birthday birthday

this fellow artist is celebrating a birthday today... not terribly coincidentally, this photo was taken on her birthday last year, as she celebrated by painting a mandala type watercolor with her significant other. she is certainly in her element here, both in the studio, and within herself in celebratory style. the tools of the her trade surround her, and i am not going to try to define that trade, because by all accounts, i would simply (with plenty of inferred complexity,) call her an artist by trade. she needs to work with her hands, her mind, and her Spirit. she has never directly told me this, so it could be just another failed assumption, or it could be spot on... who knows? she may tell me if she reads this. regardless, i am glad that she is one of the tenants in the building where i have a studio. to it, she brings a very pleasant energy. happy birthday again.

style points

so, i have realized that i have now fallen further behind than i had hoped. plans often "fail." now, i continue with doing my best to share these people and some stories when the mood is right. not much here... this gentleman was with several co-workers in a gravel lot, and he was voted in by his peers for the portrait of the day. he didn't necessarily play it up for the camera, but it was obvious to me that he was subtly working every angle that he could without seeming like he was posing. i respect that. there is a balance there somewhere in the midst of pride, ego, confidence, showmanship, and insecurity, fear, bashfulness, and camera whorishness. he walks the fine line in blue-collar style.

things that die

it has again been many long days since i posted here, but the blog is not dead. bookstores, many of those are dead. libraries... are they in the line of fire? i, and this wonderful woman (employed by a library,) hope not. it is a world so full of transitory items, that i truly believe that the idea of non-attachment must be taught better to the young. clinging to what is will plant seeds of sentimental sadness that yield fruit that is not sweet. prepare yourself to adapt. ciao-

the king of hummus?

on my mother's side, my bloodline is lebanese. it involves a fascinating collection of characteristics, and i have quite a bit of pride because of that lineage. food, and feeding others, is a very important part of the middle eastern culture. growing up with a connection to syrian food has forever linked me to this association, and i am grateful that i am able to carry on the tradition that is so many generations old. my grandfather opened a restaurant 73 years ago, and my mom has been running it for the last 17 or so. it is not middle eastern fare, it is a "steak and spaghetti" diner style eatery. it is famous in some circles; JFK ate there. the spaghetti sauce is the big seller, and people buy quarts/pints either hot or frozen and take it home to share. anyways, the syrian food that my "sittee" (lebanese for grandmother) has made for us has surely prejudiced my palate in regards to middle eastern food. i have had my share of sub-par yubruk (grape leaves wrapped around rice with lamb and seasoning,) kibbee (ground lamb, pine nut, bulgar wheat patties,) and other syrian staples, and it should be expected. i compare other's to my grandmother's and that is maybe not fair, but it is still true. so, evidently, this gentleman here is known as "Chef Rakka," and he is rumored to have the best hummus around. he owns a restaurant north of nashville, and i will have to get there soon to see what he is serving, and how it "compares." he and his friend were extremely friendly on this particular night, even though i may have uttered something boastful about my hummus.

and you thought this blog was dead

so, for those of you old enough to remember, i have this blog that i blog about the "portrait a day" project that i took on last year and completed in may. well, i completed the photographing part of it. to complete the entire project, i need to blog about every person that i photographed, and then i need to somehow put them artistically together in a book, with the stories, and print at least three copies. after a month of not blogging at all, i realize that i must do one to move on to the next and then to the next, etc. sometimes, it seems like an impossibility to muster all that is needed to write a simple blog post and add a couple of photos; how absurd. but, as i am in the throes of more than one project, and i am delightfully involved in a family, this blog often goes abandoned for days, weeks, a month. regardless, like a loyal blog, it is here for me when i am ready, and this morning, i am ready. so, with this subject, i will time travel and take us back to the middle of november when the air was wonderfully crisp, and the salvation army bell ringers were seeking donations for the holidays. she is another of the "parking lot heroes" that saved me late at night simply by being visible, available, and willing. my first semester in college, a couple of friends and i volunteered to ring the bell. it was likely twenty degrees for the three hours that we collected monies, and it was during this that i vowed to always put some money in the little red bucket... anyways, i am looking forward to seeing those volunteers again, and feeling the cooler air of those sort of days. in other news, i hope to finish this blog by next may, and that will make it two years from the time that i began, and that seems like the "right" amount of time. thanks for stopping by.

out of office

i have had a studio for nine years in the same building where this woman works, and though i can't tell you very much about her, i don't feel that i need to. this series of photos gives a peek into her spirit... a momentary smoke break... a regular occurrence for she and her co-worker. she makes the most of getting out of the "office," and i am pleased to the gills that she allowed me to capture these moments. the human spirit is a lovely thing to behold.

with a Bang, not a whimper.

there is a ton of pressure on me as i write this post. first off, the subject of this photo series has an innate ability to spot typos and grammar mistakes within any written content. secondly, she has been not patiently waiting for tons of months for me to spin a storyline to accompany the photos. so, after a fair spell of Resistance, i am here to do just that. this particular day was her birthday, so i called her to track her down and see if she would be willing to participate in this project... and, evidently she was. also evident is the fact that the opportunity for me to photograph her was during her birthday shopping spree at one of those stores that has a little bit of everything. of what i know of her, she is the perfect consumer. she has a knack for thrifty shopping, finding the deals within the rip-offs, and not being swayed by the labels, trends, etc. her sense of style is her very own... it may sometimes be a "miss" to the masses, but it is a "hit" to her and that suffices for style. she also knows how to discard, and how to find the gems within others' discarded. she prides herself on finding roadside treasures that have been deemed junk by the previous owners. she is crafty. she is sometimes outrageous. she would probably do a great job as a co-host of some sort of tv show... it could be a complex documentary of a series of her misadventures as she simultaneously makes people laugh and cry with her witty and brutal honesty... while crafting retro-like objects out of their junk and selling the goods to wealthy trendsetters. (i love the photo of her feeling the fabric on the pillow... it is the perfect "shopping shot." also, the image of her in the night outside of the store is a classic storyline image... you can make up your story.) she is a wonderfully intriguing human being, and i am grateful that i have had a chance to get to know her in this life.