The Problem With Getting Rid Of Free Checking

Free Checking. It's one of those wonderful ideas of the last, oh I don't know. However long it's existed. Banks so wanted our money, they'd bribe us with things like coolers and other junk just to get us to sign up for free checking. So free checking was basically free (plus a present!) checking.

But now banks are in a tizzy because they're being "regulated." Personally, I think it's a joke, and they should be more heavily regulated, but that's neither here nor there. The problem is, they claim they can't make money, so they need to axe free checking. After all, how are the banks supposed to make money, now that overdraft fees aren't automatic? You know, I wanted that juice to cost me 35 extra dollars. I can think of very few times when overdrafting makes sense. Even being late on payments usually doesn't cost you $35, buying a soda certainly shouldn't. Then Dodd-Frank cut in half the amount of swipe fees they could charge per swipe on Debit card fees. So now they charge for the privilege of spending your own money.


So let's see. Free checking. How does it work?


In the beginning, I give a bank what money I have. Any future money I might hope to earn will also go in their vaults. I can/will do this up to $250,000.


With my money, and the money of millions of others, they make loans. They loan people my money and charge them interest. Auto loans, mortgages, small business loans, etc. These loans (I'm not a financial planner) will likely vary from 3% to 15%. Maybe even higher, who knows. Lines of Credit, I'm sure, have even higher rates. Many banks even offer credit cards with rates in the 20-30% range.


Now, they don't get my money for free. They actually pay me some interest too. It's an amazingly high rate of .01%. Basically, I could travel in time 10,000 years and I'd still be poor (not even accounting for inflation). They also give me wonderful extras like Bill Pay (oooh) and Customer Service. Also, now that I'm a "customer" I can utilize their other services, like loans and stuff.


But now, this model is apparently unsustainable. The banks just can't turn a profit anymore because of free checking. Well, actually, that's not true. They'll keep your checking account free if you have a minimum balance varying from $1,000-$15,000; utilize direct deposit; or some other stipulations (like using Bill Pay a few times a month).


I don't agree with this. Don't get me wrong, I think people should be paid for their services. But the bank isn't exactly doing anything for me here. All they do is protect my money. Well, that's not true, if they are robbed, insurance covers the loss. If they make terrible bets with my money and lose it all, the FDIC will give me what they lost, up to $250,000.


They don't give me checks, either. I don't use them, but if I want them, I have to pay for them. I want to buy something with my debit card? They get money. 


The fact is, simple checking accounts should be free because they aren't worth that much; the value just isn't there. Having a checking account isn't some magical vessel that transforms my money into anything--it just lets me pay people. And 99% of the time I pay people, my bank gets money. The bank uses my money to make money.


But you know what the absolute worst part is? This is a fee for not having enough money. I literally just opened up a piece of mail stating that if I do not maintain a minimum daily balance of $100, I will be charged $15 a month. Sure, I may not be making the bank much money at that small a balance, but I'm not costing them anything either. So if I were living pay check to pay check (which I'm currently not, anyone want to hire me?) and had a balance hovering around $100, it would take five months before my balance was brought down to $10. And anyone living paycheck to paycheck with a small monthly balance could run into this problem, for example, senior citizens.


It's a shame the letter just mentions regulatory changes, but doesn't actually say which. I have a feeling the changes don't affect free checking accounts.

On The "Rich" And The "Job Creators"

Personally, I've been dreaming of this moment for three years. I go to bed every night and I dream of another recession. - Alessio Rastani

To begin with, I'm in favor of taxes, and taxing wealth. I think people deserve to keep what they earn, but earnings are not the result of a windfall, they take time to mature into wealth. My views are unorthodox, but I'd tax exceptional incomes at exceptional rates. Nobody on earth is going to try to earn less money simply because it's taxed more--especially the people who love money the most.

Short term gains should be taxed at the highest rates. Long term investments should be taxed lower. Wages, actual, honest wages should be taxed at the lowest rate since they are the most "earned." I'd still tax income progressively, though, and my top tax bracket would not be $250,000.

A lot of the rhetoric in politics lately talks about the rich and the job creators. Frankly, this gets us nowhere. There's no unilateral definition for "rich." Even job creator as a class is ambiguous. Rich in Connecticut is different than rich in Florida. Rich in Greenwich, Connecticut is different than rich in Derby, Connecticut. Most people would agree that $10 million is rich, but some wouldn't. Some people find this whole conversation irrelevant, because their money is theirs. Period.

Job creator as a title is equally ambiguous. Anyone who has hired someone is a job creator. And referring to a class of people as a job creator doesn't do anything for the national conversation. Should we tax job creators? Absolutely. Should we encourage them to create jobs? Absolutely. Does offering tiny tax cuts to businesses do it? No, not really. But cutting their taxes entirely won't either.

The logic is that if the corporations and rich have more money, they will hire more. The Job Creator Fallacy. The problem with this logic is that corporations are hoarding trillions of dollars in loans from the treasury, and they aren't using it to hire people. They are sitting on it. They are buying their competitors with it. And they are buying patents with it. This actually gets rid of jobs with things like consolidation and excessive litigating. Congress recently passed a law to "reform" patents. This did nothing to solve the problem, though. Google shouldn't be spending $12.5 billion on patents, they should reinvest it, or create jobs. The same is true for every other tech company battling over patents.

The problem with this whole conversation is how polarized and politicized it has become, however. Liberals see the rich as a bunch of assholes hoarding the wealth of this country while taking a massive dump on the rest of Americans. Conservatives see the rich as benevolent job creators who want to reinvest their money in their companies and create jobs, if only their taxes were lower. If only America wasn't such a high-taxed, terrible place to house a corporation. Lower their tax burden, and the jobs will come.

Liberals would counter that this "race to the bottom" gains nothing. Sure, there are jobs then (maybe) but what kind of job? All jobs aren't created equally. There are good quality jobs and terrible quality jobs. And wages are only a very small part of the quality equation.

Conservatives would counter that liberals in favor of taxing the wealthy and spreading their wealth constitutes socialism, and socialists are very, very bad. Why should they have to give up what they earn to lazy, incompetent people who don't want to work, they'd argue. It's a valid point, but who says the poor don't want to work? Maybe no one will give them a job. It's one big circle jerk, where the poor man on the totem pole isn't getting his, but ends up with everyone else's "egg" on their face. And I'm not exactly referring to trickle down "economics."

I don't care where you are on the map of conservative or liberal views, but people like this deserve to be taxed. This person deserves to be taxed at the standard rate up until $75,000 (and I'm being very, very generous. Anything after that should be taxed at 100%.



Some gems in case you don't want to watch the whole five minutes or so:

The governments don't rule the world, Goldman Sachs rules the world.

The savings of millions of people are going to vanish" in less than a year

This economic crisis is like a cancer, if you just wait and wait thinking this will go away, just like a cancer it's going to grow and it's going to be too late

Personally, I've been dreaming of this moment for three years. I go to bed every night and I dream of another recession.

When the market crashes... if you know what to do, if you have the right plan set up, you can make a lot of money from this.

