757Clever Collaboration

essere magazine contacted me to publish a photo i took for an interview with my buddy Mike Dawson of 757Clever. the photo was of a local DJ who wanted Mike to do a commissioned piece of it because it's a favorite photo of his showing what he loves doing. i was doing what i love doing (photography)while the DJ was doing what he loves doing and Mike got to to do what he loves doing connecting the three of us. click on the image above to read the article.

Hampton Roads Tattoo Show

had it not been for my friend, Ramel, needing some help to exhibit his art work at this year's hampton roads tattoo show, i would've never known about it and i would've never gotten to touch this yummy creature standing with me in the photo above. ami james is nom noms.

me: can i touch your head?

ami: no!

i smirk. he smiles.

ami: why?

me: because every time i see you on tv i want to touch it. it looks soooo smooth.

he bends down towards me giving me permission. my index finger approaches his shiny baldness. unexpectedly, he tries to bite my finger and i jump back. WHOA! he laughs and finally lets me touch the top of his head. i touch it nervously and the skin is soft and very smooth. my heart pounds excitedly and i'm flushed. the excitement is too much for me to handle so i bid him farewell walking away while fanning myself with my hand.

i swoon.

ladies competed in the pin-up model contest. i love the pin-up look.

how does one decide which tattoo booth to go to at these types of shows? easy... you check out their business cards and if the design is pleasing to you then you know their tattoo artistry has to be worth taking a look at. that's how i stumbled upon jesse smith. he designed two different fronts of his cards so that no matter which way they lay vertically they connect into one image. so genius of him! and his art is badass. check out his website by clicking on his name above.

ramel's artwork always has people stopping by in wonderment. click HERE to check out his facebook page of art. it's good stuff.

one day i'll get a whole back piece too. that'll be me laying on a table for next year's show.

Green Kilts on St. Patrick's Day

a gentleman sporting a scottish military uniform on st. patty's day, requests a song from mink and cheef's irish drinking band. maybe that was the greenest outfit he had. i asked him what was up with the outfit and as soon as he started to explain the scent of drunken beer happiness invaded my nostrils. stumbling for his thoughts, he tells me a buddy of his who was part of some black ops group and was a P.O.W. gave it to him.

A WWII Veteran swaps military stories with a Vietnam War Veteran.

Cheers to beer! Gotta love folks who get into the spirit of drinking holidays.

New Earth Farm

ammie posted about a tree planting event on a farm in pungo that anyone could come and volunteer. she and i drove up to New Earth Farm together on an early saturday afternoon.

mulch was hauled and shoveled to nourish and protect the newly planted trees.

we dug holes.

... lots of holes.





thank you farmer john for the opportunity to serve.

Allegiance

Just outside the Planned Parenthood building in Virginia Beach, I looked up through the driver's side window and paused for a moment to reflect on a sign of the times.

Marvin

our paths met about 4 years ago while i was working at a kiosk in MacArthur Center mall. he was part of the service staff that emptied out the trash cans there. he saw that i had a ladybug tattoo and has called me "ladybug" ever since. all these years he has never asked what my actual name is. a reason for that is because he can't read or write. he can remember sounds of words and he gives people nicknames from what visually inspires him at that moment.

he showed me a composition book he was filling up with rendered drawings he did of charlie brown cartoons. the book is for his young son as a gift. marvin will look at the small comic frames printed in the newspaper and then draw them larger. he's very proud of his ability to be a human "copy machine."

a few months ago he asked me to get him a "campus". i didn't understand at first what he was referring to until he described wanting to put a picture on it as a gift. so then i was thought, "OH! A CANVAS!"

He surprised me with a drawing of Garfield as a holiday gift and he had me fill in the talk bubble for him.

i saw he wrote "STAR WARS" on the above picture he rendered and i asked him how'd he know to put that on there since he can't read or write. his response was, "someone just shows me what to put and i copy it."

i asked him why he hasn't learned how to read or write and he said "some people know how to drive really well. some people know how to get jobs." I offered to teach him and he said, "thank you but everything is fine just the way it is. let's just be friends." and gives me a small bow and big smile.

his spirit is strong and i'm grateful for the lessons i'm learning from our friendship.

Fall Festival

Freshly pressed apple juice.



Pirate story telling and artifacts.

Pumpkin painting

Local honey tasting.




I volunteered to be the photographer at the annual Fall Festival for First Landing State Park. It is the biggest event they organize. For the park staff, it signifies preparations for the closing during the winter season.

Photography/ Creative Writing Workshop

Thanks to my wonderful friend, Dr. Crystal Leigh Endsley, I will be hosting a photography and creative writing workshop at Hamilton College in Clinton, NY near the end of this month. A big "Thank you!" also goes out to the students for making the above flyer!