11:26am: it is finished.

she has fought the good fight; she has finished the race.

persevered, endured, and then received her reward. 

she now walks among the pantheon of ancients, dancing with the angels.

it is well with my soul.

my mother

is in ICU. 

she's been there since three or four this afternoon (friday, the 26th).  

she has not been healthy for a long time. four years, actually.  

she actually has cancer. 

well, she's had it for four years - that's a little fyi for those who might have not known.  

anyways. 

up until recently, she had been doing ok (as ok as a cancer patient can be, i suppose, right?), and i had not been worried about her at all, always knowing she'd be just fine in the end.  

well, a few weeks ago dr. amy lang called and said her oral chemotherapy was not working, and she needs to stop, so that she can get on another kind of treatment. 

im like, ok, cool. 

let's get this other one started. 

but no, not that simple. 

and thus there's been a delay for a few weeks now, with no cancer treatment whatsoever; result? extremely weak person.  

so weak, she had to be rushed to the ER today, just to stabilize her body; except that her liver is kinda shot, and unlike the kidneys, the liver can't be brought back up to 100%.  

anyways, she's dying, the doctor said, and i freaked out, obviously, when i heard this a few hours ago. 

however, she is sorta kinda stabilized, except not really. 

her immune system is shot right now, so that needs to be fixed.  

im not writing this to try to obtain any sympathy, nor am i trying to ascertain what kind of friendship i have with anybody based on the response i get.  

no, neither of those things.  

i just want prayer; fervent prayer, please.  

oh, and her name is yolanda; yolanda teran, my mother. no, not my mother, my mommy.

to all the people who say 'xmas'...

WHAT THE HECK IS XMAS?  

seriously. 

say it out loud.  

XMAS.  

please, somebody explain it to me.  

i keep hearing it, but i don't know of any holiday called xmas. 

i don't see anyone ever saying 'hween' in place of halloween.  

and for those trying to just take 'christ' out of the equation: heads up. 

ever since original manuscripts of the bible have been found, the symbol 'x' was used in place of christ, because of the cross he was on.  

anyways. please explain to me why you use xmas. 

thanks, and merry christmas.

all because i obeyed...

it really is true, obedience brings about great things. 

lets start from the beginning.

i graduated high school in may 2007, with the idea that i wanted to be an editor in chief of the new york times, or some other liberal newspaper. where i wanted to study, i wasn't exactly sure, but i thought i knew exactly what i wanted, and where i wanted to go in life.

since i had no idea where i wanted to study just yet, i was frustrated, scared, and nervous. 

always quick to a suggestion, my dad had the idea that i attend ibc for one year, just to tithe a year of my life to God, and get my thoughts straight and whatnot. in all honesty, i had no desire to attend ibc whatsoever, and i voiced my opinions openly. i didn't plan on becoming a missionary, or going into the ministry whatsoever. 

however, in obedience, i went. 

and my, what blessings have come as a result of it, blessings, blessings, and blessings galore.

not only blessings, but opportunities - im amazed. 

let's start.

pablo cortez.

he was a classmate in pentateuch, english, and life of christ. 

at first we weren't friends or whatever, and we never hung out.

but then we hung out a few times, and we started becoming friends. 

pablo is marcos witt's personal assistant. 

imagine the chances?

and then along came sir witt's world tour. 

chile, brazil, honduras, new york, chicago, los angeles,  houston, and AUSTIN. 

and when austin came, pablo needed a ride home, can  you imagine that?

so, who does he call? david. his new best buddy.

and along with david being a taxi, sure enough he brought his camera to be a photographer - for marcos witt.

and guess what, marcos witt loved the pictures. marcos witt. marcos witt. marcos witt. THE MARCOS WITT, the famous one. 

and after marcos liked the pictures, he asked me to take pictures of josue gonzalez, the pianist i recently took pictures of.

the way i took pictures then really helped me perfect that particular style, and now it is showing in my latest pictures of isaiah. my goal is to sell this idea to the school, and take their sports portraits; all of them - basketball, baseball, soccer, volleyball, and even possibly the cheerleaders. 

imagine that. 

all because i obeyed...

josue gonzalez

is an amazing pianist.

at only 14 years old, he is already quickly becoming the best piano player in the world.

i am honored i got the opportunity to work with him, and am excited that my work will be propelling him around the world. 

sir witt has been a great blessing for giving me this opportunity. 

thank you. 

winfield little

yes, i got the internship.

i start sometime this week.

i am so freaking excited.

they are so freaking amazing at what they do.

i am actually going to be starting with just the editing.

good thing that they use aperture, just like me.

bad thing, they are canon users. lame.

oh well - maybe i'll switch? heh.

krispey kreme

doughnuts make me SUPER HYPER.

well, six of them at one time.

hosanna in the highest

a few days back, a pretty girl added me on facebook, claiming to have known me about ten years ago. lo, i didn't remember her, but i wasn't about to push an attractive girl away. 

anyways, we got to talking, and it turns out i did end up remembering her; she was actually an annoying brat back in the day, and i didn't like her at all. haha.

so we hung out tonight, at ihop, and that was a blast.

she's still just as annoying as before.

pssh, just kidding.

i don't even know why i thought she was annoying before - im such a loser. 

i can definitely see myself making this a good friendship..

at least i hope it becomes one.

finally!

i got a car.

a 2004 mitsubishi lancer ev, with 50,304 miles.

im not going to tell you how much i paid for it, nor how much i am trying to get rid of it for.

but i posted it on craigslist already.

ha.

it's fast, and i like it.

but i'd rather have more money than a car. is that greedy?

freelance photographer, anyone?

