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Champs-Élysées

Today was atrocious. I spent the morning in meetings and the afternoon in more meetings. I'll likely have to fly to Louisiana next week on emergency business. In a personal struggle to not just eat some diphenhydramine HCl, I got up frustrated and made myself another drink before flipping through more stacks of old prints. The quality of my photography was much worse then than it is even now. I have a lot of snapshots where clearly all I cared to do was document the moment. Those can be just as nice years later when you find yourself lost with no anchor. The shot above was taken from my first trip to Paris... before the French wife... but that's another story we’ll leave in the closet.

I don't remember where this is... maybe Nova Scotia

A snapshot of a boy and his beer. Great cigars in town, but no Guinness. It goes to show that sometimes you just can't have it all.

my dive buddy on one of our cave dives... Ginnie Springs, FL

Jacques Cousteau once was quoted as saying Ginnie Spring in Florida was some of the clearest water he's ever dived in the world. Being the prolific diver he was, I thought I needed to experience it for myself. He was understating. I used to dive often in the Florida aquifer system and the reefs off the coast. I hold an open water, advanced open water, advanced deep diving, and NSS-CDS cavern certification. I was working on my cave cert when these shots were taken. I don't dive anymore.

us after the dive... look at those freakin' pants

This shot was after that dive of me and my dive buddy. Terry was an ex-SEAL that used to do dolphin research in the Florida Keys. He's one of the, if not the, world's leading deep wreck divers today. I have a lot of love and respect for my old friend and have often thought of contacting him and catching up... but never seem to bring myself to it. Since our time together, he's gone on to dive the Fitzgerald at over 530 feet. Peanut M&M's and Lemon-Lime Gatorade. Those were the old days.

my first trip to the top of the Empire State Building

I traveled to NYC this time with a rock band that was headlining a gig at The Continental. My mother, step-dad, and grandmother arrived this afternoon while I was at the office. I gave my mother EL's house key when she came up back in June, so they let themselves in and made like home while I was stuck drudging through my Friday. I am looking forward to the weekend with family. I have box seats to Stomp on Sunday, but other than that, my weekend plan is drink and try to be merry. Wish me luck.