This will be a quick posting tonight, as I haven’t had time to really think up anything to write. It’s been a busy week: listening to the President’s speech, working on my income tax, making hotel reservations for my upcoming travels, developing film, making peanut butter & jelly sandwiches for lunch, etc. Tonight I had a union meeting to attend, and had stuff to do when I got home.

As far as the film goes, I think I’m down to only 33 left to go. By early next week it could be only 15. Is that a small glimmer of light that I see at the end of the filmic tunnel?

So, before I go, here are a few random thoughts.

1) I’ve gotten some photo magazines that I’ve subscribed to in the mail recently: Aperture, B & W, but the one I’ve begun to read is American Photo. This new issue is one in its “master” series, devoted to the work of one photographer – in this case, Annie Leibovitz. This is only the fourth time they’ve down this, the other three photographers so honored being Richard Avedon, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Helmut Newton. While I think Ms. Leibovitz has down some good work, am I the only one who thinks that she doesn’t quite belong in the same category as those three others? (Oh well. At least she’s not as overrated as Nan Goldin.)

2) On the way walking home from the subway station tonight, I had the misfortune to walk behind a bunch of cigarette smokers. Jee, was that awful. (Cigars are even worse.) I had to speed up my pace to get in front of one to escape the cancerous smoke trail, only to find still more ahead of me! So, in order to safeguard non-smokers from people who enjoy poisoning themselves and don’t care if they take others with them, I suggest one of the following:

a. Smoking a cigarette outdoors within 100 feet of any non-smoker should be made illegal; or

b. The tax on cigarettes should be made so high that smokers will have to choose between spending their money either for cigarettes or for food. If they choose to buy food, that will get rid of the smoking problem. If they choose to buy cigarettes, then presumably they will die of starvation, which will also solve the problem. (Not being able to buy food because one buys cigarettes instead will disqualify someone from getting welfare or any other form of relief under this plan.)

I, of course, would prefer plan ‘a,’ but if plan ‘b’ is necessary……well hey, they’re the ones who are polluting my lungs with their poison – not the other way around.

3) I listened to a recording of Verdi’s opera Il Trovatore with my headphones while at work today. This is the next one that I’ll be seeing at the Met in a few weeks. This was a newer recording that I bought yesterday and it sounded great. (I also have an older recording but haven’t listened to it for a long time.) Now I can’t wait to hear it and see it live and in person.

So, that’s all for now. I think I’ll relax for a little while and watch another episode of The Honeymooners. A little (or a lot of) laughter is always good before making a PB&J sandwich and then going to bed.

(For those who are interested, that’s Tamara at the top, photographed last year near Zion National Park in Utah.)