If you came here from my homepage, you probably noticed the “media” link.
My interests have always ranged pretty much all over the place; being an English lit major with a second major in science was no accident. I chose a Jesuit college not just because they offered me the most money but also because their approach to education seemed so attractive; their liberal arts sounded intensely liberal, and not just in a “versus conservative” sense. My theology class was one of the most formative of my life, and one of the things it taught me was not only to be open to all ideas but also to explore them. I took that philosophy deeply to heart, and my background reflects that; I took a job in commercial production after I graduated, then became a personal trainer and a subsitute teacher, and then an editor for a clinical psychiatric nursing journal.
One of the things people most often note about my collection is that it’s very diverse. I entered Writer’s Digest‘s self-published book of the year contest last year, and one of the judges commented that the collection is basically all over the place (more on that later). He (or she) was right. I’ve never been happy with one genre, or one subject, or one anything, mostly.
And lately, I haven’t been satisfied with one medium to work with.
Which was why, when I created the account for this blog, I also created this one I decided to name Imagery. Because I’ve gotten, lately, into photography, and I think I also want to create short films (I never stopped being a commercial producer, really), not to mention commercials for my books. I did want to keep the two separate (I won’t post photography/videos here, for the most part, or at least not mine), but also concurrent.
So long story short, this will be my main blog, but I plan to post daily to either one or the other (if not both).
I posted the first picture today. You can click that link up above to check it out. It seemed a propos for this week, and resonant with my current mindset.
February 29, 2008 at 5:42 pm
When I first stumbled across your blog, I remember being struck by how similar our backgrounds are. As you know, I studied biology and communication at a Jesuit school. Best thing I ever did, hands down. I think the religion classes I took struck me hardest, too, simply because the priests never tried to advocate one way or the other. It was simply a matter of encouraging me to think for myself and find my own evidence. The Jesuits definitely have been instrumental in my decision to be a teacher, and now that I’m having to state my educational philosophy so often, I realize what a huge impact they made on me. It’s priceless.
So, I can relate to your all-over-the-place mindset. I’m the same way. I started with poetry, branched to fiction, and then fell in love with playwrighting. Of course, I also do the photo thing and painting… I’ve thought a lot about mixed media work and have so many ideas for project. My problem is focusing on it enough to make it worth anything. I know you have little problem with, ahem, focus.
Heh.
Anyway, I also wanted to say I’ve loved the pictures you posted in the past. You really have a great eye. 🙂
February 29, 2008 at 7:01 pm
Your work is phenomenal – all over the place, but phenomenal. 🙂
March 1, 2008 at 9:40 am
I’m glad to see you too are branching out from writing. Authors often dabble in more than one creative outlet, and I find one often helps the other. I’m an amateur photographer myself, and also took up painting three years ago. I love the feeling of accomplishing something creative so quickly as a photograph or painting. It really helps to expel that creative energy that writing can take much longer to do. Oh, I love the photo!
March 1, 2008 at 12:25 pm
@Alma: but only a little problem, there’s that. And yeah, we definitely have extraordinarily similar backgrounds.
@Maggie: thank you.
@Shannon: I dabbled in painting when I was a kid, but mostly went for drawing. I haven’t drawn much in a while, though. And thanks for checking it out. Glad you liked it.