We are so hot.... we're on FIRE!

Just as we recover from the stolen purse and the dog having heartworms... Fran gets a call at work Monday that her apartment building is on fire and she should come and check in at the office so they know everything is ok.

Next thing you know we are both at her apartment looking over the smoldering remains of her apartment.

We were able to recover a few heirloom items that we will have to restore (bubbled varnish, smoke smell, warped and cracked tabletop) and a few nice outfits went to the cleaners in a vain hope they can get the stink out. And of course we found the photos soaked in char-water, but were able to take them out of albums that night and save them.

Amazingly, a month ago I had made her bring all her valuables to my house (which is insured) and just a week ago we gave my couches to a neighbor in need and moved her new couch and chair to my house. So really, on top of her not being there, we are very blessed.

In short my friends... if you don't have a renters insurance policy or homeowners... call and get one. NOW would be a good time.

Passport!

Well, after all the nasty stories I have heard about people not getting passports or it taking months on end to get them, I was terrified at the thought of not getting mine in time for my honeymoon. However this afternoon, 6 days from when I applied, I arrived home to find my passport in the mail!

Fran and I are really excited about the prospect of building houses for people to celebrate our new life together. Not to mention the beach in El Salvador is supposed to be pretty nice ;)

Anyhow, here is a little video overview from The Fuller Center of Housing about the project at St. Joseph's Home for the Poor. 

Thousands of Light Painters

Sometimes we get to slow down a bit and have a little fun with our assignments. This was one of those times. With the Tulsa area overtaken by tiny flying lanterns I drew the assignment to make a photograph to accompany the story. 

It took me more than two hours sitting in the pitch dark to make a handful of photos decent enough to turn in. Partially because of the frustration of focusing the dark, but also because the wee things are harder to photograph than you think. It took me so long that the interns who went with me soon tired of me standing around contemplating the assignment while they got bit by the not nearly as friendly mosquitos sharing the airspace with our green glowing subjects.

After they left I took a deep breath and then stepped off the deep end. I used a technique called light painting to make the two photographs you see here. Basically a long exposure (30 seconds) captures the movement of the bugs while bursts from a small flashlight are used to "paint in" the details the photographer chooses (hand, weed, boots etc)  

Now I am off to fetch a little anti-itch gel and some sleep! 

First Date

Well, it is official. After a very long weekend Frances is now a Tulsan. It was nearly an 800-mile round trip with four vehicles making the return trip. But thanks to Fran's Mom and Gary it was easy going to get all the stuff loaded up and the old apartment cleaned.

So after I finished work today and Frances took a nap we set out on the town to find a place to have our first dinner date. A trip to Braums to pick up a burger, swing by the QuickTrip to wash the bugs off the windshield and the next thing you know... we were at the movies. I mean after all that driving, what's another two hours in the car?

Catch Up!

Wow, So much has happened since I posted last. Lets run down the list real fast and get caught up.

1. I got moved and started my new job here in Tulsa. It's outstanding. The people are great. The paper is great. The assignments.... well I mean it's a slow time of the year outside of basketball, but things will pick up soon.

2. Frances got a job at the food bank here, which is an amazing facility and it's a great opportunity for her to do good work and still be here with me.

