Ornamentation

Another Christmas has come and gone. One of my favorite parts of Christmas is the Christmas tree. Mom did a great job on the tree this year. I spent quite some time just looking at it and photographing all of the old ornaments. They all tell a story. Each ornament on the tree came from someone, somewhere and for some reason it remains on the tree each year. From the babies-first-Christmas ornaments and the what-can-we-make-out-of-construction-paper-and-glitter to the vacations-here-and-there and this-is-just-plain-pretty ornaments.

Mom knows this ornamnent here is my favorite, along with its two compadres. These little guys were Mom's ornaments to take to school when she was little. Back then they weren't the fanciest or even the prettiest maybe at the time. But, they have stuck around all these years, and if you ask me they have aged quite beautifully into timeless ornaments that she and I both love. Many things seems to get better each year - including Christmas itself. I cherish it more each year.

Decaffing myself

Over the last several months I've managed to hype up my caffeine intake to inappropriate levels. So much so that I get a little shaky if I don't get a cup of joe at the right interval of the day. It's bad. It's grad school bad. And, it's completely unnecessary. Therefore, I'm in the process of trying to cut back a little bit, and it's proving very difficult. Wish me luck and that I can get the shakes to shake off.

There's a spirit can ne'er be told

Ten years ago today, at 2:42am, the Texas A&M University Bonfire fell. With it, fell twelve of our Aggies. It was a tragic story followed by controversy and cancellation. Many pleaded Bonfire should come back in honor of those twelve. And, many pleaded for the very same reason that it shouldn't. I never had the chance to see Bonfire, and I wasn't even an official Aggie when the stack collapsed. One year I went to the off-campus Bonfire, but I knew, just as everyone else did, that it just wasn't the same, not even close. For my generation, the days before the Texas game, when Bonfire used to burn, became a time of rememberance and reverance - a different kind of spirit was on display. And, after the Bonfire memorial was built in 2004 we used to go out at 2:42am on November 18th and quietly stand next to each other while we remembered those we had lost.

The twelve we lost that day will never be forgotten, their spirit lives on very strong in the hearts of very many. Texas A&M is very special for many, many reasons - most of which I wouldn't be able to rightfully explain. But, to me, our biggest and best tradition is remembering each other - keeping each other's spirit alive. No other school remembers each other with as much care and passion as we do.

Swanky panky

Check out Preston's backyard. He lives downtown in the midst of buildings not trees. But, really to Preston buildings are just as good as trees, so it's perfect he lives here. His place is great, but my favorite part of it is this, the swanky pool deck. It reminds me of one of my favorite architects, Luis Barragan, who used thick colored planes to divide outdoor space and water features. I enjoy this photograph because of the color from the long exposure. It's quite a bit overexposed, but that's okay.

Fourteen

It's my favorite number. Well, one of them. I have several favorites. People tend to have several when they love numbers. And, I love numbers. As a kid, on road trips to Louisiana for the holidays, I would kill time in the car by adding, subtracting, dividing, or multiplying the numbers from the time on the dashboard clock - just playing with the numbers and finding patterns. When the time switched to the next minute I would do it again. It was terribly nerdy of me, but I had fun doing it.

Fourteen has always had a special place in the math section of my heart. And, fourteen happened to be my number in volleyball in high school. I was willed the number fourteen jersey from Leslie when she graduated - everyone knew how bad I wanted to wear that number.

It's a beautiful number if you ask me. And, I still get a little excited when the time is 1:14, or I can park in spot 14, or I have 14 unread emails, or it's the 14th day of the month. What's your favorite number?

Deep in the heart of deep ellum

Here's one more from the photography retreat (beware, I have a handful left from this retreat, it was quite sucessful). We were leaving the statues and headed to a patio bar for a beer, after all we'd earned it, traveling all over Deep Ellum for our photography adventure. But, before our beer we took a parting photo infront of this mural. The wall of this building spelled out none other than "deep ellum" with images of everything from the famous Dallas pegasus, freed slaves, streets of dallas and Chuck Norris. Yes, Chuck Norris. You can't see it in this image, but off to the right the M in ellum has a big image of Mr. Norris. Walker, Texas Ranger.. you are apparently very important to Texas and Dallas heritage. I imagine that's what Ish and Preston are laughing about in this photo.

