events

election day


photo by me

I have to say that I’m relieved that today is election day.

The political ads have been inordinately mean this year. They don’t tell the truth. They sensationalize the facts. The rhetoric is interesting but it is also dismaying.

On both sides.

Since I have TIVO, though, I really don’t see that many of the ads. I race by them, deciding to use my own judgment to elect my representatives or to choose the propositions I will support.

It’s the phone calls that bother me. Every day, all day long, the phone rings with pre-recorded messages urging me to protect my rights, to listen to famous people, and to believe that the world is doomed if I don’t rise up and do my duty to vote. Every day. Even Sundays.

I got home from vacation and was amazed that I had so many messages on my voice mail. It wasn’t until I started listening to them that I realized that only one was really for me. The rest were all political phone calls.

I don’t even listen to them anymore. I hear the beginnings of the ad and I hang up.

Ed Harris, I think you’re an amazing actor but I think that I understand the threats to a woman’s right to choose far more than you do. I don’t need you calling me, telling me that my rights and my freedoms are at stake.

Governor Napolitano, I admire you and will vote for you. You don’t have to call me.

Ellen Simon, you’re running against Renzi. Need I say more? Please don’t call again. You’ve already got my vote.

It’s great that I’m so popular (hah!). But really, it makes me want to turn my phone off and hide from them all.

buddy walk


photo by me

As you all know, my nephew, Justice, was born 3 years ago with Down Syndrome. And, as you know, 75% of the proceeds of the sales of my photography go to the Sharing Down Syndrome organization.

While I don’t like to ask for your money, it is that time of year again that I will reach out to you for support in our annual Buddy Walk for Sharing Down Syndrome Arizona! It is an event that celebrates the many abilities and accomplishments of people who have Down syndrome. The proceeds of this event will benefit the many families of children with Down Syndrome.

Details about the walk are available at www.sharingds.org. We are also asking that you please consider making a monetary donation to Sharing Down Syndrome Arizona on behalf of Justice. Sharing has been serving children with Down syndrome since 1991 and your donation is tax deductible. Contributing through this website is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to make a contribution to our fundraising efforts.

My sister-in-law, Jenn, Justice’s mom, has created a team, “Justice League”, that will track the amount of pledges we collect. In order for your pledges to count toward our team, please visit Sharing DS – View Teams and click on “Justice League”. There is a link located at the top of the page to make a pledge toward our team.

Thank you for your support.

picture the cure

Today is the day for the Picture the Cure benefit in Toronto.

This is Irina’s second year in working on this project. I want to give her huge kudos for pulling this off.

It’s a beautiful tribute to the women and men who have had to deal with cancer and I applaud all of the artists and the people behind the scenes who make this happen.

If you have a moment, go to the site and check out the gallery. There are amazing images that will be for sale after the showing tonight.

If you’re able to go to the show (and live in Toronto), I urge you to go. It’s a worthy cause.

picture the cure




photo by irina souiki

As long-time readers know, cancer has touched my life in more than one way.

In 1999, a co-worker was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was as bad as it could possibly get – spreading quickly into her lungs and other parts of her body. Several of us decided to hold an event to support her in her recovery. We shaved our heads. Being county employees, the media was delighted with this and we were featured in the newspapers and television news locally. People stopped me in stores and talked to me about it, telling me their stories about cancer.

It was one of the most moving events of my life. I learned about the stength and goodness of people. I learned about how connected we are to one another.

Four years later, I’d have my own personal touch with cancer. I have had two types of skin cancer – one of them twice. I am still checked every three months.

So when Irina Souiki sent me an e-mail asking if I’d like to be participating photographer in her annual picture the cure event, I was on board.

Plus, I have to admit that it’s rather exciting to be asked to donate some of my photography to an international event. I’m honored to be included with the other artists. I’m honored to have three of my images chosen to be a part of this event and honored that two of my photographs (the first one and the last one on the image here) were chosen for the promo card.

I’m in great company. Please go to the site. Read about the survivors that Irina has profiled. Look at the photography. If you’re interested in any of it, you don’t have to attend the event. It will be for sale. If you make a donation to the event, anything over $10 will get you a postcard sized image of your choice.

