Authenticity

Goodbye 2009.  Welcome 2010.
This is the year where my soul will bloom.
I am enough.
And I am ready!

"Let the world know you as you are, 

not as you think you should be, 

because sooner or later, 

if you are posing, 

you will forget the pose, 

and then where are you?" 

~Fanny Brice

The Star and The Moon

There must be a bazillion

different photos of this star

but how many are taken

by a third generation Austinite?

I'm just sayin'... .

There's no place like home...

  

Even the moon knows it's the best place to be.

Boys

"A boy becomes an adult

about two years before his parents think he does

and two years after he thinks he does."

~Lewis B Hershey

What a pleasure it's been this week,
to be with these boys,
who call me mother
without my ever having asked them to do so.

Reaping and Sowing

“But they that sow seed on the good ground

are the people that hear the word and understand it,

who indeed bears fruit and produces:

some hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

Matthew 13:23

Cakewalk

"You see, life isn't supposed to be all "cakewalk"
and no "baking."
Especially not for those who like
to experiment,
take risks,
and be surprised."
~Note From The Universe

Christmas

(Some of) The Family

The Tree

The breakfast spread

The pretty Christmas mess

The dog

The Youngest

The Oldest
 

The Missing

The Santa

I'm so grateful for all my family.  

In this case, to the part of my family
I haven't spent a Christmas with
since I was a child.

That was the real gift.

Merry Christmas

Each person in your life is there for a reason.  

And that reason always has something to do with love.

 

"Time was with most of us, when Christmas Day, encircling all our limited world like a magic ring, left nothing out for us to miss or seek; bound together all our home enjoyments, affections, and hopes; grouped everything and everyone round the Christmas fire, and make the little picture shining in our bright young eyes, complete." ~Charles Dickens 

"What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace."
~Agnes M. Pharo

The Natives

It's good to be a native.
"You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas."
~Davy Crockett
(my alma mater, too)

The Story

"I am in between stories. The old one is gone, and the new one is just beginning to take shape. When we already have a story we are heavily identified with, whether we appear to like this story or not, it is difficult to stay awake, to watch our thoughts and feelings without letting them dictate our actions. A clear story about who we are makes it hard to wait and let our actions arise from the deep and open emptiness of experiencing who we are right now, makes it difficult to allow actions to arise that may be inconsistent with how our story says we should move."
~Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Don't Squat With Your Spurs On

Randy's Riverview Market

Black ice cream?

Full Circle

"People are more fun than anybody."

~Dorothy Parker

Happy Holidaze...

A Trend

Hm.  Remember this?

Now this:

 It's a trend.

Letters

In the faces of men and women I see God, 

and in my own face in the glass, 

I find letters from God dropped in the street, 

and every one is signed by God's name.  

And I leave them where they are, 

for I know that wherever I go, 

others will punctually come for ever and ever. 

~Walt Whitman

Reverent

"It is only when we have the courage
to face things exactly as they are,

without any self-deception or illusion,

that a light will develop out of events,

by which the path to success may be recognized."

~I Ching

I feel reverent today.  

Extravaganza

So I've been working on the Unity Extravaganza over the weekend.  The show was so well received. Kelley G. Lover posted on FB:  "I am STAR STRUCK!! Everyone in the Christmas Extravaganza did an AMAZINGLY FABULOUS JOB! THat was the BEST Christmas show EVER!!" 

(Maybe we could call it that next year.) 

...WOW!! I am so PROUD! SO MUCH TALENT IN OUR CHURCH!! WOWWWWW!!!"

The show was quite fun - and performed by people who really enjoyed themselves, were enthusiatic and talented.  Gotta love a church where Robert Palmer's "Addicted To Love" complete with vacuous women in black dresses is one of the most well received numbers in a show... at a CHURCH.  Well, that and a bunch of men, mostly over 40, shaking their booties to "Staying Alive."  I'm surprised they weren't tipped by the women like it was Chippendales or something.

And it only took a few rehearsals, where I got some shots.  I didn't get a shot of O J Ferrar, the head of Bergstrom International Security, frisking Ellen on the stage.  I'm a little sad about that. Just a shot, above, of her working on the show with Laura. 

It was a great weekend.  And it's another great Monday.

Random Quotes and Photos

Being an artist means not numbering or counting, but ripening like a tree which doesn't force its sap and stands confidently in the storms of spring not afraid that summer may not come.  It does come.  It always comes." ~Rainer Maria Rilke

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed."
~Albert Einstein

"You think you're going bowling now?"

~Stella, Streetcar Named Desire

Road Closed?

It may be that when we no longer know what to do

we have come to our real work,
and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have begun our real journey.
~Wendell Berry

Time Flies!

Goodness! The time has flown since Thanksgiving. It'll be a new year before we know it. And for that I'm grateful. It's been a fantastic and very challenging year. Full of experiences, every one, worth having. Plenty of surprises of all sorts, too. Blessings, surprises and gifts from the most unexpected people and places. And a new life for me. So the last couple of weeks, lets see.... Dianne Reeves, but that was a white light photo. Wow. Amazing performance. Then there was Jane Monheit. She's adorable. Reminds me of my friend Andrea. Photos were of course prohibited for this AND Dianne during the show. I don't like doing that "after show get a picture with the artist" - so, lessee... I'll just move on to what I HAVE photographed recently.

I've done some families lately. And here's a snippet, unedited... . They're not the "best of the best" but they say something I like.

These guys were so snappily dressed, well behaved and perfect! They were so perfect I know that even though they're teenagers, their worst isn't bad. And they had a GREAT time with their mom. The shoot, and dinner afterwards was a pleasure.

Here's two great kids from a large family I did recently. These kids have modeling experience I think, or should. I took photo after photo after photo and neither of them required a lesson on posture or posing.

Ok, so Bella the Labradoodle is perfectly posed. Can you stand it?

This is Mason. Say no more.

A Little Girl's Enthusiasm

Usually the client tires before I do.
Not in Jaidlyn's case.
Four, and nearly five changes later,
I packed my gear.
Jaidlyn was great.
But she got pouty when it was time to go.

More Signs

As if it wasn't a bad enough name in the first place.

What A Game!

I don't do football, but I got invited to watch the game with a bunch of friends this weekend. What a crazy game - still - we won, and in honor of the win - this photo is going up (again.)

The Setting Sun

The setting sun, and music at the close,
As the last taste of sweets, is sweetest last,
Writ in remembrance more than things long past.
~Shakespeare

Dianne Reeves

A photo cannot possibly describe the experience
of being in the same hall with Dianne Reeves
and her band last night.
She's incomparable.
Best I can do is white light.
Wow.

Hmmm...

These are leaves

This is a fountain

The Tide

There is a tide in the affairs of men
Which taken at the flood leads to fortune
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
is bound in shallows and misery.
~Shakespeare

Bells

Sometimes Truth rings like a church bell.
Other times, It's a whisper.
Angels can make ears ring.
I'm learning to listen for all of It.