Orbits of a deluded mind

Ah Father's Day has come and mostly gone.

Today (really this entire weekend) has been surreal. Friday and Saturday, Tammy's friend Cass came by to work on quilts and socialize. Cass has MS but it hasn't slowed her wit or humor. If anything it's probably sharper. While she was over Saturday, she started gloating about a sword she had and how heavy it was. I brought an old friend out of storage to introduce her to it - Bane. 'Rhinobane' is my heavy rapier and was for many years my primary rapier. It weighs and handles like a true period weapon. Cass was duly impressed.

Also on Saturday, my mom drove down to visit us from Louisville. She was coming to treat me to a Father's Day dinner and then take Brenna for a week long trip to the Gulf coast. They need the bonding time. Brenna will only have just so much time to make memories with her like this. As for the early Father's Day dinner, Macaroni Grill and mostly cheerful banter.

Today (Sunday), I got up at 6:30a. Why?! We have a large sand pile adjacent to the privacy fence that needs to be replaced. The sand and the moisture it held in, rotted out parts of the fence. To replace the damaged areas and not waste time or money, the sand needed to go. Back to 6:30... other than to see Brenna and my mom off on their road trip, I got up to pry open the damaged section of fence and make it available to the person who responded to a Craigslist advert offering it to whoever would carry it off. At 9am, "Jason" on his 8 year old son, came by and we started filling sandbags. Chris and I helped him fill 100 - 50 lb capacity bags. In about and hour time shoveled approximately 2 and 1/2 tons of sand. I may be overweight, but I still have strength and endurance. They want to cart off all the sand in the back which will help us fix the drainage problems and other problems the sand has been causing.

By 11 we were sitting in Cracker Barrel for a nice Sunday brunch. After eating and letting it settle, Tammy went to a sewing gathering but didn't stay long. The morning's activities wiped her out for several hours. Later on, Chris and I had a little father son time that he'll not soon forget. I took him for his first driving lesson. He stalled the car a few times, but after about 15 minutes and several gentle reminders, be was driving in an abandoned parking lot near the house. I was genuinely impressed by how fast he picked it up.

After the driving lesson, we picked up the lumber and accessories we will need to fix one of the damaged sections of the sand pile side fence. After dropping the supplies off, we ran some needed family errands then came home to watch a movie together. I should be exhausted but I'm feeling pretty good and bouncy still.

I can't help but think of my late step-father Chuck as I reflect on this day. Other than my grandfather, Chuck was the strongest and most positive father figure I could have asked for in my broken childhood. I think they'd be pleased with out things have turned out for me as a father figure myself.

Just a quick message. Due to work schedules, we will not be going to DragonCon at the end of the month. Add that to several other recent issues and I'm frustrated beyond words.

Speaking of work, I was nominated for an Agency wide honor / recognition. 30 contractors out of a workforce of over 7000 were nominated. I wasn't selected but wow. I think that's why I'm covering the projects they've been assigning me to.

Photo wise, I'm nearly caught up on photo work. I have a wedding to edit but I'm waiting on their selections. I have a shoot this weekend and next. This weekend has been in the works for 6 months and there was drama getting to it. The following weekend is a paid gig. After that, I'm putting down the camera for a while. First off, it needs to go in for repairs. Second, I have projects around the house I need to work on.

Speaking of unnecessary drama, the house in Lancaster is finally empty of tenants. We have to clean it up and make some minor repairs and I will sign the closing papers. This will free me from the place.

Quiet home and time to write a bit.

Well been trying to sit down and write for the past week but it's been chaotic at best. When I last left off, I mentioned I'd done a grand tour of northern Alabama. I ended up needing to drive back to Birmingham on the following Tuesday right after work. I got a call from one of my friends who's modeled for me in the past. Brittany is a new age gypsy, sweet natured, a bit hyper and searching for direction. She's literally wandered the country for the past few years since I first met and shot with her but never stayed long. When she went to San Diego last summer, she had a spiritual awakening that was remarkable. Upon her return to B'ham, we shot a set at the Moss Rock Preserve and talked about her changes in attitude, in character and how much happier she was with her new found spirituality. It was wonderful to behold.

