My 2010 in Text Messages

So here it is, my 2010 in text messages. I should mention that all of these were sent by me to spare my friends and family the embarrassment of admitting they’re involved in such bizarre conversation. Most of these are just goofy, because in person, when I’m busy I’m normally consumed by photography, class and project-oriented endeavors, it’s just my nature. Some are about big deals (graduating college). So proof that work does not consume all of my thoughts:

Sigh. I did see some of those chocolate gold coins at CVS yesterday and laugh about our smell conversation.

Ok. So it’s a deal. I intern in exchange for a reasonable pie stipend.

Let’s play spot the ostrich!

Have you ever heard of being Rick Rolled? I’m going to do that to you now, but with text messages and ostriches.

They’re announcing names over the intercom… it was Boone… the announcer accidentally said it as Buffon, laughed, then hung up.

H20 Squash.

Giant game of on-campus zombie freeze tag again this year. Think it’s here to stay. Take THAT for awesome tradition, A&M!

Whatever, just take the chinchilla hostage.

I’m officially a college grad!

I’m returning with show-and-tell quality geodes. Be glad with me for not getting arrow heads for your son… I saw that going badly.

I thought anvils were used as a surface for blacksmiths to repair other stuff… do we have a conundrum?

Did I read that right?! What ??!! Wow! THANK YOU!!! Love you, too!

I feel like I owe Maslow a personal thanks for providing justification for my seemingly absurd actions.

… Apparently Ryan was Sub Zero for Halloween SEVERAL times. To that I say… REPTILE WINS!!!!! Happy Halloween!

There is a free Simon app! Under top 25 free. I consider this important, breaking news.

Like nurf guns, but they shoot limes? And you put in a whole lime and it has a slice feature before it shoots? We’ll go with your idea. [Note: I realized after I posted this that this one probably seemed alcohol related. It's not. I just really like limes. Weird, I know.]

Should have gotten me some beaver nuuuuggetz!!!

Was it a baby squirrel? Young and naïve? Hahaha

[still regarding squirrels] If the knocking sound is coming from half foot above the ground, don’t answer!!!!

Are you sure it’s that bad?! Because the world’s largest sno cone is there today and….

It’s unfinished business. I still have time to beat it! Leaving class. About to become Robin Hood. [Regarding Donkey Kong and Halloween trick or treating at the Children’s Hospital]

Ahh! I just discovered that the ranch next door has miniature ponies! And they totally love me!

I’m having a long day. I need a random person dressed in a gorilla costume to get on the bus I’m on, or something strange like that.

And the best text message of the year award goes to my father (who sent this lovingly) during the period of unemployment I endured to focus on my last [grueling] semester of school:

A little fairy fluttered in my ear and whispered that you needed money. Killed it with tennis racket.

Coming soon!... [It's not snow]

Well, the new year and my last semester of school has begun. It's freezing here (read: 8 degrees Fahrenheit) and windy (nothing new there) but I have yet to be rewarded for putting up with this weather (read: snow or better yet, a snow day). So I guess I'll just have to reminisce:

My first real try at fully manual exposure of snow. (But I've been into photography for so long! How could I just be photographing snow? Refer to beginning of post.) A bit tricky, especially mid-day when mass amounts of snow seem to glow, so I learned.

Looks almost like a tilt shift photo, no?

About an 8 second exposure @ ISO 320. It was also 20 degrees, but there was zero wind and that whole "being surrounded by mountains" thing kept me pretty content.

And so begins my love/hate relationship with sun flares.

Speaking of reminiscing and the new year... by request, be looking for my "2010 in Text Messages" post soon.

Boats and Floats (I can rhyme!)

For Thanksgiving, I headed down to San Antonio to watch the annual boat caroling/boat parade. Man, I seriously love the riverwalk. I seriously did not love the fact that the city was charging just to go down to it for the parade. We seriously have to pay to watch a parade in a public space that's already banking from heavily sponsored floats (I saw Santa pop up out of the ceiling of the Raddison Hotel float...)? It actually wound up being for the better, since nearly all the spectators opted to watch from the bridges above, and I wound up looking for more original things to photograph.

P.S. The thought of San Antonio always makes me laugh because I had a friend in elementary school who would never fail to yell, in all seriousness, "REMEMBER THE ALAMO!!!" as she led the charge to grab the first round of dodge balls from the center line. I had some seriously awesome childhood friends.

Belly Flop Fun!

Ok, so I laughed really hard the first time I saw this. And even harder the second time. And by the 5th time (yes, I was on a laughing roll, I suppose) I had one of my ever-so-effervescent epiphanies. I seriously feel like this cat right now. Well, pause while he's in mid air. I haven't hit the floor yet... but my point being that I've worked up a lot of nerve and I'm going for it (finishing school, getting my foot on the first step of the career ladder [note within a note: I hate the "career ladder" analogy, but this whole post is my own analogy for something... I can only have so many analogy-epiphanies a day, so give me a break] etc.) and I know that I'm trying so hard for something that I'm pretty sure I'm not going to reach ALL my goals. But I like being ambitious. And I'm still going to find the whole experience entertaining, even when I hit the floor. Oh, and there's that giddy little adrenaline rush mid-air.



Also, I think this about the 8th time I've seen this now. And it's still funny.

Dusty wine

I toured Llano Estacado Winery not too long ago. It's the largest "premium" winery in Texas, and although I still have only a vague idea of what that actually means, I was expecting it to be much more... industrial? It was a very laid back atmosphere, and I couldn't help but appreciate this wine glass, sitting outside on some equipment, just collecting dust carried by the West Texas wind. Maybe it's because I've had to deal with one too many dust storms, but I found the reminder of the ever-present West Texas dust juxaposed to the romanticism of the distant vineyards humorous.

Seaweed: its for more than throwing!

So when I went to the beach for an (awesome!) on-the-beach wedding, what did I do? Naturally, I took more pictures, thus adding to my already long to-do list. But this is work that doesn't feel like work, so I'm cool with it.

I dare you to tell me this isn't the most attractive mound of washed up seaweed you've ever seen. What's that? You don't really notice that kind of thing when you're soaking up the sun on a clear, summer day with nothing but endless water and sand sprinkled with scantily clad eye candy? How awkward of me.

I usually make it a point to avoid shots of tree branches. Its usually just really amateur-looking, but in my defense, this was really more of a shot of the sky (and proof that I was an HOUR early for a 7:30 A.M. final last fall). The leaves were slightly damp and picking up some of the orange from the sky. Any whooo, I just ran across it and thought I would post something pretty, just because.