Please consider supporting this event. The Canada Cancer Society will thank you. Irina will thank you. I will thank you.

happy birthday, u.s.a.


photo by me

With all of the recent dryness and fires, fireworks were cancelled in Flagstaff this year. It’s not the first time this has happened and it probably won’t be the last but it does seem to take away from that feeling of celebration – at least in the evenings.

Flagstaff has a wonderful tradition of a 4th of July parade. Each year it is very different. We can always count on the muscle cars and the marching corgis but what comes in-between those entries are a delight.

If you just sat on the corner of a street in downtown Flagstaff, watching a parade go by, you could imagine yourself anywhere in the country. It is lush greens and big, beautiful victorian and edwardian style houses. It is friendly smiles and “how do you do’s”. It is people stopping to let a pedestrian cross the street.

It’s apple pie.
And baseball.
And americana.

This is when Flagstaff shines and lets her voice be heard.

And with the prominent politicians who showed up (the governor and the state’s attorney general, no less), Flagstaff’s annual 4th of July parade has become a local and statewide favorite.

Cool weather, the smell of pines, happy faces and “hellos” from the participants to the crowd and back make this an event that is worthwhile.

the funniest things…


photo by me

I’ve been busier than heck at work this week. We’ve been hosting a conference for educators and I had to give some sessions, help with labs, be the photographer, and, when I could, attend sessions.

It was a lot of fun but also a lot of work. I’ve been coming home totally exhausted at the end of each night – with barely enough energy to post a photograph, let alone type something up.

A few things happened during the conference that really made me laugh or feel like the center of attention.

Yesterday, I gave a session on blogs. It’s a beginner’s look at what blogs are, what people use them for, a history, and some links. I quickly show the participants how to set up a blog in under 5 minutes using wordpress. We use wordpress because it is the easiest one to set up with privacy and is clean and nice…and I’m a huge supporter of opensource softwares and especially organizations that are really great at supporting social networking. WordPress is both of those things.

As I said previously, I’m a blogging cheerleader. While I don’t think blogs are the answer to everything, there are many things that they are useful for and they can really give classroom settings a different method of expression. That is exciting to me. Anything to get students involved and excited is a good thing.

After the session, I had quite a few people come up and tell me that they wanted to start blogs. Could they contact me later? Would I be willing to give them some pointers? Well, heck…OF COURSE! I’d love that!

Today, Brian Lamb and Alan Levine came to the conference to talk about social networking and social softwares. So you know I’m excited. This is the stuff I LOVE!

The first session, they started talking about del.icio.us. I love del.icio.us. I use it mostly for photoblogs but I really enjoy it. It’s a nice way to connect to others and to see what other people who enjoy the same things I do are looking at.

Then they start talking about flickr and how flickr uses fun APIs. I love flickr’s APIs. They introduced me to a new one, though, that I hadn’t looked at, flickrlilli. It’s cool. They type in Flagstaff and look for Interestingness…and what do they come up with? The image they decide to blog about? It just happens to be my image – and they didn’t even know! I was like…whoa! That’s mine! Big surprise!

At their next session, they are going through their pages and I saw an image that looked somewhat familiar. After the session, I went to the page with Erin and looked at it again. The photograph looked a lot like one of mine. We went to one of my blogs, where I use the image as a header, because I had lowered the brightness on it for a header and was surprised at how much it looked like my photo. I then went to my flickr stream to look at the original to see if it did match theirs. They do look very similar.

I can’t be certain it was mine. There was no attribution. However, I think they are very close. If it is, it’s cool to know it was used for this purpose. If it’s not mine, then it’s cool that someone took a photograph of a scene that is very much like the one I did.

update

I wrote to both Lamb and Levine to let them know how much I enjoyed the sessions and to ask about the photograph. Levine just replied:

Thank you so much for your message and being an engaged participant today…. AND you caught me red handed, I did snag your image and use it and glossed over the exact license in detail (made a modification of it. I am red-faced in embarassment, but it was late last night and I found it right away in flickrlilli.

