dr.

this is my wife's best friend, if they were still in fourth grade, but really, she is a best friend. they met at college, and they have continued to support each other since then. they have lived together more than once, and they get together at least twice a year, even though this newly manicured woman lives all the way across the country. there are winter and summer visits when this dr. is not teaching college. there are random "girls' weekends" when these two and two other friends get together for feminine festivities like wine and conversation. this dr. is one intelligent woman who has recently had her first book published on the "music culture of the lower mississippi delta before the civil war." she is a treat to have as a house guest, and my daughters love entertaining her. here, she is displaying the first executed manicure by my oldest daughter, in blue. she is my friend too.

to be continued...

strangely enough, this subject is sleeping in my daughter's bedroom right now with his wife... just as they did last year and the year before at this time. his wife, who you will meet tomorrow, became best friends with my wife during college. they remain very close, except in geography. it is always a pleasure to host them, as they are great babysitters, and they promptly do the dishes after dinner. (at this point, it honestly seems a little strange blogging about him as he sleeps upstairs... i may have to come back to this and see if it works better when he is gone).

lemonade

three days after christmas last year, santa brought me a brand new, elf built, clutch slave cylinder (or something like that). the existing one on my car decided to quit, and lucky for me i was in a nice, big parking lot heading for the exit. i pulled in nicely and perpendicular to the parking spaces, i called the appropriate people, and i waited for this guy. he was just what i needed on all accounts, especially when it came to the part of allowing me to take his portrait. my wife arrived to give me a ride home, and as she pulled up to me, i was fully engaged in the portrait a day project... she had to wait a minute. she seemed to enjoy my resourcefulness as much as i did; making lemonade out of the lemons.

tree man

need tree work? i would recommend getting it done in the winter. evidently, during the slow months of winter, one can get tree work done for a fraction of the cost of peak season's rates. this is the guy that can make that happen. he's got the look.

Peace

from the east side, to the west, from the north to the south, Peace on Earth and good will to all men, women, and children.

i was dreaming of a white christmas portrait

here in nashville, a white christmas comes once in a blue moon. so, i was extremely lucky to catch one during the year of us365, and one of my four sisters-in-law was the prime candidate for this shoot. she is an actress at heart, but she is usually behind the video camera directing obscure home movies... just a couple of months ago, i found myself walking a makeshift catwalk at the lakehouse in some crazy red, strappy dress... that is to say that she is extremely convincing as a director. here, she quickly slipped into performing for the camera after i shot a couple of regular portraits (it usually does take a good actress a minute or two to settle in to such a role). one of her largest grossing movies, "The Cruise Video" is already a cult classic (in the family).

Sawatdee Khrab

lucky for me, thai restaurants are open on christmas eve. this gentleman works at my very favorite one in town, and lucky for me, again, that it is near the place we tried to go last year that was on an hour and a half wait. their pad thai, masaman curry, kao phad, and everything else i have had there is wonderfully flavored and fresh. for the last eight years, i have gone with a group to begin the new year's eve celebration there, and they have never disappointed... except for maybe the time that i accidentally rubbed some of the hot sauce (that smells a bit like seafood or something,) in my eye and i couldn't see for five minutes. and, maybe that's not really something that they did that disappointed, so, their record is perfect. i will be back in about seven days, and i can't wait. it's actually so good, that i order two entrees just so i can experience more than one of their delights. mmmmmmm..... good. very good.

santa does shop

one of the breed of "last minute shoppers." ho ho ho ya'll.

rising star

this is my cousin. before too long, you may start hearing his name at the oscars... if you're into that kind of thing. you see, he is a star on the rise (note, the star in the photo). he lives out in LA LA land, and he is a movie maker... he worked on the cult classic, "The King Of Kong... Fist Full Of Quarters". it led him to his directorial debut, "Make Believe", which is a film about the quest for the title of Best Teen Magician. oh, by the way, it won Best Documentary at the LA Film Festival. he has always had the most spectacular movie line recall that i have ever witnessed (mine is horrendous). and, he has the type of humor that means something, somehow... smart funny. he's getting married this spring, and i get to go to LA for the festivities... let me know if you want an autographed something, and i'll see what i can do.

