Study – Learn – Live

I was reading “Married to the Craft” in the June 2006 issue of Popular Photography. Hanson Fong, the subject of the article, was quoted as saying,

Over the years, a few really talented artists have been gifted with the rare ability to light and pose faces and bodies to make them most attractive. I knew that, basically, I wasn’t one of these geniuses, so it became my goal to find the masters and learn what I could from them. That’s the great thing about photography: It’s learnable.

I love to learn new stuff. To me, the great thing about life is that it’s learnable. Almost invariably, if you look at something – anything – closely enough, you will find it interesting and you will learn something fascinating.

Yesterday, I learned from the president of SellByOwnerListings.com that home owners who are selling their homes without a realtor (“for sale by owner”) will often do pretty much anything to avoid realtor commissions and are often much more patient than a seller who is using a realtor. A FSBO seller might gladly wait several months to find the right buyer while the realtor-employing seller wants to get it done as soon as possible.

This morning, I learned some fascinating and intricate tidbits about the ways in which the service provided by air traffic controllers can deteriorate when pilots ask for certain routings. As a pilot, I have often used just such routings because it was convenient for me and I never dreamed that my request would have farther reaching consequences. (See “Say Again? #63: A Phrase That Fits” by Don Brown at AVweb.com.)

The day is still young. I wonder what I will learn next.