Haven’t shot any soccer this weekend due to recovery, but I’m still waiting to see more participation from the parents as far as buying pictures.   Can’t work for free, you know!

My brother and his wife her in town over the weekend so I got to hang out with them.  Surprisingly, even though the camera was with me, I just hung out without taking any shots.  Of course, he ribs me about being a camera/photo geek so I wanted to avoid that too haha.

Over the weekend, Renee wanted me to come hang out and get some good pictures for a get-together that she was having.   Turned out to be a pretty good time.  Oh! And never have too much to drink when a photographer is around.

Also, on Monday, when I was about to mow the lawn, I saw my neighbor Ed out with his camera trying to take a picture of something.  Turns out that he had spotted a praying mantis in his garden.  I hadn’t had the chance to photograph any yet, so I was definitely more interested in doing that rather than mowing the lawn.  While there, I got some interesting shots of other insects around as well.

Well, it’s time to start cleaning up around the house!  Peace!

The House

Well, first and foremost, I ended up buying a house.   Nice little 3 bedroom in a quiet neighborhood, which is JUST what I’ve needed lately.  I would post pictures, but there are certain people who follow my blog that I really don’t want to take the chance in them knowing where I live, for I’ve had enough drama with them, but more on that later.  It’s pretty nice that I now have a nice front and back yard with PLENTY of space, which means more to mow.  But I’m finally able to utilize more space and really enjoy the peace and quiet.

So, what lead up to me buying a house?  Here are the reasons

1. Got sick and tired of people fighting outside in the parking lot of my apartment complex.  Either that or yelling, or loud music.
2. A crazy neighbor who thinks that somehow I’ve scraped his car with mine since both of our cars ended up with scratches in the same area.  Thing is that the paint on both cars is white, his was scratched deeply into the metal and mine was lightly scratched on plastic.  Not to mention the scratches didn’t line up and the angle was impossible unless my side view mirror wasn’t there.  So either someone scratched both of our cars, or he was trying to pull a fast one.  Either way, take it to the insurance company Jack.
3. Flooding toilets from upstairs pouring into my bathroom and hallway
4. Fat, heavy footed people above me on treadmills
5. People’s dog crap not being picked up
6. No longer able to keep my BBQ grill  (yea, this one was the straw that broke the camel’s back)
7. I had a good deal and it was a good time to buy

So yea, I’m pretty happy with the house and I’m finding out very quickly that home improvement, repairs, tweaks, etc.. will keep me busy and that home warranty companies are scam artists.  I also found out that I’m pretty decent at cutting pipe and replacing with pvc when I’m pretty pissed off.

But wow!! I’m getting great peace and quiet and I have great neighbors.

Photography

I’ve started to focus quite a bit more on photography lately since I’ve been meaning to expand on my income now that I don’t have as much toy money due to extra home expenses.  The finished portion of my basement has now been converted to a basic photography studio, but I definitely have some work ahead of me in getting it to the point where I’m pretty happy with it.   It’s got lower ceilings than before, but it’s teaching me to shoot in different ways in order to compensate so it’s cool.  Oh, and did I mention my neighbor looks for models to promote and coaches soccer?  Cha Ching!  I’ve already done a modeling shoot for him and he and his model are very pleased with the results.  Hopefully, there will be more to come.  Also, expect more zany and interesting photos now that I have more space to work with.  Not to mention plenty of creatures in my backyard to shoot.  Here’s a shot of the studio.  And a few other shots of some interesting things I’ve found crawling around and other zany stuff.

Drama

Wow, I don’t even know where to start or how much to say on this one since the smoke hasn’t cleared yet.  But basically, I’ve found out that when you befriend the opposite sex, sometimes they really hide who they are on the inside. We’ll refer to this person as “A”.  And sometimes, they can be more emotionally involved with you than you think, and well, when another person comes along and you suddenly find yourself in a very good friendship with a new friend who we’ll refer to as “B”, then A can tend to get jealous, spread rumors, and cause a 3 police car ruckus and plenty of fallout and angry feelings.  So yea, women are friggin crazy and psychotic.  So A is no longer in the picture.  Good riddance.   Although I’m still on damage control from the lies and angry emotions that resulted.   Even those in close association with A, I tend to be weary of.  And keep my distance as much as I can.  It could have been much worse if B hadn’t been such a great friend and warned me in advance of what was to come.  I’ll pretty much stop here and not give any more details.

