OK, so I got up at 5:30 this morning to finish the first edit of Cuba photos. Almost 700 photos in that edit.

Soon I will try to post things written in journal during the trip. But now, it's hard to get to work...

Well, I'm back. And as usual, it still amazes me that I went and made it back.

Wow, this looks really different. I hope this is me, and I hope that the people looking at this know me. Anyway, here I am. Just like if I were in your town. But we all know that's not the case. Funny how 1's and 0's make the world such a smaller place. Hi to everyone I can't email, doing well here. Time is short on the email, so time to get back to work!

Oh yes, and I must post this. That girl was VERY pretty. enough to make me loose some of the (most of the) confidence this trip inspires.

Two things my digital camera are lacking (based on film) The grittyness of grain (huge difference between noise and grain) and clean shadow detail.

I almost didn't want to go to "my" starbucks today. didn't want to deal with the questions, and friendlyness required. But I did. Need to support those supporting me. And things are ok. No hasseling, right ammount of recognition. good.

Strange, but I seem to feel kind of empty now. I am not sure if this feeling appears before every trip or just now...

GUESS WHAT?? a small team of young soccer players sat at the table with the rare red chairs. Nothing special you say... their uniforms were RED. And everyone else in the place was wearing neutral colors...

Snow stopped, forcing the lines in most parking lots to become important again. It (the snow) must have felt bad for the people needing structure. But now, they see the lines an can't park inside them - the people before them couldn't see the lines and didn't guess their locations all that well. So now, in a new room, with a few red chairs on a floor mostly filled with wood colored chairs the coffee is warm again. Most are clustered around one table, too small for them, but it's trying. And reading by the window sits a girl with blond hair dyed almost the same color as the rare red chairs. She isn't sitting in them, because the scene would be just too much. And here I am again, in the corner finding that unfamiliar locations are more inspiring but finding this place somewhat comforting.

The man is gone, His table now obscured by two younger women. Dark clothes, no charicter, backs to the window. The coffee got cold and bitter; will they top it off? I guess it doesn't matter, he's gone, the picture of Ginsberg and Kerouac by Bruce Davidson (moved on from Morocco) squeezed out whatever was keeping me here. Was it the picture itself, or its altering of perception? Either way, it is now time for me to get on the road.

It's been snowing since last night. Enough to keep the plows plowing, and the lines in parking lots unimportant. It's been chilly for a while. Cold enough to make you zip your jacket all the way up, and make makes you keep it on while in the chair next to the window. An old man in a red long sleve shirt (the kind that looks like long underware, with 3 large shiny red bottons on the neck) leans on a tattered shirt sleeve looking out the window at the cars cautiously turing the corner. They are probably looking for a closer spot in the lot, or maybe aren't comfortable making a spot on their own, becasue they need the structure of the lines. Maybe someone will pull out soon... And I sit here watching all of this. Looking at photos of Morocco taken by Bruno Barbey. The coffee is hot, but soon will be warm, and soon will be cool and bitter.

I wish I could just go to sleep

I hate planning things that I probably shouldn't do. The more time to think about things and plan things that might not be the best thing to do in the first place just rewin things. When I know I'm doing somehting that maybe isn't easy, or the best idea, or whatever I should just do it. No preparation. No consulting. I don't know.

There is so much to space. the right ammount of space.

OK, so recently (past year or two) my goal in photography was simplicity. Clean backgrounds when possible, stark, one think to look at. So now maybe I am ready to begin trying to use that put put it towards an almost oposite approach. A lot to look at in a picture. BUT, everything is interesting and relevant. Simple, but very involved...

I'm going to try.