Rockin' out

Here's another statue guy we came across during our retreat. I think this guy was my favorite of the three. He's just waiting on his train the DART rail deep ellum stop. And, such a cute smile he has. We hung out with this fellow for a while. Being around him just makes you a little happier. Apparently he sits near to where the old Good Latimer tunnel used to be, so he is leaning on an old piece of concrete from that tunnel.

Walking tall

This past Saturday I went on a photography retreat with Preston and Ish. We had a blast going all over downtown and Deep Ellum taking photos. In Deep Ellum we visited the new installations of the traveling man. There are three statues, and this is the biggest of them all. We spent a while taking photos up of him and taking photos of ourselves in his reflection. I love how he's got the little bird in his hand. It was a spectacular day and the weather was amazing, without a doubt the best Saturday I'd had in a while!

The quarterly photo

So why have my posts dropped off on The Daily Photo? Do I dislike photography now? Am I tired of writing? No to both questions. In fact I really miss photography, and am soon going to make an effort to get back out there. So, then what is it? I've actually been launching and managing our new blogs at work. Even though you haven't seen it, I've been getting my fill of blogging. Our first blog at work is a firm culture blog - it's really starting to take off. It's called HKS Trace Paper. I suggest you read the first post to understand why we named it trace paper - you may recognize the writing, as I wrote that post. It's a fun blog, you may enjoy keeping up with it!

We're also launching a second blog specific to healthcare named HKS Smart Healthcare. That one launches on Monday. I'll tell you more as it gets rolled out.

All that said, I still have no excuse to stop photographing and sharing those stories. I'm ready to return!

Shanty but endearing

If you ask me, this piece of architecture is just as fascinating as the new shiny buildings going up in downtowns all over the country. This little building has a story, lots of them probably. He's a little rough, that's an understatement I know. But, he's charming even still.

Get your grid on

How about a revival of the blog? Last weekend Alejandro, Leanna and Amy came to visit Preston and I in Dallas. We are all of the *architecture-world, so naturally we all wanted to go visit the Nasher Sculpture Center designed by star-architect Renzo Piano. As you might expect I took my camera with me in hopes of making someone else's art, my own art - photography can be a bit of a thief sometimes, which is precisely the case in this photograph. This is a cool photograph, but thanks to the art not my camera skills! I have plenty more photos of some really cool sculptures and of the building, so stay tuned. I'll post them I promise.

*funny story, when Alejandro, Amy and Leanna showed up on Friday night, they were all wearing black t-shirts and jeans, and guess what, so were me and Preston. What's with architects and black shirts?

Limes and Friday

It's Friday! Friday is such a good feeling. I plan to infuse my Friday with limes (in drinks and after work, of course.) May you find a some limes in your Friday as well. Cheers.

The Great Chicago Sky Fire

Okay, can you bear one more Chicago photo? Hope so, because this is what you're getting for today! This photo is from the locks between the river and Lake Michigan. I think there is about a 3 foot difference between the two water bodies. How about the sky in this photo? It's as if the sky is on fire. Don't say fire too loud in Chicago, though.

Read here for a little bit more about the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. Massive city-wide fires such as this one, greatly influenced architectural codes in the future. Fireproofing of exposed structure, fire and smoke wall ratings, duct dampers, and life safety egress are just a handful of subjects architects must be concerned with today.

Trumping the clouds

You're looking at the Trump Tower in Chicago. It was designed by Skidmore, Ownings and Merrill (or SOM to the alphabet-soup architecture folks). It certainly makes a statement in the Chicago skyline. It's incredibly tall, so much so that the sky opens up for it in this photo. I have to admit, it kept my attention while we floated past it in the river boat.

The city of bridges

This is Chicago from Lake Michigan. I was able to take this panoramic photograph this weekend while I was there for a work trip. At about 4pm we finished up with meetings and a group of us bought tickets to the architectural river boat tour. During the tour they take you out on to Lake Michigan, where I was able to snap this. Actually this is about four photos spliced together in photoshop.