"Dear sir,

 

My name is David Teran, and I am an aspiring photographer. I will be enrolled at the Art Institute of Houston in April 2009. I am now seeking a position as a freelance photographer with the EXPRESS NEWS. As an accomplished musician, the ideal capacity I seek would be as a photographer dedicated to concert events. Here are a few of the most recent projects that I’ve done.

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3044/2936188812_6a82f46cdd_b.jpg

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3174/3085728216_075ab1f066_o.jpg

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3183/3085727368_411b7e89e1_o.jpg

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3043/3084889559_633277a0ba_o.jpg

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3225/3048648956_4b390b0d03_o.jpg

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3243/3030815713_f0007d27fe_o.jpg

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3023/3030815121_04a1fda661_o.jpg

 

Please contact me at your earliest convenience to discuss the opportunities that we can explore together. I look forward to hearing from you and collaborating on some exciting work soon!

 

Respectfully,

-David Teran"

i hope that works, and gets me a press pass!

breakup letter

HILARIOUS.

basketball portraits

i bought some more gear, about $300 worth of gear, hoping to capitalize on the basketball teams at cornerstone.

i really have been enjoying taking pictures of the teams; even though i will be the first to admit that my basketball pictures SUCK, i humbly know that they are much better than anything that the kids had before, thus the reason i keep on shooting. 

actually, i think i mentioned, my goal is to go with the team (guy's varsity) to nashville for nationals; dang, that would be sweet. i am warming up to all the guys, and even the coach, so that is a start. 

i asked coach ice (that's what he is called) what they do for basketball portraits, and he said he didn't like what they did last year, so maybe i could give it a shot; well, this is what i am hoping to deliver, something along these lines:

 

believe me when i say i am stoked to try to make that happen.

peace, and good night.

internship

i am trying to obtain one, preferably a paid one; a well-paying one wouldn't hurt, as well.

im looking to score something with winfield little photography, or possibly clark d. evans, the photographer for the san antonio spurs.

concert pictures are up

you know where to find them. 

12 days of christmas

like i did last year, i am offering my culinary services up again.  

you fund the ingredients, and i will cook and clean up for you, at your house.  

this time, i am not making a menu. 

you give me an idea, and i will run with it. l

et's make this happen. 

anyone, i don't care if i've never met you before.

despite the red, financially

this concert was amazing.

pictures up tomorrow.

im tired.

and i have a slideshow to start working on.

lame.

december

oh, how i love december.

it is the month of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

and so many things.

this month, i decided, i will be very, very busy.

oh, where to start.

thanksgiving was amazing.

after thanksgiving i went downtown with phil, liz, sherry, mike b, and john daniel - my, we decided it had been about five or six years since we had last hung out.

we had a grand 'ol time.

i accidently revealed a crazy secret of mine, to which only one person knows the exact details of.

i mean, i've told a few people, but only she knows the EXACT details of everything that happened.

anyways, i told these people half the secret; i felt kind of relieved, actually, but then i felt bad for saying anything. oh well.

december rolled around.

it has been cold here and there, not as much as i would like it to be, though.

i wore sandals and a t shirt today; definitely not winter wear, but what can i do? this is texas, it doesn't get cold. lame.

my d700 has been AMAZING so far.

i got a 35-70mm f/2.8 lens, and i LOVE the clarity of it. 

i don't know where i get all this money, but i am spending more than i make. haha.

how lame.

i NEED a job.

my goal is that by the end of the year, i have a job that i go to every day, at least 25 hours a week, hopefully more.

either i need a job, or i need a steady clientele base to help produce income.

i really want an iphone.

if i can get a steady job, i think i will join matt's family plan, for only $70 a month.

i'll get my 700 minutes that i need, plus unlimited texting, and web usage. 

oh, that would be sweet; then i can coordinate myself a lot better because if ical.

speaking of ical, i am selling my macbook pro...again.

but this time, i want to use that money and buy a desktop from MMG.

for a little less than $800 i can build the equivalent of a mac pro, but a bit better; more ram, hdd space, and better video card, to say the least. plus i save like two grand almost.

im selling my mbp for $1300 to fund this project - i'll use that extra $500 and buy a macbook to use out in the field; not necessarily to edit pictures, but more for showing poses, checking internet, blah blah blah. if it runs aperture, that will be nice, though. 

oh, lets see.

i need a car, BAD.

i have been looking at a few vw jettas, and i think i'll get one before the year is out.

mwitt asked me to go photograph a concert out in houston, but i have no car! terrible. i have yet to see how i will get out there...maybe he'll fly me! pah, i wish. you never know, though, so i won't give up dreaming. 

tomorrow!

tomorrow!

tomorrow is the listening/abandon concert at my church.

i have been working pretty dang hard to make this happen, and i hope it's not a dud.

i need 200 people to attend (each paying $5) in order for me not to go in the negative, financially.

i feel 50/50 about the outcome.

and photoshoots.

it's a surprise that now that i have my d700, im not shooting as much as i used to.

i need to change that.

pooof.

changed it.

i have about three or four shoots lined up for this month.

i want to change that number to six or seven. 

paid ones would be nice, too.

now, i need to go to bed.

it's almost three am, and im just finished up a slideshow project for the 35th anniversary of walker advertising..

ciao, ciao.