John Boal Photography

After the Obama rally in Leesburg, VA By all appearances it seems as if we are going to have a black man as our president come Nov. 5th. You should still vote, but I'm just going on the polls here (and we know how accurate they are...). Let us go back 40 years. This was before I was born, so I'm not speaking from any personal recollections, here. But 40 years ago, MLK was shot dead and this country endured one of it's most tumultuous years in history. On April 4th, scores of people gathered in the Shaw district of DC, at 14th/U, and slowly, the masses became angry, and what started as a gathering of people turned into a riot, lasting several days, demolishing about 1200 buildings and leaving about a dozen people dead. But a week from this Tuesday, a mostly reborn DC, will gather around the polls and assist in electing the first black person (ok...half black, half white) to the office of the presidency. I don't know that anyone would have come close to predicting ...

I had a bit of a free day today, and I envisioned getting all sorts of things done.  I got my oil changed, took care of some laundry, and even read 2 articles from the front page of today's Wash Post. I was also going to blog about something.  I wasn't sure what.  Initially I think I was going to recap what a wonderful event my parent's 40th anniversary was the other week.  And maybe I should because what happened last night puts many things into perspective.  But I found out through email and Facebook that a friend of mine died the other day along with her sister in-law.  They were strolling along the lava shelf on the island of Kuai'i, and a large wave swept them off the rocks and into the sea, drowning them both.   She happened to be one of the kindest people I'd known.  The first time I met Heather was in the 4th grade.  We were also in the same 5th grade class together.  And for the next 24 years, we bumped into each other at school or by sharing mutual friends...

So it occurred to me that the Eddie Adams Workshop is finishing up today. For those who know, this is one of the preeminent workshops for developing photojournalists in the country. I have been rejected two years running now. A couple months back I wrote a long blog about how hurt I was, and how it was a good thing. I have to say, in a few months, some things have changed. I plan on signing up for a couple portfolio reviews for a local photography festival conference-thingy. It's called fotoweekDC , and it's a little of everything. Admittedly, I can't possibly have anything in common with 90% of the people attending/participating except that I use a camera to make a living. That may seem like there is a lot in common. And I thought initially, it'd be this big gathering of like-minded individuals pal-ing around exhanging answers to such flummoxing questions like, "What's your favorite f-stop?". Hopefully not that one, but as a former teacher of mine pointe...