For most traders we don't really care about having a fixed economy, having a fixed situation, our job is to make money from it

Until next time.

Specifics On My Free And Open Arts Studio

Earlier today, Krissy asked me about my post from a week ago regarding an open arts studio. Her question was simple, but perplexed me nonetheless. She asked, (I'm paraphrasing) "So what do you want to do? Is this hypothetical or something you want to do?" I was taken aback because anytime she mentions reading my blog, I blush, but also because I though, "well, isn't it obvious?" But maybe it isn't. I assured her that I want to do it for reals, maybe not so seriously considering she walked in on me in my "Hipster week" look, which makes me look ridiculous.

In a future post, I'll write about fundraising ideas and other details, but this post will be more about general classes. Obviously this is merely some quick brainstorming so this will by no means be complete or final. So there's that.

I will attempt to do this in something resembling a coherent and organized manner.

There are probably an infinite manner of mediums for art. Really if something exists, you can create something with it, or on it. This is really quite fascinating that, in essence, arts is made with anything and everything. There are always barriers to entry for anything, but with art, the barrier can often be quite simple to overcome.

Golf can be fun, but if you're no good at it, the people you're playing with might not tolerate your having fun at shooting a fifteen on every hole. Then there's the cost of clubs and greens fees. Baseball, too, isn't much fun when you never, ever hit the ball. True story, in my career in little kids baseball I got two hits. Both in the same game. I'm also fairly certain it's the only two times I swung the bat. Suffice to say, I was very deliberate in everything I did whilst playing baseball.

But art can be made on cardboard or the blacktop using rocks or chalk. Art can last forever (at least, centuries) or be disposable. Art can be physically, mentally, and emotionally draining or shallow. Art can be fancy pants or accessible. In reality, everything that surrounds us is art. Sometimes art is random other times it is calculated. Art does not discriminate (though, the art world can be very discriminating); a blind person can create.

That said, I'm going to try and break down various ideas into more general sections or categories.

Textiles

The first such category of classes will be textiles. Textiles surround us everywhere, and one can improvise with them pretty easily.

Stuffies

My first idea is stuffies. Who doesn't love stuffed animals? Who doesn't have someone in their life who would appreciate stuffed animals? Stuffed animals can be created in numerous ways, in varying complexities, for people of any age. Yes, I don't believe stuffed animals are solely for children. I have at least three of them within five feet of me.

Stuffies can be made very simply in a few minutes by sewing some felt together, or planned out over months leaving you with a whale that takes up an entire room. You can make them out of felt or fabric. You can knit or crochet them. You can make literally anything out of anything resembling a fabric. In fact, I bet you could make them out of other items, but I'm not sure how most people would feel about a cardboard stuffy.



Knitting & Crochet

Being in Woodbury and near Southbury, which are probably the undisputed champions of the world in elderly per capita, crocheting and knitting seem like obvious areas for classes. I especially like that young people are taking these crafts that are traditionally seen as very elderly and injecting them with a youthfulness that might not exist without a marketplace like Etsy.

Knitting and crochet are also limited only by one's imagination. You can knit or crochet almost anything. Want a blanket? How about an Ottoman? Stuffies? Yup, they too can be made with yarn. A fun offshoot of knitting and crocheting would be the process in creating yarn. I know there are quite a few yarn makers nearby to partner with. Any time I've met one, they loved talking about their animals and the yarn they make from their furs.

Basketry

I don't know anything about basketry, but I think it's intriguing. I saw a guy in Hawaii making them out of, I think, palm fronds. This guy clearly just sat there all day making hats and baskets to make a living.

Weaving

This, too, I know nothing about. Weaving is one of those things that seems exceptionally simple, but I imagine is far more complex. You can create some beautiful things with weaving though. I imagine that weaving is a very practical craft as well. You can make rugs, for example. Rugs are expensive. Making your own rugs and rugs for others seems a whole lot better than heading to Target and buying one of their generic rugs. You could make your own instead of blowing a few hundred bucks at Anthropologie, too. But like I said, I don't know anything about weaving.

Making Clothes

Maybe "Seamstressing" (is that a word?) would be a better title? Either way, making clothes intrigues me. I know Krissy would do it if she could sew. I always appreciate when people wear clothes that they make themselves. Of course, I think Jemma is the only person I've been able to say this about, since she made the dress she wore to mine and Krissy's wedding. I think this could be fun, though.

Sewing

I think sewing is an extension of the previous section. Or maybe the previous section is really more of a subsection of sewing. Either way, there's promise in teaching sewing. Everybody should have a very basic working knowledge of sewing (Think: refastening buttons, etc). Then there is hand sewing, which when done right adds an entirely different look to products/items. Sewing machines can do all kinds of fancy shmancy things, too.

Needlepoint

I don't personally care much for needlepoint. It's neat in it's own way, I just don't think it's my style. Maybe this is because most needlepoint is the ballet dancer or wolf crap you see at craft stores. Also, my grandma does it, so there's that. But as far as I understand it, needlepoint is basically pixel art with yarn. In that respect, I feel like I could like pixel art, so long as the endproduct wasn't so...cliche.

Quilting

I think more people should quilt. The irony, of course, is that I've never made a quilt, but I know I will. Think of all the fun family projects that could be made and turned into a quilt. If Krissy and I had children, I'm pretty sure we'd be saving little bits and bobs of art here and there for quilting. I'm a big fan of taking artwork, especially that of children, and turning it into something more display-worthy. Quilts seem like a perfect extension of that ideal.

Printmaking

Block Prints

Linoleum, wood, metal cuts. There's a certain magic in making a block print; cutting or carving them takes a bit of time, but it's very relaxing. Sometimes carving them can be a bit confusing if you're unfamiliar with positive and negative space, or working in reverse, but the worst that can happen is going to be a flaw that adds to the final print anyway.

Screen Printing

If I had the space and money, I'd have a screen printing machine. I'd crank out stuff like you couldn't believe. But that's not exactly why you're here. Screen printing is beautiful because it's automated to a point, but still very "hand made" in a sense. Each color is applied by hand, one at a time creating generally simple (in color) prints. You can print on probably anything, but for many people paper and fabric would be clear winners. I think screen printing would be a great way to raise funds for supplies, salaries, and equipment, too. I'd really like to have a class where parents take their children's drawings and turn them into t-shirts, ideally t-shirts manufactured in the USA.

Engraving & Etching

I don't know tons about these two, but I'm especially intrigues by etchings. I imagine engravings being involved and difficult to make, whereas I bet there are many ways to create etchings—even with common household items. I'm partial to ideas that people will be able to recreate at their home without needing all manner of specialized equipment. I'd really like to offer classes centering around lithographs and stencils, too. Other options include mezzotint, aquatint, drypoint, and photo-lithography.

Photography

Camera: Basics & Intermediate

Classes focusing on how to use camera and their many, many peripheral devices. What various functions are for and what everything on your camera and in the menus means. May also teach photography basics such as composition, understanding expose, when to listen to your camera and, more importantly, when not to.

