throwback

no music monday video today…. i’ve been in a bit of a funk the last few days and couldn’t bring myself to sit and do a video this weekend.

still, i think this picture will more than make up for it.


this was not a halloween costume. in 2000 (i think) i went to oberlin’s famous drag ball. i have pictures of other friends who attended (and dressed in drag), but thought best not to embarrass them without prior permission.

the dress, hat, necklace, and clip-on earrings were acquired at a make-shift thrift store on oberlin’s campus just for the occasion. unlike others in our group, i refused to don make-up or shave anyplace that i didn’t normally shave.

i may still have the dress… somewhere, but seriously doubt the thing still fits.

anyway, happy halloween!

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digging through stacks of photographs my mother sent me, i came across a handful of printed black and white photos i had taken and printed, myself, in high school.

i loved photography. my very first camera was a canon ae-1 and i carried it everywhere with me the last couple years of high school. that’s the only time i’ve had pretty much unfettered access to a dark room.

the darkroom at shawnee mission south was one of my favorite places and i spent countless hours there.

in these days of lightroom, photoshop, and cameras built in to our smartphones, film photography is all but dead. for a time, i refused to give up my film cameras as a protest to a transforming art form. i got over it.


taken during an excursion to downtown kansas city in high school. while no big deal now, it felt exciting when i was 17.


taken in the open lawn behind shawnee mission south high school. this is becky, who was helping me with some random shots (rotary phone outside). at the time i thought it was a cool idea.

now i mostly just like it as a nice portrait of her.


for a long time, this staged photo (that’s me) was one of my favorite works. i still like it, but like the one of becky and the phone i wonder now why i thought it was such a great concept. that’s high school for you, i guess.

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facebook, for all its drawbacks and annoyances, is a remarkable tool for reconnecting with old friends.

such is the case with teressa and i.

we’ve been “friends” on facebook for a few years, but were friends and part of a group all the way back in middle school. i don’t think we’ve seen each other since 8th grade.

her husband was sent to hawaii for work and she didn’t hesitate to use it as an opportunity to take a vacation. and i had the good fortune catch up with her and meet her husband and two daughters this past weekend.


i was looking for an old picture to compare with this one, but alas, i couldn’t find one. there may be some in boxes somewhere at my mom’s house in overland park. but it’s more likely that there aren’t any. i don’t think i really started carrying a camera around until high school.

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weddings are nice. they’re an excuse to travel. they’re an excuse to drink and celebrate. and, if you’re fortunate enough not to be in the wedding party, they’re an opportunity to gather with friends and relax.

this was the case back in september 2004, when i attended a college friend’s wedding in columbus, ohio. i had moved to hawaii just a couple years prior and it was the first time i’d seen a lot of my college friends since i left oxford.

a “selfie” of me looking hairless and chubby. at the time i was keeping kosher and wearing kipper at the time.

my good friend and former roommate, hal. the birdie was a pretty typical pose for him (and for me too, actually).

me. rudely awakened the morning of the wedding.

from left to right: erin, melanie, missy, and me. “my girls”. though not evident in the photo, i had a bit of a thing for erin, who i’d see next at hal’s wedding several years later in chicago.

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for this week’s throwback thursday, here are two pictures taken in my hometown of overland park, ks. in september 1993; i was 15.

my mom has been sending me, slowly, stuff from her house that i want to hold on to.  among other things, this has included pictures. so sitting in my apartment in honolulu is a growing pile of photos and negatives. they’ve been either given to me by family, friends or that i have taken over the years.

i used to dabble in photography, though i won’t claim to have been any good….

i’ve been looking through them off and on and contemplating how to most efficiently digitize them. in the short-term, kinko’s is sufficient, though not cost effective. i’ve found a home scanner that is very good for both negatives and photographs. but it’s not inexpensive, so that’s going to have to wait.

 

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