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Grace

In any life, in the reduction of the actions and choices that take a person on their journey, after all the stuff of a person’s existence is burned or rotted away, what remains is something quite remarkable. For lack of a better word you could call that something grace. It exists everywhere. Yet one cannot hoard it. The more selfish that one is, the less of it will remain. I crave grace, because in it, is an abundance and flow that changes and converts a world (and myself) from being entropic to regenerative. Human beings are like buckets with holes

Peaking, in Seconds and Feet

Just got a call. A visceral scream was the first thing I heard. Someone unloading into their phone and I was the recipient. Confusion, alarm, concern, all the keywords one goes through when you know something bad has happened to the person on the phone with you, flashed my psyche as dread fell upon me. I then realized that Shawn Alladio was the gutteral scream. She was in her car, naked for the most part, burned, bruised, in shock. We established a rapport and I began to talk her down. It is 12:15 AM. I am now wired and beyond

Drawing the Line

Tyler Warren, Walking the Line Learning to say “no” was one of Life’s hardest lessons for me. It came at great expense to those I love most in the world. No is not simply the absence of yes. It is the proverbial line in the sand of our life’s path. For a photographer and artist it is quite possibly the single most important thing that one can ever learn, because it is the no’s that will give you the space for the yeses that determine your subjects and future. I have had several “aha moments” in a career association with

Our Own Memorial

Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the last Monday of May (May 25 in 2009). Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. men and women who died while in the military service. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War (it is celebrated near the day of reunification after the civil war), it was expanded after World War I to include American casualties of any war or military action. (From Wikipedia) For communicators, our words, deeds and imagery can be an eternal light. In line with the recent thread, writer, and global

Connectedness

Connectedness |kəˈnɛktədnəs| noun ORIGIN late Middle English (in the sense [be united physically] ; rare before the 18th cent.): from Latin connectere, from con- ‘together’ + nectere ‘bind.’ Drew Kampion, co editor of The Surfers Path, to which I am a long time contributor, had dropped a simple note via the inet clothesline: “Hey I cannot believe you have not met Mark Gray, you two have so much in common. Mark meet Dave, Dave, Mark. He is coming down to Sacred Craft.” Scott Bass, my friend and colleague from Surfer Magazine has formulated a unique cultural event based around the

Tribe Makers

My girlfriend Donna’s video, “Passages” is now up on the Intuit Website, you can view it here. The video whose production I have blogged a bit about, is the requirement necessary for grant payment. If you VOTE for her at the videos end, and find it in your space to provide a comment, your generosity could propel her story into winning a place in the final five. She would use the funds to grow her business which not only positively affects the town of Ventura in which we live, but an array of incredible women. You can vote the video

Situational Ethics Anyone?

I received a note from a colleague the other day. Sean Davey was asking me to weigh in on a photographer’s forum in Oz called Photographers United. The subject was poaching, which is shooting another photographer’s subjects while they are in the midst of building images mid shoot. I had a bit to say, and Sean had gotten me thinking about a few things in an exchange of e mails. I have an abiding respect and admiration for some of my colleagues. They understand the bar of ethics involved in building a career and interestingly enough, it is their work

Why

I just finished building a little video for my girlfriend Donna, and her eco themed company, Betty Belts- Betty B. The video is a requirement for grant payment in a competition created by US business software company Intuit. We just finalized the piece and Donna managed to get out the door, a bit teary eyed, without actually having to pry my hands off her neck. Yes, we did this together. I knew going in, that this project, which was to be a summary of her story that won the grant and you can read here, would be difficult. The parameters

Ashes and Smoke

All images above courtesy of Captain Doug Miser, Ventura City Fire Department. Donna, Mary Osborne and a few friends were sitting at the bar of My Florist, an elegant little eatery in Ventura, which had a surf film playing on big LCD’s. Mary and I were discussing her boyfriend, Ventura Fire Captain Doug Miser, and how she had a bad feeling about him the prior day as he and others from our town had been initial respondents in the Jesusita Fire. Turns out that the crew had some tense moments in and around the time that we were both sort

Jesusita Fire

The calls came into the office all day long today. A burn threatened Santa Barbara City. 3PM: Looking out my office window I could see the smoke pillar. Hmm wind is WNW. Headed away from town I had thought. 5:30PM Wind shifted to the NE. NOT good. Had called and e mailed family and friends. If you are south of the fire MOVE. We may have a Sundowner tonight. Sundowner winds are peculiar to SB. They can attain speeds in excess of 100 MPH, and arrive in force post sundown. hence the name. I had been through two horrific fires

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