#reading joe to sleep using algebra | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

nicolawritesnovels · 8 years ago

Text

A Success Story For 15 Year Old Me

There’s this notebook I have, and it’s barely even readable any more. It’s written in the most ridiculous way. The first line is written normally, in English, from left to right. The second line is right to left. It alternates throughout the whole notebook. The first three pages carry on like this, and seem to be ranting about the evils of religion.

The pages are numbered in Mandarin. I don’t speak Mandarin, and as far as I know, I only know the characters for the numbers. I used to use them on everything.

The writing remains the same, but switches to a story I don’t recognize, with a character named Grant, I don’t remember creating. But the other names sound familiar. It keeps going with the story. In the margins, the characters from CSI are scrawled.

Then a blank page, not numbered. In the top margin, it lists the characters from SVU. After, it continues like nothing happened.

The pages after contain my complex plans to get a teacher fired for losing an assignment I never actually did. At some point, it changed the way it was writing. The pages don’t go from top to bottom anymore. The one on the left goes bottom to top, the first line reading from right to left, and the second line going from left to right. All the way up. The page on the right goes from top to bottom, the first line reading from right to left, the second line going from left to right.

By page 14, the words aren’t all in English anymore. I see a few words in Hawai’ian, but I never actually spoke it, only glanced through a dictionary once or twice. More words come in Hawai’ian. I don’t know what they mean, but in parentheses after them it simply says “molasses.

Then a poem. Right to left, then left to right, even though the lines don’t reach the edges of the page. It’s a poem about fire. I remember this poem, because it was the first one I ever wrote. But this wasn’t the time I wrote it. Then another. Someone named Hanna is sleeping. There’s a car crash. I can’t read all the words. There are arrows pointing to certain lines and I think that means something starts there.

Stuffed in one of the pages is a paper on how to take care of flowers.

Words jump out of the page. “Hollow bones crackling in the night”, “no, no, the nightmare’s just beginning”, “it was an accident”. I don’t remember this story.

A line, the question, “doesn’t syringe rhyme with orange?”

“What would happen if you abducted an alien?”

it looks like notes, still written left to right, then right to left. the theories of causation. Monard theory. These are not written from school.

a footnote in the margins, “I do not believe in god”.

names, lists of names. kidnapping. this story, I remember. But not with these names.

the lines going one way are in English, the lines going the other are in Hawai’ian. the only ones I can read make no sense “and a donkey”, “fear pants, and Republicans, and liver”

another poem, the same poem, “hollow bones, cackling in the wind” and upwards it goes.

molasses again. the whole page is in Hawai’ian now, except that. and the donkey. we’re at page 31.

and then it’s poems again, Samanda, one I recognize, and it’s sequels. written in glaring red, bottom to top, right to left, then left to right.

Glancing Looks. I know that one too. But it wasn’t written then. I was recording old poems, the ones I actually liked.

and then a memory, one I’ve never been sure was real. it’s written all in english, as normal as anything is here. a girl in a white gown, sprawled on a bed. she may have been me. she may have been a dream. I’ll never know for sure.

page 37. “there is no happy ending”.

a poem about how the government is spying on us, as if that was a piece of new information, that warranted poetry instead of old hashed out information that only really deserves a heavy, tired sigh. enthusiasm was something found on these pages.

detailed instructions on how to shrink heads, written the same way everything is her

Samanda, again. as if it hasn’t been written out before on these very pages.

and then a poem I haven’t seen in years, to a girl who changed my life in more ways than she will ever know, it tells me things I’ve forgotten about characters I created long ago

a poem about a man running from his problems, entitled only “pineapple”, I don’t know why.

and now it’s not in English, or Hawai’ian. Latin. I don’t know what these words mean but some of them are underlined, and somewhere in there, there are numbers. but not my numbers. Mandarin again. I don’t speak any of these languages. I don’t know if the words strung together mean anything, or if they’re only meant to distract.

another page of latin. and then a complaint about the existence of study hall.

the yale conspiracy. a forgotten concepts I abandoned long ago, based on the memories left over from age 5, ones that probably aren’t even real to begin with.

written over and over again. “don’t frame your global teacher. revenge is bad”.

in the margins, “note to self- don’t use pillows- neurotoxins” I didn’t listen

and then there’s math. like notes from an actual class. formulas. but I still followed the same pattern. left to right. right to left. it doesn’t work with math.

and now the language goes more confusing. I cannot tell anymore if the pages go from top to bottom or bottom to top. my ears and I laugh and shake her hands. away they drop down around to my waist

the letters are symbols now, on page 51? 61? I don’t know anymore. these symbols meant everything to me once upon a time and now... I see an S and U and two Ds and this says “suddenly”, but suddenly what, it changes mid-sentence

until it isn’t anymore, and it isn’t purple anymore either. but this is RPF, I can tell that much

fading ink on my jeans like the scars on my hands.

someone killed Joe #7. but what about the other 6.

a map, who are these people and why does it matter where they lived. Kyle, Michel, Ray, Joe, Rob, Lezlie

a poem I wrote on the back of a final exam and had to smuggle out so I didn’t lose it forever

I wasn’t even 15 yet when I wrote all this, but it was always my dream to become a mystery

a date! there is a date here, and I wish I knew what it was, but I don’t speak the language it’s in

6/11/08

14, and these must be notes

then it goes back to normal, but for 4 lines in the middle of the page, it’s symbols again, what was I trying to hide

just a line from a story, maybe one that was too real to reveal, I can read most of it now, with some effort “as always, I found myself wish she would come over and kiss me”

Algebra will never work backwards, maybe that’s why I don’t understand it

a whole page in symbols, except for a lightning strike

Missy. I forgot about Missy, and even now, as I hear the name, I don’t remember anything other than a sense of familiarity

and now it’s all her, because there was a time before novels, a time before I found a way to control my writing, a time when she was everywhere, but I couldn’t cement her down to just one character, because I knew her too well for that, there wasn’t as much room for imagination.

