Monday, March 31, 2008

Flowergirl


Diya, originally uploaded by Joe_13.

Here is my good pal David's daughter Diya.
She'll be one of our flowergirls for my wedding.

www.amyandjoegetmarried.com

Friday, March 28, 2008

Magnum

One picture in particular inspired my to pursue photography.
James Nachtwey's image of a Rwandan genocide survivor invokes the truest sense of terror. It insists that questions be asked. It makes demands.
It proves that photography has potential to be a positive force. To be significant.
Or at least to preserve a story that should not be forgotten.




Magnum Photo Agency (of which Nachtwey was once a member) is featuring riveting photo essays entitiled WAR. It's brutal, insightful and fascinating. I especially enjoy hearing the photographers tell about their experiences.
Check out the rest of their website too. It's time worth spending on the web. Edu-taining as hell. And the pictures are awe inspiring.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

History of cancer

My fiance has cancer in her family. Her mother's side was pretty much decimated by colon cancer. Her half sister is a suvivor. Another relative in Australia was also a cancer survivor. Recently Amy received a letter, the results of that aunt's genetic test, determining which gene mutation caused the cancer.
Today, Amy got the results of her own genetic test to see if that gene was mutated in her. Her chances of having the gene mutation were 50/50. If she has the mutation, she'd have 80-90% of getting colon cancer. Survivable, but a future hysterecomy would be inevitable.
The results:
No gene mutation was found!

Celebrate life! My angel's gonna live!

Monday, March 24, 2008

Life is good

Much is going on.
Living in the new house is killer. Livermore is treating me right. There is at least one of most types of cuisine for me to eat. Which is just enough to keep me sane.
The weather, often unbearably hot in the summer, is kept in check by our powerful Air conditioning. Which I love.
The commute. Not so bad. I reduced my hours in the office, so I don't have to make the rush hour commute but a couple times a week. Any more than that and I couldn't handle it.
I finally sold the old Pathfinder. And not a moment too soon. The extra dough from the sale allowed me to make some major camera gear purchases. So I have almost everything I need (equipment-wise) to shoot any type of event. Now I just need to purchase some ballz to start marketing myself.
On the poker tip, not so good. No major losses, but since the beginning of the year, I've been making a slow downward slide. I think I'm bored of the game. I've been playing very loose, overplaying shit hands like J10, and Ajunk suited. I have yet to go broke, but at this rate that may happen.
The wedding planning is going well. Most of the big decisions have been made. We have our venue, the DJ, the photographer, Invites are in process, flowers have been booked, and Amy has her dress picked out. A couple small details and we are a go.
But, first things are first... The bachelor party is in effect y'all. Next week I leave for Acapulco. Next week it will be know as Joecapulco. Ten dudes and a villa. ... and tons of booze. Stoked beyond words.

Tattoos...
I'm already planning my next one. Randomly I emailed the sickeningly talented tattooist/artist Jeff Gogue. His website says he isn't taking new clients, and suggests he is booked indefinitely. So, to plant the seed, I sent a probing email to him which included a link to an image of a "Foo Dog" also known as Chinese Imperial Lion Guardians. A couple days later he replied saying he is interested in doing the piece and that we should get in contact when my timeline gets closer. Something else to look forward to.

I'm reluctant to admit, my life is awesome. Too good.

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Airborne is BS!

Turns out it was all bullshit afterall.
Airborne settles
Placebo effect is a muthaf*cker.