Art Inspired By Art

This past week I was asked to come up with a photograph inspired by another painting or photograph. My mind instantly went to one of my favorite images of all time, featuring John Lennon and Yoko Ono taken by Annie Leibovitz.  I am currently reading her book, "at work" in where she describes how this photograph came about.  Sometimes, the best shots you take are the ones where you are not in complete control.  You will have to read the book to learn why.  Unfortunately, this was one of the last photographs of John Lennon before he was shot the next day.

I love it when my friends are up to participate in my crazy requests.  I asked Jamie and Traci if they wouldn't mind recreating this photograph, but with a modern spin.  I didn't expect them to jump on board right away but they both agreed and thought it would be fun.  It was.

I came over with a large ladder, sheet and my camera.  We moved all of the furniture out of the way to place the sheet on the ground and then they put their comforter over the sheet.  I have a sliver of the couch showing and instead of jeans thrown over, their dog Ollie decided that the blanket looked like a nice place to lay down so he curled up next to them.  In this photo on the right, you can see the ladder with my foot and ollie's tail on the bottom of the sheet to give you an idea of what the scene looked like.

This photograph at the top is my favorite of the bunch.  It shows the love between these two.  A big thank you to two of my dearest friends for playing along.

Setting Goals For The Road

I think I do pretty well with setting goals and making them happen as much as I can.  Most of the work comes in actually writing the goals down and figuring out what I really want to do.

I've always hated the typical "where do you want to be in 5 years" interview question.  I mean, really.  How many people answer that truthfully?  I usually answered the question with what would benefit the company.  The tendency is to answer along the lines of: "I want to grow this company x amount and perhaps work my way up and fill the x position."  When you are really thinking, "I don't know if I will be happy here in five years and if you don't pay me enough, I am sure I will look elsewhere." Then 5 years comes along and you are doing the same thing and wondering why you are still there hating your job.

Good news is...you can do something about it!  I know this economy is pretty shaky and the future is uncertain but what future is certain?  I know that it took a long time for me to quit my job and let go of all of the security that surrounded it.  Even at the beginning I mourned not being needed anymore. Yes, I know...so sad.   I woke up and thought, "now what?"  I wasn't the type of sales person that did it just for the money, but I have to admit that getting a paycheck was nice.

I've lined up some people to live in my house and that means it's time for me to get out!  Time to get back out into the uncertainty...the unknown of the everyday.  For me, it's a welcome experience.  I love waking up each day, looking at a map and deciding where to go.  Although it hasn't always been the best way to plan a trip, it takes you to places you would have never had the chance to see, especially when you get lost.  My GPS navagator, "Cindy" tends to lead me to dead ends and takes me the wrong way sometimes.

Uprooting your home to live in a car for an extended period of time takes some planning.  There are so many things I want to see this time around.  I am completely hooked on the website, Roadside America and I am planning to visit the odd and weird.  It makes sense because I am typically drawn towards things that are different and freaky. There is so much to see and do. I've already seen the palace made of corn...very exciting.  I hope to become my own Hewell Howser and learn about different people and places along the way.  Of course I can't wait to share them with you here.  So, it's back to planning at least the first few weeks.  I can't wait to see the worlds largest, smallest, and greatest (insert something really facinating here).