Photo Friday

Both of the boys joined me today for "photo Friday". Big C brought along a camera and had a lot of fun taking tons of shots. This is one of my favorites that he took today. We were standing outside a coffee shop waiting for a train to approach as he captured this shot of me. It was a lot of fun having them join me out taking pictures, and they were very enthusiastic and excited about sharing the experience. Big C decided we should do this every day!

Graffiti

Here is a cool shot I got earlier this week. I got out and braved the ice and snow with some friends and found some cool new stuff. Enjoy!

Thunderstruck

Got to go see the Thunder whoop the Nets tonight with our great friends, the Wills. Here's a pre-tipoff shot of Vince Carter. That is about as close as he got to the bucket all night. Desmond Mason kept him on lockdown most the night.

Home Sweet Home

Here's the backside of a sweet looking house I shot last Friday. The place has a lot of character.

Graffiti

Here are a few more shots from Friday.

Graffiti

Like most people, Friday is one of my favorite days of the week. I try to get out and explore OKC with my camera. One of my great interests in photography lately has been to shoot graffiti. I've also always been a fan of trains so capturing both together has been one of my main goals. I found a great new place to go shoot today. It's pretty sketchy to say the least, but I am hopeful it is a place I can return to weekly for new stuff. Here are a few of my shots from today. I have several more shots from today that I really like, especially a shot from under a train bridge. I will post those over the next few days. I am also toying with the idea of starting a separate blog dedicated to pictures of graffiti. Look for that soon.

Zoey

Meet our new German Shepherd, Zoey! We got her from the Bethany Animal Shelter. She is three years old and an absolutely amazing dog!

Vote For Me

Vote For Me

China

While walking around the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube this past summer in China, we passed by this cool looking statue.

Graffiti

Here is another shot of graffiti I got the other day. Pretty good art.

Oklahoma City is not exactly a hotbed of great graffiti art, so it takes a lot of looking around to find cool stuff like this.

Dad

Last Friday, January 9, marked the twenty year anniversary of my father's death. I have very, very few pictures of him, unfortunately, but here are a few of him that I have not previously posted. We love and miss you dad!

Day At The Park

Nothing like a day in January with the temp in the 60's to hit the park.

Graffiti

Here are a couple graffiti shots I took today.

Down By The Tracks

I found these stacks of ready to be placed into service railroad tracks recently while out searching for graffiti on train cars. I really like these two shots because the depth, texture, and light makes the eyes bounce around. I like pics that are hard to focus in on any one area, and to me, these pictures accomplish that. If you enlarge the pictures you may get a better understanding of what I mean.

Graffiti

One of my favorite things to try to photograph lately has been graffiti, especially on trains. I spotted this train car in downtown OKC this past weekend.

Music 2008

My 5 favorite albums of 2008:
1. Viva La Vida............................Coldplay
2. Sleep Through The Static.....Jack Johnson
3. This Warm December: Brushfire Holiday's, Vol. 1
4. Paper Trail..............................T.I.
5. Warpaint.................................The Black Crowes

These were my 5 favorite albums of the year. Admittedly, I didn't listen to quite as wide a variety of music this year as I have in the past. I tended to find something I liked and listen to it on repeat. Another favorite album I purchased this year, which obviously was not new, was The Andy Williams Christmas Album. It is a favorite album that I remember my mom playing on the old record player every year at Christmas. It was added to my Christmas playlist on the iPod which contains 118 songs for 6 hours worth of great music. Two other albums I listened to quite a bit last year from 2007 were The White Stripes album Icky Thump and The Darjeeling Limited Soundtrack. In addition to those, I spent way to much money downloading individual songs throughout the year on iTunes.

Favorite Song of the Year:
Someday At Christmas by Jack Johnson

I did not realize this was not an original Jack Johnson song until walking though the mall one day and hearing someone else belting it out over the department store sound system. When I got home I got on iTunes and discovered 45 total versions listed. I downloaded the Jackson 5 version along with the Stevie Wonder version which along with two Jack Johnson versions gave Someday At Christmas 4 spots on my awesome Christmas mix.

Favorite Concerts of the Year:

Coldplay at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City

Jack Johnson in Kansas City

The Flaming Lips in Oklahoma City

MuteMath in Oklahoma City

What music were you listening to in 2008? Who is your favorite new artist or group? Have some music recommendations for me to check out? Let me know!

In Defense of Food

I really enjoy reading, and I enjoy reading a variety of things (prob no vampire series though, wife). One of my goals for the new year is to greatly increase the number of book I read throughout the year. The current book I am working on, and am over half way done with is In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan. It is an amazing book that will change the way you think about what you eat. The last section of the book is probably the part I am most looking forward to. It will deal with practical ways to break free of the Western diet. His motto is to "Eat Food, Not Too Much, Mostly Plants." This is a very important book and one I highly recommend!