I forgot to mention that two weekends ago I went to a photography seminar led by Steve McCurry who is a famous photographer and probably best known for his photo of the "Afghan Girl." My step-mom is into photography these days and is a huge fan of his so she came into town for the seminar (and to see me) and I accompanied her. And let me tell you...it was pretty darn cool. I think everyone at heart at some time in their life has wanted to be a photographer, myself included, so it proved to be quite an exciting day.

He had a million fascinating stories of his experiences shooting for National Geographic. My favorite being when we was over in the cold snowy mountains of, I believe, Pakistan (or somewhere in that region.) He and his local interpreter had somehow scored a helicopter to take him up to where some fighting was going on (as in guns and soldiers.) He was instructed that he had 1 hour to take his photos and then the helicopter would be back. Well, when it came back exactly an hour later, he wasn't quite ready and had a few more pictures he wanted to take and asked the pilot if he could wait just a few minutes. Well, the guy in the helicopter got pissed and flew off...and didn't come back for 2 1/2 DAYS!!!!! Days!!! Just to teach "this American" a lesson. So Steve said he and his interp just had to rough it with these soldiers in the freezing snow and after 2 days went by, they thought the helicopter wasn't coming back at all so the soldiers (4 of them) and Steve and the interp trekked down the mountain with all of them tied into a long rope- so everyone was connected to each other with the rope around their waists. After 1/2 a day of going down the mountain, the helicopter showed up and flew them the rest of the way. Man oh man... He had a million stories like these.

After the seminar I bought a poster and had him sign it and inscribe it to me. All very exciting. If you have never seen his pictures before, definitely check out his website. http://www.stevemccurry.com