2005 Year In Review

Although I began writing this in early December of last year somehow I managed to never quite finish it. Months later I'm pleased to present my 2005 Year In Review...

This past year, that being the year two-thousand and five, the twenty-second year of my illustrious life, I hereby state before all interested parties that it was indeed a fine year! While much of my time was consumed by demons named work and school, I managed despite great obstacles, to find some time, however little, to do the sort of things I enjoy.

What did I accomplish?

This year I began teaching pottery classes at Sugar Post Pottery. It is encouraging for me to reflect on have far I've come since I first started at Sugar Post. The improvement I've been able to make because of the time and effort I've put into it stands as a reminder of what I can accomplish. When I first began taking classes at the studio during the summer of 2002, I had ambition, but little else. My work was mediocre at best and I struggled with throwing. But I devoted many hours and much effort to learning how to throw and slowly my technique improved and my work got better. At the first of this year, the owners of Sugar Post, my friends Fred and Kevin asked me to teach Friday class. I accepted the offer and began teaching in January.

Teaching has been a rewarding experience for many reasons. I've made many new friends and had the opportunity to teach some great students. Teaching others how to throw has also made me a better potter by forcing me to think about why I do certain things so I can better explain them when teaching. It isn't enough to tell students what to do I also need to be able to explain why.


This past March I went through volunteer training at community radio station KRCL. They are a community radio station broadcast in Salt Lake City at 90.9FM. The station is non-profit, volunteer run, and community supported. KRCL offers a diverse line-up of music and public affairs programs. Volunteer training lasted four weeks and emphasized on-air programming. We learned how to operate the studio equipment, what goes into a successful show, discussed talking on-air and what the station expects from on-air programmers. Towards the end of training we were asked to record a one hour demo show. After recording the demo we reviewed the recordings with our instructor and upon his approval our training was complete.

After training my friend Darin (aka Spike) allowed me to substitute for his program The New Sound Experiment one Thursday evening. On Darin's program he plays a mix of downtempo, electronica, jazz, bossa nova, world and other music. Hosting the program that evening was my first experience on-air and I managed with only minor problems.

Later on that year Darin asked me to substitute for the show throughout the summer. He was expecting a busy summer and was going to be out-of-town many weeks. I was eager to host the program again and gladly accepted the offer. For eleven weeks over the summer and into September I hosted The New Sound Experiment on KRCL 8:30-10:30pm on Thursday evenings. Hosting the program became a part of my weekly routine and something I looked forward to. Listeners and other KRCL volunteers were very supportive and the experience taught me a lot about being on-air. While my program treaded upon ground similar musically as Darin's I brought to the show my own style and personality.

In September Darin choose to give-up the program and hosted his farewell show. The timeslot was then opened to KRCL volunteers and I put in my application for a show. Unfortunately I lost out to someone else but still hoped to get something in the future. Later on that year in November I was offered a timeslot early on Sunday morning, 3:00 until 6:00am. Though by no means prime-time it was an opportunity to host a new show and improve the production skills I'd begun to develop. I accepted the timeslot and began hosting my own show called the beat philosophy.

On the beat philosophy I emphasize downbeat or downtempo music but also feature some drum and bass, acid jazz, hip-hop, ambient, break beat, and other experimental music. You can expect to hear music from Milan-based downbeat group The Dining Rooms, Japanese turntablist DJ Krush, experimental sounds from Jon Kennedy, the haunting trip-hop of Kate Rogers, and soundscapes from Germany's Lemongrass. Each week on the program I bring along new music and try to introduce my listeners to something unfamiliar. Since the beat philosophy is about experimental music I strive to keep the sounds fresh and maintain an element of surprise.

While the late night timeslot has been rough I've tried to made the best of it. Most Saturday evenings I get to bed early so I can be somewhat rested Sunday morning. Since the show is on late I've had the opportunity to experiment, try new ideas and play more new music. My production skills, on-air voice and personality have developed and overall I believe I'm producing a better show. This next year I am hoping to move to a better timeslot but until then I'll be ushering in Sunday morning.


In February I purchased a Nikon D70 digital SLR camera. Since I work for Best Buy I was able to buy the camera through Nikon's accommodations program for a great price. With digital the restrictive costs of film and processing are no longer an issue and have freed me to be more creative and to shoot more often. I've taken many, many photographs since buying the camera and along the way I've managed a few good ones.

After a few years of not doing much with photography my interest re-emerged in 2004. But as much as I enjoyed taking photographs the costs of film and processing really began to add up. I was just spending too much money on photography. So I began researching DSLR cameras and when I happened upon the D70 it seemed like the perfect match. The camera offers the control, performance and features of a good single-lens-reflex, but with the capabilities and advantages of digital. With the D70 I was able to use my Nikkor lens and since I was already familiar with Nikon SLRs there was less of a learning curve.

When I was shooting film I paid around $5 a roll for 36 exposure film and $10 for processing and scanning. If you guess and say I took 5000 photographs with my D70 during 2005 that would equate to over $2000 in film and processing. So the money I spent on my D70 has been well worth it and continues to keep money in my pocket.

