See turtle!!!

"Sea Turtle", taken from Red Rock Canyon on 23 May 2008

A few weeks ago, someone from Mullen, an advertising agency in Boston, MA contacted me about the photo above for commercial use. Apparently, they have been surfing through Flickr for images of sea turtles, and one of my photos came up (because this one was tagged "sea turtle", despite the fact that it only looks like one).

Being completely new to this, I inquired what the photo will be used for. To my delight, the lady told me that they will be using the photo for a new ad campaign for the New England Aquarium. I couldn't think of a better way to use the photo!!! :)

A fee was exchanged (first time I was ever paid for a photo!), and I asked the lady to send me a draft of the brochure, thinking that my photo was only going to be a blip in the ad. Turns out that it was a full page affair...and very cleverly done!!! They did some Photoshop on the image, darkening the sky as well as making the rocks more vibrant. It worked out really well, and you can see the draft below (by Mullen):

I really hope that their draft gets the OK for deployment. If so, I will have to bug one of my friends up in Boston to grab a flyer for me just so I can have one in my scrapbook.

Yet another reason why I <3 my D80. :)

It's not landing baby...

One of my favorite sayings: It's more like a controlled crash...

Flight deck operation for the last remaining Tomcat F-14s

And a nice clip of the pilot who *thought* he was landing on a carrier deck:

Edwards AFB, 1982

Moral of the story: Never have a naval aviator fly passenger planes. I'm sure he will fly very well, but the passenger seats might be a bit messy at the end of the flight...

Requiem

On 2 August, my god-grandmother Marti Bassette passed away from an unexpected stroke. She was my grandfather's half, and with her death he currently feels an incredible void as one would when losing one's spouse/lover/best friend of over 50 years.

On 8 October, my granduncle Tseng Bing Shiang (曾彬祥), died in Taipei after many years of battling cancer. He was a diplomat for Taiwan through many of her turbulent periods. He grew up during Japanese occupation, went to National Taiwan University majoring in international laws. He traveled to Latin American countries, Spain and Portugal, was quintilingual (Mandarin, Min Nan, Spanish, English, and Portuguese), and wrote eloquently. I can only imaging the stories he had during his deployment...

...and now, I can no longer just visit either of them on a random day and hear those stories.

This picture does not do justice, because I only finished it as a sketch/template for a bigger work, but it is all I have to offer for the love ones they left behind. As for words from the dead...a section from a poem by Ronan Harris.

moments lost though time remains
I am so proud of what we were
no pain remains, no feeling
eternity awaits
grant me wings that I might fly
my restless soul is longing
no pain remains, no feeling
eternity awaits

--from "Beloved", VNV Nation