Recipe for Insomnia

After reading so many good and delicious looking recipes over at Sweet Tooth by Erica, I've decided to share a recipe of my own. I perfected it last night...

1/2 lb. homesickness, softened
1 cup loneliness
2 cups active imagination
3 French people, speaking loudly
1 cup of pre-mixed anxiety (equal parts: hopes, dreams, fears, and regrets)
1 cup Bloggosphere, finely chopped (optional)

Cream homesickness and loneliness in bowl until smooth. Stir in the 3 French people, making sure to blend well. Slowly add the active imagination to the mixer until you get a nice dough, then fold in the anxiety until evenly distributed. Tuck into the pre-heated bed. After 3-4 hours, the dough will begin to toss and turn. At this point, top with the chopped Bloggosphere for added crunch. Leave in bed until sunrise or eventual, uneasy sleep.

I hadn't been that homesick lately, but it hit me really hard last night for some reason. I think it might have been because my fraternity gave out bids for Spring Recruitment yesterday, and I realized that there's going to be an entirely new group of men in my chapter when I return, many of whom I've never met.

The feeling only intensified over lunch, which I ate alone. I don't know anyone at my school except the few MICEFA students I see randomly around, so I kinda just sat quietly in the cafeteria. I think it's the first time I've ever eaten a meal at the school cafeteria alone. It really made me miss and appreciate my brothers and friends back home.

On a happier note, I did get enrolled into my classes. Well, all except photography, but they told me I can just show up to the course I decide to take, as long as I do so in a timely fashion. The computer science department almost didn't let me take a course. They thought that it wouldn't work with my exchange program. After a very strenuous exercise in translation, however, I was able to convince them that I am, in fact, going to be a senior computer science student back home, that I have, in fact, already taken data structures, and that MICEFA, in fact, not only accepts the credit, but encouraged me to take a CSCI class I've already completed in the U.S. as a "cross-cultural experience."   After that, they seemed genuinely excited that I would be in the department, and I'm glad that I'm taking a class in something I know pretty well already, so I can focus on learning the vocab and phrases, instead of entirely new concepts.

Alright, I hate to leave you without a photo, so here are a few from a series I shot yesterday. I was laying in bed, planning on my usual weekend schedule of laying around and doing nothing, when I couldn't help but notice they way the sunlight was streaming in through my window and hitting the shoes in front of my door. I decided to revisit a shoot I did for my photo class last semester that was a self-portrait, not of me, but of my possessions, of which my two pairs of shoes became the prime focus.

A lot of people asked me why shoes became my focus. They thought is was weird and a strange way of expressing a "self-portrait," but the way I see it, our shoes are just as definitive of our travels as our hands, feet, face, and bodies. Most people wear them 80% - 90% of the time, especially when they're doing any kind of travel or great experience.

And when you only have one or two pairs of shoes, like me, they become even more indicative of your adventures. They get worn more often, and each see more adventure. Every hole, tear, and paint splotch contains a story, sometimes many. The dust marks and textures, scrapes and scuffs, are just as telling as the wrinkles and moles on our skin.

I especially love the photos in the black and white medium, because it really makes the textures and contrast pop. It also helps that my shoes are black to begin with, so all the little ripples and scuffs catch the light in an honest way. Overall, I'm very pleased with how my little mini-project turned out, and happy with the memories and stories my shoes bring to mind.

Let me know what you think, either in the comments, at my NEW email address: webmaster@americaninparisphoto.com, or tweet @PhotosInParis!