Monthly Archives: February 2011

f2fb early valentine pictures

i met tao zhang about ten years ago when we were both working on a pta benefit.  at the time, tao was just starting to explore the notion of being a photographer.  today, he’s one of the most sought after photographers for weddings, christenings, graduations, and other important occasions.  he has a particular whimsical and personal style that exactly matches whoever and whatever he’s photographing.  i was talking to him about the strange journey he has made from being a radio announcer in china to a gentleman of the north shore.

and he’s happy!  really happy with the career that he’s developed.  but we couldn’t just talk–that would be a waste of a perfectly talented photographer!

we went to the stairwell of his building and took a few shots.  i’m wearing my carharts which are absolutely essential for this weather!  tao also does photography for many north shore magazines.  he’s a real treasure!

you can see more of his work or even book a special occasion picture (how about an early valentine?) by going to http://lensworkstudio.com!


a snow day outing

tao zhang and i had an appointment i was determined i would not miss!  so out i went into the tundra, meeting pam koster along the way and she agreed to take this video:

later today, tao will send me the photos he took and i’ll post them here!  along with a video of him talking about how he turned disaster into great happiness!

 


darn it! friendship, deactivation and the MC KATO concert

every winter, there comes a time when weather prognosticators get their groove on.  and an outpouring of forecasts, each more apocalyptic than the other, scares the bejesus out of chicagoans.  today, the general consensus is that the upcoming snowstorm will be worse than, ahem, the snowstorm of 1967.  the winnetka community house has already announced it will be closed.  ohare airport, out of which i was to fly off to tallahassee, is on full ground stop for tomorrow.  and mc kato has been forced to postpone the concert he was to do at my house.   his dj and the rest of his posse are going to try again later this month.  it will be the “welcome back for a little while” concert for my face to facebook project.  sometimes i am reminded that friendship requires flexibility.  especially in the face of the elements.

i thought this past weekend that a friend had defriended me.  and further, when i tried to email her, i thought i was being blocked.  i felt awful.  a little rejected.  a little concerned about whatever i had done to have her not want to count me as a friend anymore.  then i did something totally retro–i called her.  she said that no, she was still my friend and i wasn’t being blocked but that she had deactivated her account for a while.  the reasons are not for discussion here, but i hadn’t known you can deactivate and then reactivate and then presumably redeactivate again.  i  learned from f2fb #4 winston chang that many people on active duty in the military deactivate their accounts so that if they are, say, held hostage, their captors can’t use information gleaned from their page in order to harm them or their families.

and this is not to say that i haven’t been defriended because i have been by one person since this enterprise got started.

regardless of the weather, i’m fighting my way onto the first flight out of chicago to tallahassee so that i can see my facebook friend justin leiber, who is also my father.


f2fb #29 MC KATO and i go blind

today is the release of MC KATO’s new album glissando.  he will be performing at my house at a face to facebook launch party!  seven o’clock and yes, you are invited!  you can also pick up or download his songs on itunes today.  yippee!

i have made airline reservations with expedia for my trip to tallahassee.  i don’t see my dad very often, mostly when he goes to his class reunions for the lab school here in chicago.  so i was really surprised when he asked me to visit.  then i found out he’s been having a bit of a dust up with his wife barbara.  yesterday, he called to give me the entire play by play over the course of an hour.  he wants me to “observe” the situation.  i’m thinking the most placid part of the weekend will be driving up to huntsville alabama to have dinner with jonathan boyd and his family.

my reaction to justin’s call was to go blind in my right eye.  this happens about once a year and is the opening volley for a full on migraine.  i start off by saying “oh, this has happened before, i know what it is” and twenty minutes later i’m crying and thinking i’m having a stroke.  sometimes i get so overwrought that i call an ambulance, but yesterday i decided that if i was going to die it would be preferable to the embarrassment of e.m.t.s reassuring me that everything was going to be all right while jabbing me with needles–besides, there was ice on the front steps and one of them was bound to take a fall.

so i practiced self-medication: two ativan, six ibuprofen, and six pepcids.  repeat as necessary.  the purpose is not to restore my sight but to make me so relaxed i don’t care.