2009 Picture Show.

Music by Grizzly Bear. I got the idea to do this from Dooce.

2009. 2010.

Okay y'all, 2009 is almost over. FUCK, it has been a hard year. Every year is a hard year, and I keep saying "I hope that this coming year is better, easier, happier, calmer" and CLEARLY I am jinxing us because it just keeps getting harder and crazier.

This year has been long. I lost my job, Kane and Jude stopped coming to see us, there were fights and drama, we lost our house and moved in with my mom, and things in general were just weird and creepy.



There were good times, though. There was much drinking, karaoking, dancing.



We continued on with Drunk Psychology, had lots of fun with it, even took it to New Orleans.



We went to Costa Rica and had so much fun WITH NO GODDAMN AIR CONDITIONING.



But there was beer, so it was okay.



We won that contest, the one called "Drive To Tennessee and Pay $175 For the Dog Who Farts More Than Any Other Dog In the Whole World!!!" Duque is awesome and we love him. But his farts stink. Bad.



I turned 30.



Jason turned 35.



Reed turned 4.



My mom turned... 27?



I got to photograph Guster, one of my favorite bands ever.



Kristi and Chris graduated from law school, passed the bar, and got married.



Reed was their cute-ass- if very ornery- ring bearer.



I made some new friends...



And spent time with some old ones...



Jason and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. The fact that we've managed to stay together, to stay in love, to keep respecting each other and keep wanting to be with each other when things have been as hard as they have on every front, is proof that if you work hard enough you can achieve anything in this world.



We got a one-eared kitten who lives in our Christmas tree.



And I managed to stick pretty closely to my resolution, to be more upfront about my feelings, what's going on in my head and heart. It hasn't always been easy, but I've tried to weigh the pros and cons in the situations and experiences in my life and bite the bullet and speak up when necessary.

Here's to hoping that I'm still around, both in the blogging world and in the world at large, at the end of 2010. This ride just keeps getting bumpier, but screw it, I've got beer.

The odd couple.

The odd couple.
Originally uploaded by buffpuff

I've been spending a lot of my time with these guys lately. They are weird, ornery, and hungry.

Anyway, life goes on over here. Reed went back to school today, and Jason and I got our new bedroom better settled and organized.

I'm reading Cold Mountain for the first time, and getting ready to start People of the Whale for book club.

Okay, that's all I got.

So, yeah.

Originally uploaded by buffpuff

I just photographed one of my top-4 favorite bands ever.

And I also photographed Young Jeezy and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Go take a look.

City Stages.

Lindsey and I will be covering City Stages for al.com this weekend, and I'm very excited about it- Lindsey does write-ups and video, and I do photographs and severe inebriation.

I am particularly excited about the Indigo Girls, Jonny Lang, Guster, and the Pine Hill Haints.

Here's to being ridiculously sweaty and being tossed about by thousands of people!

Ob la di.

Ah, June. Hello, there. This is the month in which I will turn 30 years old.

There are a lot of things in this world that I don't know. But I'm learning and pressing on, and I think that's good enough for right now.

We photographed a wedding this weekend and I'm really excited about the pictures. It's really fun and touching to be able to share these moments with people in this manner, meaning that you're right on top of them every moment during a pretty important day in their lives. You're watching closely as they're putting on their dresses or adjusting their tuxes, kissing each other, shedding tears, exchanging vows, embracing for the first time as a married couple. Pretty heady stuff. It's good for my heart.

So on June 20th we're throwing a toga party to celebrate Kristi, Lindsey and myself turning 30. I am anticipating a pretty wild party, and I'm happy that I get to share this birthday with my best friends. It won't be a party unless I get drunk enough to call someone a douche.

On a more serious note, my uncle Vann is having some pretty severe reactions to his chemotherapy right now. I had decided for a while not to write about his cancer because it's really upsetting and scary (I know- selfish, selfish, selfish of me), but so far he has been responding well to his treatments and the cancer has been receeding. Because of a setback couple of weeks ago they've changed the kind of chemo that he's getting and this new medicine is making him pretty sick. Anyway, point is if you pray or think nice thoughts or meditate or anything of the sort, please think something nice for my uncle today. I want him to get better, and I think that it certainly can't hurt to have all of us sitting around thinking about how everything will be fine and Vann will get better. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

A couple of things...

My friend Lindsey writes a really neat blog for al.com, and I've been lucky enough to attend a couple of shows with her to take pictures for said blog. You should check it out.

