h2. Sunday
Things changed around a bit on our way to the botanical gardens. The person we were meeting there had a rough night and wasn't quite ready to head out into sunlight. So, we made a detour and went to my parents house instead. We talked with my brother and his family for a bit before dragging my mom and dad with us to the gardens. It was HOT. Waaaay HOT. But, I got some beautiful photographs (and Jess did too!).
After the gardens we went out for Mexican Food. My dad always picks up the check when we go out and I almost (ALMOST!) managed to steal that from him this time. Our waiter, for once, listened to me and handed me the check. I got my credit card out and handed it to Jess to hold on to until he came back since she was on the correct side of the table. What does Jess do? Takes it from me and sets it next to her on the table which my dad promptly sweeps up and replaces with his own card. Thanks, Jess.
After lunch and a stop for frozen custard (did I mention it was hot out?) we went back to their place for a bit before heading out for the "DFW Area Meetup (DAM)":http://flickr.com/groups/dallasareameetup/ #4: Sundown in Sundance. At first I was a bit worried that it would super geeky and very unproductive. Was I ever wrong! Not only did I get lots of fantastic photographs (and Jess too!), but I met more interesting people than I can count. The average age, I'd guess, was about 30, maybe 35. The men outnumbered the women, but it was a decent mix. Most people were eager to talk about artistic vision, equipment, technique, and many other un-art/photography related topics.
Canadians must be built out of magnets because at the restaurant beforehand, somehow, the other Canadian in the group managed to sit at the same table (with 6 to a table) directly across from Jess. Go Figure. She's from Edmonton and very nice. I met lots of other people but I spent a lot of time talking to a storm chaser/HAM operator and his professional clown wife. I also met a guy in advertising for the Dallas Morning News (who happens to work with "Laura":http://stick_figure.livejournal.com/'s husband "Joe":http://nightanddayfilms.com/), a telecom start-up employee, and a guy who owned the exact lens I've been looking at purchasing next. Thanks to talking to him, I'll be holding out for $200 more and getting a different lens.
All in all, we had a great time. I can't wait for the next one. Those of you who enjoy photography and live in the DFW Area should strongly consider joining both "Flickr":http://flickr.com/ and the "DAM":http://flickr.com/groups/dallasareameetup/.
h2. Monday
Work, work, and more work. In fact, I ended up staying at work until after 7pm, as there was just too much going on. Jess, after working a full day herself, surprised me by having dinner ready and lots of housework done when I got home. I have the best wife ever.
h2. Tuesday
Another busy work day. I worked from home from about 6:30am until 5:30pm without a lunch break. Afterwards we headed to Justin's place. We ordered pizza and then began preparing for "the show":http://gentlenews.com/theshow/ that night. When the pizza arrived it was delivered by Yefri, a Russian immigrant Pizza Delivery man who really appreciated and respected the delivery instructions we left with our order: Please don't eat it. We're hungry. He had many stories to offer about pizzas that arrived half eaten.
The show had technical difficulties galore. Our Live Broadcast just can't keep up with the number of weekly listeners we have. So, until we can secure a server that can deliver the content Live without dropping listeners and frustrating everyone, we'll be pre-recording the show and publishing it at 8:31pm on Tuesday nights in place of our Live show. Of course, if you've got a server with lots of bandwidth and CPU cycles to spare or money you'd like to donate, we'd be happy to take it.
h2. Wednesday (Today)
Work, work, work, work, and work. I also did something today I've never done before in my whole life: I asked my boss for a promotion. He said that he is already looking at me to be upgraded in rank and pay since I've already taken the work load of three employees who left our group while taking on new work and maintaining my prior responsibilities. It felt good to ask for what I want and know that I deserve to get it and see that same understanding in him.
Tonight I intend to edit pictures. Lots of them. No more fussing with software. No more complaining about image management. No more looking for excuses. I'm just going to edit pictures. I'll be working on a nice mixture of past art sessions, current landscape work, and skins images.
h2. Thursday (Tomorrow)
Work, work, work, and more work. That part's not so fun. But, Thursday evening I have a cute girl coming over to my house to take off all of her clothes and pose in front of my camera. Afterwards, she and her husband (whom Jess and I get along very well with) will hang around for a bit of conversation (and, hopefully, she wont bother to put her clothes back on for this part). This part is much more fun than the first part.
h2. Beyond
Friday night we have birthday dinner plans with some friends. Saturday afternoon/evening we have some plans to have dinner and drinks with some friends. These plans are still very unclear. I'm not sure what time we're meeting, what we're doing, if we're inviting people, or if we're keeping it small. Hopefully I'll know something more tomorrow. Otherwise, it'll end up being just the four of us by default, which would be fine as well. Sunday is free as of right now. I'm not sure if I want to stay home and work on the book, go out for landscape photography, photograph a model in my studio, or some combination of the above. If you're interested in one of those things, let me know, and I'll determine what I'm going to do based on what people are interested in doing with me.
