For Sale

I've decided that I don't need a second in-ear monitor system so I'm going to sell one. It's a Shure PSM 400 wireless system that includes the P4T transmitter, P4R receiver and P4M mixer. Also included are the brackets that connect the transmitter and mixer together in one portable package. It's exactly like this on the Musician's Friend site but does not include earphones. You will have to supply your own. Leave me a comment if you are interested. I'll probably put it up on eBay in a few days but I thought I'd give anyone that follows my bLog a shot at it first. It's in pristine condition and I have the origial boxes for it all except for the mixer. I was looking to get $750 for it.

Self-portrait while waiting for some lighting gear to arrive.

I stopped in to check on Tracey to see how her mural was progressing. She was working on this tree today.

Hot and muggy.

That would pretty much describe part of my shoot today in an un-renovated building this morning. Eventually, I was able to get some cool air in there but it was still in the 80's. Met up with Karen around 9. Brandon showed up a few minutes later. Big kudos to him for coming out to help me on such short notice. He was a tremendous help with lighting and pretty much everything else at the shoot. I've posted a few samples from this morning for your enjoyment.

In the doorway.

On the chair.

On the wall.

On the couch.

Wrap it up.

The week is done! It was a productive week at the office for me. That definitely helps me enjoy the weekend more. In looking through my planner, I accomplished pretty much every task I had listed.

I spent Friday evening working on photos from Indy as well as working on a drum part for a song Kyle sent over. Making good progress there but I still need to come up with more transitions. I'll probably track the song a few different ways and then pick and choose the parts that sound best from each then put it all together on one track. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Hung out at Applebee's with Jeff and Kyle. I ordered a Perfect Margarita (their version of a top shelf) and a kid's chicken finger basket. Donna (bartender), looked at Jeff and said "I thought you didn't hang out with people who drank" to which Jeff said "He's the exception". That was actually kind of a funny exchange but when I thought about it, that almost has a certain stigma to it.

WARNING: Rant ahead

Now, for those of you that don't know me personally or my background, my feelings towards drinking is that it's fine. The drinking till you get drunk is not fine. There are those who make the argument that if it takes you 6 beers to get drunk and you have 1, you're 1/6 drunk. PUH-LEEZE. That's about an intelligent an analogy as saying that if the speed limit is 40, and you're doing 20, you're half breaking the law.

Okay, back to other things.

I got a chance to talk with my buddy
Garrisson Steelle for awhile last afternoon. Mainly talked about photography techniques. He and I were supposed to get together for coffee or something when I was in Indy last weekend but my schedule was packed and it didn't happen.

Speaking of photography, I'm heading over to Huntsville this morning to do a shoot with a girl over there. I'm using natural light from a window to light up the scene so hopefully the sun will cooperate. It's very cloudy right now which is going to make it impossible to get the hard light I was wanting for a few shots. We'll see what happens.

On to other things.

Been busy with other stuff this week, mainly just trying to catch up from being out of town for a few days. Got a note from the utility company to trim my shrubs because they can't read the gas meter. Sigh. I have holly bushes... plants that can defend themselves. I braved the heat, humidity and the risk of contracting West Nile virus to get all my bushes up front all neat and tidy. I need to do some work in the backyard too. Hopefully, I'll get to it this weekend. Yardwork is NOT my favorite pastime.

On the gaming front, I picked up Battlefield 2 the other day. I really enjoy that style of game. It will be a nice distraction from my regular routine. In other news, I'm still porcessing all my photos from Indy. I should have those up on my gallery site soon.

More on the F1 brouhaha...

The following in Paul Stoddart's inside report on what happened behind the scenes. Paul is the term principal for the Minardi team.

"What follows is a press release from the MinardiF1 team giving the views of Paul Stoddart.

"Much has been said about the farce that occurred on Sunday, June 19, in Indianapolis, and I feel that in the interests of transparency, it would be worthwhile for someone who was actually present, and participated in the discussions leading up to the start of the Grand Prix, to provide a truthful account of what took place, both for the 100,000-plus fans who were present, and for the hundreds of millions of people watching on television around the world.

While this is a genuine attempt to provide a factual timeline of the relevant events that took place, should any minor detail or sequence be disputed, it will not, in my opinion, affect in any way this account of events that led up to arguably the most damaging spectacle in the recent history of Formula One.

Background

For those who have not followed the recent political developments in Formula One, it is fair to say that, for over a year now, the majority of teams have felt at odds with the actions of the FIA and its President, Max Mosley, concerning the regulations, and the way in which those regulations have been introduced, or are proposed to be introduced. Not a weekend has gone by where some, or all, of the teams are not discussing or disputing these regulations. This is so much the case that it is common knowledge the manufacturers have proposed their own series commencing January 1, 2008, and this is supported by at least two of the independent teams. The general perception is that, in many instances, these issues have become personal, and it is my opinion that was a serious contributory factor to the failure to find a solution that would have allowed all 20 cars to compete in Sunday’s United States Grand Prix.



The Facts

Friday, June 17
I noticed that Ricardo Zonta’s Toyota had stopped, but in all honesty, did not pay any attention to the reasons why; however, I actually witnessed Ralf Schumacher’s accident, both on the monitors, and more significantly, I could see what took place from my position on the pit wall. This necessitated a red flag, and in the numerous replays on the monitors, it looked very much like the cause of the accident was a punctured rear tyre.

Throughout the afternoon, numerous people in the paddock suggested it was a tyre failure and commented that it was similar to the serious accident which befell Ralf Schumacher during the 2004 US Grand Prix. Later that evening was the first time I was aware of a potential problem with the Michelin tyres at this event. In all honesty, I didn’t pay a great deal of attention, as our team is on Bridgestone tyres.

Saturday, June 18
On arriving at the circuit, the word throughout the paddock was that there was a potential problem with the rear tyres supplied to all Michelin teams for this event, and it became evident as the first and second sessions were run that most of the affected teams were being very conservative with the amount of on-track running they were doing. In addition, Toyota announced that it had substituted Ricardo Zonta for Ralf Schumacher, who would take no further part in the event. Speculation was rife in the paddock that some Michelin teams might not take part in qualifying. Also, during the practice session, I was informed there would be a Team Principals’ meeting with Bernie Ecclestone at 1430 hrs after qualifying, which I incorrectly assumed would centre around the Michelin issue.

Qualifying took place, and indeed, all 20 cars qualified for Sunday’s Grand Prix.

At approximately 1420 hrs, I attended Bernie’s office, and with representatives present from all other teams, including Ferrari, the meeting commenced. Surprisingly, the main topic of conversation was the number of events and calendar for 2006, followed by a suggestion that a meeting be convened at the next Grand Prix to discuss two issues only – firstly, a proposal for a single-tyre supplier in Formula One, and secondly, whether or not it would be desirable to qualify with or without a race fuel load in 2006. Only at the very end of the meeting did the Michelin tyre issue arise, and in fairness, it was not discussed in any great detail. I personally found this strange, but as I have stated, it did not affect Minardi directly, and therefore I had no reason to pursue the matter.

