Henry Rollins: The Column! For Those Suffering Valentine's Day Heartbreak

"What is even more difficult than failure is when you are perceived as a 'success' and you are failing"...

Kris Kristofferson

In keeping with the ongoing Rollins theme:

�Don't do anything by half. If you love someone, love them with all your soul. When you go to work, work your ass off. When you hate someone, hate them until it hurts.�



I have been trying to live my life like that; I need reminders every now and then...
I seem to go through periods of serious work and travel and meeting new people, and staying in touch with friends, and seeing and doing new things, etc...
Then... sometimes... I hit the wall...
I have a hard time getting anything done, stuff that normally doesn't bother me can become crushing, relationships that aren't what they once were are now devastating rather than something to be worked on...
I have a hard time pretending to be the one in control, the one people come to with their problems at all hours, the one totally at ease in any situation...

I actually can be that guy most of the time, but when I'm not, there's not many people who know the other version of me...
Not many people I can call in the same way they can always call me...

So... while I currently find myself (hopefully) on the verge of what feels like an upswing, these are some of Rollins' other words I am trying to live by while trying to keep the momentum going...

"Want a good body? Work at it. Want to be a success? Work at it. Want to be truly exceptional? Be a touch insane... You need a little bit of insanity to do great things."

We'll see how that turns out...

Hope you all are well...




*Addendum: I couldn't figure out how to have SG list my Facebook and Twitter pages (yes, I am a geek), so FB is in the "Myspace" space and Twitter is in the "Flickr" space... Come see me in both places...

ROLLINS says:


So I'm more at home with my backpack, sleeping in a hotel room or on a bus or on an airplane, than I am necessarily on a bed. It's weird being here. It feels like I'm standing next to my real life.
Henry Rollins



That kind of says it all for me in the last couple of years...
Back in NYC for a couple of days to unpack my bags, do laundry, and switch out camera gear...
The rain is messing with my head after being in the Nevada desert for a while:

Smoke Jumpers

I've been working on a documentary on SmokeJumping (see above for an explanation... the site has nothing to do with the shoot... just informational) in Nevada and Idaho...

"Home" in NYC for a few days before I head off to Hawaii for a month to do my regular gig...

Hope everyone is well; I have been away for a really really long time this time...

Please feel free to say hello (and kick my ass for being a lousy SG friend)...

Rollins says:

"I believe that one defines oneself by reinvention. To not be like your parents. To not be like your friends. To be yourself. To cut yourself out of stone."



The man returns to NYC to drop some more wisdom and humor at the Gramercy Theater.
Come out and play...

In the meantime, I am seriously long overdue for an update...

The bullet points...

Traveling all over; just back in NYC for a few days from San Diego before heading back out to LA for another job.

Trying to work out how to move to/work in LA full time.

Working as a location scout/manager in NYC for various productions.

Trying to figure out my next tattoo; Brian from Everlasting Tattoo in San Francisco is now working at New York Adorned Tattoo Shop, so now I have no excuse not to get the latest one done (except I keep changing my mind every two seconds)...

Planning a trip to Ireland for August.

That's about it...
Hope everyone is well...

By the way...

Helmut Newton is the man...






My condolences go out to all of Benni's friends and family...

"The average is the borderline that keeps mere
men in their place. Those who step over the line are heroes by the very
act. Go."
Henry Rollins




So... I've been working as a freelance photographer and digital tech for the Clinton Global Initiative.

Clinton Global Initiative

Whatever your politics or opinion of Bill Clinton, his group raised over 9.3 BILLION dollars for various climate, alternative fuels, poverty relief, and other very worth causes.
Yup, 9.3 Billion, with a "B", dollars.

Lots of very heroic people involved in this conference... check out the site (which I'm also working on).

Other stuff...

I'm going to be an uncle again.

I live in Brooklyn full-time now, except when shooting on the road somewhere.
My car is in the city now, so taking as many road trips out of the city as possible.

Working with my girlfriend on shooting stuff for the new album and website of a band called The Kin...
The Kin

Go check them out... for those of you in NYC, they are playing tomorrow night at a place called Rockwood Musichall

Working on getting my own website finished... mainly several pages of photos and a contact page at the moment... lot more work than I thought...

Not sure what else to say, but ZigZag pointed out that I hadn't written in a while, and I can refuse her nothing, so here you go...

Hope everyone is well and had a great holiday...

Talk to you soon...

(How was that Miss M / ZigZag?)

Mini Update, December 28th, 2006:

Just worked on two photo shoots with Annie Leibovitz; one with Beyoncé, Oliver Platt, and Lyle Lovett. The other with Scarlett Johansson (got in a fight with the paparazzi on that one, but Scarlett was very cool). Long days, but very cool people and locations.

So, Xmas was good... too many friends and family were/are away, but that's what comes from having friends from all over the place... waddygonnado?

Leaving in a week for a few weeks in South Carolina to work on Wheel of Fortune; get to play with my "road family", some of the best in the business and some of the best people around...

Trying to keep things up to date here on SG... would write an entire new post, but don't have a cool new photo like the one above...

Stay tuned...
(How was that, Allied? I'm getting better )

"If I lose the light of the sun, I will write by candlelight, moonlight, no light. If I lose paper and ink, I will write in blood on forgotten walls. I will write always. I will capture nights all over the world and bring them to you."
Henry Rollins



Just back from working on my regular road gig, Wheel of Fortune; this time in sunny Dallas, Texas.
When they tell you "It's a dry heat" and it's 106 degrees or more out for weeks, it doesn't much matter, dry heat or not. Have never been so homesick for the humidity of Brooklyn.





We do Celebrity Jeopardy at Radio City Music Hall in NYC in a few weeks; anyone want to come out and watch, let me know and I'll get you tickets. Who knows; could get some SG's on network television... Sweet.

Let's also not forget what's coming up this weekend; the five year anniversary of 9/11.
Seems like both a lifetime and a heartbeat ago...




Hope this finds everyone well.
Will be around more often from now on.

Really.

I'm Back (again).

We'll see if I can stick around this time.



Saw Mr. Henry Rollins at The Town Hall in NYC recently.

Food for thought as usual.

More later; hope you all are well...

Henry says:

“Life is full of choices, if you have the guts to go for it. That's why I get immediately bored with anyone's complaining about how boring their life is, or how bad their town is. Fucking leave and go somewhere else. Or don't.”

“Scar tissue is stronger than regular tissue. Realize the strength, move on.”

That about sums it up: got a second chance at a bunch of stuff and have to keep focused.

Time to streamline things a bit and cut away the fat, both literally and figuratively.

Have made a bunch of new friends and professional contacts in NYC and have new job possibilities coming up...
Still haven't found a way to keep in touch/see all the people I want/should, but I'm working on it. I know I continue to disappoint some people, but I will keep working on it...

Have to remind mtself of all of the above and get/keep my head in a better space...

Stay tuned (and thank you for all of the constant support and comments)...