Kodak moments

Saturday was a notably fantastic day. Nothing ridiculously exciting happened, but it was just a really nice day that made me happy. I've been talking a lot about "the roller coster" all the ups and downs of the hectic time that is freshman year of college so it's important to mention a particularly satisfying day. I had to wake up a little to early, but no day is perfect. First thing on the schedule was a Literacy Day performance with Marquis Players. We sang some silly hip hop song and "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" from Lion King. It was goofy, but the children seemed to enjoy it and that's what was important. Then my friend Kathryn and I embarked on an adventure. I'm trying to incorporate the theme of adventuring into my life more. It's a difficult task when I'm landlocked to the campus, but I'm doing my best. I'm currently reading On the Road by Jack Kerouac. Slowly but surely I'll finish it! So far I really like it. I would have loved to be a part of the beat generation. I think I could have fit in. I think I want a big adventure like that... except less drugs. Anyway back to my story, I packed my knapsack and we journeyed out of the bubble (The bubble is slang term I coined to describe campus). We were searching for the Easton Cemetery so I could take pictures for my Digital Photography class. I mean I guess that is a little morbid for subject matter, but compared to Diane Arbus (my favorite photographer) or Weegee (who I'm just starting to learn about) I think I'm still in the realms of acceptable levels of morbidness. And besides I had heard that it was a beautiful cemetery. It certainly was an adventure... meaning we got really lost. No adventure's complete without getting lost! Okay, I'm just saying that to make myself feel better. Seriously, I have no clue how people navigated the world without google maps and smart phones. I find this both comforting and concerning.  I have no clue how far we walked, but eventually we found the gate. We sat on the ground as I pulled out the tripod and preset the aperture and shutter speed. It was my first time working with a tripod. Personally I find it constricting but to get the depth of field i wanted it was helpful. It was absolutely freezing. The cold air turned my hands completely white. Eventually I caved and put my gloves on. I love photography, I really do. Sometimes it's nice to just disappear behind the lens and not worry about anything other than taking a good picture. There were some very old graves. Some even dated back to the Civil War! Kathryn said the whole experience made her very introspective. In her words, "I felt like if I had to write a poem I could. I'm not going to but I definitely could." 159 pictures later we were ready to leave. I only needed 75 for class, but I'm happy because now I have more choices to edit from. It's one of the few things I actually like about digital photography. On my 35 mm I was lucky to take 40 pictures in one day. I miss the dark room, but digital provides new challenges for me as a photographer. I try to be deep and poetic and compare it to an athlete running different events. After the photo shoot, I treated Kathryn and myself to a delicious lunch at Quadrant. It was really nice that Kathryn helped me with my photo shoot it would have gotten very lonely if I spent the day on my own. We got there just in time to catch breakfast special so I got a broccoli, mushroom, and cheese omelette. It was absolutely amazing. I then took a glorious nap. It was well earned after all the walking! Then my friend Danny came over and after some "real talk" (slang for a serious convo about life) he made me clean my room. It was pretty bad... but it's better now! Then a typical, college-y, if not slightly boring night of hanging out with Andrew, Christina, and Ryan. It was just a day that made me happy and I think that's important to recognize! Maybe I'm steering back towards being an optimist...hopefully!