Throughout Saturday evening, there was considerable speculation in the paddock that the tyre issue was much more serious than at first thought, and people were talking about a fresh shipment of tyres being flown overnight from France, and what penalty the Michelin teams would take should those tyres be used. By the time I left the paddock, people were taking bets on Minardi and Jordan scoring points!

Later that evening, I checked with our Sporting Director on what developments had occurred, and was told that the issue was indeed very serious, and the possibility existed that the Michelin teams would not take part in the race.

Sunday, June 19
I arrived at the circuit at 0815 hrs, only to find the paddock was buzzing with stories suggesting the Michelin teams would be unable to take part in the Grand Prix. I was then handed a copy of correspondence between Michelin, the FIA, and the Michelin teams that revealed the true extent of the problem. By now, journalists were asking if Minardi would agree to a variation of the regulations to allow the Michelin teams to compete, and what penalties I felt would be appropriate.

A planned Minardi press briefing took place at 0930 hrs, and as it was ending, I was summoned to an urgent meeting, along with Jordan, with Bernie Ecclestone, the two most senior Michelin representatives present at the circuit, IMS President Tony George, Team Principals, and technical representatives from the Michelin teams. At this meeting, Michelin, to its credit, admitted that the tyres available were unable to complete a race distance around the Indianapolis circuit without a change to the track configuration, so as to reduce the speed coming out of the last turn onto the banking. Much background information was provided as to the enormous efforts that Michelin, with support from its teams, had undertaken in the preceding 48 hours to try and resolve the problem, but it was clear that all those efforts had failed to produce a suitable solution that wouldn’t involve support from the non-Michelin teams, and ultimately, the FIA.

What was requested of the Bridgestone teams was to allow a chicane to be constructed at Turn 13, which would then allow Michelin to advise their teams that, in their opinion, the tyres would be able to complete the race distance. It was made very clear that this was the only viable option available, as previous suggestions from the FIA, such as speed-limiting the Michelin cars through Turn 13, could, and probably would, give rise to a monumental accident. This idea, as well as one concerning the possibility of pit stops every 10 laps, were dismissed, and discussion returned to the only sensible solution – a chicane. During this discussion, a technical representative with specific knowledge of the Indianapolis circuit, together with representatives from IMS, were tasked with preparing the design of a chicane, and Bernie Ecclestone agreed to speak with the one Team Principal not present, Mr Todt, and to inform the FIA President, Max Mosley, who was not present at Indianapolis, of the planned solution to allow the successful running of the US Grand Prix. With only a few hours now remaining to the start of the race, we agreed to reconvene as soon as Bernie had responses from Messrs Todt and Mosley.

At approximately 1055 hrs, Bernie informed us that not only would Mr Todt not agree, stating that it was not a Ferrari problem, but an FIA and a Michelin problem, but also Mr Mosley had stated that if any attempts were made to alter the circuit, he would cancel the Grand Prix forthwith. These words had a familiar tone to me, as they were similar to those I had heard around midnight on the Friday preceding the 2005 Australian Grand Prix, when I was told by all the senior FIA representatives present that the Australian Grand Prix would be cancelled forthwith if I did not withdraw pending legal action between Minardi and the FIA. Once again, Mr Mosley was not present at that Grand Prix! It is fair to say at this point that the vast majority of people present in the room both felt and stated that Mr Mosley had completely overstepped the mark, had no idea whatsoever of the gravity of the situation, and furthermore, cared even less about the US Grand Prix, its organisers, the fans, and indeed, the hundreds of millions of television viewers around the world who were going to be affected by his intransigence.

By this time, the nine teams had discussed running a non- championship race, or a race in which the Michelin teams could not score points, and even a race whereby only the Michelin teams used the new chicane, and indeed, every other possible option that would allow 20 cars to participate and put on a show, thereby not causing the enormous damage to Formula One that all those present knew would otherwise occur.

By now, most present felt the only option was to install the chicane and race, if necessary, without Ferrari, but with 18 cars, in what would undoubtedly be a non-championship race. We discussed with Bernie the effects of the FIA withdrawing its staff, and agreed among ourselves a Race Director, a Safety Car driver, and other essential positions, and all agreed that, under the circumstances, what was of paramount importance was that the race must go ahead. All further agreed that since we would most likely be denied FIA facilities, such as scales and post-race scrutineering, every competitor would instruct his team and drivers to conduct themselves in the spirit of providing an entertaining race for the good of Formula One.

At this point, we called for all 20 drivers, and indeed, all 20 arrived, at which point we informed them of our plan. While I cannot testify that each and every driver agreed with what we were proposing, what I can say with certainty is that no driver disagreed, and indeed, members of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association discussed overseeing the construction of a suitable chicane. Jean Todt was the only significant team individual not present, and the Ferrari drivers stated this decision was up to Mr Todt.

I feel it is important to stress that, at this stage, and mindful of the total impossibility – call it force majeure if you wish – of 14 cars being able to compete in the race, the nine teams represented agreed they would not take part in the race unless a solution was found in the interests of Formula One as a global sport, as it was clear to all present that the sport, and not the politics, had to prevail if we were to avoid an impending disaster.

After a short break, we reconvened without the drivers. When I arrived in Bernie’s office, Flavio Briatore was on the telephone to Mr Mosley, and it was quite clear from the body language of the others gathered in the room that Mr Mosley was having none of our suggestions. At the conclusion of the telephone call, it was obvious that many of those in the room had lost all faith in Mr Mosley and his ability to perform his function as President of the FIA in respect of Formula One matters.

I’m sure this sentence will be treated with contempt by Mr Mosley, but what must be realised is that there are various reasons that other Team Principals, and the most senior people in Formula One, will not say publicly what they openly feel privately about Mr Mosley, his politics and his governance of the sport. There is a great temptation to go into those reasons in detail, but that is for another day. Suffice to say, those gathered at Indianapolis felt Mr Mosley, and to a lesser degree, the lack of co-operation from Mr Todt, were about to be responsible for the greatest FIAsco in Formula One’s recent history.

Discussions then took place concerning the other telephone calls with Mr Mosley from, among others, Bernie Ecclestone, Ron Dennis and Tony George, and it was clearly revealed to what extent Mr Mosley was prepared to go in order to achieve his aims. To my total disgust, it was stated that Mosley had informed Mr Martin, the FIA’s most senior representative in the USA, that if any kind of non- championship race was run, or any alteration made to the circuit, the US Grand Prix, and indeed, all FIA-regulated motorsport in the US, would be under threat – again, exactly the same tactic that was used in threatening the Australian Grand Prix and Australian motorsport in March of this year.

By now, it was evident Mosley had bullied the US Grand Prix promoter into submission, Bernie Ecclestone was powerless to intervene, and all efforts of the Team Principals, with the exception of Jean Todt, had failed to save the 2005 US Grand Prix.

