another weekend has come and gone, and not a bad one really. friday night did the sushi thing at tomo's, but had only ONE beer. had gone out earlier that week at the belvedere (house music night), and had almost a six-pack by the time the evening was done. so i wanted to not overdo it again on friday. saturday took the hounds to hermann park b/c it had been awhile since they had been there. it was a glorious day, plenty of sunshine and in the 80's. of course took A LOT of pics of her. that evening, watched a fight on hbo and relaxed. today, went back to the park to take more pics, sans dogs, but not that excited about what i was able to shoot today. hopefully next weekend will be better.

i've been watching this trayvon tragedy like everyone else around the world, but trying to abstain from all the social media sites, etc. it's a simple case of racial profiling by the killer, despite whatever defense he may say FL law allows him to do..........how can u be "defending yourself" while in PURSUIT of the so-called "suspect". i ain't buyin' it, and neither are the masses, thankfully. i think the larger picture is of course, not just the death of this young man (innocent), but the fact that homicide continues to be the leading cause of death of the black man before the age of 35. yes, this case is a tragedy of course, no one denies that. but the simple truth is thousands of young black males die each year, and more often than not, it's at the hands of other young black males. this particular case is all about RACE, and the killer shot and killed trayvon b/c he was black. doesn't matter what he was wearing (the hoodie), nor does it matter that he actually may have tried to evade being questioned. b/c the had trayvon been WHITE or any other race than black, he in all likelihood would still be alive, enjoying his family and friends.

no, the larger picture is that a young black man can be killed at the hands of his own people in his own "hood", OR killed by a racist in a "non-hood" neighbourhood. and so yes, we can ALL be upset over the murder of this innocent kid, but at the same time where is the attention in the media (FB et al) when so many other innocent youths are killed each day at the hands of other black folk? when will there be a "million-somethin' march" to bring attention to all the useless black/black murders?

and so i can't/won't get involved in all the marches and protests and petitions, etc etc etc for the death of young trayvon, b/c in my eyes there's an element of hypocrisy involved, in that it seems like it's "OK" for us to kill each other daily, but we only draw the lines when someone else kills us..........errrr, a racist-slaying is somehow "worse" than garden-variety black folk killin' other black folk. i just ain't buyin' it. doesn't mean i don't feel for trayvon's family, it's just that i can't lose sight of the larger picture. i'm almost inclined to excuse the actions of a racist, b/c, well, he's a RACIST.........that's what they do.........racist shit. but what's the excuse of a black man killing another black man? when we talk about THAT, then i'll be ready to march/protest, petition.

more FOTD as POTD..........*lol* eventually, i hope to be able to take other subjects or objects to serve as the photo of the day. it's just that roses in particular are so lovely, particularly when shot with the nikkor 24-70mm, the bokeh is just so silky smooth, it's just made for flower portraits, particularly roses. it's fortunate i can't my hands on that 50mm 1.4g that's seemingly sold out everywhere, or there'd be even MORE rose photos.......*lol* never fear, more "zwele photos" coming by the weekend.

it was a pretty good day at work, settling into the new scheme of things that are being implemented into the routine. as long as i'm keeping up with things, and able to streamline others, then it's all good.

no worthwhile homes entered the market today...........blah.

started running/walking again, and feels so good WHEN IT'S OVER..........completely sux while doing it, and i will never be one of those people i see running and looking like they're having the time of their lives. every step i make, i am looking forward to the LAST.

aight, time for some election coverage to see which right loon will win the south tonight.......wishin' i had a "biscuit and some cheesy grits" right about now. *smmfh*

a good day.......

usually mondays suck, and this one did as well. but having switched my "late day" to monday from wednesday, that allowed me to combine two bad things into one: mondays and late days. it was busy of course, but at least the rest of the week is regular hours, and that's always something good to look forward to.

had an interesting conversation this afternoon. hadn't spoken to charlotte since late last year, and today she got in touch with me about my boy mystic. i've been operating under the assumption that "no news is good news", and so if i'm not being contacted by her about him, then he must be doing well. so today when i saw her text, my heart sunk for a moment b/c i thought she was going to have some bad news about mystic. but thankfully, it wasn't bad news, more an update about his ever-changing health. it wasn't great news, but he's just having some issues, this time with his tail. he's always had a spot/plac on his tail, and it's evidently gotten a bit worse, with him messing with it. so, he'll have some "tests" to sort it out, and she was letting me know he might have to be put under for some of these procedures, which is a bit concerning b/c of this age. but hopefully he'll be just fine. it was nice speaking to her again after so many months, i will admit. timing is noteworthy, but i'll save that for another day.

