Taylor's Big Day

What is this stuff on my face? Oh, it's egg. For those who visited "Not Too Bad..." after receiving an email around 8:30 Saturday night, you may know what this is about. For the sake of those who didn't visit until after Saturday night, let me do a brief recap. I published a post last night with some material that I just wasn't satisfied with. I mentioned how I hadn't come to a firm conclusion of my opinion, but published anyway. Well, I came to a firm conclusion approximately 10 minutes after sending the notification email. In this digital age there is no way to cry "Stop the presses!". So, I will utilize the internet to it's fullest power. I will re-write history, and delete the evidence!.

So, basically there is no new material produced for this post from the one last night (other than some additional writing), it's just presented in a different manner.

For those who saw the page last night. I hope you'll find these changes drastic enough to make reading again worthwhile. The previous effort kind of made me think of a peanut-butter & tomato sandwich. The ingredients themselves are quite good, but when you try to make a sandwich out of them, it just... doesn't work.

For those who are didn't see anything last night. "What are you talking about?"


THE PEANUT BUTTER

"The Kindle of an Idea..."

A few months ago I had an idea. I imagined compiling the video and photographs I'd collected during Taylor's first year and produce a "year in review" movie for her birthday. I have hours and hours of raw video footage and hundreds of photographs. I've captured such milestones as first bath, sitting up, first meal, turning over, laughing, crawling and first steps. I've chronicled swings and swimming pools, play time and nap time. All the ingredients one requires for an in depth, entertaining overview of how Taylor spent her first year.

"The Application of the Wet Blanket..."

Oh, I'm sorry... you weren't believing I actually completed this task. Were you? I didn't mean to mislead. Just reflecting on an idea I had. I have a lot of them, most end up in the "cold files" department. For now, in what I like to call the realism world, I just settled for producing a "day in review" movie for her birthday. It only took me 1 week to find the time for such an endeavor. One week to chronicle 1 day... the way I see it that gives me about 7 years to complete my "year in review" project. I'm not sure I'll be able to meet that deadline. Maybe someday, when I'm retired, and Taylor is off and settled on her own, I may actually see the fulfillment of these grander visions. Like my "9 holes at Turkey Creek". A project I've been working on for over a year now. (I think I'm at hole 4 if I recall correctly). But that's an entirely different subject.

"The Compromise..."

We woke up on the 2nd and got Taylor up and dressed. After breakfast we gave her our present, an activity cube. She enjoyed exploring all the moving parts and colorful pieces. I can see how it will provide multiple years of entertainment and learning. After a short play time Taylor went down for a nap. Linda started to decorate the house with the help of a friend from work. Having completed my decorating contribution the night before (blowing up balloons), I headed out to mow the yard and make the exterior presentable. Upon completion I entered a wonderfully decorated house just in time to quickly shower before guests were set to arrive.

Taylor woke from her nap to find her world completely transformed. There were decorations and people everywhere. Well, may around a dozen people, but she had never seen so many people in our house. You could tell she wasn't quite sure what to make of everything. In situations such as this she get's very quiet and observational. Perhaps she gets that trait from me? There was some short visiting, the ritual passing of the baby, and then the party started.

This is where I will let the movie take over the story telling.





I hope you enjoyed a quick overview of Taylor's special day. Hopefully someday Taylor will watch these movies, enjoy them, and understand the emotion in which they were created.

Special thanks to Nate for handling the video duties during the party, and for the unwitting voice actors who I'm afraid will receive absolutely no compensation for their contribution.


THE TOMATO

"2 A.T. - Day 1"

After posting the last movie "Crossing A Threshold" there was a great amount of positive feedback. Something for which I was very grateful. A couple of people asked me how I made the movies, what the process was. I tried to explain, but probably didn't do a very good job. Since it's relevant to the current post, I'll try again.

The first thing I do is look over all the raw footage I have at my disposal. Of course I knew I wanted to make something for Taylor's birthday so I was sure to take plenty of pictures. I also enlisted Nate to help by shooting some video during the party.