If you desire to become a better photographer I believe the best training is always be taking photographs. Switching to digital has allowed me to shoot more often and helped me develop as a photographer. I've spent many hours this year on the road exploring rural Utah and seeking out interesting sights around town. Along the way I've explored abandoned factories and many houses, treaded lightly on unsound floors, walked across fields in the middle-of-nowhere and enjoyed many a beautiful day. For me photography is about exploration and the journey is often more important than the resulting photographs. Since they are only reminders of the experience.

In November I submitted several photographs to a Nikon sponsored photography contest on a whim. I didn't expect anything to come from it and actually forgot I'd entered. Towards the end of the month I received an email accouncing I was a winner of the Nikon Publish Your Passion Contest. This arrived much to my surprise and obvious delight. But I wasn't just a winner, as it would happen I was the grand prize winner! This was the first time I'd won any photography related award which is encouraging.

My contest entry consisted of seven photographs taken from my forgotten places photoset on Flickr and a brief essay. All of the photographs were taken around Utah with my Nikon D70. As the grand prize winner I had my choice of a Nikon point-and-shoot digital camera or a Nikon N80 film SLR with lens. I choose the film SLR since being that I had no use for the digital camera and since it is a better camera then my other film SLR. What follows is the essay I wrote to accompany the photographs:

The triumphs of man are visible throughout the world. Yet even the grandest of man's accomplishments cannot withstand the brutality of mother earth. Everything from the great pyramids of of Egypt to the grandest of modern skyscrapers eventually falls into disrepair and ruin. Nothing lasts forever.

Much of my work as a photographer has been to explore what I think of as "forgotten places." These are the ruins of once prosperous factories, well-kept homes, busy office buildings or movie theaters. These places were once homes, workplaces or popular hangouts. But time has not been kind to them. People have stopped caring for them. Slowly, sadly, they have been forgotten.

What did I read?

Beginning at the first of the year I committed myself to reading every night, even if only for a few minutes. For too many years I'd gotten away from reading and this was my time to begin again. I began by reading the Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway and then proceeded to read everything written by Papa. Beyond his short stories and novels I also read his complete poems and ventured to read some of his many letters, though stopped short because they weren't terribly interesting. Overall I read some 5117 pages from January through September! My favorite Hemingway novel is A Farewell to Arms. Runners-up include For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Sun Also Rises.

Complete reading list: The Torrents of Spring, The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, Death in the Afternoon, The Dangerous Summer, Green Hills of Africa, To Have and Have Not, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Across the River and Into the Trees, The Old Man and the Sea, A Moveable Feast, Islands in the Stream, The Garden of Eden, True at First Light, the Complete Poems, and the Complete Short Stories.

After reading everything by Papa Hemingway I started reading the works of southern author William Faulkner, beginning with The Sound and the Fury. Throughout most of Hemingway his stories are told through a linear narrative and accompanied by his masterful use of dialogue. His stories are sparse on description and most often conversation is used to further the narrative. Hemingway's work stands as a stark contrast to that of Faulkner.

Within Faulkner's novels there is a considerable amount of psychology involved throughout the telling of the story. The characters are very much brought to life through this because it provides a window into their thinking and emotions. Whereas Hemingway brings his characters to life through dialogue. In Faulkner stories we are told not only what happened, but the characters question why it happened, and what the persons involved felt, or may have felt about what was happening. This style of writing, to my knowledge unique only to Faulkner, adds an incredible sense of depth and you might say, authenticity, to the narrative and fleshes out the story. The same may be said of Hemingway's use of dialogue, though the end result is certainly different.

Novels by William Faulkner I've read so far: The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying, Sanctuary, Light in August, Absalom Absalom!, Intruder in the Dust, and The Unvanquished.

When I finish reading Faulkner or when it finishes me I would like to read the works of John Steinbeck but am open to suggestion. Though, I've a considerable amount of work left to read by Faulkner, so it will be some time before I change authors.


What did I see?

This year I saw many concerts around town, including: Richmond Fontaine, Rachael Yamagata and Ray Lamontagne, Tift Merritt and Tres Chicas, Reckless Kelly, Maria Taylor (of Azure Ray), The Drive-By Truckers, The Brobecks (several times), Hot IQs (twice), The Annuals (twice), Steel Train, Tilly and The Wall, Petracovich, Burning Spear, and many other shows. Some of the best performances included Tift Merritt, The Drive-By Truckers, Burning Spear, Maria Taylor, and Steel Train. I photographed many of the shows I attended. My concert photographs can be seen on Flickr.

While I sold many televisions this year I'm pleased to be able to say I watched very little myself. There are too many other things worth doing rather than waste time with TV. Although I do enjoy movies I surprisingly managed to avoid seeing any this year. While I caught bits and pieces of some movies on TV at home, I didn't watch more than a few minutes of any film.

Among other things, I did attend a wonderful Ballet West performance of The Nutcracker ballet (See previous entry). There are likely some other events I've forgotten, but that is all I will write about for the time being.


