25 Hour Watch » BT

BT — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 07:47:25 +0000

A DOG OR A FOLK SONG

Alexander, our older brother,

set out for a great adventure.

He tore our images out of his pictures,

he scratched our names out of all his letters.

Our mother should have,

just named you Laika!

Neighborhoods #2 (Laika)

Arcade Fire

Funeral, 2004

‘Laika’ music video, artists rendition

e-readers for Everyone!!

BT — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 18:59:18 +0000

There really isn’t anything to write about.

It’s all been done.

The Simpson’s have already covered it.

The Existential Significance of Homer, I believe has been covered.

Google: The Simpson’s and Philosophy. Amazon will have it for less than $10.

I wonder if they offer free shipping…

Debit or credit, ship to home or ship to store, these are the options in November so make a decision because there’s no going back, unless you have a gift receipt, and even then, I’m not so sure!

Who else is exhausted?

With a month left before the big day, I imagine there is still a lot of shipping and shopping left to do. The key is, save your strength because the holidays are just the beginning of winter. Especially in Colorado, where it snows into June.

Plenty of warmth, and lots of layers.

Who else wants an e-reader?

And I’m not even sure why!

I just know I want one.

It must be that #&%!ing Nook boutique inside my Barnes and Noble!

Their flashy white tables and awesome flat screen with on-screen attractive female has subliminally assured me my life is nothing without their touch-screen, read-to-me with moving-pictures technology, WiFi capable, digital array of text and color, all the rage, gotta have it now, my life is surely nothing without this device, wicked-awesome, I don’t care if it’s first gen, I just want one, e-readers.

Who else is with me?!

For $249, I can buy happiness. At least I think that’s how it works… I could have my numbers wrong… I should probably nail that one down…I’m sure there’s some tax involved.

Who knows?

It could be worth it.

I wonder if The Simpson’s has this one covered…

Better Google it.

And YouTube it.

On the e-reader I don’t have. Sigh.

The not-so-distant Future

BT — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 23:20:41 +0000

Loose leaf? What’s that mean?

College ruled or wide?

What are you talking about?

A notebook?

Yeah. I have a notebook.

Do you?

Oh you do too?

What kind do you have?

Hm. I’ve never heard of that kind before. I have an apple.

What’s the point?

BT — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 19:15:27 +0000

So let’s see what happens.

I’ve sat down this morning, coffee and silence, cereal and spoon, with nothing but desire to tell you everything I can about everything of me.

I’m going to put this whole thing out there, and listen for any indication it was heard.

If it falls flat, just barely leaves the ground, or misses its mark altogether, at least I’ll know it’s floating out there somewhere in this spacious cyber-universe.

If however, the whole world hears what I’ve had to say, then I’m quite certain it will be as easily forgotten as it was to read.

Even I have no idea where all of this is going.

But maybe that’s the point? To somehow suggest that we in life have no eternal control of our own direction, and it’s simply one line at a time that we write our lives into history, hoping that in the long run, when all’s said, all’s done, we’ve left behind a legacy, that may or may not be considered worth reading?

Is life really one long run-on sentence? Perhaps. Probably not. But that last paragraph certainly was.

This is a moment of honesty. One with no clear sense of direction.

My thoughts are here, screaming to be heard, because I wonder if anyone really hears anything, anymore.

Here, on this shrinking planet, those of us with broadband, 3 or 4G, WiFi access, and mobile IQ, hear so much noise, I think many have forgotten what beauty really is.

How it looks. What it feels like. The way it sounds.

Truth is no matter what I deliver in this entry — even were it to be the long lost answer to man’s search for meaning — it might go viral, then be lost again tomorrow. Or far sooner.

Lost to a status update on a popular social networking site. Lost to a ring tone. Lost in realitly TV. Lost for ages until someone else discovered it, re-wrote it, and hoped their call for meaning would be heard.