Chicago is an amazing town. I knew it would be from everything I learned in school and from all I'd heard from people who have been or lived there. But, seeing it in person really drove it home that it's a great city. This weekend was only a tease, so I need to plan a return soon.

On the boat tour we learned many facts about Chicago, including its many nicknames. Of course everyone knows the windy city nickname, but what about the city of bridges. A river runs right through the heart of downtown Chicago, so there are bridges that span the river all along it. Even the elevated train crosses the river at some points.

Duck, duck, goose

This is my little duck friend from White Rock Lake. He and all his buddies were hanging out by the sail boat marina. Unfortunately he had a bad leg, and I think I scared him a little by being around. But, he couldn't get away very fast because of his injury. Poor fella. As a result I got a pretty good close up of him. Hope he healed up fast, he's good looking for a duck.

Stinzfest 7

I went down to San Antonio last weekend for Stinzfest 7. What in the world is Stinzfest 7, you ask? Well, it's the Stintzi family's annual music fest. Really. Bands with Stintzi's and bands who know the Stintzi's show up to jam in the backyard. The event has really started to become a serious deal, so much so that it demanded a sign this year. When I got to San Antonio, papa Stintzi asked me to make a sign. So with a little bit of cardboard, some white spray paint and some home-made stencil letters, we busted out this sign. I may not be able to play the guitar, but I did rock with this sign.

Rock solid sail boats

I love White Rock Lake. It's Dallas' little haven. And, who knew you could take a photo like this in Dallas? You don't usually think sailing when you think Dallas. But, the lake is always good for some unique scenary, like sail boats, kayakers, cycling teams, and fishermen.

Tomorrow morning I'm running the lake with a coworker. I actually haven't run the lake in months, so I'm really looking forward to it. And, this run is going to be in the early morning, which is always a beautiful time to be on the lake. Quite often White Rock has a bit of fog over the water in the morning, well it did in the winter time, we'll see about that in the summer. Either way, it'll be nice to see the sun come up over the still walter. So off to bed soon so I can get up early for an outstanding start to Friday.

All dogs go to heaven

My family's sweet pup was put to sleep last week. Kelly, or Kel-bel as we tended to call her, was 17 years old. She had both leukemia and liver disease, so it was her time. It was very hard for us, it still is in fact, even though we knew it was for the best. She was a member of our family. There are more memories with her a part of our family than there are without. Kelly was without a doubt the most loving and lovable dog I have ever known. So for everyone who loved and was loved by Kelly, I'll share a few memories.

We first got Kelly when Kyle and I were little kids. Kyle had wanted a dog for quite some time. He pleaded his case for months. Then finally one weekend Mom took Kyle and I to west Forth Worth to pick out a pup. When we met her she was only days old. Mom held her in her palm while Kyle and I looked sweetly on. She literally was no bigger than Mom's palm, and we joked she looked more like a white rat than a dog.

Then about six weeks later or so we went back to pick her up. She had grown, but was probably still no bigger than a small pineapple. We had set up a cardboard box with pillows and blankets for her ride home. I remember she had a timid look on her face, looking back at us from the little box. The whole way home we brainstormed ideas for her name, then we finally settled on Kelly just as we reached Kelly Boulevard near our house. It was perfect.

Kelly was a beautiful, beautiful dog with a true smile and sweet spirit. She also had amazing amounts of energy, almost to the end.

Playing chase. We all used to play chase with Kel. It usually started around the kitchen island. You'd jump at her and she's pounce back, spreading her front paws and staying low. Then you'd jump at her again, she'd pounce then take off in a dead sprint around the island. Often the game of chase made its way into the den. Finally she'd get so worn out, her tongue would be hanging out of her mouth. The game would usually end with her jumping into Mom or Dad's lap for refuge.

Dad's chair. Kelly loved sitting with all of us. Anyone who would rub her belly in fact, she loved sitting with. But, when night time fell you could be sure to find Kelly snuggled up next to Dad in his chair. It was just as much her chair as it was his. That was her spot.

