The general rule-of-thumb I live by when traveling and being a guest at other’s houses, whether friends, friends of friends, couch surfing hosts, or whoever lets me into their home is this–It sounds a bit clinical but I like saying it concisely:
Add value to the system.
What that means is to try to err on giving more than what is received.
Specifically, when showering wipe things down to get rid of your body hair and theirs. If you shave at the sink, leave it cleaner than when you started. When cooking, make more food than you need. Feed whoever wants to eat. When cleaning up, do the extra dishes lying around. When wiping down the kitchen, make it cleaner than you started…etc, etc. Basically give more than you receive.

There are basic expenses no matter what you do, where you live, like food. So whatever cash that might have been saved by being a guest, can easily be spent on a little more food or a little better food.

Everyone wins this way.

Being a guest and a host takes energy. It’s nice to do what I can to surprise the host into realizing guests can actually make their day-to-day life better, easier, more fun.

Having a guest who is in travel most while you are in work-mode, can be help you vicariously feel the fun and open-ness of traveling without leaving your needed work-life routine. Maybe you’re saving up for your next travels, and want the travel feeling but it’s just not the right time…brining someone in can be the next best thing.

Other things I like to do are little favors for other people. If I notice something broken, a leaky faucet, worn out brake shoes, plants that need to be watered I’ll try to fix it…

These are lasting favors that aren’t too hard but for someone who has lived with them for a while, maybe it’s harder for them to get around to it.
Then when you leave. Your efforts go further and are appreciated even in your absence.

This isn’t about making myself look good. Altho that is a nice side-effect (and I suppose of course it doesn’t hurt. It’s about putting a good taste in people’s mouths about having guests in general, and it helps to counter the bad-guest experiences people may have had. Being a guest is about giving more than receiving.

I do like exploring and traveling without spending a fortune. So I really am grateful when people share their space that they pay hard-earned money to have.
The least I can do is leave them with a good taste in their mouth whether it be from fixing something that has been on their to-do list for too long, or making a nice meal.

In semi automatic mode:
-Shutter Speed (time shutter is open):
long shutter speeds (small number), means crisp moving objects (ie flowing water, running, moving things look still).

short shutter speeds (large numbers), means blurred moving things (water flowing, cars smearing by, etc).
Why does a big number mean faster? The number listed is the denominator of a fraction–1/60 of a second.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposure_(photography)

-Aperture (opening size):
Small opening (large number an ‘fstop’) means things are in focus far away and up close, there is a deep depth of field.
Large opening (small number) means things are in focus in a very precise distance. Shallow depth of field.

To make it seem intuitive that the bigger number means a smaller opening I think of the fstop as a fraction 1/number. for details on that fraction see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-number

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_of_field

Film sensitivity: ISO setting of the ‘film’
This give more or less light sensitivity. The trade off is: the more light sensitive the film is (higher number), the more grainy the image is.
Smaller numbers (100) less light sensitive but very crisp images (highest resolution for the camera). Best for daytime outdoors or well lit areas.
Larger numbers (3200) means very light sensitive. Great for night shots (parties, concerts, etc) colors appear more saturated too it seems.

———
Other thoughts I have while shooting

Handheld what’s the slowest shutter speed you can use without the image stuttering/smearing/blurring?

60 (1/60th of a second) is my rule of thumb but I will push it to 50 for a lens that is very far away from everything (a wide angle lens).

Framing the photo:
art

What is photo’d:
art

Which settings used:
art

I tend to use Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority modes when shooting. I ‘focus’ on depth of field in AP mode and motion of object with SP.
I turn my ISO up enough for low lighting conditions when a tripod is not possible.

I suppose the next level of my technical skills is putting things in fully manual mode.
Adjusting aperture and shutter speed manually, keeping in mind motion and depth of field.

I almost forgot Exposure compensation. In one of the semi-auto modes it can be useful to brighten up and image or darken if the automatically calculated exposure isn’t seeing the image as you do.

