"a history of virulence"
so once again i am running behind on keeping up-to-date with events in the life of 'the fish guy'...i've come to grips that i can't always be back-logging (back-blogging? sorry) in order to report on each and every crazy event that's take place, so i'll just move forward in a somewhat randomized pattern as best i can. try to keep up. or not. or have a tabasco-flavored dill pickle, they're great.
every once in a while, for whatever reason, i get into one of those pseudo-nostalgic moods and like to look back on events past. this is somewhat easier for me to do than others since i tend to document past events photographically to an almost obsessive extent. therefore, i don't need to only travel to the past in my mind, but also have the visual aids to transport me and confirm (or contradict) various events with how i remember them (and with all those scientific names and useless movie trivia in there, that mind is already a crowded place).
the world of photographs has changed quite a bit, even in these past several years. most of the world has made the transition from film to digital media (although the versatility of slides cannot be denied, even my stalwart bio-photography prof from undergrad has moved on to the e-film era). photos are taken more frequently and with greater ease than ever before, and with several arenas available for display (facebook is one of the largest photo-hosting sites in the world).
my dad was always into photography and also into documenting important (or even not so important...or so we thought) events, so perhaps it's somewhat hereditary. anyone that knows me well knows that i just about always have my camera with me, or was always up for capturing a given moment (or wrinkle?) in time through the aperture of a lens. this does not look to change anytime soon, and although in the past couple years the majority of my photos have existed as electronic files on my computers, external hard drives, memory cards, CDs, and iPod (enough redundancies for preservation in there?), this was not always the case...
so as i said, i was feeling nostalgic for whatever reason, and my mind wandered to a box i've kept at The Tank, which has not been opened (for better or worse) for over two years. i went through the excavation process and came up with a cardboard box labeled 'Photo Wall - SRD'. i blew off the dust and opened up the box, inside it was a massive stack of photographs (yup, produced on old-school film from SLRs, point-and-shoots, and disposables), my own brief history of -photographic- time. i hopped into my DeLorean, cranked it up to 88mph and was on my way...
now, everyone has their photo albums, perhaps random stacks of photographs, whatever; i wanted to do something different. i didn't want an album that only got pulled out when a few close friends or guests came over and inquired, i wanted something on a larger level of production (which has generally always tended to be the case with me). i didn't put my 'recent history' photos into an album, i wanted them on display for anyone and everyone who entered my old apartment to see...so i created 'the photo wall'. this wasn't just a random collage, it was a multi-faceted mural which eventually spanned an entire room at my old place in Spicetree apartments (my first home in Ann Arbor for grad school). and this wasn't even tucked away in a closet in my bedroom, it was in a major section of the living room...everyone who visited saw it (or was subjected to it), and sometimes i even had to compete with it for my guests' attention. never got any bad remarks, but just about always got interesting questions, comments, and an almost tangible fascination (or concern?) with the phenomenon. it was my own timeline (not necessarily in order, but in a pattern that only i really understood) on display.
just about anything was included, family photos, high school photos (cross country, track, band, homecoming, prom, me and my friends being stupid), college photos, fish photos, the old family dog, kermit the frog, dinosaurs, items i cooked (really!), trips to foreign countries...it was all up there. most of the people who regularly visited, or i regularly talked to, interacted with, etc were on that wall. who knows how much larger it would have grown had i stayed there for longer...
...but alas, the day came when it was time to move on to bigger things, or at least bigger (and more aquatic) places. so when it came time to move on to The Tank, the photo wall had to be taken down and packed away. interestingly, this box of photos is one of the few things i have unpacked from the boxes in storage in our garage at The Tank, yet it wasn't opened until just the other night. The Tank is a different place from my old apartment, and the layout itself is not conducive to such a production. I figured why put the whole wall up in my room if only a few people would ever see it, and i KNOW i would get distracted by it up here anyway. not putting it up around fish tanks is a lesson i learned the hard way when i had to clean off salt stains and water marks from the actions of unruly fishes at my old place, so putting it up anywhere else at The Tank would also be hazardous. ...so the wall stayed in stacked (and somewhat ordered) format in a box in my room.
so after blowing of the dust, i took a look inside. the pictures were generally as i remembered them, but some of those photos had been almost forgotten, many faces i hadn't seen in ages, some i'll probably never see again. some i threatened to scan (ah, technology) and post because of their pseudo-incriminating nature (rachel & sarah better tread lightly...and a lot of the rest of you too! just kidding. kind of). but regardless, it was like reviewing 20 years of my life in a matter of an hour, almost a dizzying experience. i revisited everything from The Great Barrier Reef to the events/places/people that made me change my focus from med school to fish ecology (not necessarily an easy feat).
