Phoctober the finished

Well, it's all over, our happy time of Phoctobering. Should I still have a blog next October, I expect we can do this again. Looking back at the month, I see that I personally posted more than one hundred images, and provided almost 150 links to other sites' Phoctober entries.

It was a reasonably global event, as well. We had entries from five different continents (damn you, Antarctica and South America!) as well as some ardent posters from right here in America. We were treated to English gardens, Parisian streets, leaves and trees from virtually every place currently experiencing autumn, snow, rain, fog, sunshine, clouds, bottles, whales, paintings, music and scores of other things. It was really delightful how much everyone shared.

Even more inspiring to me personally were the reports from some of the other blogs which seemed to indicate that they had fallen in love with photography all over again as a result of Phoctober. I cannot express how cool I think that is.

Phoctober was conceived as a way to trick myself into blogging every day again, as I used to. I had some nice shots sitting around, and figured it would be a cake walk to fill thirty-one days with images. I was wrong about that. It was more difficult than I could have realized, but having completed the month I feel like I have accomplished something. Nothing big, maybe just a little thing that I find personally enriching. And I seem to enjoy blogging again.

So I want to thank all of you who did a post yourselves, or more than one, or even just came by to look at the pictures. Joiners, lurkers, those who left comments: all of you have made this something far nicer than it had any reason to be.

Next year, I expect we'll have an official Phoctober badge, and perhaps something a little more structured in terms of how links are set up. And I hope we'll have some of you who thought about posting but did not joining in.

We now resume regular blogging. Hope you guys are okay with mostly words for a while.

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NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo both begin today. A month of writing for yours truly. I leapt into my NaNo project last night as soon as the bells chimed midnight (okay, there were no actual bells). I speedily spat out five or six hundred words.

They were the wrong words. I am starting again. I may do so three or four times. I know it's all about the word count in NaNo, but I need the foundation to be strong if I'm going to be able to write a novel in a month.

I never got very far with outlining, but I have spent a fair amount of time thinking about what I want the novel to be, what it should say and do. I have answers to some of the questions and none at all to others. Once I have answered a few more, the real work begins. The other questions will answer themselves in the writing.

I am, weirdly, not nervous. Last year I did not get a chance to start until the sixth, and finished in about three weeks. I tend to write pretty quickly, so once the ideas have taken their shapes, I know I can get the words onto the page and begin building this thing, this work, this novel I have inside of me.

It's a genre piece, about people who would most commonly be called superheroes. Specifically, it is the memoir of a formerly costumed man with abnormal abilities, who is now retired from the whole racket. I don't want to say too much, as there are things I do not know about the plot, and also things I would rather not reveal to someone not perusing the actual manuscript. My hope, though, is that it will be fun and thinky and all sorts of good things.

My further hope is that it will be fleshed out and written in a clumsy first-draft by the end of the month.

For others plunging themselves into NaNo this year, I offer a quote from Ernest Hemingway that helped me a lot last time around: "The first draft of anything is shit." Not really a Hemingway fan, but he kind of hits the nail on the head with that one.

NaNo asks for 50,000 words in thirty days, which breaks down to 1667 words a day, or about 70 an hour. This is more than a word a minute throughout the month. Whether you've personally enlisted for this folly or not, I hope you'll come by to wish luck upon me and my Bloggeagues also undertaking this immense, uh, undertaking.

Phoctober the Halloweenth

Ah, the final day of Phoctobery fun. I'll be honest, there were times this month where I thought that I had bitten off too much, but the participation of others helped me to continue. Now, I suppose, I have much the same problem with NaNoWriMo and NaBloPoMo. I'll be counting on you, Blogreader, to help me through.

I expect I'll do a "Phoctober the Epilogueth" tomorrow, or maybe "Phoctober the thirty-second," so if I missed any links, please let me know so I can add them to that post.

First up today is the pumpkin that Micah made sinister via Sharpie® as we sat by the fire on Saturday.


