Seems I can’t get enough doomsday fiction these days. Peter Heller’s “The Dog Stars” was both heart-wrenching and positive. Starting out as a story about Hig and his dog Jasper surviving the apocalypse and ending as something else, I found it to be at times violent, sad, and beautiful. I’m not sure anyone but Cormac McCarthy is allowed to remove punctuation from dialog, but I got over that.

Mitchell Zukor’s job is to calculate the odds of every worst-case-scenario imaginable. Suddenly one of them becomes reality and Mitchell finds himself floating through the streets of Manhattan in a tie-dyed canoe. Dark humor and interesting characters made it an enjoyable read.

Twyla Tharp’s “The Creative Habit” is pretty much as helpful as most other creative “self-help” books; meaning it wasn’t terribly helpful. I found her approach interesting and it raised my curiousity about dance, but telling me that you’re a relentless perfectionist workaholic doesn’t help me become one. I’m not sure I’d even want to.

My daughter happened to be with me when I needed to write something in my notebook. I pulled out my handy Midori Brass Bullet Pencil and wrote my note. Looking up, satisfied, I saw her staring at my hand with her mouth hanging open. “Is that a pencil?” she asked, as if she’d just seen one for the first time. “Yes, of course, why?” I replied. She just shook her head dismissively and walked out of the room.

“Crux” takes place 6 months after “Nexus”. I found it to be a great combination of “what if” thought experiment and “hang on to your britches” thriller.

It used to be that Apple keynotes made me lust after a new phone. I guess technically they still do, but today’s event only made me want the new camera. At least it comes with a phone! Seriously though, the iPhone camera is good enough for 90% of what most people need in a camera. Me included, if I’m being honest.

I’ve always been an early adopter. Trying the latest gadgets is practically my specialty. Software, computers, phones, music, cameras, all of it. The excitement of new-shiny draws me in every time. It’s fun to try cool new stuff. I don’t even bother asking why I need whatever nifty device I just preordered; I just order it because it’s going to be better. Right? On the other hand, I spend a lot of time using very old technology; things like manual typewriters, vinyl records, film cameras, etc.

The above photo shows the current state of my home “studio.” This is probably why I’m leaning more toward “environmental” portraits. Anywhere is better than here right now. But, I have one light and a backdrop and it’s nearby so there are really no excuses. 

![][1] What I usually say is that I just don’t care for photographs using artificial light (flash). What I usually mean, however, is that I just don’t understand how to use flash to make interesting photographs. Basically, it’s a copout. I’m slowly trying to change that. The above image of Zim was taken with a new (to me) Hasselblad 503CXi and the Hasselblad D-Flash 40. Not terribly convenient, but with simple TTL operation I can get some practice without having to over-think everything.

I’ve been meaning to read Stephen King’s Dark Tower series for years. I’m not sure why I waited so long. “The Gunslinger" is a fun tale, and I’m looking forward to the remaining books.

Books about gods messing with humans are always fun. Books about stories about gods messing with humans are even more fun. “The Sugar Frosted Nutsack” is such a book. Mark Leyner is a showy genius and this book is one of those in which you can “see the writing.” Some people dislike that. I’m not one of those people. When the writing is this much fun, I want to see it all.

When David Rees started an “Artisanal Pencil Sharpening” service I laughed right along with everyone else. Secretly though, I wished I had thought of it. In his book, “How to Sharpen Pencils,” Rees describes in great detail every possible component of artisinal pencil sharpening; both real and imagined. It’s funny. And for those of us who love pencils, it’s helpful too. He is, after all, “The number 1 #2 pencil sharpener.