one thing, however, was for certain, and systemic in my photographic history...apparently i (and pretty much my entire family) have always put myself into social situations and settings. now, i know most people take pictures when they are with groups of people or at least with other people, and i'm no different in that general sense; but beyond that, where others may have some down time from such gatherings, i continued to pursue them and found myself constantly in them. i reviewed and revisited gatherings i'd arrange in our tiny dorm rooms at ONU, massive new year's parties at my parents' place (they were there, and cooked Indian food for all the guests as well), class photos that i would arrange...and of course, me with the fishes (who said all groups had to be composed of humans?)
this doesn't look to change anytime in the near future, and i hope it does not. it's definitely caused me problems in the past, that's for sure, but the benefits have far outweighed the detriments, and i wouldn't want it any other way. heck, it's that systemic social addiction that only lets me make these entries (or get any work done for that matter, but thats a different story) at the late hours of the night...when everyone else is asleep and the world is generally quiet. and not up for hanging out. one grandpa was a teacher/principal of a large school, the other a pastor, my dad is a pastor too...perhaps i can blame genetics/heredity once again, haha. either way, it has been with me even when i was very young (constantly being around youth group kids and others) and has persisted to this day, but it's a psychology i can live with. although i can't say it's helped me get a lot of work done (there, i said it)!
i looked through the last of the photos and put them back in the box. i had removed 3 photos out of hundreds. the three being somewhat unified in their relevance, a photo of the class that swayed (shocked?) me into the world of fish ecology, a decal of a particular ganoid-clad prehistoric fish, and a picture of a sign from a class trip to shedd aquarium (the sign reads: "Future Home of Grass Pickerel"...the scientific name of the grass pickerel is E.americanus in case you aren't a fish nerd). i realized i may have to spend a day (or 3) scanning many of them into my computer just so i have them on the many drives...just in case. i gotta be honest, if there is a fire and i can only save a few material possessions, Norton, that photo box, and (maybe) a flash drive with my data/thesis would be the items i come out with!
right now new photos are displayed on something of an electronic wall, and arguably to a larger audience than the old kodak-paper postings, but i kind of miss the original photo wall. i know the era of The Tank will someday come to an end; who knows, maybe at the next venue, those photos will be back up covering the greater portion of bare walls. <"//><
music:
"Amber" - 311
"Umbrella" - Rihanna
random pic:
part of our crew from "Taste of Ann Arbor" (6.3.2007, L-R: Double, Gwen, Summer, Andrea, Me) we periodically had to take shelter in the entry-ways of various shops along main street since it rained most of the day...of course i didn't have my umbrella, but luckily some others in the group did. still got somewhat soaked. twice.
every once in a while, for whatever reason, i get into one of those pseudo-nostalgic moods and like to look back on events past. this is somewhat easier for me to do than others since i tend to document past events photographically to an almost obsessive extent. therefore, i don't need to only travel to the past in my mind, but also have the visual aids to transport me and confirm (or contradict) various events with how i remember them (and with all those scientific names and useless movie trivia in there, that mind is already a crowded place).
the world of photographs has changed quite a bit, even in these past several years. most of the world has made the transition from film to digital media (although the versatility of slides cannot be denied, even my stalwart bio-photography prof from undergrad has moved on to the e-film era). photos are taken more frequently and with greater ease than ever before, and with several arenas available for display (facebook is one of the largest photo-hosting sites in the world).
my dad was always into photography and also into documenting important (or even not so important...or so we thought) events, so perhaps it's somewhat hereditary. anyone that knows me well knows that i just about always have my camera with me, or was always up for capturing a given moment (or wrinkle?) in time through the aperture of a lens. this does not look to change anytime soon, and although in the past couple years the majority of my photos have existed as electronic files on my computers, external hard drives, memory cards, CDs, and iPod (enough redundancies for preservation in there?), this was not always the case...
so as i said, i was feeling nostalgic for whatever reason, and my mind wandered to a box i've kept at The Tank, which has not been opened (for better or worse) for over two years. i went through the excavation process and came up with a cardboard box labeled 'Photo Wall - SRD'. i blew off the dust and opened up the box, inside it was a massive stack of photographs (yup, produced on old-school film from SLRs, point-and-shoots, and disposables), my own brief history of -photographic- time. i hopped into my DeLorean, cranked it up to 88mph and was on my way...
now, everyone has their photo albums, perhaps random stacks of photographs, whatever; i wanted to do something different. i didn't want an album that only got pulled out when a few close friends or guests came over and inquired, i wanted something on a larger level of production (which has generally always tended to be the case with me). i didn't put my 'recent history' photos into an album, i wanted them on display for anyone and everyone who entered my old apartment to see...so i created 'the photo wall'. this wasn't just a random collage, it was a multi-faceted mural which eventually spanned an entire room at my old place in Spicetree apartments (my first home in Ann Arbor for grad school). and this wasn't even tucked away in a closet in my bedroom, it was in a major section of the living room...everyone who visited saw it (or was subjected to it), and sometimes i even had to compete with it for my guests' attention. never got any bad remarks, but just about always got interesting questions, comments, and an almost tangible fascination (or concern?) with the phenomenon. it was my own timeline (not necessarily in order, but in a pattern that only i really understood) on display.