What music did I listen to?

During this year I was introduced to many groups and musicians, saw some great live performances and listened to some great new albums. Some of my favorites from the year include The Dining Rooms, Jon Kennedy, DJ Krush, Tosca, Lemongrass, Club 8, Keren Ann, Azure Ray, Kate Rogers, Yonderboi.

Some of my favorite new albums from 2005, in no particular order, include:

• The Dining Rooms -- "Experiments in Ambient Soul"
• DJ Krush -- "Jaku"
• Jon Kennedy -- "Useless Wooden Toys"
• Maria Taylor -- "11:11"
• Aimee Mann -- "The Forgotten Arm"
• Tosca -- "J.A.C."
• Steel Train -- "Twilight Tales from the Prairies of the Sun"
• Kate Rogers -- "Seconds"
• Petracovich -- "We Are Wyoming"
• John Hiatt -- "Master of Disaster"
• Matson Jones -- "Self-Titled"

Where did I go?

Despite the fact that I drove over 16,000 miles in my new car from March through December, I really didn't go anywhere. Besides some brief excursions into parts of Arizona I didn't leave the state of Utah. I did spend about a week at Lake Powell over the summer. I tagged along with Mom and Kim's extended family down to the Lake. We spent the time sunning, boating, throwing each other around on tubes, knee and wake boarding and exploring. Lake Powell is a beautiful place and I enjoyed our time there. Some of the many miles I put on my car were for the sake of photography. As I mentioned earlier, I spent many hours this year on the road exploring rural Utah and seeking out interesting sights around town.


What were my failures?

Reflecting on everything which happened this last year I'm pleased my failures were so few. Life generally worked out well for me and I really haven't much to complain about. But despite the successes I did have some failures, most notably in the German courses I took this year in college. Throughout all of my schooling I have never failed any class. Sure there have been times when I did poorly, but I've never outright failed... until this year. Maybe I'm just not cut-out to learn a foreign language, or perhaps I'm just lazy. Whatever the reasons I'm afraid my German studies went very poorly.


Other stories

While driving home from visiting my Grandparents in St. George this March, I burned-up the engine in my Oldsmobile. The water pump which supplies the engine with coolant wasn't working and the engine overheated terribly . Driving northbound on Interstate 15 my engine began overheating so I pulled off at the nearest exit and checked the coolant level. I was low on coolant so I topped the reservoir off and drove on.

Down the road my car began overheating again, worse this time and I was forced to pull-off the road. When I stopped clouds of white smoke billowed from the engine and I opened the hood to air things out. Recalling it now I don't remember how long I waited, but I waited awhile in order to cool the engine down before trying to start it again. When I did manage to get the car started it wasn't without trouble and the engine sound terrible, but I got it going again and drove on. I wasn't sure how far I could get since the car wasn't running well and as it would happen I didn't get much further.

After allowing the engine to cool down a second time I got the car started again and went a few more miles. After this second time I was stranded, more than hour from home and miles from the nearest town. The engine wouldn't start, white smoke continued to billow forth, and the sun was beginning to go down. Without knowing quite what to do I called directory information on my phone hoping to find a local shop who might tow my car into town. What I found was $160 more than I wanted to spend. So I called my Dad and he said he would come down and get me.

By the time Dad arrived the sun had set and it was dark, cold and raining. We hooked a tow-line to my Oldsmobile and slowly began towing the car down the freeway. Our intention was to get the car into town and drop it outside the local GM dealer. Without too much trouble we managed to tow the car to the dealer and left it.

To shorten an already lengthy story, I killed my Oldsmobile. Because of the overheating the engine was burned up and would need to be replaced. The repairs would have cost more than the car was worth and so my days driving the baby blue Oldsmobile were finished. I was without a car for nearly two weeks but managed to get where I needed to be with some help. It was tough being without a car. It is funny how you begin to take certain things for granted. Fortunately the problem was soon remedied when Dad decided to lease three new Saturn Ions. My brothers Micah and Tom also needed cars and Dad was gracious enough to help us out. Since March I've been driving a new Saturn Ion, my first new car! It drives well, is comfortable to ride in, has a good stereo and offers plenty of storage space. While I miss my Oldsmobile's power locks, windows and seats, the Saturn is a great improvement over my old car.


What is on the horizon for 2006?

During the days, weeks, and months ahead there are some things I'd like to do and continue doing this year. I hope to continue taking photographs and become a better photographer. I plan to continue teaching pottery classes and making pottery. This year I would like to participate in the Park City Farmer's Market and begin selling more of my pottery. I would also like to begin marketing my work and get into some shops. Sometime over the summer I would like to take a road trip across the United States. There is so much of the country I've never seen and there are many places I'm eager to explore. If time allows for it and I have the money to finance the trip I'm hoping to be able to spend some time exploring the country. Wherever life happens to take me this year I hope to continue enjoying life and spend my time involved in the activities I love. Along the way I hope to make some new friends and surround myself with good energy and good people.