Occupy Lincoln

I really want to go document Lincoln's chapter of the Occupy Wall Street movement before it gets hairy. I don't know really what the whole brouhaha is about; the "About" sections on their website isn't all that clear, and having them explain it might clear some answers as well.

Tales from a Regular Person

Any indication to his most repeated phrase was not apparent on his home facade. No, this was a big house, with a big yard, beautiful, almost dream-like. On the outside it had some well trimmed bushes and walks leading up to the front step. I rung the doorbell and waited exactly two seconds and the door opened.

"Pablo!" he exclaimed, being followed out by one of his friends. "Follow me to the garage, this is Charles, I'm almost done with him."

"Do you play tennis?" Charles asked me, holding a tennis ball holder.

"Well, I, uh, I, I've attempted to but no not really, I--" I was not expecting this question...

 "Oh that's okay. I just wanted to give this away," he said, putting the holder down.

Charles soon left, and the Job shadow began. I think.

"What do you want to learn?" Joel began.

"The ins and outs of photojournalism," I replied, mentally proud of my answer.

"Well, I can tell you this. You don't want to do this, this is a dying field. In ten years I won't have work because anyone can take good pictures now--and for free. I take good pictures of the earth, but they're not free, so the industry is heading towards phasing out paid photographers. Web design and Video journalism--now that's another story."

The rest of the afternoon was spent watching him rearranging photos on his website, ranting some more about how photojournalism is fading into video, and doing a radio interview over the phone on which he spoke about a website from National Geographic and how photojournalism.....

However, I confronted him about what he does as a normal human being. That afternoon I also helped him move things around his backyard, clean the garage, and watched him do dishes and kiss his children and wife when they got in the door. "How hard is it to have a family when you're gone half the year?" He thought long and hard about his response. I added, "Everyone sees journalists as crazy people going into stories  people are fleeing, but the truth is we are regular people."

"Yes, true, you have seen me do dishes. But it is hard to have a family. Frankly, it sucks. The job is fun and all, but I am away so much that it does me good to be home a day a month and hear my children fight. Most photojournalists are divorced. Now, this is just a guess, but I'd say at least 90% are divorced. I got lucky. My wife is perfect, she has been willing to cope with this all these years. But it's hard."

The rest of the job shadow became more like a chat. We talked about jobs, and how photojournalism....But we also talked about my career, and how I should focus on videojournalism/essays, as opposed to their photo counterparts, because photojournalism...

In the end, I told him about my video production class and my knowledge of Final Cut Pro 7, and immediately that struck with him. "There is video I don't know how to edit. Would you be interested in an internship with us if you make this videos?"

I didn't have to think twice about the answer.

A World of Conflict

I really hope that one day I can show the world what the real world is like by my photo-essays. I really hope that one day I can show the real world who Jesus is wherever I work. Now, however, I have to content myself with Kevin Sites' experiences in his book I'm reading, In the Hot Zone.
I was also made aware of his documentary, which accompanies this book, called A World of Conflict. As soon as I remembered, I went on YouTube and searched for it. Sure enough, there it is! So...I will begin to watch this now, at least a chapter a day (but not limited to that....). If I fall asleep in class, you now know why.

In the Hot Zone

After cereal, the next (material) thing I love most are books. However, I am very picky in my book selections, bypassing any that look that won't give me much brain food. My favorite non-Christian book of all time is The Grapes of Wrath--it's probably the book I have most enjoyed out of all the books I have read more than three times.

I am currently reading Ellen G. White's Patriarchs and Prophets, Shane Claiborne's The Irresistible Revolution, and Kevin Sites' In the Hot Zone.
It is Kevin Sites who has captured my full attention right now. As a journalism major and an international rescue and relief minor who aspires to be a photojournalist/essayist in the manner of Gordon Parks, this book speaks directly to me. The book is a narrative of a year in Kevin's life as a solo journalist (SoJo) who goes to all the hot zones in the planet. (Hot zones are war and disaster areas.) Reaching out to my humanist and idealist mind and to my adventurous body, he tells the story of capturing controversial clips of a certain Marine's behavior in Iraq and also being in the Indian Ocean for the 2004 Tsunami a few months after, where he not only reported but helped bring relief to others as well.
Every time I pick up this book I can't put it down. I will try to put updates on how this book is going as I advance.