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My Fundraising Page

hi there, andie fusco here, this is a heartfelt story from one of my closest friends from high school. if anyone deserves a donation it it this accomplished fellow. he is one of my most genuine friends and is now one of my biggest inspirations. please just read the following message and give it some consideration. donations are greatly appreciated and going to a great cause!

I hope you are enjoying a happy and healthy start to 2010! I have recently started training to participate in the South Maui Triathlon on June 13, 2010 as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team In Training. As a member of Team In Training, I am raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives. I have committed to raise $5,500 before April 6th, my Commitment Day. On top of this $5,500 that I hope to raise, I will be personally donating $1 for every person that I receive a donation from. Now, I know what you are saying...what is that extra $1 really going to do. Well, I have sent this letter in some form to well over 500 people, so the more you spread the word the more I get to give!

I have dedicated myself to this training and fundraising because I wanted to give back to and help LLS which has helped someone very important to me over the last year. For those of you who do not know, my girlfriend Katie was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma in April. Throughout the nine months of her chemotherapy treatment, LLS generously provided Katie with support that helped enormously during this difficult period. On top of this, it is quite possible that without the dedicated research efforts of LLS, the treatments that successfully defeated Katie's cancer would not have been discovered! I cannot express to you how thankful I am for all that LLS has done to help Katie and I hope that my efforts can allow LLS to continue their great work.

As I train, one stroke, pedal and stride at a time, it is with hope that I can make a difference in the lives of other cancer patients and their families who can benefit from LLS. This year, an estimated 140,000 new cases of blood cancers will be diagnosed nationwide, and some 53,000 patients will die. It is my hope that through my fundraising efforts, I can work towards changing these numbers, both with the money I raise and by teaching others of ways that we all can work together toward a cure.

Taking on this triathlon will be a big challenge for me. Anyone who has witnessed my attempts at swimming can attest to how far I will have to come to complete the .93 mile swim. When I played lacrosse at Colby College, my efforts to simply tread water or do the butterfly during our in-season pool workouts kept my teammates and coaches very entertained as I struggled to stay afloat. While this will be a challenge for me, I am inspired by Katie's courage throughout her battle with cancer and I know this will always keep me going till I reach the finish line. I know that with her spirit and your support throughout my training, I will be successful in completing my goal of finishing this triathlon and helping to bring an end to blood cancers.

Please help me reach my fundraising goal by making a completely tax-deductible donation to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The great part about donating to LLS is that $.76 from each dollar that they receive goes directly to support for patients and research to improve treatments. Donations can be made either on my Team In Training home page (http://pages.teamintraining.org/mn/kingtri10/dschupack) or by sending a check to my home address (checks payable to LLS). You can also check with your employer to see if they match gifts as this would instantly double your help to ending blood cancers! I hope you will visit my Website often to see my progress both in fundraising and in training. Thanks for your support!



Dan Schupack

3300 Girard Ave S. APT 24

Minneapolis, MN 55408

danschupack@gmail.com

Cell: 203-671-9549




Training week 1:



The swim is going to be more of a challenge then I had originally thought. I was able to swim 300 meters in 10 minutes at the end of the workout but I had to stop after each lap...that wall will not be there to hold onto when I'm in the ocean! I also traded in the team run this week for 2 days of skiing. Not exactly the same workout (clearly more fun) but hopefully just getting my leg muscles working again will be helpful. This might be regretted next week when everyone is a week ahead of me.




Training Week 2:



Finally got in the first run training of the season and was happy to find the Greenway not as covered with snow as one might expect. Im not sure how training on these ice patches will help when I am running in Hawaii, but I guess I will be prepared for anything if I can run on this (occasional oil slick or banana peel maybe?). We had a special guest coach here this weekend as well, as Mary, a former Colby swimmer, was in town for a visit. It was great to get some extra help from someone so experienced in a pool. With her help I was able to swim a lot farther in this weeks team session, but still do not have the endurance to go for more than a few laps without stopping. I am by far the worst in our intermediate group so I will see if I stay there much longer.




Training Week 3:



As I expected I am making a week or two stop to the beginner swim group to work on form... A little embarrassing but I can't say I am surprised. After a session in this group I can already feel that I am getting the concepts down better and with work will be back in the intermediate group soon enough. On a positive note, the run training is going better than I had anticipated. I am having no trouble doing the good old Lake Calhoun loop (about 4 miles) in just about 34 minutes. I would like to get my mile pace under 8, down around 7 minutes, but with the race still over 3 months away I'm happy with where I am here. So far the biking has been pretty standard. We are just doing spinning sessions now since this is Minnesota and early Spring here is more like winter in some other places. We have had 4 days straight of 37+ (45 maybe today!) and they finally ended our winter parking ban today so I am looking forward to getting out on the road to get some real bike practice soon.