If you are okay with my use of the image (which I should have asked for), thank you. And my next blog entry will acknowledge this (I believe in showing my warts, well most of them).

You did have gorgeous photos and now I can track them via flickr.

And he did exactly as he said he would. That is awesome. To me, that is what building communities is all about. You talk it out, you create dialogue, and you share things across time and space. Alan Levine is welcome to use my photography anytime – I’d just love to see what he does with it!

opening day


photo by me

It’s that time of the year. Today marks opening day for baseball season.

Those of you who have been following me over the years, know how much I love baseball. I think it’s in my blood. I have to like it. I spent years watching it with my dad, playing softball, watching it with my brothers, talking about it, thinking about it, and lamenting over the direction the players / owners / leagues take it in sometimes. And while I may worry about it, I always love it. It’s that unconditional love that you feel for those things that have been with you for so long that you wouldn’t know what to do if they weren’t in your life any longer.

It’s opening day for the sport I love the best.

And Barry Bonds is still in the game.

Bonds is perched on the precipice, about to break the great Hank Aaron’s record for most home runs. Why does this matter? It matters because Bonds cheated to do it. He took steroids to pump himself up because he had an ego problem and didn’t want to see Mark McGuire beat him to the record. McGuire, who fully admits to using steroids, was in the home run race. Bonds saw him getting there faster and decided that he needed help to beat him.

Cheaters shouldn’t win. Cheaters shouldn’t receive accolades for conquering a record that was made by an amazing athlete. Cheaters shouldn’t even be allowed to stay in the game.

Personally, I think Bonds should step up, be a man and admit that he used steroids. I also think that, should he surpass Aaron’s record, that he should not be given a place in the record books nor should he be put in the Hall of Fame.

The man may well be the best hitter we’ve ever seen. We’ll never know for sure, though, because he had to cheat in order to secure his place in history.

Frankly, that makes me sick. It makes me sad for the game of baseball…this beautiful, amazing game. He has ridiculed it. He has spit upon the thing he says he loves. He has mistreated it and the fans who love it more.

He needs to step away and leave records to those who deserve them.

Oh…and the Cubs are going to the World Series this year. Really.

longest night




photo by me

What a perfect night to celebrate a holiday. It is the longest night of the year and it’s a downward slide toward spring and summer from here. It’s a night of sparkling lights, good cheer, family, fun, and love.

Happy Solstice, my friends.

While you may not celebrate the Solstice, I hope that the day brings you all of the joy you could hope for.

Tonight, I will be joining my brother’s family at his house for our Solstice dinner…turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, salad, and other goodies. Yum.

I will be surrounding by all of the little munchkins that I adore: Willow, Kooper, Justice, and Lillynn. I will get to watch them open their presents and will see their eyes light up as the paper comes off.

I will play board games with my family and laugh and have fun.

I will be smiling, feeling warm and safe in my world as the magic of the season descends upon me and surrounds me in love and life and laughter.

I couldn’t ask for anything more.

all i ever wanted…

Well, it’s been a while. A few weeks, at least.

I’ve been holding on to this respiratory thing for a few weeks. I was sick throughout my entire vacation. Ok…well, it was a vacation from my regular job but what I really do every summer is work at the county fair. I run the hospitality room for all county fair workers, superintendents, judges, and VIPs. So…I cook for 7 days straight.

It’s so much fun let me tell you.

It’s funny how much people will complain about free food. It’s not what they want. It’s not cooked the way they like. I didn’t make hot breakfasts. I gave them sandwiches when they would have rather had hamburgers.

Man…I cooked some really good meals in those seven days and sometimes I need a rest.

I will say, though, that overall, most of the people are really kind. They say thank you and let me know they’ve enjoyed the meals. We had a few salads that really were popular. At the fair you don’t usually get fresh foods. You can go get the fair food but it’s greasy and fatty and after a while, you get tired of it. In my room, you get fresh fruits, salads, and “home”-cooked meals. It’s a lovely change after a long day of working.

I’ve missed your words, your input, and your views on life. I can’t wait to get back to reading what you’ve all been sharing!