A Little G in a Big D

Earlier last week — conveniently, while I was penning my previous blog entry — I received the oddest call. It was seriously strange enough for me to stop what I was doing and try to remember, as best as possible, the verbatim conversation. Here goes …

[Please note: A few names were changed ... to protect the innocent, of course ... and because I don't exactly remember them]

Me: This is Gerry …

Young-Souding Lady: Hi Gerry, this is Francesca with Sweet Sassy Molassy Interiors. Just letting you know Gunther is outside and having a hard time finding your place.

Me: [pause]

YSL: Uhm, sir?

Me: [continued pause]

YSL: This is Gerry, correct?

Me: Uhm, ya. Gerry McCarthy with the Morning News … ?

YSL: You’re a photographer, right? Gerry?

Me: Uhm, ya, but I don’t know anything about this.

YSL: Well, Gunther is outside your place for the appointment. Can’t find your condo number, though. Anyway, he’ll do the eval today before we proceed with pitching a new design for your condo.

Me: Well, I don’t think you have the right ‘Gerry’ …

YSL: Hmmm …

Me: And what was the phone number on the account?

YSL: Sure — it’s 214-918-XXXX

Me: Well, that is my number … and my name is Gerry and I’m a photographer here in Dallas, but I didn’t contact any interior design firms — or whatever this is — and make an appointment.

YSL: [pause]

Me: And I don’t think my wife did, either.

YSL: Well, uhm, OK. Sorry about the … uhm … confusion? We’ll get it sorted out.

Me: OK [nervous laugh] You should call me back when you figure out who this other Gerry is so I can steal his identity.

YSL: [pause]

Me: ‘Cuz he sounds cool and if he has the money to hire you all, he must not be doing bad, right? [nervous laugh again]

YSL: Ya, uhm, thanks. Sorry for the trouble.

Me: [indistinct mumble]

** **

For the life of me, I really, really am curious who this other Gerry is. What are the odds? Similar enough phone number (they never called back, so I assume it was a misdial), similar profession, similar name. This is driving me batty.

Anyway, whomever this guy is, here’s my top 10 things I hope are true about him:

10. Can speak telepathically with animals.

09. Knows at least three totally useless but nonetheless cool languages, like Ket, Modern Gutnish or Esperanto.

08. Hardly watches what he eats or drinks, rarely visits the gym yet still looks like the human embodiment of Thor.

07. Rebuilds old cars and reads up on Physics and French poetry … for fun.

06. Once bested a man in a bar-fight using cunning and a bowl of pretzels.

05. Manually meters and focuses everything …

04. Owns all the old Time-Life Home Repair and Improvement Series books … but just for show, because he already knew how to do that stuff, anyway.

03. Has personally rescued about a half-dozen small pets, children and elderly women from every manner of catastrophe, from falling into a frozen lake to alien abduction.

02. Full. Luscious. Head of Hair. It’s shiny, too … and strong.

01. Has beaten every living president (and two dead ones) at arm wrestling. Twice.

** **

That’s the dream, anyway.

Earlier this year, as I dug through boxes and waded through dust bunnies up in our loft trying to find some old, archive CD’s, I came across one of the first discs I ever burned — give or take, maybe six-plus years old. On it, I found my original “portfolio” (if we could call it that) from UT — with it, I landed my first job in Paris, Texas, at the The Paris News.

The CD also contained my original resume (I actually listed a summer at “Pizza Hut” as job experience!!), a few odds and ends, and a random, mislabeled folder I came to realize was my very first attempt at blogging.

Now as some of you (few) long-time readers might remember, the very first entry in said blog disappeared into the void. I only have my second entry — dated February 20, 2003 — and most subsequent posts. As I recall, though, the second entry was the better one — I had more to talk about.

So you have an idea what I’m talking about, here’s a screen shot of part of the first page … check the *super awesome* HTML and web-design skills:

I’ve been thinking a lot about that old blog lately. I had a lot better attitude about the whole thing back then — striving for fun, the new, and just about anything that made me happy. I wrote about everything and shared random photos, especially the really bad ones. I hate to repeat myself, but it really was just a lot of fun.

Flash forward to today, more than six years later. For a variety of reasons — from uncertainties at work (newspapering) to more personal issues in my life — the last several months have been a little rough. I’m not sure what all is going to happen in 2009. Funny thing is, a part of me finds that ambiguity to be as freeing as it is daunting.

Sooooo … in the spirit of coming full circle AND moving forward (how deliciously paradoxical of me!) I’ve decided it’s high time to stop blogging about how I “never blog” and get back to what I’m not so bad at … what, more importantly, makes me happy — random, often nonsensical posts about life, work, pictures, my feet, the weather, etc. Just like the old days, if the thought pops into my head, no matter how obscure, odds are I’ll find a way to get it onto paper … err … make that WordPress.

Speaking of which, the new digs here are a big part of that. Yes, this is a completely new blog format (WordPress) and URL. Yes, the old one (on Blogger) is going away … shortly. Yes, this is textbook “burying the lead” … oh well … us photographers aren’t supposed to know how to write … right?

Suffice it all say, I’m back. I want to do this right again. For those who’ve been reading since the old days and are convinced I’m blowing smoke up your collective asses yet again … just please, bear with me. For anyone else — newbies, people who forgot I did this, etc. — come along for the ride. I can’t promise I’ll always make sense, but at the very least, you might get a chuckle or two.

To close, I figure I’d start the new blog (and new year … a whole month late!!) with some photos from last year. What follows is basically my contest entry in POYi, BOP, etc. The first nine selects are my “sports portfolio” (which contains most of my sports singles entries); the rest, features and news singles.

Hope you enjoy.

Cheers,

- gerry -