Taking a Closer Look

We digest and consume at lightning speed.

There isn't enough time to think and savor the good things anymore.

How we take for granted things that are just in our relative periphery.

Sun, snow, the little things.

Hope you are taking some time to breathe.

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Have been thinking a lot about where I came from and the good memories from home.

Do you feel lucky?

There's a fine line between being prepared and just winging it.

If you are not a planner, it might be good about doing some thinking about your life and about how things can be much smoother if you add more forethought to your day.

Just saying.

You might end up in a third world country where they don't have toilet paper.

What do you do?

What do you do?

Whisky Mash

I was at Eastern Standard the other night. Rare for me.

Nightlife has not changed since I can remember. Still a lot of beautiful people, varying degrees of stress and distress.

It's never easy to take photos at bars, lounges and nightspots but like airports people let their guard down at bars.

There are the loners. Enough said.

There are the smoozers. Hmmmm.

There are the groups.

The wingmen. I like them the most.

I am a good wingman.

The bachelors and bachelorettes. Too many to count.

I love watching the "first daters".

I love watching the most the "senior daters".

You see them and they are not speaking. They are just being.

Often, they hold their hands oblivious to white noise.

The waiter comes and asks a question and there's no response from either

senior. They are just locked in a gaze.

No, you are thinking of the cialis commercials. It's never usually like with couples who have been together for decades.

It was amazing to observe them.

I have been thinking of portraiture lately.

Aileen came to visit us and is spending a few days. C1 is having a blast with her. She's got this idea of photographing street-signs to remember where she lived.

I think it's a brilliant idea.

Anyway, I'll thinking about own photography project and it will most likely involve mixing it up and discovery of other senior daters.

Or hanging around the airport and taking photos of people reuniting in embrace.

OK. I am a Love Actually fan. Not really the movie but the beginning and end.

Black and white.

And the Whiskey Mash?

It was good.

Put the Camera Down Will You

Many years ago, R and I used to go to movies on weekends. We were single then. The default gimmick was to go to a friday movie. There was nothing on.

It was Valentine's weekend.

He and I watched. Wait for it.

Serendipity.

At the end of the movie, we realized we were the only two guys in the movie house. It was all girls and a few, very few couples.

I like the movie, I guess I am a sucker for flicks like this one.

I can't say this year, I'll bring the family to watch Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum -- The Vow.

Sappy.

Hey, live a little.

I was listening to George Clooney on the radio.

It's refreshing to listen to a movie actor talk instead of see him on TV. He seemed more human. He said a few things that struck me about photographers and people in general.

People are too busy "recording" they forget living.

Photographers tend to forget about relishing the moment because they are too busy recording meeting someone important like George Clooney.

I can understand that photographers go on auto-mode. It's just what they do because it's part rush - part impulse.

He meets people on the red carpet and instead of shaking his hand, they shoot first and then engage.

Sadly ore often, there's no more engagement because the other person is on recording mode.

Words of wisdom from Stacey Keebler's man.

Zoom in a little bit

Some days you just have to zoom in and focus on the positive.

Life's good.

Thinking about the Facebook IPO and thought man this is just like the Google IPO.

When google came out, I could google anything.

Like:

How to be a Ninja (bam!!!)

1. Think stealth mode. (Do you want to be indoor or outdoor ninja).

2. Get a costume (preferably black).

3. Learn to sew or buy from I-party.

4. You need to be light so you have to start working out. (Frakk!!! This will set me back a bit)

5. You don't need to talk you just have to look intimidating (grrrrrr!!)

6. Master a few weapons like nunchucks, ninja-stars, the thingee with the straw that shoots darts and those kind of things.

7. You have to start feeling paranoid and thinking who are your enemies.

8. Learn how to breathe because if you make a lot of sounds, that would just be a creepy guy in a ninja outfit.

9. If you want to discover your inner ninja, maybe it's better to just go rent a DVD and and think about it some more.

This is crazy talk. I have to get some more sleep....

Joe - Carroll and Sons

I think it's about time to visit some old friends and see some art.

St. Veronica Patron Saint of Photographers

I've been teaching C1 about God.

Lately, I've been talking to her about St. Veronica and the concept of Patron Saints.

She already knows St. Anthony patron saint of lost things & St. Jude patron saint of the impossible.

I think half of our lives we'll have to pray to either Saint Anthony or Saint Jude but will be handy to teach her about Saint Veronica also.

I'm not sure what intercession she will be asked by us in our life time -- help us with this shot, make sure we don't fall terribly and break some bones.

Make the subject smile a little so he/she won't look like a frakkin' toaster on the photo.

Give us that decisive once in a lifetime shot..... Saint Veronica.