this is a mystery from before the demon, all of this, and I know now that I dated it wrong on the front of the notebook. this is not 2010. this is 2008, and this is before everything changed, when my mind was a scattered pile of mush, and that was all I really wanted to be, because it was all I could remember being, I wanted to be a mystery, like my great grandfather who kept his diaries in code to keep it from the world the time he saw three deer in the morning, and stared at them in awe, and 50 years later, there’s me, spending hours and hours deciphering what he wrote even though it was never worth hiding in the first place

it was all I wanted to be and here I am at 23, reading through my old notebook, 9 years later, and saying what was the point of hiding the little things in life, like finding a girl beautiful, and the fact that I like molasses.

there are mentions of stories here that I don’t remember, stories that I’ll stumble upon someday, and I’ll read, and I wonder if they’ll make sense to me, if I can pin point where each detail comes from and put my life back together from the stories I wrote. Ember Lee. Stormy Skies. Mouse.

and here’s me trying to stop myself, trying to make myself into something more than I was, because really, I was only ever just a girl with a good life, who wanted something more exciting than the same damn schedule every day for 10 years, with average grades, and average everything. tried to tell myself that I was a bad person for things that weren’t wrong, because I couldn’t understand the guilt I felt for the fact that boring me had everything and my friends had to suffer without

and maybe if I could go back and talk to myself, I’d say, hey, there’s nothing wrong with a crush, no matter who it’s on, but maybe I wouldn’t, because it’s not like I didn’t know that then too, I just chose not to listen to myself, because it was more boring

it’s not stories anymore, just words

the printers are out to get me, but what does that mean and why was it worth writing down, I know the answer to that, of course, I do. because everything is worth writing down, and if I don’t write stories, write something, then I am nothing, because all I am is made up of the words I’ve written because I remember nothing else.

I see the words on the page starting to form the story I recognize, starting to shape the character that will later start me on the journey I’m still riding on, the novels I’m writing, I see the names here, and who they are, but everything is still so different. they’re not them yet, but they’re on their way there.

and here we are in those six weeks I insisted on saying goodnight and good morning in Croatian every day even though I didn’t know any other words, but I knew those words, and they meant something to me.

I talk to myself, because my name doesn’t feel like mine, because I don’t know who I am, and I keep writing and writing until I find out who

I bet if you’d asked, I would have said I’d know by 23, but I don’t and that’s okay

and in my notes, it says write a book, well good news, me, I’ve written 36 soon to be 37, but sorry, I’ve never gotten around to learning Latin

planning for the future, planning to decode the Voynich document. there were so many things I thought I’d do, and here I am, having not done them.

and now here, at page 115, I write from left to write, top to bottom, nothing more.

at the end, it says only, “you can’t ride a buffalo through the streets of kansas”

I don’t think I’ll find my answers here, but I know that 15 year old me would have called that a success, because all she ever wanted was to be a mystery

#I don't know what this is #it's just words that existed as I read through an old ridiculous notebook that was not what I was looking for #writing #Notebook 21

