Saturday, November 15, 2008

Gwen Perry


Gwen Perry
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic
This is a neighbor of my friend Tambri. T and I went to her house last Saturday to visit and watch her make microwave peanut brittle.

Who knew? Probably everyone but me knows you can you make peanut brittle in a microwave. I was surprised by how easy it was. We had a great time visiting with Gwen. She swears she's not photogenic, but I think this portrait proves her wrong.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Vets Day Celebration


VetsCelebration
Originally uploaded by Food Fanatic
We had the most amazing Vets Day remembrance that I've been to so far in my life.
Yes, many schools are not in session on Veteran's Day, but we are. And I'm glad we are, because our choir, JROTC, FFA, and band make it a great celebration each year. I think without that, most people, myself included, would probably just take the day off and play.
This year our speaker was Ex-POW Quincy Collins. He was in prison during the Vietnam War for 7 years. He spent two of those years in the same cell as John McCain, but he really didn't mention that more than just a sentence in passing.
He told stories of wonderful heroism in prison, the most touching of which was the story of a fellow prisoner who was tortured for making an American flag out of and old t-shirt. In this photo, Collins is holding up a sheet of music he made on toilet paper. He told about his choir of men who sang in whispers.
Collins is a fascinating, engaging speaker and I've never heard our student body so quiet. I mean, those 600+ kids were still and silent the entire time he spoke. They generally are very well-behaved during assemblies, but this was the best I've ever seen.
And I'm glad I didn' t have to write the story on this one. My friend Chris McGinn was sent to write the story and I was the photographer. We sat next to each other during Collin's speech and we both just sat there mesmerized, barely remembering to shoot or write!