I'd like to propose a toast...

Alex at ISO50 wrote something that really resonated with me.  He cites an article by Alain de Botton, which in short, says that "our minds need to go on a diet."

I was talking with my friend Drew yesterday about how everything around us seems to be trending toward automated and impersonal, including the consumption of information.

I've been in the same place as Alex lately.  Hundreds of unread items in my RSS reader, like a big stack of guilt sandwiches.    Sometimes I'll scroll through everything way too quickly instead of just hitting the "mark all as read" button, because I don't want to miss anything. 

The fact is, you can never fully catch up.  There will always be more sites to browse, more posts to read, and more ideas to post. 

After a while, everything starts to look and taste the same.

So here's to thinking carefully both about what we consume, as well as taking time to savor each bite. 

FIRE and THUNDER

I've been wanting to shoot some personal work of drag racing, and I was lucky enough to land a couple media passes for a big event at the local strip a few weeks ago.  My friend Steve and I donned green photo vests, doubled up on the ear protection, and hauled the Profoto kit to the starting line to go breathe some nitro fuel vapors, eat tiny bits of rubber, and witness massive amounts of fuel consumption.  (About 30 gallons in 7 seconds for the jet cars)

I've never seen or heard anything like this before, let alone been 5 feet away from some truly terrifying cars.  When the first nitro dragster took off, I nearly threw my camera down and ran away, screaming like a little girl.   I thought I was having a heart attack.

The jet cars are equally ridiculous, and there is no way to really explain the sheer insanity of strapping four wheels and a set to a JET ENGINE.  

Here are a few of my favorites from the evening:

I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but now that I've spent some time, I'd love to go back and try to do something more produced -- that is if they'll have me.  I've always loved these Gursky pics of F1 pit crews:

More handmade goodness

I love legos,  I love surfing, therefore I love this film:



I also love that this guy is married.