At this point, the pit lane had opened and a hasty discussion took place concerning whether or not the Michelin teams would go to the grid. A radio had been delivered to me by team personnel at this stage, and I was able to know which cars were going to the grid. It is interesting to note that the Jordan Team Principal was not present at this time, and indeed, it was the Jordans that first proceeded to the grid, followed by the Ferraris. After discussion with Bernie Ecclestone, it was agreed the Michelin teams would go to the grid, but were absolutely prevented from participating in the race because of the tyre situation.

We then proceeded to the grid, at which point I asked Jordan’s Colin Kolles if he intended to stand by the other teams or participate in the race. In no uncertain terms, I was told Jordan would be racing. I was also approached by a Bridgestone representative, who informed me that Bridgestone wished us to race. This left me with one of the most difficult decisions I have had to take during my time in F1, as I did not want to race, but given my current relationship with Mr Mosley, felt certain heavy sanctions would follow if I did not. I made it clear to Bernie Ecclestone, and several Team Principals, that if the Jordans either went off or retired, I would withdraw the Minardi cars from the race.

It is important for people to realise that Minardi, the seven Michelin teams, Bernie Ecclestone, and the promoters did not agree with Mr Mosley’s tactics. For the reasons previously outlined, it may take some considerable time, if ever, for this to be admitted, but there is no question in my mind that the farce that occurred on Sunday, June 19, 2005 at Indianapolis was the responsibility of the FIA President, Max Mosley, and compounded by the lack of support from Jean Todt.

For the avoidance of doubt, in my opinion, Michelin was responsible enough to admit that the problem was of their creation. When one considers that even the replacement, Barcelona-specification tyres that were shipped to IMS, when tested, apparently exhibited the same characteristics as those that originally failed, this clearly is a case of force majeure, as I do not for a moment believe that Michelin intentionally brought tyres to the event that were unsuitable for competition.

Far more importantly, however, Mosley refused to accept any of the solutions offered, and that refusal was, I believe, politically motivated. Therefore, I feel he failed in his duty, and that is why I have called for his resignation.

Much discussion and debate will undoubtedly take place over the coming weeks and months, but I believe this is a truthful and honest account of the facts, and not the fiction, surrounding the responsibility for this FIAsco. People can now make up their own minds!"

Press Release
MinardiF1"

Up close artsy shot

Yours truly in Gasoline Alley. The pagoda is in the background.

The flags flying near the pagoda.

Jenson Button, another favorite of mine in his B.A.R. Honda.

Defending World Champion Michael Schumacher in his Ferrari.

David Coulthard driving for Red Bull racing. This was the old Jaguar team.

Renault, my favorite team.

U.S. Grand Prix 2005

Overall, I had a great time in Indy. Got to hang out with old friends and make some new ones in the process. The weather was spectacular the whole time. Joel and I headed out Thursday morning and hooked up with Carol and Steve for the drive up - us in a Nissan Titan and them in a big GMC. Around 8 hours later we were pulling into our hotel parking lot.

Bright and early Friday morning we headed to the BMW corral - a large blue and white tent with food, drinks, tables, chairs, video games, etc. for members to enjoy. Got some breakfast snacks and walked 2 blocks up to the track where I *almost* bought a current Honda team uniform shirt but suprisingly, I exercised some restraint. I actually only bought one thing... a Red Bull Racing cap. I made my way to the seats next to the end of the pit area to set up for pictures of the cars coming out. Ah... the glorious sounds of F1 machinery at full throttle... I got some good shots from there. Spent the rest of the day checking out the other cars and shopping around. Also got a chance to meet drivers from the Formula BMW racing program. Still open-wheeled cars but with a limited amount of modifications each team can make. This series focuses more on the driving aspect of things rather than all-out performance to teach these kids (they are all in their teens) to hone their skills. I also was able to tour their garages in the famed Gasoline Alley.

Saturday saw more people out there. Things were really starting to get hoppin'. F1 practice went well despite some tire failures for the Toyota team. That afternoon after F1 qualifying was over - a whole bunch of us went downtown to monument circle to look at a bunch of older and classic cars. VERY cool stuff. Took some nice pics there too. Went back over to the corral later for a sumptuous meal. There was an entertaining time with the annual auction and then after that, it was bedtime again.

Sunday we were at the track bright and early. Watched this guy named Reed race in the Formula BMW race (I had met him the previous day) which was pretty cool. Also watched the Porsche Supercup race as well. Lots of excitement.

Time for the main event! Everything looked all set to go - all cars were on the track, everything normal. I had heard that there might be some drama over a tire issue but didn't think much of it. The drivers fired up their cars and started around for their parade lap before taking their starting positions... then then Michelin shod cars pulled into their pits and switched their cars off.

The race started with 6 cars on the grid: 2 Ferrari's, 2 Jordan's and 2 Minardi's. All Bridgestone runners. The crowd went bananas!!! This was a bad thing for F1 here in the States.

I kind of got part of the inside story on what happened. Michelin did advise their teams that the tires they had were not safe and not to run them unless certain conditions were met (they weren't). What happened was that the track was resurfaced prior to the Indy 500 race a few weeks ago, the one where Danica Patrick came in 4th. Well, when the resurfacing was finished, Michelin came out and tested the surface so that they could build a suitable tire for it's F1 teams to run. After all this, the Indy cars started practicing on the track. They were sliding around on the track so to alleviate that, they put small grooves in the track surface. The Indy cars all run Firestone Firehawk tires. Firestone is owned by... Bridgestone. There is speculation that Firestone passed their tire information and the groove "situation" to Bridgestone so they could adjust their tire construction. Michelin did not find out about the grooves and subsequently, their tires were getting ripped up by the track.

Anyway, this is all speculation at this point. We'll see what ultimately shakes out of this.

More to come later...

I'm clear of Monday.

Beautiful day + no malfunctions, THAT'S how a Monday should be especially after the rainy weekend. Kinda warm and steamy out though.

I'm on the tail end of my chiropractor visits now. About a month or so ago, I suddenly lost feeling on my whole right side. Not completely numb, but definitely significantly less sensitive than my left. It freaked me out actually. Before trying anything else, I went and visited my old employer and friend - a chiropractor here in Decatur. While it took a few weeks, I'm back to pretty much normal feeling now without having to take drugs or have surgery. Just wanted to get that out there in case someone was interested in chiro as an option for treatment.

I was pretty tired after work. Went ahead and laid down for awhile before getting up feeling hungry. Met up with Kyle at Cracker Barrel for a quick dinner (and a child that needed some serious disciplining) before swinging by the book store. Ran into my dentist and talked photography with him for a bit. Probably going to try and hook up for lunch sometime soon and talk more. It's definitely nice when you not only have good doctors but when you're friends with them too... that's priceless.

Chatted with Jeff at the bookstore. Looks like some music collaboration is in the works. I'm looking forward to it.

Here's my favorite kid getting out of the pool.

Kay and Lesa smiling for the camera (Daikin event).

Japanese lanterns from the Daikin festival a few weeks ago.

Arlene in the house.

