Stephen Abbas is hosting a free photography workshop this Saturday at Church in the Basement at 7 p.m. Here’s the address for CITB: 1208 L ST, Reedly, CA, 93654. Stephen’s a well-educated and artistic photographer. I’d love to go to the workshop, but I’ll be out of town. Contact him at judastree@yahoo.com for more information!
Brad and Laura’s Wedding
Brad, the groom had an odd request: He asked if he and his bride could have a photo with us. We were massively flattered. It meant we had accomplished our goal: to make the happy couple so comfortable with us on their wedding day that we felt like family. It was a beautiful wedding, and we are honored that Brad and Laura chose us to capture it for them. Thanks, Brad and Laura! Blessings to you!
Aaron’s graduation
New Podcast
I’m checking out a new podcast. It’s This Week in Photography. Enrique Meza told me about it. Here’s the link: http://www.twipphoto.com.
Happy Friday,
Andrew
World of Wifecraft
Funny little movie I came across today. It answers the question: What if hard-core video gamers approached marital relations with the same intensity as they approach their video games?
Cat attack
Lisa was attacked by two cats on the way to the studio this morning. She ran away from them, but they followed her into the street and kept attacking. They clawed through her jeans to do this damage. She was with Maggie, who did nothing but cower and run away (useless dog). If animal control doesn’t do something about this, I’ll be severely tempted to take matters into my own hands.
Spartans
These pictures are from a photo shoot I did on Monday morning. These are high school seniors, all clients of mine, who wanted to remember their home-made Halloween costumes well. It was truly a fun photo shoot. Thanks, guys!
Book Report: Mexifornia
What a book! This one, written by Victor Davis Hanson, was alternately hard to read and fascinating. It wasn’t hard to read in terms of reading level, though that may make the ideas in the book accessible to fewer people. it was hard to read because of the raw honesty with which Hanson talks about issues of race and immigration.
As a small-town farmer and now university professor, he blasts what he terms the race industry for their tactics, which he claims serve only to further alienate those who are already aliens in California. He waxes a bit nostalgic about his growing-up years and the approach to racial integration demonstrated by his early teachers. But he also claims that the usually-ugly specter of modern lowest-common-denominator culture holds much promise for racial integration, even despite it’s otherwise putrid pallor.
As a classicist, Hanson offers a fascinating solution set, complete with alternate futures. He’s wise enough to predict several outcomes, and because of this will probably be seen by history as prescient.
I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to debate or understand our public policy options with regard to illegal immigration. At 150 pages, it’s almost short enough to be considered a long pamphlet.
Even if you judge this book by its cover, it still garners high marks. The presentation and cover art are visually pleasing.
My two critiques:
- I think the writing style puts this book and its important message out of the grasp of some people. The issues to debate will need all our minds and wills, and I’d hate to see these important thoughts lost because of the form they take.
- I’d like to see the author’s preferred solution set fleshed out a little more. I guess this isn’t a policy platform, but a powerful discussion-starter. I know that it goes a long way toward giving my future policy stance on illegal immigration a firm footing.
No more blog
That’s the future I saw when, with a sick, sinking feeling in my stomach, I realized that I had just deleted ALL of andrewandlisa.org. Four years worth of thoughts, news, and photos were gone without a trace. I searched in vain for a way to recover what I’d deleted, but I found no viable options. The sick feeling didn’t abate.
Luckily, I found a month-old backup that I was able to restore. Then, with a bit of help from my friend (Google Reader), I was able to painstakingly reconstruct the last month’s worth of blog activity. So pardon the blog for acting a little weird in some spots. There are rough patches that won’t be going away.
Is there a lesson in all of this? Oh, yeah, there is! We all need to be thinking about backing up the data that matters to us. Imagine if that loss wasn’t just a blog that contained your second child’s birth announcement, but was instead your financial records or all your family photos. Do you feel that sick feeling? I know I get nauseous again just thinking about it. If you haven’t backed up your important data, YOU SHOULD NOT SLEEP UNTIL YOU DO.
I recommend backing up your data to an external hard drive. They are getting cheaper every day, and they are very easy to use. If you don’t know how to start backing up your important information, please call me and I’ll help you get set up. This is too important to skip.
Be safe out there,
Andrew
Liam in a box
Toddlers do the darndest things; today Liam climbed into a box and offered himself up to the UPS man. Too cute!