First, here's where we went to see the Ting Tings.

Second, here's where we went to see G Love and the Special Sauce.

Their names are called, they raise a paw: the bat, the cat, dolphin and dog, koala bear and hog.

We have a lot going on in the next few weeks.

This weekend we're headed down to New Orleans to visit our friend Amanda and film a new Drunk Psychology. The next weekend is our good friend John's 30th birthday party. May will bring Mother's Day and India's birthday and Linnea's birthday, and then we're photographing a wedding at the end of the month.

It will only get busier from there. June brings Kane's, Jude's, Kristi's, and my birthdays, plus we're planning a baby shower for our friend Brock (yep), and our friends Dana and Wes are getting married and we're taking pictures, and we're throwing a huge party for Kristi's, Lindsey's, and my 30th birthdays combined.

In July we'll have Lindsey's birthday, my mom's birthday, and Brock's baby will be born.

August will bring Kristi's bachelorette party and shower, and then she and Chris are getting married on the 8th. Reed and I are in the wedding and Jason is the photographer. Then Chris' birthday is on the 19th.

I think I might go to bed for a while in September. So don't bother calling.

And now for the Micro Wrestling Federation.

For fuck's sakes, if Kane and Jude's step-dad continues to send these assy, threatening text messages to us, I'm going to visit Pelham with a large bag of poop. I cannot stand this any more. See here for further explanation.

Somehow lately I frequently feel like I'm standing in the middle of a crowded room screaming, and no one is noticing. It's lonely and sad, this feeling, and I'm afraid that feeling it this frequently for this long is starting to make me a shitty person. I feel vindictive, mad, self-centered.

There is a lot going on in the next couple of weeks. There's Midget Wrestling this Thursday (click that link, scroll down to see the poster), we have the kids this weekend, I'm scheduled to go to San Antonio with work February 9th through the 12th, and then Valentine's Day is that weekend. Plus, there are three birthdays in a row from the 14th through the 16th (Josh, Deanna, Johnny). Busy time.

I know some people were having trouble getting to the Cutting Room Floor, and I've checked and re-checked and I'm not sure why that is. I'm linking here again just to see what happens. If that doesn't work, just go to www.flickr.com/photos/cuttingroomfloor.

I'm glad y'all are looking. It makes me happy.

He'll cut you.

He'll cut you.
Originally uploaded by buffpuff

There's my baby.


Without further ado, a big huge pile o' new pictures on my flickr, and also on Cutting Room Floor.

See that girl, watch that scene, dig in the dancing queen.

Happy birthday to Stephanie! Happy birthday to Barry!

Saturday night we celebrated Stephanie's birthday, as well as Kristi's Uncle Barry's birthday, at the Phoenix. I feel obligated to tell you that it's the most fun I've had in a long time. The bartender was probably the best bartender I've ever had in that he was sweet and nice and funny, brought fresh beers without even being asked, and put all my drinks on Chris' tab.

Chris, I owe you guys dinner.

The drag show started at 11 and lasted until about 1:30, and was RIGHTEOUS. Imagine my aunt CJ (if you know her) as a drag queen- that's what that was like. Well, that's what Libertee Belle was like. I drank entirely too much and stayed out entirely too late and don't regret a minute of it.

Well, it was regretable that I had to get felt up by some guy who, when I protested and told him to stop rubbing his hands all over my body, kept saying, "I'm GAY. I'm not STRAIGHT. God, loosen up." Keep in mind that I was seated at the bar, not dancing or even standing up, and he repeatedly rubbed his hands ALL OVER me, getting mighty close to the family jewels on more than one occasion. The first couple of times I smiled and kind of nudged him away- I've learned in these situations not to go straight for the righteous indignation- but he would not be deterred. Eventually I was saying, "I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE GAY, I DON'T WANT YOUR HANDS ON ME. You need to go and find someone who wants you to put your hands all over them, because IT IS NOT ME." He just thought the whole thing was hilarious. I was not amused. It went on for about five minutes and finally he sort of moved on to someone else.

In somewhat related news, I got a thumb drive and have 119 photos on it just waiting to be uploaded. I have stuff from Halloween, election night, our anniversary party, our Christmas party, Christmas time, New Year's Eve, Mexican Train dominos night, inauguration night, the drag show, and of course lots of various pictures of Reed. I'm hoping to get those uploaded onto my Flickr, some on my own and some on the Cutting Room Floor, in the next couple of days.