Music and Poetry.

     I am feeling all the things. When this happens, I usually go to music or poetry*. Here are both:


Take a Deep Breath and Run

PANIC.
ABSOLUTE PANIC.
RESOUNDING, REPOUNDING PANIC.
Though it reoccurs often enough,
it still induces PANIC.
Quiet PANIC.

Though some instances
create butterflies in stomachs
and others create nothing but pain,
these situations create whole heaps of trouble
and a mess.
Always a terrifying, horrible mess.

PANIC.
You almost forgot,
but PANIC never quite lets you forget
that others are upset
and others expectant
and PANIC.

Stop.
Focus on something.
Something that makes you sigh.

Now,
Relax and go outside.
Take a deep breath and run.

Breathe.
Digest the copious air.
Let it scrub the panic away.

Run.
Don't sprint to get away,
run to think things through.

Then,
when you can
live and feel again,

Return.
Walk to the couch,
sit and make some realizations.

Because you need to.


Ghost of Corporate Future

I do

Outside the air and sky were made of ice.
The wind was howling, making a black din.
But everything I saw and heard was nice,
When I could hold you close and breathe you in.
The windows showed the white heaps of the snow.
Beyond the walls the clouds were growing gray.
But listening to Nat King Cole all low,
I knew - in fact - it all would be okay.
When cold, hard life was looming over me
And I just felt like everything was wrong.
You held me close and helped my soul to see,
What beauty could be found in Winter's song.
Then all at once I noticed something new:
I realized that I do, I do love you.


Laundry Room

Your Eyes

Your eyes just don't
go away.

They are not so
piercing blue.

They are not a
rich, deep, brown.

They are simply
real-life green.

Not a dream,
simply beautiful
reality.


Goodness Gracious

A Finger, Two Dots, Then Me

Raindrops

Naked As We Came

*warning, this will all be very sappy and angsty. Bite me. Also, it will probably make no sense.

Ode to Photography

     In my Humanities class, we discussed a poem by John Keats entitled "Ode on a Grecian Urn". It was written during the final stages of Keats' short life and muses on a fictional Grecian urn that contains scenes of a story that does not exist. Rather than discuss a real piece of art, Keats decides to commentate on art in general.
     Keats ponders different scenes painted on the urn and reveals how jealous he is that they are forever trapped in that scene. The maidens that are teasingly fleeing the pursuing men will always be lovely and the pursuing men will always be thrilled by the chase. The boy who is about to kiss his love will always be in love and the girl whom the boy is about to kiss will always be beautiful. The trees will never die. It will always be spring. Those people will always and forever be eternally there. Frozen in time.
     This got me thinking about how photography is essentially the same. It is an art form that freezes a moment forever. That second in time is stuck for eternity for better or for worse. So I created a photo essay based on this idea. Hope you enjoy it:

Eternal Spring

 Falling

Moonrise Over St. George 

Indecision 

Collision

 Ecstatic Leap

A Question

"'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,' - that is all

Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."

- John Keats, "Ode on a Grecian Urn"

Slender Man.

     I wish this was Halloween...cause this is some freaky crap. I was just taking some pictures with my friend Michael Erickson...and...well you can just see for yourself:

Composition.

     I have a question for you: what do you notice about these pictures? What makes them make you feel what you feel? If you feel anything at all?

Halloween is Adorable.

The title is misleading. I hate Halloween and the holiday is by far not adorable, however the babies and young ones in costumes are adorable. The most adorable are by far my nieces and nephew. Here are the tear-jerking-aww-inducing pictures:

I love being an uncle :)

Beard.

     I grew a beard.
     Then I shaved it off.
     I took pictures of it:

I was in a bathroom.

I had a camera.

I had a mirror.

I had to take a duck-face-bathroom-mirror-camera-in-hand picture:

Now time for the weird rant:

     I am so glad I grew a beard. Sounds weird, but whatever. It was probably the only time I could (depending on whether or not my wife likes beards) so I said YOLO quietly to myself and didn't pick up the razor one morning. 

     Having this beard taught me a lot of things which I will present to you in LIST FORM*!:

1. I got my food 30% faster in most restaurants.

2. I was feared 20% more.

3. I was asked the question, "CAN I FEEL YOUR BEARD?!" 8 times.

4. I had my beard felt without warning 5 times.

5. Beards increase face temperature by a factor of two.

6. Beards increase face itchiness by a factor of seven-hundred thousand.

7. Beards reduce facial perception by a factor of four.

8. MY BEARD IS RED?!?!

9. I was asked if I knew if my beard was red 10 times.

10. I was asked why my beard was red 25 times.

     Something I couldn't quite figure out was why a lot of people feared I had gone off the deep end. A lot of people would give me worried looks when they saw my beard and ask me if everything was alright. It was a little confusing.

     So there is my random post for the week.

     Hope you enjoyed it :) if not...oh well.

*Facts listed in List are approximate. Levi didn't really care much about exact numbers during his beard-growing period. Instead this list reflects how much Levi noticed certain things that happened while he had his beard.

Concert Night.

     I went to see my friends perform in the Madrigal's Columbus Day Concert. They did so good! The whole program was really well done and nice to watch. Here are some pictures from the concert and from after the concert:

 NATALIE ANGRY!

Silly Tessa. You can't escape me!

Turtle, Turtle.

This kids, is why it is fun to take a photography class:

My Job is Better Than Your Job

     I don't mean to sound braggy...but it is true. My job is the most superior job there is.

     Now before I go into detail as to why my job is the best, I think it is appropriate to tell you what my job entails.

     On Mondays I wake up and get to go to college. I do this Monday through Friday. On Tuesdays I go and mow my neighbors lawn. On Mondays and Wednesdays (sometimes Wednesdays and Fridays) I go to BioLife and donate plasma. On Fridays I get to teach my wonderful students (I have four right now). On Saturdays I have a cleaning job for one of my neighbors. Spread throughout all that different time I have two other jobs that crop up sporadically throughout the week. I take people's pictures (if you want to see some of my work/see my specific prices or services go here) and I also accompany people/fulfill their musical needs (whether they need a performer or an accompanist or a composer).

     Not only do all of these things bring income, but they also bring me a lot of happiness.

     Through these different jobs I have acquired knowledge (college is fantastic btw [I highly recommend it]), friendships, inspiration and a great deal of satisfaction.

     I do what I love and in turn I love what I do.

But in reality I am still pretty poor...bahahahahahahaha!

Self Portraits Are Hard.

     Okay so I have this list of things I want to do as a photographer. One of those things on that list is to do self portraits. I have this one on my list because in my photography text book it says, "Self-portraiture is a staple of art photography because it is practical (the subject is always willing), and it offers rich inspiration from the tradition of the painted self-portrait."

Obviously it isn't as easy as the book makes it sound. I literally took eighty pictures about like this.

However, thankfully, some of them did turn out all right and I did get to cross that off my list. Here are some of the better ones:

     This actually was a really insightful project. It helped me to understand how my subjects feel (what the crap is that sound?! what is that light for?! [cameras make weird noises and bright lights]) and why they respond to certain things the way that they do. It also gave me a better understanding of my equipment.
     Above all, this taught me about self-confidence and self-respect and the awkwardness of neighbors arriving at home to find someone staring at a tripod across the street.

It was fun.