To keep the Halloween theme going, here is a shot that Rich (when he was still known here as Dirk) emailed to me last year as "proof" of his theory that I am a werewolf. You can read my refutation of these charges here. True to the promise I made in that post, I still have never done a entry for this site entitled "I am not a disturbing looking weirdo."


And, lastly, here is a shot of me at work on Halloween a few years ago. My costume was "The Angel of Death on Casual Friday," (a hooded sweatshirt instead of the traditional business robes) but people ignored or didn't get the joke and found me terrifying instead. Ah, corporate America: how relentlessly you misunderstand me.

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Other Phoctobering:

All Phoctober posts from this site.

Absolute Vanilla on the end of Phoctober and a beautiful countryside.

Taffiny gets spooky.

Matthew and his loved ones.

Basest has...uh, the same shot seven times, but with a reason.

It isn't too late to join the fun. Just do a photo post, mention Phoctober, and come and tell me about it in the comments.

Phoctober the thirtieth

The Riverwalk in downtown Naperville makes the cut for the penultimate Phoctober post. I have my issues with the suburbs, but they really do this sort of thing quite well out there.

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Other Phoctobering:

All Phoctober posts from this site.

Verilion catches up on her window shopping.

Absolute Vanilla is bubbly when she's in the bottle.

Taffiny and the deer that crossed the road.

Kyklops has a little bit of Seoul.

Matthew and a spooky tree.

Gayé on the less arduous side of the Dublin marathon.

Jefferson Davis gets close to music.

It isn't too late to join the fun. Just do a photo post, mention Phoctober, and come and tell me about it in the comments.

Phoctober the twenty-ninth

It's kind of hard to get a post in by midnight when I don't get home from rehearsal until 11:52 pm. So, I have to cheat the time stamp for the second day in a row. Still, after this post, I have only two Phoctober installments to complete, and then the pressure to post by a certain time will subside. Or it would, if I hadn't signed up for NaBloPoMo as well. Phoctober posts take me a lot longer than a normal post to get together, though, what with all the linking and uploading and what-not.

Wow. Rambly. Looks like the coffee I consumed at the onset of rehearsal has finally kicked in, just when I no longer need it. Hooray!

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On Sunday, we got a look at the place where the performances will be for the upcoming show. It was disheartening. The room is very small, and the audience will likely be on the same level as we are, which complicates the sightlines and the blocking somewhat. When one of us sits in a chair, for instance, it may be that we are not visible to everyone in the room.

The lobby is one of the gaudiest things I have ever seen. Every available surface is festooned with memorabilia from comedy of all types. I vacillate between finding it kind of sweet and kind of creepy. There's a level on which I don't understand people who find all comedy funny, just in the same way I am confused by people who find all music worthwhile.

Even weirder was finding out that all of the stuff they have was originally part of a single private collection, kept by one of the owners of the place in his home until the place opened. My first thought was how pleased his spouse must have been to have this stuff out of the house.

Anyway, I grabbed a couple of shots of the walls and such for today's Phoctober. And I'm hitting "publish" at 12:20, which is better than yesterday...

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Other Phoctobering:

All Phoctober posts from this site.

Absolute Vanilla on open doorways.

Kyklops with an assortment of random Japan.

Taffiny and wet pebbles.

Matthew on paths and mist and mountains.

It isn't too late to join the fun. Just do a photo post, mention Phoctober, and come and tell me about it in the comments.

Phoctober the twenty-eighth

A bit late getting this in. Had to cheat the time stamp. Apologies.


I attended a small gathering out at my friend Ian's place Saturday night. You may recall Ian's backyard from this post, in which I announced the whole Phoctober concept in the first place.

Campfire, cocoa (regular or spicy, each homemade), cider, s'mores: there was a general sugar overload among all the participants. It was a perfect night for a fire, crisp and legitimately cool enough that it felt purposeful, even necessary as we perched on our wooden stumps in the darkness. Micah, who drew my "maht-in-the-moon" logo for the banner atop this page, doodled a rather sinister jack o'lantern which I have a feeling you'll be seeing before Phoctober is through. There was plenty of laughter and conversation, and it was a nice counter to some of the lengthy rehearsals I've been in lately. Those are frequently frustrating right now.

