I spent today writing a long, long post that I had not yet finished. My computer could only open Blogger in what appeared to be a skeletal 'safe mode.' I tried saving it as I went, and copied it to the clipboard, too, in case that didn't work.

Then the window suddenly closed. When I was able to log back into Blogger here just now, in the normal mode, I went to edit and finish the post. Nothing was saved. Then I tried to paste it in from the clipboard. There was nothing there to paste.

Perhaps life was better before computers and the internet. (Or, at least, it's better with a properly working computer, unlike the piece of **** that I've got in front of me now.)

I am writing once again from the comfort of my home and from the uncomfort of my own problematic computer. (More on that next time.) I returned home last night after a week spent visiting my friend Dave Levingston, and I want to thank Dave and his lovely wife Emily for the hospitality they showed me during my visit.

Dave and I visited Chicago for a couple of days, then returned to Ohio where I photographed some models, both in and out of the studio. For the last full day of my visit, I accompanied Dave up to the River's Edge Gallery in Wyandotte, Michigan. The occasion was the "meet the artists" reception for the Secret's Revealed exhibition, a show in which a couple of Dave's photographs are included.

(Wyandotte is located south of Detroit and seems like a nice town, and as it's located a short distance across the water from Canada, with Canada clearly visible, I guess the residents of the town are all experts on Canadian affairs.)

The gallery is spread over three floors, and upon arrival we proceeded up to the second floor, where the exhibition is being held. Dave and I walked around trying to find his art works on wall, without success. Then we headed back toward the stairs, and I heard Dave say "Duh!!!" Sure enough, there they were - Dave's photos - on the wall right by the stairs! We'd passed them by without even bothering to look on the wall there. You can see Dave in the photo below, repeating the pose from his self-portrait at the bottom, with one of his beautiful art nude photos above it.

Afterwards, I walked around a bit, speaking with some of the visitors, artists and the hostesses working the event. I was most pleased, though, to meet some of the other photographers with work in the show whose work I had seen online. One of these was local photographer Jim Young, who can be seen below standing next to his print in the show.

The other was Joe Crachiola, one of the voices behind the blog, What We Saw Today. I had seen Joe's name among the list of photographers in the show and had hoped that he would attend, but as he has recently moved from Detroit down to New Orleans, his attendance seemed unlikely. Nonetheless, all of a sudden he appeared at the top of the stairs and was greeted warmly by those who knew him. I did get the chance to speak with him briefly, but not nearly enough to ask him about his move to New Orleans and his life in photography. I hope that I will have that opportunity some time in the future.

Still, I'd be lying if I didn't say that the person I was most happy to see was Iris Dassault. Iris is a model and a photographer, and an all-around beautiful, talented, charming and intelligent woman. I had photographed Iris a few years ago and had not seen her since that time, and it was wonderful to catch up with her and talk about the things we've done in the past few years. I told her that she was the first (and so far, only) model that I've photographed who made dinner for ME afterwards - as it's usually the other way around. I hope I have the chance to work with her again before too long.

Overall then, it was a very nice evening at the gallery, and you can see a few more photos below.


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A Sad Day

It was with great sadness today that I read the latest posting on Univers d'Artistes by Chris St. James. Basically, Chris wrote that he is losing his battle with multiple sclerosis and is bringing the blog to a close.

Though I had never met Chris in person or even spoke with him on the phone, I did think of him as a friend through our correspondence and limited collaboration on Univers d'Artistes. Chris was kind enough to write some features about me and my work, and often posted examples of my art nude photography.

When Chris was unable to continue with the blog due to his undergoing medical treatment, he entrusted the care of Univers d'Artistes to Iris Dassault and me, giving us the password and allowing us to update it as best as we could. (It's a bit ironic, then, that I met Iris a couple of nights ago, as I've described above, and talked about those days.)

I was really frightened then that Chris would be unable to continue with the blog at all, and that he hoped that Iris and I would fill his shoes - something I knew that I could never do (and I suspect Iris could not do, either).

The two of us made occasional posts to keep things going, but I was thrilled when Chris returned - mostly for the fact that the condition of his health was well enough to allow him to do so.

Eventually, Unbearable Lightness joined up and took a major role, and I tried to continue helping in whatever small way I could, but I think Chris always remained the heart and soul of Univer d'Artistes.

Now, it all seems to have come to an end. Looking back, I have to say that all of the art nude photographers whose work Chris helped bring to light and to a wider audience owe Chris a debt of gratitude, as he truly loved the art nude genre. We should all wish him peace and comfort in whatever time he has left.