Portraiture

Classes focusing on photographing living beings—namely people and animals. Certainly classes centering on photographing children, and allowing children to photograph will be offered too. Discuss various styles of portraiture from classic posed portraits to a more documentary style. Classes on using natural light and studio light would also be a given, which leads me to...

Lighting

Light is amazing and integral to all photographs. Classes on this topic would discuss how to understand and work with light in a natural, intuitive way. Topics would cover how to use the light to your advantage in any situation and also how to use strobes when you're looking for something different.

Landscapes

Landscape classes would be no fun inside, so these classes would head out into the natural beauty of Connecticut for some sweet hands-on training. I can think of plenty of places both near and far that a landscape shooter would love. Could be interesting to organize trips to places that are, ahem, a bit more exotic, too.

Darkroom & Film

Want to develop your own black and white film with household materials? Want to know how to set up your own darkroom in your home? Do you want to make prints from your negatives, or scan them into your computer for touch ups and printing? Really anything pertaining to film could be covered here.

Book Arts

Bookbinding: Beginner Through Advanced

I love making books! Making books by hand takes some time, but is really very relaxing. There are many types of bindings and ways to create books and all will be covered here. Hardcover, softcover, perfect binding, stab bindings, and longstitch are just the beginning. Book repair and conservation could also be covered under this section.

Altered Books

Classes here would focus of using books to create new pieces of art through, you guessed it, alteration. While I'm a bit undecided on whether I like seeing books destroyed, I have to admit that the end result can be pretty unique. In a good way. Altered books can take a flat, almost two dimensional object and turn that into something very sculptural and dynamic. Where bookbinding is the physical act of creating a book, altered books are those books turned into something new. Art books could probably fall under the purview of altered books as well.

Making and Using Book Cloth

Book cloth is great for keeping your finished book together since it resists tears far better than paper, but you're often limited to solid colors at your local store. This class would show various ways to turn any fabric into book cloth and various ways to use said bookcloth.

How To Make Books Out Of Anything

Books really can be made out of anything. My first was made out of a USPS mailing box and some dried acrylic paint. I think this class would be more child-friendly since the class is inherently more down to earth and less erudite. I have some craft foamy stuff in a drawer that would make an excellent children's book cover.

Making Boxes

Making boxes is sort of an extension of making hardcover books. Both use the same materials, just in slightly different ways. Making your own boxes, say for jewelry, photos, or books is far easier than you'd think. What are the odds you'll find a box the exact size you'll need anyway? Make it yourself and you can be certain it's perfect. Boxes are a great way to present books, gifts, or portfolios, too.

In Conclusion...

Well, I think that's a good start. Obviously this is just a very general outline of avenues worth exploring. Not knowing most of these arts and crafts myself, I'd need to get in touch with an awful lot of people who share in the same idea I have of a wonderful, free, and open art studio and would be willing to teach to their respective expertise. I know that I've left out plenty of worthy arts and crafts (painting; drawing) worth teaching too, so this list will be pretty heavily amended over time; but like I said, it's a start.

More to come!

Adventures In Advertising - The Camera Store

I read a fair amount of photography blogs (when I'm not reading about politics or the news, natch.) As such, I end up being snookered into watching a lot of videos that are, well, lame. Granted, a lot of them are actually inspiring to watch, and can be quite educational. But more than a few are lame.

This isn't anyone's fault, really. If my camera did video, I'd be contributing to this trend. But you know what? I bet I'd think that my videos were awesome. Others, of course, would think they are lame. The important thing is that people are creating videos that they want to, others be damned. I like this mentality.

This video has all the makings of being lame, but it isn't. Well, to me at least. If you don't like photography, you'd probably hate any photography video, since they are either a) extremely dry; or b) extremely lame. This video I think manages quite well to capture my attention. Though, I couldn't watch it too many times in a row.

As for being an advertisement for a camera store? It's amazing and works really well. Someone who likes cameras will appreciate it. Someone who doesn't know what they want will probably be amused enough to check them out. And I bet they had a blast filming this, so it's win-win-win all the way around.

It really makes you realize though just how similar camera equipment is to various articles of war.

Camera equipment is often put into waterproof, airtight, crush-proof containers. I imagine guns are put into similar containers. Some of them are even shiny and metal making them look extra illicit.

I like that these guys took advantage of the similarities and did so in a fun way.

Besides, my favorite way to make Krissy laugh is to hold down the shutter release; she can't resist the click click click click.

A Grand Plan

I don't know about most people, but I always have ideas popping into my head. Most of them are what I'd consider insignificant in terms of their scope. Over the last couple years, Krissy and I have bantered about on varying ideas like selling pictures, crafting things, and so on, while others have suggested we do other things--namely open a bakery or go into construction.

Most of my ideas are not very organized. Krissy would probably disagree, thinking I can come up with a pretty organized plan off the bat, but my idea of organized and hers can be a bit different at times (which is great).

I think that there's a lack of accessible, free and open education; namely in the arts. College really shouldn't bankrupt people, and it hardly guarantees employment. Arts degrees, I suspect, are becoming even less worthwhile since it seems like funding for the arts is always getting cut.

I don't know what it's like now, but I really never took an art class. There were the normal arts and crafts type things in elementary school, but nothing that really encouraged a desire for the arts. I seem to recall cutting construction paper into circles and making a chain out of it. Now that's inspiring! Middle school actually got worse, if you can believe it. In Middle School we had this bizarre system where every single "elective" shared a period. This essentially meant that you spent two weeks in each class: Phys Ed., Health, Library, Art, Wood Shop, Computers, Spanish, French (and more that I'm sure I'm forgetting). This is a terrible "solution" for a mountain of reasons, but that's my exposure to art class as I remember it. My high school, as awesome as it is, did not require art classes and, having never been given the chance to want to like art, I skipped it.

Which takes me to now, where I have a vested interest in art and in a most bizarre turn of events: education. I'm not going to go into detail, but growing up I really did not like school. I think I prefer a more hands-on, learn at your own pace type of environment, rather than the standard approach that treats everyone the same and teaches, primarily, to standardized tests. Creativity is often a casualty in these methods.

Please excuse my rather rapid and poor graphic:

Perhaps I should explain. I'll try to do that in a reasonably coherent way, but I make no promises. My brain tends to go off on tangents.

Some Basics And Background

I've long been a proponent of free stuff. I understand the basic tenets of capitalism and respect the great wealth it has infused into this country. But I can't help but think that that's a bit selfish. Should Exxon-Mobil be rolling in the dough while your average Saudi is dirt poor. Or while Somalia is stricken with the most atrocious bouts of poverty and malnourishment-- far worse than I could possibly begin to fathom.

Or how musicians make little money while the organizations that purport to represent them are filthy filthy rich.
But that's not what this is about. What I want is an unrestricted. accessible place where people can (and will) come together. Not merely in the physical sense either, I want people to come together emotionally and intellectually because I believe that's the backbone of art. And I want this space to invite and encourage anyone to teach, and teach often.