Once I set aside everything that catches my eye, I start listening to music... lot's of music. I find a dozen or so different songs that seemed to be the right mood for the pictures and video. Then I listen to them again, most of them I drop from consideration. Ultimately I will come up with different ideas during this time. A few fizzle, but some take shape until they I like what I see. The following was made from footage taken the day after Taylor's birthday. She's playing with her toys and enjoying some birthday cake in a more civilized manner.

Hope you enjoy.





THE BREAD

"The Perpetual Apology..."

At the risk of sounding like a broken record. I'd like to again apologize for such a long delay between postings. It's not from lack of material. I have quite a few ideas, many of them much more attainable than my more massive cold files inhabitants. There just seems to be so much to do and the day, weeks... hell the months are flying by. Linda and Taylor will be in KC for a few more days. Perhaps I will try to dig through the cold files and knock a couple out. Maybe I will tackle the epic 6 hour round of golf I had a last Saturday. Any round of golf that includes the passage "after the cops were called" has to make for an interesting story.

Shoots, Crops and Edits...

Several weekends ago we decided it was time to take some pictures in Taylor's Baptism dress while it still fit her. We again (see Easter pictures) ventured across the street to our neighbors house. I've really begun to appreciate the virtual outdoor photo studio her gardening hobby provides. Taylor did great even though it was very warm and I just know that dress had to be uncomfortable. Here is a selection of photos from the afternoon.

Baptism Dress

In an attempt keep up the evolution (and hopeful improvement) of my small corner of the internet, I'd like to unveil a new feature of "Not Too Bad..." I'm not sure if this feature is really required, but we'll give it a shot and see if anyone wants to keep it. What I've done is crop some print and frame (4x6) ready photos from the above album. There are portrait and landscape versions. I also included another photo from the day that I really liked. (we took a few extra pictures that same day) These are basically for those who have pictures of Taylor and would like something more up to date. Obviously the target market for this feature is pretty small, but hopefully it fills that niche.

4x6 Frame Ready Pictures

Directors Re-cut: There was a very positive response from the short movie I posted earlier. For that I say "Thank you." With influence, I've decided to share it with a broader audience. My nature wouldn't allow me to undertake such an endeavor without first sanitizing the film for mass distribution. There are only a couple of revisions but I do think the movie works better in it's new incarnation. Basically all I did was remove the "Not Too Bad..." reference and edited the final song. I took out the photos that I was uncomfortable with random strangers seeing and added some others. Also the timing and order of the photos were reworked to fit the music better. Nothing earth shattering, but if you're interested the final product is below.

Crossing A Threshold

"Not Too Bad..." has been an opportunity for me to get in touch with quite a few people with whom I'd lost contact with. It has also served as a creative outlet, and a place where I can express thoughts that under normal circumstances never make it past my verbal filter.

Today it serves as a platform to show a short movie I put together. I hope you enjoy "Crossing A Threshold".



Last week we got a little pool for Taylor to play in. At first I was planning to create some sort of creative packaging to release the pictures. A week has passed and the creative iron is still lukewarm. So.... I'm going to sneak them into this post to make my life easier, while fulfilling a promise to publish the pictures in a timely manner. Here are the pictures, sans fanfare.

Pool Party Gallery

A Mother's Day Wish

Just wanted make a quick appreciation thread on this Mother's Day.






To my Mother Sandy. I never got a chance to know you. I never appreciated what you gave me during the time you knew me. I've thought about both of those things more times in the last year then I ever have. I've come to appreciate everything you meant to me in my first year of this now almost 39 year voyage. I've wondered how I would be different if you had been able to spend more time with me. I've also grown in my appreciation of what Dad had to replace after you were gone. I can't imagine what I would do if I was put in that same situation with my wife and Taylor. I just want to say "Thank you."

