Journal

The past few weeks have been busy as usual. Work has been demanding of late, and I’ve been trying to get ready for a photo show that was on Friday. It was one of those things I kept meaning to put out there for everyone and never got around to it except for a bulletin…

One hundred and five years ago, my grandmother was born in the tiny community of Midway, Alabama. She was the eldest child of Joseph & Gertha Johnston, and was born at the home of her grandparents, Proctor & Lula Johns. My grandmother, who I called Ma-Ma, also called her grandmother Johns the same. They were…

I think I may well have been one of the few who took note of Earth Hour in one of Georgia’s newest “cities” – Johns Creek. On one of my typically many tangents, I find it hard to accept this as anything more than a tax district.  There’s no city center and no real history….

It’s very interesting where we find inspiration sometimes. For a few years now, I’ve been a casual reader of Wil Wheaton’s blog.  Yes, Wil Wheaton AKA Wesley Crusher of Star Trek.  For one reason or another, I relate to some of the things he has to say, which I would never have anticipated, but same…

The last few days in Egypt, I had a cough, which was particularly rough when we got back to the smog of Cairo. I thought the smog was what started things, but as I looked back, it started before we returned to Cairo. Still, when I got back, it did improve (so was likely worsened…

I had grand plans today to get an early start and ride up to the mountains and catch the sunrise on what I hoped would be some good fall color. What actually happened was waking up to see the sun already having risen. Hmm… change of plans… I had a leisurely morning and headed up….

I’m not sure what today got me into this journey down memory lane. But it began with hunting down this old commercial… And the memories came rushing back.. I moved from commercial to commercial and the odd cartoon of those days such as But in the end I came to a skittering halt here… The…

Almost two weeks ago, I was having my pre-op for the surgery.   The hospital is down the street in Duluth, but the opposite direction I usually go to shop and all.  That morning, I stopped by the Kroger coming from that direction instead.  It’s a slightly older and less remodeled Kroger than the mammoth…

In honor of what would have been my 10th consecutive DragonCon. I’m not heart broken at having missed it. If I had wanted to go bad enough, I would have delayed surgery on my foot. I wasn’t excited about going this year and had yet to even purchase tickets when the surgery was planned two…

Surgery yesterday was both earlier than expected and longer than expected. I had gone home to pick up my Mom the day before and the phone rang at their house and I saw it was the hospital. I answered expecting they wanted to speak to me, but they asked for Mom. I gather they hadn’t…

It’s interesting, this year I just had not managed to drum up any excitement that DragonCon was on its way. This would be my 10th straight DragonCon. I’ve never missed one since moving into the Atlanta area. And every year has also been an opportunity to see Brandy and share some geeky times together. I’ve…

Today was back to find out the results of the MRI. Has anyone ever gotten a concrete answer from these things or is just me? Well, I’ve got good news anyway.  I have not torn or broken anything.  Tendons all intact.  Bones mostly intact.  It appears, and the x-ray showed this, that I did chip…

Okay, getting ready for the show and life in general has had me hopping for weeks, so I’ve had precious little opportunity to get out with the camera. Show behind me, I figured this morning I’d get up early and get out. Of course, I get up and the sky is dark with clouds, but…

The company I work for occasionally offers discount tickets to the odd event or amusement park. But for the first time in 8 years, they gave their employees and family members the opportunity to visit Atlanta’s High Museum for free! Shockers! The moment I saw that I knew I was going. I haven’t been to…

I’m not sure what brought this old parody song to my mind today, but I’m glad I live in a world where I can find anything on the internet. I remember listening to this in high school on the Doctor Demento radio show.

