Summer's Last Hurrahs

Hi, I'm Bret. How are you?

The summer is winding to a close in all but an official capacity. We finally received some much-needed rain here in DC, but that came with unseasonably cool temperatures the last couple of days. This only served to make me feel as if summer quietly sneaked out the back door at the party when we all weren't looking, leaving only a slight chill, a gray fog, and the return of classes in its place.

Well, okay, I know that's not all entirely true. The humidity and heat will no doubt return by the weekend, and there are still plenty of things to wet my whistle: like wedding plans, and the upcoming Labor Day Spectacular at Deep Creek Lake (tm). I am not going to be a guy who you'll be catching complaining any time soon. And if you do catch me, slap me a good one upside the head to remind me how lucky I am.

I've been keeping a lot of things bottled up the past few weeks. Here are a couple of highlights:

My amateur photography is moving into expanded realms. Gina's former employer would like me to photograph their establishment after a successful session of food photography. I come cheap, but this will still be my first paying photography gig. On a similar front, having my pictures tagged and posted on Flickr is continuing to bear fruit. The latest contact I have made has been the mapping and trip planning website Schmap, which currently features a photo of the Department of Agriculture in its DC guide. Check out the guide and see if you can find my photo credit. Wild, huh? I've poked around a little on Schmap, and it combines some of the best features of Flickr and Google Maps and so on. It's a pretty nifty site.

Michael Vick? The one smart thing he's done in the last year or so was to plead guilty. I personally see a move to the Far North in his future, unless he can wash that persistent Vick sense of entitlement off in an uncharacteristic and drawn-out display of remorse. And even if he does that, who's going to buy it?

Excitement level for the Sept 6 Concert for Virginia Tech: 7 of 10. Excitement level once I confirm that I have a ticket: 11 of 10.