Road Trip

One of the best parts about being in school and freelance is that we get these long breaks between quarters...3 weeks this time. Chris is in a content branding class and his group has chosen to design an Apple sponsored high school. I won't get into details but we are getting to interview some great people, Michelle Rhee, James Victore, and a professor at MIT that I cannot remember his name. So Chris, John and I are headed up to DC today for the weekend. We are staying with friends and get to do some sightseeing....exciting! Chris has never been so it should be lots of fun. On Monday, we are driving to NYC for 2 days then on to Boston! YAY! This will be our first time staying in NYC....wish us luck! We are pretty excited to be able to do this...next year Chris will be working and trips like this won't be able to happen as often. I cannot believe it is almost Christmas of 2008....where does time go?

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Dear Santa...I want a frug.

That's right...a FRUG! This little face has stolen my heart...She is a half French bulldog, half pug mix. Too bad my dogs would be way too jealous (plus they cost enough as it is!) But keep this little one in mind, one day I want one one! Check them out.

A treat for you...

just in case you missed it.

1 week and counting!

I cannot believe it...I have one week and first quarter will be over! I am really excited and feel pretty good about my work this quarter. I have been pretty lax on writing, it has been a busy few weeks.

My first quarter at Portfolio Center has been amazing. I really feel like I am on the right path and in the right place. Just the people I have had the opportunity to meet this quarter has floored me.
1. Gregory Heisler: An amazing portrait photographer...he has shot over 70 Time covers alone. Look at his work, people like Bono, Bill Gates, Bruce Springsteen, and the list goes on and on....amazing to get to hear him speak.

2. Joyce Tenneson: Another amazing talent. Her work is so dreamy and soft...She was inspiring, she did not start doing photography full time until she was 40. At one point in her career, she was making more a day than some people do in a year. That's incredible.

3. Harry Benson: My personal fave. Can I tell you that I loved this guy? I have a sweet spot for old sweet men, I just want to hug them. He was extremely huggable! Jerry and I picked him up from the airport and took him to lunch. We got to pick his brain and he was so open and friendly about it all. He told us about shooting the Beatles, former presidents, MLK, Ashton and Demi, and many others. What a great guy who has been at the forefront of history and has been able to record it for generations to come. He was even in the room when Robert f. Kennedy was murdered. Wow. Amazing stuff.

4. Steve McCurry: Recognize the shot below? Sure you do...National Geographic, in the 80s. We got to go meet with Mr. McCurry on Monday and listen to him talk about his career and ask him anything we wanted. What a treat.

I just am in awe at the talent that has been put before us. That is not even mentioning the designers that have been in for seminars...James Victore, Steff Geissbuhler (NBC logo, anyone?) and the list goes on...I am so thankful to be able to attend a school where they value the industry so much and really try their best to make you aware of what can happen if you work hard enough...and have a little talent too.

Did you Know?

The thought of all this scares me. Life is moving faster than we are...

Max is a star...

Well not quite, but he sure does look cute on this package! One of the designers at Portfolio Center, Michelle Haft, is in a packaging class and needed a boxer for a dog food project. He looks good huh? Good job Michelle!

You Can Vote However You Like

This is a little late but I am so impressed with these kids. If you go to youtube you can also see an interview...they are so smart and articulate. Nice to see some polite smart kids in this world!

Max Update

Max went back for a 6 month checkup this week and the doctor said he looks fabulous! No sign of any cancer at all! YAY!

Just a few shots

Thought you might like to see what I have been doing besides painting in school... here are a few of my favorite shots. The first few are my Bob Dylan shots. It was for a project where we had to pick a year and then set up a shot with natural lighting like the Dutch painter, Johannes Vermeer. I had it in my head that I wanted to do the 1960's and I wanted to do a musician, like Bob Dylan. I was at the Botanical Gardens and lo and behold, this guy walked right in front of me and I had to stop him and ask. He was very kind and was more than willing to help me out, the only problem was that he lived in NY and only had a few days left in town. We got it all worked out and it actually was good, I have something done for critique!




And this is one of my favorites. It was a sunrise shot, I didn't want to get up and go out in the rain but I did anyways and I caught this...good thing I had the boots!

