i'll be [lounge] for christmas

to anyone i'm lucky enough to call a friend, whether digitally or in person, i want to thank you for reading this blog. i hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and looking forward to a happy new year!

love that [frozen] water

three things fuel my sightseeing adventures when i travel:

-architecture

-pop culture

-food and drink

a perfectly sane list if you ask me, however when you visit a city with an incredible amount in each categories, it can be a little overwhelming. 

the past week was spent visiting my girlfriend in her hometown of boston, a city i've always wanted to visit.  not only was it great to spend time with her, but it was also a little bit of a test on our relationship to see if she could handle traveling with me.  thankfully she, and her wonderful parents, were incredibly nice and accommodating when it came to my tourist list.  we visited random buildings in the freezing cold so i could walk around them in awe and take pictures.  we stopped by local tourist spots made famous by tv and movies, and they discovered my rule about eating and or drinking in a restaurant or bar in order for it to "count" that i visited it.

boston is an amazing town and with their help, i do believe, i got a good feel for all this amazing city has to offer. hope you enjoy the pics...all taken in about 48 hours.

[december] dynasty

santa might be the only celebrity out there who knows how to handle his status.

we live in a world that loves to criticize; a world that forces you to take sides. people want you to either be for something or against it, and then tell you opposing views no matter what side you're on. social media only adds fuel to this feuding fire.  unfortunately even the big guy up north can't escape the critics. whether it's related to religion, race, commercialism, or questioning the fact if he even exists, santa has his skeptics as well.

the major problem i feel is people are forgetting; santa can be whatever you want him to be!  that's one of the best qualities about him.  there are no solid facts involving santa.  he doesn't have a facebook account giving his bio, he post no long rants on twitter, he doesn't "check in" on path anywhere, he doesn't blog about his workshop, he's managed to keep himself away from the paparazzi and has no outlandish videos on youtube.  as far as i know, he's never held any sort of press conference to come out on any official views or opinions. basically he is completely unlike any celebrity or reality star we currently know and frankly, we're not sure how to handle it.

santa knows what he's doing; living way up north, away from everyone else, working at night, coming to town only once a year. every single one of his actions allows us to use our imagination to custom discover who he is.  people have forgotten the magic of this merry muse and the inspiration he gifts us all.

as a child i whole hardily believed in santa. the scenes my little imagination would create were priceless.  i'd spend weeks writing letters to him telling him how good i had been that year, and reflecting back on those events i chose to leave out. falling asleep, nights were spent wondering what his workshop looked like located in a snow filled wonderland. i'd try to figure out how he made it around the world in one night, the different roofs and chimney's he'd encounter, how he and his elves made all those wonderful gifts and how big his bag would have to be to carry them all.  the amazing thing about a child's brain is it isn't cluttered with reality yet, and anything seemed possible.  adulthood is weighted down enough with responsibilities, rules and facts; i sometimes miss the days when flying across the sky in a sleigh powered by eight tiny reindeer made perfect, logical sense.

in a world filled with endless information and digital facts at your fingertips, i feel we're not leaving much room for pure imagination.  creative people around the world and throughout the centuries have had this jolly elf to thank for the inspiration of countless stories, poems, tales, songs, plays, musicals, and movies.  all creating a warm and romantic vision for these cold months.  a vision, of the character we all long to be like this time of year. a vision that's transcended fads, fashions, politics, borders, and technology throughout the centuries.

santa is not like the celebrities we constantly hear about in the news. he's above all that, and we owe it to him to treat him as such.  instead of treating santa like some diva ranting on twitter, or some reality tv star stating a polarizing opinion, please treat santa better. let him be a merry muse. use your imagination and let him be whoever you see fit to bring a little more joy into the season.

to me, santa is a bit like a father figure, a completely selfless person providing insight and wisdom…but then again, i might be bias.

the [peanuts] of christmas past

is there any thing better than being a kid at christmas?


this is the first year in a long time i haven't had to worry about architectural exams.  not having to worry about point loads or plaster types has allowed me to enjoy more of the season this year than those of recent christmas past.