thinking about checking out a "neo-soul" place tomorrow from an invite on fb.........not sure if i feel like doing so on a tuesday night, as my "out" nights are usually wed and on. but might be fun to break the tuesday monotony. i've been going to this lil joint for house music on some wednesday nights, but unfortunately the though the music is pretty good, the crowd leaves a lot to be desired. it's destined to be a "lounge" scene more than anything else, which isn't bad b/c i don't mind relaxing with a drink or 4, with some friends to some good music. this week marks the beginning of the wmc in south beach, and i always reflect on the great great times bani and i had the couple of times we headed down there. it seems ages ago, and yet so fresh in my memory, and so every year it i always wonder about heading back there, on my own with others. i'd like to think i'll make it there again eventually. i even nag her every now and then about considering to go again with.........

and then there's jamaica.........already march is here.

rain and roses

it was stormy and rainy today, but like the song says, "sunshine after the rain", it was still a worthwhile venture to take the camera out. roses are so lovely whilst wet, and i took full advantage. spring is definitely in the air............

it's a new day.

so, here we are with a new place to share some images and thoughts and opinions and experiences, yada yada yada, with a fresh start. already have facebook, already have fotki, already have flickr, already have another blog. but none of those seem to be what i'm wanting to do with this particular blog. facebook allows too much "people".........in both directions........i don't want to be THAT person that has to post "something" every 30 minutes with links, pictures, updates, "where i am and what i'm doing"........nor do i want to read what others are doing all the time. and my "other" blog.......*lol* well, let's just say i don't want to focus so much on the things i was blogging about back then, and it's too late to hit the "reset" button and begin anew.

so, easier to just create a new one.

i want to mainly use this space to share photos from all the MANY pics i've been taking lately with the new gear. it's mainly been a lot of wildlife stuff.........flowers, birds, animals, etc. and of course empress zwele. i realise many folk on facebook don't really care about such things, and so i won't "bore" them with such images too much from here on out. i'll instead "bore" folk over here if they're so inclined to keep up. *lol*

it won't be all posting of pics here, as i also want to use it to speak on whatever it is that's on my mind at the time. whether that will be personal stuff, or political stuff, or world events stuff, or sports stuff, etc, will be left up to my own whims. i'd like to keep it open and honest, where i won't regret anything shared here. perhaps i need ANOTHER blog just for private use (non-public) for "personal relationship" talk/banter as well? *lol* who knows...........

as for now, i'll try to keep it light, and perhaps pic-heavy.

sooooo, what's the update on the current life? well, most importantly, i've been looking for a home (purchase) for several months now. it's been challenging in trying to find a place where i love the location, but not paying an arm and a leg. the housing market may be in the crapper for the majority of the country, but here in houston prices are still high to me. i'm either getting a town home "in the city" or will have to consider a conventional home further away. and town homes are very expensive if u're wanting something nice.......3 bedrooms, 2+ baths, 2000 sq ft, and no older than 2005. the pickins' are few on my budget. so, if i can't find something soon, then "plan B" comes into play, where i get a conventional home outside the loop (610), and would likely consider building a new place. the HAR site has been great for looking at potential homes, u can set it up where u receive daily email updates of new listings according to your criteria of what u want in a home (price, bedrooms, locations, etc).

work is work, though we have had a new lab director hired to replace our outgoing director. i still enjoy what i do very much, and grateful for my job in this economy. with my educational background, i will always always have my regrets of "what might have been", but have long realised that ship sailed a long time ago, and life goes on.

relationship? *lol* it's been 2 years since "charlotte and tai" ended, still even today arranging life in response to that huge climactic change. didn't imagine i would be purchasing a home "alone", though i know it's a common thing today anyway. kinda weird b/c when viewing potential places, i can't help but think about how much "more" house could be bought on "two incomes"..........*lol* but seeing as how i don't imagine myself involved with anyone "new" to the point where i would want to "co-habitate" with them, a "single-income" purchase it will be! *lol* just means likely it will be a home where i won't be for the long haul, likely 5 years is all. more importantly though, it also means probably no more kids for me, which is somewhat disappointing b/c i did always think i'd have one or two more kids at some point in time. i'm thankful that i do have the one dawta, who will actually be turning 20 in less than a week. in some ways it seems like it's been more than 20 years since she was born, whereas a lot of people often times say the opposite........so MUCH has happened in those 20 years. but enough about that stuff.........there will plenty of future posts to talk 'pon this subject.

zwele! *lol* she has been my rock these past 2 years, and i don't think i could say enough about what she has meant to me. as will be seen on this blog, she is often the subject of my muses. i wish i would have had some puppies from her and mystic, but it just never happened. my boy is really up there in age, and is health isn't the best. i know he's in good hands with charlotte, but leaving him behind will be one of those events i will hate the most with our parting of ways. zwele though has been remarkable as she has matured into quite the "lady". *lol* she's still a mess, will get into things at times, hates all cats and squirrels, and sheds like the devil parts of the year. but i could never ever want a better best friend in a hound after saying goodbye to mystic. so u'll forgive me if there ever seems to be "too many" photos of her on this blog. *lol*

anyway, this is a start, with a few recent photos of what i've taken in the last couple of weeks.

many many more to come.