27 dogs

That was the assignment. Paint 27 dogs with acrylic and a brush, without sketching or planning them out. I have never painted before...but about halfway through, I kind of got into it. I started noticing a style that I was good at and kept going with it. I had a blast, although it did take me about 8 hours. I was not expecting any kind of praise, etc from anyone...I thought mine were just average but everyone freaked out. The teacher called me the "goddess" during class (that was embarrassing!) and she took my dogs and wouldn't let me have them back. I went into school the other day and there they were, right in the front hallway!!!! OMG! I never expected that, especially first quarter! And especially not with paintings!!!
This illustration class is really good for me. When I went to school at UTC, I wanted to be in the art department so bad but I just thought I was terrible at drawing and therefore I shouldn't even think about it. I took an art history class and I remember being so jealous of all the people in that building that got to study it all the time. I think if I had gotten into it back then, I would have never dropped out of school. This teacher, Lindy, is amazing. She makes you feel so good about your stuff, even when you don't think it is good. She sees the artistic value in everything. I wish I had met her years ago! I think I am learning that it is best to always follow your dreams no matter how good you think you are. Everyone is talented, some people just take more coaching than others.
I definitely think I am in the right place finally. It took me 14 years after UTC to get here but at least I finally got here. It is hard but it is definitely worth the work.

Where does the time go?

9 years....sure does sound like a long time. Sometimes it feels like it but most of the time it doesn't. Nine years ago today Chris and I said "I do". I am so thankful that I have him by my side...even when the going gets rough. I look at marriage as a choice. Things are not always perfect but who promised perfection? I knew that going into it and I know that no matter if I am with Chris or anyone else...there will always be tough times. I think going through life with him by my side is MUCH better than being without him...We are good together and I am so glad and thankful for that.
Don't we look like babies??? Crazy.

Life is a blur

It has finally happened...school started this week. I have been waiting for this for a long time but boy, I don't think I was quite prepared. I am taking four classes plus seminar...Natural Lighting, Illustration for Photographers, Flash 1, & Basic Photography. So far, everything has been great, but the natural lighting class is kicking my butt! We have to be up shooting every morning at sunrise and again at sunset. 7 days a week. Oh my gosh. I did not know how hard that would be! I am so tired and my brain has been going a mile a minute, proceeding to wake me up every morning at 3am on overdrive. I am a little sad to lose my sleep...it was so nice! Seriously, it is every single day from now until the end of the quarter...without a single day off. Wow.

Besides school, Chris and I have had a lot of freelance lately which is a super good thing, but it does add to the stress level around the house.

Here are some links to the stuff I have had to turn in the past few days, check it out. They are not masterpieces by any mean but I am slowly getting better!
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3

Not the job for me

So, I was on craigslist today and ran across this ad...check it out:
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Producers of the cable television show Worlds Deadliest Catch are conducting a nationwide search for 3 people to be filmed falling from a ship and into the North Sea while we attempt to rescue you. Please submit a brief list of your qualifications as well as WHY this part would be right for you. This part may lead to future supporting roles. The compensation is $2000. Lodging, meals and transportation are included.
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So, I just have a few issues...first of all, they will only "attempt" to rescue you. good luck!
Second of all, you have to have qualifications for this job? (um so...yeah, I fall off of large fishing boats all the time!)
HA!
Not the job for me!

Surfer

Surfer
Originally uploaded by leighthompson01

YES! I have made into my first exhibit! This photo made it into the Showcase School of Photography (where I took my class this summer) student exhibit. It will display at the school from Oct. 1-Dec. 12...
I am so excited!

I NEED YOUR VOTES!

I uploaded a photo in a nighttime contest at jpg magazine...the more votes I get, the more likely I might get in the magazine! Please click and vote!
Please click here to vote for my photo!

Is it true?

Tomorrow is Michael Jackson's 50th birthday. First Madonna and now MJ! I remember a time when I thought I was in LOVE with Michael...Actually, I recorded myself with my state of the art tape recorder when I was like 7, saying that I wanted to marry him...Yup, I still have the tape. Funny. Now he is 50. Wow.
We all get older, it is inevitable. When you are in your teens and 20's, it feels like it is never going to happen. Then when you hit 30, something snaps and it feels like it just goes faster and faster. And you never get younger. Too bad...I would have appreciated my youth much more had I known how fast it would go.

Lords of Loud: The Documentary (trailer)

This is a follow up to the "incredible" performance at PC last week by the Lords of Loud. This week, Erick...otherwise known as Black Mountain...had to give his data blitz. This is what he did, it is hilarious. If you have not seen the other video, it is a few posts back...you have to check it out too.

my new baby

Yesterday I bit the bullet. I spent a small fortune on a new camera plus a tripod, monopod and several extras that I needed to start school. I decided to purchase a Nikon D700 which is Nikon's newest addition to their arsenal. It has only been on the market for about 3 weeks so I consider myself lucky to have found one.
Hopefully, this camera will allow me to capture some incredible imagery! Wooo hoooo....only a month and a half until school starts!

Portfolio Center Data Blitz

Today was the first performance of the Lords of Loud! At Portfolio Center, each student has to do a data blitz in which he or she presents anything they want. Chris decided he wanted to perform in a 80's rock band and sing...In case you missed it, check it out below...it is hilarious! (PS> ignore the second one...it is not right...)

