Once Home...

Once Home...
Originally uploaded by Dannybhoy

Its strange going back to Charlotte. Particularly South Charlotte, where I grew up.

This is Stonecrest, a shopping center just a few minutes from my old house where I grew up. I worked my first job at the Harris Teeter (A wonderful grocery store) behind that far bulding. This courtyard is flanked by a Dean and Delucia's, Qdobas, Marble Slab Creamery all kinds of wonderful places to eat. its all very yuppie. Theres alot of money in the area, although I never had it.

My first break up happened here, while shopping for a wedding present for my brother. High School was stupid. Later I would build a box and fill it with memories to give to another girl. It was made of red oak stained with linseed oil. I had carefully arranged photos and inside jokes. She smiled as she sat at the edge of the fountain just behind me, now dry and empty except for coins that sit on the bottom like spent dreams.

All of this was once home to me. My family moved away. I went to college far enough away to know distance. Things have changed. New houses, new shops, everything growing like the kudzu that it replaces.

The other day I became incredibly disoriented driving on a nearby road. It was one of those roads that wound through several farms and demanded that you drive way over the speed limit with the windows down and the radio cranked. Now there is an elementary school and five or six new neighborhoods with earthy names to remind people that it used to be a farm. I didn't see any Horses, or even a field.

A place that was once home is like an old friend you knew as a brother. Someone you shared life with. Then, after years of not seeing each other you meet up again at a familiar place. The old friend is recognized, but theres so much more to his life now. These two images conflict in the mind's eye, a dichotomy of intimacy and time .
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Me and Caffiene

Ok, I think its fair to say caffiene makes me more productive.

Today I:

1.Made signifigant progress in some classical pieces I had been stuck on
2.Restrung My guitar
3.Patched my favorite Jeans
4.Read a 300 page Novel (The Bean Tree by Barbara Kingsolver. Excellent.)
5.Turned in film to Walgreens
6.Bought a new toothbrush (a two pack on sale)
7.Wished my Grandma a happy birthday.
8. Ate a healthy breakfast (Yogurt and Tortillas)

Success.

Now hopefully I can sleep enough to be ready for tomorrow.

Garfield Minus Garfield

Okay, my new favorite comic strip, I just have to share.

garfield minus garfield
Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness in a quiet American suburb.

http://garfieldminusgarfield.tumblr.com/page/2

My New (old) Camera

Well, its spring break. That time of year when I'm looking forward to going home and spending some time in Charlotte.

More exciting news, I got a roll of film back from my Kodak Duaflex II. I got this camera from ebay a couple of weeks ago and its pretty much one of the funnest cameras I own.

Made somewhere between 1950 to 1954 this camera is beautiful in its simplicity. It has no light meter, nothing run by electronics, it is completely mechanical. You push a button and the spring loaded shutter pulls back for 1/30th of a second to expose the medium format film that runs through the back of it.

This camera is basically a consumer grade point and shoot, one of the nicer models with a manual focus (3.5-inf) and three aperture settings (f.8 f.11 f. 16) for hazy, sunny, and extra bright (snow or sand) conditions. When I first got it in the mail everything appeared to be in working order so I shot a roll through it.

620 film and 120 film are exactly the same except for 620 rolls being wrapped around a smaller spool. So with a pair of scissors i managed to trim it down enough to fit into the loading area of the camera, and wrapped the film around to the 620 spool that came with it. After a little confusion at the local Ritz Camera store, which involved an all out search for Mr. Peter's missing role. Right after I told the clerk my name was Oakes. The results from this camera are pretty fantastic. Soft and dreamy, barely in focus, Plus some awesome light leaks from when I took the film out.

The first shot to the left is a light leak across the frame that just happens to look really cool. Note the ethereal quality of the photos, the dream like quality may be a result of either dirty lens, a non reflective lens shooting into the sun, or possible just fog from light leaking in. I'm really not sure, but I am tempted to shoot another roll to figure it out.





Unfortunately shooting rolls of 120 film is expensive to buy and to process. Thankfully, the kodak is more versatile than it first appears. By combining it with my point and shoot digital, the everfaithful canon A620 I can shoot through the viewfinder of my duaflex to achieve a new level of distorted awesome goodness. Click on the pictures below to see more on my Flickr.