Late Night Fog
Rita and I got home late a few nights ago and there was a thick layer of fog covering Charleston. Driving around town in it was amazing. Instead of going to bed, I had to head out with my camera and get some dark foggy photos.
March 4, 2011
March 2, 2011
Also check out Shane Claiborne’s recent editorial, “What Would Jesus Cut?”
March 1, 2011
Lulie Wallace
I got to go to up-and-coming artist Lulie Wallace’s studio and shoot some photos of her last week. She has an awesome work space at Redux in downtown Charleston. I love all the different color schemes in her paintings. She has a great style and Rita and I are getting a few pieces from her. They make great gifts!
February 26, 2011
The Story of a Table and Some Chairs
One of my proudest achievements of 2010 was a custom dining room table and chairs that Rita and I made. Before we got married, it dawned on us that neither of us had a decent table for eating. She didn’t have one at all, and my table looked straight off That 70s Show and was about to fall apart. We looked in a few stores, but they were either cheap and we would want to replace them after a while (Target), or they were way out of our budget (Pottery Barn or antique stores). Rita suggested that we just make our own table and refurnish some old chairs. I liked the idea, but was intimidated at the reality of it. After all, she hadn’t married me yet, and if I really embarrassed myself and let her down, it might have been a deal breaker. Not really, but it crossed my mind.
Once we committed to the idea, we began looking in thrift stores and cheap antique shops for old chairs. We eventually collected 6 that we loved over the span of a few months, never paying over $20 per chair. Rita loved the old mismatched chair look, but wanted to stain them all the same, repad, and recover them. I took the seats off, worked up a huge sweat sanding them down to remove old finishes they had, cleaned and stained each one, and then applied a few coats of lacquer to set the stain. Rita bought some fabric and padding, “borrowed” a staple gun from work, and handled repadding them.
The table was a bit tougher. Rita wanted to get an old door to be the top of the table. I liked this idea, we had seen it before, and finding a door didn’t end up being too tough. We found the perfect old weathered exterior door at a Habitat for Humanity for only $10. It had holes for the door knob, dead bolt, peep hole, and even a mail slot! However, after months of research and realizing I was in over my head for actually building the table, I went to my pal and master craftsman Chris Hostetler. Most of my building experience involves lincoln logs. But this dude builds ridiculous stuff, so I knew that giving me some pointers on building a table would be piece of cake. He sold me some pre-made legs for $15 a piece and told me to go buy a few pine boards and meet him at his shop one morning with some sausage biscuits. He cut the pine into perfect pieces for the skirt, which goes around the table and helps connect the legs and strengthen the table. He showed my dad and me the basics for putting everything together, answered a thousand stupid questions from us, and sent us home with a mission.
That afternoon we put the table together. With Chris’s help, it came out super sturdy and strong. I stained the skirt and legs, but we decided to keep the door on top exactly how we bought it: weathered paint and fresh unstained sides and bottom. The final step was a tempered piece of glass to go on top. At around $130, this ended up being the most expensive part of the whole process.
I never imagined how much I would like the result of all our hard work. Knowing that I had a hand in building what we use every day is a good feeling, as well as knowing that what we have is one-of-a-kind. We didn’t skimp on quality, and I think that will pay off in the long run. I want to tell our grand kids one day about how I made the table they are eating on.
February 23, 2011
“ Get really good at something specific and get paid for it (ex: teaching high school economics). Then spend the rest of your time getting good at everything else (ex: improv, blogging, relationships) and it will probably make you even better at your original thing.
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February 18, 2011
From Kate & Will’s Engagements
I love that it seems like some enchanted forest or something, but it’s actually some random trees right off the interstate. More to come!
February 16, 2011
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Ben Sollee & Daniel Martin Moore - Try
from Dear Companion
My good pal and soon to be father Matt Ables let me borrow this great album by Ben Sollee & Daniel Martin Moore. They combine an acoustic folk style with a newer contemporary jazz feel. The album is full of guitar, banjo, cello, and unconventional percussion.
Ben Sollee often touches on social issues in his music, and this album addresses the controversial mountaintop removal process that is destroying the Appalachia. Entire mountains are blown up and literally removed for minute amounts of coal. From the album booklet:
Dirt, rocks, and trees (almost never harvested for their timber) are pushed into “valley fills,” massive earthen dam-like piles, burying the streams, forest, and wildlife. Since 1985 more than 1,200 miles of streams have been impacted by this practice. Mountaintop removal hurts Appalachia in every way, poisoning the water, the land, the air and the people. The rate at which mountains are being leveled increases every day. Dissenters are simply asking for mining to be done with respect and responsibility.
I’ve read a few magazine articles about mountaintop removal and have been horrified at it’s long term effects to nature, not to mention poverty stricken towns and people downstream. It’s an issue that I wish would get more publicity. You can read more about it here.
February 14, 2011
February 12, 2011
More Cook Family
When I think about my own family’s pictures when I was little and the ones I cherish the most now, it’s usually not the super posed Sunday morning style photos. It’s the fun, candid, “brings back the memories” photos that I love to look at. Ones that make me think, “those were some crazy years, I don’t see how my parents did it, but we sure had a good time and you can see it in these photos.” It’s a good lesson for me now that I am helping other families to try to get that same great feeling.
February 10, 2011
Seabrook Island, 9:32 am, 39 degrees
The ocean is a calm, wise friend in the winter and a brash, callow friend in the summer.
February 9, 2011
“ The artist who aims at perfection in everything achieves it in nothing.
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Eugene Delacroix
February 3, 2011
My New Favorite People
Rita and I shot some family portraits for the Cook family and had the best afternoon. They have three young boys and it reminded me of my family dynamic when I was young. We were two boys and a girl, but my sister was tough enough to hang with the dudes. Seeing their family interaction and the adventure they were having made me look forward to having some kids one day. No rush though, sorry Mom.
February 2, 2011
I am loving the new TIME cover. A clever concept, well executed by a talented designer.
January 26, 2011
“ Because if this is gonna be a Christian nation that DOESN’T help the poor, either we’ve got to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we’ve got to acknowledge that he commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition—and then admit that we just don’t want to do it.
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Stephen Colbert
January 24, 2011
Two Cups of Coffee & A Can of Beer
Here’s a song I was messing with. It’s not really a song but Rita thought I should name it anyway so it’s called Two Cups of Coffee & A Can of Beer.