Why France? Why Toulouse? What are my plans? What is going on? What have I learned? Perspectives, musing….

Listen to everything laid out on the table.

What is this perceived need to be heard?
What is the need to be seen? Why do we have blogs? Why do I have a blog? Who am I talking to? What purpose does it serve? So far it seems this site has been read by new friends screening my worth, potential employers doing the same, and maybe some family members curious to know what I am up to.

I am still not sure why I have this site. Part of me feels like it is a temporary substitute for a quality public representation of myself.

But why? Why do I even need passing thoughts, well-thought out essays, random perspectives and opinions to be documented anywhere? I suppose it is as simple as a validation of my existence. That sounds pathetic.

Even this entry, I question sharing. Meta-meta data on myself. Is this being hyper-self-aware, or hyper-self-conscious? Self-conscious: if I look at this compound word with its components in mind, it sounds like a pretty good trait to have actually.

–
I suppose I have nothing better to mention now. And a while back I promised to only post meaningful content here.
–
Well there are thoughts on my current travels and life abroad. But that, I suppose, may come soon.

I’ve published a couple french videos as a fun way to help myself learn some basic but needed things to communicate.
See my youtube channel for updates there:
http://www.youtube.com/vincentcharles

Need the hardware store.
Funny. I finally had some time to myself, I washed the dishes, sat down began to check my email and wondered, ‘What do I want to do? What do I feel like? What needs to happen now? What feels right? etc etc.
Then all of a sudden there was an explosion of hot water from under the sink. The floor began to flood, there was too much hot water rushing out to feel it by hand, or even look closely enough to see where the leak was coming from.

I panicked! Where was the water cut-off valve? Did I need to find it for the entire apartment complex? Or just my place?
The floor began to puddle. Things were getting wet–the rug, my bed sheet, my electronic stuff. So I moved the essentials out of the way and realized (why I was in a panic), I didn’t know how to ask for help! even the words, ‘please help me’ are unknown to me. I had my little translation book but as the water continued to spray I couldn’t get myself to focus on actually finding the right way to say ‘I’m panicking!’

So I knocked on 3 neighbors’ doors until one answered.
I said quickly, ‘I don’t understand much french.’ Then motioned and got her to listen to the gushing sounds of the water filling my floor!
She came downstairs and noticed what I was talking about.
I tried to describe, ‘Where is the water cutoff valve?’
She suggested calling the manager or something. I said sure.

She said to come back upstairs to her place.

I did, then when standing there, I had a moment of clarity, I pictured the hot water tank in the bathroom. This was hot water flowing out, there had to be a valve right on the tank.
So i said, ‘Où!’ which means ‘Or!’ but I meant to just say, ‘Oh!’

I ran downstairs and noticed the valve. I turned it and off the water stopped!

Then and now it’s cleanup time.
I mopped and dumped a few buckets of water, then used some floor sanitizer I just got, then I asked my neighbor to help once more. She let me know the name of the place to buy hardware, Midica. It’s not too far.
Next up…right now is to skate there before 7:30 when they close. It’s after 6:40 now.
I hope to not need a new faucet head and just the hoses.
But the problem happened because the faucet was loose and the metal to metal of the sink and hose lining rubbed until breaking, then bare rubber tubing was rubbed away. And finally with some hot water to soften the mangled rubber….it tore open and my adventures began.
http://www.midica.fr/index2.html

So I have been doing a few things consistently lately that I’d like to tell you about.
I’ve been exercising almost daily: stretching/yoga, cardio via elliptical or skating, getting enough sleep, and eating really well.

The food thing is what I’m most excited about right now. I’ve discovered how to make really hearty salads taste really good.