just about anything was included, family photos, high school photos (cross country, track, band, homecoming, prom, me and my friends being stupid), college photos, fish photos, the old family dog, kermit the frog, dinosaurs, items i cooked (really!), trips to foreign countries...it was all up there. most of the people who regularly visited, or i regularly talked to, interacted with, etc were on that wall. who knows how much larger it would have grown had i stayed there for longer...
...but alas, the day came when it was time to move on to bigger things, or at least bigger (and more aquatic) places. so when it came time to move on to The Tank, the photo wall had to be taken down and packed away. interestingly, this box of photos is one of the few things i have unpacked from the boxes in storage in our garage at The Tank, yet it wasn't opened until just the other night. The Tank is a different place from my old apartment, and the layout itself is not conducive to such a production. I figured why put the whole wall up in my room if only a few people would ever see it, and i KNOW i would get distracted by it up here anyway. not putting it up around fish tanks is a lesson i learned the hard way when i had to clean off salt stains and water marks from the actions of unruly fishes at my old place, so putting it up anywhere else at The Tank would also be hazardous. ...so the wall stayed in stacked (and somewhat ordered) format in a box in my room.
so after blowing of the dust, i took a look inside. the pictures were generally as i remembered them, but some of those photos had been almost forgotten, many faces i hadn't seen in ages, some i'll probably never see again. some i threatened to scan (ah, technology) and post because of their pseudo-incriminating nature (rachel & sarah better tread lightly...and a lot of the rest of you too! just kidding. kind of). but regardless, it was like reviewing 20 years of my life in a matter of an hour, almost a dizzying experience. i revisited everything from The Great Barrier Reef to the events/places/people that made me change my focus from med school to fish ecology (not necessarily an easy feat).
one thing, however, was for certain, and systemic in my photographic history...apparently i (and pretty much my entire family) have always put myself into social situations and settings. now, i know most people take pictures when they are with groups of people or at least with other people, and i'm no different in that general sense; but beyond that, where others may have some down time from such gatherings, i continued to pursue them and found myself constantly in them. i reviewed and revisited gatherings i'd arrange in our tiny dorm rooms at ONU, massive new year's parties at my parents' place (they were there, and cooked Indian food for all the guests as well), class photos that i would arrange...and of course, me with the fishes (who said all groups had to be composed of humans?)
this doesn't look to change anytime in the near future, and i hope it does not. it's definitely caused me problems in the past, that's for sure, but the benefits have far outweighed the detriments, and i wouldn't want it any other way. heck, it's that systemic social addiction that only lets me make these entries (or get any work done for that matter, but thats a different story) at the late hours of the night...when everyone else is asleep and the world is generally quiet. and not up for hanging out. one grandpa was a teacher/principal of a large school, the other a pastor, my dad is a pastor too...perhaps i can blame genetics/heredity once again, haha. either way, it has been with me even when i was very young (constantly being around youth group kids and others) and has persisted to this day, but it's a psychology i can live with. although i can't say it's helped me get a lot of work done (there, i said it)!
i looked through the last of the photos and put them back in the box. i had removed 3 photos out of hundreds. the three being somewhat unified in their relevance, a photo of the class that swayed (shocked?) me into the world of fish ecology, a decal of a particular ganoid-clad prehistoric fish, and a picture of a sign from a class trip to shedd aquarium (the sign reads: "Future Home of Grass Pickerel"...the scientific name of the grass pickerel is E.americanus in case you aren't a fish nerd). i realized i may have to spend a day (or 3) scanning many of them into my computer just so i have them on the many drives...just in case. i gotta be honest, if there is a fire and i can only save a few material possessions, Norton, that photo box, and (maybe) a flash drive with my data/thesis would be the items i come out with!
right now new photos are displayed on something of an electronic wall, and arguably to a larger audience than the old kodak-paper postings, but i kind of miss the original photo wall. i know the era of The Tank will someday come to an end; who knows, maybe at the next venue, those photos will be back up covering the greater portion of bare walls. <"//><
music:
"Amber" - 311
"Umbrella" - Rihanna
random pic:
part of our crew from "Taste of Ann Arbor" (6.3.2007, L-R: Double, Gwen, Summer, Andrea, Me) we periodically had to take shelter in the entry-ways of various shops along main street since it rained most of the day...of course i didn't have my umbrella, but luckily some others in the group did. still got somewhat soaked. twice.
posted by Solomon at 1:58 AM
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