*Friday*
Friday’s lunch date was lots of fun as was her low cut shirt (mental note: more lunch dates). That night we had dinner with friends at a great Mexican place in Bartonville then went back to their place, played poker until 1:30am, and ended up losing about $0.50 total. Not too bad.
*Saturday*
Jess and I drove out to the LBJ National Grasslands. On the way there we stopped at a WalMart in Decatur where, believe it or not, Elvis was singing. I overheard the following conversation between a mother and her young son:
*Boy*: Mama, Elvis is dead right?
*Mom*: No, sweetie, he’s alive and he’s right here in Decatur.
*Boy*: No, mom, you told me Elvis was dead.
*Mom*: He’s alive, honey. Why would mama buy an Elvis potholder if Elvis was dead.
The grasslands were very cool. The ranger’s office was closed so we couldn’t buy a map, and, as best as I can tell, there are no maps available online. So, we drove around the maze of Forestry Service Roads trying to figure out where we were going. During our drive we saw a beautiful white-tailed doe, a very large roadrunner, and many head of cattle and we didn’t even venture too far from the service roads. I can’t wait to go back much earlier in the morning armed with a map. There are two small lakes in the grasslands and I believe they are connected by a small river. I need to check it out but, if possible, I’d like to canoe or kayak there this weekend or next. If not there, somewhere else. Who’s interested and for which weekend?
Later that night 5 friends met up at our place for swimming, steak dinner, drinks, and games. With three of the girls in bikini tops and one in a nice low-cut shirt the evening was great fun. One of the girls offered to pose for me (email me, okay?), so I’m excited about that. Eventually, people started heading out and Jess and I, exhausted, went to bed as soon as the last guest left around midnight.
I spent $200 on a new set of camera and lens bags. I’m a bit of a bag junkie but I really think this might end up being the solution I’ve been waiting for all this time. It’s so modular that, if it fails it’s hard to believe that there is anything that would make me happy.
*Yesterday*
I got up and edited some photographs. Then Jess and I did some yard work. My parents showed up just as we were finishing up followed by my sister and her fiancee. We grilled some pork chops for father’s day then played cards while my dad and I drank Manhattans. A great way to spend a Sunday if you ask me.
After they left, I edited more photographs while Jess picked up a bit. I talked to “Kim”:http://train256.livejournal.com/ for a bit about buying car. Then we watched some TV, organized our finances a bit, and finally went to bed around 11pm.
Jess and I opened a new savings account that we’ll be trying out over the next few months. The returns are fantastic compared to what we get from WAMU and if it’s as easy to get to our money as they say it will be, this might be a very wonderful thing. I like free money.
*Today*
I woke up around 6am. Work has been pretty uneventful so far. Around 4pm I’ll head home. We have dinner, clean up a bit, and then work on the book and edit some more pictures this evening. Perhaps we’ll hit the Gym, go for a swim, or head out for some night photography. Anyone interested?
*Tomorrow*
Work. “The Show”:http://gentlenews.com/theshow/. Would you like to be a guest (either in studio, or from home)?
*Beyond*
I have a very hot photo session this Wednesday.
My “new pricing”:http://revjim.net/2006/06/16/thought-results-in-change/ seems to be well received so far. While I am making *a lot less* profit per print, the number of sales and inquiries I’ve gotten has gone up. Just based on these first few days, I’ll almost break even in terms of profit, but I’ll me getting more of my art to the people that enjoy it, and that’s worth something.
I generally run 2 to 4 weeks between order placements in order to save time and effort on trips to the post office, deal with packaging and labelling all at once, and get a bulk discount at the print lab). So, I’ll be putting in an order on Wednesday. “Place an order”:http://flickr.com/search/?q=forsale&w=37996577120%40N01&m=tags&s=int&z=t today or tomorrow and I’ll be sure to get your order in then too.
Thursday evening will be spent matting, framing, signing, and packing prints so that I can ship them on Friday.
I’m still editing photographs from our trip to the East Texas Bayou. I’ve got a “few done so far”:http://flickr.com/photos/revjim/tags/200605easttexas/ and there are more coming around the corner. If you subscribe to “Five-A-Week”:http://revjim.net/five-a-week/ let me know if you see one you really like. I’m still trying to decide which one to send out to all of you.
A friend is having a BBQ this Sunday. We’d like to go but I’m not sure if we can since Jess has a work thing this Sunday afternoon. We’ll see what we can work out.
We’ve got a birthday party to attend to at the beginning of July. Kim will be visiting at the beginning of July as well. We’ve made our July 4th plans as well: camping and fireworks in Granbury
