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:-O (does that relay my freaking out?)

I'm happy to report that I have a "job" photographing a wedding in August, but it's for a friend and for minimal money--I told him they could pay me whatever they see fit. When he asked me in January I was elated, but the closer we get to the actual task, the more I'm freaking out. I have no clue what I've gotten myself into.

The good thing is that they aren't actually expecting a "professional" job, they were just hoping for someone to take pictures during the ceremony (it's a second marriage for both--very low key). Unfortunately, that will be a real challenge, as the church is dark, dark, dark. The ceiling is dark wood. The floors are dark wood. The pews are dark wood. The walls are dark wood, but only the bottom five feet or so, and above that the walls are white plaster. That actually makes things even harder. The lighting for this is going to be a real problem. I've already gone to the church to take some test shots, and it's a good thing, because the first batch were a nightmare.

Of course, I want to give them a great set of shots, something that would hopefully be good enough to show in a portfolio. At the very least I'm hoping I don't leave them with a crappy set of pics. Oy.

Cricket, the town nut...

I guess every town has one. The crazy guy that walks the streets, giving kids something to laugh about and adults someone to shun. They usually have made-up names because no one knows who they really are, like Old Man Alan or Weird Guy. My town has Cricket.

Other town's weird-o's are usually harmless, and not crazy at all. In fact, we have several of these, like the guy that carries a radio on his shoulder and wears hot pink and black zebra striped sweat pants, or the sad-looking man that could be in his 40's or his 60's, his craggy face and gray whiskers not really giving enough information for an accurate guess. We also have a woman who bundles up throughout the year, no matter what the temperature, and mumbles to herself, avoiding all human contact. But Cricket is different. He's a total whack-job.

Cricket stands on street corners yelling at cars that pass by, sometimes reaching out and smacking the trunk lid. Sometimes he stands in the middle of the street, daring you to run him over, and you either wait until he moves or wait until the other lane is clear and go around him. The worst thing he does, however, is cuss at anyone around him--or nobody at all. Whether he's muttering under his breath or shouting, he's almost always going on about something. And he's scary. Very scary.

He once started yelling at me in my church parking lot when no one was around. My hubby and FIL had just gone into the church and MIL was about to come out of the activities building. It was dark, and I thought he could attack me and no one would be able to help me in time. Luckily, for the most part, if you ignore him, he'll just wander on, as he did this time. But he lingered longer than normal, longer than I'd like, threatening me. Oh, yeah, did I mention he says threatening things, too? Threats that involve words like "cut" and "knife" and occasionally a specific body part.

Most people think he's harmless, or at least we used to think that. But he's gotten worse in the last few years, like with smacking the passing cars, and dropping his pants for the general public. Recently, he reached out as if to grab a guy riding past on a bike.

As the story was told to me, he was in front of Taco Bell, yelling at people and cars, when two guys on bikes were riding toward him. The guys were of late-high school or college age, and big, like football player big. The first guy rode past without incident, but as the second guy was riding by, Cricket reached out as if to grab the guy. Now most people in town know to ignore him and keep going, but either this guy didn't know or just didn't care. He threw down the bike he was on, spun around, and clocked Cricket. And evidently he was ready to punch Cricket again as soon as he got up, but some Taco Bell patrons ran outside and broke it up.

I gotta tell ya, I wish I'd been there to see that. If I were a big guy, I'd punch him, too. See, the thing is, I don't really think he's mentally unstable. I think he wants everyone to think he is. I was once in Gino's when he came in, placed his order, and sat quietly in a booth waiting for his food. He had the sense to speak to the woman behind the counter, he had the sense to count out the appropriate amount of money, and he had the sense to wait and then receive his order. How crazy is that? He also goes to the bank like a civilized human. And the woman at the local kitchen for the homeless told me that when it's just the two of them, he's as rational as the rest of us. I want to punch him because I'm sick of his terrorizing the town.

Maybe he is crazy. Maybe he's sane when he's on his meds and crazy when he's off them. Maybe he's drunk or high a lot. I don't know, but either way, I wish I'd seen him take that punch.

Camera club entry...

I've titled this one, Can I Hold Your Hand?, because it looks (I hope) kind of spooky. Tonight's theme is churches and cemeteries, and I didn't have anything to enter until this weekend, when I ran around town frantically taking pics. I'm not in love with any of my entries, but I think this one would make a nice Halloween party invitation.

Making fun of a co-worker...

Yes, I'm mean.

But this needs sharing.

A co-worker in the cubicle next to me, who I'll call TD, has no concept of the English language. No, he's not foreign, he's from the boonies. His grammer is atrocious, but I'm used to hearing that. Most of the guys I work with can't conjugate see/saw/have or had seen, which drives me nuts, but this guy gets words wrong. No, he isn't mixing up lie and lay, he's making up different forms of the word.

For example, he didn't get his dog spayed, he got her spaded.

The trash can wasn't crammed full, it was crum full.

He didn't look it up in the encyclopedia, but in the cyclopedia.

Okay, you get the idea. Now the best thing yet happened last week. TD works at Wendy's part-time. This is the conversation we had:

TD: Hey, have you saw that new Wendy's commercial for the new burgers?

Me: Maybe, I don't know. I don't pay much attention to commercials like that. Why?

TD: Well, we've got these burgers called double-stacks and triple-stacks, and we get people in the drive-thru that will say, "Gimme a couple of them double-stackers."

Me: Okay...

TD: Well, I just thought it's funny how those people pronounciated those words wrong.

Pro-noun-ci-at-ed???

