hello ryan-
I was sort of astounded by the photo I received in your email because I was just on the verge of sending you a very similar photo-
let me explain-
unbeknownst to almost everyone, I was at the reunion! only for about 5 minutes but indeed, I was there on the premises. this quick visit just happened to coincide with you and the two ladies posing, and from the obscure vantage point I had near the back of the room I was able to set up a halfway decent shot on my pre-millennial minolta point-and-click. most people don't believe old-school film even exists anymore, but it does, and for bizarre reasons I won't get into right now, I prefer it. (for awhile I thought it was keeping my life as a photographer simpler, but at this stage, I have to admit that the case has now been reversed. not to mention the side issue of inducing nervous laughter on the part of most onlookers whenever I pull the thing thing out- it pretty much shouts to the universe that I'm so far behind the technological curve that I'm probably not to be trusted in other key areas either. sadly enough, friend, there is some truth to this sentiment.)
ok- getting back to the reunion. I was able to fly under the radar very effectively due to a very simple but carefully calibrated disguise. like I said, I was only there for about 5 minutes but it's possible you noticed a sort of seedy looking dude hovering alone back there in the shadows. I just wanted to get a quick read on the vibe and maybe discreetly capture some interesting visuals, without having to actually interface in the traditional manner.
I don't know if you remember a guy named Lloyd Rickers- he was only at MHS our senior year and from what I could tell he kept a pretty low profile. kind of long stringy blond hair, a scraggly goatee, skinny, maybe 5' 10'', 5' 11'', trench-coat mafia type. he showed up at ecology club a few times but he didn't seem to think that our tactics were wide-ranging enough. the parting shot was something along the lines of "you lightweights are not only wasting your time, but you've become the laughingstock of eco-theorists all over the world." in hindsight, I'd pretty much have to agree with him, although I don't think too many of the major global eco-theorists were tracking our progress all that closely.
in any case, I had a hunch lloyd probably wouldn't be at the reunion (I still don't know if he was) so I planned on using his name, both for my decal and on the off chance that anyone dared to approach me. he was a good guy to use as an avatar for somebody wanting to get in and out fast, incognito. I had a great wig, a fedora, 2 or 3 weeks of completely untended beard, polarized glasses, and, of course, a black trench coat.
there was a disappointment several days later after I got the film back from the developers: about two thirds of the roll had been double exposed. my camera sometimes mistakenly/automatically rewinds back a few frames for no reason. not a lot, but enough for it to be a sort of lingering issue. the day after the reunion I finished the rest of the roll with no glitches, shooting a cool network of cobwebs that has been cultivating for a few years in the attic of my mom's house. when I got back to madison I took it in to be developed, and when I got it back I was met with a pretty nasty surprise. suffice it to say that I let my roommate sean borrow the camera as needed. he likes to document the different stages our little vegetable patch goes thru in a season. he uses his own digital camera for most of it but every now and then he thinks something out there is worth capturing on actual film. resolution issues, color issues, depth of field issues, etc. maybe three or four times a month, if that. there's usually a few in every batch I get developed that I hand over to him.
well, apparently this past month he decided to document something more than his garden. you can probably already see where this is going. there were a few shots of his boyfriend performing a "series of acts," shall we say. which isn't such a big deal, of course, but the thing is, the frickin' camera must have prematurely rewound! seth must not have realized it because he returned the camera to my room without comment. he knew I'd eventually see the action shots and was probably looking forward to the bemused shock I was in for. again, no big deal, except I didn't know that the camera had prematurely rewound a few frames and continued shooting as if it was a fresh roll.
that was the roll I had in the camera on the night of the reunion, and the shot I got of you and the ladies was morphed with an intimate tableau of sean and nathan that's probably best left undescribed. I'm well aware that the imagination is capable of pretty terrible things, but I'd prefer to take that chance rather than get into the explicit physiological nomenclature.
