TheLong In reply to Shurakai-Zero [2010-12-05 18:18:05 +0000 UTC]

I have been. In fact there are a few shots in my gallery. Primarily Velvia 50 in 120.

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TheLong In reply to ZOMBiiERaWR [2010-11-25 06:27:17 +0000 UTC]

Hey, thanks, I really appreciate the support.

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TheLong In reply to shannonott [2010-04-13 04:12:42 +0000 UTC]

Awww, thanks. How have you been Mrs. Ott?

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shannonott In reply to TheLong [2010-04-17 14:52:26 +0000 UTC]

featherbrained and swamped with busy. if you're ever in this general area of the country, we should meet up for tea and tunes and intellectual conversation.

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TheLong In reply to oOohhsHnapps [2010-04-13 00:59:45 +0000 UTC]

Hey, thanks, I really appreciate it, and the support

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TheLong In reply to LittleRedShany [2010-01-15 07:19:37 +0000 UTC]

Wow! Thanks for all the support. It's really cool to hear about someone going through the whole gallery. I've only done that a couple of times and it's interesting to see how I shot then as compared to now.

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LittleRedShany In reply to TheLong [2010-01-18 04:56:06 +0000 UTC]

I like doing that too, I mean, going through my old work once in a blue moon, and see how I've changed
You're welcome!

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TheLong In reply to soundguy03 [2009-12-04 04:40:41 +0000 UTC]

Hey, thanks, I appreciate it.

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soundguy03 In reply to TheLong [2009-12-04 19:47:50 +0000 UTC]

you're welcome

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TheLong In reply to darkprinsess [2009-11-25 03:37:27 +0000 UTC]

Holy crap, thanks!

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darkprinsess In reply to TheLong [2009-11-25 07:26:22 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome!

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TheLong In reply to Segnoz [2009-10-07 01:00:13 +0000 UTC]

No problem.

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TheLong In reply to TheDemosthenes [2009-08-07 17:35:21 +0000 UTC]

Oh, I'm alright. It seems like the summer is winding down and I've begun getting my resume together and my clips and uploading photos to a simple site for easy viewing by prospective employers, and I've been spending a lot of time getting myself used to the idea of leaving this place. On the one hand I'm ready to go and I know there is no way that I'll stay any longer than I have to, but on the other hand life is so easy and comfortable at this point that it's hard to get moving. It's like laying in bed watching your alarm as it's going off.

How about you?

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TheDemosthenes In reply to TheLong [2009-08-07 23:40:53 +0000 UTC]

I have been in about the same place. Getting ready to move out for college, and I am so ready to go. But there is so much that I am leaving behind...so many things left unfinished. And it is just hard to wrap up those loose ends and move on. It is so so so hard to let go of naive hope and face reality. Sometimes naivety hurts way less than people think. -sighs- Other than that I'm okay a guess. A lot of drama amongst my...friends?...I dunno. I think we're getting to old for this crap. Oh well.

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TheLong In reply to TheDemosthenes [2009-08-10 17:45:13 +0000 UTC]

I keep going back and forth on the idea of naivete. I don't think dreams are naive, though some ideas about the world may be, but if you want to live a life you can love then I think you keep those dreams, and hope that experience will give you the tools to achieve them.

I don't deal with drama. Sometimes that makes it hard to deal with people, because some people like to fight. It gives them a sense of importance, or purpose, or whatever, and they don't like it when you take that away from them by simply not taking the bait.

Sometimes you have to let the dust settle before you can see clearly again.

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TheDemosthenes In reply to TheLong [2009-08-13 16:51:45 +0000 UTC]

Yeah. I have quickly realized that the living situation I was going into was dangerous. Not only mentally, but physically. There is a risk that my friend's boyfriend could hit either one of us. After painful debates with a bunch of close friends, I have figured out what I have to do and it is hard. I feel so much older. But I can't help her if I stay with her. I will be mentally distraught that neither of us will get out okay. But if I leave...I will give her somewhere to go...and I will be okay.

This whole situation has made me see things a lot differently. My perception of a good friend, of priorities has changed...but my "childish dreams" to be something outstanding haven't changed at all. In fact, my urge to be everything I want to be and go where I want to go have only gotten stronger. Quite strange, those dreams are comforting, even if I a part of me knows that most will always be just dreams.

Growing up is tough...I really appreciate you talking to me. It is nice to have an opinion outside of the people who see me and have a preference.

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TheLong In reply to TheDemosthenes [2009-08-26 18:55:12 +0000 UTC]

Everyone will have a preference. It makes people a lot happier when as few elements as possible in their environment are out of control or influence. Doing things that might go against what they think is best will make them uncomfortable, because it's something they can't control. I'm not pointing to anyone in particular on this. I think we're all the same in many ways.

