Winter in our House

New Family in Maryland

This is a picture of D's sister, her husband, and their wonderful family. 

Fall on our Street

All the leaves came down last night.

Summer Nights in Georgetown

Nights in Georgetown have a few staples. 

Box of Bullets

Who Set My Notebook On Fire?

It was Chris, obviously. But the How is actually kind of cool. Here is a reenactment. 

Getting Engaged at Piney Point

Short story: We went to our friend Dave's beach house for a weekend, and on Sunday morning Devin proposed and obviously I said yes. 

Crab Eatin' at Tony and Jill's

I didn't even know I liked crabs. But when dinner at Tony and Jill's house is in your future, you pretty much know that everything will be good and in its right place.

Walls and Signs

Topsail, NC

Did We Just Become Best Friends?

"If I were an animal, I would be a wolf. And my best friend would be a horse." While driving through Virginia, we met that best friend. I was pretty much the third wheel.

Cheesy Sneak Peek

I hate. pictures of food. They never ever make it look delicious, and please stop taking pictures of your food and just live your life. But I'm trying to challenge myself, so here's a picture from the omelet-making that happened this weekend.

Lights on Lights on Lights

Always focus on light. 

I don't mean that as a metaphor, but yes focusing on the positive is a probably good idea. I mean that when you're taking a picture, focus on an area getting a lot of light.

Except when you are taking pictures of lights, in which case focus on something else.

When Kristen met Kristin

Disclaimer: This post has a lot of photos. That's my fault. It's because I'm having a hard time feeling confident in representing the participants in this transgender fashion show my dear friend Kristen brought me along to. (She is not transgender. She is a reporter on our local news station, and she let me tag along when she covered the show. Not that you can't be both transgender and a news reporter.) 

Due to my own ties with the SOF (Special Operations) community, both personal and professional, the person I feel the most duty to here is someone also named Kristin. Kristin Beck is transgender and a former SEAL.

Point being - the tremendous courage all the participants in the show displayed makes me feel the stakes are higher than usual for me, because the stakes are deeply tied in with the subjects' sense of self. Their aesthetic journey - granted, just one part of their journey - has not been an easy one. However, it's one worthy of knowing, I think.

How We Got Our Flag

So we were at the DC Pride Parade.

Faces

Here's Beaux in San Francisco last summer - I look back on that trip with a big Beaux smile. 

 I think good photography is kind of like what my dad said about good writing - if it's only about one thing, (i.e. here's a photo of a thing), it's not really about anything. So I hope my photos of faces also get across a bit of the individual's personality - hopefully what I like about him or her - or the time I took the picture. No pressure. I know a lot of these photos are merely a photo of the thing in the photo, but I hope at least one or two show more than that.

Close-ups of Objects

I used a fixed lens, i.e. no zoom, and I highly recommend it. I sacrificed some technical abilities, because there are certain things I just can't really do the way I want or the way that would be the easiest, but in turn I've gained in confidence and creativity, because I have to find new ways to do things.  

Close-ups can be hard with my camera, so whenever some come out remotely well I'm really happy. Here are some of them.

Art Jamz

Art Jamz = painting + wine-ing. Perfect combo. Karen and I went in to do pictures (photographs) for her new website.

Flasking in Adams Morgan

The back story to this is it was the White House Correspondents' Dinner a few blocks from where we used to live. Weirdly, we weren't invited.

Springtime in DC

Spring has sprung in DC. 

New House, Old Friends

We are finally in the new house. 

These are two old friends who came over to help us break in the back yard.

Cinco De Mayo

Hello Cinco de Mayo, Goodbye Adams Morgan.

Picking up the beer in Georgetown

This guy helped us pick up the large beer donation from Pabst for War Stories and Free Beer. 

He. Was. A. Delight.

Dinner in NYC

A lot has happened since I took these photos last fall. Chris and a lot of the guys live in Florida now, changing the gene pool one day at a time. 

Brief Trip to Jacksonville

Sunrise in DC

Good morning!

Unsurprising.

It should come as no surprise that the GBs I work with are not as vocal about emotions as I am.  They do not gush about friendship, love, feelings, Beyonce and Jay-Z's relationship, etc.  They do tolerate me 

when I do all of those things, which I appreciate.

So here's Brian. A man of few words, who lives in the mountains with many mystical things. 

This is the birthday email-exchange between him and me last year. 

Snowburning with Lovely and Lou

Yes, there are a lot of spreadsheets and email campaigns and analytics. But there are also days like this. 

Jimmy's Dive Bar: Writings on the wall

Turks and Caicos: An Overview

After a countdown that lasted three months but felt like forever, we were finally there.

Brief trip to Boston

GORUCK is growing. A lot. Which is great, but sometimes (a lot of the time) I miss when we were in one place.  Last week in Boston - we were there for War Stories and Free Beer - I got the chance to catch up with some of the guys I don't see as often these days.

War Stories and Free Beer: Boston

RC's Q+A at the DC JCC

My dad came to DC to do a Q+A and promote his new book.

Updates from the Road

Lots to see.

Healthy Competition in Alexandria

This is the person competing with me for Devin's heart. Game. On. 

"This is my dude snack."

Hey, a guy's gotta eat. And I'm pretty sure banana and beer is a complete brain food. Or whatever. 

The Aftermath

So last night we went to a really fun party. 

Shooting at Old Glory

I love taking pictures at Old Glory.

Only the Essentials in NYC

A quick trip to NYC left only time for the essentials.

Don't Give Chris a High Five

Three Generation Birthday

Tombs Medicine

Add Going to the Tombs to the very small list of DC things I do/like.

Late Night Nostalgia on the Upper West Side

Being back in my neighborhood where I grew up makes me feel the nostalgic the way Homer meant. It's weird and moving and great like visiting an old friend, except you both keep changing and it's hard to keep up as much as you used to. It hurts my heart (and my heart) a little bit.

San Francisco at Night

I love San Francisco So. Much. It was love at first sight, and when I fell - I fell hard.

Unglamorous Times

A look at some of the less-glamorous aspects behind the scenes:

Linds and Mal Visit for Inauguration Weekend

This weekend Lindsey and Mallory visited. It was inauguration, which is the most DC thing I've ever done besides straighten my hair.

Surprise Visit from Beaux

"Can I stay at your house? I'll be there in two hours."

Elle-o!

Wait, that looks like a photo of my mom and grandparents!

The Home of Country Meowsic

Nashville was like finally meeting a family member I'd never known.

Modern Family Thanksgiving

I have a modern family.

How to Hear a War Story