All-Time Office Battle Champion

This is a picture of my good friend Stephen Donaldson. He was also (allegedly) my student worker for, I believe, some seven or eight years of his undergraduate ….“experience.” Stephen is the all-time reigning champion of the office battle, though my guess is he never once received more points than Diane Land. But he won on a technicality—he is a tremendous mimic and can make excellent noises. Also, like Strom Thurmond demonstrated, longevity has its own rewards. Stephen also does a "killer" impression of a bubonic plague victim. Ah, good times. Now admittedly that’s not the only reason I love him. But…I won’t lie, it’s pretty important.

Note this picture. Stephen is shooting me, his “boss,” with a nerf bullet. Now I’m not saying I didn’t ask him to do it, but COME ON, who actually honors such a request?! Especially since he had already blinded me in one eye! And note the bullet in mid-air directly above his nose. This is the picture that once-and-for all demonstrated to me that I missed my calling as a war photojournalist. And that Stephen missed his calling as a soldier in the nerf wars.

I’m just saying….

daughter

Taken at Crown Center in Kansas City, MO.

daughter

daughter

The Chef's Foot

I took this in Montreal. A lot of restaurants were below street level. As we walked back to our car at night, we could look down into the kitchen entrances, many of which were open, presumbably for air. I felt more than a little voyeuristic taking this picture. Double click on the picture and it shows up a bit better.

It just occurred to me that I’ve taken quite a lot of picture in the past two years.

In the rubble

Big Ants

Taken at Powell Gardens, just outside of Kansas City, MO.

we see through a glass, darkly

1 Corinthians 13:12

Night's shadows of a tree's branches on a church window.

But.....

...sometimes we see through a window, not at all.

hanging feet

Kafka's buddy

Untitled

"...the whole creation groans..." --The Book of Romans

5 or 20?

A school assignment my oldest daughter received yesterday. Take an index card and write the name of a family member on one side. On the other side, briefly describe that person with enough detail that one could read the description and accurately guess who you are describing. Do this for all the members of the family. Here's what she wrote. Pretty accurate, if you ask me.

"This person is kind and a good reader, and is great at piano. She has lots of stuffed animals and is going into a new girl scout troop.

This person is funny and cute, sometimes demanding. She likes to go first. This person's cheeks never stop.

This person is tall, crazy and nice, loving, but is sometimes a worry bug.

This person likes candy and princes and princesses, laughs a lot. This person makes friends quickly and is sweet.

This person is silly, good at math, a good cook, and pretty and generous, not to mention giving. This person is great."

blue sky

standing out

The very bad stick figure