Training Week 4:


Instead of a run this week we had a scavenger hunt/amazing race type event around the Twin Cities where we were only allowed to run, walk or take the bus. Although my team failed to get back on time (the buses really are slow when everyone is out and about on a sunny Saturday) it ended up being really fun and I got to see many things around the area that I hadn’t seen in my year plus here. Despite the use of the bus, I still got a lot of running in and it was good to let me body feel what its like to work out all day (we went from 10-2). On the bike this week we started working on hills, which is a little funny when you are biking in a flat indoor room. Im sure it will help though as a good part of the bike will be going up the side of a volcanic mountain. Swimming is still challenging me, but I am feeling more confident and my endurance is increasing.



Training Week 5-7:


Sorry I have not updated this recently, things have gotten quite busy here. It was great to see so many friends and supporters in DC a few weekends ago at the annual Doghead (St. Patty’s Day) celebration. It was also great to see that the all day festivities didn’t take too much out of me as I was still able to run well and at about the same pace when I got back on Monday. I have made some huge strides in the pool over the last few weeks and officially moved back up into the intermediate group. I feel much more comfortable in the water now and in the last 2 workouts was able to swim 900 meters and 1200 meters respectively. Being able to complete these distances in our new location (50 meter pool instead of 25 meter) has really helped my swimming mentality and I am confident that by race day I will be able to complete 1500 meters for sure. With the early spring and warm weather we have had here, we officially had our last indoor bike session last week. I am really excited to test out my new (new to me but probably also older than me) bike on the trails this week. Running has still been going great. I did over 7 miles last weekend (although it was accidental as I missed the turn around spot by about a mile) and it felt great to go farther than I will have to in the real race. Thank you again for all of your support, I hope you know how much it means to me and helps me to get through the tough workouts!



Fundraising Update:


I just wanted to thank everyone who has supported me so far. I reached my original goal so much faster than I could have expected. You all have gone above and beyond the call of duty and I can’t thank you enough. I also wanted to say to those who still want to donate, please do not be discouraged to support just because I have met my original goal. Although I am officially going to Hawaii now, cancer is still damaging peoples lives and taking loved ones away from us everyday. I have decided to raise my personal goal up to $7,500 because LLS needs all the support it can get in its quest to wipe out blood cancers and I know that we can get there.


(P.S. I am also in second place overall in fundraising out of the 100+ people training for triathlons here in the Twin Cities so keep up the good work! It would be a pretty cool accomplishment for all of Cheshire/Colby/DC/wherever I know you from to be part of the top fundraising group in a city all the way across the country!)










Dan Schupack

Lost Ski Areas of Vermont Research

Anyone else dying to know more information about my final project??? Can't get enough of Southern Vermont skiing history? To see the original New York Times article that inspired my journey and additional information check out these links...

http://www.nelsap.org/vt/vt.html

http://www.necn.com/pages/landing?blockID=126293&tagID=20095

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/01/25/travel/escapes/25ski.html

ABESSE: by Joy Bush

February 18, 2010 marked the opening of a new exhibition at the Jennifer Jane Gallery in the Westville section of New Haven, CT. I attended the opening reception which ran from 6-8 pm. The gallery has a very cute smaller space that was easily crowded with all of Joy's fans. Abesse is Latin for absence which is a perfectly suitable name for this collection. Each photo has a sense of longing for human presence. That pining is what gives these different landscapes in different locations around the world cohesiveness.
My favorite was an empty billboard on a desolate landscape. I enjoyed the composition, the way my eye was drawn into the background even though there was a large portion of the frame filled with this large man-made object. Another favorite was a pair of Adirondack chairs empty in some one's back yard. The chairs seemed to speak to me and ask to be sat in! I really appreciate the way Joy can take an everyday view and make it speak to you. The absence of humans but evidence of their existence is dramatic and mysterious. The loneliness isn't eerie just curious enough to make you think again about what you are looking at and what the artists intentions might have been.
Unfortunately by the time I made this post the exhibition has already been removed but you can view Joy Bush's work by using these links.
http://www.joybushphotography.com
http://www.joybush.blogspot.com

my top 20 songs

1. abusing the rib/ atomsphere
2. nothing less/ living legends
3. soul to squeeze/ the red hot chili peppers
4. audience of one/ the cold war kids
5. helena/ the misfits
6. daylight/ aesop rock
7. lines/ quarters
8. generator/ the halloways
9. yours to keep/ the teddy bears stockholm
10. where is my mind/ the pixies
11. kate is great/ bouncing souls
12. keasby nights/ catch 22
13. standing outside a broken phonebooth with change in my pocket/ primitive radio gods
14. forest whittaker/ brother ali
15. pork & beans/ weezer
16. night after night/ the sounds
17. puddin' taine'/ primus
18. the warrior/ patty smyth & the scandals
19. brim full of asha/ cornershop
20. the district sleeps alone tonight/ the postal service

listen to the songs that move you. choose the best and let me know!!!

the indecisive moment... or is it?

anthony giocolea "pool pushers"
nancy davenport "bombardment"




