utah’s independance day is july 24th. there was an accident with fireworks a few hours after this happened in this spot, guess some fireworks shot into the crowd.

It’s a dream.

My Rebel XS meant a lot to me. It got me through one of the best and worst years of my life. Last year was fucking crazy.

The new owner received the camera yesterday, and they told me they’ve been snapping pictures of everything they can. I, on the other hand, am counting the hours until I can pay for my camera, let alone get the damn thing.

Well, XS. You have been a dream. I will miss you and all the time we shared together.

Last week there was a post made on there from a guy named BucketMan. He was heartbroken. Last fall he had spent 950 on a used lens only to find out that it was stolen property and he had to return the lens and pay for shipping. Not only would he be out a lens, he would be out 1,000 since he had to pay express shipping to the detective’s offices., plus the original purchase of the lens.

He posted on the forums saying that he loved the lens and he hopes that whoever had the lens stolen treats it as well as he did once they get it back. And that was it. He just wanted to share his story.

I read this post last night and thought, “Wow… that would suck. I just spent 300 on a lens that I’ll be eating more modestly because of, and this is three times that price. The agony!!”

Well, last night around the same time that I saw the story, another thread was started by a guy on the boards named Derek. He linked to the original post (which you can see here if you’re a member of the forums) and asked what can be done for BucketMan.  A donation was set up to try and replace his lens. I thought it was nice, and went to bed. This was about 6 hours ago.

This morning I woke up and checked on the thread. I thought about donating some but needed to wait until my check  was deposited to do so, so I thought I’d see how much had been raised.

In 6 hours, not only was the goal of 1,800 (the cost of a new equivalent lens) met, but it was surpassed!

In a matter of 6 hours, enough people donated their small amounts to a complete stranger and bought him a brand new lens.

I am completely astounded by everyone’s willingness to help someone out so quickly. 10 minutes after the donation thread was started there was already 60 dollars in the bucket, donated by people who had an extra 5 bucks or so to spare for this poor guy.

I don’t know what else to say besides wow.

Last Sunday, the 24th I headed up to Sundance and ended up in the HitRecord.org presentation. I knew it was happening but have never been up to Sundance so didn’t think it was going to be something I could take part in. Somehow not only did I end up as part of it, I ended up playing some music for a film that the HitRecord production team worked on. The finished film screened a couple of days ago at Sundance and I want to say I’m very proud to be a part of it. I worked with Nathan Johnson who was the composer for Brick, which is a movie that I love dearly and I really appreciate being able to honestly say I’ve worked with him. He was so nice and I’m glad I got to have a part in such a production. This year I made it a goal to record my life more, and being a part of this team is definitely a step in the right direction. Now I just need more to happen in my life.

I’m still trying to figure out what to do with this blog, but I definitely feel like it’s something I should continue with. Technically I have a blog, although that one is a little more for play than anything else.

So… This will pretty well be for me and anyone that googles my name.