At Saturday's frust-fest, we were sort of forced to perform scenes in front of an audience at the retirement home where we rehearse. The scene which myself and my scene partner had to do begins with my entering and handing her some water, which is followed by gazing moonily into one another's eyes and then an intimate kiss. As I handed her the water and leaned in for the kiss, a woman in the audience cried out "He's tall!". It went downhill from there, if you can believe that.

So the gathering at Ian's was a good opportunity to relax and just enjoy the company of friends, to clear my head.

Just in time for a marathon rehearsal on Sunday to go and recloud it for me. Less than two weeks until we open, so one way or another the truly agonizing parts end soon...

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I've never tried to photograph a fire before. It was fun to try. Fun right up until I found myself leaning closer and closer in order to try to get a shot of the wriggling embers at the bottom of the pit, and the heat was so intense I had to pull back for fear of igniting.

Sometimes, I should be tethered by a leash to something immovable, to prevent me from seriously hurting myself.



Ian prodding the fire. Not nearly as crazy dangerous as it looks.





Putting it out at the end of the evening...

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Other Phoctobering:

All Phoctober posts from this site.

Absolute Vanilla frolics in Franschhoek, Part 2.

Taffiny and birds, part 2. Birds now 30% more disturbing!

Matthew really ups the ante for shooting leaves.

Gayé hits the pub, falls in love.

Sameera with verse and hand-drawn art.

It isn't too late to join the fun. Just do a photo post, mention Phoctober, and come and tell me about it in the comments.

Phoctober the twenty-seventh

Some pretty mistakes today. When I caught sight of these trees displaying so much vibrant color against the brown building with the golden windows, I actually gasped. I couldn't get the final shots anywhere near the beauty of the original. So while these are nice enough, I look at them and know I really missed something here.

A good day, a bad day, a long day, Blogreader. The good outweighed the bad by a fair margin. And at least a long day tomorrow. But perhaps I shall have pictures of a friendly fire for you.

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Other Phoctobering:

All Phoctober posts from this site.

Absolute Vanilla in Franschhoek, part 1.

Taffiny on Halloween in the rain.

Jefferson Davis and some artful bottles.

Sameera and a pink ribbon.

L.M. Noonan and a beautiful garden.

It isn't too late to join the fun. Just do a photo post, mention Phoctober, and come and tell me about it in the comments.

Phoctober the twenty-sixth

Not a lot to say today. I've mostly been sequestered with my scripts trying to get off book on everything for tomorrow's rehearsal.

I am at liberty to disclose that I might cheerfully murder someone for a huge slice of sweet potato pie right now. And a nice cup of coffee. And the complete mastery of all the characters I have to portray in the show. While I am at it, I might continue to wish for things for myself, but I suspect I have rambled on long enough.

And so, Phoctober! This was also taken in the courtyard at my former learning institution where the (creepy to some) trees from a few days ago live.

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Other Phoctobering:

All Phoctober posts from this site.

Taffiny channels Tippi Hedren.

Gayé goes to the park, frolics in leaves.

Matthew brings an image of a tree down from the mountain.

It isn't too late to join the fun. Just do a photo post, mention Phoctober, and come and tell me about it in the comments.

Phoctober the twenty-fifth

Only one for you today. Is one not enough? Greedy Blogreader!



Still mostly mired in the play: the learning of lines, running of scenes, the design of the printed materials. Sadly, the last is the most time-consuming. There are an awful lot of cooks peering into that particular pot, and the emails seem to be nearly constant.

Somewhere in there I am also trying to plan my NaNo piece. I think I know what I intend to write (although a weirdly intriguing young adult novel [of all things] popped into my head last night and may warrant consideration). The trouble I am having is with the outline. I've never outlined anything in my life. I'm not even sure I think outlining is a good idea for me personally, but I wanted to give it a stab so that I don't have to improvise the whole month as I did last year.

