Ramblings...#10
It's about time... As I have let people know that I will be on vacation next week for almost three weeks, it made me wonder about how many of you never take the time to get way. Now, I don't mean taking off for a weekend or a day-trip to visit that mountain cabin you wished you owned. What I mean is TRULY taking a vacation... without the laptop (unless you are strict enough to use for something other than work)... without the cell phone... without... I now it's not easy. This will be my first vacation in more than six years that I can go without having to worry about work. Don't get me wrong, I have taken time off before, but not without taking work with me, or at least there was ALWAYS the worry about work. Always the worry. With this vacation, I will be taking my laptop, but I am not going to take web files so I can do any repair or maintenance of my sites while I am vacationing. I am not taking any literature that relates to work, either. Granted, I will be thinking about work, but not in the manner in which I have viewed it in the past while experiencing a little bit of rest and relaxation. I will be thinking about more of the marketing and promotion of Red Dog News and Red Dog Journal. I will be making lists for discussion and implementation when I return. In the developed countries, the United States lags far behind other countries in the time that people take off for vacations. In many countries, vacation is mandatory, and in those countries, vacations are more like a month than our piddily two weeks. Granted, I will have a little bit of guilt in leaving, but I will put that in its proper place. It will not be a constant nag to my "good times." Thanks to Think-Tank Photo, for the first time I will have the proper camera cases/bags for international travel, and thanks to the input of several people my packing will be efficient and minimal. I won’t be dining out in fancy restaurants in Paris. I won’t be traipsing all over the country. But I will, as I have mentioned previously, be taking a three-day side trip to the Provénce area of France for a workshop with Lucien Clergue. In the village where I will be staying, wifi is almost non-existent, so email viewing will be a seldom-experienced thing. In a novel I am reading, the two main characters decide to flee the complacency and idiocy of the United States, and live in France. They don’t have much vision about where they will live or what they will do once they get there. The emphasis is on the doing of the act; the mere acceptance that they can decide what to do with their lives, as well as their two-children. But an unexpected occurrence develops which ties them inexplicably to their current home and to the husband’s work. It is almost as if the husband was willing the trip not to happen, even though he was enthusiastically for it when the idea first came into being. I have deliberately not included the title for what I hope are obvious reasons. The point of this article is to give your self some time. Give yourself some freedom to choose to take that time and spend wisely in the relaxation of your mind and of your body. You (and your family) will be much better for it. If you work day after day, week after week, month after month, and year after year, you are sure to burn the wick on that candle out of existence, much sooner that you may have anticipated. You owe it to yourself to give the gift of true rest and relaxation. Do it! ------- As a reminder, don't forget to enter our first annual Red Dog Journal Photography Contest! We already have entries coming in, and the sponsor prize list keeps growing. It is only $25 to enter, and it's a terrific way to gain added exposure to your work. The deadline has been extended to July 15, 2009! ____ We have been very busy in the last couple of months working with artists and others to create PhotoArts Collector, a program designed to promote and market photographers whose work deserves to be seen and appreciated. We offer selected open-edition prints of their work at a reasonable price. If you are interested in participating, click on the “PhotoArts” button on the left. If you are interested in seeing our first print in this program, it was done by Julie Meridian, and you can click on the “PhotoArts Collector” button on the left. One of my images has also been added, as well as images by Dan Baumbach and Dennis R. Ford. We are going to be making a BIG push on this program very shortly, with an email to 300,000 qualified contacts who are looking to buy art. Now is the time to consider joining the Red Dog Journal Portfolio Artist's Group, and take part in this GREAT program! ------- I have been working with an artist on a set (4) of poster-prints from his series, “The Color of Ireland.” The images are collages of paintings that the artist, Michael Downes, has done in the past and recent photographs. The resulting prints are compelling and depict the landscapes of Ireland in a very refreshing manner. We are offering this initial group at great introductory prices, including USPS priority mail and applicable taxes. Click here to see the images. Prices have been lowered! ------- Timothy B. Anderson Archives Off we go! |
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