I said at the beginning that I was on the verge of sending you a very similar photograph, but honestly, it would have been in horrible, horrible taste. my sense of interpersonal etiquette in matters like this is sometimes open to question- my sense was, no need to push it. let the matter of the photograph rest and slowly fade into oblivion.
so imagine my shock when I received your kind email- I couldn't believe my frickin' eyes! I'm usually not that freaked out by coincidences but this one was of another order of magnitude. for a second I thought maybe somebody had discovered or leaked my little undercover adventure, followed the whole chain of events, got in touch with you, passed on the info, etc. but no way, right? no way.
oh well. I'm still determined to let the photograph molder away peacefully in some state of early retirement. I showed sean, of course, and we shared a hearty laugh, although I did explain to him again about the rewinding thing and to let me know when it happens. for a split second I thought about just letting him have the photo, but I realized almost instantly that that could be a very dangerous move- who knows where in cyberspace these things could end up? after all, sean has a digital camera and is well versed in these sort of internet possibilities. to think that I was responsible for allowing this hybrid-monster of a photograph to circulate digitally thru the community, the region, the universe- well, again, my former lapses in etiquette regarding some of these sensitive issues have chastened me- not only do I very very carefully look before I leap nowadays, most of the time I decide to just avoid the leap altogether. you could say I look before I moonwalk back into my zone of humiliating misfires.
in any case, it was kind of you to remember me, old friend. sorry to go on for so long about the snafu on my end. it was just way too much of a coincidence to keep to myself.
matt-
by the way- I visited your company website and explored some of the offerings there. it seems as though you have been a busy and in-demand fellow. I can't say I'm surprised. you have a unique blend of talents. may it continue to go well for you in all relevant areas.
which, crazily enough, brings me to yet another coincidence- I'm gonna keep this one brief because it's not nearly as juicy. anyways, about 2 months ago I ran into a friend near the UW campus and he was on his way to a lecture series centered on the arts and technology. the one he wanted to see was about 45 minutes later, but we decided to go early and catch the end of the previous one. the speaker was just wrapping up and opening it up to questions when this guy in the front row stood up and started to tear the speaker a new asshole. that's not such an unusual thing, I've come to learn- a lot of highly energetic and highly idealistic youths in this town, a lot of righteous indignation and firing off at the mouth. at first the speaker just leaned back with an amused look on his face. he took a few sips of water. people were starting to tell the front guy row to chill out a little, which he did, but proceeded to go on and on about this men's group he was a part of and all of these regional events that take part all over the county in wilderness areas. he was going on and on about how they didn't need or want an ounce of his god damned technology, which was sort of beside the point, it seemed to me, given that they were congregating deep in primeval forests and canyons. the speaker started to respond by saying that geographical remoteness was not necessarily a problem- there were satellite-based solutions for that, etc, when the front row guy starts to go a little berserk again, citing all sorts of esoteric pagan and druid and native american theories regarding "intuition", the "collective unconscious" and communing with "unsullied nature." the remarkable thing is that at this point the speaker started to get this strange, ashen look on his face, sat down on a folding chair, slowly rubbed his face several times, leaned forward, and started nodding along with the guy- even asking him to back up a few times and clarify something. by this time people were starting to get up and leave, but these two guys just kept talking. when front row guy realized he was getting thru to the speaker, he chilled out again and started getting even more esoteric, but because his voice was lower I started losing most of the details. the speaker came down from the podium and sat down next to the dude, and pretty soon he was jotting things down on a notepad. the room started filling again for the next speaker, and these guys eventually left together talking loudly and excitedly and gesticulating all over the place as if they were gonna go start some sort of new society out in the wilderness. weird but ultimately pretty harmless stuff, I thought to myself. I'm only telling you all this because when I saw your promo piece for the debate with corbin ball the name sounded really familiar, like I'd just heard it recently. It took a couple of hours to make the connection, but when I went online and checked the lecture series website, there it was: corbin ball, on the day, place, and time I was there. I had no idea at the time he was any sort of major figure in the tech/events world.
this isn't in itself so unusual, probably- corbin ball probably lectures all over the place. I'm only mentioning it because of that weird look on his face when the guy started to talk about intuition and communing with nature. it's like corbin completely ceded control to the guy at that point. he became completely receptive and basically allowed the guy to take over the entire Q and A.
I don't know if you are going to have any more debates with this ball fellow, but I just want you to know, if you don't already, that he's not completely invulnerable. find the right angle and it seems like the guy turns to putty. who knows? maybe he followed front row guy out into the primeval wilderness and is chanting incantations at the full moon in a buckskin poncho these days. seriously- corbin seemed to be a little unhinged by front row guy. I'm not trying to spread gossip around your professional peer group, but this wilderness-corbin ball connection might be worth looking into. maybe you already slayed him both times in barcelona and have already moved onto heavier hitting opponents. I can't say that would surprise me- you seemed prepared to kick some major ass judging from the promotional vids.
now that we've got the email link up and running we could perhaps communicate from time to time.
say hello to the family for me.