When she contacted me following a visit to Kansas City to meet a boy she'd been corresponding with, she was hurt and heartbroken by him. He'd not been the person he'd seemed and she decided to come back to Birmingham. The only problem is she's lost the place she'd been staying at there. Yes, we took her in. She's been with us for a little over a week and a half now. She's cooking for us 3 nights a week. Brittany is a vegetarian so those meals have been pretty healthy and tasty. She helps clean, do the dishes and cleans her room regularly. Tammy been teaching her to sew and so far Brittany has completed two pairs of pants and a sash in less than a week. She also got a job the first day she was here. I don't know how long she'll be with us, but so far, she's been wonderful.

While the house remains quiet and I still have the mind to write, I'll speak of two more things. Yesterday Tammy and I road tripped to Knoxville. We went to visit with and pick up some goodies from Sandra Jacqua. She was trying to find a good home for Scott's / Don Njall's old 1931 Stromberg Carlson (shortwave/am) radio set and it looks like a project worth working on. Much to my surprise, she also handed me Njall's old marshalling staff and asked if I wanted it. Both items are in the garage and I'll be accessing what needs to done to bring them up to speed. If the radio can't be restored, I'll set about retrofitting an AM/FM digital set inside.

Tomorrow, I'll have a whole series of abandoned site images. I've been a bit inspired lately to edit more shots. I'm also a bit disgusted with myself to not posting some of these much sooner. I've still been exploring and shooting, but the editing process has been the glitch and the hold up to me.

Just feel like it from time to time.

I keep telling myself and everyone else, I'm going to update more and life keeps jumping in front of traffic and I have to chase it down to keep it from getting hit by a bus.

Family - Chris is overseas visiting his mom and seems to be having fun. His grades came back and pretty much had straight A's for 7th grade. He's now gotten very tall for a 12 year old (5'7" already) and growing. He even has the wisps of a mustache. Brenna's home from college and working on a B average. Now we're trying to figure out how we're going to afford sophomore year. My step son Michael is also doing decently well too.

Work - there's too much of it? I'm apparently the go to person at my full time engineering job. Its scary when you consider that as a contractor in the place I work, I don't have the authority to tell anyone to do the stuff they need to do. When I don't come home brain drained from that, I either can look forward to a heaping helping of photography related work (catalog sets for small businesses or private requests). I took my assistant and well adopted daughter (for all practical purposes) out to a local rock show and showed her some of the finer techniques. The bands loved having two professionals shooting their gig. When not dealing with that job, I'm helping Tammy try to keep our sewing machine store afloat. Oh yeah, when BERNINA USA closed all their corporate stores, like hers, we were recruited to open it as a dealership. Yeah, we bought the store...

On another note, I've been increasing hearing the siren's call from California. Soft and steady but there none the less. Little things keep reminding me of the place and the people there. For example, two weeks ago a pair of F-16s came roaring over my house. I've not seen an F-16 in four years here, let alone two running in full afterburner. Reminded me of Edwards. Songs keep popping up on XM Satellite radio that are not part of the normal rotation. Even the insanely hot weather here now. It's a dry dusty heat.. Sound familiar? I won't even go into the dreams and visions. Too many people already question my sanity. I keep wondering if it's a sign of things to come or my past calling me back. Don't know... It's like lingering over an old photo. I have to live in the now while treasuring the good memories of then.

SCA - nada. I've effectively stopped playing in the past 6 months. Despite my best attempts to get motivated and go play, it's just not there. Either the weather thwarts my desire to go to events, or I'm dealing with work related scheduling issues (it hurts trying to be in three places at once), or I'm dealing with things at home. In each case, my motivator isn't powering up. I'm not going to fool myself and force the matter. I'm probably going to play at the edges for now and at least stay engaged but not be the active SCAdian I once was.

Misc. My Sony Alpha 350 is slowly giving up the ghost. Its got over 40,000 exposures run through it and some of the functions aren't working the greatest. Some of it can be fixed with a cleaning and service (which I'll do soonish) but much of it is wear and tear. I found a great deal through Amazon for one year no interest financing so I jumped on it and bought a new Sony A65 medium format digital camera. It is incredible. It's got the same incredible color as my old cameras but its faster and more sensitive in low light. I'm still learning its in's and out's but I'm a happy camper there.

There's a quick update. I'm not sure who's left out there beyond a few regular readers and several passers by. If it's any consolation, I do read through the friend list posts pretty much daily. I comment here and there where time and available brain cells still permit.

Alrighty folks, I'm alive but that's about it. This has been one helluva week. For those of you not following me on Facebook, I dropped a few bombshells.

