I just woke up from a dream where I was in a huge airliner flying over New York City with tall buildings zooming by directly below me.  It was raining really hard and I could hear the rain pounding the wings and fuselage of the aircraft. For some reason I was able to look out a small window directly in front of me and could see the skyscrapers and some trees directly below when all of a sudden the plane flying very low slammed into the tops of some trees and started to bank and crash into the buildings. I was praying intensely and repetitively with my hands clasped tightly,  and at that split second before the plane crashed I awoke and jumped up in bed.  Whew! That was one vivid dream and reminding me just how blessed I am to be alive at 56 years old. So many of my childhood friends have died over the years and this Irish New Yorker is still kicking here in North Carolina.

I truly have a great deal to be thankful for as Thanksgiving approaches.  Visiting my son Adam (Peace Corp Volunteer) a few weeks ago in El Salvador was a wake up call for me.  We take so many things for granted here in the states.  Sure…we have our own set of problems, but I am not going to address politics in this post. With that said, I do believe politicians are the biggest threat to America and personal freedom at this point in time. I believe many people are waking up to this fact – I just hope its not to late.

Back to counting blessings.  I have a great and rewarding  job doing what I love to do.  How many people can say that? Especially with the unemployment situation in this country. I think when things seem really bad or hopeless in our lives its important to just take a deep breath and assess what we do have and the opportunities that are still available to us as Americans.  I mean just little things like running water, electricity, refrigeration and a roof over our heads.  There are so many people in 3rd world countries (and here at home) that don’t have these basic things and still walk around with big smiles on their faces and are able to enjoy and appreciate life.  Unfortunately, we get so caught up in what we don’t have (myself included) we forget to take stock in what we do have, and the freedoms and opportunities this great country affords us.

I believe life is what we make it and in many ways we determine our personal destiny by the attitudes we have towards life and our expectations for  it. I’ll readily admit I’ve been feeling down lately for a variety of reasons.  Sitting here in my comfortable home with running water, electricity and indoor plumbing,  sipping on a cup of coffee and having a job to go to is definitely a wake up call to shrug off any negative feelings and feel good and blessed about what I do have which is a great deal more than a majority of the people in the world. I am going to have to think twice before getting back in an airplane. I wonder if that dream was a vision or warning of some kind.

Time to shower, get dressed and go to work.  Life really is pretty good now that I think about it. Oh What a Lucky Man I Am!

Things have been really hectic for me ever since getting back from visiting Adam in El Salvador. I have been coordinating Distance Learning Workshops and trying to get caught up on all my online courses. With that said…I did find time last night to brew 5 Gallons of Red Ale for the Christmas season.  I have not brewed beer in awhile and it was fun.  Andei didn’t like the smell of the wort as I was boiling it but did get a kick out of me making beer in the kitchen.  Brewing beer is always fun and relaxing.  Anyone can do it – you just have to follow directions carefully and keep everything sanitary.  Early next week I’ll bottle it and then the hard part is waiting 25-30 days for it to be ready to drink.  cheers!

I must say my trip to El Salvador to visit with my son Adam in the Peace Corp was very insightful and enjoyable.  I learned a lot about the Peace Corp and was really impressed with the work Adam and his fellow Peace Corp volunteers are doing to help the people over there.  I hope to go back in the Spring to assist Adam with his computer lab project for the little school he is teaching for.  I will be posting more about a fundraiser I want to coordinate in the months to come. 

I’m planning to help raise funds build a little computer lab and some new bathrooms for the school.  I’m also actually considering joining the Peace Corp after I retire in in the next 2 years.  I want to do more research into it, but this is something I could see myself doing for the next chapter of my life before truly settling down – hmmmm, I don’t think I will actually ever settle down, but maybe slow down just a little.

Click Here to see the Web Slide Show of my week in El Salvador!

Everyday has been an adventure since arriving in El Salvador last Friday. Hard to believe a week has flown by.  Adam hooked up with two other Peace Corp Volunteers yesterday and we hiked to a waterfall and then walked all around this very artsy town of Suchitoto.  El Salvador is still a little like the wild west.  You see guys with hand guns, machetes and big shot guns walking around.  There doesn’t seem to be many traffic laws and its every man and woman for him/herself on the roads.  Your dollar does go far here though – so much more cost effective than traveling around Europe.  This first photos is a view from my hotel window. I have wireless and a decent room for $20. Not bad!  Food (and beer) is cheap as well.  Here are some more photos I took the past 2 days.

View from my Hotel Room

Mountain Landscape Shrouded in Clouds

Horse in Front of Store

Women Doing Laundry in River - Yes! That's Right!

