A minor

I saw this panoramic photo the other day and fell in love with it. I emailed the photographer and insisted that she add it to her website, which she did today.

As she wrote to me, "The small size of the web doesn't really do it justice (even with the link to the larger image) but at least it is there." And she's right. The full-size print is incredible.

In her initial reply to me, she wrote:

I am glad you like the panorama river print. It is without a doubt the most difficult photography project that I have had to date. And it is currently the only cityscape panorama print that I have done. It was an idea that I had that just wouldn't go away until I tried it.

It took several evenings of shooting to get the right weather conditions and the right light. The final panorama consists of 13 images, shot within seconds of each other, that were then "stitched" together over a week's worth of computer work. That is what gives the print the fine detail it has instead of a single shot that has been enlarged. The print is on 100% cotton art paper and is made with archival pigment inks and was made by me. A lot of people think it is a mass-produced poster so I just wanted to clear that up.

It is 48" long and 12" wide and the price for the existing print is $350 (which is in perfect shape). A fresh print is $450. I just took the print down from Quick Print on Wednesday (to put up some new black & white prints) so if you are still interested just let me know. I can bring the print back up to Quick Print if you would like to look at it again.

Thanks again for your kind words about the photograph.

Jenny Ellerbe

...to which I replied, in part:

Should you ever decide to mass-produce the print (maybe even in different sizes), I'd surely be one of thousands of delighted print owners. If you sold 5,000 prints at an average of $40 apiece, that wouldn't be selling out - it would be sharing your perspective and labor of love with tens of thousands of people, all while grossing around $200,000! Just a thought.

...to which she replied:

I can certainly understand not having the $350...I can't afford it either. :) I have considered making it a poster but can't really afford the initial cost of getting them printed. Not to mention the wholesale/retail sales and marketing involved. But if you find me the 5,000 people to buy one...I'll find the money to make the posters. :)

I'm thinking I should find 5,000 buyers and become her marketing/printing agent! But seriously, assuming you have some connection to Monroe (other than hating the place), what would you be willing to pay for a wonderful 4'-long panoramic print of the city & river?

(Thanks to Jenny for allowing me to post her photo and words.)

Yesterday, Hollie and I cheated and bought each other a Christmas present together; well, actually, I cheated, since I'm the one who opened it last night. Seinfeld on DVD, Season 3, on sale for $28 at Target - how how could I resist? So this afternoon I'm watching an episode that I've somehow never seen before, and the former Latin major in me was compelled to post the following conversation (with thanks to seinfeldscripts.com/TheCafe.html).

Intercom: It's George.
Jerry: Come on up.
Elaine: Casus belli.
Jerry: What's that?
Elaine: It's Latin. I read it in some book. I don't know, I just wanted to say it out loud.
[Elaine sniffs around.]
George: I'm wearing some cologne, all right?
Elaine: Sure, fine.
Jerry: Casus belli.
Elaine: Casus belli.
George: What's that?
Elaine: Since when do you wear cologne?
George: Why is what I do is so important? Why must I be always the vocal point of attention? Let me just be; let me live.
Jerry: Hey, how did you do on that IQ test?
George: I didn't take it yet.
Elaine: What IQ test?
George: What's casus belli?
Jerry: Oh, it's nothing...
George: Is it about me?
Jerry: Why must you always be the vocal point of attention? Why can't you just be? Why can't you live?
Elaine: It's just a Latin phrase George; it does not mean anything.

On Eucharistic Frequency, Paedocommunion & Tithing

At the risk of sounding like a less than devout young punk, one of the few things I like about being an Episcopalian is that I'm not beat over the head/conscience about things like Sabbath observance or tithing, and I can worship at the Eucharist more frequently than ever before. I work for my parish right now, and they can't afford to pay me enough, so I still work weekends at FedEx Kinko's. I've always hated working Sunday mornings in the past because that was the one and only chance I had during the week for communion; but not so in the Anglican world. At present, there are three communion services on Sunday at our parish and two other regularly scheduled Eucharists on Wednesday, not to mention the other Eucharists that often occur during the week (e.g. prior to monthly vestry meetings or Order of the Daughters of the King meetings, or in conjunction with other special events like weddings or funerals). My rector is enough of a fundamentalist to view Sunday as the Christian Sabbath, but he's enough of a realist to understand that the modern world requires many to work on Sunday.

On tithing, like I said, my parish can't afford to pay me enough, so they understand when I have to work Sundays and when I can't afford to tithe. They encourage the biblical ten-percent tithe and proportionate giving, but they also acknowledge tithes of time and talents, and ultimately they view it as a good and helpful Christian standard, not a matter for church discipline. Our parish has an annual stewardship campaign - an annual pledge drive - that is currently underway and nearing completion. We pledged to our parish for 2005, but we pledged somewhat less than the tithe.

One day I was talking with the rector about my stewardship. At the end of the conversation, I told him that we had pledged, but less than the tithe, and I started to tell him why. He stopped me, kindly: "You don't have to tell me; that's between you and God." I had already told him that I was accustomed to tithing religiously, that I had been taught to do so since childhood, but that we were living on a low income, trying to get out of a bad debt-to-income ratio, etc. I added that, after studying the issue, I had come to the conclusion that the tithe is no longer required as law per se in the new covenant, but that likewise in the new covenant we should expect the net effect of all kingdom offerings to far surpass ten percent (and, if they're not, we need to go back to our good schoolmaster from ancient Israel, the tithe). And, despite the rector's insistence that I didn't have to explain, I added one last thing. I reiterated [1] my conviction that my children should be given communion (which they aren't at our parish) and [2] that we visit one or two other churches pretty regularly where our children can receive and where we feel we ought to also contribute what we can; in other words, we're not just giving to one parish (I might add, in good protestant fashion). He responded, "Well, we just have a different view on that [i.e. child communion -jon]. You're coming from a more Orthodox tradition, where they spoon-feed babies, and we're not there yet, the Anglican tradition. We may be eventually, but just not yet." And I thought to myself, "Boloney. Paedocommunion is reported to be the majority practice in the Episcopal Church." But I didn't say it (then). I just thought it and smiled, confirmed in my decision to pledge less than a tithe, and at the same time to give thanks for how often I (at least) can receive communion at my parish. Sure, my whole family can't, and that stinks. But our rector is a great man. And our Lord teaches us to give thanks - and to be shrewd as serpents - all at the same time.