May 26th 2009 - All sweet things will come

Interesting past few weeks. I haven't done any flying but I'm not going to complain. Like Ive previously said, if you don't find something to do and keep yourself busy then you'll find its real easy to get into a rut and the reality that everything you are accustomed to miss is going to be gone for a long time. family. friends. signifgant other. A bored mind is a dangerous thing. Its important to not let your mind get to that point. Ive been guilty of it in the past and it made things more difficult than it should have been.
I got some new music in the mail a few days ago, its been a few months since I got a new record so its refreshing to learn some new music. I went out on a limb and bought some music I wasnt sure if I was going to like or not. But Im glad I did because Im a big fan of two new bands. Sigur Rós, and No Man.
Sigur Rós is a band from Iceland. They have a unique sound, which is an huge understatement. Difficult to explain but its comforting to know that a country as small as Iceland can produce a high ratio of talented people. Guess that would justify another trip to Iceland in the future, to see them in concert when they are playing there again.
No man, a duo composed of Steven Wilson (of Porcupine Tree) and Tim Bowness. Being a huge Porcupine Tree fan, it was only a matter of time before I went all in and invested my money and time into this collaboration. After watching an interview with Steven Wilson, which he was asked "what is your favorite piece of work youve done thus far?", which he replied the most recent No Man record. I had to check it out at that point. Glad I did, I suggest you should too.

The biggest event that happened recently was one that caught me by complete suprise. A marine from Head Quarters Marine Corps working for Marines.mil came to me wanting my story to publish in the Marines magazine. After waking up at 3:30 am one morning to take this photo:

We were 'priviliaged' enough to have a nice ass chewing by a highly motivated, highly angered, highly uninformed chief warrent officer.
"Do you have permission to take photos on the flight line?!?!"
"Ive always had permission from the unit"
"Ive got combat operations going on in the background, you cant take photos on the flight line."
*turns around and looks at the dark sky and no aircraft flying in that whole direction*
"Roger Sir, we were just leaving"

A few hours later a few marines from the same unit came to me apologizing for him.
"Cpl Smith, sorry for what that CWO said to you. Fuck his couch, you've done nothing but help us". Certianly made my day :)

But back to the interview for the magazine, we went and had breakfast and spent a good 30 minutes talking and as he took 3 or 4 pages of notes. I was quite honored to get the opportunity to explain the chain of events that lead me to where I am currently in my career, life, and photography.

My book is coming along quite nicely, I've had a lot of help and support from people who know Im working on it. If any of you read this thank you! Thanks for reading. Here are a few more photos.