I love this pair of shoes. They raise so many questions. They raised a lot of challenges as well. I have long known just how difficult it is to shoot shiny objects, but putting a mirror below them really ups the difficulty. What stories do you think this pair tells? Let me know in the comments. I’m sure they have a few.

In other news, they Kickstarter fund raising campaign for the American Photo Project is off to a crawl. Two backers and $30 so far. Only 1%. I need to pick up the pace if I am ever going to make it. Just click on the widget to the right to learn more.

There is also only two days left in the typo contest. Send in the photos of those typos to claim your prize.

I think shoes are incredible. They are horribly taken for granted. Every pair of shoes have a story to them. With this book, I want to tease the story out of a few of them. What story do you think these boots have to tell?

I think I’m about a quarter of the way through it right now. Still a lot of work to do before my deadline, which is the Artwalk on October 9th. You are coming, right? Wish me luck. It’s starting to look like it may be a bit of a lofty goal. Regardless, you should come by and say hi.

Don’t forget about the contest this month. Send me a picture of the best typo you can find in a public space. My favorite is the winner.

I’ve already made my order through Amazon. Now I just have to find a way to get work to reimburse for this sort of stuff.

This also seems a timely place to mention I still have that little contest running. Send me a picture of the best typo you can find in print. You can check newspapers (if you can still find one), advertising, even your junk mail. Still have that prize to give away.

On their two and a half month mission they completed a circuitous route around the United Sates and did as much learning about race relations, education, and workplace issues as they did correcting of typos.

They have since written a book and launched a second tour of the country, this time to promote their book. I wonder how much correcting they’ll be doing this time? They’ll be in San Francisco in September, maybe I can ask them my self.

What crazy typos have you seen out there? Send me a picture, the best one will win a prize. A typo free prize. Winner will be chosen the first week of  September.

Regarding Hawaii, well, it’s Hawaii. Is it ever bad? My wife and I are going for our friends’ wedding. The couple is from Hilo so the wedding, as well as our lodging, will be in that area. We don’t have much of a budget for the trip, but it’s Hawaii. I could do nothing but attend the wedding and spend the rest of the week sitting on the beach and reading. My only goals for the trip are:

• Read through the books I’m bringing (Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck and Slipknot by Linda Greenlaw)
• Attend a beautiful wedding
• Avoid wearing closed toe shoes at all costs

Other than that, I am just looking forward to spending a week in paradise with my wife. I hope to come back rested, tan, tattooed and ultimately, more clear headed.

Which brings me to the other thing that has been keeping me busy. Launching a business is no mean feat. I have been doing this type work for a while now, more as a hobby than anything else. But times have changed. I love writing, in all it’s forms and I might as well make some decent money while I’m at it. So far I have designed my stationary (business cards, letter head and envelopes) and had a ton of ideas. Right now I am in the process of reigning those ideas in and focusing them into a viable business model, which brings my business plan. I’ve never written one before, but it seems straight forward enough. I’ll probably get to work on the actual writing of it tonight. I’ve spent the last couple days researching how to do such things. That, and my marketing plan. I can’t really write my business plan until I have a marketing plan in place. Again, lots of research. Writing is not a problem for me, it’s the business part of things I am need to learn. I am, however, not deterred. There are few things you can’t learn through a combination of book knowledge and old fashioned trial and error. I just hope this trial and error has a more positive outcome than my adolescent experiments with firecrackers. Poor dog.

Anyhow, things around here next week will be spotty to a possible shade of non-existent. Not that I’m neglecting things when I need to be most on top of them, but I’ll be in freekin Hawaii. On Vacation.

See you there.

Linda’s latest book, Seaworthy, is a recounting of her return to deep-water fishing after a ten year absence. Still holding the distinction of being the only female swordfish boat captain in America, Greenlaw shows that anything she lost in the last ten years because of age, she has more than made up for in experience. Her writing style matches her personality: straight forward, conversational and matter of fact. Sometimes you have to look up from the page to remind yourself that you are not sitting on a bar stool next to her.

In person Linda was easy going and easy to relate to. I found myself getting lost in her talk and the Q&A session was filled with great information and showed just how good she is at dealing with people, even the difficult ones. I love her no nonsense style. When asked about the trip chronicled in Seaworthy she said, “Was this trip a bust, yes. But I’ve been in the business long enough to know that some trips are like that.” Greenlaw was obviously un-phased by the financial calamity and went on to say that she is looking forward to getting back out on the water again. Her matter-of-fact reasoning is clear when the subject of her arrest for fishing in Canadian waters, which is covered in Seaworthy, came up. Her response was simply, “I was there and I was fishing.”  One very telling question asked by an attendee was, “Have you ever felt any pressure from you publisher to neutralize gender specific terms?” “No.” was the answer, “I’m a fisherman. That’s what I do.” She is the kind of person I would love to work for, just maybe not on a sword-boat.

Greenlaw splits her time between writing and fishing. I am looking forward to the next season of Swords – Life on the Line and delving into her first foray into fiction, Slipknot. She is someone I look up to a great deal. She has had more success as a writer than I can hope for and is more man than I’ll ever be.

Anybody out there running a ‘zine or know of any good ones? I’d be happy to post them here.

Also, I am open for business as far as my freelance business goes. So, if your in need of a writer, don’t hesitate to let me know.

Prepared for more of Meyer’s acceptance, nay, encouragement of co-dependent, over protective relationships, I was pleasantly surprised. Bree, the main character, is a strong, uh. . ., vampire and is on her way to developing her independence before . . . well, I don’t want to spoil anything. I found myself liking Bree, even rooting for her, though I knew what the eventual outcome would be. The lessons that Meyer’s learned about incorporating a plot line into her stories in Eclipse have apparently taken hold.  I often found myself anxious to turn pages for more reasons than just finishing the book.

The most endearing part of the book, for me, was the fact that Bree actually has some traits to be admired. Other than the aforementioned strength, she has the drive and desire to better he situation. In Bree, I find a female character in the Twilight saga that might have served as a halfway decent role model. Though sad, there is even a moral to be found in Bree’s story.

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner has nudged my following of Meyer’s from a stagnant professional curiosity and guided it in the direction of possibly becoming a real fan. If Breaking Dawn is in even close to being as enjoyable as The Short Second Life…, I may find myself looking  forward to her next book.

What do you have to say?

Today’s post by Meredith Blake is especially encouraging of my unhealthy habit of devouring books. In her post Rethinking the Beach Read, she explores the idea that certain types of books are better read in certain situations. I can’t agree more. I love her explanation of just what a beach read is, “The beach read is sometimes a happy accident, but it’s just as often a strategic decision: you’ve got time off, and you want to spend it reading just the right book.” Or, the pity she feels for an airport book, “There’s a whiff of loneliness and desperation to the airport book, like reading the back of the cereal box when you’re stuck without the morning paper.”

I know “beach read” is a subjective term; it means different things to different people. I know folks for whom the latest HTML5 book is their ideal beach read. Those poor souls. Some of us have never considered that a book might be more enjoyable in a certain situation. Though any book would be more enjoyable when read on the beach, I think my trip to Hawaii is going to be accompanied by a re-read of Cannery Row.

What’s your next Beach Read?