End of Summer

Wow, I can’t believe how quickly summer has come and passed. I know we technically have a few weeks left, but by and large it’s the End of Summer. I regret not being able to spend more time out of doors, enjoying the weather and everything summer’s all about. There’s been a lot going on lately, and I’ve had a lot of indoor projects to work on, especially related to my recent photography work. More on that later.

Music has been holding me together lately. 2007 has had a lot of really solid albums and I’ve been trying to expose myself to a wider variety of music, especially older stuff. Part of that is because I recently got into vinyl records. I picked up an awesome direct drive turntable for free + beer a few months back, and I’ve been collecting odds-and-ends vinyl ever since. A lot of that has been 80s stuff that I’d never really exposed myself to before, like XTC, Ultravox, Fine Young Cannibals, some really classic U2, and more. And I picked up some stuff I just couldn’t live without and had to experience on vinyl: Elvis Costello, the Smiths, Led Zeppelin, CCR, and newer stuff like the National’s “Boxer” and some Okkervil River.

Aside from my Explorations in Vinyl, WOXY has been keeping me alive, musically speaking. There’s a lot in the works over at the station; of greatest note is their recent announcement to return to the FM airwaves in the southwest Ohio area thanks to a partnership with local broadcast station WXVU. WOXY will be pumping out on one of WXVU’s new HD channels, which means anyone with an HD radio in the signal range can listen to WOXY anytime, anywhere. This is huge news for local WOXY fans, myself included. I’ll be picking up an HD radio very soon, assuming the signal covers most of my commute with acceptable reliability.

The biggest thing on my plate lately has been my photography. I was approached a few months back about photographing a wedding for some friends-of-friends. I agreed and spent every moment until the Big Day prepping, planning, researching and practicing to get as good as I could. I’d never shot a wedding before as the sole photographer, let alone for money, so I was pretty nervous about my abilities. Well, it finally came and went and looking back, I’m really happy with how I did. But anyway, I’ve been busting my tail trying to get all the photos processed for the couple. Here’s a glimpse of a couple of the shots if you’re interested:

So I’ve been somewhat stressed with all of that going on, but there’s rest & relaxation in sight! Our vacation to the Outer Banks, NC, is in just TWO WEEKS! I’m really looking forward to it; Jess and I are sharing a beach house with her brother and sister and their families for a week. We’ll also get to spend a couple days with Jess’ mom in Virginia, which I’m really looking forward to.

Let’s see, what else? There are a LOT of great concerts coming up over the next few months, several of which I’m planning to attend (Arcade Fire/LCD Soundsystem, They Might Be Giants, The Decemberists, etc), so hopefully I’ll have some photos to share. I haven’t taken a single picture since the wedding I shot, so I’m definitely looking forward to taking some photos just for fun.

Well I think that’s about it for now. Sorry for the novella of a post, but it’s been forever since I’ve updated this and I wanted to bring everyone up to speed. I hope everyone else is having a good summer. Keep in touch!

Jesse