1 note · View note

alexdmorgan30 · 6 years ago

Text

11 Ways to Heal a Broken Heart in Recovery

Heartbreak. At 14 or 54, we’ve all been there, but today we push through the pain, one-day-at-a-time, cold brew sober. And here’s what’s helping me now, because, despite what still feels like an endless volley of water balloons hitting concrete beneath my breastbone, the fibrillation is in my mind, not my chest cavity, and that scrappy muscle thumps on, still propping me upright each morning to face my new reality.1. Find that God of Your Understanding and Glom OnWhen I reached Step 3 with my sponsor, I got an assignment: flesh out your concept of a higher power, in writing. Lisa M. wanted detail, a God I could see and talk to, and grab by the elbow. And because I’m neither original nor progressive, I came up with a male God in human form — a cross between Santa Claus and Mr. T. to be exact. With a twinkle in his eye and a glint off his gold tooth, my HP is jolly and generous, strong and sexy, and funny as hell.And at this moment, when I’m finding myself on the sucky side of one-sided love, it’s not bad to have a real hunk who loves me for an HP. After an especially vicious salvo, when the heartbreak balloons start to leak out the eye sockets, I can HALT, remember the in-breath, and picture HP (and yes, predictably, I’m looking heavenward). Funny, his response is always the same: with bronzed torso and silver beard, forearms flexed and crossed over a white undershirt, the big man in the sky stares down at me, then starts nodding reassuringly. Suddenly, he flashes that easy smile and I know I’m good.2. Slam the SlogansH.A.L.T., Easy Does It, Turn It Over, Just for Today, Live and Let Live, This Too Shall Pass, When One Door Shuts Another Opens, Fear Is the Absence of Faith, The Elevator Is Broken - You’ll Have to Use the Steps. I’ve become something of a short-order chef when it comes to using a few well-chosen words to support my sobriety. Day and night, I sling slogans, flip affirmations, and call out quotes from famous dead people. I’ve scotched them to the inside of my kitchen cabinets, along with the 3rd, 6th, 7th and 11th step prayers. They are the comfort food my soul craves now. “Success is moving from failure to failure with no lack of enthusiasm.” - Winston Churchill. “If you want to be loved, love and do loving things.” - Ben Franklin. Words that nourish, as I’m waiting for the kettle to boil. Having well-chosen words highly visible in the kitchen (or as a screensaver) can be a real lifesaver!3. Phone TherapyAnd here’s a slogan I’m slamming hard today: “We drank alone, but we don’t stay sober alone.” The old timers carried quarters, and I make sure I leave home with my phone fully-charged. I listen to a morning meditation walking to the train, text three newcomers on the platform, compose a longer text to my sponsor in transit, then dial my best sober gal pal as I push through the turnstile on the final leg to work. I send silly GIFs to lift spirits, including mine, and add a trail of emoji butterflies, praying hands, and peace signs. By 8:00 a.m., the lonely in me already feels not so alone.4. Explore PodcastsRecovery Radio Network, Joe and Charlie, and the Alcoholics Anonymous Radio Show are three in my queue. On my lunch hour or driving upstate, I take 30-60 minutes to laugh, cry, and identify…5. Make a Gratitude ListMy first sober Christmas, going through a divorce with two kids still believing in Santa, the above-mentioned sober gal pal suggested I find ten things for which I was grateful, save them to my phone, and recite them like a mantra through the Twelve Days of Christmas. I did:1. My sobriety 2. My sons 3. AA program of recovery 4. AA fellowship 5. Food in my stomach 6. Roof over my head 7. Colombian coffee 8. My dog 9. My extended family 10. God (HP has since moved up to the #1 slot)It worked. I said no to nog that first Yuletide, and made merry for my sons instead. And counting off my blessings still works today, when I’m a shallow-breathing shell just going through the motions.6. Make an Extended Gratitude ListWhen the restless, irritable and discontent in me keeps spilling the glass half-full and this positive punch list isn’t getting me over the hump, I pour out ten more things to celebrate, like: my pre-war bathtub, which holds upwards of 60 gallons of bubble bath and the fact that I live within easy walking distance of two subway lines so I can always get into the city on weekends.7. Make Meetings“Meeting Makers Make It,” “Get Sober Feet,” “Carry the Body, the Mind Will Follow.” These three slogans in particular encouraged me as a newcomer, and I’m calling upon them now, in cardiac arrest, when my heart needs serious heartening. So I’m hitting my home group, and getting hugs from retirees with double-digit sobriety who pass fresh Kleenex and envelop in equanimous smiles. I’m also checking out other meetings across town, then going out for...8. Fellowship AfterwardsI’ve started tucking my Boggle into my handbag when I head out to my Friday night meeting. At the secretary’s report, I pull out the box, shake it, and invite anyone interested to a nearby diner for passable pie a la mode and a few rounds of a three-minute word game. Sometimes it’s Yahtzee. We roll the dice and down bottomless cups of bad coffee. Last week someone brought cards, and I lost badly at hearts (ha!). It’s good, wholesome fun, and by the time I hit my pillow, I’ve significantly pared down the number of waking hours I could have spent obsessing over-ahem-HIM.9. Self-CareSelf-care is somewhat self-defined. These days, after I’ve covered the basics—eat, sleep, bathe—I’m noodling what more I can do to support my mental, physical, and spiritual self. Prone to self-pity and self-indulgence just now, self-care is really urgent-care. So I ask: am I under-meditating and over-caffeinating? Am I speeding up at speed bumps? Am I four months behind in balancing my bank statement? Am I using money to buy what money can’t buy and damn the consequences? Am I treating every Monday like Cyber Monday and abusing the free delivery feature of Amazon Prime? Have I forgotten yoga and found red velvet cake in Costco’s freezer? Are my spot checks spotty lately because I just don’t want to cop to this alcoholic acting out, and instead keep blunting the full force of feeling??? Yes to all of the above. And this leads me back to Step 2: turn to top management for a takeover.Working Steps 2 and 3 is probably the most caring thing I’m doing for myself today: seeing the unmanageable, then seeing the way out. And also forgiving myself for these self-indulgent splurges. So what that I’ve added three pounds to my midline and three pairs of silver sandals to my shoe rack? The rent is paid, and my latchkey kids still let themselves in after school and seem content to eat my crockpot soup and call this home.10. Get on your Hobby HorseWhen was the last time you read “Chapter 6: Getting Active” in Living Sober, that handy paperback that’s not just for newcomers? This month I’ve been making good use of subsection 6B: “Activity not related to A.A.”The anonymous authors suggest “trying a new hobby” or “revisiting an old pastime, except you-know-what” (Yea, Amstel Light). Fat chance I’ll pick up cabinetmaking, leathercraft or macramé, but I am baking granola and simmering bone broths.I’m also revisiting my adolescence with amateur YouTube ballet routines by hammy-thighed figure skaters and dancing to Heavy D. music videos late into a Saturday night. I’m choosing happy music over sad, and tuning in to The Messiah, not Blue Christmas.I’m even considering “Starting on long neglected chores” like editing my nearly obsolete recipe binder, now that I’ve found Pinterest. And while I can’t claim to be going out of my way “Volunteering to do some useful service,” I am trying to be more useful on my job. And just as helping a newcomer find a meeting helps me, helping a kid graph algebraic equations makes me feel purposeful (when otherwise I feel like a mess).11. Become a card-carrying member of the “No Matter What Club”For God’s sake, whatever skillful or unskillful actions you end up taking during this time of triage, please don’t drink over him or her. They are not worth it. (And I’d put money down—money that I don’t have—on a bet that they’d agree with me.)Voila! My top eleven tips to help you over the hump of heartbreak! Take what you like and leave the rest.Have you had your heart broken in recovery? How did you heal? Let us know in the comments.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8241841 http://bit.ly/2U3i5gZ

0 notes

pitz182 · 6 years ago

Text

11 Ways to Heal a Broken Heart in Recovery

0 notes

emlydunstan · 6 years ago

Text

11 Ways to Heal a Broken Heart in Recovery

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8241841 https://www.thefix.com/11-ways-heal-broken-heart-recovery

0 notes

endofinfinityrp-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Welcome, OLIVER, to the END OF INFINITY. We loved your take on JOE HART, especially how grounded and kind-hearted he is; we also loved your writing style, it absolutely moved us. We can’t wait to see how Joe does at WALDRON ISLAND UNIVERSITY! Now that you’re accepted, please check out the pots below and make sure to complete the New Member Checklist within the next 24 hours!