Morning kisses. When Kelly was young, Mom used to bring Kelly up to Kyle and I's rooms when it was time for us to wake up. There was no more sleeping in after Kelly was let loose in your bed. She would get so excited, jumping all over you, franticly kissing your face, until you had no choice but to wake up. It was sure to put a smile on your face. My friends even remember Kelly doing that at sleep overs way back in the day.

French fries. It became a long standing tradition years ago that Kelly would get a special treat after getting groomed. We'd take Kelly (and ourselves) for a small fry at McDonald's after picking her up from the groomer. I think Mom continued this little tradition with Kel even after we went away to college.

Shake. I think it was me who decided Kelly needed to learn to shake in order to recieve a cookie. We finally got her to shake after training and training. It was cute. Eventually as she got older she stopped shaking for a cookie as much; either she had just had enough of our silly antics or we stopped making her. Every now and then when I'd give her a treat, I'd ask her to shake, and she'd humor me.

Pool races. Kyle and I discovered one summer that Kelly loved to race in the pool. We'd position ourselves at the end of the pool and say, "ready!" and she'd bark, "set", and she'd bark, then we'd yell "go!" and we'd both take off. Kelly would run along the edge of the pool to the other end, alway beating us there. When we finally arrived she lick the pool water off our face. The funny thing about this was, Kelly wasn't a barking dog. Occasionally she'd bark if something caught her attention at night in the yard, but not much really at all. So when she'd bark at us in the pool, it was really like she was talking to us.

Rolling over. Kelly loved everyone, and when the doorbell rang she used to get so excited. The door would open and she's wag her tail crazily then roll over for her visitor to rub her belly, then she'd pee a little from the excitement. Thankfully she stopped doing that as she got older.

I remember bathing Kelly and she'd look so skinny when all her fluffy white hair was wet. She was so cute. Then you'd go to blow her dry with the hair dryer and she would bite at the air. It became like a game. When she was young she took over one of Kyle and I's stuffed animals, and made it her baby. The poor dog was terrified by thunderstorms. And, she bucked her kennel early and made her bed my bed, then eventually Kyle's then Mom and Dad's. She was so sweet.

There are so, so many more stories about her, these are just a few. She was without a doubt the best dog our family could have. We miss you, Kel.

Can I call ya Eddie?

Meet Edmund, my new ride. I bought Edmund a little over a month ago. He's a BMW 328i coupe and I love him. My Jeep's transmission gave out a while back and I decided it was probably time to go shopping, as the old Jeep was about 8 years old. It was tough to trade in the Jeep, he'd been my car for so long. But, it didn't take long at all to move on. Eddie has a black leather interior with a poplar trim, it is quite beautiful inside. He's a 6-cylinder and has 230 horsepower, which is plenty as far as I'm concerned. And, he's pretty photogenic, if you ask me.

Once in a yellow light bulb

If light bulbs represent ideas, then do yellow light bulbs represent great ideas? Sounds good to me. I don't have much to say about this photo. Ironically, I have no idea what to say about it. But, I like it, so there you go.

Storm of stars

Last night we had an amazing storm. And when I say amazing I mean amazingly powerful. It was a line of red and purple on the radar that swept across the metroplex. Winds in some areas were 60 to 85 miles an hour. So of course, as I'm watching the news coverage, I decide to watch it roll in from my balcony. The clouds were beautiful as they slid across the sky. The wind started to pick up. I dont think our winds in uptown were over 40 miles an hour, but they were still strong enough to knock over road barriers and construction junk. I could smell the rain with the winds. Then in perfect sequence came the rain. Just pouring down from the sky. Watching it reminded me of this photo. Then it got a bit heavy and I had to call it quits.

This is a different star trails photo than my others. It doesn't have as much curvature to it because I didn't point the lens towards the north star. So this one reminds me of rain since its trails are a bit straighter. Last night's rain wasn't quite as peaceful as this, but some days when it rains, it rains like this. One of those rains where you want to be on your porch with a glass of wine or coffee, hearing it thump the ground.

