The skinny of late. And pictures.

1) In the running for a creative nonfiction prize. If I could ask for you to go somewhere and vote for me, I would.

2) Won a fellowship to the Summer Literary Series for Creative Nonfiction in Lithuania. Only goes toward tuition, so between room & board and airfare (and double it because I'd have to/demand on/want to take my kid with me), there's no way I can go. But they gave me something, and I'm focusing on the compliment of that.

4) Had a run in with a crazy in a green pickup truck today. He cut me off (he was in a left-turn-only lane at a light, I was in the go-straight land, but he went straight instead left, directly into the path of my straight-going car), and when I slammed on the breaks and the horn, he stopped his car, got out, came over to my car yelling at me to "Slow it down, bitch!" (I was doing about 12 miles an hour at the most, having just pulled out from a red light.) "Slow it down! I'm an undercover cop and I'm looking for an address! So back off!" Took pictures of the back of his car, drove a couple blocks away and called the police.

5) Working on trying to find Clifford Irving, the author of Fake! and the controversial/hoaxed Howard Hughes biography that's the basis of the film Hoax. Anybody out there conveniently his cousin or niece or something?

6) Have apparently forgotten how to count.

Ohio Turnpike

I've been goofing around with tilt shift and and old photos. I don't have a camera that's capable of creating the effect, or Photoshop (which has a great process for doing tilt shift), but I found an (extremely, thoroughly, utterly, completely) simplified version for free that does an okay job. I wouldn't have been opposed to spending a couple of bucks on a decent program, but they all seem to be modules or attachments or whatever to big, fat programs (read: expensive) like Photoshop, so there you go.

Pektor's Hill, looking down at Pektor's farm.
(refuses to click to larger image, for some reason)

Train in Duluth

These are a couple of snaps. I think they're okay - not as good as some I've seen - and I know some things I can do to get better ones out of the freeware (like go snap some pictures from heights and better angles). 

South Bethelem, looking down at Bethlehem Steel.

Plaza outside by Shedd Aquarium, Chicago.