This is a reading of the book, "The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life" by Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, and Tom Pyszczynski. Quinn will read a chapter every week and then have a discussion about it. This book, along with "The Denial of Death" by Ernest Becker is the basis for Quinn's (photographic) book, "In the Shadow of Sun Mountain: The Psychology of Othering and the Genesis of Evil."
Very Grateful For Our Life!
It's a great feeling to wake up in the mountains and have nothing on the agenda except for cutting firewood. This is Ponderosa Pine and Aspen. These were either standing dead trees that I fell or trees that were cleared for the house build. I'm very grateful for my life and the people in it!! Stay safe! All our best!!
Photo by Jeanne Jacobson
Mt Evans & Squaw Pass Day Trip
Jeanne and I spent yesterday in the thin air of the Colorado mountains. The temp was 99F/38C in the city (Denver) and 50F/10C at the top of Mt Evans. It is 14,000 feet/4.000m above sea level. It started to sleet/slush/rain when we were at the top. It's the monsoon season, so you have to go early. We'll leave the studio next Saturday morning at 0600. That will give us several good hours of making photographs.
The place is stunning and mind boggling all at once. We drove the longest/highest paved road in North America to get there. The drive was fun! A lot of it looks like what I would imagine some distant planet might resemble. Very few plants or animals can survive at that elevation - no trees - only small plants and grass. It's brutal! Jeanne and I were climbing over over some huge rocks to do some photos and I was instantly winded. There's not much oxygen at 14,000 feet. It freaked me out a little bit. I need to remember to move slower next Saturday.
The Collodion was thicker and dried faster up there. The UV was off of the charts. I was making exposures of one to three seconds with my lens stopped down to f/7 and f/22 respectively. My face got sunburned too. I thought living at 5,200 ft was intense, at 11,000 and 14,000 the sun seems overwhelming. It would be nice to work with f/32 and f/64 that way, you could do several second exposures and make some really nice photographs. One more thing, I was using old Collodion, too. I'm not sure you could get an exposure there with new Collodion unless you had a shutter. Stop action Collodion photography at 14,000 feet!
It costs $10 to enter - well worth every penny!
Quinn stunned at the beauty of Squaw Pass - 11,500 ft. photo by Jeanne Jacobson. 
It's Time To Make A Change
Regardless of how you feel about politics, the world is in a very serious situation and it does matter who’s leading America over the next few years.
I will never understand someone voting for John McCain and Sarah Palin. My mind can't even begin to justify or reconcile that kind of decision. And no, I'm not voting for Barack Obama because McCain and Palin are evil (because I think they are human beings but just not the ones for the White House), but because he's the person that has the vision, intelligence, leadership and ability to really make a difference. I truly believe he is a decent human being that cares about more than just himself and his wealth, I really do.
I'm not a fool. I know things will not get better overnight if Barack Obama is elected. However, I know that if he is, we have some chance of bringing sanity back to America. I'm voting for Barack Obama and Joe Biden because I love America and I owe my country the very best I can give it when it comes to leadership. McCain and Palin do not show, in any way shape or form, the leadership we need right now in America and in the world.
It's going to get a lot worse before it gets better. I know this. The economy has depths to plummet that we haven't seen yet. The ridiculous, overspending, irresponsible lifestyle is over in America. I thank God for it. If this is what it takes, so be it. Keep your chin up, with Obama, we have a chance to not only recover, but be a better America after we heal. Do yourself, and all Americans, a favor and vote for Barack Obama. Don't blow it this time America!