All we do around here is daydream about other places to live. If you want to come visit this armpit, you can find more info here.
03Sep, 2009
I’d spent a year or so writing my first book, and it was coming out early in 2000. I had the first copies sent to Texas where I’d be spending Christmas. My family knew I had a book coming out, but they didn’t think they’d see it for months. I received a box Federal Express and hid it in the trunk of the car I was using. I was dying to take a look at it, but there were too many people around. Finally, I ran an errand (my Mother sent me to Wal Mart to return something) and when I got there I opened the trunk, and the box, and reached in for a copy of my book. It looked great. I’d helped design the cover and I was proud of it. Anyway, I went into the store, flipping through pages and smelling the ink. Then I got in line to return whatever it was I was returning and I started reading. My favorite lines in the book were in the last few paragraphs, a scene in which my friend Paul and I walk into the meadow at Black Butte Ranch to watch sunrise one last time before we [...]
01Sep, 2009
Earlier this year I had the privilege of spending a couple days in Washington DC with Jeremy Cowart. Jeremy is a premier photographer whose photos are seen all over the world. We had lunch at a little Thai place near Georgetown and I asked him how things were going. He was about to accept a job traveling with Brittany Spears as the official photographer for her tour, so things were good. But he also wanted something more, he wanted to give back. He had an idea, and it was a good one. Jeremy talked about the need for everybody to have a good photo of themselves. In the age of social networking, where our pictures are everywhere, a good photo is an advantage. But he also mentioned that not everybody has a camera, or somebody to take their picture, or even a way to get that picture onto a computer. He specifically mentioned single moms looking for jobs, and that of course got my attention. His idea was to call all his photographer friends and have them set up their equipment on one specific day and take pictures of anybody who needed a good photo. And then give those people [...]
