Another day... another Prison...

Another day, another prison visit... that sounds pretty casual doesn't it? Well, there was NOTHING casual about this visit inside a medium security prison. I thought the day was mine to work on backlog for my business, but the call came at 10:30 AM from my client. He wanted to know if there was any way I could make it to this event... it was last minute for everybody involved, AND, they were allowing photography inside this prison!

I had several things on my plate that I didn't feel like juggling, but the thought of getting to photograph inside a prison had me VERY intrigued... so I made the calls to see if the juggle would happen, and then I rushed to get ready to meet my client. I had to walk through the medal detectors more than anyone in our group... I just kept beeping... finally, I had everything off but my clothes... I'm in.

We walked down this never-ending hallway that had large elaborately painted words (TRUST, INTEGRITY, RESPECT, & LOYALTY) on our way to the cellblock where we would spend the next couple of hours with medium security inmates who had qualified to hear my clients talk.

I was given free reign of the facility (photographically) with an escort whom I welcomed to carry my gear so I could easily change lenses. All I can say is, "it took a few days for the numbness of this experience to wear off." I shot close to 200 photos, I could have taken 1000 (easily).

It was a day that I will NEVER forget. These are people inside paying for what mistakes they've made... hopefully LEARNING from those mistakes. I figure we're all just one mistake away from being just like them. And, as my client would say, "You each have been presented with an Opportunity!"

Busy isn't the word...

Yep, I've been a bad blogger as of late because I have been soooo busy. This week is really no different because I am working on a project within the IBI or CEO Space organization. This project is unique in that the CEO is a former-felon who turned his life around by helping other inmates prepare for the REAL world outside the confines of prison.

Don Kirchner is the writer of the book "A Matter of Time," a very interesting read. It chronicles his life on the run as a fugitive, and then his release aided by the man who helped to put him away... the prosecutor. Sounds like a movie huh? Well, the screenplay has been completed and the national book tour is happening.

I was with Don yesterday driving him around Nashville to different locations to meet some of the folks here in Nashville who actually HELP former-felons get on their feet when they enter back into the "system." It has been an eye opening experience as well as empowering for me to help someone else get their message out to the world.Here is one of the photographs I shot last night at the Nashville Drug Court. A resident program for drug offenders and drug addicts; this program is run by the state of Tennessee.

It's DONE!

Well, at least the design is done! Here is my recent and 1st Storybook Wedding Album design. This puppy has been hanging over my head... to get it DONE! This was for sure, a labor of love, I wanted it to represent not only my photography, but my design and layout talents, as well as my concept to completion capabilities.

If you would like to see the entire book (20 open book pages), go to http://www.acelebrityexperience.com/JGM. I'm very proud of what I have completed, so I'd love for you to go there and look at it. Tell me what you think?

In the spirit of Exhibition

OR is it?
Was it Shakespeare who wrote, "What's in a name?" Don't ask me what play it was, but I think the quote is his... if not, feel free to correct me...

Anyway, I'm trying to find three photographs to enter into a "photo of the year" contest... and I am having the hardest time choosing what I want to submit. I shoot thousands of photos every year... but this year was different... I was very preoccupied with OTHER things and didn't really shoot a whole lot of variety... at least compared to my normal outflow...

So I am searching through my computer for things I shot during 2006 and I come across this photo of a woman at an art exhibition. I actually found her more interesting then the art at the show... so I quietly and secretly took her picture... I find her presence between the art VERY interesting... especially since she is so engaged in what she is looking at...

What do you think? Should I enter this one... is it interesting to you? Is anybody out there... ?

I'm trying to decide what to name this photograph too... hmmmmmmmmmmmm.

2007 Already!!?

Jeese, it was just the summer a couple of days ago... what happened to 2006, where did it go? Either I was REALLY busy, or I was having a GREAT time! It was both!

As I look back on 2006 I can see so many changes that have come to pass in my life. I have begun to lose weight, my business is headed in a multi-million dollar direction, my marriage is awesome, and most of all, I am having the time of my life! I can truly say, 2006 was a fine year to be had.

Sadly though there were some doors closed during the year of 2006, but I now realize that those doors HAD to be closed... and probably forever... and that this is actually a really GOOD thing! There are people who were a part of my life for MANY MANY years who just sort of disappeared... they made their exits in all different fashions... some of them were quiet about it, and others quite abrupt... either way, I now realize that their exits needed to happen. I wish them the best and thank them for all of the life lessons that they brought to me, without them, my life would not be as perfect as it is.

