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People Are People Bozeman, Montana 2010

People are a puzzle alright, but “people are people” is one of those phrases that seems to say either a lot or nothing at all. In this case I’m leaning toward the later, perhaps because of the thoughtless use of a similar phrase I was guilty of back in another life. I was a graduate student in sociology at the University of Arizona at the time (the mid-70s) and taking an advanced research class from Dudley Duncan, one of the most influential sociologists in history. During one class session Dudley asked us to speculate as to the cause of some particular type of human behavior he had been discussing. After a long silence with no response from anyone else, I thoughtlessly piped up with the reply “human nature.” Now Dudley Duncan was usually a very serious and formal person both in and out of the classroom, but on hearing that reply he burst into the loudest guffaw I ever heard from him. “THAT’S what we’ve been paying you to go to school for? THAT’s what the sum total of your learning here has brought you to?” (or something along those lines) was his response once he stopped laughing. I don’t know if I’ve retained anything else from what I learned in that class but I did learn to be hyper-aware of seemingly profound statements that don’t have a lot of explanatory meat to them. (That awareness is driving me crazy during this election season, but that’s a different rant.) And Dudley? That statement did not seem to change his view of me too much. He eventually asked me to be one of his research assistants but I turned him down because I decided to leave the university for other adventures after getting my master’s degree. We stayed in touch though and he visited us occasionally until his death in 2004. That whole time he remained to me an inspiration, mentor, and a prime example of a intellectual life well led. But even towards the end I was always nervous around him, afraid of eliciting another rare guffaw.  ]]>

God, Guns and Glory Steamboat Springs, Colorado 2012

Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition his favorite song I suppose.

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Drought Relief Steamboat Springs, Colorado 2012

A little visual relief from a hot, dry summer.

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Bee Keeper Spokane, Washington 2012

Although there are none in this shot (I don’t think), these flowers along the Spokane River seemed to be holding sway over all the bees in the area.]]>

Art in Passing #9 Spokane, Washington 2012

Another in the series of candid art show patron shots, this one from Spokane back in June.]]>

Moonrise, Spokane River Spokane, Washington 2012

I’ve been feeling a little pictorial lately…

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Problems of Scale #2 Wilsall, Montana 2012

I can see this as a night shot of a big office buildings with a lot of fluorescent tubes lit in the interior; as such it might make a good addition to my Measures of Anonymity (a.k.a. Gridlock) series. In actuality was taken inside the grain elevator in yesterday’s shot, with the light bars of course coming from the sun shining through the cracks between the boards in the wall.]]>

Problems of Scale Wilsall, Montana 2012

I guess it’s not really a problem but the scale of this image is misleading to me, even though I was the one who took the photo. This structure looks like it was made of something on the order of Popsicle sticks when in fact each of the vertical boards is eight to ten feet long, making the the total height of what you see here thirty to thirty-five feet. (Oh by the way, this is the side of a rather “naked” wooden grain elevator–one I’ve photographed before and may very well have posted an image of similar to this one some time ago. But I find it intriguing so don’t personally mind the potential repeat.)

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Ticket Girls Jackson, Wyoming 2012

Two ticket-takers in a staring contest at the Jackson rodeo.

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Night Rider Jackson, Wyoming 2012

At the Jackson Hole Art Fair last weekend, the cheap artists like myself were allowed to stay in the parking lot of the fairgrounds for free. (Most had campers, but I just slept in my van.) The gravel parking lot in the middle of town provided pretty spartan accommodations, which was just fine except for Saturday night–the night of the regular rodeo they put on primarily for the tourists. That night we ended up more or less surrounded by pickups and horse trailers, which was also just fine except that apparently it is accepted behavior to just shovel manure out of your trailer onto the parking lot. So that evening the crisp night air was laced with a rather pungent odor.]]>