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So now gas is just about at $3 a gallon. I trust no one is shocked.

And how have we reacted to this impending crisis?

Well, let’s see. Chrysler and GM have had talks about co-producing a vehicle.

A highly efficient hybrid?

A stripped-down economy model?

Nope. Another SUV. Just what we need.

Locally, we’re doing no better. Gridlock is still wasting tremendous amounts of fuel unnecessarily.

On Tuesday, a mere ten percent of the Gainesville population voted to keep the incumbent city commissioners, based on their campaign promises to Do Something About The Traffic Problems Real Soon Now.

Since only eleven percent *voted*, unfortunately, that means the incumbents won in a landslide. Or, actually, more of a gravel dribble.

And unless my eyes deceive me, we’ve started addressing the issues caused by an over-capacity, badly broken traffic system by… drum roll please… increased traffic enforcement.

This is sort of like treating a cancer patient by slapping them until they apologize.

Clearly, of course, the frustration felt by people forced to island-hop between red lights on major thoroughfares isn’t the fault of the traffic planners. It’s some vague group of wandering gypsies known as “red-light runners”. And they must be stopped!

And what a chance to enhance revenue, to pay for all the additional officers driving around in big heavy cars while gas is $3 a gallon.

Did I mention that gas is $3 a gallon?

Does anyone think it’s going to stop there?

It’s time to stop treating these issues as though they were some sort of game. Do something, anything, right now. Put the low-impact signals into blink mode. Tweak a few more timings for better accuracy (Archer Road and 13th, anyone?) Encourage businesses to stagger their hours and their shifts. Research *real* alternatives for mass transit.

And for heaven’s sake, don’t approve any more development until we can handle the people we already have.

The Florida NPC site has posted the 2007 bodybuilding contest schedule.

I’m still incorporating the data into the searchable schedule on my site, but I did go ahead and post the list of contests I plan to attend this year.

I’ve gone from 13 last year to 10 planned this year, with three of those ten noted as tentative.

Two are tagged for distance, and the third is the Gainesville show, which wasn’t listed in the calendar. I’m following up to see if that was an oversight.

In any case, I’m quite happy with the planned itenerary thus far– I think it’s much more manageable than in years past.

Update: The Gainesville show is tentative for this year. More as I find out.

I have a solution to the local traffic problems. Really.

All it will require is for the County Commission to fill the daily schedule the local DOT management with meetings on opposite corners of town.

I think the problems would get fixed rather quickly if they became part of the daily grind for those tasked with keeping them in check.

I counted up the number of people who are waiting on me for photos.

The number is embarassingly high.

Slow, steady progress *is* being made, though that might not be visible to the outside world. I anticipate this week finishing off one, perhaps even two, of my backlog entries, at which point I will dance the happy dance, then go heads-down back to work.

I should never have gotten so far ahead in the photos, though of course one hates to pass up any opportunity to shoot.

But post-processing takes time, and attention, and labor, and persistence. And the reality is, I don’t have the time for this I once did.

There’s no question that I’ll be doing fewer shows, and far fewer shoots, this coming year. Even if Ian (or anyone else) wants to pay me to do so, I’d have to think long and hard before letting a pastime that I enjoy so much become a “job” again.

It damn near ruined photography for me, last time I did.

In the meantime, I appreciate everyone who’s been so patient with me so far, particularly Tim and Pete, who have publication deadlines to deal with.

Those who *haven’t* been *quite* as patient should consider that distractions can actually *slow* the process considerably.

A couple of days after UF won the national football title, the president of in-state rival school Florida State published a sincere letter of congratulations in the local paper.

Kudos to FSU for that wonderful display of great sportsmanship.

It’s good to see others share the belief that sportsmanship is meant to be the core of college athletics.

In the waning minutes of January 8, the Florida Gators wrote some college athletics history, becoming the only college in NCAA history to win national titles in both basketball and football in the same year. Only a handful of schools had won both titles in the same decade.

With ACs and fans turned off, windows open to the cool night air, the cacophony of helicopters, car horns, sirens, and fireworks made sleep an unlikely prospect for the first ninety minutes of January 9.

I laid awake and thought.

I realized that I was proudest of our representation— of those we’d earned the right to represent by defeating them in single combat.

The University, of course, but the state of Florida, too.

All schools, and education in general, in the Southeast.

The long-underrated SEC, now a powerhouse of college football, ever since a young fella named Spurrier raised the bar.

And yes, college athletics in general.

I saw OSU players helping Gators up after plays, and Gators gratefully accepting the lift.

I saw sportsmanship on both sides; not the frantic desire to pen a higher number at any cost, but the will to try and be tried on a level field of play.

That last, to me, is more spectacularly thrilling than any set of human acrobatics imaginable.

This game was played the way the game was meant to be played.

For that, thank you, Gators. For that, thank you, OSU.

Shots from one of Florida’s longest-running shows, the 27th annual Gainesville competition, are up on the site; and with that the season is over. whew!

I was in a blur for most of the show from pain and medication (inner ear), but managed to get a couple of decent shots. Enjoy.