Tropical storm Arlene has made her presence know in the form of rain, rain, and more rain. I had to load up this morning in the rain - cymbal and snare drum case as well as my stick bag and a bottle of water. Also had to bring along a replacement kick drum head and a pillow for muffling. When I got to church, the first order of business was to get the busted head changed out. Got that done then went on with my usual routine.

Musically, everything went smoothly from my standpoint. Even the song that was my least favorite (because it's in a time signature that's awkward for me) went okay. Jack did a good job with his message about seeing where you are going.

Took in the Canadian Grand Prix this afternoon on the tube. WOW. Lot's of drama today. It was a tough day for Renault. It was an especially tough day for B.A.R. Honda with Jenson smacking the wall. This should make for an exciting time at Indy.

Had dinner with Kyle and Jeff at the Moulton Steakhouse. Good food + cheap = Me happy. Stopped off at Kevin's on the way home to return some DVD's he loaned me awhile back.

Oh, ran across this hottie on the modeling pages. Sigh.

And it was!

Yep, I had an inside day today. The only time I went outside was to get the mail. On the domestic side of things, I did 3 loads of laundry. Washed, dried and folded or hung. I also cleaned out the shower. That's a lot of freakin work. Hard water deposits are the main issue. Geez. That wore me out. That and the cleaner fumes.

I did get to spend time on some of my photo work. Wrapped up that wedding from a few weeks ago finally. I also processed a few of my shots from the Daikin festival. While on the subject of photography, I added a new blog buddy to my links... photographer Clay Enos. I ran across his galleries while surfing the web. He does some incredible work. Check it out when you get a chance. He also takes some great club shots too. Excellent stuff.

That pretty much summed up my day. Took it easy, played drums, watched TV... I took the head off my extra kick drum to use tomorrow morning. I think I'll just show up a few minutes early and put it on.

Looks like it's gonna be an "inside" day.

It's pouring rain out. That pretty much eliminates any kind of outdoor activity today. I had plans to trim the bushes in the front yard but I guess that can wait for awhile.

I actually had a very busy day for a Friday. Visited several clients and got things taken care of and was also able to stop in and see an old friend. Her office has an undeveloped side of their building that will be a fantastic spot for photography. I need to take advanatage of that location soon. Nice natural lighting and old civil-war era wallpaper peeling off the walls. Very cool stuff.

Went over to Simp's after work for a drink with a friend. Soon Lori, Lesa, Maria, Scott, Billy and more showed up and we had a table full. I didn't intend on eating dinner there but that's exactly what happened. By the time I got home, I was tired and ready for bed.

Sometime today, I need to get over to the church and do something about the kick drum there. At practice the other night, I discovered there was hole in the batter head where the beater strikes it. That's not a good thing. I thought I had another head I could replace it with at the house but I think the only good head I have is the one that is currently on my spare kick drum. I can use that I guess.

Qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix will be on Speed TV at noon today. That's the nice thing about the north American races on the schedule... they happen at a decent hour.

I need to do some photo work as well today. Got a few projects I need to go ahead and finish. I also need to clean the bathroom. Yay. Life in the fast lane.

Defunkifying

I think I'm starting to get out of this "funk" I've been in the past few days. I sure hope so. Speaking of funk, Nicole is under the weather AND having to move this weekend so a shoot we had previously planned went down the tubes for now. Looks like that's gonna get moved to July. It's okay though because I think it's supposed to be kind of rainy this weekend anyhow.

On a better note, my evening tonight was a WHOLE lot better than my evening a week ago. I was thankful to be sitting at band practice tonight instead of stressing over lost data.

Afterwards, had dinner with Kevin at Logan's. Kyle showed up also to join in the fun and excitement. Food wasn't that great tonight. Oh well.

The Canadian Grand Prix is this weekend. I'll be watching that so I can get all lathered up for the US Grand Prix the following weekend. I can hardly wait. If you have an interest in F1, click on one of the F1 related links on the left.

The weekend is in sight!

Today was nice. I was out of the office the majority of the day visiting a client of mine down in Birmingham. I did a few things at the office before hitting the road around 10. Looks like I left town just in time as I looked over at the city as I crossed over the river and saw a large storm moving in. The drive down was uneventful apart from catching up with some friends on my phone. I'm trying to get one of my buddies I talked to over in Texas to get a blog going. (YOU CAN DOOOO IT!!!) I could use more people in my blog community anyway.

Client meeting went very well. Had a good lunch down in Homewood at an eatery there. Lots of good "scenery" too. That's the one thing I miss about a college town. I'm not saying we don't have "scenery" here where I live... it's just a lot more sparse and usually baggage-laden. But I digress. ;-)

Stopped back at the office on the way home then picked up something to eat for dinner. I figured that I just needed a night to stay in and relax. It was then I realized that I was kind of bummed out, but for different reasons than my post from the other day. I *really* got stressed out over my server malfunction last Thursday/Friday. One of the ways I've found myself recovering from those situations is that I surround myself with friends - not just people, FRIENDS. I hung out with friends every night up until today. Anyway, I was just noticing and observing how my moods change and what the possible influences are.

Weird, huh?

Here's a shot of Tracey, the artist working on the mural I mentioned.

Bummed out.

Sigh. Just talked to a friend tonight who is well on her way to a difficult life. It's sad because she's at a point where she can considerably affect the outcome for much better but probably won't.

Just heard on the news that they're charging those guys in Aruba with homicide in the Natalee Holloway case. I feel so bad for Natalee's family. What was supposed to be a happy time has turned into a nightmare that they never imagined. I can't imagine what they're going through right now.

What else? Medical marijuana is being outlawed. Geez Louise. While I'm not advocating getting high, folks legally using the medicinal herb should be allowed to continue. They're not hurting anybody.

So... not a good day in general.

After work today, Lesa and I took pictures of a friend working on a mural here in town. She's doing it as part of a project to raise money to help children diagnosed with Autism, Aspergers Syndrome and Pervasive Development Delay. It was a beautiful evening to start painting. I was glad I was able to get some shots.

Ah... back to normal.

Well, good success with the server today. All who needed to use it were able to log on without incident and access their files. Once I was satisfied all was working, I went ahead and checked on all the backup scripts to be sure they were set to run properly. Thank goodness for backups. They may be a pain in the rump to do, but when you need them, they're priceless.

After work, met up with the old Guad Squad + the Spooners. Good times. Michelle got to try out one of the toxic margaritas. That was some funny stuff right there I tell ya. Walked around the mall like we used to - it was then we realized why we quit doing this.

Less than 2 weeks now till my annual pilgrimage to Indy for the Formula 1 US Grand Prix. I hope the weather cooperates. I hope to have some really nice pictures this time around as you can imagine. I'm just not sure how much photo gear I want to lug around with me.

Bedtime for me.

Whew!

I had an AGONIZING Thursday night and Friday scrambling to get the data restored on the server at work. Words cannot explain how stressed out I was. After a loss of sleep and a LOT of prayer, things finally started looking better Friday as the data started reloading off the backups.