OOC:

Player name: Oliver

Player age: 20

Player pronouns: He/him

Activity level: 6/10 ( i own a business that i work 40 hours a week and have a husband and 2 kids. Sometimes i’m busy, sometimes i’m not lol)

IC:

Character name: Joseph (Joe) Gabriel Hart

Character species: Baseline

Character age & birthdate: 17 & February 12th

Character power: Joe has always been described as “intuitive” and “down-to-earth” due to his incredible ability to read others and their feelings. Putting these skills to use (and his overwhelming desire to help people and super-people alike), Joe has taken the reigns into becoming a profiler/counselor for those with super-abilities. Being able to free the negativity from one’s aura through mental and emotional counsel is something Joe believes needs to be more prominent within the super-society, and plans on making a future out of this need to guide others to a peace he himself has already found through his faith. While reading people comes naturally to him, Joe has a hard time turning this skill-set to the ‘off’ position. In social situations, he is in a constant state of needing to communicate and relate to other beings, whether that be through touch, sound, or visualization. When there is a lack thereof, Joe finds himself often feeling an intense anxiety and overwhelming need to surround himself with others. Usually Joe can harness this detrimental energy through meditation and prayer, but he knows that he cannot rely on such actions forever, especially when it is such a weakness in chaotic situations.

Area of Study: Communications & Counselling;

Courseload: Joe would most likely want a lighter courseload just because he is a freshman he thinks stress is bad for your zen and wouldn't want to put himself at risk like that. He would definitely be interested in either art or music!

Dorm Style: Salvatore Dorm - Double or Quad room is fine! Whatever works best lol

Clubs/Sports/Extra-Curricular Activites: Amnesty International, and Environmental Club

Bio: When Joe was a child, he had wished he was a sunflower. A sprout that started off the size of a quarter, as thick as a green bean, and as fragile as wrapping paper, eventually grew to be as strong and beautiful as one of God’s angels. So secure and always facing the sun - petals wide open like sturdy arms, ready to carry the weight of the world on it’s golden, silky shoulders. Joe strived to be that sunflower.

While Joe often practiced being inviting, it was difficult to be sociable when you were homeschooled for a better part of your life. Craving the company and attention of others while your mom worked hard to talk through conference calls while simultaneously teaching you the laws of motion was a little inconvenient considering she was his only friend. When asked why he couldn’t just go to school like all of the other kids, his mom simply replied, “You’re different, Joey. You’re not like those other kids.” He always assumed that it went back to the ‘test’ he had taken when he was very small. Just old enough to talk and interact, just as he loved to do. “You’re on the spectrum,” she’d say. What spectrum, she’d never mentioned, and the only one Joe had ever learned of was the one for light and sound. This had been confirmed when she said, “You’re too bright for those other kids.”

So that was it. He was made of sunlight and warmth. He could be the thing that that little sunflower needed to grow up big and strong, just like Joe craved to be some day.

The transfer from homeschooling to high school was a bit of a challenge, although, not for the reasons most would assume. Joe loved people! This tended to be a tad distracting when he should have been focused on The Road, not Lisa Grace who sat beside him in Algebra I. But it was so difficult to maintain a studious attitude when every person had their own story to tell, and Joe often found himself leaning toward those with the most grief to share. Catholic school was not his first experience with peers his own age with “super-human capabilities” (as the church put it), but it was definitely the first time he’d really had the chance to listen to their thoughts. Joe’s own mother was the kindest, smartest, and most beautiful woman in town, but it seemed as though not all children had the same kind of parents to call their own. Not that Joe had really known much of his father, ever the wanderer and not one to be held down in a single city, but his mother was his best friend and he never feared confiding his thoughts and feelings to her, and he doubted that much would change, even if he had been Super.

And that is when his love for counseling started. The idea of being that same strong sunflower for those less fortunate than him, people who did not have mothers that tucked them into bed at night and prayed with them every day for love, peace, and forgiveness in the eyes of The Lord and fellow people around them - it brought a joy to his heart that he often did not feel outside of meditation. Bringing people together, communicating to them emotionally and physically; that would be Joe’s journey. Though he had always thought his mission would be to bring people closer to God and guide them on their destination of Heaven through prayer and word, Joe felt something so right about being able to make the emotional difference in others’ lives that way as well.

Joe has high hopes for Waldron - for the people he will meet and talk with, bond with, and help. Through his own special power, positive thinking and promoting zen, Joe thinks that he could really have a place within the school. After all, they have a 4.5 star rating on Yelp…

IC writing sample:

The weather is warm for February, Joe thinks. An easy fifty degrees with the sun out like it is. With short sleeves, the wind sends a bit of a chill through him, but after the cold weather they’d been having, it’s a reprieve. His mother is out on a trip with the church, helping rebuild neighborhoods after the recent flood. While Joe is normally in the thick of it all, carrying planks to rebuild homes and picking up garbage and scraps of what little is left throughout villages, his mother woke him up early this morning with a smile and kiss to the forehead, a soft whisper of, “please stay home, Joey. It’s your birthday.” He gave in like he always does when his mother asks him of something, cooking a breakfast for himself and going out for a hike to his favorite lake, yoga mat tied to his back like a satchel.

Feeling the earth between his toes, Joe wriggles them around with vigor. It’s not unheard of for him to spend his birthday alone. After all, he takes his mother out on a date two days later for Valentine’s Day, so most of their effort is poured into that holiday. Gripping the cross around his neck, Joe gives a quiet thanks to God for spending the afternoon with him and helping him sort through the thoughts that pursue his mind so often.

He looks out to the lake, sees the ducks filtering back inward as spring approaches, the months getting gradually warmer. The previous season has been rough, the snow thick and ever-lasting. Joe had been worried for a quite some time that it would never go away.

