so this project...

yeah.

its a little harder than i thought it would be.

i actually thought people would be a little more receptive, help out a little more.

-_-

lame.

oh well.

we'll see how this goes.

my goal is to get 150 people.

i have, six?

i have a long ways to go.

if you want to help, then help, please.

thanks.

anything-trout

i keep getting IMs from a screen name with the word 'trout' in it..

desolate trout, rainbow trout, something trout.

and its freaking annoying.

i think it might be the same person who was leaving me blog comments, without a name.

it was definitely annoying.

people need to...grow up.

yes

at work today, one of the ceiling planks broke off and fell on a lady, while she was sitting down and eating.

it was quite comical, after the initial shock, actually.

she got free food for a few months..

that's cool.

project question

arrgh.

i'm a pirate.

so i stole this idea, sorta, kinda, yes, i did, from jeremy cowart.

i thought, man, that would be such a cool idea. 

i am going to do one myself.

it'll be a book, with 100 pictures of 100 different people, and then your question (think about this question; and you can even send me multiple, but ill only use ONE). this is what ill need:

1. name

2. a description of yourself based on this format (student / son/ photographer / host / pirate / etc.)

3. your age.

4. what your current career is.

5. where you live in the usa.

yes, alright?

i need these fast, so, the sooner you can give them to me, the better.

here is are some examples of questions:

are we going to be okay?

will you love me when you know me?

for what will our children be remembered?

should i do what i love or do what i do so i can do what i love on the side?

is there really a a way to truly be yourself and not be terrified at the same time?

the goal is to make the reader/viewer stop and think.

once i have your question, i need to take a picture of you. the end.

if i

let you into my heart, and have me, will you promise to try really hard this time around?

please?

i don't want that to happen again...

16 pictures

your greatest sin

is not the abortion that you've asked forgiveness for,

or the adultery, 

or ... whatever it is that you did in your life in the past that you're ashamed of, that keeps hounding you. 

your greatest sin is not that your greatest sin is not believing God's Word when God says you're forgiven. 

your greatest sin is ... unbelief.

you want to repent of something, friend? 

stop repenting of sins that you're already repented of, and repent of your unbelief. 

ten things millionaires won't tell you

10. "you worry about the Joneses - i worry about keeping up with the Trumps".

9. "money can't buy happiness".

8. "like my Ferrari? its a rental."

7. "i was a B student."

6. "taxes are for little people."

5. "you don't get rich by being nice."

4. "i have a concierge for everything."

3. "...but i didn't get rich by skipping on the lattes."

2. "i shop at walmart."

1. "you may think i am rich, but i don't."

piracy

is not theft.

it is piracy.

a hand guide.

theft removes the original.

piracy makes a copy.

sunset

a texas sunset:

holy cannoli

i need to make that.

seriously.

deep fried thing filled with cremes and chocolates. 

it is so delicious. 

notice on the left..

usa gold

it happened a littler closer than i had hoped..

but nonetheless, USA got it done down the stretch, to win the gold - 118-107.

now michael owes me $10. 

and i regret staying up to watch it all night.

steve, the pirate

from dodgeball, came in and ate at magnolia's pancake haus.

yeah. 

i didn't even realize who it was, until someone looked up his last name on an iphone.

he was such a cool guy, especially when it comes to ordering his drinks (i only sat him - but he was kinda funny when he ordered his drinks). 

i guess he lives in town or something; and, also, apparently, many famous people come and eat there because whenever  they come in (julia roberts and multiple spurs' players during the regular season) staff are not allowed to get pictures or autographs. 

there i am, with my pocketbook, waiting for an autograph, and the mangers say no; and then alan (steve the pirate does has a real name..) signs items for multiple customers. -_-

ugh.

oh well.

backpacking europe

anybody want to go with me?

i estimated, it'll cost anywhere from $1500-$2500.

i think it would be fun, actually.

taking pictures of europe...

man. 

now back to work.

hair and keyboards

why is it that every time i look down to my keyboard, i find a strand of hair on it?

it's frustrating and upsetting, and annoying. 

what the world would look like..

had the other side won.

and people wonder why we think it's wrong to let terrorists bomb America, and get away with it.

senior portraits

i decided i am going to venture into the the senior portraits business.

sounds easier said than done, though.

so if you need senior portraits, let me know.

they'll come out something like these, if you're a girl.

