"Margins Clear." That's what you really want to hear on a Tuesday morning. No exercise and no pool time until after the stitches come out on the 9th. Definitely what you don't want to hear on a Tuesday morning.

 

A wildly distorted iPhone selfie of the author.

Big, aggressive tumor now gone. Four hours of Mohs surgery. No cameras in sight. A big bandage covering the side of my face. Not as bad as I thought it would be... One less thing to drop dead from in the moment...

Mohs surgery is done on an outpatient basis. I chose to forgo any sort of tranquilizer and just leaned on the power of Lidocaine to skirt the pain of the incisions and the zany feeling of having catgut pulled tight on my face. A good choice? Yeah. Maybe. It did mean I was able to drive myself home afterwards. And when I got home I almost finished a small container of Haagen Daz rum raisin ice cream someone thoughtfully left me in the freezer. The cold ice cream took the edge off. 

Usually doctors are adamant about getting patients to move more, do more exercise, get that heart rate up, but it seems that having stitches on one's face requires a different approach. I've been asked, for the next five to seven days, not to do anything to raise my blood pressure and not to spend time sweating in the Texas heat. Seems the rise in BP that is induced while exercising can cause the sutures to bleed or fail. And I sure don't want that. 

It will be a novel, new experience for me to stay still for days at a time and keep my heartbeat nice and low. But I'm not sure how many days I can take that kind of torture. Bottom line? A week of negative scanning and no shooting. Of couch surfing but no push ups. And definitely not allowed near any nearby swimming pools. 

This was a big one so it will result in some scarring even though it was Mohs surgery which is reputed to be akin to plastic surgery in healing into almost un-noticed, tiny scars. My friend, David, suggests I might want to buy a motorcycle and become a biker. Say's biker chicks dig scars. I'm afraid I'll have to pass on that...

Well, when constrained from the usual daily pleasures It's probably time to whip out the credit card and see what kind of trouble I can get myself into at an online camera source. There are a few contenders...

It seems that I have more or less resolved to stop taking jobs. Entirely. The exception being fun projects from a small handful of clients that are always fun and interesting to work with. No new clients; please!

B. and my wealth manager concur that I won't run out of money any time soon. If ever. As long as I don't start collecting collectable Porsches or bid on any historic Leica cameras...

Air conditioners? Regular cars? Current cameras and lenses? All seem to be fair game by their standards. I've also found a restaurant that's so good I want to eat there every day. That should soak up any excess currency.

So, what's on the camera wish list? I would love to add an M240P to the mix. I have three M240 variants. Two of the black paint originals as well as an industrial gray finished M240 ME. The P model has no red dot on it anywhere, a quieter shutter and a faster, bigger buffer than the original. None of these things are necessities but I still think that camera would be fun to own and use. 

If I'm no longer entertaining all kinds of jobs I have give serious thought to winnowing down all the professional mirrorless cameras and lenses. Dumping the SL cameras, the Sigma fp, the Leica CLs, and all the accessories and parts. B. is opposed to this idea and is adamant that based on my previous performances I will just end up buying them all back or buying newer versions of them as replacements a few months down the road. I would argue but I suspect she may be right. Still, it would be nice to have only three cameras and a handful of much smaller lenses to choose from. On the fence about ever getting rid of the Q2. It's just pretty much perfect for casual 28mm and 35mm work. 

I still have a lot of lights, modifiers and stands over here and those would be nice to dump on some unsuspecting, young photographers who don't even know yet that they need lights. But maybe they don't. I tried to convince the CFO that some of the cooler LEDs could be artistically adapted to make great lights for the living room, the study and the dining room but that idea got squashed in a moment. It's one of the caveats about living with a designer --- stuff that looks good is a priority for them...

One thing that came up in my mind as I was going through negatives and scanning last week: I think it's important, from a hindsight perspective, to keep shooting because what we shoot today will end up, most likely, as the "nostalgia treasure" ten years and twenty years hence. Not as some imagined legacy for the progeny but selfishly, for myself. 

On another note, I've had my Subaru Legacy Sport for a year now and it's a fun, solid and reliable car. I'm keeping it. But I am looking for an eccentric sports car as an adjunct. I still have my eyes on the 2025 Subaru BRZ but several restored 911s have come on the market nearby that look really, really nice. 