It sounds like you're making the decision because it's what you think is right, and that's as it should be. You don't need some destructive element in your life that's completely out of your control and could set fire to a lot of what you're trying to accomplish. And you have compassion for your friend, but there is an unfortunate and hard line between selfishness and selflessness and that can be hard to see, and harder to walk, though I think, in this case, your action is right.

In life you only ever see through your eyes, like you're sitting in a theater watching one movie that goes on for eighty years. You can't be blamed for giving it the direction you'd like it to take.

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TheDemosthenes In reply to TheLong [2009-08-26 23:16:37 +0000 UTC]

Thank you. The line between Selfishness and Selflessness is a hard place to be. And it means a lot that someone outside the situation thinks I am making the right choice.

How is life going with you?

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TheLong In reply to TheDemosthenes [2009-10-05 21:56:43 +0000 UTC]

Well, it's been over a month, but things are looking up in some ways. Most ways really. I just got a job in Homer, Alaska, which is further north, but it's on a road system and it's a larger town with a lot of support for the local arts culture.

On the other hand I just met this incredible lady who I haven't been able to get enough of and I'm going to have to leave her in about a week and a half.

How about you?

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TheDemosthenes In reply to TheLong [2009-10-06 01:15:20 +0000 UTC]

Wow! That sounds like a tough spot to be in. Cross roads are a tough place to be.

I have been alright. I hit a rebellion stage. I pierced my ears for the fifth time, dyed (dark red) and cut my hair, adopted a puppy, got a tattoo, and had my first alcoholic drink in two years...all in the past five days.

Now I am just trying to figure out who it is, exactly, that I am rebelling against. Because, I moved out two months ago, and where I am at now...I have no adults or superiors monitoring what I do. So...maybe it's just a delayed acceptance of freedom. I am really not sure.

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TheLong In reply to TheDemosthenes [2009-10-07 00:12:04 +0000 UTC]

Well, it doesn't sound like you've gone off the deep end, taken up a nice new heroin addiction or got knocked up, so what you're going through is probably normal.

You're a smart person and you can look at this sort of time pretty objectively, so I'm sure that you'll figure it out, learn from it, and then move on with what's next in your life.

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TheDemosthenes In reply to TheLong [2009-10-07 00:37:23 +0000 UTC]

In my book, 11 piercings, one tattoo, and a little hair dye is no where near the deep end. But to my family. Oh goodness! I've been possessed.

What are you going to do about your lovely lady friend?

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TheLong In reply to TheDemosthenes [2009-10-07 00:59:50 +0000 UTC]

Love her as hard as I can until I have to let her go.

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TheDemosthenes In reply to TheLong [2009-10-07 01:05:49 +0000 UTC]

That is sad...

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TheLong In reply to TheDemosthenes [2009-10-08 18:12:27 +0000 UTC]

It is the saddest.

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TheDemosthenes In reply to TheLong [2009-10-09 19:09:38 +0000 UTC]

Breaks my heart, really.

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TheLong In reply to TheDemosthenes [2009-10-12 18:12:56 +0000 UTC]

It does. And since I see her every day I feel like I'm living it over and over again. We try to make the most of the time we have but it's like a shadow behind everything.

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TheDemosthenes In reply to TheLong [2009-10-16 20:25:14 +0000 UTC]

Wow...That's...tough stuff. Anyway you could convince her to come along? Ha.

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TheLong In reply to TheDemosthenes [2009-10-24 02:10:23 +0000 UTC]

We're actually working on it. She should be coming up sometime around Thanksgiving, and then I will visit her hopefully around Christmas/early in the new year, and she has an exam for licensure in Anchorage, so I should be able to see her then. Right now our goal is to be together in under a year, so we just have to stay strong. So far it has been working. She's an incredibly awesome lady.

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TheDemosthenes In reply to TheLong [2009-10-26 01:53:35 +0000 UTC]

That makes me very happy! I am glad things are working out for you.

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TheLong In reply to TheDemosthenes [2009-12-04 06:09:25 +0000 UTC]

Me too. She came to visit me last week. I miss her a lot already.

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TheDemosthenes In reply to TheLong [2009-12-04 22:48:36 +0000 UTC]

Did you two have a good time together, though?

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TheLong In reply to TheDemosthenes [2009-12-09 03:15:03 +0000 UTC]

We had a really good time. We're trying to figure out how we're going to do our next visit. I'm hoping to make it down to wrangell for her birthday sometime in early January.

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