Peace Corp Volunteers Laura, Adam and Ricky

A Boy and his Dog

An Old Cowboy

Waterfalls

So far my sojourn in El Salvador has been a truly amazing and an eye opening experience for me.  This is my first time visiting Central America and my son Adam who is working as a Peace Corp Volunteer here since last February.

I can’t get over how much I’ve seen and experienced in the past 5 days.  The people are absolutely beautiful, friendly and incredibly hospitable.  We rented a car and spent my first day in El Salvador at the beach.  The waves (HUGE) are like nothing I have ever seen.  We just relaxed at a very rustic beach hacienda and I watched Adam surf and took it easy before driving into the interior of the country.

I’ve had an opportunity to stay in Adam’s humble home located off a 12 mile long dirt road, visit with Adam’s neighbors in his village, eat the local food, attend the festival of corn “maize” and be recognized and honored in front of 1000+ people during the opening ceremony for that harvest festival.

We visited the local school Adam teaches in, had photographs taken with the teachers and children, learned about the needs of the community and school, his teaching and peace corp projects and am getting a real feel for what it would be like to be a Peace Corp volunteer. I must say this type of volunteer work is not for the faint of heart and is a real culture shock from all the creature comforts in the states.

Woman in the outer villages (where Adam is stationed) still wash clothes in the river.  Most homes don’t have plumbing and many don’t have any electricity.

Yes…this is a very different world from the one I live in and must admit that I would have difficulty acclimating myself to this rustic and simple (hard) live.  Just doing the basics like getting your clothes washed, food cooked, and yourself clean is a chore and takes considerable time and effort.  I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story of my El Salvador travel experience for now.

When I return I’ll post  more comprehensive observations and photographs from my visit here to spend some time with my son who is doing an amazing job as a Peace Corp Volunteer.  His Spanish skills are fluent and he knows everyone in the community he lives in and seems very well liked.  What can I say? I’m a proud Dad!

CLICK THE THUMBNAIL IMAGES BELOW TO MAKE LARGER

I always get inspired when I go to these photographic conferences. It’s great hearing so many wonderful image makers talk about and share their work.  I also  enjoy seeing old friends and colleagues like my ECU Graduate School Professor Henry Stindt (photo below right) and so many other photo educators I’ve had the pleasure to meet over the years. It’s hard to believe I’ve been attending these conferences since 1985 and it was SPE that helped me land my first “real” teaching job. I’m motivated to go out a take pictures every chance I have in-between work and the various other demands on my time. My students got a lot out of the conference as well. I had them share their thoughts in class yesterday with the other students. Now the entire class wants to start planning for SPE National in Philadelphia this coming March.

One of the key themes behind this conference was making the transition from the college environement to the working world.  Speakers like Mark Malone addressed exit strategies for transitioning from college to a photographic career. We just don’t spend enough time on this important issue in our photo programs.  I for one plan on incorporating more business and marketing practices in my final Portfolio II course.

There is no doubt that the photographic industry has changed dramatically in the past 10 years and is in a constant state of change due to the rapid evolution of digital technology.  Keeping abreast of technology is an important factor in preparing oneself for a career in photography & imaging.

It was also great to hear recent graduates talk about how they’ve pursued their photo careers.  I heard it over and over again during the conference. You can’t be a quitter in this industry and you MUST be persistent when it comes to exploring ever option for getting a foothold in the photographic industry. When one door closes you just go to the next one.  You get knocked down just get back up and explore your next option.  This is great advise for all of us no matter where we are in our careers.

I must admit it was also exiting to be one of the presenters at this years conference.  Teaching effectively in the online environment is so crucial now that so many colleges are adopting distance learning and using course management systems like Blackboard and Moodle at their institutions.  It was also the first time I did a live Webinar at the same time of my presentation.  To think I had people from Italy, Holland, and various states on the US watching my presentation and asking questions is mind boggling to me.  This is something I definitely want to do again and get more proficient at.

My college has its SACS Accreditation visit today and I must attend 2 meetings in-between classes so I’ll wrap this post up for now.  My powerpoint presentation about Blogging, YouTube and iTunes is linked to the post below.  Busy week ahead and then off to El Salvador to visit my son Adam who is in the Peace Corp. I spoke with him yesterday on Skype and he is really excited for me to come and has a great week planned for us. I will be bringing my camera for sure.

Peachtree Street at Night, Atlanta

Here is the link to download my entire Society for Photographic Education presentation Powerpoint if you want to refer back to it or missed it on the Webinar or in Atlanta.

Click Here and Download!

Flight out of Charlotte is delayed an hour so here I am catching up the blog.  Looking forward to the Society of Photographic Education Regional Conference. I am giving my presentation Saturday morning at 9:00. It will be broadcast over the web via Elluminate web conferencing.  This will be a first for me.  Here is the link to register for it.

