caught up in the moment of morbid curiosity, I forgot to imagine how these photos would actually work together. And now I’m so close to the material, I can’t get perspective on these images for self critique. I’m a bit lost right now - do any of these work or have I just missed altogether? Can anyone help? Jason?

Drank a few mojitos tonight before hitting the streets. Its a bit cold here - maybe 45 degrees by this time in the morning… but at 3AM the tourists are sleeping and I have the streets to myself. Many of my shots require me to lay in the middle of the streets so I’m staying warm by hauling ass when the taxis come barreling through. And yes, they speed up when they spot me.

I’d been feeling a bit down and wondering why I’d come to Paris…but today made it all worth the time. A trip to the Dreyoll’s - the taxidermist.

Today looked as though I wasted a plane ticket. Woke up at 6AM. It was still dark outside and I’d only slept four hours. Stared out the window until the sun came up and imagined the best day to come. I was doomed from the start.

Dressed and scurried down to the breakfast nook for coffee and croissant. Inhaled everything in my excitement to get going. Grabbed my camera and dashed out the door to explore.

After 2 hours I realized I was desperately lost. Its difficult to take pictures when you’ve slipped into paranoia and keep stopping every block to check a map. And by the way - NO ONE smiles in this city (with the exception of maybe tourists.)

After three hours I finally found my destination, a gallery showing a special exhibit by Christian Boltanski (one of my favorite artists). Little did I know the city shuts down on Mondays…including galleries. After banging on the door and giving it one good kick, I worked my way back to the hotel for class.

This was also not what I expected. Being a photojournalist class, I wasn’t prepared for the “creative writing” that ensued.

I called a friend of mine who lives here to rescue me, and showing up promptly at 4, she whisked me away to get a real taste of paris. It’s 12:30 now and I’m home early from an exhausting night. No real drinking tonight…a bit worn for that. But had a great tour of the monuments, shopping, stops to visit several of her friends flats to share wine, dinner at a local restaurant and a choclat at a cafe. I’ve got a headache from all the cigarettes I inhaled tonight so I’m off to bed. Jason will be disappointed, but I didn’t take a photo all day. I’m guessing I didn’t have the desire to ruin a perfectly awful day and was too scared to jinx myself tonight.

At least I didn’t step in dog doo!

posting from international terminals will be an interesting experiment. I just landed at heathrow and am finding things to be VERY foreign. First off, the keyboards here are a bit different…just enough to cause me to type with one finger. Secondly, I can’t find a damn nail clipper. I asked at the drugstore and they looked at me like I was retarded. I countered by asking how much more dangerous could they be than the shaving razors they were selling.

It’s finally starting to sink in and I’m feeling like I’ve reached a new continent…ten feet from me is the “smoking zone”. A few cubicle walls separates the entire public space from the billowing clouds of smoke. I’m in the mood for some bland food before my flight to Paris. Off to the pub for me!

Not really sure what I’m doing, but yesterday I decided to take a photo workshop in Paris. Last minute planning and lots of help from Brian has landed me at the airport today. I’ll be flying out in an hour but I promise to stay in touch through the blog.