It's a good thing I was still facing my computer, because by this time he had walked behind me and it took everything I had not to laugh out loud. Of course, it's not really funny, is it? Aw, heck, who am I kidding? It is, too.

I'm mean.

More happy news (and the video will make you teary)

This six-year-old got a birthday party/present he'll never forget.

Feel good story of the day...

Men like this made America great. Hat off to Joe Works.

The ever depressing news...

She cried rape — and no one helped
Pakistani gang-rape victim gets married
Critics say new Afghan law 'legalizes rape'

And the list goes on and on.

Every day we are bombarded by depressing news, and today is no different. Some days I can shrug it off, but not today. Today, I've read about two mass killings, a brawl at a wake, and two rape victims. I didn't even get to the Afghani law I've linked to above; I just couldn't take any more. There were numerous other headlines that were depressing without my even having to read the articles. It's days like today that I'm ready for the end.

Some days I wonder why God allows this all to go on. There is so much evil, so much violence, so much hatred...I just wonder how bad it's going to get before it gets better. Of course, I know there is a lot of good in the world, and I know some people who manage to focus on those good parts and block out the bad. I wish I were one of them. I just think we need a "good news" news source. How fabulous would that be? A site that only has articles about found children (she wasn't abducted--she was hiding in the closet!), women who were told they couldn't have children who then had miracle babies, pets that alert their owners to kitchen fires before they get out of control and cause damage...oh the wonderful stories we could read about! Children tutoring peers, not bullying them; divorced parents re-marrying; employees giving up part of their salary so a co-worker doesn't have to get laid off...the possibilities are endless!

So in response, I give you my good news story of the day: Hubby and I filed our taxes yesterday (yes, I'm a procrastinator), and we're getting enough back to take a vacation, a real, honest-to-goodness vacation. We've only "gone" on vacation once before, and didn't have a honeymoon, so this is a big deal to us. Okay, maybe my good news doesn't do it for you, but thinking about it makes me forget about all the bad news, and that's enough for today. Until I hear about a really good news story to share.

The three reasons I don't drink alcohol...

You know how one thing you hear or read leads to a thought that leads to a thought that leads to a thought that...you get the picture. The next thing you know, you're miles from where you started. Well, something I read today has lead me to want to write about why I don't drink, and have never even tasted alcohol. That's right, not even a sip.

Depending on which day or time or mood I'm in when you ask me, you may get any of three answers as to why I've made this decision. Then, depending on how interested you seem to be or how much time I have, you will get the long or short answer. But here I want to address all three things.

Reason 1: My dad was an alcoholic. No, he isn't deceased, but he no longer drinks. And while I know many people say "once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic", I don't believe that's true of Dad. He stopped drinking when he saw what it does to a family. While he drank the entire time my sisters were at home, and up until my junior year of high school, it was seeing the effect on the family of my sister, T--, that I think woke him up. T--'s husband drank and her two kids lived through the problems it caused, so maybe Dad finally looked at himself.

He wasn't a violent drunk, but he sure could be a jerk. And that's all I have to say about that.

Reason 2: I think I would probably be an alcoholic. When I like the taste of something, I'm a guzzler. Lattes and fruity drinks cause me to drink quickly--sipping is not an option. So I figure that if I liked the taste, that's what would happen. Although so many people say it's an acquired taste, I doubt I'd get that far. And the smell alone makes me sick. Probable a side effect of Reason 1 puking his beer all over the living room rug/sofa. That was a childhood memory I'd rather forget.

Reason 3: Here's where it gets a little more complicated. I don't drink for religious reasons. No, I don't think it's a sin, but I know it can lead to sin. Allow me to explain. Some people can have a glass of wine and be perfectly fine, not needing to finish off the bottle. But other people have the tendency toward addictive behaviors, and may not be able to stop at one. If I profess to be a Christian and someone sees me having a beer with a friend at the local bar and grill, or maybe a glass of wine at the company Christmas party, they may think, "she's a Christian and she's drinking alcohol, so I can have alcohol, too." But they may not be able to stop, and get drunk. After that, there's any number of things that could happen that wouldn't be good.

Do I think my not drinking is going to stop someone from drinking? No. Do I think other Christians will stop drinking when they see I'm not? No. But my sharing this reason with other Christians has caused them to say I've given them something to think about. And while it may not make a difference either way, I can hope it does.

Seriously though, I don't have a problem with other people having a drink. And honestly, if I weren't able to say I'm 35 years old and never tasted it, I probable would drink. But when you can say that, you get a lot of reactions, a lot of questions, and a lot of time to share all three reasons, giving the listener a lot of time to think. Even if they're only thinking they wish I'd shut up.

Photography show reception...

The reception took place on Saturday, and I'm rather pleased with it. We had a decent turnout, I'm guessing 50-60 people, maybe even more, since it's hard to know with people coming and going during two hours.

Out of the probably 70 people I invited, three showed up. This was both exciting and disappointing. Exciting because I realize an art show is not everyone's cup of tea, so to have anyone show up was a really big deal. Disappointing because the people who promised to come forgot about it. Oh well. At least my Sunday school friends, the Coles, came, as did my neighbor/personal trainer, Amy. That meant SO much to me.

I got lots of thanks from club members, some of which really raved about how nice everything looked, how organized it was, etc. I may have glowed with happiness. We even had two pieces (unfortunately not mine) sell in the week leading up to the reception, which is a pretty big deal. Evidently we've shown there in the past and didn't sell anything during the run. I've got my fingers crossed that I sell my pics...it would be great to have money for more camera equipment!

BTW, I have my photography website up and running! Here's the link. I hope to have a flashier version soon... after I learn Flash! Let me know what you think.