Secret: finely chopped greens that are normally steamed or sautéed like collards, kale, and chard. Add the usual other favorite salad ingredients (for me it’s cucumber, some sort of colored pepper), shaved or grated carrots and beets. Dressing: squeezed lemon or lime, and braggs or soysauce. I also love balsamic and oil. Then the real tasty piece of the puzzle: A topping of sautéed nuts and raisins or dates, with salt, and brown sugar or honey. Sometimes I add minced onion to caramelize with the nuts and dried fruit.
Basically put that in your body and you will crave your next salad. If I’m wanting that to be my meal I can throw on top some complete protein like Quinoa or small slices of chicken, or seasoned fried tofu slices.

Add the fitness to that, and poof the body feels good. I really like the imagery of putting good quality fuel in the body and then working out and knowing that good stuff I just ate is what is being used to turn to a healthier body…

Body = check. Now to figure out the heart and mind.

I just finished a couple single page sites. Here are the descriptions and links:

Tired of being yelled at by sisters, brothers, distant family, angry strangers, naive emailers? ‘Don’t YELL at Me!’ is a simple and fun way to reformat pasted text from screams to a civil tone with a push of a button. Making your read a more enjoyable experience.
don’t yell at me

Tired of reading dry, boring, flat text? Do you feel like spicing up some otherwise mundane thoughts? Let Freak Out On Me help you out. With a simple click of a button you can make any thoughts have more punch!
freak out on me

enjoy
~

So I need to let you in on a little secret. Actually it’s not really a secret but something I am currently pondering and am not really sure the best solution yet.

I’ll start with the end result I’d like and work backwards:
I want a simple single source place to put all my output that in someway is deemed to be viewable by the public.
This includes everything I create whether it be programming related, personal rants, photographs, drawings, stories, music, collages…whatever.
The obvious solution is to just have 1 blog where all content is posted.
Simple enough right? In theory I really like that idea and I suppose I am working up to that but what happens when I am in my current situation: Seeking full time coding employment. How would a song about drinking shit through a curly straw fly when I am also presenting myself to the world…professionally? (No I don’t have a song about that but you get the point).

So if I put everything on the same site, my life is easy: I have 1 place to put stuff, find it later, move around, etc. BUT then all my split personalities are in one place and it makes for my own PR being compromised.

Really I am back to a dilemma I’ve been wrestling with for a while.
My motivation in my earlier days was more for the purity of my art. I felt like keeping myself anonymous was the only way I could ensure what I was creating was not compromised.
To repeat myself in a different way: I didn’t want the expectations of others creeping into my mind while creating stuff and then affecting my behaviors and thereby fucking up the art.
Or to simplify it even more: I didn’t want to be a sellout. But that doesn’t capture the nuances of my problem.

So now, after …all these years… I am confident and comfortable with the honesty of my creativity and general ‘output’. Being in an anonymous cave or in public I create pretty much the same way.

That is good. Yay. I’m proud of myself. I no longer need to hide in the shadows to allow myself to barf my inerts instinctively. The conditioning on this brain of mine has been overcome and the body and mind can behave as it intuitively wants.

But I digress…

Now my problem is: How do I be my own PR agent without that becoming my full-time job.

I figure this posting is a good thing. My general rule for this site as the titles suggests is ‘civilized me’. This includes problems like this. So as a reader you may say, ‘Fuck it. Just do what you want and let the cards fall where they may.’
And I say to that, ‘I’m working on it.’

…
Band names are good.
Author pseudonyms are good.

But I’d like to easily be able to show all content somewhere without revealing the source of the rest of that type of content.
And by the nature of open web searches on sites, if some text is here and somewhere else, with a cut and paste and a couple clicks you can be at the other site.
…
Hmm.
Any thoughts?
Feel free to email me or post here.
Thanks

Just a quick note to mention I am available for web development while looking for full-time employment.
Ruby on Rails, fancy web 2.0+ (whatever buzzwords you know that sound cutting edge), AJAX, Javascript, CSS, HTML, Photoshop.

Let me know if you or anyone you know needs some help with anything tech related. Preferably involving programming of some sort.
Thanks
Vincent