{"id":4261,"date":"2026-03-16T06:06:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T06:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/skabs.tplinkdns.com\/pygmiestudios\/?page_id=4261"},"modified":"2026-03-27T06:11:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T06:11:22","slug":"the-50-4-50-project","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/skabs.tplinkdns.com\/pygmiestudios\/?page_id=4261","title":{"rendered":"The 50\/4\/50 Project"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

AKA The No More Bullshit Tour<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One person, 50 states, and a camera pointed honestly at American life \u2014 without a mask, without a script, and without apology. Because we have one life, most of us are playing a part, and somebody needs to stop first.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a photography project. A road trip across all 50 states \u2014 and if it works, beyond that, worldwide. A daily record, published every single day: photos, words, video, and no filter between what I see and what I say about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But before we get to the project, here’s what you need to know about the person doing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I am 52 years old. I have a chronic illness that has gone undiagnosed for decades \u2014 after seeing dozens of specialists and spending over a hundred thousand dollars trying to find an answer. It has nearly killed me more times than I can count \u2014 some years multiple times, some years narrowly avoided without ever making it to an ER. I’ve stopped looking for answers. There’s no point in seeing another doctor who won’t listen or read my records, and I have no interest in spending $10,000 or more a year for the same dogmatic, lazy non-answers. I have a disabled wife I care for. I have borrowed against my home multiple times to pay for medical care. For at least a decade, every tax refund went straight to medical debt \u2014 100%. I have been in survival-mode financial triage for longer than I care to count.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am also autistic. I’ve known something was different my entire life. I told people for years: “I’m half human, half Vulcan.” The clues were everywhere. What was not there was a diagnosis. Or compassion. Or anyone actually listening. Instead I was told I was too serious. That I didn’t smile enough. Meanwhile I was expected to be an overachiever \u2014 my parents were both high school teachers, and functioning at a high level wasn’t optional, it was the baseline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What nobody tells you about going through life undiagnosed is what it costs you. Not understanding why you process the world differently means you spend decades trying to compensate \u2014 letting people take advantage of you emotionally, psychologically, financially, and physically, because you genuinely believed that was what being a good person required. It wasn’t weakness. It was the wrong map.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve been speaking up about all of it since I was three years old. The problem was never the speaking. The problem was the listening. The support. The bullshit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’m tired of the lying. It has always been there, but it is more common now \u2014 and when leaders normalize it, it becomes the air everyone breathes. I’m done with that. This project exists to show that you don’t have to put on a facade to live a good life. You never did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pileup \u2014 the health issues, the debt, the burnout, the isolation, the abuse, the being taken advantage of \u2014 the American dream, the American way. There’s got to be something better. There’s got to be a way to be true to myself and contribute something meaningful to the world around me. I want to break out while there’s still time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If any part of that sounds familiar, this project is for you too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The idea is simple.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

50 cents for 50 states. And if you’ve lived some version of what I’ve lived, 50 cents for each one that hits home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few things that might sound familiar:<\/p>\n\n\n\n