I'm registered and ready to go. I'm here, if any of you have signed up and would like to befriend (or, possibly more accurately, embuddy) me. Last year, I really got a motivational boost from seeing where everyone else was throughout the month. At one point, I realized that if one of my friends crossed the finish line, then I would as well. So the buddy thing is a nice aspect of the month-long struggle that is NaNoWriMo. Sort of allows you to share the pain, or at least to know that you are not alone in your folly.

I think I'm also going to sign up for NaBloPoMo (a blog post each day in November) because I figure I don't have enough on my plate with the play, writing a novel, looking for work, and attempting to have a social life. After the Phoctober experience, I am really looking forward to using words again. You may have sensed from the posts the last few days, where I've become more wordy in my Phoctobering.

Fact is, I love words. First love, head-over-heels, dizzying, distracting love. And next month is all about words, so I'm pretty excited about that.

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Other Phoctobering:

All Phoctober posts from this site.

Absolute Vanilla by any other name...

Kyklops really loves vending machines.

Roberta on the finery of autumn.

"Sognatrice" is possibly Italian for "puppies."

Taffiny gives us a portal, a path, and a generous helping of green. (Three different posts)

Jefferson Davis gives us a book, some abstracts from a power outage, the lights of a city, and brings back some misty goodness. (Four different posts)

It isn't too late to join the fun. Just do a photo post, mention Phoctober, and come and tell me about it in the comments.

Phoctober the twenty-fourth

I suppose these shots have more in common with last week's arches than anything else. They're all about texture.

The tree stands in the courtyard behind the Arts Center at my former college. I was in the area the other day, and thought I'd stop by.

Everything looked pretty much the same. I found the sameness slightly spooky. Things are supposed to change, aren't they. I drifted through the corridors of the place where I once performed in nine different shows in the span of a single year, roamed the backstage areas where the tech crew still build the sets, where the dressing rooms are.

In the courtyard, I was a part of two consecutive summers ('93 and '94) of outdoor Moliére plays, presented in a big and bawdy modern style, except with the Commedia dell'arte masks. I think I had to run around like a madman in black robes and a paper mâché mask in the summer heat both years. There may have been sweat involved. The shows were directed by the man at the helm of my current show.

Standing there, I felt a little like Billy Pilgrim, tripping through my own life at random.

The day was cloudy and prone to fits of rain. I was sleep-deprived and going with it, allowing the clouds and the weird sensation of fled youth I got walking the familiar halls to shift me into a shade of melancholy. Not a "boo-hoo" melancholy, something else. Something electric and almost good.

Our "portable" stage for the Moliére (we wanted it to look like we were a traveling troupe, and our set was an enormous wagon) was right in front of one of these extraordinary trees. There were occasions on which I had to use the tree to catch me as I leapt from the second level of the stage to get to the ground in time to pretend to be someone else in a blink of an eye.

Leaping off of things to become someone else in the blink of an eye. Anything, of course, is possible when you are 20. Lately, I find myself at a place where anything seems possible again. Perhaps my youth has not fled so far as I'd feared.

Anyway, on with the pictures...

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Other Phoctobering:

All Phoctober posts from this site.

Minx in Strange Town.

Absolute Vanilla finds beauty at the harbor.

Gaye gets meta.

Taffiny on wet flowers.

Meloney Lemon captures a homemade musical instrument and its creator.

Basest discovers new life while parking.

It isn't too late to join the fun. Just do a photo post, mention Phoctober, and come and tell me about it in the comments.

Phoctober the twenty-third

Play rehearsals are strange things for this actor. Too fun to be work, but sometimes too frustrating to be anything else. Rehearsals are where we begin our tentative passes at the scripts we are preparing for the world. We nourish our eventual performances in the hopes that one day the script which currently wobbles on fawn's legs will become something bigger, something greater.