I’m cautiously optimistic about my knee. In the last week, I finally experienced some improvement again. When I first started physical therapy, there was definite improvement. I went from struggling up the stairs to dull yet constant pain. It was better than before, but better is still not well. The stall has lasted quite awhile,…

So, after days of thinking about it I put down my $99 and registered for a SMART. I loved them in Europe and they are coming to America in ’08! So much for that happy place of no car payments. 😉 The one above is the configuration I want, color-wise, and yes, the cabriolet model…

I was just too excited last week to find out that the SMART car I’ve seen in Europe is coming to the USA in 2008!  I’m thinking very seriously that this may be my next vehicle.  As long as I hang onto the Blazer, I still have something bigger if I really need it for…

Not sure where the “no news is good news” thing comes from.  I guess it has it’s good points, but as the continuing knee saga unfolds… I’m not sure I agree… After weeks of physical therapy, I went back to the orthopedist last week.  I had improvement in physical therapy, but in the end, I…

Home for a few days, being Mother’s day weekend and all. I’d seen the stories about the wild fires in south Georgia for a good while now but

Yvonne, Jimmy, and Mike Lewis Originally uploaded by Marksda1. 1949 – My Mom’s sister, Yvonne Wilson Lewis (1922-2007) with her sons, Jimmy (1942-2000) and Mike Lewis (born 1944). Today I was on the phone for a long conference call and two times I saw my folks # pop up under my home line. When the…

So, I do my usual wait for the crowds to disperse and run up the street to Kroger because the pantry is nearing bare. Only, they have been doing road work, I kid you not, on State Bridge Road for over three years. At last in the end stages, but of course, they’ve got a…

I had planned to go down and see some art at the Dogwood Festival this weekend as I have the past couple of years.  However, the weather was just plain unappealing and I had no real desire to get out. Last week I started putting together a new website.  I’ve only ever had a free…

My knee is 80% better today. I talked to the doctor today – she called – what kind of weird parallel universe am I in?? She said

So, I saw the doctor today.  Not my regular doctor who is sick but another in his practice.  I was telling my Mom last night (appointment was yesterday but rescheduled because doctor was out) that I was kind of glad that I was seeing another doctor. 

First for just an FYI, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m selling prints of some of my shots at Imagekind, a print on demand service.  These are nice prints and you can get them professionally matted and framed by the same service. Feel free to spread the word.  If there are shots you’ve seen here…

Saw the doctor today for my follow-up on the knee problem. And… Arthritis… or rather the beginnings of arthritis…  possibly caused by some sort of injury to my knee earlier in life.  I think I may remember it.  I’m not the most graceful person on earth, so lord knows I could have banged my knees…

So, I saw the doctor today about the pain in my left knee. Nothing readily wrong with it. So, he prescribed an anti-inflammatory and sent me for x-rays.  I go back a week from Thursday to review the x-rays and see how things are.  If I’m lucky, I’ve just unwittingly pulled a muscle or tendon…

My life right now is all about solitude. My new job is working out of my home. And week one saw me

Now I think I’m officially back. My laptop was in for service for TWO weeks. Why does warranty work suck so bad? Surely it could be done faster? When I took it in, I was told a week to ten days. It had been nearly two full weeks before I even bothered them. Wednesday I…

Car back! Still without a decent computer, but at least I can cart my butt around again. Baby steps, people, baby steps… Without my laptop, I haven’t really looked at these in detail, but just skimming them gave me the sensation I was about to hop back on that bus in the morning. Getting ahead…

Okay, to put things in perspective, it’s not the end of the world, not remotely, but I’m hoping that beginning the year with a weather-canceled street party is not indicative of where 2007 is going. Summing up my return to the U.S. of A. Nearly missed a tight connecting flight from Newark to Atlanta.  Barely…

So, I’ve been nearly absentee lately. Terribly behind on responding to messages and comments, etc., but the end of the year has had my real world life hopping. Work, work, work and no time to even think about my trip at the end of the month! One more week of work and then off on…

It was pointed out recently that it’s been awhile since I’ve posted much outside of my photos. There’s a plethora of reasons for that, but by and large boring. When I’ve had spare time lately, my life has been either taking pictures or editing them. I don’t know that I’ve ever had a hobby suck…

So, I guess if you don’t stroke your own ego, who will? I did go down to the My Atlanta photo show in Piedmont Park today and posted four of my Atlanta shots from between now and spring. All of them are featured in a previous journal at my deviant art gallery. Now, putting this…