MP3s just don't have the crackle

I've decided it might be time to go retro. I need, yes need, a record player. We listened to records all weekend, including this one (which is Paul Simon by the way.) I love playing records. And no, I'm not too young to know what a record sounds like. I'll admit it, my first (and last) record was Michael Jackson's album "Bad." Bad, I know. I remember recieving it one Christmas when I was about four. If my memory serves me right, the case was white with a photo of Michael Jackson and the word Bad written in red. Ok, so it's not really my last record. I bought a James Taylor record when I was in Barcelona on study abroad, which is very appropriate if you read a couple posts down. And, I'm pretty sure I stole Hotel California from my folks.

Anyways, listening to records reminded me of how great it is. You have to place the needle carefully on the spinning record. It pops a couple times then starts to sing, crackling every now and then. It's good for the soul.

Reason #78143 why I love Texas

Would you believe me if I told you this was Texas? Well it is. And get this, this place is only 20 miles outside of Austin. We went climbing this weekend, and it was amazing in every way. I've climbed recreationally for years now, but I've never climbed outdoors. Andrea has recently taken up outdoor climbing so she took me on my first outdoor climbing adventure this weekend. On Saturday we went to a place in Austin called Seismic, then on Sunday we came here to Reimers Ranch. We had to hike our way back to the walls and on our way we had to pass through this. My jaw dropped when we got to this spot. It was beautiful and peaceful. Reimers reminded me of both Costa Rica and Big Bend. I joked to Andrea that this was the child of the two. It had characteristics of both, and those are two of my favorite places on earth, so naturally I fell in love with Reimers.

Climbing outdoors is thrilling. Unlike the gym, you have to find your way up the wall, whereas in a gym you follow marked holds up the wall. And in outdoor climbing someone has to set the climb. So, Andrea would lead the climb for us. Lead climbing means you take the rope with you up the wall, clipping into anchors along the way to secure you at certain intervals on the wall. Once you get to the top you clip the rope into the caribiners in the rock at the top. Whenever you are climbing away from an anchor to another you are at risk for a decent fall, double the radius to the last anchor you bolted into in, in fact. The anchors are placed fairly close to each other, but a fall would still be pretty serious, so therefore lead climbing is very serious. I'd like to get good enough to lead climb one day, and I'm certainly hooked on outdoor climbing now.

Thunderbird

The Thunderbird Motel is in Marfa, Texas. I've told you a bit about Marfa. It's a twilighty place run by a bunch of old hippies. This motel was actually renovated several years back by a well known Texas design firm, Lake Flato. To me it's Las Vegas vibe meets small New York lofts. But, it's well done and it's where we stayed when we visited a couple years ago. I obviously love the sign. I've seen photos of this sign by other photographers that are quite a bit better though. I took this photo when they sun had already gone down, but one of the best I've seen of it was when the sun was still setting and the sign lamps had just come on. That photo has lots of pinks and greens and oranges in background behind the blue sign. Maybe I'll have to go back and try again.

Carolina in my mind

I woke up the other morning before my alarm, which is always a wonderful thing. I stretched my arms out and enjoyed the sun that was streaming into my bedroom. As I was stretching I smelled for my coffee that had already brewed itself. As I found the smell I smiled because this was an amazing morning for no other reason except for what I just told you. I put on a little James Taylor and drank my coffee, forgetting for just a little while that I had to start getting ready for work. Why did I put on James Taylor? When I am relaxed and calm I start to hear James Taylor in my head. No joke. But, it always sounds better when he sings it through my radio than when I do in my head.

This photograph is from another recent James Taylor moment. James starting playing in my head while sitting over the water watching the sun go down behind the clouds at Lake LBJ. Carolina was in my mind during this one.

May we find a little James Taylor in every day.

*James Taylor wrote Carolina in My Mind while in Spain. He said even though he had a home in Spain, he was a little homesick. So he wrote about what he missed so he could remember it.

Hopkins hiatus

The blog is a little thin these days. I'm spending a bulk of my personal time finishing my fellowship paper for work, which will actually be self-published in book format. I am studying the evolution of Johns Hopkins Hospital and Medicine. It is an incredibly facinating story but also a lengthy one to tell. So what time I usually can spend photographing has been limited lately as I've been pounding the keys.

Just so you know, I'm going to post at least once a week until my fellowship is complete in June.

