Jay Gould’s Photography Blog

Perhaps not officially, but Todd Deutsch, being the badass that he is, did come close enough.  I had not realized that this blogging "chain letter" was making its way around.  Normally I ignore these things, but since I was quite entertained by everyone else's it's only fair that I share 5 things you might not know about me.  Enjoy.

1. When I am stressed out I become a very "active" sleeper.  I thought that this had went away some years ago, but it turns out that I have just been sharing my room with heavy sleepers.  The special lady-friend witnessed me at my finest recently as I announced an upcoming exhibition by my students, attacked a ghost, very carefully arranged the blankets over her, and pushed myself out of bed in a crouch ready to run away for some reason (not all in one night.)         *note: apparently this runs in the family.  My father, while in medical school worked for UPS and would often be caught stacking imaginary boxes during the night.
2. I am probably one of the most avid former 4-H members you have known.  I may have been the only non-farmer in my club, but that did not stop me from reaching the oh-so sought after position of Club Presidente'.  Impressive, I know.  I have been wood working since I was young and 4-H lead me to spend much time exhibiting my work at the Minnesota State fair, where I still can navigate to any specific food booth or exhibit purely by instinct.
3. My father was a former 4-H'er and it lead him into the unique hobby of beekeeping.  I helped out for many years, learning the gentle art of honey theft while building up my immunity to the venom.  After a while I stopped wearing anything but the gloves (which my father always did without.)  I can still close my eyes and recall the smell of the honey shed and it gives me happy goosebumps.
4. Bees weren't the only animals I liked.  I had lots of strange pets over the years.  The most unique would have to be Smokey, my parrot, who enjoyed nothing more that exercising to the 1989 Batman Soundtrack (he loved Prince.)  I also had a hamster that hated to be handled so much that he would pop one eye partly out of his socket to frighten us.  I would say this plan is destined to backfire when dealing with 13 year-old boys.
5. During my teenage punk-rock years I had a hairstyle that my friends still enjoy bringing up.  For some reason I buzzed my head except for the hair by my ears.  I would say they were like sideburns, except that I didn't have facial hair, so they really were much more like sidelocks.  They got pretty long and hornlike (with the help of wood-glue).  After visiting a friend's house, his father, a native Russian, kept referring to me as his son's Hasidic friend… finally I put it together… he was thinking of the beautifully aweful locks as Peyot.  Afterwards I wondered how I went so long without thinking of that myself.

Now you all know so much about me… I feel so much closer to you anonymous readers…sigh…  Now for the tagging.  I'll branch out.  Jeremias Paul, Greg Davis, Steve Aishman, and Bjorn Hagstrom.

Some of you remember when blogging was relatively young and I decided to wet my feet in the “coffee blog.” That wasn’t its name, but that pretty much described its content. Beautiful and short lived, it began shortly after I ingested the first cup of coffee I actually enjoyed. Since that time coffee has earned its way into most parts of my life. Instant inspiration at work, laid back writing/sketching sessions at night, zonked out crazy thinking time, and even a little late evening relaxing with my step-father. Strangely I still don’t require or crave that first morning cup. This is only because I need to eat first and by that time I’m usually running around too busy to relax for a moment. The special lady friend, however, loves her morning cup and showed me this nasty little device.

I may not need a morning brew, but this device is evil. The smell of coffee is delicious, but nobody enjoys a mechanical tease, especially at 6 A.M… Most comments I read about this expressed their desire to “stress test” this porduct against the bedroom wall.

If you like my little illustration you might enjoy reading about how caffeine really works. Understand the epic battle that takes place between the valiant Caffeine and the vile Adenosine.
Jumping into the time machine I highly recommend clicking the link below this text to read some classic coffee related stories.
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What Happend to the Monster Trucks? When did America’s awe twist into malice? I had the ol’ tube on the other day and saw an advertisement for a monster truck show coming to Minneapolis. This ad showed little except trucks flipping over to break under their own bulk or spinning until a wheel or two flew off. The voice was the same characteristic shout from my youth, but the images were not what I remember.

First, I should mention that as a child I obsessed about many things, but two topics earned more attention than most: Dinosaurs and, of course, Monster Trucks. I went to indoor shows with huge ear mufflers designed to keep out gunshot volume, and it was just enough for those rediculous, raw engine noises. I watched VHS tapes weekly with slackjawed daydreaming. When the tape was over I sketched and meticulously planned the first monsters I dreamed to someday attempt to build… probably to be ready to strike fear on the road the day I turned 16.

I loved and respected those machines. They were awe-inspiring icons of power and ingenuity… not destruction. In fact, witnessing their constant demise would probably have shattered an idol I held dear. The VHS tapes, specially prepared by the American Hot Rod Association presented each truck as a legend with low camera-angle shots of the beasts coming out of the darkenss with a mythical story involving steadfast heroics appropriate to their name. Looking up to these trucks was harmless. Their drivers, to me, were annonymous. They did not say offensive things or kill a few innocents while driving drunk; the trucks were my imagination’s role models, in a metaphorical sense.

It is for this reason that I disapprove of current monster truck advertisements. Sure, they probably work perfectly, especially for the adults, but I like to think that those trucks are still sparking kid’s imaginations and allowing them to believe that they can design and build anything no matter how strange. Seeing the bohemouths breaking apart so readily doesn’t make all kids scream with red-eyed delight. Some instead see the diminishing of a once strong icon; their invincible warrior slaughtered needlessly in the Coliseum.