We run our lines a lot, talk about the abstract concepts we hope are hidden beneath them. There is usually quite a lot of joking around, of good-natured ribbing. The energy is frenetic and strange and unlike any other thing I have yet encountered.

It can be difficult personally, as actors can sometimes be incredibly friendly during the entire run of a show and then disappear without a trace. This isn't really the character flaw I might have implied. They simply move on to the next show, which is as time-consuming and intensive as the last, and the cycle starts anew. I imagine it is much the same in any career where landing a job only means a few weeks or months before the hunt for a new gig must begin. One learns not too form too strong an attachment to most of the people one meets at a rehearsal. Except, of course, that sometimes one finds a lifelong friend from among a cast. It's a weird thing.

And sometimes, amid all of the time and the chaos and the line-running, sometimes a single line or a scene just happens and it's better than it was in your head, different from what you imagined when you first read the script. The other actor is giving you something different, and you respond to it, and all of a sudden it's right.

I've been thinking a lot about acting lately, spending a lot of time with scripts and at rehearsals. I surprised myself yesterday by saying to someone that I thought I might want to continue acting again after the curtain falls for the final time on the current show.

This show has been more chaotic than any other I have ever worked on, and still I have found some remnant of the things that I loved about this kind of work. So that is something.

Anyway, here's a shot I took at rehearsal on Sunday. Two actors discussing a scene with the director.

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Other Phoctobering:

All Phoctober posts from this site.

Roberta gets the Phoctober spirit.

Absolute Vanilla catches some African music.

Taffiny and sleepy bees.

Matthew on contemporary Woodstock.

Sameera retrofits some Phoctober in four installments. One. Two. Three. Four.

It isn't too late to join the fun. Just do a photo post, mention Phoctober, and come and tell me about it in the comments.

Phoctober the twenty-second

Another image-only post. Curl, dusk, distance. I promise some words tomorrow.

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Other Phoctobering:

All Phoctober posts from this site.

Absolute Vanilla plays with poppies.

Verilion takes on the night.

Taffiny and a stream

Scarlett makes friends in high places.

Jefferson Davis gets a headache.

Kyklops buys the world a Coke®.

It isn't too late to join the fun. Just do a photo post, mention Phoctober, and come and tell me about it in the comments.

Phoctober the twenty-first

No words today. Just pictures.

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Other Phoctobering:

All Phoctober posts from this site.

Gayé joins the fray.

Verilion gives us a weekly review.

Sognatrice shows us puppies!

Absolute Vanilla at an outdoor market.

Minx goes for a stroll.

Kyklops gets petally.

Taffiny goes costume shopping.

Scarlett goes white.

It isn't too late to join the fun. Just do a photo post, mention Phoctober, and come and tell me about it in the comments.

Phoctober the twentieth

Very late getting this in. My day just flew away from me in some unexpected ways. Apologies.

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Being tired—as one gets—of conventional, old-style pornography, I went last night to see the New Pornographers. My initial disappointment over such a misleading name quickly faded. Turns out that they are musicians. Pretty good ones, too. A fine time was had by all, except I did spend more than a few moments wishing I had a legitimate camera on my person...

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Other Phoctobering:

All Phoctober posts from this site.

Absolute Vanilla and a, uh, brew of all sorts.

Jefferson Davis on water molecules in the air and other things.

Kyklops goes for a walk.

Taffiny shoots leaves in water.

It isn't too late to join the fun. Just do a photo post, mention Phoctober, and come and tell me about it in the comments.

Phoctober the nineteenth

Arches





I had made prints made of a couple of these images, and showed them to some of my family. An aunt (the same one who seems to feel it necessary to point out my height each time I see her) asked me "Why did you take pictures of these things?"

She wasn't being snarky or unpleasant. It seemed like she really wanted to know. I think I mumbled something about the texture, or maybe the shadows.

I looked at them again today and repeated the question to myself. Why did I shoot this underpass?

