sjamesho.v3

today i received a very interesting fortune that i think its translation was lost somewhere along the line. after opening the fortune cookie, i took out the slip of paper and read these words:

“Catch on fire with enthusiam and people will come for miles to…”

ok, everything up till now seems pretty copacetic. there’s my enthusiam, there are people that will come so i’m guessing that my enthusiam is a drawing power of sorts. but lets finish up the sentence, shall we?

“Catch on fire with enthusiam and people will come for miles to watch you burn.”

“WATCH ME BURN”?what kind of fortune is that? is having enthusiam a crime that warrants something cruel and unusual? is my enthusiam limited to just myself so that i’m burning alone and no one else is catching the spark?

i have three responses to my fortune: 1) if there is something lost in the translation, then this is one of the more amusing fortunes i’ve received from a cookie, 2) if there is nothing lost in the translation, then i may be an enthusiastic heretic just waiting for my crowd to show up, or 3) regardless the accuracy of the translation, this fortune is a hoot and blog-worthy.

what is a professional? a hired assassin? someone who is paid in exchange for their rendered skills? someone who manages chaos with grace and charm? what does it take to be a profesional? education? experience? education and experience? i had the opportunity to make a housecall to a local Bay Area photographer. after entering the gated community and parking at her driveway i was welcomed by a very large house that seemed very impressive as well as detached bungalo which served as the photographer’s office and studio. after an exchange of pleasantries, i proceeded to exorise the spyware that had possessed her computer delivering pop-ups galore. fortunately, the spyware wasn’t deeply embedded and was easily removed without hacking into the registry, or worse, a complete rebuild. computer troubleshooting has become very elementary to me which has made me a professional in other people’s eyes. and the elementary nature of it makes me feel a little guilty for taking their money. however, the guilt quickly wore off as i observed how her profession enabled her to be successful. anybody can take pictures, but a photographer has the eye to make magic happen through the lens. and like myself, photography has become easy and natural over her 20+ year career to where she is now living in a very nice neighborhood. her property was in a seculded woodsy area and i was admiring the view and thinking to myself how nice it would be to have my own big house with a detached studio for my work. and then i remembered a beautiful promise that there’s a mansion built just for me. how awesome is that?!

the pictures of my fog light installation and window tinting treatment is now available for viewing by clicking here.