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I guess the biggest news since my last post is that we have a new puppy.  Our friends, Jen & Baron, rescued her from their next-door neighbors and gave her to us.  She was named Willa Mae, but we’re working on coming up with a less grandma-y name, with the front runners being Cara, Lily, and Tessie.  We’ll let you know what the final vote is.  She’s only a few weeks old, but she’s already bigger than Alex & Xavier were at the same age (appx 7 weeks), so she might end up being a big girl, although she looks like a black lab and I wouldn’t have expected it.  Her favorite pastimes, in addition to long walks on the beach and candle-light dinners, are chewing on anything she can fit in her mouth (noses and earlobes included) and sleeping.

Now for an update on my renewed running and fitness program.  It’s been over 10 days since I’ve done a damn thing, which isn’t good.  I did, however, get up and walk for 78 minutes this morning.  It felt good, and it was sorta nice to watch the world wake up.  I haven’t had that experience since running with Kim down on Hillsborough Street back when I was training for the NYC Marathon.  I’ll be keeping this up, if only for that great start to the day.

Photography-wise, things are slow.  I’m in the midst of prepping invoices, trying to design an album, returning calls for pro-bono projects, and putting together a shoot for the RSG Summer Project.  I did have one really interesting photo adventure this week though.  Saturday evening, just after walking in the door from a full day at the pool with Jen & Baron & Taryn, I got a call.  There was a wedding that night at the Duke Gardens (a 30-40 minute drive away), and they didn’t have a photographer.  The DJ was a friend of mine, and through Tommy, asked me to come shoot it.  I said I would, and asked what time it started.  He replied, “Right now”.  I told him it would be at least 45 minutes before I could be there and he told me they would wait for me.  Talk about pressure!  Skip to the end of the evening, and it was a beautiful wedding with a wonderful bride and groom.  Everyone had a great time, and I got some terrific pictures for them to remember it all by.  I was really glad I did it, and I was happy that I got the call at the last minute too.  I didn’t have to spend the weeks, days, and hours leading up to the event worrying and building anticipation.  I just showed up, shot, and had a great time!  If only all jobs could be this fun.

This has been quite a week.   There has been lots of work on the consulting front, and a couple of challenges/projects I’ve been working on have either been solved or are moving into the final phase.  I always like that.  I also had two gigs assisting a commercial shooter here in town.  There was a third gig lined up (it involved helicopters) but it was posponed due to the weather that day.

I’ve been walking/jogging, plus doing the situp and pushup stuff as well. Two of our friends had birthdays this week, so I had a drink with Gennie at Helios one day, and then dinner with Kendall at Lucky32 another.  Kendall’s boyfriend, Tommy, gave her an amazingly awesome gift, which brought tears to her eyes.  We were all impressed.

We have had a bit of automobile drama as one of our cars needs about $600 in repairs, and another failed the state inspection and needs one engine repair and a set of new tires.  I’m working quite hard to keeping my mind calm and thinking clearly about the various projects I have and need to complete quickly.  I’m having a bit of success in that area, which bodes well for the future.  I’m also, as always, on the lookout for a realistic and implementable task/project management system to help me keep all these things under control and on focus.

Taryn & I had a nice bit of downtime last weekend too.   We drove up to Virginia Beach last weekend and visited with friends on Saturday and Sunday.  It was great to be away from home, although the dogs came with us, and not have to worry about all the stuff we normally do on the weekends.  We did a bit of visiting, spent some time on the beach, and were taken parasailing!  We both had a blast, and we’re looking forward to doing it again (with a waterproof camera next time too!).

Looking forward to this weekend, we’re going to be quite busy.  I’ve got buckets of work to do, as well as plans for yardwork, compost bin building, blog-twitter-flickr training for a friend, and hitting a few yardsales with T.  I don’t see much relaxing going on, but we *are* going to see DARK KNIGHT at the IMAX theatre Saturday night.  It is *so* going to rock.

Speaking of movies, go to the apple website and check out the HD trailer for THE WATCHMEN movie.  I cannot wait for it.

Bookswise, I just finished listening to the audiobook version of David Sedaris‘ “When You Are Engulfed in Flames” and I’m currently listening to Orson Scott Card’s “Shadow of the Hegemon”.  Sedaris had me laughing out loud in my car, and getting strange looks from other drivers at intersections.  OSC, as always, is brilliant.  I’m working my way through his ENDER’S GAME series.  Excellent stuff.