Originally, I was supposed to go to a wine tasting Friday night but because the ordeal had drained me, I went straight home and crashed for awhile. I got up a little later and gave Lesa a buzz to see what was cookin. They were done with the wine tasting and were over at the bar. She asked me to come join the party. Before going to 113, I stopped by the office to see the magic words on the server display... "Restore Complete". The files are all there thank goodness. The only issue I saw is that permissions were not working right so I'll tackle that first thing Monday. Joined up with quite a crew at 113... Lesa, Lori, Susan, Luke, Josh, Stephen, Jimmy, Lois, Beth, Linda... Had a great time talking with everyone. Caught up a lot with Linda. A friend now divorced that I had last seen a long time ago.

Things got late at 113 so the party moved across the street to The Brick. Saw MORE people I knew over there including a girl that horned in on our airport TV commercial a few months back. Also ran into this other girl I'm supposed to photograph this week. Chit-chatted with her some then went back to listening to the band - Microwave Dave. Lori got the clever idea to tickle me. Unfortunately, she's not ticklish so I had to do other things. After a much needed time out with the gang, I headed home where I finally got some rest and sleep.

Today was slightly productive for me. I fixed an issue with my shower head as well as an electrical gremlin on a light switch. Played drums a bunch and also worked on the wedding photos from a few weeks ago. Took it easy the rest of the day.

Well crap.

Today was a good day - up until 5 when I went to change out a tape that backs our server at work up. To make a long story short, lost the drives that carry our data. Luckily, I do a backup every night so I'm in the process of restoring Wednesday night's data. This will take awhile as there's about 200+ gig of data to restore.

I do not like it when things like this happen. I don't take stress well at times and this is one of those times.

Other than that, things are great!

Day 3 of a 3-day weekend.

It's been an active weekend for me. The Daikin Festival Friday night, the balloon launch Saturday morning, photos at Crossroads Saturday night, European Grand Prix Sunday morning, church, Indy 500 in the afternoon then eating out with friends Sunday night.

Headed to Crossroads Saturday night to take some photos of Tim Tucker, one of Lesa's friends. He was wanting pictures for either a website or CD cover or something. I rode over with Lesa and Lori. Lesa assured me she didn't want to stay out late. She was lying at the time and I didn't know it. Brought along the big cameras, me with my 20D and Lesa with her D60. I got several good shots especially after I switched to not using flash to get more of the stage lighting effect. I used my fastest lens (f 1.4 baby) and cranked my ISO to 3200. I think Lesa gave everyone a tan with her flash. That night I realized just how powerful our flash units are. Holy crap. They can put out some SERIOUS light. I was ready to go a little before midnight. You can understand how twisted up I was when we didn't finally leave until 1:30 AM. Grrrr...

Despite the late night, I got up at 6:00 AM to shower and clean up before sitting down to watch the F1 race in Germany at the Nurburgring. Another EXCELLENT race! Renault, my favorite team won but I still felt bad for Kimi in his McLaren/Mercedes for his suspension breaking at the start of the last lap after he had led most of the race. THAT sucks!

Church went well. The music came together nicely. I had my doubts after our last practice. Good crowd there despite the holidays. Grabbed up some lunch at Quizno's before heading home to watch the Indy 500 race. Congrats to Danica Patrick for her great 4th place finish in only her 5th Indy car race! Not too shabby for a HOT 23 year old girl.

Met up with Kevin & Co. + Kyle at Kyoto for dinner. I had a filet and lobster which were extremly satisfying. Some other friends of mine showed up too and I chatted with them a bit. Swung by the bookstore on the way home to see what was new before going home to watch "National Treasure" on DVD. Good flick.

This morning so far, I've just done some demestic crap. Dishes, vacuuming, etc. Also finally took time to clean my pistols from last Sunday's range session. I've been needing to get all the funk out of my guns but was busy all week and didn't have time to do it right away.

I don't really have any plans for the rest of the day. I might try and do some photo work this afternoon with Jordan as she's got some poses she wanted to try. Sharon, Satcey's sister, has some studio lights and a backdrop with her. Hopefully, it'll all work out and I'll get some good stuff. We'll see.

Memorial Day

Let me start of by saying a sincere "Thank You" to the men and women that risk their lives in service to our country. An even bigger thanks to those who have paid for our freedoms with their lives.

Glennis and friend. LOL.

Glennis and I later on in the evening.

Me, Lori and Glennis at Crossroads.

Away it goes!

Looking up into the Pepsi balloon as it was moments before takeoff.

This was a SWEET shot right here. The pilot of the Pepsi balloon invited me and Lesa to stick our heads inside the "envelope" as he fired the burners. No one else but us got a shot of this.

Balloons everywhere!

Going up?

Inflate!

Events everywhere!

Last night, Lesa and I headed to the Daikin festival over at the fairground. Daikin is a Japanese company that has a large facility near the river here in town. For the past few years, they have put on this GIANT event with free admission, food, entertainment and prizes. It's truly an extravaganza. I heard a rumor that they budget around $250k for this one event... Kay met us there and soon my sister and a friend of hers showed up. Lesa and I shot a lot of photos and I helped her along with her camera settings. It's funny because she gets the 3 most important numbers on her camera mixed up... shutter speed, ISO and aperture. I'll post pics from that soon.

Got up this morning at 5 and picked Lesa up on the way to Point Mallard for the hot-air balloon launches. Lucked out on a super parking place and only had to walk a short way to the field. I surprised at the number of folks there.

Getting ready to head to HSV to shoot pictures of a friend playing at a club tonight.

Sorry!

I know that lately my postings have been few and far between. Truth be told, I've had so much going on the past few weeks that I've had to push blogging down on the priority list a good bit. Mainly, I've been backed up working on a few thousand photos to try and get them out to clients. To help speed up that process, I ordered another gig of RAM for my main PC to speed up the workflow process. It arrived today and I installed it right away. MUCH better performance now working on large files.

On the memory front as well, I picked up a 4 GB CF card for my camera. Everytime I've gone to shoot either an event or a model shoot, I invariably use up all my CF cards.. up to now I had been using a 2 GB, 2-512mb, and 2-256mb CF's. Those small ones fill up quick. The new card gives me a good bit of room.

Ran some cables at work to connect the network on 2 floors together. We're preparing to move into the floor above where at long last I'll have my own office. That will definitely be nice. I'll once again be able to think in peace.

Lot's going on this weekend. Plenty of photo ops. It should be a good time I hope.

The lobby.

Back porch of the hotel.

Here's the golf course right out the back door.

Clubhouse at the hotel I stayed at in Marietta.

Dave blasts a couple too.

In pieces.

Boom!

Kevin tracking his target. Look at the orange spot on the top of this photo.

Jack S. taking aim with his .357

Jack A. lines up his target at the range today.

So it's been awhile...

A lot has happened since my last post. For my loyal bloggers who don't have time for the details, here's the condensed version:

Went to Atlanta for meetings this week, shot pictures of a dance recital, went to the shooting range with the guys and then saw the latest Star Wars movie.