1. While moving furniture out of storage, I may have torn a muscle in my shoulder. Last week the doctor merely thought it was a bursa (cushions in the joints). Instead it's been hurting for the better part of two weeks and not in the joint. Because of this, I've been in a sling and expect to have an MRI in the next week or so.

2. Remember the car accident this summer. The attack tree and the XTerra having it's front end mostly ripped off?.. Well the car certainly remembered. There was apparently additional damage that they didn't find. Specifically, a radiator hose was knocked or worked loose and leaking fluid. Unfortunately, it was doing so onto the alternator. I got into work Thursday and the car died, horribly. It had to be towed to the shop that did the work. Fortunately, I was already in contact with them about the leak and the cause. I merely didn't know that it was where it was. The shop thinks it will be covered under the old claim.

3. There's news on the house front. In California, the tenant abandoned the house. Given this, it means I don't have to pay a lawyer to get them out. Sadly, I'm still out several thousand dollars. I'm still looking at selling it, but the realtors don't seem enthusiastic about the prospects. Tammy's house has been attracting interest and maybe it will sell before the end of January.

4. Speaking of Tammy, she got some extremely bad news from her company this week. Without giving away privileged info, they may be consolidating her company and closing the store. No timeline is available, but it was a huge shock. On that same note, they called her today and effectively offered her two positions working directly for corporate. This is a massive opportunity. She also is discussing with investors the prospect of opening her own store.

5. Given everything, I've pretty much stayed close to home and avoided shooting. Because of the shoulder, editing is pretty much out of the questions without substantial pain.

On Tour or events in the area:

October 30th
The Huntsville Zombie Walk. Gather at the Clinton Street Garage at 2pm.
Whether you’re a freshly killed body or a risen corpse, shamble down in your finest funerary attire. It doesn’t take a lot of braaaaaaaiinnsss.. to support this a charity event. Just bring a bag or cans of pet food to donate to local animal shelters.


November 5th
Rasputina plays at Crossroads Music Hall, Huntsville. Doors at 8pm; tickets $13.50


Where’s JJ?

Folks, I’m still alive and out here, but I keep discovering that less and less of my time (and money) is really mine. Let’s see, where to start...

Huntsville Home –
We’ve been steadily plowing through the various repairs and modifications to the house we moved into in July. For example, we’re still working on finishing the guest bedroom. There, the painting is 99% done, carpet is out and we’re doing the last repairs on squeaky floors. Likewise, we pulled the carpet out of the basement studio. As it came out we discovered they installed it over the original linoleum tiles which also have had to come out. Many were loose, stained, cracked or damaged. In about a week or less, I’ll arrange to have commercial grade carpet put down there. I’ll also be installing the first set of track lights in there this weekend. The place has been keeping me very busy.


The “other” Huntsville house (Tammy’s) –
A few weeks ago, we agreed to have vinyl siding and such installed. The job is done and looks pretty good. The hope is the renovated outside, will allow us to get the house on the market and sold in a few months. If anything, I may make it a more attractive rental. Either way, we need the income.


Lancaster house –
I swear about this place a lot. Remember that we had to evict the previous tenant this time last year? Guess what, we’re about to file the papers to do that to the current one too. She hasn’t paid rent for September or October. This one had been good, but when her mom was killed in a traffic incident (hit & run) Labor Day weekend, she completely fell apart. She believes that she’s going to get an insurance settlement soon, but hasn’t figured out that the insurance and legal issues will take months. Months I don’t have to wait. Needless to say, this has once again stretched my finances to the breaking point. I’m only paying essentials and even stretching out payments. It’s damn’d frustrating, but until the housing and job market gets better, I don’t think the place will sell.


Personal stuff in brief –
We’re probably having a friend move in with us “officially” this weekend. Amy was originally one of Brenna’s friends from high school. Over the last year, Tammy & I forged a friendship that endured after Brenna left for college. In June, I took her on as a photography assistant / student and she’s accompanied me on a number of shoots recently. Given that her family lives way out in the back country and that they’re in worse shape financially than we are; we decided jointly to offer her a place with us. This wasn’t all my decision; it was a family discussion and decision. After previous experiences with housemates and long term guests, I wouldn’t have made the offer except that she’s impressed me. She’s motivated to better herself, willing to help us around the house and she gets along with all of us. If anything, the extra set of hands around the house is a very welcome benefit.


