So here they are…

My 25 Random Things:

 1.  I have ADD.  Which partially helps to explain why I have taken so long to do this, but also influences a lot of my daily life.  More so than I used to understand.

 2.  I have worked on the docks at Nike and R&L Trucking.  I can get up and work at 4:30 a.m., but I don’t really like it that much.

 3.  I have also been a DJ/floor guard at a skating rink.  I worked there during college, and it’s hands down one of my favorite jobs ever.

 4.  I competed briefly in speedskating competitions on rollerblades.  I have a trophy from it at my parent’s house.

 5.  I LOVE snow.  It’s a mess at times, but I miss being able to go snow skiing like I did when I lived in New York.

 6.  I once died my hair orange in college.  Yes, orange.  And it was in braids.  It was the only time my parents ever encouraged me to NOT go to church on Sunday morning.

 7.  My degree is in English.  I never took a formal photography class in school at any level. 

 8.  My plan is to get my second tattoo this spring.  I can hardly wait.

 9.  I lost my senior ring early in my freshman year of college.  I suck at keeping up with jewelry and should I one day have a wedding ring to wear, I hope they have a way of surgically attaching it to my finger so I don’t lose it too.

10.  All of my computers are PCs.  Don’t hate.  I have real love for Apple with my iphone, and ipod.  But to date, I have not owned a Mac.

11.  I am a total beer snob.  I wouldn’t drink it for a long time, and now I can’t drink “cheap” beer.  I’ll drink water or go thirsty before drinking bad beer.

12.  I broke my nose playing roller hockey and had to set it myself.  The ER doc couldn’t be bothered to take a closer look, so it never got “fixed”.

13.  I have what some consider a really nice collection of 80′s music.  I used to DJ some 80′s parties…in the 90′s.

14.  My trip to Israel in 2000 was my first time to document anything in film.  I loved photography after that, but never had the time to really learn until digital came along.

15.  I can still tight roll my pants if necessary.  There are some things that you do enough times that you never forget them, no matter how many shots of alcohol you throw at the memory.

16.  I also owned a fanny pack when it was not just a tourist thing.

17.  I actually own a copy of Milli Vanilli’s cd, it’s in my large binder of music that is hidden away in a closet.

18.  If I could only go to one more concert in my lifetime, I would choose either The White Stripes or The Raconteurs (as long as The Kills were not opening).

19.  I think Bluetooth earpieces for cell phones are of the devil.  I refuse to buy one. 

20.  I can’t stand it when I start drinking orange juice and forget that I just brushed my teeth about 30 minutes earlier.

21.  I think a trip to the dentist for a tooth extraction is more pleasant than driving in Memphis traffic.  Seriously, I’ve been to third world countries that had no lanes and people still drove better than they do in this city.

22.  I have quite a few dvd’s and TV shows on DVD.  I took a quick estimate one day and realized that if I started playing movies and TV shows back to back, it would be 3-4 months before something repeated.

23.  I have only ever owned two gaming systems: the original Nintendo (which I still have) and my Xbox 360 that I haven’t turned on since before Christmas.

24.  I will actually rate cakes at weddings.  It’s like tasting wines.  I started doing it during my early stages of assisting and second shooting.

25.  I am a sci-fi nerd.  I love Babylon 5, Firefly, Stargate SG-1, and numerous other sci-fi shows.  I own all of those plus others.

Editing, meetings, emails, and loads of other things.  Tomorrow is my first wedding of the season, and I can hardly wait.  Next week, I promise to get some blog posts up.

But in the meantime, I had to share something that I found the other night.  I couldn’t stop laughing for hours.  There is something about seeing comedy clips you know in another language.

Enjoy…

We were shooting around on the last day and found an old building where they apparently set up for Halloween and never took the people down.  It was a bit odd.

Oh, and definitely check back tomorrow for shots from my hot air balloon adventure.

If you’ve followed the blog for a long time, you know that I have a yearly tradition of photographing Christmas lights in my parents home towm each year.  Here are a few shots from this year’s excursion.

The first one is actually from walking around in Bordeaux, and the rest are from St. Emilion.  I know, I like to take photos of random things.

On to the pics…

But more on that later.  Right now, 5 thoughts that are amusing in my mind.

1.  Great friends are the people who you can pick up with and fall back into conversation like you just saw each other the day before, even after a year.  And then you realize that it shouldn’t be so long until your next conversation.

2.  I forgot how gorgeous the open sky can be at night.  Living close to Memphis and all of the light that comes from there has caused me to forget.  The night sky here is unbelievably cool.  It really gives you perspective.

3.  I still managed to see some football this weekend, and it was a crazy weekend.  Three upsets, especially Arizona against Carolina.  I was rooting for the Panthers because of Deangelo, and of course for the Titans too since my Patriots are out.

4.  Jacuzzi tubs are one of the great inventions of mankind.  Three days and three baths with jet sprays.  Just a little bit of Heaven on Earth.

5.  Congrats to Slumdog Millionaire.  2008′s “Little Movie That Could”.  I loved the movie, and think it deserved everything it won.

And not to leave you without an image.  Here’s one from Paris as a tease for tomorrow’s blog post…

But I couldn’t resist shooting a few frames to give it a test run.  And since I didn’t have any photos of Rory, I decided to test it on her. 

She wasn’t super thrilled that I interrupted her nap, but she obliged me with some really cute stuff.  She is a six month old tortoise shell that I rescued from DARS almost a month ago.  And for those who might wonder, I named her after Rory Gilmore from the Gilmore Girls.

On to the pics…

Ever since I’ve known Lisa, I’ve heard about “In N Out” burgers and how amazing they are.  So last night, I was heading to Wal-Mart with some of my favorite people, the Zettls from St. Louie, and we spotted one. 

One side note.  The Wal-Mart was THE coolest one I had ever seen.  It was ultra clean and had a full liquor section with really nice wines too.  Unbelievable.

So we stopped at In N Out on the way back to the resort, and I have to say that was the best burger (and almost the best fries) ever to grace my lips on the way to my stomach.

I only had my iphone at that point, so you’ll have to make do with these.

Enjoy the pics…

I’ll show you some more images from the trip very soon.

Excuse the quality as it’s from my iphone.

On to the pic…

When I went home over Thanksgiving, my good friend Kelly Moore Clark agreed to do some new portraits of me.  And while we were there, I took one of her.  It was great to learn some new stuff with the radio poppers (see top 10 list on Day One).

Also, it was great to see how much I changed last year.  I was once in really great shape, but being behind a computer working on images numerous hours per week can definitely cause you to add some pounds…especially when Ben & Jerry keep putting pints of Chunky Monkey in my freezer.

2008 was a great year though.  I lost 35 pounds and that accounts for doing weights and adding some muscle.  I was down just over 40 but got sick right before the holidays and gained back about seven. 

I’m not big on resolutions as I tend to really go after them and then burn out after reality sets in, but I am committing myself to lose the other 35 this year to get down to my goal weight.  I definitely want to keep it off, so I will be doing it at a somewhat slow yet steady pace.  And this is my public admittance to the goal.

Ok, enough monologuing.  On to a few pics…

And one of Kelly that I took…