[Leica] Last week HCB, This Week Julia Child

[tedgrant at shaw.ca (Ted Grant)]

Jeffery Smith said:
Subject: RE: [Leica] Last week HCB, This Week Julia Child


> At 54, I've sworn off all alcohol and ice cream, and still feel like an
old man. To live to 90 seems like
> an impossible feat.<<<<<

Hi Jeffery,
Not at all young lad! ;-) Think positive. It's not an impossible goal, aim
for it. Always think young, screw any of that crap about getting old and
always be ready to kick ass! :-) Of course in a friendly manner. ;-)

At one time in my life given some of the assignments I'd worked on and were
working on I thought I'd be lucky to make 40. Between shooting war's,
documenting deep sea fishing trawlers on the North Atlantic and being caught
in ice storms where we were endanger of capsizing. And crashing in a stock
car when I was shooting a story on car racing and the car had a seat for me
to shoot from inside the car. To mention a few.

Hit by a flying wheel during a stock car race, now that one was scary! And
my first question when I came to was.... as you guessed  " How are my
cameras?" ;-) They were OK! :-) Of course there have been many moments as
scary, but my plan is to make it past 96, beat my old time acquaintance,
Esie who went to the big darkroom at 96. Hell I think it would be neat at,
say 96.5 years right in the middle of an assignment to drop dead! No pain,
no gain, just dead! ;-) Great way to go. ;-)

So I've made it this far to 75. Unfortunately the years between 40 till now
have gone by like a flash of lightening and it kind of ticks me off I don't
have as many years of shooting ahead of me as I have behind! However, as
much as possible I'm going to use the remaining time with my Leica M7's at
the moment and a "digital Leica" whatever / whenever model? I mean, there's
lots more things out there to document and photograph in a way they haven't
been done before.

To help accomplish that, I work out at the fitness centre down the road 3
mornings a week at 6.30 a.m. and power walk as often as I can on the
remaining mornings for 30-60 minutes. Now when we go on the road it's a must
we stay in hotels with a work out room. ;-) It used to be a "must have a
pool!" ;-) This isn't to become some muscle bound creature, but to keep ones
body loose, flexible and relaxed maintaining a comfortable strength ability
to lug around gear. And to maintain the ability to shoot for 12 to 18 hours
on any given day if necessary. Think positive and feel good is all it takes.

And unless yer hammering the booze pretty hard it's hardly necessary to cut
it out all together. In fact the male of the human species can have a couple
of glasses of wine a day for ones health. Women, one glass. Why? I haven't
got a clue but I believe it has something to do how they're made up that we
males aren't.

So Jeffery me young son, ;-) stay loose and keep doing what you love, being
a photographer and never think there's a limit to what you can do and you'll
make it to 96 along with me. ;-)
ted