I shot it for the reason I probably shoot anything. I saw something beautiful there. Maybe it's the texture, or the light and the shadows and the depths. The clean and the tarnished. Maybe something else entirely. It's simply that I looked at it and saw something compelling, that I thought I might be able to capture and bring back with me.

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Other Phoctobering:

All Phoctober posts from this site.

Jefferson Davis on dogs and other things.

Taffiny and the mist.

Scarlett on April in Paris.

Kyklops seeks change.

It isn't too late to join the fun. Just do a photo post, mention Phoctober, and come and tell me about it in the comments.

Phoctober the eighteenth

The last hold-outs. Flower, fungus and fly.

In the ninety seconds I was photographing the flower, one of the petals curled up entirely. Either it was shriveling or flipping me off. Anybody's guess.

It continues to be freakishly warm here, and as a consequence we had a batch of strong storms and even some tornadoes tearing through the midwest. I've now written several letters of complaint to the weather people to ask when they will be installing the autumn, but their customer service is even worse than that of Comcast or the phone company. They might not even process my request until next Monday.

*****

Other Phoctobering:

All Phoctober posts from this site.

Absolute Vanilla hearts Tay Dall.

Mr. Kyklops, tear down this wall!

Taffiny and the luminous jellyfish.

Signs has a salad.

Jefferson Davis tells time.

Not necessarily Phoctoberly, but Sognatrice is having a birthday.

It isn't too late to join the fun. Just do a photo post, mention Phoctober, and come and tell me about it in the comments.

Phoctober the seventeenth

This, here

This...


is the other side of this...


where you can get this...


made from things kept here...


...and if you exit here...


you're right next door to here...


where you can sit here...


and order this...

*****

Other Phoctobering:

All Phoctober posts from this site.

Absolute Vanilla takes elegant shots of flowers, light and glass.

Minx explores her garden.

Kyklops on evening and sky.

Taffiny goes for a walk.

Jefferson Davis and some fuzzy forest dwellers.

Scarlett and the balancing pachyderm.

It isn't too late to join the fun. Just do a photo post, mention Phoctober, and come and tell me about it in the comments.

Phoctober the sixteenth

I cannot help myself. I am drawn to the ochres and umbers of the season. This might be because it is only a quick flash during the year, like singling out a vocal harmony that happens only once in the song.

Autumn is my favorite. October is my favorite. Although I am not doing anything special, I can easily see in my mind's eye the hayrides and apples of another time. The leaf piles, hot cider, festive Halloween decorations: these are all good things. Warm things, in my head. The chill in the air only making the sensation of warmth more enjoyable.

Sometimes, living in a city has its downsides.

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Well, we are now more than halfway through the month of Phoctober. I've been delighted at all the other blogs joining in here and there, some nearly daily. It's a great way to see pictures from all over the world. So please, if you haven't been doing so already, consider clicking the other links below.

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Other Phoctobering:

All Phoctober posts from this site.

Absolute Vanilla brings us whales.

Matthew in a rocky place.

Sognatrice and the camera fairy.

Taffiny shows us her dining room.

It isn't too late to join the fun. Just do a photo post, mention Phoctober, and come and tell me about it in the comments.

Phoctober the fifteenth

It's Blog Action Day, and while I am naturally a little suspicious of a one-day event which does not mention what day the event is in its banners, the topic (also not specifically named above) is the environment, so I'll do something on the topic, and linkies and whatnot.

My initial thought was to keep the autumnal theme going, but add some sort of eco-message. I found this shot, taken Saturday.


This, too, is autumn in Chicago. I cannot help but think that we can do better.

*****

Other Phoctobering:

All Phoctober posts from this site.

Jefferson Davis is a really good photographer.

Debi on growing your own food - Blog Action Day tie-in.

Absolute Vanilla on the downside of development - Blog Action Day tie-in.

Taffiny in the morning.

Matthew, uh, also in the morning.

It isn't too late to join the fun. Just do a photo post, mention Phoctober, and come and tell me about it in the comments.