much to be thankful for

everyone has gone to bed at my parents' house on westmoreland circle. it is the night before thanksgiving, and we are all here: my parents, my sister and her family including the 18-month-old, and myself. it's the first time i've been home in a few months. it's always nice to be here. i just have less responsibility when i'm here.

anyway, i just finished a phone conversation with rachel, who is still in jackson. it's the phone conversation we always have before we fall asleep in distant beds. in some small way, i think it simulates our pre-bedtime conversations concerning the day past and the day ahead. that simulation seems to lighten load of being apart.

all of these things have inspired me to write a list of things that i have to be thankful for. i have a wonderful life. the list could be hundreds of items long. but, i'm going to keep it to 10, because i am tired and ready to go to bed. so, here they are...in no particular order...

i am thankful for:

1. true love and how lucky i am to have been in the right place to find it. and to have found a person that reciprocates it in every way imaginable.

2. being born into such a loving, supportive family who i am lucky to be able to have a bountiful thanksgiving dinner with

3. my amazing cast of friends both in jackson and elsewhere

4. a new leader and hopefully a new direction for our country

5. the fact that the only part of my life affected by the current "financial crisis" is my 401k

6. being an adult that is capable of caring for myself and others (when the need arises)

7. the abilities and talents that allow me to take my life in whichever direction i choose

8. being able to live a comfortable life when so many are unable to do so

9. everything in my life that has created this person that i currently identify as myself and the space for that person to continue to grow

10. a future of endless possibilities limited only by the choices i make

to anyone who reads this blog, i wish you a happy thanksgiving and challenge you to make your own list. we are all more blessed than we realize.

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found

so, i just got home from seeing the second Daniel Craig interpretation of James Bond in Quantum of Solace.  It was good, but not nearly as good as Casino Royale.  I blame it on a lack of character development.  That's not why I decided to post though.

While searching the internet to avoid clearing off my bed to go to sleep, I have come to realize that I have failed to mention one of the most important things going on in my life right now...possibly the most important...

Rachel

We are very close to entering our fourth month together!  I can't believe it either, but I'm fairly sure that she is the best thing that has ever happened to me.  Since there are only 2 or 3 people that actually read this blog, I'm sure you guys are aware of this.  I just want to put it out there for the world to have the ability to see.  

I can't remember a time in my life where I have smiled so much and so enjoyed being alive.  If you are a friend of mine on Facebook, you have no doubt seen pictures of our conquests together in the past few months.  This weekend, she is in Mobile for work, and I miss her terribly.  We've been apart for longer, so I think we can both make it through the two nights without each other.

Anyway, just wanted to mention her.  The picture above is one of my favorites of her!

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convergence

I've witnessed this phenomenon once before in my life.  I have yet to find a name for it, but there should really be one.  It happens at sunrise or sunset when the sun is really low on the horizon.  A low cloud can cast a shadow that, due to perspective, converges on the opposite horizon.  Very cool to see.

If it's unclear in this picture, the sun is actually setting behind me.

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texture of time

time has an effect on things that man cannot mimic.  this texture...the colors, the feeling, the smell...is what gives an object its character and tells its story.  

i love photographing old things for this very reason.  the beauty does not lie in the physical attributes of the object, but in what those attributes represent...time.

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Finally...another post

My intention has been to start writing on this thing, but writing is hard.  And, I'm not sure if I'm quite ready for it.  In the meantime, I would like to share with you in a more familiar way.  I'm going to try to post a picture or two occasionally (taking from my good friend, Crystal Coleman at daylightsrest.blogspot.com).

For the moment, I am without Photoshop, so I will be unable to adjust my pictures in any way.  If you know of a way for me to get Photoshop for a reasonable price, please do let me know.

Thanks for visiting again!

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my newest friend

after much research and soul-searching (and a federal tax refund), i've finally taken the plunge to join at least the 20th century of photography.

meet my new friend. he does not have a name yet but will soon. be on the lookout for new images...

green with sunburn

a compilation of photos from the krewe of kids who can't read good and who wanna learn to do other stuff good too...

st. paddy's day 2008...jackson, ms

a poem

the lesson of the moth by Don Marquis

i was talking to a moth
the other evening
he was trying to break into
an electric light bulb
and fry himself on the wires

why do you fellows
pull this stunt i asked him
because it is the conventional
thing for moths or why
if that had been an uncovered
candle instead of an electric
light bulb you would
now be a small unsightly cinder
have you no sense

plenty of it he answered
but at times we get tired
of using it
we get bored with the routine
and crave beauty
and excitement
fire is beautiful
and we know that if we get
too close it will kill us
but what does that matter

it is better to be happy
for a moment
and be burned up with beauty
than to live a long time
and be bored all the while
so we wad all our life up
into one little roll
and then we shoot the rool
that is what life is for
it is better to be a part of beauty
for one instant and then to cease to
exist than to exist forever
and never be a part of beauty
our attitude toward life
is come easy go easy
we are like human beings
used to be before they became
too civilized to enjoy themselves

and before i could argue him
out of his philosophy
he went and immolated himself
on a patent cigar lighter
i do not agree with him
myself i would rather have
half the happiness and twice
the longevity

but at the same time i wish
there was something i wanted
as badly as he wanted to fry himself

this poem is featured in Good Poems for Hard Times, a collection of poems selected by Garrison Keillor

photo of the day

i took this photo on december 8, 2006, on the way from the rehearsal of the first wedding i shot to the rehearsal dinner. i saw this sunset, and had to pull over.

i'm not sure if i've ever seen one quite as beautiful as this. to me, it symbolized a great beginning for rob and julia.

great sunsets happen often. i tended to notice them more when i lived further down fortification street, and had to drive west to get home every afternoon. but, on special days like this one, they tend to stick in your mind.

[c]orrection

in my first post as well as some of the emails i sent out concerning the party on february 7th, i stated that there would be an OPEN bar. i don't know why i would get open and cash confused, but sometimes, my brain is weird.

so, just for clarification...the bar at hal and mals will be a CASH bar meaning you will have to pay for your own drinks. believe me, i wish i was at a place in my life where i could afford for everyone to have a good time. perhaps my 40th will include an open bar!

sorry for the confusion. i hope to see many there.

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first things first

so, i'm turning 30 and decided to throw myself a party. well, who else is going to do it?

on thursday, february 7 (which IS actually my birthday), my fellow aquarian and good friend christen hancock will be throwing ourselves a little shindig at hal and mal's (the brew pub room next to the courtyard) in downtown jackson. there will be some food, an open bar, and great music by meat and greet+some. most importantly, there will be good folks.

we'll be getting started around 8 and going for a while.

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