Now, for the new people who have entered... YOU ARE AWESOME! All of the new friends (and family) that I have made especially since July of '06 (706) are really something to behold... the level of integrity is a gift. I look forward to the adventures we will experience together...

Happy New Year to ALL!

Resolution

I was wavering on whether to set a resolution of “following-up” on all things important to my well being and my business… then I thought to myself, "does this set me up for a fall?" Have I successfully completed resolutions that I have set in the past? What does resolution REALLY mean??? So, of course I looked it up in one of my favorite books (as described in my profile - ANY Dictionary). The definition(s) actually surprised me (see below).

Nowhere did the definition say that I would be setting myself up for a fall… cool, then I’ll do it! And, I realized I stopped setting resolutions many years ago due to the FEAR (there's that UGLY word) of failure... sooo, I am making a resolution for 2007 to follow-up on all things related to the good of my life – and this includes SEE ME cards - I am walking thru my past fears of failure! AND, since my philosophy is self-care & self-love, all these follow-ups will fall in line with my truest beliefs! YEAH!!!

Happy New Year to each and every one of my IBI sisters and brothers! And may you COMPLETE your needs for 2007!

:O)

res·o·lu·tion n

1. the process of resolving something

2. a formal expression of the consensus at a meeting, arrived at after discussion and usually as the result of a vote

3. a firm decision to do something

4. firmness of mind or purpose

5. the level of reproduction of detail offered by a TV or computer screen or a film image

6. an answer to a problem

7. the process or act of separating something such as a chemical compound or a source of light into its constituent parts

8. the disappearance or coming to an end of symptom or condition such as fever or inflammation

9. the movement from a dissonant to a consonant chord or note

10. the note or chord to which the harmony moves when progressing from dissonance to consonance

11. the point in a dramatic work when the conflict is resolved

12. See resolving power

13. the substitution of a long syllable for two short ones in the rhythm of a line of poetr

Friends & Witnesses

My husband and I were blown away by two of our friends, Mark & Christina (Tina). We haven't seen them but maybe 2 times this year due to both our schedules... then yesterday I received a call from Mark inviting us to go to dinner... well... I told him that Tim and I could go if we went to a restaurant that would honor our CitiPass... ya know, one of those city books that you buy and get two-for-one dinners or lunches.

Anyway, Mark says, "We want to treat you guys" in celebration of your anniversary (of which they were our wedding photog's and our witnesses all in one, cause we were in Scotland getting married) and Christmas. Well I was taken a weee bit aback by this invitation... I had no expectation of their intentions...

Mark & Christina picked out a restaurant that we had never been to called Stoney River... it was REALLY good. We had a great time, and I took some pictures and passed my camera around... here are some shots.Thank you Mark & Christina for such kindness... you really touched our hearts... we look forward to returning the favor when we are able...P.S. Those are ONION Rings!!!

Home Again!!!

On the road again... just can't wait to get on the road again...

Actually, I'm not really looking forward to it... my trip to CA was very WONDERFUL and part of me doesn't want to leave... going home means it's time to WORK WORK WORK... but then again, Piano Wizard should be arriving at our home really soon, and I can't wait to get started learning how to play the piano...If you haven't seen this revolutionary tool, YOU MUST check it out!

And, if you would like to invest in the project that is bringing this awesome little puppy to the public, you need to email or call me ASAP!

STOP

It's a dream filled thought that I would love to see come to pass. It's a waste of time and energy to hate, it is easy to love... well, most of the time...

It's not nice to be mean - it's mean not to be nice!

I was tooling through Nashville in the West End area near Vanderbilt University when I came across this sign... yeah, I agree!

Deep thought in the Laundromat...

I was sitting at a local Laundromat (don't ask) recently while waiting for two comforters to dry... In the mail I had received a catalog (that I usually throw away) with some of those sort of things that I don't need... but I needed to kill some time while waiting for my comforters to dry...

Anyway, I was flipping through and came across this little framed saying: Well behaved women rarely make history....

WOWIE! With all that I am working on right now with my business, my spiritual life, my relationships, etc. (try not to notice the order I put those in...). That little graphic caught my attention. And I started to ponder what "well behaved,” meant to me...

Throughout my life as "the child of Armando & Diana" I prided myself on being well behaved... BUT, and this is a big but, I realized that I was always trying to please everything and everybody outside myself to be what "they thought" was the right thing or person to be... never truly honoring myself in who I wanted to be... AND, being well behaved really opens a can of worms... even in the society that I grew up in where women mostly raised families and kept a home...

