Nashville Visits

I enjoy having friends from out of town come and visit me here in Nashville. It gives them a chance to travel somewhere and spend time relaxing without a pesky itinerary to follow. Cameron Carnes took a weekend and made his way up here to visit me. We had a great time and took in what Nashville had to offer. If you come to visit me then I promise to take your picture with the camera on my phone. It's my new way of documenting adventures :)

Way Down South

"Swimmin' in the creek with all my friends, way down South
Prayin' them days would never end, way down South
Give me a worm and a fishin' pole, I'll pull a fish on out
Those memories will never get old, way down South"

I am proud of where I came from, where I grew up and where I want to live for all of my days. It is the back woods and open fields that I want to raise a family in some day. Tennessee is where I call home. I learned to crawl, walk, run, ride a bike, play in a back yard, climb trees, the list can just go on and on. Words such as aint and yall fit in almost every conversation where I come from. A love for God and family is never looked down upon. Sundays are filled with friendly hellos as you walk in to find your usual pew at church. The South that I love doesn't worry about the latest political correctness standards. We look out for our neighbors and give hearty waves as we drive down the road. Sweet tea and a warm country biscuit never get passed by. Family reunions usually have a game of horse shoes, watermelon or kids running to the fishing hole. Wearing shoes is of course optional. Everyone where I come from can say they have listened to the Grand Ol Opry a time or two. Everyone where I come from wouldn't be ashamed of that either. The measurement of success isn't in the money you make but in the love you have. See, where I come from people aren't afraid to be people and love what they do. I take pride in being from the South and loving my family for who they are. When I think of what I am thankful for most in life, I can't help but picture my upbringing. Doors open in life and it is foolish not to walk through them. God, family and my friends have helped me every time I have been down. I wouldn't change a thing for the world.

iChat

Last night I got to see the full power of iChat and what Apple has to offer. I know of a few people that have posted in their blogs about ichat so I thought I would take the liberty to express my appreciation for the technology behind it and the sheer fact that if boredom should strike in the late hours of the night my friend Taylor Jones and others will chat with me. Last night I was connected via iChat with my family in Birmingham, AL. This technology is perhaps one of the greatest things I have discovered in the last few years. But as the screen shot above shows, one conversation isn't all it can do. You can link up with multiple people from around the world. At one time last night, we had Steven Taylor from Tampa, FL, Taylor Jones from Birmingham, AL, and myself up here in Nashville, TN. You can see how the goofy things can get when the midnight oil has burnt out and the sun is making its way to come over the horizon. I wish all of my family and friends had an Apple computer so their friendly faces would be just a click away. Someday that might be a possibility.

New Fresh Year

So I had to save all of my pennies and such but I was able to finally get new supplies for my art classes. I feel as if I am 9 years old on Christmas morning. When I walked out of Plaza Art Supply today I had a million and one ideas racing through my head. I got new oils and acrylics, along with many other helpful things to play with this semester. It did cost a little more than I would have liked but I ended up saving about $35 in all because Plaza Art Supply is a great place. Here is just a fraction of what I got to walk away with today and I am living right now...



I hope everyone enjoys their evening. I was sad to see the Colts lose in the playoffs. But life goes on. I am about to go see the movie Juno, which I heard is amazing. I will probably write up a report on it tonight. Take care!

Today Was A Good Day

Today was the first day to start back my classes for the Spring 2008 semester. It was a great feeling to walk around campus again and see familiar faces that all were smiling. The weather couldn't have been any better. Today was a good day. Here are a few images from last year. The first four were taken with a roll of slide film that expired a few years ago. And the black and white image was taken on a shoot for my brothers graduation in Mississippi. I hope everyone's day has been great and burden-free. Enjoy good weather on the days you are able to!

Second Post in One Day

I just wanted to post about 2 recent albums I picked up at the record store. I will admit, I knew very little of the band besides one little song that I had found myself listening to over and over. Well, the band is named Gomez and the two CDs everyone should go buy are called "Bring It On" from back in 1998 and also "How We Operate" which was released in 2006. These two CDs will help me with my trip back home to Nashville tomorrow afternoon.

This Christmas break has been pretty good on me. Last semester rounded off fairly nicely with good grades and great memories. Coming to Birmingham and seeing my family is always refreshing to me. I love my parents dearly and the few times I get to be with my brother I cherish. Seeing friends is hard sometimes because I think of how differently my life would be if I wasn't in Nashville and would have stayed in Birmingham. But I am thankful for the opportunities that have been put before me and I wouldn't want to think of life without them. I am always going to press on no matter what. I am absolutely thrilled classes are starting back because I need schedule to my days. My art classes will be comforting to me. Heck, I am even taking a Clay class... That's going to be a switch for me.

Things are going to start changing for me though. I am going to leave the digital world of photography for a while. I plan on having fun with traditional techniques and my array of film cameras that I have slowly acquired. If I get to go to Ireland at the end of the semester, plan on seeing only film shots!

I am in the process of building up my funds to purchase all new camera gear. I am going to be making the switch to Canon in the next year. And if you run across a good deal on a Mamiya C330 or a Mini Rolleiflex then let me know. I am wanting to venture in the TLR world.

I hope everyone is having a great start to the year 2008 and continue to check back for updates in the coming days!

-Joel

New Year '08

It's a new year that is promising to show me things that I have never seen before.

A trip to Ireland might be in the future, along with trips to Chicago and other cities in the U.S..