I’m here with my colleague Cathy Crowell just killing time at the Charlotte airport. Could be worse…Wireless is FREE here. At least I can get some work done.

More on the conference later when I get checked in at the hotel downtown Atlanta. Looking forward to visiting the High Museum. One of my favorites!

Andei's Italian Friends Cooking Dinner for Us

The past few weeks have been absolutely hectic to say the least.  My daughter Andei’s three friends from Italy just left after a weeks visit.  I’m not used to having so much young energy and activity in my house.  Life’s been very different (not bad just different) since Andei moved back this past May after living with her Mom and step-dad for four years.  My old bachelor routine has been thoroughly disrupted which I suppose isn’t such a bad thing.

Last week started off with an 8k Road Race that I participated in during the kick-off of the local Seafood Festival. I had a great finish time for an old guy of 43.50 for the 5 mile run.  I must admit running is getting harder for me as the years go by.

The remainder of the week was kind of like a constant road race.  Must get Andei to and from school each day 11 miles away + coordinate math tutors to help her pass Algebra II.  Math is the Keough curse and Andei is making a noble effort to overcome the curse of our family.

On top of school we had the 3 Italian guys visiting as I mentioned earlier in the post.  They cooked an amazing meal for us one night that was a culinary masterpiece. The pasta and homemade sauce they prepared  was exquisite.  I know Andei enjoyed having them here, although she didn’t have much time to hang out with her friends because of the demands of her school and homework.

In addition to the things going on at the home front I was also preparing for a web cast presentation in Atlanta for the Society for Photographic Education Regional Conference. It would normally be an easy presentation for me because I have given it a few other times, however it is going to be broadcast over the web using Elluminate web conferencing software and that makes it a real challenge for me to give this talk about incorporating blogs, podcasts and videos within the framework of the conferencing software.

I spent all day yesterday practicing my presentation and working through the various problems with demonstrating how to incorporate instructional audio and video clips into online courses. I have most of the bugs worked out of it now thanks to Roberto Muffoletto and my Instructional Technologist Pre-Ah Hill.   Click here to register of my SPE Presentation - sign up for the gallery talks as well.  They are all FREE!

I leave for Atlanta next Thursday and then return just in time for our college accreditation SACS visit.  Once that is over I’m off to El Salvador for a week to visit with my son Adam who is in the Peace Corp. Wheew!

I will have very minimal access to internet in El Salvador so I am not sure how I will teach my online classes.  Ok…nap time for me.  Lot’s of NFL Football games to look forward to tomorrow.  Go Jets and of course Brett Farve!

I find myself getting depressed when I’ve been away from engaging in creative endeavors like painting and photography for long periods of time.  That’s why its so important for artists to set aside time to explore and seriously investigate their art no matter what their medium may be.  Let’s face it…most artists don’t make a living with their art. I’m certainly one of those individuals.  I teach more than a full load of classes both in the classroom and online, in addition to having many administrative duties at the college where I work.  Art is a integral part of my life and being away from it impacts my state of mind in a negative way. I’m constantly driven to photograph, write and occasionally paint, however my “day job”  sucks me dry to the point where  I have no creative energy left to make images, paint or even do any serious, thoughtful writing.

Over the years I’ve learned it takes me a good week away from my regular job to decompress and get myself in a conducive mindset to seriously create.  Sure..I can take some decent photographs on the weekend if  I can get myself into the mood to pick up a camera and get outside to shoot, BUT in reality the creative experience is so much more fulfilling and enriching when I can get away to a retreat, workshop or just break from my normal routine to explore my creative side. It’s so easy to loose touch with the artist within and sometimes I admit I feel like  I have.  That’s when I realize I must designate some serious time to get away from the demands of the “day job” and just photograph, write and paint.  This is one of the reasons I’m looking forward to retirement, because I can focus more time and energy on my creative endeavors than constantly trying to make a buck.

In order to truly immerse oneself in the creative process artists must be free from the distractions of the daily grind.  This is the challenge for most artistic people.  To let the demands of the world go in order to search within ourselves  and seriously begin the journey through the creative process.

St. Steven's Green by Patrick Keough

I believe it all starts with living “in the moment” and being hypersensitive to the world around us when we are drawing, painting, photographing and/or writing.  Learning to let go of the past and not be dwelling on the future is key to taking our art to a higher, more expressive level.  This is easier said than done – at least it is for me.  I’m planning a workshop  next August at the Anam Cara Artist Retreat where we will not only be exploring our respective art forms, we will also be applying some creative techniques for SEEING the world in new and creative ways while CONNECTING with external and internal reality and using these references to fuel our art.