteThank you for years of information, experiences and sheer joy!
I was a really shy kid..until an emergency appendicitis..
Here at 22 i was prepared in hallway of hospital, shaving all hair near there!
All were female nurses, my family doctor and also surgeon all inspected their handiwork!
After that no introvert, I was freed of shame..
Pro Photography fell on me and I accepted..
I was also busy studying another profession.
I could swap careers thru life to whichever made more.
I always tried to work with less and most of my equipment was 3rd, 4th or unknown in usage.
I did news, fashion, portraiture, model headshots,publicity and documentary.
My other profession yielded advanced studies in Switzerland and elsewhere.
I can say a Master in that profession.
Photography gave me an artistic outlet, need to be "there".
Witness monumental changes in my birth country.
It was very dangerous and at certain point quit!
It's easy to get to news, harder to escape..
Equipment wise on a different planet to you Kirk. :-)
My Leica M3 is 53 years in service from new.
Less is more at McScrooge.
Keep it up, we all really admire you and your words..
I foresee a very different world in years to come..
Now it's so quiet, no noise, no dirt, dust,haze,pollution..
Oh! What a wonderful world..may you and your and all here stay safe.
Besides being an introvert/extravert, any given person is also some shade of shy or outgoing. Every combination is possible. I view myself as an outgoing introvert.
ReplyDelete... and not only that, but I think your pizza protocol is a little over the top. Who would even think to sanitize your hand sanitizer container?
While I'm retired now, I used to work at global companies where global conference calls, and in the naughts, video conference calls were the way to do business. And while top management and the video vendors continually pressed us that video was a replacement for face-to-face meetings, it never was. It was a very useful supplement, but not a substitute. Rather than being limited to meeting with a dispersed group a couple of times a year, we could "get together" weekly as a supplement to the in-person meetings.
ReplyDeleteBut in this period when face-to-face has become an oxymoron, video can bridge the time between when we last saw someone and when we next will see someone. One of my granddaughters video-calls me everyday; it would never replace actually sitting with her, but I look forward to the call. We had a family Seder this week with 18 people literally coast to coast (Oregon, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts) and it was great. Tomorrow we're having cocktails with some old friends, each in our own home, connected by iPads.
So give it a try. You might like to.
""Who would even think to sanitize your hand sanitizer container?"" -Ray.
ReplyDeleteSo, you go out and do stuff that may mean you've contaminated your hands and need to sanitize them. Right? So the dirty hands reach out for the bottle of hand sanitizer (ours are small, spray bottles) and you put your contaminated hands all over the bottle (and viruses can live on plastic at least 24 hours) and spray on your hands. Then you put the now contaminated bottle down and rub your hands together. All good to this point....
Then, when your hands dry, you grab the bottle and put it where ever you keep it. And, voila -- you have now re-contaminated those just cleaned hands with a fresh touch on the dirty sanitizer container....
Might want to re-think not sanitizing your sanitizer....
Kirk,
ReplyDeleteI missed this post in my usual daily visit to the Visual Science Lab.
I'm suspecting that you're a borderline extrovert that's perfectly comfortable keeping your own company. I don't know of too many people in a sole proprietorship that isn't somewhat of an extrovert.
According to the old Myers-Briggs, extroverts get their "batteries" recharged by engaging with other people and that very activity drains the "batteries"/energy of introverts. My highly introverted wife is pretty socially adept when visiting friends, relatives or when she was still working, but always mentions she's exhausted after doing so.
Me? I'm a total extrovert and this shelter-at-home is driving me slowly crazy. Even worse with a spouse who's in hog heaven that I'm here, but feels no inclination to actually speak to me all day long (and she claims she's perfectly happy with me).
Your blog is a big inspiration to me on a number of levels: your discipline - whether it's swimming/exercise or taking the initiative of picking up new projects or skills; your unbelievable gift of portrait making - your portraits are so beautiful and give me what feels like a view into the subject; and I vicariously live through all your gear purchases, and enjoying your writing - nice to have multiple talents.
I used to dabble in my GAS, but since I'm supposed to be retiring this year (assuming my retirement fund doesn't crumble to dust), I've been holding back and making do with what I have.
I am fortunate that employer has retained me and allowed me to work from home since mid-March and until the MN governor reopens the state (5/4?).
I think I can be happy being retired, even if less financially secure than I planned, but certainly not under quarantine. I get about the same amount of conversation from my spouse as I do our two dogs, and my best self really only enjoys my own company when I'm out in nature.
That's something that the MN Parks, Wildlife Refuges and the like have stopped me from enjoying as of late - they closed them all due to social distancing and I'm sure the risks to their employees.
Keep sharing more of your portraits as you comb through your archives. They're such a pleasure to view.
Best,
Craig - Minneapolis
I suppose I'm a bit sad but for me, self-isolation is nothing new. I live alone, I have a long distance relationship with a lady who normally lives in Bali but is stuck in her home town of Vienna, Austria, and we talk daily by email or WhatsApp, but other than that, I can go a week, ten days without speaking to anyone other than the checkout ladies. I'm well conditioned, in other words.
ReplyDeleteBut the thing is, I have a list of things to do as long as your arm, leg and back up the other side. I'm a retired electronics tech and I have a backlog of faulty electronic gear to fix, which I love doing. I make slide shows of my images using the fantastic but late lamented ProShow. I upload my images to the PicFair library. I have stacks, dozens of books to read. I have a treadmill. I have dozens of DVDs bought but not yet watched. I have Netflix. I multi-task, listening to music and doing this simultaneously, watching TV while using the treadmill. Bored? Confined? Cabin fever? Not me.
What amazes me, Kirk, is how much you write on-line. Do you dictate to speech recognition software? Are you a superfast touch typist? Your posts are so long and so regular. It must take you hours, surely? I enjoy them anyway, those I have time to read.