Two is better than one

This is a brilliant idea. A double chair. No, not a love seat. A double chair; connected but not one. I love these slat chairs, but I'd never seen two together like this. They are like chairs for friends. I think it is Ecclesiastes that says two is better than one to which I absolutely concur.

Hey there little billy goat

This is my buddy "Baby Goat". We met down in Marble Falls. He is very sweet and loves the camera. He may have thought the camera was food, which is why he looks so interested in this photo. I took this photo during my getaway to the Outdoor School this weekend which is where Andrea works. There is no city to be found out there, and it is incredible. The Outdoor School brings in schools from all over Texas each week. During the week they teach them what they wouldn't truly learn or appreciate in the indoor classroom. I'm sure kids love being out there, I sure did.

Real simple

I was at the grocery store standing in line the other day when I succumbed to the temptation of the abundant magazines. Real Simple was the magazine that I just had to have. Turns out it was a good buy and I enjoyed it quite a bit. But, the most enjoyable part of the magazine was all the photos. They had done many set up shots to accompany their articles. The photos were fun, colorful and engaging. Real Simple inspired me to set up a shot of my own. After a trip to Crate & Barrel for a green placemat, digging around for my old tea cups, and some tree flowers from outside I was on my way to a magazine-style photo. I find this one calming and it's been promoted to my desktop background.

One for the cookbooks

There are two kinds of people in this world (don't you love that phrase). Those who can cook and those who can't. My brother is one of those who can. We had dinner last night and he cooked the most amazing dish. I had wanted to photograph the meal so he suggested making this dish because it has such good color. And, indeed it did. Let me talk you through it. Top the salmon with almonds. Bake the salmon and flat puff pastries in the oven for 10 minutes. Top the puff with pesto sauce, sliced tomatoes then the salmon. Kyle said your first bite needs to have all layers in it because that's the best flavor. He was right, all of that together is an awesome combination. We added a little au gratin to the side and a sauvignon blanc and had our feast.

Well done, bud. I'm way impressed.

Love you some Earth

Today is Earth Day. Everybody is lovin' them some Earth today. I wonder, what is one supposed to do on Earth Day though? Plant a tree? Talk about one's new Prius? Share websites via Twitter about how to be more green? I'm not really sure.

In my case, my small celebration of Earth Day consisted of looking back at my favorite photos from around the world. On this blog I share with you all my favorite photos, quite often they are outdoor photography of some sort. These outdoor - or Earth photos I suppose - tend to be my absolute favorites. Well here's another one I love. This one hails from Costa Rica, in the rain forest. Looks a bit Japanese doesn't it? It's not, I swear to you it's Costa Rica, I've never been to Japan. But, in my quest to see the Earth I just might visit one day. I'll let you know.

So if I could I would frame this photo, wrap it up, and give it to Earth with a note that says, "thanks for being awesome. -ash"

For the children

I enjoy this photograph for many reasons. One is, when I look at it I am reminded of how lucky I am to be doing what I am doing. So, you are probably wondering, what are we looking at? This is a photograph of the mocked-up ICU patient room for the children's hospital I am on at work. The three folks in this photograph are the heads of pediatric ICU, the cardiovascular ICU, and respiratory therapy. They were discussing, as is the point of the mock up, the best location for various elements of the rooms; i.e. the location of medical gases, brackets, monitors, etc. Somewhere in the discussion someone would always say, and I don't think they realized how often they said it, but someone would go, "but these kids, they are really sick." Every debate and decision they had about how things should be in the room or their units was always about the kids.

So, when I look at this photo I'm reminded of what a great thing I am getting the chance to be a part of, even if it is only in an indirect way.

One year later

Well I missed it. About a week or so ago was my one-year blog anniversary. Not that we needed to share a cake or anything, but I should have posted some celebratory photo marking the occasion. So instead I'm posting a photo from Uptown Dallas. Dallas is my photography home base these days, whereas a year ago it was College Station. Oh how they are so different, but in good ways. Cheers to the jems I've discovered in Dallas, and those I've yet to find.