I’ll tell you, I don’t have such an answer. I barely have the answers for breakfast, lunch, dinner, bedtime.

I do however know whithout a doubt, it’s easy to be distracted. To lose one’s sense of direction. T0 lose one’s sense of self.

To let go and realize somewhat later, you’re lost and clinging to a buoy in the middle of a darkened ocean, eagerly waiting any indications of light.

So give up? No point anyway?

Definitely not.

Here is the tip…truly the reason for this rambling.

When we work our way back through the corridors of our personal histories, searching for the meaning in our lives, let the legacy we leave be one of love.

Eventhough we’re easily distracted, contented by the passings-by of pretty pictures and funny one-liners, let the lifelines we hold, the pictures we close our eyes and see, be the one’s that tug at the strings of our hearts.

Let it be love.

Written one line at a time, and tied together at the ends.

Knotted for eternity with the lives we hold most dear, we hold one/eachother together.

If there was ever a time to strengthen our bonds, renew or senses, re-light and truly hold our aprrectiaion for love, it is now. Right now.

And that is the point.

The Future for Journalism

BT — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 17:50:22 +0000

Journalism has one foot firmly planted in the future, but has struggled mightily to get the other foot to follow. An information superhighway threatens to chop off journalism’s lagging leg, but journalists remain. They’ve adopted new techniques, and adapted to this digital age. Journalism will thrive in the future, and will feature instant gratification for all users.

The uprising of digital strategy has put publishing groups, newspaper agencies, and magazine companies under a bottom-line, fiscal microscope. Urged-on by a slow-moving economy, the digital shift has become an essential part of any companies’ future business plans. The channels by which we receive our news and entertainment is currently in a state of flux, but one constant remains: journalism provides our content.

The news may never happen if there is no one around to witness and report what it is they’ve seen. As the old adage goes, if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it still make a sound? Most definitely, yes. The question has more accurately become, how quickly can we deliver news of the fallen tree to everyone world-wide?

We move today at break neck speeds, and often, that isn’t fast enough. We ride the waves of 3G networks and tune into WiFi signals, all to check in on current events. Sites like Facebook, SecondLife, and Twitter have changed the connotation of what we consider news, but in a broad sense, everyone posting to those sites is a journalist. An example of this status update phenomenon, Chad Ochocinco, professional athlete for the NFL, launched the Ochocinco News Network in 2009. The OCNN reports on the latest happenings around the NFL via Twitter, and boasts the slogan, “If I break it, you might as well believe it.” The OCNN is powered by Motorola, and also has a Facebook page, which somehow seems to legitimize the OCNN as a real, NFL news outlet.

In 2001, when two towers fell in New York City, the tragic day was captured from the ground by dozens of citizen journalists. They held their video recorders, and we followed their movements and reactions. We watched their eye-witness reports as they ducked behind cars, and hid from overpowering clouds of dust and dirt. When the second tower fell, we were all right there to watch it happen. I myself still have some eerie memories of the sights, the sounds, the panic and the terror, delivered on that September morning. Many view that day as the dawning of a new age, a shift in global economic power. In the journalistic sense, the world was changed forever, because no matter where or when, life-altering news could be happening right then; how will you capture and report it?

Journalists are everywhere. It’s the scope, accuracy, and depth of field of their reporting that determines our interest in what they have to say. In the future of this industry, journalism will be even more competitive. The market’s demand for compelling journalism will determine who stays and who goes. Those who carry the tools for the trade with them at all times, are ultimately prepared to deliver the news, always. The industry-wide digital shift means you can no longer be just a photographer or cameraman. Agencies want someone who can do it all. When I first began my course work for journalism in 2007, some of the first things I was told was, start a blog, learn HTML, get a Facebook page, and become as adept in all aspects of journalism as possible. It’s advice I’ve followed and they are skills I hope to hone, as we move into the future of the world.