Grass beneath his head, his purple yoga mat now only under his lower back, Joe picks at the green strands between his long, calloused fingers. He hears birds above him, many animals prowling the woods beside him, and he thanks God and reminds him of how grateful he is to be on this Earth for yet another year. Seventeen, he thinks.

A robin flies above and he cannot help but smile. He feels so at peace. Centered. Like a mountain whose mere existence is to stay heavy and strong. A chill goes through him but he pays it no mind, lulling himself into what he thinks will be his first nap of the spring.

During his sleep, he misses a call from a number filed under unknown and simply deletes it’s reality upon waking. There is a slight pang in his chest at the hope that rears its head. Maybe it was his dad, he thinks.

Stats:

Feel free to put these somewhere on your blog and/or keep them for your own reference!

#eoiaccepted

0 notes

skincare-us-blog · 7 years ago

Text

Coconut Oil Is Awesome–But Not for Everything

New Post has been published on http://skincareee.com/coconut-oil-is-awesome-but-not-for-everything/

Coconut Oil Is Awesome–But Not for Everything

Coconut oil is a many splendored thing—of course, you knew that already. But every once in a while, even the best of us could use a refresher course. So, should you find yourself pondering that half-used bottle from Trader Joe’s like it’s a parabolic equation, wondering if you even knew what to do with it in the first place, consider the following like the beginner packet of algebra you got at the start of the school year to ease yourself back in. Study up—you will be quizzed on this material.

Use it in the bath

Phoebe Tonkin’s method: throw a hair mask on (which could, in theory, also be coconut oil—but we’ll get to that), draw a bath, dump a box of Epsom salts in, and “just dip [your] hands in and scoop the coconut oil out of the jar. It melts in the bath, and then when you get out, it’s all over your body.”

Take your makeup off with it

Just like cold cream! Smeared over eyes and cheeks, coconut oil leaves skin replenished instead stripping it of moisture like other makeup removers. Ana Kraš, who bestowed this tidbit of “Why didn’t I think of that.” ingenuity, warns “You must make sure to read the label—it’s important to get the ones that have freshly cut coconuts. There are some coconut oils that are made with older harvested coconuts, so I try to invest a couple more dollars for the ones that are truly fresh. The less days they have been harvested, the better. And you can’t beat the smell of the La Tourangelle kind.”

Soothe your sunburn with it

Hairstylist James Pecis uses Kimberley Norcott’s coconut oil on “everything.” In particular, sunburns: “I covered myself in it after a sunburn. Who knows if that helps, but it felt good and I smelled tasty. I have used it in curly hair and even to oil my bike lock when it was stuck.”

Mask your hair in it

Jenny Slate does it once a week. Ranjana Khan massages it into her scalp. Suki Waterhouse sleeps in it. Amanda Chantal Bacon coats herself in the stuff before hopping in the shower; Kyleigh Kuhn applies it directly after. Apparently there’s no wrong way.

Bonus: Throw out your La Mer for it

Drastic? Perhaps. But when nature calls, occasionally it is appropriate to rid yourself of $150 creams that are decidedly not of the earth. So do as stylist Keegan Singh did and find a natural moisturizer to swathe oneself in: “I love Skin Trip coconut moisturizer for the body. So everything is pretty natural for me. I wasn’t very conscious of it before; I was all La Mer-ed out.”

0 notes

slickpic-com · 7 years ago

Text

Interview with Tony Sweet

New Post has been published on https://www.slickpic.com/blog/interview-tony-sweet/

Interview with Tony Sweet

Tony Sweet is a Nikon legend behind the lеns. Take a look at his gallery and see for yourself here: https://tonysweet.slickpic.com/. Tony has worked as a professional jazz drummer for 20 years, playing with other great jazz artists such as Sonny Stitt and Joe Henderson. It was at this time, Tony began taking insightful photographs and capturing the essence of jazz clubs. He later refocused and honed in on nature photography. Now, he is widely known for his phenomenal skills in fine art nature and floral images.

Read more about Tony in a fascinating interview that explains his journey from thriving musician to a world class photographer. Learn Tony’s personal tips and tricks in the video tutorials below.

Get his new book “Creative Techniques and the Art of Self Expression“ here: http://tonysweet.com/new-ebook-creative-techniques-art-self-expression/

You started as a jazz musician and magician, what drew you to those areas. How did you start in that and then transition to photography?

I started off as an accountant, actually. I felt like I was misplaced in my career and wanted to do something different. I was going to college for accounting and playing drums professionally so I didn’t get much sleep. After I finished accounting school I went to music school at Towson State University, known for its jazz program. Hank Levy, started the jazz program. I played in his band for a few years, playing on 2 recordings.

After a stint on the cruise ship circuit as a musician/magician, I moved to Cincinnati to finish my degree, then taught as adjunct faculty at the University of Cincinnati. During the cruise ship period, I met a girl who taught me handwriting analysis. I studied and became a certified grapho-analyst, which enabled to me to be called as an expert witness in a court of law. In the midst of all of the aforementioned activities, I traveled with the Great Harry Blackstone (world tour and on Broadway), where I picked up close up magic, which I performed professionally for a few years. I still practice when I have time.

This sounds a bit disjointed but, it was all happening in the same time frame. I was playing music, including on an HBO special and at the Seattle Opera House and performing magic, going table to table in restaurants. Then I spent a few years as a bike mechanic, enabling me to bicycle race, for a couple of years. I had also gotten interested in photography at the same time. The best time for the bike rides was at dawn which was also the best time for the photography so I had to make a decision. I decided on photography.

When just getting started, I was trying to save money, so I looked for a good used camera gear dealer. That’s where I met my first mentor, Tony Gayhart, who had a small camera repair shop in Union, KY. He was patient and generous with his time. His advice was a rock solid foundation.