Summary

Okay, so I got a house, made some friend changes, and I’m starting to focus on making gains in my photography business more so than ever.  Hey Kelsey, perhaps I’ll even start to do weddings now.  How about that? hehe.  Speaking of friends, I noticed that there were some missing in the gallery that should have been there a long time ago.  I’ll get that corrected tonight.

Oh! And before I forget.  Be sure to check out the blog that I’ve recently assisted in setting up for a coworker.  Especially if your a mother.  Whether you’re old or new to the parenting game, you might find some interest in the latest blog from my dear friend Sophia.  You can find her at http://www.oisso.com

Peace out!

Day 1 – Wednesday, November 21

Got off of work in the morning and started making final preparations to head down to Hobbs, NM, where Jonathan’s parent’s stay.  From there, we’ll be going on to Las Cruces on Friday.   Since I work night shift, and I had to make some final preps before leaving as far as camera equipment, and getting my hair cut, there wasn’t much time for sleep.  I figured I should be pretty good to go anyways.  Apparently, my common sense failed to realize the concept of a 14 hour drive.  I drove part of the way, but Jonathan took the majority on the way down.  Tried to get some sleep, but apparently, I don’t sleep to well in a moving car, even when a blanket and a pillow are involved.   We eventually arrive in Hobbs around 5:30 in the morning.  My mind was pretty much in a zombie state at that point.  There were a few times that I blanked out for a short while when trying to sleep, but not enough to get any full REM cycles in.

There was a moment that I thought was pretty heartwarming when we got in Hobbs.  Me and Jonathan crawled into the beds in the boys room as soon as we got there.  I took one of the unoccupied beds and Jonathan just crawled into bed next to his son.  His son, not knowing if this was his Grandpa or someone else, couldn’t recognize Jonathan in the dark, not to mention being suddenly awakened at 5:30ish in the morning.  So how does he recognize his father?  He ends up sniffing him, and recognizing his father’s scent, gives him a big welcome home hug.  I say it’s moments like this that cancel out all the diaper changes and broken items around the house.  When I have children, I hope they can recognize me by my scent.  But hopefully, it’s not a stench.

Thursday

Thursday is kind of a chill day.  Woke up in the morning to the smell of some Ox Tail soup, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like.  Except I think it’s cow tail.  I initially thought it was the smell of the town since Jonathan mentioned that the town had a distinct smell due to the oil pumps strewn about the town.  So yea, starting off, it doesn’t have the greatest of smells, but later on, it gets good.  I wasn’t too keen at first on eating soup with cow tails in it, but after trying it out, I quickly went for a second bowl without hesitation.

By midday, Jonathan’s other two sons had joined us, and I had quite a bit of fun harassing his twin boys from time to time.  Other than helping for a bit in his parent’s cleaning business, Thursday was pretty much a chill day.  Got plenty of time to get some rest as well.

Friday

Early in the morning, we head out for Las Cruces.  The trip took around 5 – 6 hours with the various stops that we took during the trip, including taking some time to get some good shots of some snow covered cactuses on the mountain as well as a slight detour to a town slightly off the beaten path to get a stranded lady back home. Got a few decent shots, but there were some absolutely GOERGOUS shots that I decided to pass up on due to time restraints.  Kicking myself at the moment for missing the clouds flowing through a gap in the mountains as if they were water flowing through rocks in the stream.  Very beautiful indeed.   But I definitely didn’t want to hold up the trip to Las Cruces for everyone else, so I decided to pass. 

Note to self: Get an extra rental car and leave early

We finally arrived in Las Cruces and stopped to get a bite eat.   One of the things that I noticed off the bat is that the majority of the people there were hispanic, which didn’t bother me, because I got a soft spot for the latina’s hehe.   It was surprising to see Palm trees for the first time in my life.   I typically only thought that you saw them in either California, or Florida, but even though it was cold here, apparently, it’s not too cold for the Palm trees.   After eating we chilled for a short while with some relatives of Jonathan’s and then headed to the location where the wedding and reception were going to be taking place.