As print media waits while its digital cousin determines its market share, journalism is simultaneously becoming better, and worse. Millions of self-proclaimed journalists create some terrible reporting, but also consecrates the best from the bad. Like a mocha from a favorite coffee shop, the cream always rises to the top; the grounds remain in the bottom of the cup. But the grounds are an integral part to the entire process. Without them, there is no flavor.

Journalism isn’t dying. She isn’t ringing her ink-stained hands with worry about the future. She is simply changing, maturing, and preparing for uncertainty that is inherently part of reporting the news. In the city of the future, newsstands may cease to exist. Books may go completely digital, but this certainty will remain: journalism will always provide the content for the news.

sightsiteciteDENVERwhatifound2shoot

BT — Sun, 23 May 2010 05:15:52 +0000

One of three ceiling lamps at Union Station.

At the northeast corner of Brodway and Colfax.

Denver -- On 17th, near Market Street.

All I can think of is The NeverEnding Story?

StationLamp2

Mother and child

StationSign

A Walkabout on Broadway

BT — Sun, 02 May 2010 17:05:09 +0000

“From the Edges In”

BT — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 00:53:24 +0000

Running Shorts

BT — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 00:11:27 +0000

I really should have worn a different set of shorts. Maybe the white ones with the swoosh down by the left knee. These three-striped black and red ones are so much heavier; what was I thinking when I bought extra large?

My feet are pounding away on the pavement out in front of my apartment, and traffic cruises by as if I’m standing still. I’m not sure how my legs recovered so quickly from the grueling demands I made of
them during yesterdays workout at the gym, but they’re performing quite nicely as I take on a moderate hill.

In through the nose, out by the mouth. Steady.

Muse is powering into my left and right ear and my little MP3 player is clipped to my oversized shorts; I love this song, it always puts me in a place where I don’t feel a thing…I’m just running.

Right, left, right, left — find a rhythm and breathe.

The incline has turned into descent and my strides have grown a little longer. I love the way the sun feels beaming down against my face and arms; the way my hair feels beneath the ultraviolet rays. The athletic response I’m getting from my legs is invigorating, but I have to remember to maintain my pace for fear of giving too much too soon, then bonking half way through.

Two steps – breathe in, three steps – breathe out. Repeat.

Halfway up the second major hill of three, my lungs are starting to feel a familiar burn; my legs are asking me for reprieve. The cool, calm breaths I was taking just moments before have ceased, but I’ve no choice but to keep moving…

Right then left, right then left.

Burning, but not burnt out, I’m moving into the grass — maybe that will help my body feel better about what’s happening right now. Nope. Somehow it’s only made the strides softer and harder to turn over. I’m trying to slow down a bit, to recover my posture and my form. I think it’s working, but my body is feeling the chaotic expanse of the longest hill on my run…but I’m almost there…I can’t stop now.

I’ve done this before, and I can do it again. Focus on the sidewalk lines and follow them up the hill. Stride and breathe…

Approaching the homestretch intersection, how is it that stoplight always works against me? Usually red when I’m on the way to work, somehow always green when I’m dying to catch my breath? Oh well, I’m not stopping, and from the look of it, I’d better speed it up; the little man white man is about to go away.

Quick twitch, sprint, focus, breathe, repeat…

My eyes fix on the goal, my body pulls my legs, the music once again, powers my ascent…I’m nearly home and I can feel my speed take on. Rounding the final turn, searching for the familiar spot where I end all my runs, I focus and I pull. I stretch and I stride, reaching out my legs for the glorious slab of sidewalk where I will finally rest.

And suddenly it’s over.

The achy legs, the inner voice begging me to stop, even the music — it’s over. See? It really wasn’t all that bad! Except for the decision to wear these massive shorts!

I really wanted to get something fresh on-site…this was sort of fast, but I was trying to use a lot of “ing” words, to make it seem like it was all happeneing right now. I probably messed some of that up though…I think I like writing in that voice most. How can I make it better?

Snowcaps and Spring

BT — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 01:40:13 +0000