The detailed version:

Left for Atlanta late Tuesday afternoon. I was riding with Luke and Lesa followed close behind. She was heading back a day earlier than us which is why she took a car as well. Got checked into our hotel and adventured out around Marietta a little. Ended up finding a quaint little square where we discovered several unique antique shops and restaurants. Had a sumptuous dinner at a place called Shillings. I had a filet dish along with some wine. I conked out as soon as I got back to the hotel.

Wednesday morning was rough. We had to leave the hotel at 6:15 AM to factor in the traffic as we drove from Marietta to the Hyatt Regency in downtown Atlanta. Leaving at 6:15 means me having to get up around 5'ish to get going and cleaned up. Here's the kicker - we lost an hour going east so I was getting up at 4:00 AM "my" time. OUCH!

The presentation from Adobe was good. I learned lots of things I didn't know before. Good stuff. During the lunch break, we walked over to the Hard Rock Cafe and chowed down. Back to the Hyatt for the afternoon session. While in town, we ate dinner outside at a Mexican place called Willie's. Apparently, they have really good burritos according to Luke. The one I had was okay, but I'm not a burrito fan so if it was good, I really didn't have anything to compare it to. Interestingly enough, while we sitting outside eating, a man, probably in his late 30's or 40's, goes strutting by wearing a pink leotard, a halo, fairy wings, twirling a baton and blowing a whistle. I did NOT take a picture.

Thursday's meetings were at the hotel we were staying. MUCH better morning when you just have to go downstairs to make it to your destination. Meetings were informative, but boring at times. I found myself nodding off occasionally. These meetings were from a partner we use to handle large volume email campaigns for our clients. Met some nice people there.

That evening, I hung out with a buddy of mine that lives over there. Ate a nice dinner then did some things downtown. Got in a little late but got rested.

Friday went well. Wrapped up meetings, had lunch then packed up and headed home. Went through some SERIOUS storms on the way back. It was nice to be home again. Ended up going to Cracker Barrel for dinner then drove over to Huntsville to try and get into a theater to see Revenge of the Sith. No luck. Drove home, passed out.

More later.

Wow. I'm tired.

Shane was late. An hour late. I was a little on the anxious side at this point because now the extra time I had factored in to spend planning the shots I wanted to be sure not to miss and more importantly EATING LUNCH had to be cut from the schedule.

Once we arrived at the church, it was pretty warm on the inside. Apparently, the person who knew how to turn the A/C on couldn't be reached. It did finally get turned on much later but it was off when we were shooting pictures beforehand. I thought I was going to have the luxury of using the house lights to brighten up the stage and the people so I wouldn't need to use flash but somebody's mother kept screwing with the lights and turned them down too low to be useable. The last time the lights got fooled with, I stormed back there. When the mom saw me coming, she stepped away from the board to avoid me. Grr. Finally, I got tired of policing the lights and used my flash full time. I will inform the bride and groom what the situation was so they can hassle this person about it. I can understand why wedding photographers charge what they do. It's so they can tolerate meddling people without having to kick some ass. But I digress... Shane and I actually moved through the poses and got done shooting with some time to spare. The people in the bridal party followed direction well and made my life a little easier. I found a really nice area to shoot some shots of the girls in which I took advantage of.

While waiting for the wedding to start, I was cooling off in another room. There was a huge lightning strike somewhere either on or near the building that set the fire alarm off. Soon, there were 4 full-sized engines and ladder trucks there. It's good to see how quickly they responded! I don't think they found anything but they did do a thorough check of the place.

Finally the wedding started. Got some good pictures during the ceremony that I think they will be pleased with. When that was done, we hustled over to the art museum for the reception. I give a big thumbs up on the food! Remember, I hadn't eaten lunch yet. I've been to a number of weddings where you have cake, nuts and chips as the food. Here there was quite a spread - giant shrimp, chicken strips, fruit, veggies, smokies, rolls, cheese thingys, dip, crackers... so much that I got a photo of it here somewhere. Got my fill which made me much happier. Met some nice people too while I was there and saw some old friends.

Downloaded the pictures when I got home. I've got a lot of work ahead of me. Time for bed now though.

I see Kyle and Jeff are getting around a good bit on thier whirlwind tour of beaches. I *hope* that in addition to the pictures he's posted on his blog that they work some women in there somewhere.

The weekend begins.

Did a lot of paperwork stuff in the office today as I was out most of the week shooting photos. There was a building here in town I had been trying to get a shot of (it's newly constructed) but everytime I've been by, there were all sorts of contractor trucks/vans/trailers there. I finally lucked out and drove by when there was only a Bellsouth van in the lot with a guy in it. It turns out that I knew the guy and it was no trouble for him to move the van for me so I could get a clear shot. That's another shot down. I still need to get a pic of the opposite side of the building but the lighting's never been good yet. I should have that soon though.

Late in the evening, I got a message from Lesa that she was heading over to Cafe 113. She had told me earlier that she and some friends were going to be hanging out to celebrate someone graduating from nursing school. Got over there and joined up with Maria, Lori, and Josh. Lesa showed up a few minutes later and we all just kicked back and relaxed. Good times. After a few hours, we headed across the parking lot to The Brick where Gulliver was playing tonight. Got a table and soon we had a small crowd with us. I saw Heather, Christa and Juli there. There was also some girl Lesa introduced me to that was interested in having me do some shots of her. She looks like she's got a lot of potential so I'm looking forward to that. I finally came on home around 1 AM. Ugh... the one thing I hate about The Brick is that I came out of there reeking of smoke. Bleah.

I've got all my battries charged up and my lenses clean. Shane should be here in just a bit before we take off to shoot Mike and Neva's wedding over in Huntsville. Wedding aren't my cup of tea, but they were in a pinch and I was in a position to help. Hopefully all will go well. That should keep me busy most of the afternoon.

Time to jump in the shower and get cleaned up.

WORN OUT

You know how you get drained of energy when you've been out in the sun for a long time? That's what's happened to me. I spent a good bit of the day out on the tarmac at the airport shooting photos. It was HOT. I got some great shots though. I just posted up a few samples so you could get an idea what I was doing.

Took a break from that and ate lunch over at Mac Grill (again) and then got back to it. This time, I was taking photos of some industrial buildings in the area. At least on the tarmac I had a breeze. There was no wind in the industrial park.

Got suprised when I walked into one of the places I was going to shoot. I was going in to tell the receptionist who I was and what I was doing. Come to find out, a girl I used to date a LONG time ago was working there. She gave me her phone number but I'm not too sure I'm interested in spending time with someone that had screwed me over in the past. Anyway, not going to dwell on that.

Spent the latter part of the afternoon getting an estimate to convert my home's termite protection over to the Sentricon system. Doesn't that sound like fun? Afterwards, I worked on photos to get them ready to deliver to Jaime. I'm almost done.

Artsy landing gear shot off a small jet.

More...

I was out running around the tarmac today with my camera.

Stayin busy...