Much has been written that information wants to be free; this is an old debate. but whether or not information wants to be free doesn't matter, it deserves to be free. Modern Science or mathematics would not exist if this basic idea didn't hold true.

The Basics

Don't mind the sentence fragments, this is a pseudo list.

I want to create a community-driven, free, and open space for arts education. I would certainly be open to other types of education as well, but the emphasis would focus on the arts, both arcane and modern.

Small classes, because no thirty people learn the same way, and no instructor ought to be stretched that thin.
I want to create a focus on children, but without alienating adults. I'd like to see children and parents working together. But there'd also be plenty of programs for adults. too.

Really fun informal events like open dance studio where kids and adults can dance together to some sweet jams. Well, the little tykes will probably dance while the parents watch from the perimeter waiting for some other brave adult to make the first move.

Something A Wee Bit Different

I'd like to have a user-friendly and intuitive website that makes all the information and lessons available to anyone, for any use.

I'd really like to encourage the premise of the open exchange of ideas. I feel that by giving away the information and allowing others to see and use it, that they can also improve upon it. This is a good thing. Not everyone is the best teacher in the world (it's statistically impossible) but the simple desire to teach should be celebrated. By teaching in a cooperative community-driven way, any idea can turn into something much bigger.

In a more technical sense, everything released by the "school" would be under a Creative Commons license. Specifically a non-commercial Share-Alike license. It might sound like gobbledygook, but this is the general idea:
We release something (a lesson plan, artwork, a template, et cetera). Someone can take that and share it with whomever they like. But, they cannot do so commercially. They are also free to create a derivative work. But this derivative must also be shared under the same license, ad infinitum. This kind of piracy is encouraged.

Crazy Talk

I'm not going to actually put a price on any of this. Art classes are typically expensive. Between tuition and course supply fees, art classes have a certain barrier to entry that most might find intimidating.

Instead, I'd institute a pay what you can model. I don't want someone to choose between art classes for their child or dinner. No one should ever have to make such a choice. (More on this in a future post.)

I understand there are a lot of kinks to work out, and that creating a non-profit is incredibly complex and that this hardly scratches the surface of what would need to be done, but this is just one post, and I think blogs with lots of words and few pictures can be, well, a bit wordy.

How do I hope to achieve this craziness and what are some more details? We'll just have to wait and see.
More to come...

The Future Calls...

Everyone has dreams, right? Sadly, I think most of us never realize them.

I think I know what I'd like to do with myself, and with my life.

Unfortunately, it will take a lot of money. Actually, this may be one case where an alot of money will come in handy, only I am unsure of how to snare the elusive beast. His or her ever-replenishing coat of Jacksons or Benjamins could certainly come in handy.

Of course there are things like Kickstarter but I think that would be better put to use later in this dream.

I have a place in mind for this fantasy to take place in too.

I even have ideas of some people to involve in it, maybe some people I know would like to be involved in it. I'm not much of a networker though.

I suppose I could qualify for grants, but I don't know the beginning of that sort of thing. I see people hiring grantwriters from time to time--that must be what they are for.

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have to worry about finding accountants to help with things, but I think the type of plan I have requires lawyers. Well at least one, probably not more than that.

Its funny because I haven't really felt excited about anything job-related. like, ever, but for once I do. I just don't know where to begin. Unfortunately, I don't think the Internet adage of

Step 1: Dream Project
Step 2: Start project
Step 3: ???
Step 4: Profit!

applies here.

Especially since what I have floating in my head is anything but a for-profit mega-conglomerate. No, it'd be local and very community and art-driven.

I'd actually had a different plan months ago that was related to this, but I think that was more fanciful (and selfish). This non-plan-plan is much better because instead of (potentially) fattening my wallet, it would fatten the collective spirit of a community.

Most people give up on dreams, and I understand why; it's hard. I don't want mine to end up in the same place as most others. I want others to reap the benefits of what I want to sow.

Drawing is pencil and charcoal pencil on paper.

Advertising: Utilizing Obnoxious Customers To Your Advantage

I approve of this type of advertising.

What would be even better is if they had these play before the movies instead of the regular canned "don't text" ones. But this will certainly do.

Nice use of Shut Up And Let Me Go by The Ting Tings

"I Only Shoot Natural Light"

This subject came up the other day at the mall when Krissy and I were picking up my suit. We'd met an acquaintance of hers who is a photographer who shoots in natural light. I don't know if she uses it exclusively, but from what I saw and remember, she does.

This made me think of the numerous photographers I see saying they only shoot in natural light; when I start thinking, sometimes words just start flowing out of my mouth, this one one such time.

First of all, there is nothing wrong with natural light, this isn't some anti-sun rant or anything, this is more about attitude. I love natural light, I think we all do; without natural light, we'd all be dead.

But I have some problems with people who seem to brag about the fact that they use sunlight exclusively.

First of all, strobes are not unnatural light. They are available. Joe McNally often quotes someone who says he only uses available light. He of course finishes by saying that "available light" is "any fucking light that's available" and to this sentiment I agree.

What if you only use sunlight, and the sun isn't cooperating? You can't work. Yes, people will understand that, but I think at times it can look unprofessional. Imagine getting set up with a customer/client and the clouds roll in killing your dramatic light you had, or there are no clouds and the light is harsh and overbearing. Do you tell them to wait? Do you say you'll try again some other time? I understand you can work with this and around this, but by declaring strobes off-limits seems silly to me.

I think people are scared of flash. I think flash is the proverbial fat-assed gorilla in the room that they want to approach, because when do you get to see a gorilla up close? But they're terrified he will go, quite literally, apeshit on their asses. That's flash. People are intrigued, but afraid because of the uncertainty.

Or maybe they are just lazy.

Then there are the hipster types who are just too cool for any kind of light that isn't directly from the sun falling on powerlines or old fountains. And cross-processing it. Or using polaroids, because manual film is too mainstream.



All that said, I think that a knowledge of light, is paramount for any photographer. Painters were (and are) masters of light, so when something is the backbone of your work, you have the duty to understand it and to utilize it to its fullest potential.

Knowing how light works allows you to take sunlight that may not be ideal and sculpt it onto your subject. You can then supplement this light with strobes, or hot light, or iphone screens, or any other source of light as needed.

So I think natural light only is something of a cop out. People sound pompous when they say it like, "I don't use strobes, I don't need to cheat, I work with what nature gives me to show you how you really look" when in reality, strobes absolutely do the same thing--and so much more.



Rings made by Vicky definitely recommend her shop

I Don't See How A Flat Tax Solves Anything

I fully admit, I don't understand the arcane art and science that is taxes and their applicable laws. But there's been something that has sort of been on my mind since around October or so.

Back when the Tea Party movement was in full force (not that it isn't now), there was clamoring for an overhaul of our tax system. I think anyone can agree our tax system is far from perfect, and needlessly convoluted. But their solution, I feel, far oversimplified things. I don't think you can take the most complicated of things, and reduce it to the simplest without losing something.

