This is my first “Picture Close Reading” for November. For this project, I’ll more closely examine a picture that I’ve taken or that I am featured in.

I chose this picture because it’s a good demonstration of how I could improve my blog, my website, and my writing in general. I have a tendency to write notes on my hand so that I don’t forget things. This is OK in theory, but in practice I often have no idea what the hell I wrote. This especially happens when I’m driving in the car, and I have to write with one hand on the wheel and my eyes on the road.

So the other night I got home and saw this note on my hand, and I have no idea what it’s supposed to mean. I wrote it while I was driving in the dark, and I obviously was paying more attention to the road than to my penmanship. This may not even be written in Latin script. Unfortunately, the same thing even happens when I have time to concentrate.

Every day when I go to and from work, I get two little tickets of paper to prove that I paid at the tollbooth. I’ve started to use them as a replacement for Post-It notes when I’m at work. As a result, when I empty my pockets at the end of the day, numerous little yellow slips of paper fall out, and all of them have illegible notes scribbled on them. Or if they’re legible, they make no sense. For example, last night I found one that said: “Lighting 24 hr.” Sure, Past Sitzman, whatever.

In any case, if you ever wonder why my blog seems so schizo, that may be the reason why.