him, not me

i paint houses. there, i said it. i have spent the last twelve years trying not to say that. i say it from time to time only to provide clarity for the person doing the listening. i prefer to call myself an "interior painter"... it specifies exactly what i do, since i do not paint exteriors of houses... so i am not really a "house painter" (ooops, "Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes")). i paint rooms in houses. it is all a clever/stupid/fun/deceitful game that i have played for years. i have simply tried to feel better about being a guy that paints rooms in houses... because, on the whole, it was never something that i had strived to become. not that there is much wrong with it, it is just not as creative as i need to be. and, after twelve years, i am completely at the end of my rope with this occupation. there is little reward to this job, the money is not great, the physicality is treacherous, the fumes are harmful, and the work is unchallenging. o.k., o.k, enough whining. i will be done with this career very soon. this gentleman has been doing it for three times as long as i, and he is still content with it. he did complain about the damage that the economic disaster has caused to his business, but he is not looking for a way out; this is who he is. it brings me great pleasure to meet such a man, and to know that there are good people out there that can continue to do this job for decades, and still reap satisfaction from the work. it brings me more pleasure to know that i am destined to quit for all of the right reasons.

illegal photographs

as far as the mall is concerned, these photos are contraband. they would have liked to have had me erase the images, but the security guard must have been in the holiday spirit... and his boss wasn't around. evidently, someone in one of the nearby stores called in a complaint about someone taking pictures outside of their store, and that is not allowed in the mall... for OBVIOUS reasons. i am a criminal when i am not living my proper life. luckily, this gamble with the law did not land me in jail. spending time in the slammer around christmas is extremely depressing. please don't tell the mall that i have posted these photos.

anytime, anywhere

it is no lie at all that boys and girls are different. i have two daughters. this young boy belongs to a friend of mine. when i get a chance to see him, he really likes to "rough-house."... and, i like to "rough-house." i caught him on a sunday afternoon after i had returned home from a Titan's game. he was as fired up as usual, so we proceeded to play ball for a while until i tired.

whatever it takes

in a small big city there is a large warehouse with countless rooms of various sizes. down in the bottom of this building is a basement that is nearly unreachable in spots, except by vermin whose only objective is to inhabit basements. it can also be reached by artists. this group of creative people does things that many sects would never consider. when a conceived project places demands on an artist, there is often little that can deter the creator. the subject here is part of one of those projects that had to get done. the leader of this group was eventually chided for "trespassing" in this particular warehouse (though they did have the permission of one of the tenants). they did complete the video that they were shooting, and that is how these things get accomplished... so often with friction.

ben

evidently, this is not the real rudolf... this is ben.

kin

i really do enjoy coffee shops. i love to steal slow moments away from the hurried pace of life, and sitting at a coffee shop is often where these moments occur. i met this gentleman at a particular location that serves the juice of the roasted bean, and we have become intimate in a wonderful sort of way. he is an artist, a writer, and we seem to have our hearts in the same creative type of place. he wants so much out of his existence, both for himself and to share with others. at times, he too seems like the life force energy is going to come pouring out of him like a flood. he likes to tell subtly animated stories, and he uses gesture and inflection like an actor. he has written a musical. he is a dad, and he can tile a floor. he doesn't really like to cut the grass, especially when it's hot. he is now mostly a vegetarian, and he is feeling great about it. he would like to spontaneously read poetry in public places. he is inspired. he cares. he is troubled by these things sometimes. he endures and he loves... he loves coffee.

ham

i have two daughters. if i had two boys, i would surely have learned some extremely different parenting/coping skills by now. they really are different than girls... we are different. the throwing yourself on the ground phase, though, does not discriminate because of gender. shortly after this photo, this poor young rambunctious lad broke his femur and then sported a cast from his toes up to his hip. it was quite sad to see him so stifled, but sometimes that is just how life goes, i guess. he did survive, and i imagine that he is stronger now... and so are his parents.

out of the blue came the blue

i finished work and i knew that i again needed a portrait, and i also knew that it would surely serve me well to get one before i made the trip home. so, i stood and i paced a little bit in the street that was usually so speckled with neighbors on foot, and then i stood some more. i waited and yearned. it grew darker and i waited and paced a more. then, out of the blue, came the runner in blue. i don't like to stop runners, because i have been a runner, and i don't typically like to stop unless i need to... most likely certainly not for a stranger with a camera. but, i needed him to stop. so, selfishly, i served my needs (and, actually, i believe that it was my co-worker who did the summoning of this subject). i had become cold standing and waiting for the portrait, and common courtesy was not on my list of things to do at that point... please, forgive me. i did do my best to take the pictures quickly so that he could be on his way, and he was so pleasant that i think that he enjoyed the strange encounter.