thank you, tara, for helping me out! :)

oh yeah - i think my prices are pretty good: $300 for an hour and  a half session, which includes:

1 - 16x20

2 - 11x14s

5 - 8x10s

oh yeah, and happy 19th birthday, tara, also. :) :)

wiiiiii

yep.

i got a wii. yes!

i bought a NEW iPod Touch for $150, and traded it for an in-the-box,sealed-nintendo-wii, a $250+ value.

anyways, im looking to get, call of duty 5: world at war, and star wars: the force unleashed.

that is going to be a bad @moneymoney game. 

come play on my 62" tv?

chuck

olympics.

chuck.

olympics.

chuck.

chuck.

chuck

chuck.

half a season later, olympics.

chuck.

enjoy chuck - or, sarah. 

yeah, that's why i haven't been posting lately. sorry!

so much space to write, so little going on..or something like that.

let's see.

in chicago, i needed a tie, so i borrowed my grandfather's tie, from his closet; but when i opened the closet, i found sixty journaled years in moleskin-type booklets.

i felt inspired, so now i do it; matt, no, i didn't steal it from you, although i realize now that you do it often - i stole it from my grandfather.

moving on, the have a new uniform code at work: khakis and a white top. ugh! i liked dressing up; now i have to go to express and get new pants. ugh.

one more thing. my dad told a family friend about my desire to pursue photography; turns out, there is a great school (sam houston state university) that offers a likewise great photography program. anyways: he is offering me three years of room and board - probably FREE. plus he is a super genius at computers, and he knows a lady with a multimillion dollar photography studio, that, at his word, would be willing to take me on as an apprentice. can you imagine that?

oh, now on to more chuck. 

michael phelps

perhaps the greatest olympic feat of all time, michael phelps just finished his seventeenth race in just nine days - something that has never been done before. nine of those races were qualifications so that he could swim in the finals. he didn't necessarily win the qualifications - but dang, he sure did win the finals. that's not even mentioning that in those eight finals, he set eight new records! seven world records, and one olympic record. 

the next closest olympic swimmer to phelps was spitz, in '72, in the munich olympic games, with seven gold medals; michael reached his seventh gold by out-touching second-place cavic by .001! notice off in the picture, michael is on the LEFT. 

anyways, here are phelps' (which i have to say, i keep typing pehlps...) races and times:

400 m individual medley, 4:07.22

4 x 100 m freestyle relay. 3:08.24

200 m freestyle, 1:42.96

200 m butterfly, 1:52.03

4 x 200 m freestyle relay, 6:58.56

200 m individual medley, 1:54.23

100 m butterfly, 50.58

4 x 100 m medley relay, 3:29.34

yeah. i love the olympics.

UPDATED: here is a video link with phelps and bob costas, reviewing the races.

ocean's

i just finished watching ocean's 12 with my mom.

surprisingly, she was fascinated with it.

we watched 11 last night, and she wanted to watch 12, so i borrowed 12.

now im going to go borrow 13 tomorrow, so we can watch that.

funny - i can't believe my mom likes these movies...

taco bell

first off, i would like to apologize to all my avid readers that i have been pretty dang busy these last couple days, and ill try harder to update every day like i've promised.

anyways.

the olympics are always fun to watch, they really are.

phelps is a monster - two more golds today, and he really is on set to get the world record of eight gold medals, set by mark spitz in '72 in munich, germany. 

i need to be in bed RIGHT now - but im gonna finish this.

i went sky diving monday - that was so awesome, that phrase in and in of itself being an understatement.

i can't even think of how to describe it; ok, this is a blog, ill try: free falling for 15+ seconds, and then floating to the ground for another three minutes - its insane how great it feels. 

well, the free falling scared the crap out of me, and i think i almost peed. but i didn't, and that is a good thing.

quite a few girls are leaving work, for college - im pretty sad, i won't lie; quite a few of them were hotties, and for the most part, they were all nice and sweet. just working with them for a month or so, im gonna be able to say that i miss them. 

and then taco bell! between the olympics and basketball, michael and i decided we're going to go to taco bell, to get some food; but taco bell had other plans, not giving us our food for a good 40 minutes - and im not exaggerating one bit.  i was pretty upset; we didn't even get free drinks: how lame.

i also got a new tv - a 62" DLP, by LG; this hdtv is HUGE: you need to come see it in action sometime. 

i got a new cd, by john coltrane, the very best of john contrane. it's great jazz.

i can't think of anything else, besides that my car is still in the shop.