Some of the key things that I picked up on about this place were that the ceilings were tall, painted black, and the walls were covered in a black tarp.   To non photographers, it’s not a big deal, but for a photographer, the high celing means that he can’t effectively bounce his flash for the lighting and and the black paint and tarp will absorb more light than they reflect.   And on top of that, the lighting was pretty low, so I had my work cut out for me.  And quite frankly, I wasn’t sure on how I was going to approach it as far as shooting.  So I figured I would get some test shots and some light readings on meditate overnight on how I was going to resolve the lighting issue.  We headed back to the hotel and checked in.

Saturday

Woke up, had some breakfast, and while doing that, texted the bride to see where she was at so I can plan some time to get the formals and behind the scene shots done.   She and the bridesmaids were getting their hair done an hour away in El Paso and it just happened to start snowing there, causing several roads to be closed out.   At that point, I was quite sure that plans to get started on the formals around 1:00 weren’t going to happen.   That caused me to sweat quite a bit and try to figure out what I’ll do in the meantime to pass the time and prep for the wedding, so I decided to head back to the hotel room and make sure that the camera’s were prepped and ready to go.   The last thing I need is to be in the middle of a wedding and run out of space on the memory cards or get a dead battery in the middle of the ceremony.

After a short while, the bride was back in town and starting to get prepped.  Although things were running behind schedule.   By the time she was dressed and ready to go, we only had 45-50 minutes until the wedding was ready to start.  with travel time, that only left me 30 minutes to do the formals and I haven’t even seen the place that we were going to do the formals yet.   That was a mistake on my part.   I should have checked that out the previous night or just borrowed the car and checked it out in the morning.  Lesson learned.  I was only able to get off a handful of posed shots before we had to rush out to make it to the wedding on time.

Note to self: Become MUCH more bossy and affirmative when shooting weddings and events.

For the wedding itself, I was able to get off quite a few shots.   And since I knew everyone there, I felt a bit more comfortable with moving around during the ceremony to get shots.  Hopefully, my flash wasn’t causing too much of a distraction during the ceremony.   During the reception, I fired off even more shots, hoping to get a higher count of good photos with the higher shoot rate due to the lights being turned down for the dancing.   By the time the ceremony and reception were done, my back was in a good amount of pain.

We retired back to the hotel later on where I indulged in some beer, pizza and hot wings.  I’m quite sure that I exceeded my suggested calorie count for the day with the wings that I ate, but man, those things were absolutely delicious.  Some sort of parmesian flavored wings.   I forgot the name of the place that made them, but next time I head down south, I’ll have to put that place on the list of places to stop.

I was sharing a room with Jonathan and his boys in Las Cruces and in the previous night, him and the 3 boys shared a bed, so I got lucky with having a bed to myself, but this night, I wouldn’t be so lucky.   With the youngest being with the grandparents, the other two were with us.  One in Jonathan’s bed and the other in mine.   Little did I know that these boys were the best bed hogs in the world.  My ex girlfriend has nothing on these boys when it comes to invading personal space.   There were times in which I would wake up just in time and see myself pushed to the edge of the bed, with only and inch to spare before falling to the floor below.   Fortunately, I made it through the night without injury.

Sunday

After breakfast, we got ready to head back to Hobbs.  Spent some more time with Jonathan’s family and said some final goodbye’s before we departed on the 5 hour trip back to Hobbs.   Even made good friends with the small canine member of their family who seemed to be particularly comfortable in my arms.   Yea, I admit, I do dig on animals.   Especially when they are quiet and not trying to lick youf face at every opportunity they get.

One the way back, I was able to fire off a few more shots of the mountains by basically holding the camera out the window and shooting blindly with the wide angle lens towards the mountains.  For the most part, the composition was off, obviously, but a few of them turned out pretty decent.   Not much color in some of the shots but still cool nonetheless.

