the smedley log - suburban scrawl

Woman with the strength of 10,000 men, etc.

I thought this would be a good time to highlight some really good content posted at my other blogging home.

To start off, Jason Tompkins has posted a two-part (so far) interview with Melody Gardot, a 21-year-old local woman who suddenly found herself disabled after a car on bike collision a couple years ago. Jason expresses admiration for the way she’s responded to it, not just in everyday life, but also in the use she makes of her gorgeous voice—she’s got a CD that just jumped to the top of my wishlist, judging by the sample on her site. The interview floored me too, to say the least. Read both part one and part two to see what I mean.

Next up is the second installment of Albert Yee’s Photoblogger Fortnight series, focusing on Laura Kicey. If you’re like me, constantly finding yourself gawking at fascinating photography on the internets, this interview will shed some light on the behind-the-scenes creative process. Being an avid photographer himself, Albert has a way of actually delving beneath the surface with his questions. Of course, there’s also Laura Kicey’s photos… (-and if you like the second edition of Photoblogger Fortnight, you might also want to check out the first installment, featuring Kathleen Connally of A Walk through Durham Township.)

And third—well, I didn’t actually discover this on Philly Future, though I’m not sure I would have found AlexC’s blog without it—Pstupidonymous trots out this fine piece of news footage from WTAE TV in Pittsburgh. It’s PA House Speaker John Perzel speaking to a group of school children with an ironic backdrop, especially given the current pay raise furor here in the Keystone state.

I’m glad you like the interview and even happier that you like her work. It’s always so awesome for me to learn what makes a photographer whom I admire tick and what goes on in their heads when they shoot.

I think that’s what makes the interviews work so well. If, for instance, I were the one doing the interviews, there’d be an inherent shallowness to it, simply because I don’t have nearly the aptitude for photography that you have—though I have to admit, good images make me wish I did.