I Have Swine Flu

I'm gonna go ahead and quote Gardenstate here:

"You laugh. I'm not saying I don't cry but in between; I laugh, and I realize how silly it is to take anything too seriously. Plus, I look forward to a good cry. It feels pretty good."

I'm the kind of person who laughs at what other people consider to be sad, scary, unfortunate things. 

I laugh when I fail a test.

I laugh at midgets feeding giraffes.

I laugh at how I fell in love and got dumped for reasons I still don't understand.

I laugh at how there is a new epidemic every year that the media goes haywire about.

I laugh about the fact that I hated living in Charleston, and now that I'm gone, I miss it so much.

I never forget, for one minute, how sad or how terrifying or how disappointing these things may be. 

It may just be my way of coping with these things. It may be because I truly find these things funny. But either way, I do this, and I  don't plan on changing that.

It May Be Greener, but It Still Burns

Lately, I've been a mess. 

People need to feel as though they belong somewhere-- that they have a place to call home. And while I can say that Charleston is my home, I feel so far away. I am so far away. Right now, more than ever, I need to go home. I need a reminder of where I come from, who and what has shaped me into the man I am now. This city blocks out so much. 

I need a familiar face.

 It just so happens that my good friend, 

Jessika, is coming up soon. 

That will be wonderful. 

I've been a mess for one main reason. The reason is not important. However, due to it, I have fallen a long way down, and there have been times where I have felt I wasn't capable of picking myself up. During those times, I found comfort in my mother, Hanna, and music. 

I've been watching a lot of Planet Earth lately.

The world has a strange and awesome way of balancing itself. 

For example, in the grasslands, as soon as grass begins to cover all of the land, providing food and nourishment for the animals, a fire sparks. The grass, along with any weak, old, or sick animals, is caught in the flames. Eventually, the fire dies, and leftover is ash-- a sort of fertilizer for new grass to grow. 

Perhaps the best way to grow will always be through pain. Perhaps even the worst of situations provide some good.

So I hope to use this opportunity to  reexamine where I come from and who I am and ultimately grow as an individual. 

Maybe later this year things will be better, and this whole experience will have been for the best.

A Manufactured Landscape

I suppose I should start by introducing myself. My name is Bugs. I am from Charleston. I now live in Chicago, where I go to school for photography, at Columbia College. I am only eighteen and am in the process of figuring out who I am. The rest of me will come with time. 

As of now, I just finished classes for the week. Despite the three day school week I have this semester, however, I believe I will have a nice workload. I am taking Photography II, Darkroom II, Writing and Rhetoric II, History of Art II, and 2D Design-- three of which require final projects. (The photography final is a book of 20 color photography-- I actually get to make a book!!) Both of my photography professors seem knowledgeable, demanding, and just plain awesome. So basically, while it may be hectic, it will be a fun semester. Exciting!! 

And I get to do color photography!! I've been looking at Edward Burtynsky's work lately, and it has made me excited to do color photography. He focuses on man's impact on the world, taking shots of scarred landscapes-- what he calls "Manufactured Landscapes." I've always been interested in damaged, or destroyed, or abandoned buildings and places.