In the presence of greatness

You are lucky when you get to see the world like this. This photo, very similar in some ways to the face of God post, is very special. I vividly remember taking this photo. We were driving back from the hot springs in Big Bend. The drive is a good 30 minutes to the Chisos Basin campground. We had the music up and the windows down. The sun was starting to retire for the day and you could hear the wind flapping on the windows as we sailed through the park. No one was talking. We were just one with the moment. Eventually I couldn't help but take a photo of what were seeing. It was amazing. If you don't believe when you see the world in this way, you may never believe.

Cutting edge

I feel the need to offer my favorite jewelry designer some free advertisement. This is my treasured necklace from KONZUK. Mom and Dad gave me this piece for Christmas last year. I had been in love with this necklace, and for that matter most of KONZUK's designs, for quite some time. It's cetainly not traditional, and I hadn't seen anything like it before, which might be why I liked it so much. Every time I wear this necklace I get loads of wows. Looks like I may be a trendsetter after all. Hardly, but every now and then I just might be at the cutting edge. Speaking of cutting edge, I'd love to see how they craft these pieces.

And, just so you know, they have more than stainless steel designs. They have pieces made of concrete and PVD coating as well. Sounds a bit ruggid, but it's not, they are very elegant, in a Manhatten sort of way.

Piñata days

Remember taking a swing at the piñata when you were little? How it made you smile, hoping you'd be the one who exploded the goods. Wouldn't it be great if we adults could take a whack at a piñata from time to time? Just for the sake of it. In fact, Wednesdays should be piñata day around the world. There's casual Friday, how about piñata Wednesday. For kids candy and toys spill out, for us maybe twenty dollar bills and free vacation days. That very well might get me crawling around on the floor. Check out the girl on the right. She's using her party hat as a bucket. Such youthful innovation.

Just for comparison

This photo was from a slightly slower shutter speed, and is probably a more accurate depiction of what it feels like out there. That's Junior again about to take off after a caution. The car on his left is the pace car. Re-starts after a caution are almost as fun as the beginning of the race.

Baseball, apple pies, and NASCAR

There are few things more American than going to a NASCAR race, which I did on Saturday. It was a completely unique experience and overwhelming too. The cars almost make you dizzy as they bolt by, you can smell the gas, you can most certainly hear the zing as the pack makes its way past the grandstands, and you feel the rumble. And if that's not enough to keep you entertained, you can bring your own beer.

The race we went to was the Oreilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway. 200 laps equals 300 miles. Our seats were directly over the start finish line, about 30 rows up, just high enough to see the cars around the entire track. This is Dale Earnhardt Jr. in car 88. Everybody loves him. I saw more "Dale Jr." jerseys than I could count at the speedway. I took this photo with a my fastest shutter speed, because if I didn't they were only a blur.

I think everyone should go to NASCAR once, but bring your ear protection, you'll need it.

Drink of choice

It's Friday which means Happy Hour. What's your drink of choice? For me, it varies depending on where we're going and what we may be eating. If its sushi it's a vodka tonic, if it's burgers or crawfish I'll order a beer, and if we head to a swankier joint wine might be the choice. Variety is nice. Happy Friday all!

One cool kiddo

One more from the party. It amazes me how used to the camera kids are, and how naturally they act with a lens in their face. This little girl inparticular is very natural, and cool at that. She's not at all phased by my camera nor impressed by it. There were so many different personalities at the party. One little boy sat at the kids table all party eating the jello oranges. Other kids quietly explored trying to satisfy their curiousity. Some were energetic to put it politely (my photos of them are usually blurred because I didn't have time to focus on them.) Every time I venture into a new arena of photography I quickly realize the challenges specific to it. If you aren't careful, all of your kiddo photos will have adult's legs or arms in them; the parents seem to always be near to catch or grab or coax-along their kid. I lucked out in this one, no parent's legs, only a cool kid with a birthday hat.

A warm embrace

I was asked to shoot at a first birthday party on Sunday afternoon. I had a blast photographing all the little kiddos. They have so much energy and trying to keep up with them with a camera is no easy task that is for certain. This was one of my favorites from the whole party. As the tutu probably suggests, Miss Pink is the birthday girl. And, the little fellow was most likely her favorite guest. These two immediately hugged when they saw each other. Then they hugged some more. It was terribly cute.

