You're HOW old??? Rock On!!!

     It seems time is getting away from me faster and faster every day. SO much has happened in the blink of an eye. Since my last blog post I have buried a dear friend & co-worker, Angela Kinman, I have watched as two amazing former students find success in the entertainment business: Lindsey Morgan as Raven in The 100 on the CW, & Desmin Borges as Edgar in You're The Worst on FX, I watched my nephew get married, I took my theatre students to England, I took my son to Australia, and my husband took me to Vegas when I turned 50!!!!

    So where do I begin my meditation? What part of this incredible roller coaster of a journey do I focus on first? I am numb. My body is tired all the time, but my mind still wants so much.

    Since this is a photography blog, and I'm on my new computer which does not have the photos of most of these memories, I think I'll simply start with what I do have close at hand...

POINT BLANK

    I had the honor of photographing TWO Point Blank concerts, one in Houston, then in Austin. These guys still got it, after 40 years of rocking' the world! Among their hits are Mean To Your Queenie & Nicole. Those of you who were growing up in the 70's will remember that pretty much any baby girl born to the name Nicole has these guys to thank! People are shocked when they find out I'm 50, but seriously, the real amazement goes to Rusty Burns and the guys, who can pull out the late night rock-n-roll like they are still in their 20's! John's voice fills the absence of those members of the band who are no longer on Earth as if they are still singing along side him. Larry's keyboard-lovin' fingers bring down the house, Mouse plays the guitar like he's Rusty's twin, and with Kirk on bass & Greg on drums they are an amazing team, creating the foundation of the music and keeping the dance floor packed! Getting to shoot their shows was such a privilege, and I have been invited to continue doing so any time, any where... We are hoping for a summer in Europe in 2015, so if you hear they have a show in your area, be sure to see it! These guys are a blast from the past & age is irrelevant!

Thanks for reading my blog! Leave a comment and be sure to return for the next one (who knows when that will be).

Shakespeare Meme!!!!

Anyone who knows me knows that I love the work of William Shakespeare. I love the way he takes words & creates images, emotion, philosophy, and rhythm. But most of all I love performing it & watching others perform it. After all, isn't that what he intended? I found this little actor performing on Pinterest. This is not my meme, but wanted to share anyway.

Recently I found a free app for my phone called ShakeShare. The first time I found it & began reading all the memes created using his work, referencing his work, or just referencing the old bard himself, I laughed for HOURS. Literally!
            ....wow, "Literally"? I literally laughed about literature? That was a pun that I did not intend.

This is from Pinterest too.

Anyway, you can find the app here. It's really cool the way you can do things to create a more personalized meme for your use. You can also order paraphernalia from some of the memes, like t-shirts & stuff!

So, after hours of enjoyment, I began getting inspired to create my own Shakespeare memes using my own images. This not only gave me an opportunity to use some really beautiful shots from nature that I have collected, but I also got to revisit some old shots that I forgot I have. These memes might just be the beginning of an addiction! After all, I do have so many images to play with! I just needed an excuse  pull them out of the old digi files, & blow off the proverbial dust so they can breath again.

My memes are not so funny, but more inspirational in some cases, & in others just fit the image. I admit, I did not spend hours digging through the thousands of verses penned by the old man, but I did make decent use of the quotes that I got from ShakeShare.

Enjoy going through them! Let me know your favorites too!

One more thing: William Shakespeare is a bereaved parent too. He lost his 11 year old son. After his son passed, he wrote what I believe to be his four greatest tragedies. At a time in history when photography did not exist, no pictures to look at, no recording of his sweet son's voice, and only a painting for those rich enough to afford one, the pain and emptiness of living without his son must have been monstrous! I found this meme on Pinterest too. I understand totally.

The Many Faces of Gay

I went to the Gay Pride parade in Houston & here are my shots. I got a lot more of course, but you know... not all were appropriate for this blog ;)

I loved seeing all the faces of this world there. Brown faces, white faces, black faces, & every other color face. Female faces, male faces, & tranny faces. Christian faces, Hindu faces, Jewish faces, & agnostic faces. Heterosexual faces, homosexual faces, & bisexual faces. There were wrinkled up old faces who could tell you what it was like nearly a century ago, & shiny new faces full of wonder & possibilities.

When my older sister told me her daughter, my niece was gay she seemed sad. I was confused since my older sister is the last one to care about something like that. When I asked her how she felt about it she said she was a bit sad that, by claiming the life of a lesbian, she was leaving out 50% of the possibilities for love. If she were bisexual she would be able to find love everywhere.

My niece found love just fine, and I, as a heterosexual, have not only found love just fine, I have also witnessed all the love shared by multitudes, from every walk of life, right here on these few streets in the center of Houston.

 

Oh, did I mention Little Bigs? Awesome mini-hamburgers & chicken sandwiches!

I am too short to see over the crowd. So I raised my camera & shot blindly. The next morning I loaded the collection of images I gathered there on to the computer & saw this group of teenagers across the street in the tie-dyed t-shirts. My camera just randomly chose them to focus on. Out of over 90 thousand people at Houston's Gay Pride event, & my camera found it's way to a group of MY OWN DRAMA STUDENTS! Seriously? Yep, it happened. I had no idea til I saw the photos on the computer!

"T" is for transgender

Meet our Mayor

I absolutely LOVE these white balloon costumes!

This is a float of Herman-Memorial Hospital