Sleeping with the ghosts

This past weekend was my last little get-away before I start school next month. Mom came down on Thursday and on Friday morning, we took off for Savannah, GA. Neither one of us had been before...I was amazed at how beautiful that city is. I took lots of pictures...this week was the last week of my photo class at Showcase...boo. It was a great class and got me at least a little up to speed before I start at Portfolio Center in October.
Savannah has quite a bit of history to it. It was originally the capital of Georgia and the American Revolution and the Civil War were both fought there. Many people died in Savannah, from war and yellow fever, among other things, and it has the reputation of being the most haunted city in America. We didn't do any "ghost tours" but we did stay in a haunted hotel called The Marshall House. It was a beautiful old building that was originally built as a hotel in the mid 1800's by Mary Marshall. Over the years, it served as a civil war hospital and a hospital for yellow fever patients during a major outbreak. Needless to say, there was a lot of suffering that happened at this hotel. It has been called on of the most haunted hotels in Savannah. (we did not know this when we booked it!) Anyways, we truly did not expect anything to happen.

The first night when we got ready to go eat dinner, we walked out in the hall and smelled a very old burning wood smell. It was only right outside our door. We walked down the hall and noticed some engineering employees going into a room that seemed empty. Coming back from a wonderful dinner, we passed the room again and the door slammed right as I got beside it. It scared the crap out of me and I ran all the way to our door! Later on that night, the bedside lamp turned on and off twice. I thought it was a loose connection but I checked the bulb and the cord and nothing was loose. It never happened again, the entire time we stayed there...that was the strange thing.

Our second night was quiet, no ghosts roaming around our room at least. Mom slept with a flashlight behind her head and would not get out from under the covers...she thought something was going to get her!

I'll leave you with a few more pictures from the trip...

Big News...

I have been keeping a little secret. I have decided to go back to school in October...I kind of feel like I am going crazy, I mean most of my friends that are my age are having kids or have already had them. Here I am going into loads and loads of debt so that I can work my ass off for the rest of my life! No, seriously...I am excited. I will be starting at Portfolio Center on Oct. 1, in their photography program. I have decided to move away from design and concentrate on something that I think I will be much happier with in the long run. My goal at this point is to get into advertising photography similar to what Mark Delong or Tony Baker does. I have worked with both of these guys on the art direction side and they are so talented...I hope that I can be as good as they are one day...Wish me luck!

And it all came crashing down...

on my butt. Yes, that's correct. I managed to bruise my entire left butt cheek this weekend. Chris and I were headed out to dinner after a huge thunderstorm. The concrete was all wet but I didn't even think too much about it. Sure enough, just as I reached the first step, my feet go flying straight out in front of me and I landed squarely on my left cheek. Thank goodness there is enough padding down there to keep me from really injuring myself! The next day, my butt turned black and blue, don't worry, I won't post any pictures of it! I think the older you get, the harder you fall...

The babies

I was looking through some old cd's today and found these images. It is so cute, I just had to share. I have trouble remembering that Max was ever that small. Wasn't he adorable?

thoughts

Life is so complicated. It seems as if society is running at a pace now that would be hard to top. Oh, I am sure it will be done...sooner than later. Chris and I have been watching Mad Men, a AMC show based on the advertising world in the early 60's. Life seemed much simpler then, with the wives staying home and the husbands bringing home the dough. Not that I want to go back to that time, it just makes me think about how far women and society have come in the past 50 years. In the show, Don Draper, a creative director for a big agency on Madison Ave. in NY, has a wife and 2 kids, 2 mistresses, and drinks and smokes like crazy. During work. In his office. That kind of stuff would never fly nowadays. The women in the show are treated like they are children, except the few independent business women that you see (the mistresses of course) Men seem to always be drawn to powerful women, even back then. I'm not sure how accurate a depiction the show is but it seems to fit with what I know about the era.

Anyways, I think about those days and I see how much culture has changed. 50 years later, we are all running at breakneck speed. Makes me wonder where we will be 50 years from now? Will the USA still be around? Will we even see each other or will we communicate solely through our computers? If you have seen Wall•e, then you know what I am talking about. Part of me longs for a simpler time when you could enjoy the simple things without getting all wrapped up in the busy details. But that other part of me doesn't want to give up the luxuries this type of culture has afforded me. Sometimes I need to remember to enjoy my journey instead of getting wrapped up.

What in the heck?

So, in case you did not see it on the news today...this is the newest thing in pedicures from a spa in Washington DC. I don't care if they paid me...There is no way I would let these little fish suck off all my dead skin. Would you?

more books

Here are a few more books that I made in Anne's class...



Now I just have to figure out what I am going to do with them!

Stay tuned, I have exciting news to share in the near future...no, I am not pregnant. You'll find out soon enough!

is there anybody out there...

Ok. Quit hiding. I know you are reading this blog...and I want to hear from you! At the bottom of each post is a link that says "comments" if you click on it, you can leave a comment on that post.