Earth houring on the roof deck

Saturday night was Earth Hour night. I think Earth Hour started last year. It's never as cool as it sounds. The idea is for cities, every city anywhere, to turn off their lights for an hour. That might actually be a cool thing to see if it happened in totality right? Well, it doesn't. But, we had a little roof-top watching party at Corgan's roof deck on Saturday night. They have a stellar view of the skyline so naturally I got some great photos.

I remember last year we were at Langford on a Saturday night working on our final studies and someone made a big deal about Earth Hour. All the lights were turned out at Langford (which never happens) so we took a break and went out to the mall in front of the building and goofed off a bit taking photos then got back to work.

Oh, Earth Hour, at least you are a catalyst to some fun times.

Escalator from Purgatory

There's the stairway to Heaven, and then there's the escalator from Purgatory, which is where I found myself for 16 hours on Wednesday. If you are up for a traveler's nightmare story keep reading. So Wednesday I was headed to Birmingham for meetings with Rachel and Adam. We all boarded the 8:40 flight after fighting with traffic to the airport, so naturally it felt good to be on the plane and on our way. About half way there the captain comes on the speaker and says we are headed back to DFW because of a fuel line issue. We could have made it to Birmingham, but they wanted to fix it in Dallas. So, we banked and headed home. Ok, so we miss a few meetings, it's out our control.

We get booked on the second flight of the day which isn't until 3:30 in the afternoon, which makes us debate whether to stay at the airport or go back to the office to work a couple hours there. We decided to sit tight and work at the airport. 3:30 rolls around and the plane coming in for us gets diverted to Austin due to weather and fuel. It had been circling too long. Then 20 minutes later it gets cancelled. So, American Airlines kindly books us on the next flight at 7:30. Again we decide to sit tight and wait, no need to get out in the weather or the rush hour traffic.

So, we head to find a new place to sit, preferrably a bar with something to quench our thirst and frusteration. We take the skylink to the new Terminal D, which is very nice and spend some time at a mexican food joint. At this point, we are pretty delirious and giddy, everything is funny. And we're having a good time, making the best of being stuck in our own home airport, shocked at American Airlines* lack of care for our horrible day (If I had to hear, "again we apologize for the inconvience.." don't apologize, give me some miles!)

Well things got less horrible as we dediced to supplement dinner with margaritas. After dinner, recharging our phones and computers, and general airport down time we headed to our gate, which turned out to be the first of two gates for this 7:30 flight. Naturally, as we had come to expect this flight was significantly delayed and we got moved to the other end of Terminal D, where we had been at the mexican food place. So we packed up and strolled with the masses to our new gate. Finally, finally, at 9:30 we board our flight. I'm practically falling asleep until I hear the captain say, "Folks, this flight crew started this morning in LAX and then went to Monterrey, Mexico and we are approaching our flying time cap. Taking you all to Birmingham would mean we would be flying illegally, so we're looking for a new flight crew." Mr. Captain and I had two different types of days, he was tired of traveling all over and I was tired of traveling nowhere.

Hello jetway, as we unboard for the second time that day. Eventually, at about 11:45 we boarded again, and we're in the air just before the new day began. Landing in Birmingham at about 1:45 and to the hotel by 2 or so. The three and half hours of sleep we got were quite the tease before our long day of meetings. Anyways, it all makes for a good story. And this photo is of the escalators that decended us into the airport we thought we'd never leave.

*Rachel, Adam and I are in the process of creating a children's book documenting the story. We're hoping the copy we send to American Airlines will drive home how ridiculous our day turned out to be and be in very understandable terms.

What remains

When buildings go up it's fascinating, particularly to we architecture folks. But, it's almost more fascinating when they come down. It always makes me wonder why it's coming down, and wonder what is planned to replace it. This pile of brick and other building parts used to be a building on McKinney Avenue. This poor little building had it coming, as the large condos, hotels and office buildings soared up around it in Uptown, it was only a matter of time before it would be deemed a nuisance. Just behind this pile of bricks is the Dallas skyline, an interesting comparison which I captured some photos of. But, this photo I like best, just a pile of brick in the sky.