Finally, when the stitches come out (July 9th?) and the operation is pronounced a success I'm on the next plane out of Austin. Either Vancouver or Montreal/Quebec City. Gotta use some of these cameras before the pass their "sell by" dates.

Kind of fun to be totally unencumbered by work. I haven't had this feeling since school. I'm learning to get over the fear of no boundaries and the conjoined anxiety that comes from change. Good or bad. 

VSL's creative director and chief technology officer goes rogue and leaves the Leicas at home. Will other cameras actually work for our temperamental artiste? Let's see....

 

The Sign at Rocky's walk up bar in the courtyard at the Austin Motel. 

I developed such a sweet and sharing working relationship with my Lumix S5 while photographing old negatives on the copy stand that, when the time came to choose a camera for today's outing, it seemed obvious that I'd take that old friend with me. I've fallen in love with that ultra-cheap TTArtisan 75mm f2.0 lens so that was a no-brainer choice of optics. My intention was to concentrate on making some more black and white images but I kept seeing color everywhere so it was a mixed grill of a day. Entrées  in black and white as well as color. I think it reduces friction if one can be flexible when working as opposed to pushing things into rigid silos for no good reason. 

In addition to just getting out into the fresh air and the almost always entertaining mix of people, I was also on a mission to buy a big Stetson straw hat with a brim so wide I could use it as a beach umbrella. My first stop off the sidewalks was at Maufrais Hat Shop. I can almost forgive them their usurious prices because the store is so well merchandised and the staff so congenial and welcoming. I looked at a dozen hats but every time I stepped in front of a mirror I realized instantly that none of them were a fit for me. I'll stick with the floppy canvas hats instead. I have plenty of options covering the entire backseat of my car. I need only reach around when parked to choose from straw to tech fabric to canvas, and also a plethora of colors. I think about hats more seriously now following the second skin cancer diagnosis...

With my head already covered and the only candidate for a new hat at the shop cresting the $250 mark I decided that I'm more of an REI $50 hat guy... I thanked the kind staff and headed back out into the regular heat and chaos of a Sunday afternoon in Austin's shopping district. And I was okay with that. 

The next stop was at Jo's Coffee for a big, big iced coffee (Robert! I sat down on a bench under the shop's awning to slowly and deliberately enjoy my coffee. You have cured me of the American habit of walking with a cup in one hand... thanks! KT). There I met up with my friend, David, and we waited to talk until a crazy street preacher on a bike fitted with a loudspeaker system gave up attempting to find any sort of traction at our location. Photo somewhere below.

David was sporting some sort of state-of-the-art Canon digital camera with an ultra fast 85mm lens on the front. It looked pretty cool. I showed him my battered S5 with its cheap 75mm on the front. He laughed and asked if the S5 was as good a "chick magnet" as any of the Leicas. Then he asked a more serious question which was: "Does it focus as fast as the Leicas with this lens on it?" And I sheepishly had to answer --- "It's better." 

The rest of my time there was just a walk through familiar places to recapture stuff I might have seen before but in a different way this time around. Captions to follow.

Rocky's. Window art. And below (devil and angel cats). 

Austin motel courtyard cushions.

Everywhere. Blue tables. 

Haven't even had surgery yet and already pining for pools. 

This one always looks delicious. I'll have to do a staycation here

one day so I can lounge in the pool and order Cuba Libres from 

the Hotel San José bar. But with an extra side of sunscreen. 

Underfoot stencil art soldiers on. 

OMG!!! The mannequins are back from vacation and looking spry. 

Summer is in full swing. Light covers everywhere. 

This is Amy's Ice Cream. All the ice cream is made in house. Most of the flavors are amazing.

This is the crazy street preacher. Way, way too loud and a disconnected sermon 

that sounded mostly like the ravings of a madman. 

Who wouldn't want to photograph Jo's Coffee?

I'm always surprised when I meet with David at Jo's. I didn't realize he has a perpetually reserved table. Honestly. Complete with a "reserved" sign. That's class. 

David.

I made an appointment with myself to worry for a while, between 2 and 4 pm today, about my medical ordeal coming up on Tuesday so I had to excuse myself from David's court and head back to the safety and solace of my home and office. And to savor the bounty of the new air conditioning system. It was a pleasant walk. I can't wait until the Christmas season when the shops decorate, one can wear more fashionable clothes, and the light slants in a more endearing way. Until then I take what I can get. 

Happy Sunday!