Mixed news from the Vet

Today was Max's 3 month checkup after chemo. Good news first, he is still cancer-free!!! YAY!!! Bad news is that she heard a heart murmur. Great. We are going to hold out on getting an ultrasound since she said it was very small. She was not worried or ready to put him on meds for it. So hopefully it was just a fluke and we will go back and there will be no more murmur. But back to the good news...It has been 9 months since my boy got diagnosed and almost a year since the symptoms first showed up...he is doing so great! The crucial stage of recovery is past us now. If the evil cancer ever rears its head again, we will be able to do chemo again. Thank God.

classes

I have been trying to keep myself busy lately by learning a few new things while I have the time. Carmen and I have been taking a sewing class at Hancock's for the past 4 weeks. I have successfully made a pair of pajama pants that could fit someone twice my size! It's too bad, considering they are the most expensive pair of pajamas I own, but I digress...Our teacher is a little on the odd side, she gives me a hard time since I know how to sew already. I have decided that I do like sewing, but I am not sure I could do it for a living...but Carmen and I are going to try and keep it up and get together once a week or so to do projects. Hubby pajamas are up first on our list...If anyone wants to join us...feel free!

Another class I am taking, from an amazingly talented lady named Anne, is bookmaking. Chris got me turned on to this since he has been at PC and it is a really fun time! I will post some of the books I have made in Anne's class later, but here are my very first books that I put together:Next on my agenda is a photography class that starts next Wednesday. I am super excited about this one...after that, who knows?

Puppy Mill Video

***Okay, so the spacing is all weird on this and I don't know how to fix it. Scroll down to see the video****

Such a sad sight. We visited a place similar to this when we were looking for Max. I refused to buy a dog from them and wished I had turned them in. They had the mama boxer chained to a door that was half buried in the ground and she was eating like she had not been fed in weeks. This video was actually taken in TN but I don't think it was the same place...be careful when you get a dog and make sure you get them from a reputable source...or just adopt one. Places like this need to be put out of business forever. Makes me sad.

In case you missed it...

NKOTB debuted their new video on VH1 today. I am so excited!!! They are coming to Atlanta on Oct. 29 and YES, I already have my ticket! WOOHOO!!!!

Poor Samus...

The Vet...Those two words are ones that we have tossed around quite a bit the past year. I guess Samus's time had come to make a visit...maybe she was getting jealous of Max getting all the attention, I don't know. We have been fighting a hematoma in her ear for the past few months. The first two times, they drained it and it went away. When we got back from Boston, it was pretty swollen again so we knew we were going to have to do something major. We took her in last week and scheduled the surgery for yesterday. During that time, her ear had almost completely swollen shut. I could not even get my pinky finger in her ear! She went in yesterday for surgery. Basically, they cut it open, drain it, then somewhat "quilt" the ear back together so that the pocket will not form again. Anyways, when I went in to pick up my girl today, I was not prepared for the amount of bandaging she has!

It looks like she has had major brain surgery!!! Poor thing has to keep these bandages on for the next 2-3 weeks and on top of that, she has to wear the awful cone the whole time too! What a pitiful sight!

staying in Cambridge

We got lucky finding a place to stay when we went into downtown Boston for the conference. I found an apartment rental on Craigslist that was much cheaper than the hotels were. (see photo above...we were on the 3rd floor) Chris and I actually prefer to travel this way, it actually gives you a good feel of the city and what it would be like if we actually lived there. Our apartment was about a 3-4 minute walk from Harvard Square in Cambridge. Actually I didn't realize how lucky we were until Saturday night when we went int0 the square to walk around and get ice cream....Harvard's graduation was the same weekend we were there! It was so packed you could hardly walk but we enjoyed it anyways.

Boston has an energy that I have never felt in another city. Maybe it is because I know it fairly well, having visited there so much, but I don't know. The architecture is amazing...there are so many beautiful old buildings that just beg to be photographed...you can see a few at the end of this post. I also love all the dining patios...almost every place has them on Newbury street. It's demographic is pretty young, considering how many colleges and univ. are there, and it's public transportation is top notch. We took the bus to the conference center and rode the T (subway) all over town. We loved it. I could live right downtown and not even have a car...
Besides using public transportation, we did a lot of walking while we were there. I actually got blisters on our first day! We traveled down to South Boston for the SOWA Open Market. It was a very artsy area with lots of studios. The market was smaller than I expected but I did find some soap and a change purse to take home with me.Later on we went into downtown to Faneuil Hall and the Quincy Market. It's kind of a touristy spot but I love it nonetheless. We ate lunch at a irish pub upstairs and afterwards, Chris had to have a nap by the waterfront. Here are a few pictures from our journey...I especially love the boy scout one...they were on tour with a guy dressed up as a early Bostonian...cute.