the season has been filled with christmas movies, holiday parties, gift exchanges, lights, food, drinks, family and friends; and i've been enjoying every minute of it.  besides visions of sugarplums dancing in my head, i've been in a very nostalgic mood. thinking back to the christmas of the mid 1980's when the season was filled with a type of magic you just couldn't put your mitten covered finger on; something unseen, but  heartwarming.

i think that's why the other day i sketched a little version of me as a peanuts character. something about it's joy, simplicity, nostalgia, and optimism perfectly reflects my feeling this season.

so whether you're running around doing any last minute shopping, or taking a few days off work, i hope everyone out there is able to take some time, put on a vince guaraldi album, and figure out "what chirstmas is all about" for themselves.

everybody [discovers] home in [the fall]

one of my favorite lines from the book "on the road" is:

"everybody goes home in october"

i like it because the author, jack kerouac, writes the line right after he mentions traveling through kansas, but also because of how simply it conveys the feeling of fall to me.

kerouac had just finished traveling to the west coast and was now on his way back to new york. in a culture filled with hitchhiking and unpredictable accommodations, i assume most of his friends headed home to pass the cold winter months. although not everyone lives the same vagabond lifestyle they did, it still holds true. it seems most people head, or at least rediscover, home in the fall.  the energy spent externally getting "out of the house" is now internal, spent keeping warm.  travels and vacations fade with the daylight. quilts go from being sat on, to wrapped in.

this past october made me feel that way. even activities that took place outside gave a hint of winter looming. small town fall festivals, picking pumpkins, maze-ing your way through dried corn, hot apple cider; all thing dealing with harvest.

the end of summer.

preparing for winter.

staying home.

so as mother nature puts on one final dazzling display dressed in her autumn attire, and the stars seem to stare back at us more so than the sun, i hope everyone "goes home," settles in, and prepares to spend the winter with loved ones.

nearly midnight [lawrence]

there are only a few artists i'd travel two and a half hours to see on a random tuesday night; neko case is one of them.  not only because i've enjoyed her music for several years, but hearing her perform live is nothing short of magical.  in an era of auto tuning and twerking, it really is amazing to watch a live performance from someone with honest talent.

neko was on tour promoting her new album, which holds tracks already climbing up the list of my favorites. although we didn't share the eye-locking moment we did back in 2007 it was still an amazing show, and i'm thankful cameras take significantly better photos than they did six years ago.  if you've never heard of her, please check her out.  i'm partial to the song "hold on, hold on", but if you stumble upon her new album first, check out "night still comes," "local girl," or "ragtime," a few of my favorites from the new album.

the only people for me are the [acl] ones

after six years of attending and photographing the austin city limits music festival, i've learned one thing; i rarely look back and enjoy pictures i've taken of far off stages with tiny little performers singing. the pictures i enjoy most are those of my friends, and the 75,000 other people that form a three day, music loving, community.  a utopian society, swarming with strangers, solely based on their shared love of sound. a camp where you can cut loose the ties of traditional society; a place of pilgrimage where people can unpackage their personality and be whoever...or whatever they please.

one of my favorite quotes is from jack kerouac, and too me, there's no better way to describe the crowd at acl.


"the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars."

good times, [chili soup]

"some of us have great stories, pretty stories that take place [downtown] with [booths] and friends and [chili soup]"

i know i do.

once again the chili cook-off proved to be a great time with great friends; friends from near and far, both old, and new. so thankful this annual event has become a tradition amongst my friends.

no [photo] no cry

some good friends of mine asked if i would take pictures of their son to capture him now being one year old. as much as i love taking pictures, i did warn them; i am not a professional photographer, i am not a portrait photographer, and i have never taken pictures of a one year old. all of this would added up to me having no idea how good or bad the pictures might turn out...this didn't phase them, and we made an early morning appointment.

by far, it was the most interesting photo shoot i've been a part of. it was the most active and vocal i've ever been behind the camera making funny noises  and waving my arms around. it actually was a lot of fun, and the little guy did great.  there were a few moments that didn't go as planned, but in an odd way i think they were some of my favorite pictures.  kind of like life a bit.  it's the unplanned moments that are often more memorable.