I had a meeting this morning at the same time my photo store opens, so I won't be able to pick up this weekend's film and contact sheets until tomorrow afternoon. I'm curious how they'll turn out. The pictures I took at Clinton's speech, the one at the top of this page and others I've run in the last few entries, were underexposed. I thought, well, I used a telephoto lens I haven't used for a long time, maybe there's a problem with the lens and that caused the underexposure, but then I realized I'd shot the last few underexposed frames with my everyday zoom. A mistake on my part or a problem with the photo store? The only way to know, I guess, is to start developing my film myself. I've been putting this off. I'm skilled at putting things off.

There's no great shakes to developing black and white film. Fresh chemicals, good temperature control and a dust free place for them to dry (my bathroom). Cut them into strips of six and store them in archival plastic sleeves. The contact sheets, unfortunately, although similarly easy, require trays and I consider them a hassle when you're doing just one or two sheets at a time. I could have the photo store do the contact sheets, I suppose, but if I'm to make progress I will eventually need to do my own negatives. Hi, ho. Geronimo.

I do like Ally McBeal. This probably makes me a misogynist and a person insensitive to the role model needs of young women, but so what? It's the only program I've ever seen where the dialogue is both sung and spoken (all of the characters seem to be both lawyers and singers) and the story skates a very acrobatic line between fantasy and reality, where every sort of subject is presented, where every sort of attitude is allowed, as long as the dialogue is snappy, funny and honest. I go back to the writers on this project: what a blast. Crazy, stressful, competitive and weird, but what a trip. One of the few programs that makes me want to know who the writers are. (OK, I'm partial to zany. I'm sure there are other similarly wonderful programs, but I'm too lazy to search them out. McBeal also comes on at 9:00 Monday evenings here in Oakland and I can watch it without going past my bed time. Which is important. To an old fart.)

As I was dropping off to sleep last night (this is now Tuesday evening, although most of what you see above was written last night) I realized one of my McBeal attractions is in fantasizing myself in their environment with my own similarly delivered line of snappy patter. That and the fact we have a combination here of Baywatch decolletage and plunging psyches. Boobs and libidos. Sounds good, although I'm not exactly sure what libidos are. I've read things that say it's kinda fun to have them hanging out.

Oh, yeah. The two rolls of film were underexposed. I talked it over with the person who develops the film. She said she'd made an adjustment for temperature recently and I'm wondering if that isn't the problem. She agreed to watch more closely. Mumble.