To boil humans, an extremely complicated species, for sure, into an amoeba, for example. So much would be lost in the process. Intelligent thought, for example. And no, I will not use this as an opportunity to insult tea partiers or republicans. =)

So you have our insanely complicated tax system, thousands of pages of tax codes, and thousands of people to help people understand all this. Big companies hire tax lawyers and accounting firms to pay as little as possible, so on and so forth. Poor people pay no tax, because, well, they're poor. Average people pay average tax, and the rich overwhelmingly pay most of the taxes.

Some people want to change this to a flat tax, and I understand the sentiment. Taxes are complicated, and who wants to pay someone to do their taxes. Who wants to employ an entire government agency to collect them, et cetera. Well, I do, for one.

Imagine that there was a flat tax. First of all, it doesn't work, a flat tax is regressive. Flat tax boils down to a very simple set of ideas:

First, the poor end up paying more taxes. The people who can afford it least actually have to pay more and, in effect become poorer.

Second, the rich pay less in tax. The people who need the money least end up with even more money.

The gross side effect of this nonsense is that the middle class basically disappears. The income inequality is already bad enough, with CEOs making hundreds of times what their workers earn, and that is largely due to the fact that our tax system has been slowly regressing more towards a flat tax (in theory).

But, taxes really aren't that complicated. Most people can file a 1040 or 1040EZ which takes only an hour or so of your time, even if you don't know what you're doing. For self-employed people, taxes can in fact be more complicated, but this is largely do to having to do your own bookkeeping, not an overly complex system of tax codes. How much did you spend on gas and electricity? There's a line for that on the form. How much in entertainment and food? Take half of that and slap it on the form. It's basically a boring adult version of color-by-numbers.

As for the people that taxes are really complicated for? The obscenely rich who have investments and the like who pay lobbyists to insert loopholes that they then hire tax lawyers and accounting firms to exploit to the max. Maybe this is a little biased, but when is the last time you took advantage of a tax loophole? I'll bet Exxon-Mobile does it on a daily basis, like monkeys on the discovery channel. Does it make sense that the CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment gets paid $800,000 in wages (taxed at 35%) and $20 million in dividends (taxed at 15%). This is why the tax codes are needlessly complicated, because rich people intended it to be so.

Note: I'm being chastised because the other half would like to work out, so I will bring this post to a close. I actually only intended it to be a short little snippet of a post anyway.

Casting aside the irreparable harm that a flat tax would cause to this country's economy and to it's people, I have another extremely large concern. This is my main concern, really, and why I started this post originally.

If we went to a flat tax for everything, and got rid of the IRS, then what? What about those people? They are now not only out of a job but out of a career. They will have been trained for an industry that no longer exists. The IRS workers would all be out of jobs and basically screwed. Would tea partiers be willing to have the government pay to reeducate these people for new careers? Or are they strictly on their own? Would my dad be able to retire? I don't think he can go back to school for a new career at his age. What about my brother and his family? Would they be out of luck too? Would they add to unemployment and homeless statistics? What about Kaulean who does something related to taxes and auditing for the government?

Also, H&R Block, Jackson Hewitt, and the like. Although I don't like them as businesses, certainly they employ at least some decent people who'd be out of work. As would every other CPA or accountant.

So tell me again, how is a flat tax good, and what problems does it solve? Because frankly, my dear, I just don't see it.

Adventures In Advertising: The Dark Side

Some people think of advertising as an annoyance, while others think of it as an art. Still, to others, advertisements are more sales tactics than anything approaching art. Me personally, I'm somewhere in camp one and two.

One one hand, advertisements really can be a nuisance at times. Does anyone really enjoy looking at sixty pages of advertisements just to get to the table of contents? I actually enjoy looking at the photos, but since they do not change from one magazine to the next, it gets old fast.

Then there's the whole "advertorial" bait and switch. You're reading what you think is an editorial, and it just sounds a wee bit...lofty. Magazines are rarely that generous with their compliments, so something must be up. And indeed, there is something up. Advertorials are written by advertisers to look like they were written by the editors of the magazine. Beauty magazines and other decidedly female magazines are probably the worst offenders I've seen.

But then, advertisements really are an art form. Consider that you need to convince someone to buy something with nothing but a photo, or a thirty second video. If they are already a customer, you're set, but how does one convince a non customer to buy your product with just a photo, or short video?

Then of course there is the production that goes into advertising. Setting aside the fact that the end result is to, hopefully, sell a product, advertisements are kind of beautiful. With some exceptions, most of the photos in advertisements are top-notch and they should be-- they pay out the ass for it. Commercials are like mini movies of their own, with presents a challenge all it's own.

Granted, by no means do I mean to imply that all advertising is equally artistic. There are plenty of ads that are nothing more than a sales pitch, and others yet are thinly veiled attempts at best. But the good ones, the advertisements that really matter and make a lasting impression as being something special, those are most definitely art.

This is one such example:



Consider a few things after watching this commercial. First, they've not only used the Darth Vader costume, but also the Imperial March. While it may not seem like that big of a deal, George Lucas isn't known for letting just anybody use Star Wars as a vehicle to sell a product. Or in this case, to use Star Wars as a vehicle to sell quite literally, a vehicle.

The ad features a child dressed as Darth Vader. This is adorable! I'm always happy to see children in roles that are a bit different. I'd be only too happy if I never had to see another ad of a throng of children rushing into the kitchen to eat an entire plate of Totinos, or some other pseudo-food. People don't give children enough credit, but they also don't let children simply be children. This is important, and what makes this commercial work.

The ad is very Volswagen. Their ads, while not terribly unique in automotive ads, are very simple and understated. This advertisement is no exception. In this case, the simplicity and understatement works flawlessly, because I think anything overly sophisticated would ruin the playfulness of the ad.

And that, my friends, is how you make an advertisement not just beautiful, but work.

My only qualm? I really, really wish there was a matching print advertisement to go along with this. For all I know, there may be, but I doubt it. Most print ads for cars just show the cars. I think this is one case where a slightly quirky, and thus different, print ad would go a long way to capturing peoples' attention, which in these times, capturing anyone's attention for more than a fleeting moment can be damned near impossible.

Below is my contribution. You can thank me (and pay me) later, Volkswagen.

Goodbye Keith, We'll Miss You

In the world of news, there are very few people who can make it exciting. While Keith Olbermann may have at times been a little over the top, I think he brought something that the news needed: unrelenting honesty. And I think that with that comes a certain amount of anger, which at times can be hard to control for someone in a  position like that. I can understand many of his frustrations, and I think his show was something of a triumph, if a bit biased.

There are few wordsmiths quite like Keith, though, especially in the news, and that is what really made his show enjoyable; I love words, and clearly Keith Olbermann does too.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

So we bid you adieu, for now. I'm sure you'll be back sometime, somewhere, and we'll be waiting. Besides, we don't watch tv anymore anyway, so hopefully you end up somewhere where we can catch up.

Good night and Good Luck. Though, I'm not convinced you'll need it.

I Don't Understand What Borders Is Thinking Or Doing

Let's face it, Borders bookstore probably isn't going to be around much longer. They've been struggling for years now, and have been barely scraping by. And it makes perfect sense.

