Filed under: home life
It truly amazes me that people all over the U.S. ask me about my brother, Brad, on a daily basis. You tell me you are thinking of us. Worried for him. Praying. Hoping.
Your words and thoughts reach out and hug our hearts. We know we are not alone in Brad’s fight.
We are grateful.
As of yesterday, this is the latest:
He has undergone 4 chemo treatments so far. Side effects have been numerous, and include short term memory loss, exhaustion, sleeplessness, skin irritations, migraines, confusion, and petit mal and grand mal seizures. From what we have been told, these should subside when the chemo gets completely out of his system.
An MRI late last week told us that one of his tumors has shrunk considerably, but the other has not really gone down as much as the doctors had hoped. They have decided to shorten the number of chemo treatments from 10 to about 6 or 7 (yay!) but also told us that without several rounds of radiation, his survival rate is at about 5%. The good news is that WITH radiation, his survival rate increases to 94% , which is the most encouraging thing we’ve heard since this whole mess began. We are nervous about the risks involved in radiation, but we know that he will come through it, just as he has everything else so far.
In short, my brother is a ninja.
He is also the proud new daddy to this sweet little girl (who is yet to be named… any suggestions?).
Thanks a million to April, a woman who has one of the kindest spirits I’ve ever met. She gave us the new baby, which made my brother light up like a Christmas tree for the first time in a long time.
I can’t wait to spoil her to pieces when she comes to visit her Auntie Bing! She will come to stay with me every other week while Brad is in the hospital. I think Beau will be glad to have a part-time playmate!
Off to dreamland,
Bing
They say don’t mix business with pleasure. That clients are not supposed to be friends. That we shouldn’t get too personal with our customers.
Who the hell are “they” anyway?!
I love my customers. They come to me with open minds and hearts and allow me to step into their stories and capture the essence of their existence. There is a certain trust we have to build from the moment we meet, well before they even step in front of my lens.
Amanda and John came to me and asked that I shoot their October wedding. We had an easy connection from the start. Both are beautiful human beings, inside and out. I am so honored to do what I do… if I can capture even one ounce of the magic that happens when they look into each other’s eyes… then I am home.
Off to dreamland,
Bing
Filed under: photography
Newness.
There is nothing like it.
It makes your heart sigh just to see it.
Meet Jed. He is the brand spankin’ new brother of one of my darling ballerinas.
At five days old, he was smaller than a football and smelled like what heaven must smell like.
Off to dreamland,
Bing
“If growing up means
It would be beneath my dignity to climb a tree,
I’ll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up
Not me!“
-Peter Pan
This weekend, my world was in a state of total chaotic anarchy.. a.k.a. the Millington School of Dance annual spring break pajama party!
This time, I was brave insane enough to let the 7 and up crowd spend the night at the studio.
We had so much fun!
The party was great (our parties are thebomb.com!) but the sleepover was just totally awesome.
We stayed up so late and ate cookie dough and watched old dance movies and played the “stupid questions” game. (“What vegetable do you most resemble?” “Would you rather have showers but no clean clothes for a week, or no showers but clean clothes everyday for a week?” the answers were hilarious!!!!!!!!!)
One of my teenagers (the one in the 3rd image) took my camera for a little while and got these of the girls and I:
I was totally exhausted (didn’t sleep a wink.. kept getting up and checking to make sure they were covered up.. I don’t know how you parents get any sleep at night!). I got up the next morning and taught 3 classes back to back and then did a photoshoot! Needless to day I went to bed early last night and wok up late this morning!
I hope I never grow up!
Off to clean the disaster area that is my house,
Bing
As much as I loathe cold weather, it is incredibly difficult for me to get the winter blues.
I am, down to the bare bones of me, an incurable optimist.
The dance studio is commanding a lot of attention right now, with costumes flowing in and choreography wrapping up. With the after-Christmas photography rush behind me, I am able to use any spare time to be with my brother (promise to blog an update on him sometime this week) or work on personal photo projects. (I plan to reveal one really cool, really dear to my heart project probably in May or June.. more info to come on that later!).
One thing I’ve been studying lately is subtlety, shadow, and shapes. Before I can bribe anyone else to pose for me on this type of thing, I decided to get on the “other side” of the camera.
Beware… you might be scarred for life upon viewing these!
Off to dreamland,
Bing
So it snowed A LOT yesterday for the part of the country we are in. The several inches we received was pretty to look at for about 15 minutes, and then I was over it.
I will never live any farther North than I do now, that is for sure. And if anyone wants to argue that Memphis, TN is “South”… let me tell you.. I grew up in the real South. It snowed once when I was nine… and the flakes melted about 20 minutes after being on the ground.
During the 15 minutes that I was appreciating the snow, I decided to build a snowman. It was the first snowman of my adult life, making it the second one I have ever made.
The Doc, obviously the brains of this marriage, decided that he would stay inside and photograph me and my stupid, freezing, determined self. Even Beau refused to come out.
I do not remember making that snowman at all (my mother verified that we made it in Tyrone, New Mexico) . I DO remember getting very very upset with the Frosty the Snowman song though. I always hated the end of the song when Frosty had to go away. I often refused to let my mother finish singing the song.
Anyhoo, back to the present day snowman.
His name is Dexter. Dexter and I had a nice chat about gender identity issues amongst snowmen. “Why are they always called snowmen?”, we pondered.
Dexter, though not very round or statuesque, decided that he did not want to be locked into the typical snowman stereotype. He announced to me that he is, in fact, a proud, American, transgendered, cross dressing snowperson.
You know it is time to lay off the caffeine when a pile of snow starts talking to you.
Off to fold laundry and watch junk food television (i.e. Desperate Housewives),
Bing