Photography –
I’m making some fundamental changes. Yes I’m still shooting. That being said, I’ve done a shoot of some manner or form over the last couple weekends. I’m also getting product delivered to models and catalogs. The difference is the method. First, I’m sending most images out via www.DropBox.com which is an FTP site. It means I don’t have to pay shipping for CD-Rs or wonder if they’ve gotten to the intended recipient (I’ve had my problems with packages going into oblivion over the last few years). Second, with certain exceptions, the modeling images are going out unedited for review and so the subject can select images they like or want. Too many times over the years, selecting images to work with has been too difficult. Either I don’t think they meet my standards or I think they ALL look incredible. Normally I want the added input and feedback. Since only the model and I have access to the images (thru DropBox), I can be assured of privacy and copyright security as well. Third, my motivation has been returning to be able to work on artistic shots. Given that, I’ll start posting nature, abandoned site and other art shots again to my blogs in a few weeks.


Halloween –
The house is mostly decorated. The graveyard is built and figures are out and set up. Lighting and the fog machine will be tested tonight and tomorrow. I’ve got some minor adjustments and additions but I think we’re in good shape for the weekend. The nice thing is the neighbors are also decorating or at least supportive. I’ve gotten more than a few positive comments. Costuming for myself and Chris is now the challenge. I’ll work that issue today. Tomorrow is Tia & Chris’s party and Sunday is the Zombie Walk downtown.


An odd note,
I tend to take hints and messages from the powers that be thru the music I hear and the things that reach out to grab my attention. Over the past few days, I've increasingly noticed more and more references to California and to some extent to Angie. Since she appologzed and I'm not complaining about the past, I'm wondering what it all means.

Wow, I can’t believe how long it’s been since I wrote something substantial. It’s not been planned, it just didn’t happen. Between life events creeping up on us, trying to get the new house up to speed and other associated mayhem; blogging fell gently to the wayside for the time being. Writing, as my muse, wasn’t one of those things that needed, wanted or remotely desired being active. It merely hid in the closet napping and avoiding the general mayhem of the rest of our world. Now as things are slowly and (mercifully) steadily winding down, the muse has awoken fitfully from slumber, stretched its wearied and unsteady limbs, and now smells that change in the air that may signal fresh creativity.

Updates (in short);

1. Brenna is off to college now. In fact, we’ve made a second supply run to Montevallo yesterday to provide her with her new bank card and my old printer. She seems to be happy with college life thus far and her room-mate situation.

2. Speaking of driving to Montevallo, it was a challenge. The heavy rain, wind and low visibility made for less than pleasant conditions. In fact, south of Cullman, Tammy and I had to detour off into the boonies because the interstate highway was closed. A tractor-trailer jackknifed and blocked several lanes of north and south-bound traffic. It added an extra hour to our drive home.

3. Chris is also adjusting to new realities in the house and at school. He’s discovered he has privacy and quiet time unlike before. He’s been exploring various science (chemistry and physics) videos and wants to experiment at home. While I’m happy to foster that intense interest, I now have to find him some safe outlets. He’s also growing increasingly confident and talented musically.

4. Speaking of the house, we’re getting ready to repaint the “guest” room and probably pull out the carpet from it as well. The house is in relatively good shape but there are signs all over of many less than high quality projects done by the previous owners. The carpets appear to have been non-professionally installed. Likewise several closets have finishing and edge coverings that were miss-measured and even more poorly installed. I do have another ceiling fan to put up this evening and I bought a set of track lights to install in my (eventual) studio as well.

More to follow shortly

Charles Algood (far right) at my daughter's high school graduation. Chuck passed from this world unto the next tonight at approximately 11p Central time (US). He was my step-father and will be deeply missed. I will be off-line for the next few days.

As announced on my facebook page, it's good news / bad news time. The good news, my mom and step-father FINALLY got married. The bad news, he's dying (end stage emphysema).

The rest of the story..

Chuck has smoked and drank heavily for the last 25 years of his life. While many in the family tried to get him to moderate, he didn't. It was his choice. It doesn't mean I agreed with those choices but they were his. I've considered him my step-father for that entire time and I'll love him dearly no matter what his choice was.

According to my mom, he's recieving hospice care and most likely has weeks to live. I say this not in sadness but in celebration of his amazing life.

This is where JJ sits down and finally plays catch up from last week and makes plans for the next few weeks ahead.