When we got back to Hobbs, we helped out in the cleaning business some more and then chilled back at the house.  It was good to be able to sit down and chill for a while after spending so much time either on the road, or dealing with the wedding.   Time for a some beers, chicken, shower, and a good nights sleep.

Monday

Nothing much to mention except the looooong drive back to Kansas City.   Didn’t get back home until 9:45ish, and by that point, I was much more exhausted than I anticipated, so I had to take a day off of work.

I’m still feeling pretty drained even though it’s now Thursday.   Having 5 days off and actually being able to sleep during the evenings and then coming back home to a graveyard shift job really wreaks havok on the body.  Looks like I’ll be vegging a bit later on this week so the body can recover.

While driving into work tonight, I really started to reminisce about the days back when I was a teenager.   Very few cares in the world with so many things to do.   So many memories, so many good times.   I remember knocking on my friends windows or hearing a rock hit up against mine well after midnight.  Sneak downstairs, grab one or 2 of mom’s beers from the fridge, and just head outside with the boys.   We wouldn’t go anywhere, just sit there, sip on some beers and just talk about whatever came to mind.

I remember sitting on my porch, with my first girlfriend sitting between my legs as we just chilled under a moonlit sky.  Her leaning back against my chest with my chin resting on her shoulder.  Her necking being just a soft kiss away.  Conversation going on for hours.  And copping a feel every now then then, hearing an innocent giggle in return.

I remember chilling down in the small town of Versailles, Missouri, where we used to visit one of my grandmothers.  Small town country area.  Sometimes, we went down there just to get away from the sounds and distractions of the city.  No sirens, no traffic, just peace.   Sitting under a tree in the pasture and just reading a book.  And during the evening, just sitting down on the porch and enjoying the wonderful natural sounds of the early night.  And grandma’s made from scratch soul food cooking.  No mixes out of a box here!  The real deal mash potatoes, fried chicken, and apple pie.

Now, in these days and times, those moments are very rare.  The things we took for granted in our younger years are the things that we now crave.  Every now and then, I just want to call up a few of the boys, at 9:00 at night, go to a park with a few beers and just talk about old times till early in the morning.  Or sit on the edge of a lake with a buddy and a fishing pole and just relax for the whole afternoon.

I miss those days.

I have to admit, I’ve been a little bit evil lately to quite a few of my friends.  Some more than others, and to others, not at all.   Not evil as in the set your world on fire type of evil, but more along the lines of not caring as much as I used to.   Actually, in most cases, I never did “used” to care, I just listened and pretended to care.

I know that it’s a wrong way to think, but I’ve thought a lot about what I’ve put into my friendships and associations and what I’ve gotten out of them.  Now, I’m not saying that I’m looking to always get something out of a friendship though.  As a matter of fact, people in my inner cliche will tell you that I’m one of the most giving, most loyal individuals that you’ll ever know.  And therein, lies the problem.  Some people tend to take advantage of giving individuals.  Some don’t even know that they are doing it.

When you get to a certain point, it becomes apparent that the quality of your friends is much more important than the quantity.  And when you are a giving individual, it becomes much more clear after time that you really need to determine who’s truly there by your side, and who there just because they know you’ll always hook them up with whatever they are looking for.   Who’s there when you need them the most, who calls you when they haven’t heard from you in a while.  Who calls you up for dinner?  Who invites you over for some movies and dinner?  These are all factors that I’ve started taking into consideration.

I guess that it’s really about time that I started thinking more about myself and concentrating on the things that I want to get out of life, which includes my spirituality, and my future.   And to also say the things that need saying to the people around me.  Quite a few things that I’ve bitten my tongue on for the sake of peace, but in retrospect, I think that was a bad idea.  Besides, some people REALLY need to be told what’s on my mind.  It may offend them, but hey, that’s just how I feel.  Some have already caught the blunt end of the stick.