"the indecisive moment" in photography reborn skims the history of compositing and manipulation of photographs. for those interested photography provides some interesting examples of prints composited of over thirty photographs.
personally when i shoot with my 35 mm i am alot more selective due to the time and money it takes to process the film and potentially a print. im most likely missing out on some really great shots, but can't stomach the thought of adding another roll of film to my shoe box in the closet!
when im working on a project for digital class i can take about 200 shots when i only need 2 in print. im not risking anything! (maybe a few seconds longer in upload time?) i guess i dont look for that decisive moment as much. but the possibilities are endless. i am currently documenting historical landmarks in an effort to preserve them so i dont have much use for manipulation but if i was able to return and track the decomposistion of these places i could find an interesting side project.
i dont meant to sound ignorant, i appreciate and envy the imaginations of artists who have the patience to make these photographs. right now i am just trying to learn as many skills as i can the short time i have left in school and produce work true to myself and interests.

what place? artspace!

kim salerno "white sea"

on a snowy snowy day our class met in artspace on the corner of orange and crown. The curator was more than accommodating. she spent some time talking to us about what it is like to curate her space, for example, what kind of projects they commissioned and how she communicated with the artists. what makes this area unique is it is actually a bunch of smaller gallery spaces combined, each occupied by a different artist.
my favorite was "white sea" by kim salerno of newport, ri. she used paper pins and thread to make a beautiful three dimentional scene of delicate jellyfish suspended from the ceiling. they were so delicate and whimsical. never in a million years would i look at a plain sheet of printer paper and think, wow this would make a great jellyfish sculpture. walking into her portion of the gallery reminded me of the jellyfish scene in "finding nemo". after meeting through an architectual career, kim now works on fine arts and her husband with marine animals. she draws her inspiration from his work and likes to show their strong geometric shapes. her installation has moved but pictures can be viewed at http://artspacenh.org/artists/KSalerno. her personal page can be found at http://www.kimsalerno.com . these are the sites the link will hopefully be up and running tomorrow!

Secret Success

today was the critique for my photo inspired by a secret project. i ended up printing two instead of one but there was also another photo i would have liked to work on and added to the set. i feel that for the time allotted i did a decent job, and most importantly the photos still had my signature look and feel to them.

i also learned a lot about my classmates who in general chose more upbeat secrets to divulge. "i preformed with the circus" "my favorite place is the airport" and "i sing to my cat" were some of my faves. my teacher not only participated but used some secrets of her own which i really enjoyed. the most surprising one came from my best buddy in class who had her picture taken with paul mccartney and george bush!

i thought my own secret was different, for those who aren't up to date it was "i was a maid at the hotel where the "shining" was filmed and used to hitch hike to work every day!" the picture for my secret wasn't really like my experience, its not like we live in the mountains of oregon, but i thought it was amazing anyways. it really captured the moment she was in when she took it. it felt like an opening scene of a big movie, i felt like any minute someone was going to bust through the front doors and the camera would zoom in! unfortunately no matter how long i stared, no luck. i liked the use of light and admire it was a night picture because i have little to no experience in that department yet.

i feel pretty good about my class this semester and couldn't decide which photo i liked best. i think being around such good photographers will really give me a chance to push myself and strive to be better. i can't wait for the next critique!

next stop... inspiration station

today or thursday i should be printing my photo inspired by a secret from a classmate. because my friend's dogs are not exactly vicious i had to create and image that made them look at least a little menacing. the photo i chose jumped out at me because the way it was framed made the dog look confined and ornery. the depth of field really draws me into it also. i got some good glamor shots of her cute pups but feel that this one best fits the bill.

in the near future we will be deciding on our final project for this class. i already have a pretty good idea of what i want to do. before explaining myself i thought a little background would help understand my interests. i was a competitive ski racer since i was seven years old, when i aged out of the racing program at the stratton training center i coached in the seasonal programs for an additional three years. then took some time off to travel around my passion of the mountain and snowboard bum for a few years. fall of 2007 i moved back to ct to finish my education, but i still miss the mountains and like to use vermont's unique landscapes as inspiration for my work.

after completing black and white photography in the spring at community college of vermont, i spent summer of 2007 living in stratton and exploring the area i love. i started my own project finding ski areas that had been nonfunctional and photographing them with my 35 mm. so far i have not had access to a darkroom to develop my prints but want to continue the project with my digital camera. some of these places i have skied at and have first hand experience with, but for others just finding the area is an adventure in itself. i would eventually like to include interviews and public records to document the existence of these locations before all evidence of them is reclaimed by nature.

the posted photos were shot by me in november 2009 at the dorset quarries outside of manchester vermont, and were inspired by edward burtynsky.

photography intro

im going to be posting throughout the semester for my advanced digital photography class. our first assignment was inspired by an anonomous classmates secret. " when I was 7 or 8 years old, i was bit in the face by a pitbull! it's teeth made a deep gash in my nose and cheek but luckily it healed without a scar". wednesday i packed up my equipment and handy assistant (my boyfriend) and headed out to my friend laura's house to shoot her two pits.

i got about 200 shots and hopefully i will find something worthy of printing. the secret is obviously a little traumatic so i want to select something fearful yet tasteful.