26 March 2009
A Thursday. Marita Beth went to visit Stephen in the hospital, and decided while there to join the regular cast of characters for dinner at Mexican Inn. I decided, after her phone call, to join them rather than head home. At dinner, a dear friend remarked in an offhand, casual way that he liked looking at my photos but didn’t really like reading my writings as it was so negative (my words not necessarily his, but the implication was the same). At first, I was inclined to be a bit hurt. After all wasn’t all of Sylvia Plath’s writings negative? How about Kurt Vonnegut or Sinclair Lewis? Yep, negative. But, then I realized that I was comparing my drivel to highly-acclaimed poets & novelists. Right. So, I went back and re-read some of my more recent posts and he was right. Negative. Every one of them. So, please forgive my recent negativity and bear with me as I struggle to find the positive bits in my life.
In the meantime, here’s a photo of some trash.
Cheers.
~KR (Written on 30 March 2009)
Listening to:
Der Kommisar (12" Remix") by After the Fire
from 12" of the 80s and 90s
Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 80
Exposure Bias: -2/3 EV
Flash: Off
OK, that made me laugh!
I’m with Terrill; I love the irony – a picture of trash to complement a search for the positive!
If it makes you feel better, I didn’t find “Empty Pint” to be negative, although an empty beer glass does make me a bit sad.
I like the trash. Have you ever seen the movie One Hour Photo? It’s one of my favorites, it’s very creepy and disturbing. One of my favorite lines from that movie is this:
“Family photos depict smiling faces… births, weddings, holidays, children’s birthday parties. People take pictures of the happy moments in their lives. Someone looking through our photo album would conclude that we had led a joyous, leisurely existence free of tragedy. No one ever takes a photograph of something they want to forget.”
oh, and another:
“Most people don’t take snapshots of the little things. The used Band-Aid, the guy at the gas station, the wasp on the Jell-O. But these are the things that make up the true picture of our lives. People don’t take pictures of these things.”
I have taken a few pictures of the not-so-nice, and I actually find them very interesting.
Beautiful use of irony!
There are lots of people taking pictures of sunflowers and rainbows – which are just as real as the trash, but not as many people try to capture gritty side of reality. And I can appreciate that.
Just so long as you personally aren’t dwelling on that and DO take time to at least look for and appreciate the sunflowers and rainbows.
You make me smile – loudly…
I have to agree not many pictures are taken of the less appealing sides of our lives. But also on that note one of my favorite pictures from my wedding was taken by my dad. It is of an empty wine bottle he leaned against my top tier and cake topper, also in the picture is some of the empty dishes of the potluck that our friends and family brought to celebrate our marriage.
Sometimes you have to try really hard not to be negative. I try not to listen to the news before going to work because I don’t want to start my day on a depressing note.