To my male associates:

• I really don’t care how many women you have in your harem.  You’re no longer a teenager, grow the hell up.  Stick with one woman, take care of your kids and be a man.
• It would be nice if you’re at one of my BBQ, to donate to the food cause.
• And while we’re on the subject of BBQ, don’t come by, eat food, and then immediately leave.  Don’t expect an invite back if you do. 
• I know I got quite the bachelor pad, with game systems, and plenty to do for those of the male persuasion, so it’s understandable that your kids want to come over.  But for god’s sake, man up and discipline your little crumbsnatchers and keep them under control or I will.
• Just because your wife pissed you off doesn’t mean that you should vent about your relationship over at my place.  Just come in, grab a beer, grab the Xbox controller and shut up about your marriage life.  Some of us are still single, and therefore don’t wish to hear about your relationship issues.  Rant to some other guy who is married.  Valid subjects are gaming, football, hot actresses/models, science fiction, and religion. If you feel you have to vent about a relationship, then we’ll head to a bar, but you can’t ruin the Zen of my bachelor pad.
• Don’t gripe to me about the dealings with your baby’s mama who you had sex with outside of marriage, no condom, and who you were playing on anyway.  You reap what you sow idiot.
• No I don’t want a roommate.  Yea it’s cheaper, but I only have a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment.  The odds of me accidentally seeing another man without his pants on increases exponentially in these situations.  We’re cool, but we’re not that cool. 

To my female associates:

• If you are a friend, you’re either REALLY tight, really cool, or I have or had a love interest in you in the past.  Know which one you are, and learn to take that into account.
• The really tight, and really cool groups are allowed to talk about their relationships and come to me for advice for dealing with men.  Past love interests do not have this privilege.  You’re still cool and we can still talk and hang out, but if you have the desire to talk about your date last night with man of your dreams, do me a favor and don’t.  It’s basically the equivalent of rubbing it in my face and that that point, in my mind, you become the biggest bitch on the planet.  Honestly, if you’re not hooked up with me, I really don’t care.  It’s cold, but that’s how I roll.
• The only exception to the above rule is if I’m already in a relationship and my current girlfriend is much better than you.
• If I call to check up on you and you are going through some man hating phase just say “Hey, thank you for checking up on me, but I just need some time to vent”.    Don’t go on some damn rant about how all of us men suck and we’re all no good.  This will get you banned from the circle.
• And while we’re on that subject, don’t try to sleep or hook up with two of my male friends at the same time.  And don’t expect sympathy from me when you get busted out. 
• Just because your girlfriend is single doesn’t mean that we’ll automatically be a good match.  Please stop trying to hook me up with your evil friend who hates anything with a penis.
• If you don’t have a love interest in me, please don’t prance in front of me in skimpy outfits, wear sexy clothing when we hang out, or kiss me anywhere but the cheek.  Hugs longer than 3 seconds are also prohibited. Mixed signals will get you banned.  I am not a test subject to determine how hot you are to the opposite sex.  Basically, no teasing me.

Besides whatever my rant implies, I have quite a few close friends in my inner circle that keep me going.  People who can call me up for anything and I’ll do it without regret.  This isn’t all of them, but some of the ones I think about the most.

1. My Siblings and their spouses
2. Cynthia - I can come to you with ANYTHING! You and your husband are the absolute bomb.
3. Pablo – I won’t forget about the time I got food poisoning. I woke up in the hospital and there you were.  Thanks for taking me man!
4. The Twins – you fools don’t show up half the time, but when it matters, you’re there.  The family life keeps you guys busy though, so I understand.
5. Karita – I think you’re the only one in the “Women I’ve had a crush on but never hooked up with” that I would bend the rules for.  Your insight, wisdom, advice,  and encouragement has helped keep me on track.  Whoever you end up with will be a lucky man. Anything you need, just ring.
6. Jonathan – We don’t talk too much, but you’re always there.  We need to hang out more often
7. Kelsey – Man, your 6th sense seems to go off whenever things aren’t right.  Don’t worry, I’ll be down soon enough to hang out with you and your wife.
8. Amos – Don’t worry man, I’ll come up to upstate New York to visit.  Hope things are going well in the chiropractic business.
9. Scott and his wife – Keep me spiritually strong
10. Denny – We need to get some bowling going on man.
11. Rachel – Haven’t forgotten about you girl.