Okey dokey, I've had lots going on. Started Tuesday off visiting a client in the morning then had lunch with another client. Next, I drove to Huntsville to meet with ANOTHER client and go do a good bit of photography for their website. Drove around a pretty swanky neighborhood in Huntsville called "The Ledges". Nice homes there for sure. Wrapped up there and headed back to Decatur. My buddy Dave was in town from Ohio. He and I used to work together at Intergraph on that medical customer I used to complain about all the time. Had plans to pick him up later for dinner then meet up with Rikki, Sam and Sarah for drinks later. So... back to Huntsville I go again after stopping by the office briefly then swinging by the house to get cleaned up. Ate dinner at Macaroni Grill (again) and ended up over at Humphrey's. Good times. Got home kinda late but fell asleep almost immediately. That's a good thing.

Today's big news was the arrival of Zachary, Kevin and Stacey's new baby boy. Honestly, they are the closest friends I've had that I've been around the whole pregnancy cycle with - TWICE! Their little boy has a full head of hair! Cute kid. Stacey was in good spirits. I'm sure that after you shed 10+ pounds in an afternoon, you can only be feeling better.

As you can tell from the pictures, this kid's first encounter with an Asian is of course one WITH A CAMERA. We all laughed about that.

While I was visiting with them, band practice (I was off "duty" this week) was going on. The news comes along that the drimmer that was supposed to be playing didn't show up. Well, I told them I could be there in 20 minutes as I would have to go home, pack up some gear and drive there. That's exactly what I did.

Ate dinner with Jack S. at Applebee's afterwards. Now I'm home and getting ready to conk out.

The proud parents!

A very rare shot of me and a baby. I actually kinda dug it.

Start them early on technology.

Momma and her boy.

Kevin and his son.

CONGRATULATIONS KEVIN & STACEY!!!

Congratulations to you guys on the birth of Zachary! As of 1:25 CST, Stacey now weighs at least 9 lbs. 4 oz. less...

I'll be heading to the hospital shortly to take some photos.

Mellow Monday

Okay... looks like travel for me is getting postponed again. No biggie though, I wasn't all that excited about the prospect of going to West Virginia.

After work I ran some errands. One was to the mall to get my favorite pair of sunglasses fixed. This microscopic nut came off where the temple attaches to the lens but luckily, the girl at the sunglass place had a replacement. We chatted about retail management and how bad it sucked. I sure put in my time with that crap. Next stop was Wal-Mart where I picked up some photos. On the way out I ran into Sommer - a girl I wanted to add to my portfolio. I got her number so hopefully I can get something set up with her soon. We'll see how that goes.

Back at home I got some laundry going.

This has been one of the more boring days of late.

So... that's what it means to get older...

Remember I was happily running around on the tennis courts yesterday? As I was leaving church this morning carrying all my drum gear, I had some kind of weird pain/sensation on my right knee. All I could think of was "Hmmm, THAT's new..." Maybe I should have warmed up a bit more or stretched yesterday, I don't know. Just lovely I tell you.

Speaking of church, the music was hoppin' today. I think it all went well - I know I had a good time. Kevin played keyboards today. That REALLY helped give us a "richer" sound. That may just be the missing piece that takes us to the next level.

Afterwards, I went straight home to watch the Spanish Grand Prix. The races are a lot more exciting this year with the advent of the rule changes. Kimi's McLaren/Mercedes was incredibly fast. No one could close the gap on him. My man Fernando Alonso in the Renault stuck it out and held on to 2nd place although he clearly was no match for the Mercedes. I'm glad for Kimi though, he's been needing a good finish. Man, Ferarri have had it tough so far. Michael Schumacher retired after suffering 2 tire punctures, the last of which damaged his suspension.

Took a nap.

I got up and checked the hours of operation at the botanical garden as I wanted to turn in my entry for a photo competition. They closed at 8... or so I thought. I get all my stuff together and drive over. They don't stay open till 8 until after Memorial Day. $#%@ #%^# @#%^ @#%! They closed at 5 and I got there at 5:20. What a $#@&*! waste of time. I was NOT happy. Drove back home in time to catch Extreme Home Makeover.

Working on some picture stuff then I'm off to bed. I'll find out tomorrow if I'll be heading to West Virginia this week for a photo shoot or not.

My dinner at Macaroni Grill last night. Grilled salmon with honey glaze served oo spinach and orzcho pasta. My favorite!

Tired... AGAIN.

I don't think I accomplished anything I intended to today. That's how it goes though. Ended up spending some time down at the tennis court with Kyle and Jeff though. It's been a long time since I've played tennis but it was nice to get out there again. Nice that is up until I realized that I need to get in better shape. Luckily, I knew when to take a break before I died. I also had my camera with me as my original thought was to practice taking action shots. Kudos to Kyle for taking over photo duties for a bit and getting some shots of me for once.

Went home to clean up then laid around for a bit to recharge. Met back up with the fellas and headed to Macaroni Grill for a delicious dinner. Maggie was working and hooked me up with a glass of wine. That was an unexpected surprise. I also ran into Tonja there with some friends coming back from a wedding reception. One of her friends recognized me from back in my bowling league days. Wow.

On the way back home we stopped in to visit Sarah where she works. Chatted with her a little then finally made it home. I need to get in bed so maybe tomorrow I can do more fun stuff.

Waiting on it.

A hot day on the court.

Up and at em...

On my way to the party last night, I stopped off at Simp's and dropped some photos off to Kathi as a mother's day present sort of thing. There was some event going on down at the Old State Bank which took up all the parking. As a result, I had to park 2 blocks down the street and walk. It was a nice night out though and lots of people were around so it made for a pleasant stroll. It almost felt like a "real" city for a few minutes. Next, I went down to Cafe 113 for Susan's birthday party. Originally, I was going to bring my BIG camera but decided against it because I didn't want to have to lug it around and I didn't want it exposed to a smoky environment. I did bring my little Sony along though. Met plenty of folks, shot some pool, drank a little then called it a night. Well, almost. Stopped in at Ruby's to hang out a little before finally making it home.

It's 5:30 Saturday morning now and I've got a load of laundry in the washer. Qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix comes on in a few minutes so I'll be watching that. It's probably back to bed for me for a little while after that.

Wrap it up...

the week's finally over!

I think this has been one of my busiest weeks of late. All week my plate has been full. Thursday, I was out shooting photos for one of our clients. While I was over in Madison, I stopped and had lunch at Edo's. Mmmmm... sushi. As usual, I ordered too much. That is TWICE this week that's happened to me. Anyway, it was nice to see old friends there. I had gotten to be pretty good friends with some of the folks there especially Keio, the owner. She's a sweet lady.

I spent the rest of the day scampering about taking photos all over the place. After I took my first shots and got in my car to move to my next location - my car wouldn't start. Long story short, my battery died. I was sitting there with my AAA card in hand ready to call when I decided to call my buddy Bill over at Intergraph. About 5 minutes later he's on the scene and I'm jumped off and on my way to the tire store. 30 minutes later I have a new battery and can get on about my business. After a tiring day shooting, I headed back to the office to download my camera then it was off to the house to get my gear together for band practice. Packed up a few cymbals, my snare and my stick back and like a pair of dirty underwear, I was off! Practice went okay - actually, it was more entertaining than anything else. Things were rough. I had a special moment when I tried something different out and well, it didn't sound so good. Heh. Logan's was the dinner choice and the whole band headed there. Good food all around. While there, I was able to set up a photo shoot for the weekend. Nice.

