To me, this summer is all about finding a good work balance. I just finished my first year as assistant professor, was very productive on the job, but mostly because I cut short on all those things I used to call hobbies. So, I decided that I'll take up one of my much-too-long dormant hobbies: photography.
What I like about photography is that it helps me notice the little things about life that I typically would walk by. I love rusty things, for example. They're pretty without trying, just kind of incidental. Having lived in Pittsburgh, there was an abundance of unnoticed industrial-style pretty stuff. Now that I live in Madison, which actually is a pretty city, I find it more difficult to not get distracted by the "big" beautiful things, such as the lakes and the well-kept houses.
The challenge is to post one picture a day. Not of things that are typically thought of as pretty, but of regualr things, however mundane, that kind of stick out because of something that makes them unusual or gives them some interesting tweak. Or the little imperfections that make the pretty stuff more mundane. This is more of a challenge in Madison than in Pittsburgh for sure. And I bet it will help me focus on the little things in life.
Today's picture is about what Madison is like during the summer. Pretty, but full of road work and other construction stuff. Someone told me that there are three semesters in Madison: Fall, Spring, and Construction. It really does feel like the entire city is under construction. So, here's today's picture:
What I like about photography is that it helps me notice the little things about life that I typically would walk by. I love rusty things, for example. They're pretty without trying, just kind of incidental. Having lived in Pittsburgh, there was an abundance of unnoticed industrial-style pretty stuff. Now that I live in Madison, which actually is a pretty city, I find it more difficult to not get distracted by the "big" beautiful things, such as the lakes and the well-kept houses.
The challenge is to post one picture a day. Not of things that are typically thought of as pretty, but of regualr things, however mundane, that kind of stick out because of something that makes them unusual or gives them some interesting tweak. Or the little imperfections that make the pretty stuff more mundane. This is more of a challenge in Madison than in Pittsburgh for sure. And I bet it will help me focus on the little things in life.
Today's picture is about what Madison is like during the summer. Pretty, but full of road work and other construction stuff. Someone told me that there are three semesters in Madison: Fall, Spring, and Construction. It really does feel like the entire city is under construction. So, here's today's picture:
