Veteran’s Day

Today is Veteran’s Day in the US. The day we thank and honor all the people who have fought for our freedom.

I have the honor of knowing several in person, and just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.

November Art Show

Exciting news —

What some friends and I thought would be a weekend-long showing of our photography at Dominican Joe Coffee Shop in downtown Austin, has turned into an all-month show.

UPDATE: The show is running through the end of December.

If you’re in town, head on down to Congress and Riverside, visit, and have a look at our work.

Can’t make it, but still want to see my artwork? Click here.

If you like any of it, it’s all for sale — a portion of the sales go to support Makarios, an Austin-based non-profit organization committed to educational and economic development in the Dominican Republic.

Happy birthday, Jarle.



Today is October 23rd, 2011. The day my stepfather would have turned 71 years old.

Unfortunately, he didn’t make it. He died of a stroke on June 13th, 2011.

There is so much to say, but the words are lacking for now.

Hopefully some day, they will come.

I have a voice

One of my favorite scenes in a recent movie is in “The Kings Speech” when King George is pacing in Westminister Abbey while the speech therapist is sitting on the coronation throne:

Lionel Logue: Listen to you? By what right?
King George VI: By divine right if you must, I am your king.
Lionel Logue: No you’re not, you told me so yourself. You didn’t want it. Why should I waste my time listening?
King George VI: Because I have a right to be heard. I have a voice!

I have on occasion felt like King George in the scene above. Writing that used to come relatively easy, has been a bit slow lately. Very slow.

Several friends of mine asked me when I’ll start writing here again. I never had a good answer, other than “sometime soon.”

I am starting to crawl out of that hole, however. I miss writing. I miss the storytelling. Most of all, I miss my voice.

I have a lot of material in my head. Some of it is sadly not for public consumption, while some of it will be put here, in due time.

And photography. It took almost 6 months to get my equipment replaced from the break-in and theft earlier this spring. That also got in the way of a project I have in the works, which I’ll be picking up again as well.

Look forward to seeing more on here, both in writing and picture.

After all, I have a voice.

Improvise. Adapt. Overcome.

Once again, I realise that things are a bit too quiet here. In the weeks leading up to the last few blog posts, I had just sat down and revamped my blogging strategy (Is there such a thing) to cover such things as not letting the blog languish for too long at a time.

Also, I am trying to focus the blog more around my photography, with the occasional theology post thrown in – instead of having a theology blog with occasional photography posts thrown in.

Oh, and did I mention the first of several photography projects that I was ramping up? One was on a pretty tight timeline, as it was due to start showing… in 2 days?

And then Plan B happened: While at lunch one fateful Sunday, my truck was broken in to, and all my gear stolen.

Gone.

You read it right: Gone.

A kind gentleman in a white Chevy Tahoe drove through the parking lot, took a look around and helped me to what would ultimately result in a new truck window and a sizable claim with my insurance company.

The meantime has been bitter-sweet. I’ve realised exactly how much I use my camera on a daily basis, and at the same time not having it around, I’ve had to make due with what I have left: A 7.1MP Canon SD550 and my 3MP cell phone.

Both of which have been surprisingly useful. I think can be a good exercise for photographers to force themselves to have restrictive limits, as it brings out creativity that previously was ignored because there were no restrictions.

The flip side of the coin is that the pseudo-hiatus has fuelled my passion for photography greatly. I can’t wait to finish the projects I started and start on some of the other projects that I’ve come up with since this all started.

In the meantime, hang in there. I promise good things will come.