Friday was no less busy. Did a few things around the office then hit the road at 10 with stuff to drop off and photos to take. Stopped in at a few locations to take care of bidness' then met up with a few of my former co-workers for lunch at Tai-Pan. As usual, it was nice seeing them again. After eating too much, I headed into Huntsville to drop something else off before I made it back to the airport area to get going on the photos. Once again, I was all over the place. I took a few panoramic shots as well as some artsy kinds of blurry shots. Hopefully, my work today will turn out good. Once I got back to the office, I found out I may have to travel to West Virginia next week for a few days. Fascinating.

Time to get cleaned up for a party tonight. Should be fun.

A little snappy-snappy.

Wow... ANOTHER busy day at the office. That's 3 in a row now! I had to shoot photos of one of our clients for a magazine publication. I used the same setup I had at home when I shot pictures over the weekend as I liked how easy it was to light the scene with the two HUGE softboxes and a strobe in the back to burn out the background. Once again, I made my life easier by remembering to shoot my black/white/gray reference card beforehand to make color balancing easy.

Had lunch with Kay and Jeremy at the old Greenbriar. I made the mistake of ordering the large pork plate. Normally, I can eat quite a bit of food in one sitting... just not THIS much. Jeremy followed suit and thought if I could eat it, he could too. Same results... it was too much food. Man was I paying for it this afternoon. I sure could have used a nap!

After work, I headed over to Simp's for a drink. Got a call from Jim, an old friend of mine, and he joined me there at the bar. Had a good time talking to Kathi. Cynthia showed up a bit later. It was nice seeing her as she hasn't been around in awhile. While there, I got an invite from Kevin and Stacey for grilled steak and lobster at there place. Wrapped up there and ran into Lorri as I was leaving. She had been working late on someone (she does hair). Trekked across town and made it to Kev's just as the steaks were ready to come off the grill. When I arrived, Kev was crawling around the floor wiping something up. Stacey was standing there and I first thought that maybe her water broke. Well, it wasn't anything nearly as exciting... she had simply dropped a container of melted butter. Stacey, when things come out of the microwave with melted stuff in them, it can be hot sometimes. :-/

The food was delicious. I kind of felt guilty that I didn't bring anything but I really had no time to go by the house and get something and a store wasn't anywhere along the way. Thanks to the them though for the great dinner.

I had grand plans to accomplish SOMETHING tonight but looks like that's not going to happen. I'm tired and think I will actually get in bed early tonight. That's always the intention, but that just doesn't happen often enough.

The weekend is stacking up... I've got a friend's birthday party Friday night, Saturday, I have to turn in my photo entries for a botnaical garden contest and that evening I'm supposed to meet Ellen and Linda for drinks. Oh, and I have band practice tomorrow night. All this excitement and NO drama! See? It CAN be done.

I'm deliriously sleepy. G' night mate.

Music by Jo.

A friend of mine that I photographed recently launched her music site today. Go CHECK IT OUT!

Tuesday follies.

Once again it was a busy yet productive day at work. Had lunch at the Chinese place in the mall which turned out to be decent - except for the the pork part of my meal. It was a little dry IMO. The honey chicken and eggroll were good though. Checked out the Napoleon Dynamite shirts at Dillards before going back to the office.

Talked to Carol, one of my F1 buddies, to firm up our Indy plans. I checked my hotel reservations to make sure that was all a go and also get my registration in with the BMW Club for access to the hospitality tent and facilities there at the US Grand Prix. Less than 2 months away! I'm excited.

After work, I went on home to work on some photos so I could print them tonight. Got that done and watched some tube. Finally got up and went to pick up my photos... they already know me there and as soon as I got to the counter, they were handing me my envelope all ready to go.

Stopped in at the bookstore and picked up the latest DRUM! magazine before heading to dinner. Jaime suggested a new dish they had that was excellent! Some sort of mandarin chicken concoction. Time for bed yet again.

Busy today.

Today was rockin at the office. I had appointments to set up, emails to answer and send, domain registrations to transfer, problems to fix... the whole ball of wax. Whew! Glad that's over with!

On another note, the circular polarizer I ordered last week came in today. That's going to help me a lot when it comes to shooting outdoors. It does marvelous things on water, skies and foilage. I can't wait to try it. I've had one before on one of my other cameras so I know what to expect, but I *so* needed one for my Canon. Also on the photography front, I picked up a few prints today from the weekend's photo sessions. I' m really liking what I'm seeing.

After work I went over to Publix to do some grocery shopping as I haven't got much in the fridge right now. I'm all stocked up once again. I took my time going through looking at all the different spices and ingredients they had. I might have to crank up my cooking again soon. I was hot and heavy into that a little over a year ago but as most of you know, it's a pain in the ass to cook for one person. Especially one who isn't big on eating leftovers. One of these days I'll have some folks over for some really fine dining - past favorites I've made were herb-crusted pork loin and filet mignon that I pan-seared then finished in the oven topped with a demi-glace sauce. It was fun to do all that but time consuming. I digress.

Ate a sub sandwich for dinner and watched some TV. Paid bills. Worked on a few more photos. I'm going to try and climb into bed a little earlier tonight. I'm tired.

While I had all this stuff out...

To make the best of the fact that the studio lights were still set up, Jaime and her sister came over tonight. The first order of business was to review the shots I took earlier last month and pick out her favorites. The second bit was to take some upper-body and head shots with the light setup.

It was nice meeting Courtney and her daughter. They ran some errands while Jaime and I were shooting. Like before she was very easy to work with. I did make it a point this time to shoot a photo of the gray card so I could easily color correct the shots under each of the different lighting conditions. Save me a bunch of time and guessing. She had fun with that - holding the card like it was a mug shot.

I didn't do too much today. Took a short nap and also knocked out 3 loads of laundry. I briefly thought about trimming the bushes in front of my place but found other things to do instead. I'm sure you know how that goes.

Here's a shot from my afternoon session with Jaime today.

Fabulous weather.

So far today, the weather has been glorious! It's a bit cool, but not uncomfortably so. Church went off without a hitch this morning - acoustic set and all. Playing the djembe makes you have to think a little more since there's only so many different sounds you can make on it unlike the drum kit where you've got all sort of options when it comes to playing. Still, it's easy to close your eyes and really get into the music with the single instrument.

I had to run over to Wal-Mart (ugh) to pick up some photos and some home stuff. It wasn't too crowded yet which made it a little more tolerable. As a side note, an amazingly beautiful woman was there with her kid. She wasn't just pretty, she REALLY stood out. Just thought I'd share that.

Last night, Jo came by with Scott to check out some of the shots I took the previous evening. I think she liked what she saw. Hopefully, I'll have her stuff all done sometime this week. Later on in the evening, Shane came over for awhile to see what I've been up to and talk a little about studio lighting. Good times.