And that brings me to my wife, Linda






To Linda. Watching you this past year has really been very special. It's amazing how close you are with Taylor. How much she looks to you for everything. I know she loves her Daddy, but her Mommy is on a whole different level. I truly mean that as a sincere compliment. I joke often (to your dismay) how Taylor wants her Mommy when Daddy just can't seem to make her happy. Take that as my everyday recognition or noticing how much you do for Taylor. I can only hope to become as close. Thank you for showing me what it means to be a Mother. Thank you for taking care of me when I refuse to take care of myself. I know I can be stubborn (as I've proven with my medical health track record.) Thank you for continuing on with everything my Dad taught me about life and giving it that woman's touch. Thank you for nurturing our Daughter in ways I'm unable to. Thank you for teaching me to become closer so that one day I will hopefully exhibit that same nurturing nature.





To Linda's Mother. Thank you everything you've done in raising Linda. You did a spectacular job and ultimately taught her how to raise Taylor in such a wonderful way. You've acted as a Mother to me even though I know I'm not the easiest person to get close to. I can't promise I'll soon be the most emotionally open person, but I do promise that I appreciate everything you do.


To all the Mothers out there, at least the good ones. And I'm sure all that are reading this blog fall under that category. Happy Mother's Day, I hope you day was much better then "Not Too Bad..."

Pictures of Mom

Pictures of Taylor's Mom

The History Channel Presents...

Merriam Webster defines procrastination as;

Function: verb

Etymology:

Latin procrastinatus, past participle of procrastinare, from pro- forward + crastinus of tomorrow, from cras tomorrow

Date: 1588

transitive verb : to put off intentionally and habitually
intransitive verb : to put off intentionally the doing of something that should be done

For some reason when I look at my dictionary the definition is a bit more basic. It basically goes something like this...

Procrastinator; see also Mirror.

Ignoring the obvious sarcastic nature of my dictionary, I can't really argue with it's insight. It's been over a month since I last made an entry in this locale. I wish it could be said my absence was due to a month long walkabout and I've returned with numerous harrowing tales of excitement and intrigue.

As in most cases the truth is much less interesting. While I think a lack of interesting posting topics is one tooth in the gear that causes me to disappear for these stretches of time. Other teeth include; lack of inspiration, bouts with feeling depressed and therefore not doing much of anything, being overloaded with work (this is a current problem, although one I'm definitely not going to complain about), among a plethora of other reasons. Being honest with myself, when all the chaff is removed we're just left with a bunch of excuses.

What really happens is I have a hard time just making a simple "keep everyone up to date" post. So I wait to be inspired to sit down and write, and I wait... and wait. Before long there are so many pictures and little things to talk about that I start feeling overwhelmed and unable to find a starting spot. It's not that I don't want to compose these posts, they're actually very therapeutic. I guess the best way to describe the feeling I'm attempting to convey would be akin to finding the starting point on a roll of scotch tape, but you're wearing mittens. Once you get it started, it's really not difficult to pull off the tape, it's the getting started that I have problems with.

That being said. I'm going to try to quickly get you caught up with the past months activities. I'll attempt to keep the words to a minimum and just provide some media to chronicle the events...

Taylor got her first Easter basket filled complete with books, bubbles, bunnies and shoes. We took some pictures in the neighbors back yard since I didn't think weeds and dirt would make a good backdrop, or comfortable sitting area for Taylor.

Easter Pictures

Linda's parents came to visit April 15th to the 22nd. It was a very nice visit enjoyed by everyone. It was nice to see Taylor interact with them being a little more aware of her surroundings then their last visit.

Andy and Beth drove over from Panama City for the weekend to attend Taylor's Baptism. We fit some bike riding and golfing in on Saturday and they had to leave on Sunday after church to get back for work. All the visits were too short, but it was nice to have some family around for a short while.

Family Visit and Baptism Pictures

Thanks to Nate for taking video of the baptism for us:



Here are a selection of other pictures taken since the last installment of this blog. As with all pictures there are stories behind them. In the interest of brevity I will save everyone the commentary let them speak for themselves.

Taylor Pictures

That should bring everything pretty much up to date on whats been happening around here lately. On a side note, I've not forgotten the results of the last poll. I will get around to making an entry on Dog sledding in the near future. Don't give up on me... I still hope to make this an interesting place to visit.