IMAGE: This is Ian, a friend who works at my favorite coffeeshop, Helios.  He’s also a pretty talented photographer.  I was setting up my laptop so that I could shoot photos while tethered to it, which would allow me to see the images on my laptop screen (which is way larger and clearer than the camera’s LCD).  Ian swung by to visit with friends at the next table, and I shot him as he was checking out the test images coming up on my computer.

I only just realized that it’s been almost a month since my last post.  Slap my hand and send me to the “time out” chair.  Is there such a think as Blogomucil?  Because I am *far* from regular about my posting.  Regardless, let’s see if I can update on most of the things which happened this June.

I spent quite a few days working with Scott Dingman.  He’s a terrific commercial photographer, with 20+ years behind the camera.  I’ve been trying to keep my mouth shut and my eyes/ears open, and hopefully learn a thing or two about how to be a professional.  I know one thing for sure, I’ve learned that making a living with a camera is even more complex than I’d thought… which is saying something.  I’m indebted to Scott for so frequently hiring me for assisting jobs.  Without those opportunities, I would be making far slower progress than I am.

Speaking of slow progress, this year’s NYC Marathon is not going to include me.  Our annual running club was snubbed this year, with only 1 person, Dan, getting accepted.  We’re still going, of course, but most of us will be play the “support crew” role.  Not having the marathon to motivate me, I’m not doing as well with running as I should be.  Although Kim, David, & I make a spit-pact to work on our goals (one of the many reasons they’re laughing so hard in the photo), I have yet to really start working on my running.  There’s always tomorrow.

Another thing that is best done regularly, is cutting the grass.  That, unfortuneately, is proving a bit difficult for me.  When the inherited-with-the-house lawnmower came out of the crawlspace this spring, it was on strike.  After disassembling it and trying to reverse engineer the problem, I realized I had no clue what I was doing.  Luckily a friend of ours, Stan, is a whiz with small engines and came to my birthday party.  It took him under 60 seconds to diagnose the problem, which turned out to be a $0.75 part.  It arrived in the mail the other day, and I’m planning on rebuilding the mower before this weekend.  I hate to take away the employment of the neighborhood lawnmowing kid, but some things just gotta’ get done.

Two weekends ago was the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure here in Raleigh.  Too keep our streak up, Taryn and I both participated.  I’d like to say we ran it, but that would be stretching the truth like cheap spandex.  We enjoyed a brisk walking pace, and finished feeling pretty good.  As every year, I was amazed by the turnout.  About 28,000 participants turned out.  My first year running the NYC Marathon (2000) had 35,000 runners, and Raleigh is a damn sight smaller than NYC.

Additional June events included  seeing a few movies (The Happening, Iron Man, and The Incredible Hulk).  I thought all three were were great, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the summer movie season.  I’ve also caught up on a few films via Netflix (The Signal, Cast Away, The Gangs of New York, and City of God).  This past Saturday we helped Mary & Cristina move, which was fun since most of the Flickr Raleigh Social Group showed up to help.  We also attended a gallery night at Rebus where our friends Abby, Rob, and Tom had work showing.  All things considered, it was a pretty good month… if a bit on the hot side.

I was sitting in a photo seminar Tuesday, as they played a video. Ed Pierce, from Wilimington, NC, was the speaker, and we attended his presentation two years ago. He is a very funny, very dynamic speaker, and well worth the seminar’s fee.

In general, he talked about lighting, posing, gettng the most out of your equipment, and improving your workflow. He covered all that, including showing several videos. Most of them were of him demonstrating different things, or following other photographers as they work.

Then he showed a video for an organization called "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" (NILMDTS http:\\www.nilmdts.org ). I won’t go into what they do, but it is an amazing service that they provide. I can’t imagine doing what they do, but I think it is one of the finest things that any photographer can do.

Well, Taryn is back in South Africa for a month and I’m on my own again.  I am not a fan of this, but I can’t help but be happy for her to be with her Dad and Gran.  I know how much it means to her, and that makes me happy.  Then again, she’s not here to share things with, or joke with, or just sleep next to her.  Missing her makes me sad, but I’ll live.  Lucky for me, there is a ton of work on deck, so I’m going to keep super busy.  Lots of consulting, photography, and house work will get done during this month.  At least that’s the plan.

IMAGE:  This is the parking deck courtyard at the RDU airport.  I had just dropped Taryn off for her flight, and the image of a big empty space seemed appropriate.