Borders, I want to like you, but you make it so damned difficult.

Krissy got a Borders gift card for Christmas, so we decided to look at their books in store and online. We make it a point to visit Borders regularly, because we are unemployed and it is an inexpensive way to have fun and get out of the house.

We found this book:




We like Phaidon. I have one of their books on Platon, the photographer. The pages are high quality, the books are bound well, and the photography is always superb. They are also really well designed.

In the store, the book was priced at just under $40, this just would not do. If there is one thing I know, it's that the price on ta book is not what you pay. I would think that a company that buys as many books as Borders could get a better deal. Of course, that probably won't happen anymore since they can't pay off the publishers for the books they've bought already.

So we tried buying a book from the store directly, and it's the worst price we could have gotten, lest someone charge more than the price on the book. So we decided to go to their website. We figured, the store's website ought to have a better deal, and we figured wrong. The price was the same. Yes, the biggest or second biggest brick-and-mortar bookstore in the country had the book for its MSRP. Oh, and shipping cost like $4 or something.And yes, there's still tax, because there is technically always tax.

So we were at something of a crossroads.I mean, we really wanted this cookbook. We don't have any general, all-purpose cookbooks, most of them are baking related. Okay, all of them are baking related. But $40 is a lot to ask when it's nearly half that price on Amazon. If you are curious, it's a wee bit less than $25 on Amazon. But Borders wants almost $46 for the same book.

I will tell you one thing: if we didn't have a gift card we would not have even considered buying the book from Borders. There is no reason why anyone should want to buy something from Borders when you can get the same thing quicker and cheaper from Amazon, or anywhere else. We didn't even have to spend our own money, and we still had to think over whether or not we should get the book with the gift card or just get it from Amazon, that's how ridiculous and weird we are.

Shipping from Amazon is free. I'm a prime member, so I get free two-day shipping. I order a book and it feels like it's here the very next day. I ordered the book from Borders days ago and it's not here. It feels like we've been waiting forever compared to buying books from Amazon.

I did find a coupon to save 33% on any book, and still we had to pay almost $33, which is still more expensive than Amazon.

I also don't like the Borders website. I felt like I was constantly being upsold on something. They mention free shipping all over their website, and then mention free 2-day shipping in other places. The free 2-day shipping is actually them offering a month free of some third-party program that is similar to Amazon prime (in price, too). So I felt like that was a tiny bit scammy. Members of the Borders Rewards program get free shipping over $25, and any order $40 or more gets free shipping. This is standard shipping, by the way, nothing expedited. Standard shipping apparently takes forever, since it's Fed-Ex Smart Post.

But I'm kind of annoyed that we still didn't qualify for free shipping. We are Borders Rewards members. I entered in the card number, which was required for the coupon anyway. We spent over $25, so shipping should be free, but it wasn't.

There is not a single quality about Borders, and the process of buying a book from them that could be described as either positive or redeeming in any way. Sure, I can go in and look at books before buying them from Amazon, but that's not really that big of a plus. I do like looking at books, though, and now and in the future that's all I will be doing at Borders. They just obviously do not want my business, because they seem to be trying awfully hard to not get it.

For the record, I have no problem buying books for their MSRP. I think the book is worth $40. I think the Platon book I have is easily worth much more than I paid for it (like $5, from an Amazon merchant). But if I am going to pay more for a book than I would at Amazon, I'm not going to be doing it at a giant company like Borders. I'm not going to reward them for doing a horrible job at running their business. No, I'm going to go to a local, independent bookstore and give them the $40. And until I can do that, Borders will get my foot traffic, and Amazon will get my money.

Good luck in the future Borders, because you're going to need it. Besides, we all know Barnes and Noble is just going to buy you anyway.

Have You Heard Of BlogHer?

I don't think I respond to things the way most people do. Sometimes, I feel bad because of how I respond, because I wonder if I am fair, or just whiny. For the record, I'm not whiny, though I am a critic. I, like most, have an opinion about everything, and I tend to share it.

I don't praise everything, either. I tend to point out the flaws in things. I don't do this because I'm a Negative Nancy (sorry if anyone named Nancy reads this, it's nothing personal.) I just feel that everyone points out what's good. Look at competition shows: what good is telling people on American Idol they are all talented, or bakers on TLC (don't get me started...) that they're all talented. Of course they are. That's like telling someone on Jeopardy that they are all intelligent. The rounds and rounds of testing they need to pass to get on Jeopardy proves that. Only one person can win.

So I point out what is wrong with things, because I think people tend to overlook them. Not that flaws are bad, mind you. I like flaws, they add character. But sometimes, these grievances need to be aired.

BlogHer is a blogging network of sorts. Basically, it's a collection of blogs that they think women would be interested in. I don't like this. I don't like a men's version either. They are stilted. I'm willing to bet I like more websites on the BlogHer network than the College Humor or Asylum network of sites.

Apparently, men like the following things:

- Women. Lots of them. The less clothing, the better. Some sites offer scantily clad one, others offer naked ones, while others offer celebrities.

- Vehicles. The more horsepower, the better.

- Tools, clothing, video games, movies, music, et cetera.

I don't agree with this. I don't care about looking at things like AskMen or Maxim and seeing women in them. And anytime I click a link to one of those websites that does interest me, I'm inundated with women everywhere, and Krissy facetiously asks me why I'm looking at sexy ladies. But I'm not; she's my sexy lady, so I look at her.

Then there's cars. I don't really care about cars. I have one, it gets me from A to B. I don't need a cat that costs a million dollars, or goes 200 MPH. I don't need to tow a house through the Grand Canyon. I just don't. I have an interest in tools, but I'll get what works and what's needed, it's not an obsession. The rest are really applicable to anyone. In fact, it all is.

Women like movies. Women like music. They even, gasp, play video games. Not just wussy ones, either. They play things like Halo and Call of Duty. True story.

It is in this vein that I disagree with BlogHer. Here is their information page for bloggers and what it says:

• over 90 days old
• open to comments
• that are updated weekly (preferably twice a week, or more)
• free of any advertorial or sponsored posts, and compensated product reviews
• that are not password-protected
• without profanity in the title and/or URL
• that don’t publish adult content
• that don’t belong to another ad network, requiring “above the fold” placement
• hosted by a service that allows advertising (some do not)
• not hosted by a service that places graphic banners at the top of the page
• written by women, or with a demonstrated female audience
• that adhere to our Editorial Guidelines

First, I must add that they randomly made some words bigger than others. Much bigger. This hurts my eyes, and is obnoxious. This is not dynamic, it is stupid. Reading is not a roller coaster ride, it doesn't need to be more exciting. They are guidelines, treat them as such.

They want blogs that have been around for a bit, I understand, they want people to be able to comment, fair enough. They want people who actually blog, and that people can actually see. This all makes sense.