tomorrow im going to go take some prints to work, and see what they think of them. 

now i need to go sleep.

g'night.

oh, wait.

i forgot; i know you won't read this, but i think it's extremely lame how after a good friendship for two years, all you can say is 'sorry', literally and figuratively. 

photography is not a crime

i sold my first pictures today.

i decided i want to sell pictures to help pay for college, wherever i end up going. 

so i sold my 'navy pier' and 'belmount harbour'; both for $20 - two 11x14's.

i think that's a good deal, no?

i want to end up selling 20x30's framed pictures for $150. 

we'll see.

anyways; i called marlon up and suggested we go downtown to take some 'skyline' pictures, now that his cousin laine is in town. he quickly agreed with my idea, and off we went.

long story short (cause i have church in the morning), i rode the elevator to the 25th story of the marriot hotel downtown, and then took the stairs to the 38th floor - took pictures, got caught by a security officer, gave my information to him, was let go; stopped again by the same gentleman, escorted to a policelady, explained to them i was not a terrorist, and they let me go.

like i said, photography is not a crime, no?

and there is no such thing as a 'thirteenth floor'; they just skip it - literally.

it goes 11, 12, 14, 15,  16...

sky diving

monday, that is what i am going to do.

am i stoked, or what?

i think im gonna take my camera, and see what kind of shots i can get from up there. 

phone

my lovely phone, the m610 from samsung, is screwing up.

i love samsung, but i always have problems with their phones.

nonetheless, i still think they make the best phones to date.

well, after the iphone, of course.

i want that so bad.

oh well.

im off to the sprint store to get that phone.

my parents

come home tomorrow. 

'tis a shame, because i was actually enjoying having the house all to myself these days.

i saw pineapple express.

i mowed the lawn.

i fed the dog.

i enjoyed a new recipe. 

i got my sb-600.

oh, no more things. :)

08. 08. 08.

man, im so excited for the olympics that start this friday.

seriously.

i started mentioning all the hotties in the olympics, but then i gave up after the list got way too extensive.

im still excited, and without a doubt i know USA will do superb.

swimming, men's basketball, and gymnastics are on my to-watch list. 

;)

i decided im going to do a top ten athletes list, so here goes:

10. logan tom, volleyball.

9. kelly southerton,  heptathlete. 

8. nastia liukin, gymnast.

7. natalie coughlin, swimmer.

6. becky hammon, basketball player.

5. hope solo, soccer goalie. 

4. amy acuff, high jump.

top three deserve multiple pictures.

3. allison stokke, pole vault; two, and three.

2. amanda beard, swimmer; two, and three.

1. jennie finch, softball pitcher; two, and three.

raspberry sandwich

did you know that 'raspberry' was spelled the way it is?

for some reason, i always spelled it rasberry, without the 'p', and no one ever corrected me, so i figured it was correct.

anyways.

about the sandwich - it was amazing.

so im gonna share it with you.

makes, um, one sandwich.

2 tablespoons mayonnaise (that's a hard word to spell)

2 tablespoons raspberry preserve

2 slices whole wheat bread

1/2 cup baby spinach leaves

2 slices honey smoked turkey

2 slices muenster cheese

optional, red onion slices, mmhm!

mix the mayo and raspberry preserve, and spread it generously over the slices of bread. 

add the turkey, cheese, spinach, and onions, and bam - you're good to go.

let me know, please, if you like it. 

thunderstorm?

i hear i missed some crazy thunderstorms in chicago.

i know i felt them on the way out, that is for sure. (see turbulence)

anyways, here am i, on the computer, making my blog look nice for y'all people, and i hear some loud @moneymoney thunder.

i am excited, for the rain - but i hope the power doesn't go out like it did in chicago - my dad said it is expected to be out for the next few days..

now i need to go to HEB.

alone

having the house to myself is quite different; i can pretty much do whatever i want, whenever i want...but it is not as i expected.

still, it is nice.

i had to mow the lawn, feed the animals, clean the house.

i feel, like an adult.

scary, i think.

but i guess it is a preview of what is to come when i go away to college - now hopefully, santa barbara (brooks photography institute).

now im off to buy food - oh oh.

white castle

i almost forgot. i went to eat at white castle in chicago. twice. these things are so freaking amazing, and if you've never had one, you are missing out - BIG TIME.

pretty much, they're two inch square, steamed hamburgers, with their only toppings being onions and pickles.

