ah, another really early morning.

the good news is that it was productive. i’ve been up for a few hours and finished updating the website for the school, just in time for the first day today. we did a bunch of updates over the weekend, and we went up to help kerri get her space ready…hanging stuff, moving stuff (because i’m so super strong). it is actually a pretty cool space, and i think i was just as excited as she was to go through the process of getting it ready for a new year.

while we were there, a potential new student came to audition. a big change kerri made to the school this year was basically making it audition-only, which will be good especially since her mom moved back to california. the class sizes will be smaller, the kids that will be there generally want to be there, and she’ll have more control over really the whole process. so this new kid comes, and she has to sing, tell a story, and learn and repeat some basic dance steps. oh, and she was like 7. it would be like me going to a job interview having to build something on the spot in java (which i could totally do because i’m a genius).  but there is something about that world that both fascinates me and scares the crap out of me. doing the guitar and working on the singing and all that for the wedding, i mean, that’s really putting yourself out there. there are aspects of it that are very similar to interviews in the business world, for sure. you can get a sense at someones work ethic and attitude from talking with them, and you can get an idea if someone can be a team player. you can see if someone can sing, can learn to sing, or if it’s really just too late and maybe they should focus on a different path. but i just imagine it as one of those things where the parents are telling these kids “oh, you sound amazing!” and then they get there and get “um, yeah, not so much.” it’s like the american idol people, i imagine, except, you know, real. for that, there is no real comparison to my world. it’s not like i grew up with my mom saying “you’re the best little coder ever!”. but having a connection to that world and to be in wonder of it all is one of the many gifts that kerri gives me. in the two years i’ve taken pictures for the school, i’ve seen some amazing performances, i’ve seen some kids break, and i’ve seen these kids be shining examples of many of the attributes i wish i had, and that just don’t exist anymore in the business world around me.

oh, and the little girl was invited to join the school.

i think that’s it. we had another pre-marital session last night which for some reason seemed to focus on me, so i’ve been thinking a lot about that stuff. and being behind in everything (again). and trying to find a way to solve it all.

on a positive note, according to our good friends at dave and kerri dot com, there are 32 days and 9 hours until the wedding.

who needs sleep?

a busy night. we went to our third dance lesson to work on our wedding dancing. of course, i’m a natural. got home, played the guitar and worked on some of our songs. finished the night with a few self portraits. i want to get in the habit of shooting almost every day, and the self portraits are good because i don’t have to go anywhere and because it lets me work on understanding light and flash better. of course, the downside is that my self portraits are pictures of me. but once i work past that, it feels good to shoot.

ok, i guess 5 AM isn’t THAT early, but it seems like i’ve done this a few times this week and i don’t think i like it. today i have a 6AM work-related call with some east coast folks. we got up early on saturday (although not early enough) to go get some pictures in eldorado canyon state park. it’s not really the early mornings i mind so much, though. it’s the combination with the late nights. this week, i blame that michael phelps character and the usa and chinese olympic teams. and whoever invented time zones. i blame that person, too. and my best man. he arranged a going out on saturday that directly caused a very painful sunday. yeah, buddy. you’re on my list, too.

in other news, taking self portraits and trying to experiment with flash is impossible with my a.d.d.  i need a new plan.

without getting in to all the details, the engagement shoot we had was less than desirable. kerri and i decided to put together our own set of shots in our book for the wedding. no pressure, right? i hadn’t lifted the camera in a few weeks, the wedding date is getting closer, and we can’t rely on pictures we already had…we have to take new ones.

even after just talking about it, i was getting motivated. we came up with some (hopefully) creative ideas for some themed shots for the book, and went out last weekend to roxborough state park for our first set. here are a few of our favorites.

i’m going through some old family pictures for the montage we’re putting together for the wedding. among the several (very embarrassing) pictures of me was solider dave.

an old friend was in town tonight. his name is A.C., and for some reason i had all of these thoughts running through my head of cheesy things to say that were a play on his name. for example, today broke our stretch of 90+ degree days, so the “air conditioning” reverence was obvious. along the same line were all of the “cool” memories that it brought back from my first life after the army with all of my “cool” coworkers and all the “cool” things we did, like drink a lot of “cold” beer.

actually, i think that was all i really wanted to say. i rushed to the computer to write that when we got home, and that was all that came out. i was loosely thinking about the time in my life, mostly about the cool things we would do after work and just the atmosphere around the time, and it makes me glad that i had that time. i met some life long friends during that time, and people that i could not and would not want to imagine my life without, even if our lives have brought us to different places in the country or world. there were a lot of things about that time that i prefer not to remember, but i’m just glad that there are good parts-indeed, “cool” parts-that have survived the years and the miles and bless my life every day.