For 18 months, I would get in at 3 am from playing music and wake up at 6 am to go to the Cincinnati Nature Center to photograph. I would go home and process the transparencies. I had a Jobo and everything for processing transparencies. Then I would call up Tony and drive 40 miles to his house to show him my slides and he would critique them. “Use a warming filter,” “compose it this way,” “get higher, get lower.” I would take notes and the very next morning go out and correct everything. This went on for a year and a half. You can’t buy that kind of education. Private tutoring every day for a year and a half. I was able to fine tune my work.

About this time Bill Fortney was sending out information for the Great American Workshops. He was going to all the places I wanted to photograph: the desert southwest, Acadia, Grandfather Mountain, etc. On a lark, I sent Bill a page of slides, hoping to be considered to come along as a gopher. A month and a half went by and I was beginning to think that I would not hear from him when he left a message on my answering machine that he would love to have me come along. I didn’t expect to get paid, but figured that I had 10 thousand dollars saved up and thought of this as my photography education. I used the money on travel and rooms following Bill around for about 2 years. He would bring in Galen Rowell, John Shaw, John Netherton, Jim Brandenburg, Rod Planck, etal, all of the nature photographers we looked up to in those days. I was co-teaching with these guys, and I was thinking this is unbelievable. I asked a ton of questions and learned a ton!

After a while I moved on and moved back home to take care of my parents and started giving presentations to camera clubs. I was still playing music at the time, but felt that I would eventually be moving into the nature photography business. People knew the photographers who were giving the Fortney workshops and I was part of that, so it got me in the door at a lot of places. I talked to the clubs and started offering workshops. I would take out one person. I never canceled a workshop. I would have one person then the next time it would be 3 or 4 and I realized it was a building process. There is no overnight success. It takes time. You pay the price for a while until things start coming your way. I didn’t have the maturity to understand that when I was younger, but I had when I embarked on my photography career.

I had some good breaks. About that same time, Shutterbug did a feature article on my nature photography. I knew the editor from Nikon and Nikon World and through his relationship with Shutterbug I started writing articles for Shutterbug. My father was still alive then and he finally got to see what I was doing and begin to think I was going to amount to something before he passed.

I kept writing and wrote about a dozen articles for Shutterbug and then went to Nikon World and wrote for them until they folded. I also was a contributor to Rangefinder magazine. That’s how I began to reach a large audience, not through lectures, but through print media. This was how we got the word out before the internet and social media: no Facebook, no Twitter. Hard to believe it wasn’t that long ago.

I began to get a good reputation and the workshop registrations and requests to speak and teach began to pick up. Now, it’s a two person business with life and business partner, and outstanding photographer/teacher, Susan Milestone who is largely responsible for our growth over the past decade.

Now here I am with you as a featured speaker at the 1st Smoky Mountains Summit. It’s a nice place to be right now. I’m getting older and wonder how long I can do this. I’ve been doing it for 25 years now. If you like what you do, you never work a day. I can’t climb mountains anymore. I don’t even want to. Places like the Smokies, Acadia, and Charleston, for example, are very user friendly. These are great venues where I can photograph and teach as long as I want. I’m thinking about scaling things back in the next five years or so, but I feel great and love what I am doing so what more could I ask for.

Infrared by Tony Sweet

That was a great description of what it takes to build a career. What did you think of the transition from music to photography?

It is the same mind set. When I improvise music, the equipment is second nature and I am spontaneously reacting to quickly changing situations. It’s exactly the same thing in nature photography. One has to learn the tools until they are second nature. I react to light. I try to find my compositions quickly, work the area a bit, then move on. Psychologically there is no difference. I’m in the moment when I play music and I’m in the moment when I shoot.

I have noticed that a lot of photographers came from a music background. One seems more auditory and one seems more visual. What do you think is the affinity between those two arts?

It’s the same brain. I approach them the same. There is no difference. Musicians have a proclivity for math. I did math in my spare time. I enjoyed it when I was a kid. I bought books to work the problems, geometry and advance algebra in my spare time. They probably co-exist in some photographers because there is an intense technical element free thinking aspect to both. There is a lot of information that you have to have access to instantly. Since you can’t think as fast as you react, the equipment has to be second nature.

youtube

I believe your education in photography was based more on mentors than formal training. Who were your early mentors and what did each one instill in you?

I don’t know how, but I have always been lucky. To paraphrase a Zen expression, “When the student is ready, the teacher appears.” That is how things worked out for me during my music career, my short magic career, and in my photography career.

As a professional drummer, I was on the national tour and on Broadway with the great magician, Harry Blackstone, Jr. We began playing backgammon on the breaks during the shows, but it evolved to Harry teaching me elements of close up magic. When the tour ended, Harry recommended a magician/ teacher in Baltimore and that’s when I met the great Cy Keller. Cy is passed many years ago now, but when we got together every Monday for about a decade, we continued the backgammon tradition, peppered with magic lessons, and an education in jazz, playing music during our weekly visits. A great teacher will teach you concepts and lessons that apply universally. For instance, he taught me how to be economical with movement, which applies to magic, music, and photography.

I like learning things that span all the disciplines. Many things apply everywhere. That what I like picking up from all these different disciplines. Pat O’Hara is phenomenal; one of my great mentors. I still look at his books today and even after having them for 20 years I see things I never saw before. The way that he created images draws your eyes to a given area, and you are so riveted that you never get away from that area. It is almost like subterfuge. There are layers and layers to the composition, and it can take a long time to discover them all. I had an affinity for Pat’s work. When I hit my stride as a photographer, it was Pat O’Hara and Freeman Patterson who were in my uppermost thoughts. The visceral nature of their work was and still is a profound influence on me. Now, I can find inspiration in many photographers, pros and non-pros alike. Everyone has a point of view from which we can all learn.