But here's what I don't get. adult content, profanity, and written by women for women. I'm sure there are women that like adult content. They are alienating a large group of women with this. Adult content is exceedingly vague, too. Does this mean no penis? No vaginas? Women love vaginas though, they are beautiful, like childbirth. What about breasts, is that "adult content?" Is a woman grabbing her breasts adult, but checking for breast cancer okay? If so, what is the difference, a woman is touching herself either way.

Profanity. Women curse. Yes, we curse too much as a whole, but profanity hardly should be censored. Women, or anyone else for that matter, do not need to be shielded from language, coarse or otherwise. Fuck isn't going to hurt anybody. Shit, either, unless someone flings poo and it gets into your eyes. But not the word; it's just letters. Maybe copulate and excrement are more suitable. But we all know they just mean fuck and shit. Even women; especially women.

The big one: written by women for a demonstrated female audience. I don't qualify, I'm not a woman. Apparently, men do qualify, though, because David Lebovitz is a member. They just appear to emphasize  women writers, literally, "women" and "female audience" are several sizes larger. I get wanting female writers, though. Women are interested in other women, and simultaneously hate every single one of them. But how does one demonstrate a female audience?

Does blogging about food do it? What about politics, does that do it? Does one need to post about feminist ideas, or emasculate men? Can you write about sex without breaking the earlier rules about adult content? Jezebel certainly doesn't apply, because their writers use profanities and talk about all kinds of adult content, yet they are a blog about and for women. In fact, Krissy makes fun of me when I read it. Blogging for a female audience seems awfully vague about a very specific idea.

Then there are the editorial rules, most of which are fair, and the heart of why I started this post. Their editorial guidelines stipulate:

We define unacceptable content as anything included or linked that:

Contains editorial content that has been commissioned and paid for by a third party, and/or contains paid advertising links and/or spam. 

except, they actually encourage it through their reviewer program. Let me explain. BlogHer has advertisers. These advertisers give BlogHer money and products for their bloggers to review and give away. This clearly violates the whole "no sponsored posts" rule, and is, frankly, disappointing.

Here's an example: Right now, BlackBerry is a sponsor, so if you head here you get a page of BlackBerry ads. Also on that page are links to blogs, like this one, which are really just advertorials. Maybe that's not fair, or being too fair. Advertorials are written by the ad agency to look like editorials, and we recognize them as such. No, these paid reviews are more like payola in the music industry.

I clicked one of the BlackBerry posts which led me to a site about baking. What does a baking blog need to review a cell phone for? Computer magazines don't review chocolate. Of course, this isn't really a review either, it just praises the phone.

Uh, I couldn’t be more wrong. This new BlackBerry Style phone is rocked. It features a full QWERTY keyboard and it’s one of two BlackBerry(s) to run on the BlackBerry’s latest OS 6, the best part—it is the only one to sport a 5 megapixel camera. How’s that for being dead wrong? I’m a BlackBerry user and always have been. I love its functionality for work and for play—most importantly, it’s a hardy phone. No cracked glass screen when I drop it. Yes, I know there are sleeves to prevent that, but I firmly believe a phone should be able to withstand a drop without going bust. I’m also a working mom who needs functionality and form to work hand in hand.

Okay, so first impressions are that...it's one of two BlackBerrys with the new OS? That excites her? oh, and a full QWERTY keyboard, because that's unique. It also has a 5 megapixel camera, because when it comes to cameras, megapixels is all that matters.

Here are the things that I look for when I’m phone shopping:
Size
Yes, size does matter. I love that the BlackBerry Style is even smaller than my work issued BlackBerry Bold. That means I can easily slide it in my back pocket for convenience and since it’s a flip phone I don’t have to worry about any accidental butt dials!

Okay, it's smaller. This is a plus? It's smaller, has a full QWERTY keyboard and a 5 megapixel camera?  Anyway, the real benefit here is that the camera is smaller than her old BlackBerry, so she can place it in her back pocket no problem. I can thus only reach one conclusion. Her old BlackBerry must look like this:

Zack Morris, you have a phone call.

The best thing about flip phones? You can totally put them in your back pocket, sit on them all day and not dial old ex-boyfriends with your ass. You might have a nasty case of hemorrhoids, though, so I don't think the back pocket is the ideal place to put a phone. Just sayin'

Camera
Camera. Lights. Action. Go. Okay, so my son doesn’t get this kind of preamble, usually it’s me just shoving my phone’s camera in his face to capture a moment. I don’t carry a point and shoot everywhere but I do carry my phone everywhere. Having said that, I’m loving the 5 megapixel with flash. That’s right five-five megapixels on a phone!

Lights! Camera! Action! Wait, this camera does video? Oh, no, it doesn't. Now I'm confused. Okay, so maybe she confused video and still photography, no biggy. She does have an amazing camera in her phone though. I mean, it's five megapixels! That is unheard of in a phone. Wait, didn't the Nokia N95 have a 5 megapixel camera? When did that come out again? Oh yeah, that's right, 2007. 

Speed
This BlackBerry-baby is fast. For a working mom, time is a commodity—so yeah, I need speed. The load time for switching between web based applications is nil and the search time on the web browser moves at the rate in which I can inhale a cupcake—Ahem, that pretty much means a little under a nano second.

It's fast. Blazing! But the Torch (AT&T) is faster. And then there's the iPhone and many Android based phones with a processor nearly double this ones speed. And the BlackBerry app platform is hardly robust compared to that of Apple or Google. This sounds like total pandering, and I don't like it.

Needless to say, I love this BlackBerry Style phone, so I’m excited that in conjunction with Blogher, BlackBerry is offering this phone with Sprint’s network to (2) lucky winners.

Great! except, they are only giving you the phone, you're on your own for service. And it only works on Sprint. How much does this phone retail for? $399. Yikes! This must be a pretty good prize, no? What's that? You're telling me this phone is only $20 when you sign up for a contract with Sprint?

You can enter thusly:

• Leave a comment letting me know the most important feature you look for when shopping for a mobile phone.
• Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post. 
• Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post.
• For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules for alternate form of entry.

Commenting is easy, although clearly this is so BlackBerry knows what people want. That's fine, we all want better phones. Maybe they can give us a phone that the wireless providers can't cripple with their own software? Android is supposed to be open, and it is, but AT&T and Verizon cripple them with their own, closed software. We shouldn't be at the mercy of the providers.

Tweet! That way, #BlackBerry #Style can be trending on #Twitter and people will  be #curious about this #Payola! As they say, any news is good news.

You could also blog about it. I wonder if this counts? Does a blog criticizing the company, the product, and the network count? After all, there was not one flaw reported in that entire "review" Maybe she could have mentioned how the app market is poor compared to competitors. Or that the browser is slower than Apple or Android. How web pages look tiny on the itty-bitty screen? The incessant scrolling and zooming you need to do to read the pages could have been pointed out.

FYI: I just checked, it actually does do video. How could she leave this out?


Here's a real review on the camera courtesy of PCMag:

The Style's 5-megapixel camera could be better. Its awkwardly placed, so it's easy to cover it with your thumb. The continuous autofocus can make for some blurry pictures if you don't wait a second or so for it to lock in. And images are a little bit dark, and show slightly too much color noise. It's not hideous by any means, but there's better out there. The video mode takes 640 by 480 videos at 20 frames per second with a slight pulsing effect; that's behind the 30fps we see on top-of-the-line Android and Apple phones.

