amazing photography

A friend of mine from Gainesville is a professional photographer. Ever since she started posting photos online, I anxiously waited for the next installment. This is a multimedia project she worked on that's recently been posted on Vimeo and her company's website, Straw Hat Visuals. Go Gators!

Ok, so I thought I'd be able to embed the video to share. Guess not. The Vimeo link goes to the video. The company link goes to theirs.

good news, bad news, vol. 2

news from gainesville hits me today, thanks to jedd. ugly, old news rearing it's ugly old head. i sure hope it stays out of the national news. let the vilification of all things greek begin.

better story. less consumption. mainstream? bicycles? how so, washington post?

i love this city.

regrets

one of the hardest parts of visiting gainesville was choosing who i would spend time with and who i would even inform of my visit. the people that feigned sadness at my departure, but haven't heard from since? nope. the people that were excited for my departure because they knew i needed to do it? sure. they were excited not because i was leaving, but because my life would become richer and they knew they'd see me again.

last night, that came true. i met the moms from work at conestoga's for lunch. i ask for healthy, they choose conestoga's. i have a country fried steak and mashed potatoes. not exactly what i had in mind. it was good to see them. they gave me the third degree about my love life. gathered what was left of my gainesville possessions at christie's, got to catch up with leda, and headed to candler's. we hit the rock gym and flouted that new grg edict of no guest passes for non-first-timers. candler, kaleigh, and i had fun crushing plastic. flaco's, sadly, was a disappointment as far as the food went. the company couldn't be beat. thank you to all for showing up. it was great to see you and catch up.

stubbie's and its smokeless brilliance led to sculpturing, the gainesville kissing cousin of buildering. good times, war wounds this morning. to all involved, sincerely, my door is open to you if you want to visit.

surely, next time i visit the 'ville, it'll be for more than 18 hours and maybe i'll open my mouth to more than those of you who were in town.

florida sightings

this town is full of floridians. after plates from the dmv (that's the district, maryland, and virginia), i think i see florida plates most of all. odd, yes, but others have mentioned as much to me too. if i'm wearing orange and blue, i often get stopped and asked about the 'ville. i was wearing a gainesville shirt at the gym on friday. a mom commented on it, and one of her kids had on a uf shirt. gators aside, i do see an awful lot of garnet & gold (emphasis on awful!) that's not associated with d.c.'s beloved redskins. when rawls, bubba, liz & i went to the capitol last weekend, one of the tour guides was wearing a florida state beanie. we got to talking, found out that he went to northeast h.s. and knew casey way back when. small world!

sad to say, my florida plate is gone. i didn't mind losing the rear plate nearly as much as the front one. i'd had the florida flag on the front of my truck pretty much since i got it in '99. i still have trouble recognizing my truck because that plate isn't there.

today, on my way to work, i passed a red civic with a florida tag and a uf alumni frame. out of curiosity, i looked to see if i knew the driver. i didn't. as soon as i passed her, she immediately changed lanes. while leapfrogging me, she turned and gave me a thumbs-up with a smile, as if to say, "go gators!" she must've been a recent grad because the only evidence of my 'villainy is the satchel's bumper sticker on my rear window.

gator nation is everywhere...