Cole Thomson has an idea he refers to as “Photo Celibacy.” He tries to avoid looking at the work of others in order to avoid being influenced. Some musicians didn’t want to listen to anyone else. They wanted to develop their own style. That is hard to do unless you are gifted. If you are gifted, you can eschew everyone else and go your own way like Picasso or John Coltrane. Most of us, on the other hand, need a foundation, and studying the work of others is how most of us start. Then, after a few years, your a personal path may begin to emerge. You can’t unring a bell. When I see someone else’s composition, it gets in my head. It’s someone else’s shot. At this stage of the game, I don’t want anyone else’s image. It used to bother me. I would see a good shot in a workshop, and I would want to do it right away. The last time I copied a student’s image was about 20 yrs ago. I had a website then and put the image online. As soon as I posted it, I took it down immediately. It wasn’t my shot.

From that point forward, I learned to find your own work. Now, if I see a shot I like a lot at a workshop, I file it away for a year. When I come back a year later, it will not be the same shot.

Every shot is essentially a self-portrait. The longer one does anything, the more personal the work gets.

PlanetOwanka by Tony Sweet

Looking through your folios, your work is about as varied as anyone’s I’ve seen. Sharp and soft focus. Macro and landscape. People and Buildings. Long and multiple exposures. Straight photography and added textures and effects. Color, black and white, and infrared. Big camera and iPhone. Maybe there is generally a theme of color and texture in common. Many photographers only show one style on their website. What draws you to take and share so many different types of images?

Basically, it the way that I’m wired. John Shaw was called a macro photographer for 20 years, and he would say he did everything. They had John Shaw pigeon holed. I try not to do that to myself. I’m not sure what style means. There is this whole movement toward workshops on developing a personal style. That’s ridiculous. Style is a product of our lifetime. You can’t just take a course and in one week say this is my style. What if I say my style is this, but someone else says my style is that? Who’s right? Other people are at least a part of defining your style.

As far as my eclectic portfolio, someone asked the great Duke Ellington what was his favorite kind of music. He replied saying that was two kinds of music, good and bad. I think there are two kinds of photography, good and bad. I like good photography. The subject material is widely varied. Do I like nature photography? Sure, that is where I started. If I had to pick one right now, it would be infrared. Today, I am shooting about half color and half infrared. Things run their own life course; I’m just along for the ride. Then I will do whatever comes next.

Do you have a preconceived notion of what you are going to shoot or do you explore and shoot what you find?

Ninety percent of the time I just open my mind to whatever gets my attention, conscious and sub-conscious. Occasionally I have a preconceived notion of what I want to shoot and go looking for it. I don’t always get it, but something else will show up. One mistake people make is being destination driven. Many times there is a good shot on the way to the destination. What if I see a great fog on the way? I will shoot the great fog and go to the destination later. Almost without exception, if I pass up a great shot to go on to where I was going, the shot I passed up was better.

When you go out to shoot, what goals do you have for your images?

Something that feels right. If you don’t feel what you are shooting, no one else will either. I look for things that move me emotionally, things that excite me. Of course, photography is not what it used to be. Composition is always paramount, but now, all the camera does is capture raw material. A raw file is just a set of numbers. You can’t even print a raw file. You have to convert it. Unless I’m in the middle of phenomenal light, which doesn’t happen that often, I’m thinking in terms of what I will do after I get back and work with the file (exposure, contrast, saturation, creative processing, adding textures). The initial capture is raw material like something I can pour into a form and reshape. Traditional and creative use of editing software is essential in modern day digital photography.

Looms by Tony Sweet

When you are pleased with an image that you capture, how is it different than a competently captured, good image? What elements make it special for you?

First and foremost, strong, compelling, composition. Then, a good histogram. That’s it.

Do you have any favorite images and stories that go along with them?

Not exactly, but I have a recent experience. I improvised a 2 hour lecture at a recent event in Burlington, ONT. The topic was “Personal Style.” I walked in like a jazz musician not knowing what I was going to say along with a slide show. It occurred to me that I was doing a self-discovery session in front of an audience. As I ran through the images over and over, it became apparent that certain images remained in my mind more than others. As I weeded through the images, the ones that I consistently saved had a strong element of “One.” i.e. single tree, single rock, single cloud, etc.

Then I digressed into my childhood. I was an only child. Most jazz musicians, most nature photographers, most astronauts are only children. What do they have in common? It’s the ability to come to terms with life alone, it’s the ability to avoid boredom by creatively occupying ones self. I find that it is usually one thing that gets my attention, a single cloud or a single bicycle rather than a big landscape. If I were to define my own style, a constant theme/ element would be the solitary thing: one tree, sparse landscape, one ray of light. Things that are solitary. I think it is reinforced or comes from that only child background.

youtube

What basic kit do you carry with you when you go exploring?

I work out of the car most of the time these days, which means that we work close enough to the car that going back to get something is rarely an issue. My infrared kit is a D800 converted for infrared with a 24-120mm lens. For color, the 14-24mm, which is a bit heavy, is optional, depending on where I go. The 16-35mm, 24-70mm, 70-200mm and the 105mm are always with me. I bought the Nikon 200-500mm for when I need to pull things in. For travel, like when I am in Cuba, I will take the 16-35mm and the 28-300mm and maybe add an 85mm f/1.4 for portraits.

In some of your early work, you used a lot of filters. Do you still use them now that you are digital, or do you use software to create the effects?

For adjusting white balance or adding magenta color I use software. You can’t polarize in software so I carry one of those. I do a lot of long exposures so I have 5, 10 and 20 stop ND filters. I use the Singh-Ray I-Ray which lets me shoot infrared with a color camera. I carry a UV filter for shooting in hostile environments like blowing sand, falling snow or under a waterfall. You don’t want to be constantly wiping off you lens or have glass hitting glass with the sand. I also carry split neutral density filters which you can imitate in software but I like the look the Singh-Ray filters give. For quick macro I have a Canon 500D to use on the 70-200mm for macro.