3. And the big one is that Frances and I are engaged!

So, now that you are all caught up (give me a while and I will backfill the details) I am going to post a little something about our trip to Eureka Springs, where we plan to get married on Nov 8, 2008.
First of all, if you have read my blogs before, you know that the roads in this part of the country are simply amazing, so if you ride, bring your motorcycle! This is the highway into Eureka Springs. The surface is often pristine and there aren't many straights to speak of. It was very foggy on Saturday. And rainy. And cold.
The scenery on the way in and around the town is just unreal. It's truly a step way back in time.The town itself is cleverly built on the side of a mountain with the streets being an interlocking, tangled mess of switchbacks and steep climbs. Whoever built this place really wanted to live here.
The hotel we plan on having the reception in is on the left here. The Basin Park Hotel. More about that later.
This is a limestone structure built around one of the towns many springs. I forget the name of this one, but it's a steep climb from top to bottom. So much of this town seems to be built of local limestone... including the sidewalks.Here Frances tries on a pair of socks and shoes at one of the hundreds of small shops that line the streets of the historical part of town. The main feature of said socks and shoes? They were dry.After lunch me, Fran and most importantly "The File" made our entrance to meet with the people at the Basin Park Hotel. The hotel is outrageously cool. With art deco touches and turn of the century architecture, we fell in love with it pretty quickly.The Barefoot Ballroom was much cooler than the photos we had seen. With windows all the way around and hardwood floors it will be a great place to see the people that mean the most to us during the reception.There is also this cool little billiards bar on the same floor. All of this is on the top floor of the hotel (7th I think) and the windows overlook the city and the mountains. Hopefully in November there will still be come color in the trees by then.
On our way out of town we stopped by the Thorncrown Chapel to see if they might be open (they are usually closed in the off season) and there happened to be a wedding going on, so we snuck down and shot a few photos, but didn't get to go in. If you want to see more of the chapel there is a great 360 degree virtual tour HERE.
This is what it looks like from the outside. I can't wait to go back this summer and see the inside.

Anyhow, the trip was a blast and it really got me excited about spending time with my family and friends in this amazing little town on what should be a very memorable weekend in Nov.

The Road Ahead

Before I came to live in Shreveport I had lived in three cities in less than a year. I lived in the heat and wide-open sky of North Texas, at the base of a great mountain in Virginia and in a small cabin on the swampy shores of Caddo Lake. During that time I could fit everything I owned in a one-ton 4x4 OD green Chevy Suburban. I had great adventures, met fascinating people, and even made a few decent photos along the way.
Six years ago I came to a sliding halt here in Shreveport and although it has been a great six years, I have been feeling that itch to hit the road again for some time now. The call for a new scene out my window, a new terrain to tackle and a new assignment for my vision has proved too great to ignore.

So a couple weeks ago when the Tulsa World called and offered me a job, I jumped at the chance to feel a little bit of that excitement again. Sure the paper is bigger and the staff is bigger and the town is bigger and the sports are bigger. But the real draw was for a new view from behind the camera, new people and cultures and history that provide the subjects for the stories I love to tell. I think I will find that and more in the hills of northeastern Oklahoma when I start at the World in a few weeks.

But for now, I want you to know that I will miss all of you. The people who make Shreveport what it is and the culture that surrounds it are priceless to me. I have loved hearing and telling your stories, making your acquaintance and your photographs.
I may never cover another hurricane. I may never again spend a morning watching men harvest shrimp or cotton or crawfish. I may never again hear the deafening, dull roar of an LSU home game. And I almost certainly will never fly in a B-52 again. But I will always remember the experiences that I have had here and the people I have met.As I move on to my next assignment in life, I hope that you will all stay in touch and keep me updated on your lives and the life of the city.

Read On!

I thought I would put this in print... as much for myself as anyone else. The 2008 reading list is a few days late (15 to be exact) but what can I say.... I was busy.

So far this year I have finished Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy. (it took me nearly five years to get around to reading Cities of the Plain after finishing The Crossing) and quickly knocked off the Pulitzer-Prize winning The Road, also by McCarthy. So my first goal is to reread The Crossing. No need to reread All The Pretty Horses. I have read it twice and watched the movie countless times. Then I intend to try and figure out what the hell Cormac was trying to say with the dream at the end of Cities of the Plain

Not sure what will come next, but on the list (and the shelf for that matter) for sure are the following.

Hemingway's For Whom The Bell Tolls
Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
Garcia's Love in the Time Of Cholera
Thomas McGuane's The Longest Silence: A Life in Fishing

In addition I want to read two other Hemingway novels (I read three last year) and at least one Faulkner novel. I would also like to read Where Rivers Change Direction by Mark Spragg. A friend of mine recently gave me The Fruit of Stone and I enjoyed it immensely.

Faulkner is a challenging one for me. I find his work rewarding but very time consuming. The last time I tried to read A Light in August it took me the better part of ten minutes to get through the first page with all it's "southern" dialect.

So there's my list.... what's on yours? what should I add to mine?