February 21, 2004

Friday Blur

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- My Friday was a blur.

I shot four assignments, but the stuff went through both my cameras and brain barely registering. Something must be wrong to go through the day, barely remember what happened and then crank it all out on automatic.

I didn’t even complain when one of the columnists came to ask us for a last minute favor. Really last minute. He walked over to the department about an hour before I had to get to a baseball game and dropped the story on us…about 10 minutes before the subject arrived at the paper. And I didn’t complain to him, or anyone else, about what turned into a five-column display for one of the section fronts in Sunday’s paper.

What the hell is my problem?!

It goes farther than things just being a blur through the day. What’s that say about how much I care about my output? I’m fairly confident that I still shoot things, however quickly, like I shoot them, but who knows who I am anymore?

By the time I got to the baseball game yesterday I’d put everything else out of my head and concentrated on the game…I think. Things turned out fine because I turned in seven action pictures to fill two holes, and fulfilled two other assignments while at the park after I finished shooting action.

Oh, who knows? I have one assignment today and then look forward to having the majority of the day off. But like I heard the other day, do something you love for a living and you’ll never work another day in your life.

- Rich