Point Lobos landscape

At the NMC Summer Conference this year, Larry Johnson, Alan Levine and I tried something different: we actually attended a preconference session. Crazy, I know! It was a photography workshop led by Bill Frakes (Sports Illustrated) and Don Henderson (Apple), with Bill Hanson (Apple). The session was planned and organized by Larry and the three of them, and included a full day walk along the California coast at Point Lobos State Reserve near Carmel, California, followed by a half-day post-production workshop using Aperture.

It was an amazing day. Larry loaned me his Nikon D70 and some killer zoom lenses. I filled up 3 memory cards with the 1,038 pictures I made (the best of which are in a set on Flickr). The whole experience — the scenery, the company, the exploring and learning — was so moving. Partly out of gratitude to Bill F. and Don for leading the workshop, and partly out of reluctance to let go of the experience, I started a Voicethread piece and invited the other participants to comment (please feel free to add your comments, too, if you wish).

In the post-production session, we each selected our five best photos (give or take); the selections were to include one landscape, one flora/fauna/nature shot, one portrait showing emotion, and whatever else we liked. Bill Hanson created a video slideshow of the photos we picked (see the Quicktime version here) that was aired during one of the plenaries at the conference. What a thrill to see them up there on the big screen!

reaching

Hello from lovely Vancouver, where it is at least a time zone I recognize (or did, before last week’s trip, which I like to call “My Luggage Is Back in Newark and So Am I”). I’m attending a grantwriting workshop, which is delightful not only for the content, but also because I really really like school. I know, I’m weird. The instructor had to start pretending not to see my raised hand after the first two hours. She is handling it graciously, but I’m a nightmare student and I know it. I’m engaged with the topic in a way that verges on manic. Even combined with the lack of afternoon coffee, not even the fact that my body is just certain it’s seven pm when it’s really only four could slow me down. Maybe it’s time to think about getting that PhD…

Then again, some of those sentences are pretty hairy, structurally speaking. Do they frown on that when you write a dissertation, or is that considered a bonus?

I've also seen the neat stuff faculty here are doing with their courses. Wikis, blogs, digital storytelling, moviemaking — it's all here. The faculty are sharing the process, the ups and downs, what worked and what didn't, all with frankness and humor. There's a fantastic atmosphere of support and a willingness to learn from each other that's wonderful to see. I'm thrilled and honored to be a guest here.

Take a look at the conference blog — we're writing it as we go!

As Larry pulled into his driveway Thursday evening at the offical end of the road trip, his trip odometer read 1001.4 miles. He drove to Dallas to meet me and Peter, so we only get credit for 750 of those miles. It was still an awful lot of Texas.

Now I’m wading through email, so if you sent me any over the past 10 days or so, please be patient. I’m getting there :-)

We also passed the young man in this picture, who (rather unfairly I thought) exclaimed in astonishment when I poked my head up out of the sunroof to take his picture. How exactly am I the weird one here?

Tomorrow, Austin. Remember: love the journey! I sure am.

  

Dr. Pepper Museum, Waco, TX,
originally uploaded by Rachel Smith.

One of those photos I mentioned… More soon. This is the Dr. Pepper Museum in Waco, Texas, where we frittered away a delightful and nostalgic 45 minutes or so. For more Waco pix, browse my Flickr entries. I’m new at that, too, so most of them are from this trip :-)

Waco is sprinkled with surprising architecture. The McLennan County Courthouse is lovely, although the main entrance is boarded up and one enters through a door under the stairs. Near where we had lunch we found a delightful building, an opinion evidently shared by many: it has its own website. The crown of the visit, though, was the Dr. Pepper Museum, an unexpected find that tempted us to actually park and go in. While Larry — who lives in Texas, after all — stood far enough away that he could disclaim any association with us two crazy Californians if worse came to worst, Peter and I snapped pictures of the soda fountain (and the actual soda jerk, who was a very nice young woman possessing the patience of several saints), the gift shop, the building’s façade, and each other enjoying our genuine fountain drinks. I had a Dr. Pepper (it seemed appropriate) which she mixed for me right there. Peter, ever adventurous, ordered a hot Dr. Pepper, also mixed at the counter, heated in a coffeepot-like thing and served with lemon. Wild.

I did take photos and will add those, um, let’s just say “later” since my schedule this week is so weird. Thank you, thank you to those of you who are commenting on and linking to my fledgling blog!