 So the camera is actually just okay, and can be kind of annoying.

Anyway, I'm done. I just wanted to dissect BlogHer and their advertorial/Payola system, because this kind of stuff really bothers me. I don't like pandering to companies, and how mommy blogs were kind of founded on it. I'd hate for someone to have read a less then genuine review on a blog only to buy that product and be disappointed.

On Undermining Professional Photographers

Being unemployed has its pitfalls, but it also has it's benefits. One such bonus is that I get to read a lot. Perhaps too much, in fact. I have kind of avoided reading about photography opinion for a few months. Aside from the constant bickering over HDR, Canon vs. Nikon, first party versus third party lenses, stock versus micro stock, et cetera, very little was offered. I just got sick of reading about people complaining. Most egregious, though, are people complaining about others ruining the trade by diluting the market.

I understand their plight. Really, I do. They have been taking photographs for years, and getting a certain wage for that. And now, with digital cameras everywhere, everyone is a photographer, of sorts. Now, everyone can take photos, and we can all get better, because practice is free now. 

The fact is, there are tiers of artistry. I can take a photograph. I can take a better photograph (subjective, I know) than someone. And someone else can take a better photograph than I can. I am not Joe McNally. I could buy all the gear and hire all the help I wanted, I still wouldn't be Joe. I'm not Louis Pang either. I don't know the first thing about photographing a spread for National Geographic or photographing a wedding. So why do I read everywhere that people like me are ruining the field by driving prices down? 

For the record, I'm not, I haven't taken photos for anyone, but let's say I did. According to what I read online, I should charge roughly what  an experienced photographer charges, maybe a little less. But wait, charging just a little less hurts their bottom line, so I shouldn't do that. I'm not as experienced as they are, so I should charge a lot less, right? 

Say I wanted to be a wedding photographer (true story), prices range from $500 all the way to $10,000 or more. On average, prices tend to be $1500 on the low end and $5,000 or so on the higher-than-average end. So what about me? After all, I'm getting married, so I'm going to need a photographer. But I don't exactly have money, so what am I supposed to do? Go without photos? Hell no. So then what? 

What about other people in my situation? What about young couples (or old ones!) who want to get married but don't have a lot of money, but want photos of the event? Is it really hurting anyone for us to pay someone a few hundred dollars to take our photos? Does this really hurt someone charging three, five, or ten times this amount? Does Prada worry about Wal*Mart hurting their clothing sales?

So what is this really about?

I think it's about innovation. I don't think there's been much innovation until recently. Wedding photos have always been pretty boring and staid. But now, they are dynamic. Even the more traditional photos of weddings are more inspired now than in the past. But there are all kinds of wedding photographers now, and that is truly inspiring. Does it matter if some of them charge $500 on Craigslist? I don't think so. 

If you're a photographer who has been in the business, and you have not evolved, that is your problem, not everyone else's. You've missed the boat, and now you need to catch up, like me.

But I can't help but think of people who are far worse than we. I can't help but imagine what child workers in other countries would think of this complaining. What would these photographers do if they made seven cents an hour? Because I bet the people who make our clothes would be more than happy to switch wages, since I don't think many of them can even imagine $500, much less thousands.

I feel like I could have said this all better and more effectively, but the words aren't coming to me. Maybe because I've stopped reading about it, maybe because I'm tired or mentally fatigued. But my point stands. Complaining is not going to fix anything. If someone is undercutting your business, figure out why. Don't just whine and give up. If people are hiring them and not you, it's for a reason. Either they can't afford you, or don't value your work for your price. Reflect. I think you'll find that reflection offers all of the answers. Just keep an open mind. Oh, and one more thing. Innovate, for crying out loud!

So You Think I Should Start A Bakery?

Yesterday, Krissy and I traveled to New York to celebrate Christmas with my mom at my brother Chris' apartment. Unsure about who, exactly, we should bring gifts for, we opted for the always appropriate goodies. I didn't want to show up empty-handed if my brothers had gifts for me. Besides, it might lessen the burden upon us in the week to come.

Last year, Krissy and I decided that since we really had no idea what to get people, and not really having time to coordinate gift buying, we baked. We enjoy baking, frankly. We have a system, usually, in which I mix the batters and she deals with the oven. Generally, I don't really like making things like cookies because they are too repetitive a process; I'm not a machine or a robot-- they are built for repetition. Needless to say, from time to time, I bake various goodies because others enjoy it (as do I).

For some reason, people will at this point suggest I open a bakery. I suppose that this idea is due to the fact that I've never found something I liked doing, and unemployment being what it is, any idea is better than no idea. I appreciate that people enjoy what I make enough to suggest opening a bakery. Unfortunately, there are some problems with the idea of opening a bakery.

First, I don't know what I'm doing. I don't even have proper pots much less mixers or other tools. I know that egg whites are emulsifiers (at least I think that's right?) but I don't necessarily know what that means. I can't create a recipe. To me, reading a recipe doesn't make me a cook or baker. It's like suggesting someone be an architect because they can follow the instructions to build a desk.

I don't know flavors, and how they interact and meld with each other. I haven't actually baked that much. I think that to start a bakery, I'll have had to make at least 1,000 cookies; I don't think I'm anywhere near that. Okay, maybe I am, but to be fair, I think the required number ought to be more like 10,000. I'm pretty exhausted from baking after a couple days of baking; I cannot fathom spending sixty-plus hours a week doing it. Operating a bakery is expensive. Ovens, employees, mixers, accessories, cases, tables, and everything else needed is not only overwhelming, but would cost more money than I have ever seen.

But, knowing people enjoyed the end product would be worth it.

So if I did own a bakery, this is what I would want:

First of all, to call it a bakery would be a misnomer; I think we'd serve a few different foods. Of course, there would be plenty of sweets and baked goods. I'd also want to sell fresh bread made daily. I'd like to serve lunch in the form of pizzas, burgers, and a few other classic Dennis foods. Oh, and ice cream. I'd make ice cream year round.

I'd like to have the seats be old school desks. I'd like to have booths and tables too, since I understand we can't all fit into school desks anymore (especially if we're eating sweets). I'd like to have a jukebox, too, or maybe just a record player, I'm not sure. Regardless, I love music, and there would definitely be some sweet tunes playing in my shoppe.

As for pricing, that's easy; pay what you want. I don't think food needs to be exorbitantly expensive. And I understand that some people can't afford to go out and eat sometimes. Whereas, maybe other people can and can pay more. I don't know how successful my plan would be, and clearly I'd need to have a lot of money to do it. But that is how I would run my bakery. Pay what you can or want. You don't get paid until Friday? That's fine, have a slice of pizza and a few cookies, maybe even a scoop of ice cream. Come back on Friday and pay what you want, or not; that's fine.

So if you think I should start a bakery, just know that it's only under those circumstances.