RVC4

I can’t wait to be a student again. I’m very much looking forward to starting school on Monday at PSU, looking forward to being somewhere new with my wife, meeting new people, seeing new places. I’m also very excited to be done working at a 9-5 for a bit also. I really hope I continue to get more freelance clients so that I can support Britt and myself that way, but I may have to get a job on campus or something. Either way we’re so excited to move, our apartment is full of stacked boxes and piles of things that need to be packed. I’ll post pictures Sunday or Monday once we get settled in Portland.

Came across this article today on AIGA. It’s an interesting look at the era of Polaroid film started in 1947, when the first instant camera, named the Polaroid Land Camera Model 95, was introduced. Invented by Edwin Land (Land camera, get it?) who founded the Polaroid company in 1937. Polaroid interestingly enough started out offering polarized sunglasses.

What’s so amusing to me about this is that Polaroid is ditching instant film for digital photography. Which when you think about it doesn’t offer the instant satisfaction of a physical image mere seconds after you take the picture (I realize that it usually takes around a minute for the picture to fully develop, but you know what I mean).

This also touches on a broader idea that has been taking up precious space in my brain lately. I get scared the further away we get from physical things, things you can hold and touch and smell and feel. We have mp3’s (I don’t think I’ve purchased an actual CD in over a year), e-books, digital photo albums. I read a comic awhile back called The Surrogates. Amazing comic, I loved the artwork, the dialogue, the story. But according to this book the future is a lonely place where we all have “Surrogates”, or cyborgs, robots, that we control from home. Humans are no longer leaving their houses, they “plug in” and go about their day as a robot.

Does that not terrify you? And although small, I feel that things like no more instant film, and downloadable music, and movies over the internet, and electronic books, they are the starting point.

Just went and got a mac today. It’s gorgeous. I’m in love. The tips of my fingers and my toes are tingling. I have stars in my eyes and my heart is beating out of my chest. Honestly this is the most excited I’ve been about anything “thing” ever. There are several people in my life that are infinitely more important than any “thing” I’ll ever own, but goodness gracious is this piece of equipment beautiful. It came with an iPod touch and a printer. Printers are a dime a dozen, but this iPod touch is a thing of beauty. It’s sleek and stylish, I can check my email on it, look at some funny youtube videos of kids being attacked by cats, and listen to my favorite band. Plus I can do all this just by pushing on the screen. It’s amazing! And here is an obligatory picture of the sweet setup, which I’m just about to take…

My wife posted about our new tattoos, and I’ll post pictures soon but until then go look at her site.