Update on Marie

A little more than two weeks ago, Tracie called me to tell me Marie had had a heart attack and was in the hospital, but it was minor and she was okay. Then, about a week ago, Marie had suffered a stroke, and she has been in the hospital ever since then.

I visited her at the hospital tonight, and I felt like I was in a fog. I didn't know why until I later realized that this time I wasn't there primarily to take pictures, but rather for the sake of visiting. When I got there her husband Paul was there along with her granddaughter Mysti and Mysti's boyfriend Matt. Also there was one of Marie's close friends she made at chemo, Ron. Since there were now 7 of us in all, we moved everyone to the floor's "lounge room," and just chatted for a few hours.

At one point Marie went around and asked everyone what they wanted to do before they die.

I saw the cancer on her x-ray. I saw the effect of chemo when she shaved her head. But it wasn't until today that this all became very, very real.

To see how I've covered Marie's story for the past two years, go here:
http://www.rep-am.com/slideshows/mariemm/

rockstardom

The other night one of my best friends from back home came to town while on tour with the band Mae, who he plays bass for. They're a fairly well-known band, and because they're from my hometown of course I have a sense of pride in them as well, not to mention how awesome it is that they're donating a lot of the money they're making to Habitat for Humanity to help a woman in Newport News. Check them out.

So since I had the day off I got to hang out with them before and after the show. I forgot how much I liked shooting musical performances... especially when there's no bouncer glaring at me and no chance of getting hit in the face by a flying shoe and/or crowd surfer.

recent additions

I've been playing around with the new web features on PhotoShelter.

In the meantime, I have been having several conversations with fellow newspaper people about the fate of our industry. You never realize how passionate you or your colleagues are until you have these conversations. I read something that predicted that by 2010, about a year from now, most towns won't have local newspapers. That frightens me. What frightens me even more is that it seems the only people that care about this are people that work in papers, when the people who should be most concerned are citizens! I revel in having a right to information. Information is free! Library cards are free! That (and the interstate system of defense highways) is what I LOVE about this country! Sadly, it's so often overlooked and taken for granted...

I know, there's the web. Everything will go to the web. And I must sound like a broken record to my friends, but NOT EVERYONE HAS THE INTERNET! People who have the internet are NOT the only people who are important! And yes, libraries have internet, and they're public and free. Well, libraries are not conveniently located at every corner. What about people living in rural areas? Newspapers give you the opportunity to page through news that you normally wouldn't come across. The Internet customizes what you see with every click, narrowing your breadth of information each time. It's like radio now-- you only hear what the big bucks want you to listen to.

.. And I dearly love my job. I can't think of any other job where you (and thousands of other people) can so quickly see the product of your work. I don't want my occupation to turn into the stuff of folklore, like cowboys and shoe repairmen... but, if it does, I'll at least have (paper) evidence of it.

sneak peak

Christmas Eve 2007: Marie, undergoing her fourth round of chemotherapy for stage four lung cancer, looks at herself in the mirror after her daughter Tracie shaved her head.

PHOTOS!

COMPLETE GERMANY PICTURE ALBUMS

Hallo from Deutschland!

So I am in Germany visiting my brother and his family. This weekend we were at the annual medieval festival in Dreieichenhain. Above is a performer practicing between some tents before he went on stage.


This vendor sold honey wine and was VERY nice once he realized I didn't understand German. I bought one huge glass bottle and two smaller ones to take with me to the States.


My brother and I. Yes, we really are related. Here is a very similar picture of us:


More photos from the festival:


This is my 12-year-old niece. She is taller than me.



My brother, my niece, and my sister-in-law. I love the houses.


We rented an RV to stay in for two nights.


I have TONS of photos of various scenes, from my first authentic German meal to my brother eating the Oreos I brought over since they don't have any in Germany, to my sister-in-law's Prussian father. When my brother introduced me to him, instead of the usual polite introduction, my brother says, "THIS. is a PRUSSIAN! Take a good long look. There aren't too many left anymore." Which is entirely true, and extremely interesting to me. Klaus the Prussian fled his home when he was 6 years old with his parents to escape the Russians. The German government finally assigned him to live in the town they live in now, called Breitenbrunn.

what's josie been up to?

Well, there was the sidewalk festival in Kent:





I saw the walking fruit first as I was driving by. I did a double take in my rear view mirror and that's when I made an illegal U-turn, drove past them again, in the direction of where they were walking, found a parking spot, ran out of my car with my gear and waited. Yes, I was hunting fruit. Apparently they were doing promotions for a nearby IGA grocery store.

The seemingly sadistic man who's burning another man, albeit tiny, glass, and soul-less, was someone who I only saw because I walked past some people who were looking at him from across the street. This is Max the Glass Blower. He was in the shade of a tree, and if it wasn't for the flame I wouldn't have even noticed him. The purple glasses I thought were a fashion statement, but are really there to help him see what he's doing through the flame. He had a few extra pairs and he let me wear one, and I put a purple lens over the lens of my camera, and this is the effect.


I think these two dudes go to the same hair stylist.




This is Jason, the owner of a new restaurant downtown called the Country Club. If you go there, he will write your NAME on your plate!!! Anywho, I like this because it's not every day I get to take my time with portraits and use the tools that I made with my very own gaffer tape and cereal box. (A snoot.)

---
One of my friends from freshman year at Boston is in a band, (The Appreciation Post) and every so often they'll come through the area on tour. (We actually reunited randomly when they came through and played with some Waterbury bands a few months ago... THAT was a blast from the past!) So I met up with them at the American Legion in Naugatuck, only I missed their set but we hung out a little bit:




Then we went outside to get away from feeling like the oldest people there and that is when Roger (Who's like, 7 feet tall) Looked up at the sky and said, "Um, guys?"

Five minutes and two miles later:


I wasn't on the clock, but MAN was it cool when I ran to my car and Roger and Nam (the ROCKstars) yell, "Go, photojournalist, go! Go shoot that fire!" in front of a bunch of teenagers.





In the meantime I'm looking forward to going to Germany for two weeks on the 9th. This will be the first time my brother and I will get to hang out without Dad yelling at us for things like playing laser tag at 3am or drinking in public. Also, I get to see my niece who is 13, I think, and from what I hear, she sounds exactly like me when I was 13... so.. this should be fun. =)