Anna's Back Home!

It's been a busy week, but the best news is that Anna's back home, and out of the hospital. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. I'm certain it's made a difference because it looks like the only thing that's going to heal Anna is devine intervention. I look at all the medication she's on, all the doctors and specialists she sees, the nurses, the aides, and even my own pitching in and helping, and all that comes to mind is a line from an old nursery rhyme:

"All the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty back together again."

I've also spent some great time with some of my fellow professional photographers this past week. I delivered a CD of photographs from our guild meeting to be published in our guild's newsletter, and I've been busy with ordering a print album and business cards for my Operation Love ReUnited client.

My work ("the day job") has been busy. I finished a presentation I'm supposed to give in two weeks, including a budget proposal for next fiscal year. I keep saying that I'm an Engineer, and not a Budgeteer, but in order to keep being an Engineer, I've got to keep the budget alive, too. It's one of those things where being a small businessman (my photography business) helps me be a better Engineer, and being an Engineer makes me a better small businessman.

Which reminds me - in a discussion I had with someone, I was reminded that Engineering is defined, in this modern age, as "the art of applied science." Sure, the usage of "an operator of machinery" is still used when talking about a locomotive engineer, or the engineer in a fire department who operates the pumper truck, but when you look at degreed, professional engineers, you think about the geeky guys in starched white shirts, bow tie, plastic pocket protectors, and HP calculators hung from their belts. We design bridges and airplanes. We design microcircuits that form the brain of your computer, which we also designed. We live in "cub'e farms." I used to think Dilbert was funny. Then I thought it was a documentary. Now I know it as an idyllic work environment.

So, for all the geekiness everyone attributes to engineers, we are also artists. I had thought of my music and my photography as the "right brain" activities I use to balance my "left brained" geekiness. However, they're all really extensions of my inner artist. I tend to take a very technical approach to my photography, but that's not so bad, because as an Engineer, I'm well trained in applying the science to my artistic endeavors! I just do it a lot more visually with my camera than I do it on paper with an aircraft's maintenance plan, or aurally with my trombone.

And speaking of art and music, tomorrow is our next All Star Orchestra rehearsal, and the final one before next weeks Potentate's Ball at the Jacksonville Morocco Shrine Center next weekend. Gotta get my Zoot Suit cleaned and pressed!

Have a happy Easter, everyone!

Yet again...

Anna's back in the hospital. Thing is, she just had a doctor's appointment last Friday, and everything was fine. The rollercoaster never stops, and never ceases to be interesting. What's the Chinese curse? "May you live in interesting times?" It's never a dull moment around here.

This past week I shot my first "Operation Love ReUnited" session. Four photographers congregated at the NAS Jacksonville air terminal to document the homecomming of four heros. Photos from the family I was assigned are here at this link, and I'll be blogging about the session most of this week on my Arved Grass Photography Blog.

Before we learned Anna had to go to the hospital, we had a lovely drive down to Crescent City, Florida. What a jewel of a town! If it wasn't so far to drive to work, we would both love to live there. We'll have to go back and visit one of the Bed and Breakfasts there.