they make your breath smell bad, yes; but they are so good. i could probably eat 15-20.

turbulence

my flight home, from chicago, was pretty crazy.

my flight left at 8:20am, and so i left the house around 5:30am, in order to avoid chicago traffic - im glad i did.

also, thankfully it was only midway airport, and not o'hare.

anyways; it was a beautiful morning when i left the house - a gorgeous sunrise - and there i was, without my zoom lens to get a chicago-sunrise-skyline-shot. ugh! 

it was beautiful, though, and you'll just have to believe me.

i sat down at the terminal (after i bought a chicago cubs shirt, of course), and started editing some pictures; and then a super hot blonde chick walks up right next to me and sits right in front of me; dannnng! i hope you sit next to me! [alas, she was in aisle 10, while i was in 6..]

after being slightly distracted by the blonde bimbo, i turn to the left and notice it is super dark outside, and storming like crazy. that is never something im excited to see, especially when im about to board an airplane.

turns out it delays my flight fifty minutes. originally i was supposed to land in denver, to connect to san antonio, at 10am, but this caused me to land at 10:50am - 10 minutes before my connect flight at 11am! i landed on A42, and i had to be at A38 (that' what my boarding pass said, anyway), so i walk the fifty feet or so to A38, only to notice that this plane is bound for las vegas, and not san antonio. as much as i want to go to las vegas, not right now, not the time. turns out the plane was moved to A27, a ten minute walk from A38. man, with five minutes  to the plane was supposed to leave denver, i ran as fast as my legs could run all the way to A27, just in time, as the lady had to unlock the door for me. 

well, i landed in san antonio, obviously, and still hadn't eaten (i was planning on eating in denver). got home to find the truck DIRTY from bird crap; i hate bird crap, so i went to clean it., and i didn't end up eating till 4pm, arby's 5for5 deal.

oh well - i have the house to myself till thursday or friday. 

delayed

so my trip was delayed today.

i was supposed to leave around noon, in a truck with my uncle, but that never worked out - the AC apparently wasn't working, so we had to get it fixed, and being sunday, almost everything was closed.

anyways - i ended up getting a plane ticket back home that leaves around 6am; sadly, though, it is from midway, and not o'hare - i was hoping for a chicago-skyline-sunrise-shot.

oh well.

ill be home around eleven.

i have a stop in denver; that is cool, i've never been in denver.

no church = weird

it is so weird that i am not in church right now, and im off in home - checking my myspace and what not.

really, it is weird.

oh well.

now im going to get a chicago-style hotdog, and then we're off to drive twenty hours, my uncle and me.

(yes, that last phrase was correct english)

chicago, pt 4ish

as y'all avid readers can tell, i've been in chicago for all of this past week, albeit not under the circumstances i would have wished for, i have had a great time.

my grandfather's funeral was today, and it was truly beautiful; i know without a doubt he is, not only in a better place - but in heaven.

anyways, after the funeral, everyone was invited to my grandparents church, for a luncheon.

wow - there are just so many people in my family that i have never met; it is insane.

that can be a bad thing, though.

there were a few gorgeous girls walking around, and sadly, they turned out to be my cousins.

oh well - i met a new cousin, natalie; she is going to be a radio dj someday. 

after the luncheon, i decided to take a three hour nap before i went off to chicago, to take pictures (technically, im in hammond, in) before i leave back to texas tomorrow.

anyways, i over slept, and ended up going to dinner with the entire family. that was nice - i had some lemon pepper chicken, although it was kinda bland in my opinion. 

that finished, and off we went, back to grandmother's house.

and that's when my dad suggested we head to chicago (about a thirty minute drive), for some pictures; so off we went, at about 10:45pm.

i ended up getting a few cool shots, which can be seen at flickr.

tomorrow i head back to texas, with my uncle and aunt - and i will have the whole house to myself, for four or five days. oh oh.

all in all, i've had a great time in chicago, and although im going to miss my grandpa, his memory will always be with me.

ill never forget his motto - "live right."

eh

i've been in chicago this past week; with internet accessibility a rare commodity.

thus the lack of myspace/facebook/adium/blogger time.

anyways.
i've done a lot this past week.
drove from san antonio, to chicago - halfway.
then i recorded a song with my uncle mark, for my grandpa - you can hear it here.

i went to chicago to stay with my uncle for a night, and that is what i came out with.

now for the funeral in an hour and a half.