At times like this, I guess I'm like everybody else in being at a loss for what to say, so I will just say this:

Rest easy, mon ami. Your spirit and energy will be remembered by those you touched. May your soul go gently into the night.

Lela Rae

I'll write more about Chicago and my time here in Ohio in upcoming posts. For now, I'll mention that Dave L and I will be riding up to Detroit this coming Saturday to attend a reception at the River's Edge Gallery that evening for a show in which Dave has some of his work included. For more information, see his blog entry about it here.

Just a quick update here on my computer situation. It has not changed since last time, with the only thing working being internet access, and that subject to the windows disappearing without notice. I had regretted trying to reinstall Windows, as before I was still able to do more things despite the many problems, but at the end I had no web access and now I do, so it is better now in a way.

The only difference is that now I have decided to buy a new computer to replace this five year old one. It's just a matter of when, where and (naturally) how much.

Now something new to report: another piece of electronic gear has decided to head south. This time it's my 4 GB MP3 player. I charged it up a couple of days ago, and since the battery had been pretty well depleted, I let it charge for about a day. When I unplugged it, the initial screen came up on the unit but I couldn't get past it. Eventually, when I unplugged it, the whole thing was dead. I don't think it's just the battery that's fried, though, as when I plug in the A/C connection, I get the initial screen but cannot get past it.

I had been thinking of upgrading to an iPod Touch to have greater capacity and wi-fi access to the web when I'm traveling (plus other stuff), but I had considered putting it off until next year due to my unexpected expenses now. It looks like I'll have to get one this year now.

Finally, to add insult to injury, I slipped on some ice here in New York this afternoon and came down hard on my left hip, elbow and shoulder. Just what I needed (but is that more like "adding injury to insult"?). At least I've got an interesting weekend and next week planned, so hopefully things will get better.

Stay warm, everyone.

"Everything is broken"
- Robert Allen Zimmerman (aka Bob Dylan)

When last I wrote, some time ago now, it was to say that I had been inactive here on the blog because my television set had broken down and that I was spending my time upgrading to a new audio/video system.

Well, now I have more news to report: this time it's my computer. Yes, the box here had been having all kinds of problems. I'd click on the Favorites icon and all of the open windows would close. Sometimes I couldn't get the firewall program to open up. Sometimes I couldn't get the virus scan to start. When it did finally get going, it found an infected file and deleted it.

Then I lost all internet access. I called my provider to check on it, and I was told that the problem was on my end.

Throughout it all, my computer would just shut down without warning and give me the "blue screen of death" (as one tech guy called it).

So, it seemed that drastic action was required and I took it. I tried to reinstall Windows from the disc I'd gotten with the computer. The fact that Dell gave absolutely no documentation with the disc didn't help, but I thought I could just pop the disc into the drive and it would go from there.

Needless to say, it wasn't that easy. First, it took me an hour to figure out how to get the computer to boot from the disc. The main problem was the question about partitioning the drive. The program recommended that I don't do the reinstallation on the C: drive as important information there could be lost, so I went with a newly created J: drive, which wasn't very large.

The program also kept asking me to put in the disc for XP Service Pack 2, which I don't have, but I figured I would just continue and download those files online.

Well, after two days, Windows finally was reinstalled. Unfortunately, things are worse than they were before. Parts of Windows are missing, and because the J: drive is so small and almost full, there's not enough room to download the XP Service Pack 3 (the latest).

Even worse is that the two disc drives don't work because they don't have the drivers installed - and all attempts to download them online have failed. About the only thing that does work is the internet connection, and even that is iffy at best, as it can close down without warning at any time.

After all this, the computer still sometimes shuts down without warning and give me the dreaded blue screen of death! Obviously, this computer needs a major overhaul (just what I need - something else to spend money on), so until that is accomplished, don't expect to see much from me here.

To add to the gloom, when I went down to check the mail yesterday, I met a man in the lobby who told me that a woman in the next building who I was friends with had died recently. She was the neighbor who I had asked to accept the Fed Ex package that I wrote about last month.

Then, when I finally was able to check my e-mail here, I saw that I had a message via Facebook from one of the models who I had met and photographed at the workshop I attended in Colorado in 2008. She wrote to say that one of the other photographers there - a man from Michigan who I had become friends with - has cancer and doesn't have much time left.

I guess Zimmy was right.

At least the new TV works well, so I can watch the Super Bowl today. I'll be rooting for the Saints.

(By the way, if you don't see a photo at the top, it's because the computer cannot connect to my external drive where my photos are stored. If you do see one - well, then it can!)