So I realize that I haven’t had a crush in a while, so I thought I would change that here and now. It’s not that I haven’t been crushing lately…it’s just that I haven’t had time to write about them. ;)

My latest crush has been going on for a while now…and this post is just inspired by what’s playing on my iPod this morning. I’ve always been drawn to girls that are into the arts…singers, dancers, actresses…doesn’t matter what they do, they just have to rock and I’m hooked. The same goes for Diana Krall.

For those of you who don’t know…Diana is a grammy award winning jazz pianist and vocalist. And she is quite amazing. And that’s really all that needs to be said.

Elvis Costello is a lucky man.

I’ve had a busy weekend…even more busy and exciting than most of my weekends. I’m sitting here doing laundry and going through the hundreds of pictures I snapped this weekend. And I’m totally wiped out. But it’s a good feeling.

I’ll touch on Friday and Sunday a little later…but I wanted to share some special photographs I was able to take on Saturday.

I had the honor and privilege of photographing the wedding of my cousin, Tara, to a super swell guy we’ll call Aleck. Mostly, because that’s his name. If you remember back in November, I took Tara and Aleck’s engagement photos at the Rancho Bernardo Winery. And yesterday, they became husband and wife. It was truly a special day for me to see Tara get married and to see family and friends.

And I took some good pictures too. :)

And now, I am going to get back to work…but I just had to share these. I’m excited, because later this fall, I will be going back east to spend some time with Tara and Aleck…my first time to the east coast, believe it or not…so that’s going to be awesome. Anyway, hope everyone had an awesome weekend as well…more details to come!

Well, it was a long, and interesting, weekend. It had its shares of ups and downs…

Highlights, however, included dinner and Piezookie with Danny, Flor, and Brian at BJ’s on Saturday night. Sunday afternoon, Ennis and I drove up to Laguna Beach for a group shoot, which was tons of fun. Got to meet some new people, photograph some hotties. I have to admit my toe wasn’t up to the challenge of walking on the sand or climbing over rocks…so I may have aggrevated it a little more than I should have. But I think it will be okay. All in all, it was lots of fun. :)

Here are some shots:

Gia

Beth and Gianna

And Beth again…

Beth is not only beautiful, but is a pastry chef in Las Vegas. The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach…so hopefully when I cruise out to Vegas in November to shoot Sarah Gates’ wedding, I will also meet up with Beth for some photos and perhaps some baked goods of some sort. :)

I also got to hang out with Ennis and Gianna, two of my favorite people:

Today, I took some photos of Brian’s dad for a web site he’s putting together. Here’s a few BTS shots of me hard at work:

And now, I think I need sleep. More later…

It’s rough out there…I’m not going to lie…

• Forbes – Countrywide Breaks Into The Piggy Bank

After getting 3.5 hours of sleep last night, I’m not the most chipper person in the world. Granted, I usually get very little sleep anyway…but after dealing with stupid people all night, my patience was wearing particularly thin. The birds were NOT singing this morning. The sun was not warm and fuzzy.

I didn’t get home until 3am last night…but that’s only because the no-talent ass clowns they have working at the hospital 1) couldn’t tell us what was going on 2) didn’t really give us any definitive answers or check my grandma until 2am and 3) had the personalities of rocks…at the bottom of a murky lake…covered with algae and mold…

My thoughts on the modern-day healthcare system is reaffirmed…we have a bunch of morons becoming doctors.

Flor: don’t be a moron. :)

Seriously, though…it’s like no one cares. I almost went “Falling Down” on them.

And now, back to work…oh joy!

After a couple very interesting and annoying weeks with a broken toe, I’ve got my strut back. Ladies, beware. ;)

I’m walking a lot better…and I can’t wait until this thing is fully healed. Should be good times again.

I’ve also gotta say this…as those of you who actually read this know, I don’t dive too deep. Just don’t feel like putting it all out there, ‘ya know? And when I do put it out there, it’s usually vague and mysterious. But I won’t be vague and mysterious this time. I’m going to tell you straight out, as cliche and trite as it may seem. It might even feel like common knowledge…like I’m telling you something you already know. And you should know, dammit. But here is what I want to tell you…don’t ever take moments for granted…moments with people you love. Or even moments with people you barely tolerate. :)

Nothing really eventful has prompted these thoughts. I’m sitting outside the ER because my grandma is sick…and I’m also just waiting for the doctors to actually prove to me they deserve their enormous paychecks. But that’s not what got me thinking. As I was unloading a bunch of groceries from the car earlier tonight…and as I walked through the empty house to my grandma’s kitchen, it hit me as to how much I miss my grandpa. The stupid, silly sayings he had that would make me smile. The way his quiet manner was calming and warm. The songs he used to sing and the dances he used to dance. And it was sad when it dawned on me that it would be a while before I can ask him how his day was or pat him on the head.

We eventually move forward…but I don’t think we ever really get over the empty feeling of losing someone. We’re just left with memories and the need to continue living out one day at a time.

So live in the moment. Savor each minute. And make sure people you love know that you love them. All of our days our numbered…so we might as well make the most of it and live to make every one count.

And that’s all I have to say about that.

I’m going to keep struttin’ now.

So the other day, things were SO hectic at work, that my buddy, Chris, talked me into Simpsonizing myself. Here are the results…

Simpsonize yourself…

Dude, the weekend is never long enough. I am feeling it now…and it definitely feels like a Monday.

I had shoots planned up the wahzoo this weekend, but I had to cancel some yesterday due to some unforseen things I had to take care of. But no worries…everything is all good. Yesterday’s shoot that should have happened with the luscious Ashley Taylor will be in a mere 6 more days. Looking forward to that one since Ash and I haven’t shot in while. And she’s a cool chick.

On Saturday, it seems like I missed my high school reunion. BUMMER! Was that this weekend?! :)

Seriously, though, I had no inclination or desire to go to it at all aside from morbid curiousity…and to see who got insanely fat. But to not be TOTALLY negative about it, my buddy, Cameron, did go…and he’s posted some really pretty pictures on his Picasa gallery. Looks like the people that DID go had a good time. So Kudos to them.

Instead of going to the reunion, I did photograph a rather smoking girl up in Vista. Tasia and I were finally able to connect and set a date…and actually keep it! A big thank you to T for looking ridiculously hot…and for not rubbing the cat all over her face the night before the shoot. :) We shot at a totally cool location with a bunch of rusty trucks…the perfect background. Throw in some harsh lighting and you’ve got yourself some killer shots of a hot girl. These are for the calendar, so I was really stoked we were able to find a cool location to shoot at. There were quite a few old people there, so I’m really glad none of the dudes had heart attacks because damn…Tasia did look good.

We also cruised up to a local high school, broke into the quad, and snapped a couple quick ones. Yeah…we’re daring and adventurous. Here are some of the shots:

And on that note, today is Monday…and I’m really, really tired. Hungry too. Is it lunch time yet?

Well, I’m still hobbling around these days. It’s not bad…and I think I’ll be 100% very soon. I mean, it only hurts a little when I walk…it’s actually more annoying than anything else.

It has significantly slowed me down, however. I had a shoot this morning at Balboa park with a beautiful girl…her name is Ysania and she was totally sweet and lots of fun to shoot. I don’t *feel* like I was on my game simply because I’m usually more active and animated. But we still got some great shots and we’ll be shooting again soon. Here are some samples…