Vibe Check
Started the year off with a miss. Two misses, actually. OFTR January and February 2025 dispatches didn’t go out. That’s becuase I didn’t write them. Didn’t even try.
I tell myself it’s because I’ve been so busy at work (got a promotion) that I don’t have time for anything else, and while that’s not necessarily untrue, I’ve also been in some kinda headspace lately that’s just not conducive to doing this.
Rather than attempt to untangle the layers of chaos applying constant pressure over the last couple of months — some we all feel, others are more localized to my own existence — I’ll just get straight to it.
The latest set of photo I posted were shot in Manhattan, NY back in October 2024. Some digital, mostly film, all black and white. You can see the whole set on the blog, which I finally got my shit together enough to edit and post. Still working on Tokyo photos from the second leg of that trip, coming soon…?
I’ve been shooting semi regularly lately, some 35mm film (with a mint 1964 Leica M3 I picked up for next to nothing in an online neighborhood community group, which is a story for another time), some instant film (I got my hands on a refurbished Polaroid SX-70 modified to shoot 600 film), and some digital on-the-go as I navigate my mundane life (with the Ricoh GRiii).
What I have not been doing is literally anything with the photos once they’re made. I have a few rolls of 35mm film that I need to process; the Polaroids are stacking up and I don’t have an appropriate scanning solution so I can’t show them to you; and while I think there’s some decent stuff on the GRiii memory card, I haven’t bothered to pull the images into Lightroom and give them a proper look and edit.
Maybe I’ll be back in your inbox next month with some of this stuff. In the meantime…
PSA: The world is real heavy right now, abroad and at home. People who don’t know you or give a shit about you will step on you for a dollar and some power, and they’ll use everything they can find to get over on you, no matter how mundane it seems. Learn about why personal information security matters in this interesting SXSW talk with Signal Foundation president Meredith Whittaker.
And holler at me on Signal if you know me IRL and have my phone number, I’ve been using it for years, and while I’m not trading messages of nation-state sensitivity, I’m pretty happy knowing that less of my life is being mapped by coroprate interests who want to use that information against me. And seriously stop using WhatsApp, iMessage, and venture-backed and corporate social media. Signal has had its moment lately, and yes it’s not perfect, but it’s the best we can do these days…unless your threat model is just being a fucking moron.
Anyway…click the image to cue the ironically placed YouTube link…
MUSIC
Some Bandcamp nuggets that have been top of mind lately…
This EP from Atlanta, GA quartet Ultra Lights is a collection of all the singles they’ve released so far — they’re a relatively new band — and it’s awesome. The music’s catchy, stripped down, with ‘90s indie vibes and a punk sneer. I preordered it a while ago, the vinyl showed up on my doorstep earlier this month, and it’s been a staple on the turntable ever since. Maybe my favorite rock release of the year so far.
Speaking of Atlanta bands… I didn’t mention this WHORES album when it dropped in April of last year, but I love the band and listen to this, and all their albums, pretty regularly. They played at Thee Stork in Oakland at the beginning of this month, so of course I went to the show, and finally copped this record on vinyl (because merch table purchases rule). It’s been a constant in the regular rotation vinyl stack ever since. Great show, great album, great fucking band.
Taking it down a notch… I listen to a lot of instrumental hip-hop type stuff — scratch, minimalist, low tempo beats that keep me focused and/or keep my ead nodding, and Es-K always delivers. This digital beat tape, released last June, is a pay-what-you-want affair on Bandcamp and it’s worth every penny of a cash donation.