The Lancaster House
As noted very briefly, I have a new tenant in my house in Lancaster. She’s paid in the full security deposit and first month. This lady seems nice and very thoughtful. It’s nice having the income coming back in again. Now I can start catching up from the bills “Josephine” left me with. The final tally for the previous tenant was $5000 for the judgment, plus nearly $250 in unpaid utility bills, $300 for cleaning and $700+ in repairs. I’ve gotten none of it – yet. I’m going to go find the biggest, nastiest, most aggressive debt collector I can find.

The Huntsville House
Tammy and I have started seriously looking into moving. We’re looking at either getting into another rental or buying a place. I’m not entirely comfortable about buying given the instability in the contracting situation, but I know I don’t want to spend another year in our current place. The place we’re both the most interested in is a 3000 sq ft., 3 bedroom, 2 bath house a little further south of our place. We already know the bathrooms need to be enlarged (& modernized), carpet replaced in several areas, and we need to modify a room/garage into an additional bedroom. It certainly has the space plus some to spare. All told the house has 6 garage spaces (2 car detached garage, 2 car attached but remote entry, and 2 garages in the house with direct entry). The place has immense potential but will require substantial modifications and repairs.

Shows and Events
Last week was huge for the kids and I for events. Last Monday, Brenna and I drove down to Birmingham, to see, hear,.. experience Beats Antique live. About a week or two before the show, I contacted the group’s tour manager and asked if I could shoot the performance. They gave me an all access pass to photograph the show. I provided my ticket to leliel and sabre0link also joined us. Before it was over, I’d gotten over 800 images the camera. Without a doubt, it was one of the most amazing and incredible small venue acts. Zoe, David and Tommy are great people and I was very happy to work with them. If you happen to have the chance to go to one of their shows, GO!

On this past Saturday, Chris and I drove up to attend Iris Faire (SCA event) in the Nashville area. I didn’t quite know what we were driving into on many levels. The weather that had battered the region on Friday had spawned extremely high winds and more than a few funnel clouds. As we neared the event site west of Nashville, we saw damage and trees down everywhere off the sides of the road. As the very strong cold front was centered on central Tennessee, it stayed windy and very cold throughout the day. I was happy to chat with Don Njall and Lady Allesaundra at the event. I’m glad that I did, because he clued me in further on who the “former ex-” was who was spreading foul rumors – Vikki (my ex- student). More on that later in the notes.. I also learned that by some manner I’d offended or bothered someone at a previous event, so I sought out the right folks and made apologies and begged forgiveness. I still don’t entire know the what, when and how I did anything, but I felt awful that there was any misunderstanding.

Event wise, I fought in the rapier tourney for the Silver Iris. I lost my first bout because I was more than a bit distracted. After refocusing, I fought my way to the finals where I lost. After only one practice in four months, I felt slow and sloppy, but it was a great tourney none the less. I opted out of the second (“Poison Iris”) tourney and spent time with Chris so he could attend the Chainmaile class they were holding. It was a fun event.

We left the event around 3pm and drove back to Huntsville in order to attend the performance of April Smith and the Great Picture Show. The Huntsville Swing Dance Club brought April and her band into town for the first time since I had helped host her last year. The show had close to 100 in attendance and many of those folks danced during the three live sets. I was stunned when April publicly thanked me alongside the organizers of this show. She explained to me later that she really appreciated that I’d introduced her to Huntsville and the incredible art and music scene here. Sadly, don’t expect any photos from me from the show. The Swing Dance Club had already contracted a photographer and videographer, plus the show was at the Flying Monkey. Nuff said about that venue.

Photo stuff
This is going to be a very busy 30 to 45 days ahead. I have three or four model shoots coming up. Two are catalog sets, one is fetish and there’s a newcomer TF set. Sometime in May, I’m also trying to get a weekend trip to Gulfport so I can work with Doll again. Brenna graduates on the 20th of May and I expect to shoot a few frames of my daughter getting her diploma.

Perhaps the biggest photo event is coming up next week. I’ll be shooting as a staff photographer for Frolicon in Atlanta, this weekend. It looks like there’s at least 8 other photographers covering the event so this should be a bit less stressful / exhausting. As mentioned in the previous message about Frolicon, I guess I will let one other cat out of the bag. When I was originally offering my services to the staff, they asked if they could use one on my art photos for the event badge. If things have gone well, one of my photos and models will be seen and worn by all the attendees.