This is one of the many, either very politically-motivated or socially-stimulating stencils I see sprayed around Washington, DC., like messages on a bullitin board. I also like the stencils sprayed on the sidewalk asking pedestrians, "How are you?" I took this picture from the base of a lamp post on the way back from Ben's Chilli Bowl with my friend Jesse.
I think I need this book for a class I am taking that starts Thursday. All photographers probably dream of someday having their photos in a textbook. I imagine the dream is along the lines of seeing a picture of your own in a text like A World History of Photography. The past few months have been taking a lot of photos to illustrate all types of textbooks ... none of them photography related.
Today I was happy to be back in DC. One of my friends, Theo is leaving town to go back to Durango, Colo., for school. A few of us met up at Swing's Coffee Shop to organize the departure ceremony, French Onion Soup, a pre-season Redskins' loss, and video golf. Three peculiar 80s-like activities.
This was the plane I caught to DC at Gate 50, at Orlando National Airport. My sister Patti dropped me off and waited there reading a book for two hours until my brother Rog and my nephew Will arrived from San Francisco.
This is my Mom, my sister, my niece, and my great-niece. I have a couple other nieces and another great niece down here in Florida. It's hard to get them all in the same place at the same time.
After I got back from Afghanistan a couple years ago I decided it would be a good idea to leave some things at my Mom's. This is an Osama bin Laden turbin still in the package. A woman reporting for NPR gave it to me. The rug in the background I gave to my sister Patti but I am taking it to DC with me to decorate my apartment. There is a book on the rug written by Osama that a photographer from Knight Ridder found in a cave and gave to me.
I took some shots of dieticians working in Munroe Regional Medical Center in Ocala, Fl., for an illustration in a "Student Discovery" version of World Book Encyclopedia. Luckily I had an excellent model, Nina. Nina has a degree in dietary science and is trying out for American Idol at the end of this week.
This is my sister Patti and Roxy at the barn. This dog is beautiful, but is afraid of everything. I can't stand it because everytime it sees me it barks. When it thinks it sees me it barks. It might be a good watch dog. But I'm afraid it's too strong and clumsy around little kids ... and it's only a puppy.
This is my first-ever great niece. I remember back when I was just kicked out of high school (the second time) my niece Taira (who is 6 months senior to me) was going to have a baby. She said the name would either be Michael or Michelle after her boyfriend. Like a lot of high-schoolers since the 60s, I too was a Beatles fan. I really hoped that Taira would have a girl so I could sing her the Beatles song "Michelle." My dream came true, Michelle was born ... I have yet to come through with the singing.
Most people know the Joe Rosenthal's photo of Marines raising the flag at Iwo Jima. I know every single Marine combat correspondent and combat photographer knows the story. My buddy Eason (who just got out of a 4-year stint as a combat photographer) took me looking for a shot I need of a Honda jet ski around Daytona Beach today, no luck. But I did get a drive-by shot of these guys planting a palm tree with their heroic green thumbs. What Luck.
