Yeah, I know, it’s a chick flick. But hey, some of them are good.
Watched Julie and Julia last night and actually found it inspirational. Great to watch someone be brave about pursuing self-actualization. It was fantastic to see how a blog could be a part of that. I have found that blogging is a great outlet; a place where one can write regularly with at least some hope of others seeing the work, without the worry of if it is publishable in the traditional sense. One can ramble on about the weirdest things on a blog. Reminds me of a quote I heard on an episode of Criminal Minds “better to write for yourself and have no audience, than to write for an audience and have no self.” At this moment I cannot remember the original source for this quote, but find it illuminating.
For Christmas, I received a book about William L. Finley, a pioneer conservation photographer and the man that the headquarters of the Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuge Complex was named for. He would go out into the field and photograph birds with a large format, view camera. Those who know much about bird photography and view cameras can imagine how difficult this would be. I often stay inside when the weather forces shutter speeds under 1/250 of a second and he was using technology that would have imposed these sorts of working conditiond constantly. He is definitely an inspiration. He was instrumental in the establishment of two Oregon National Wildilfe Refuges; Three Arches Rock and Malheur. I have written and spoken about him many times.