I was born into a new faction of women who decided that raising a family wasn't necessarily going to feed the inner needs... I became a young woman fighting (mainly inside myself) for the rights to be "whatever it was I wanted to be". And for me, raising a family and keeping a home was not even close to my desires...

So then I started to look at my "current" definition of "well behaved". AND, that I did't want to come off as someone who is well behaved, because I am someone who is working on something that will very well CHANGE HISTORY... oooooooooooouu, those are big aspirations, aren't they? Yes indeed. I can't go into much detail as there are legal issues, but I can tell you, I am going to disrupt the business I am in... and I am going to leave my mark...

I now believe that well behaved women aren't what I want to be, or what I am... and I'm O.K. with that...

All I was doing was flipping through a stupid little catalog in a Laundromat waiting for my blankets to dry... ya never know where deep thought will occur... I'm used to it happening inside my car driving down the road... I welcome more of it in more places...

Colours

I thought only the smog filled skies of southern California could have a sunset that was this colorful... This is a silhouette of my husband with the sun setting in the west in the back roads of Tennessee...

Doggonit!

Too cute! I couldn't resist snapping a photo of this dog at the Jack Daniels Country Dog COSTUME Contest. He didn't win, but he sure was cut!

It was amazing to see the costumes people made for their dogs. The winner was dressed up like a chef, but not just any chef, a Jack Daniels chef!

Jack Daniel

What a fun day spent in Lynchburg, TN at the 17th Annual Jack Daniel's Invitational BBQ! It took us about two hours to drive from where we live, and when we arrived just a mile or so outside the city limits it was bumper to bumper... even tour buses were there...
Lynchburg is a quaint little town where the Jack Daniels distillery is located. Many years ago when I first moved to Tennessee, I went to the distillery for a tour, it was so interesting. About I year after that, a deed arrived in the mail. I had been gifted a square inch of land located on the grounds of the distillery. I was officially a Tennessee Squire. Every year they have the barbeque they host a private party for the squires too, that is just one of the benefits. I also get a calendar every year, and sometimes a goody bag! We went to the party, and got a collector bottle of Jack signed by the master distiller, Jimmy Bedford, and also one of the tasters, Lynn Tolley signed our bottle (she also owns Miss Mary Bobo's - a restaurant in Lynchburg). The bottle of Jack was not free... they did however, give us a commemorative shot glass, a small shot bottle of Jack, and a squire pin. Very cool!

Anyway, we also entered our little girl Lucy in the Jack Daniels Country Dog Talent Contest... and guess what? She won second place! Her talent was that she sings Happy Birthday with me... and she sang the whole song and got more applause than any of the other dogs... we were real surprised she didn't win first place... oh well! So this is a picture of Lucy with Kelsie Hardin - Junior Miss Dogwood Queen. Aren't they precious?!
Oh yes, and when we were getting ready to leave there was LOTS of traffic, so Tim and I decided to drink our Jack Sours before we left (waiting for traffic to die down). We happened upon the grave yard in Lynchburg… we found Lem Motlows grave, and then Jack Daniels grave, and low and behold… two seats right on top of Jacks grave, so Tim took my picture right there on Jack’s grave enjoying a delicious Jack Sour… yummy!

Brothers

There are some days when I really love my job. Today is one of those days.

I had the good sense to accept a photo assignment of two brothers, Isaac & Ford. They are seven and eight years old, not normally the age group I choose to photograph. But the call came in as a referral, and my inner guidance told me not to turn this one down... I am sooooo glad I didn't pass this experience by.

These two boys were so awesome to play with, and when I say play, I mean photograph. It was almost like they were professional child models or something. They were so up for showing me who they are... and most importantly, their mother (who is 8 months pregnant with a girl) told me she wanted me to capture the essence of their age... to capture this candid time in their lives. So, here's one of the shot's that the boys did for me.

Also, I want to point out, that I spent a good bit of time laughing with these boys... I had them laughing, and they had me laughing... I almost think I had a better time than they did...

Halloween Oreos.......

Nothing is safe from my camera... Here is what I'm bringing to a dinner on Friday that is of the Halloween theme. I don't usually have the time to fuss these days as I am soooooooooo busy with work on my business... but I thought I should take the time to do something fun, AND, it was... in fact, I did this while I was on the phone (at about 1 AM) with a dear friend in Dallas...

White Chocolate (purple colored), hand-dipped, with a candy corn. Very halloweeny!

Talk about multi-tasking... Yum yum yum....