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.