Lake Abiquiu by Tony Sweet

In what situation do you like to use you iPhone rather than you DSLR?

My iPhone photography goes in streaks. Right now it’s on the low side as I am working more on infrared. I use the iPhone because it is less intrusive and there are apps available on the phone that are not available in the computer. The phone is like a sketch pad. I always have the phone with me so I use it for spontaneity to take pictures of little things that I would never get the big camera out for. Then I can use the apps to give it more of an artistic rendering. More than anything, it just keeps your head in the game. The new iPhone 6 is 12 meg so when you put it into software with the 12 meg per channel it is a 36 megabyte file. Unbelievable. Matt Kloskowski said, and I agree with him, that all the technology is currently being put into small devices. All the kids coming up are writing code for the phone. Moment Cases have software built into the case and lens that attach. Rumor has it the iPhone 7 will be more of a camera with controls for the settings. That’s where it is obviously going. The sensor will still be small and noisy so I still like the D810. I have a D800 converted to infrared. But as far as the I-Phone goes, I’m sure I will get back into it more, soon.

It is pretty clear that you come down on the art side versus documentary photography. Can you talk a little about how much manipulation of the pixels you believe is acceptable?

Because of my jazz background, I’ve always thought of photography as interpretive, as a means of self expression. There are no rules. Whatever you can think of, try it. Photography is not what it used to be, and you lose a lot if you try to think the same way. There are infinite options available, which gives you a wider range of self-expression. We all want to stand out from the crowd. With the software tools available, we can bring that to fruition. Everything is alright with me. The pictures are in your head, not in the file, in the camera, or in the lens, or in the software. It’s in your imagination. The word manipulation has a bad connotation. I prefer the word “optimize.” But, I try to be careful that the effect doesn’t detract from the subject, although sometimes it’s ok.

What software products do you utilize to work with your images and what are the advantages of some of them?

I’m using Nik Viveza for color adjustment and Silver Effects for black and white. Macphun’s Creative Kit, Topaz, OnOne. Pick at least one of them and really learn it. The more you know about the various software products, the more efficiently you will get the effect you want.

I use Lightroom for basic processing. I use Photoshop when I need layers to combine images. It’s very perfunctory. After which, I’ll go into the aforementioned plugins to create a more personal interpretation.

Tony Kuyper’s Luminosity Actions is a very powerful selection and processing product. It allows us to target and optimize very specific, but non-contiguous parts of the image. Also, available and recommended are the instructional videos by Sean Bagshaw which are excellent 5 to 10 minute movies. They are both excellent teachers. Sean overlaps the material in the videos so that you keep getting exposed to it, and you can stop the video and go back over it.

youtube

As varied as your images are the ways you offer education to photographers: Books, workshops, photo tours, seminars, on-line courses, individual mentorships, DVDs, and phone apps. What are some of the strengths and weaknesses of these methods of learning? How would you recommend that an advanced beginner to intermediate level photographer learn the skills and vision to get better?

You want to immerse yourself as much as you can. Given that most people have jobs and family they can not immerse themselves all day, every day. Attending a live workshop with a teacher that you want to immolate is one way. It’s like a direct injection of knowledge from a person you want to learn from. When you are on a workshop for several days, what you are learning keeps getting reinforced so you learn exponentially. To me, that is the most powerful way to learn.

You can couple that with a self-paced online course. As many different inputs as you can get given your lifestyle, the better it is. They cross pollinate each other. Buying and watching DVDs is a little like a workshop in a box. I don’t like to read a lot of photo books. I’m more visual and like to learn by watching and by looking and evaluating, but different people learn different ways. There is every possible option out there to get what you want out of photography depending on your learning paradigm.

Do you have recommendation on how a student should prepare for and participate in a workshop to get the most benefit from the experience?

First talk to the instructor. We get e-mails asking what to bring all the time. We provide a list that is half photographic and half human needs like layered clothing, water proof shoes, and bug spray. The photographic equipment suggestions include lens selections, filters, and editing software loaded on a computer.

Then think about what you want to learn based on what the teacher does. Ask how a certain effect was achieved, thought processes, compositional questions. Write the answers down so you will have them when you get home to practice. There may be notes given out or that you take, but you should leave with knowledge that transcends the notes.

Lupin field by Tony Sweet

What should a participant expect from the time he/she spends with you on one of your Visual Artistry Workshops?

The concerns of our clients is first and foremost. We help everyone in the field with subject selection, composition, gear questions, and answer questions. During afternoon class sessions, we critique images for immediate feedback, and demo software on client images.

We try to emphasize images in the Journal. To me, it seems your books do the same. They present an image and support it with a discussion of how to capture it rather than being a lot of text. How do you develop the concepts for your books and do you have more books planned?

Don’t you learn more from seeing the shot than talking about it? With early photo books in the beginning, I was always searching for image-relevant text, and have always wanted to see the image on one page of a spread and the text on the opposing page. As soon as I had the material, the books in my Fine Art Nature Photography series are all designed that way. Large image on one page and succinct, direct text on the opposite page.

In as far as new books, it’s a matter of time. I’m always tossing new book ideas around.

I have to ask, when did you start wearing the bandana?

Not exactly sure, but it’s been many years.

Are there any photographers that you think our readers should take a look at?

There are several on my website. In addition, Cole Thompson, Chuck Kimmerle, Michael Kenna, Jeff Birnbaum, John Sexton, Art Wolfe, Jay Maisel, Pat O’hara, Brenda Tharp, Jennifer Wu. A web search will turn up numerous, very talented photographers.

Any key piece of advice for the readers?

All of this technical stuff is great, but don’t forget to just have fun!

Photo by Tony Sweet

———

Tony Sweet’s newest ebook available to download now: Creative Techniques and the Art of Self Expression by Tony Sweet

Creative Techniques and the Art of Self Expression by Tony Sweet

#Inspiration

0 notes