...ocupan...

back in october, my friend and co-worker frank perez and i took a trip out to the occupy LA protest. it was a thursday and there wasn't a lot of action going on, but the day did offer frank and myself some time to get a first hand account of what the protestors were asking for and what their living situations were like...things like that.

as much as i don't enjoy driving in the city, i often find myself wishing i lived in los angeles. i would have loved to have had more time to visit these grounds...

...freedom...

Last night, Ronan was able to attend a hockey game with his family, and I happened to be attending the same game. It was only Ronan's third big public outing since transplant...the first was clothes shopping, the second was to a restaurant. He was super psyched about the game.

(I know I've been MIA on the blog here for a while, but I plan to change that soon. Lots to update.)

...prints for ronan...

if you've been following this blog, then chances are you have "met" my friend ronan. after two months living in one room at city of hope, ronan has finally gone home. horray! however, the battle is far from over. he still has lots of monitoring and check ups to come...at least for the next year, if not longer.

on behalf of ronan and his family, i will be selling prints to raise money and awareness for the Be The Match organization. this is the organization responsible for educating and assisting those who are in need of a bone marrow transplant as well as those who are willing to register to be a match for someone in need. without this organization, ronan might not have had the chance to live a normal life, which he is now on the path of doing.

i will be selling two sizes of prints: 5x7 for $15 and 8x10 for $30. if you are interested in purchasing any prints from this entry, please contact me via email and we'll get things rolling. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Be The Match.

thanks so much for your support! i know the Godfrey's greatly appreciate it as well.

...sunny sixteen project...

today i started a new photographic adventure that i'm very excited about. you can follow it here.

...susurros...

 

falta el sonido de su voz. susurros se escuchan sólo en mis sueños...

...ilove...

i may not love perfectly, and at times naively, but i do love wholly and passionately.
and for that i make no apology.

...

It's worthwhile to die for things without which it's not worthwhile to live. ~ Eduardo Galeano

...the line-up...

...

The highest and most beautiful things in life are not to be heard about, nor read about, nor seen but, if one will, are to be lived. ~ Soren Kierkegaard

...wall...

travis wall is officially my favourite choreographer. i want to know what it feels like to dance this...

...i object...

"I don't believe in objectivity. I believe in honesty." - Ashley Gilbertson

"I love objectivity." - Massimo Vitali

...ronan in the news...

last night, ABC7 news did a story about ronan, and how people from various backgrounds/faiths have banded together to support him. the news station also used a few of my photos in their story. there will be a fund raiser for ronan on june 18th, at the islamic center of the inland empire. i will have some prints up for auction there, and will soon have prints for sale here on my blog with 50% of the proceeds going to the be the match fund. look for that soon. for more info about ronan and his fund raiser, visit his webpage here.

...joy beyond the circumstances (ronan update)...

as i said in my prelude to this particular update, last night was such a fun fun fun evening. ronan was in such a great mood and bursting full of energy. shortly after i entered his home, i was greeted with his sweet little arms tightly surrounding my legs. then we danced in the living room, and then he danced with rachel. we ran laps chasing one another around the house, we played outside, and he was tossed around in a parachute...

nick wasn't feeling too well during part of the night...

but for ronan, it was one fun event after the other. that was, until his parents had to change the bandages on his port. the process requires the use of alcohol which, as you can imagine, stings. not an easy process for anyone...

the amazing thing about ronan is that although he has to go through these intermittent unpleasant events, moments later he's right back to life as normal. and i like to think that his memory of last night is much like mine...one that instead of choosing to focus on the pain he had to withstand, chooses to cherish all the crazy running around and laughter he enjoyed with the people he loves most.

...pure joy (ronan update)...

tonight was a particularly fun night hangin with ronan. he had so much energy and we played for hours. i'll post a longer entry tomorrow, but wanted to put up a favourite image from the night. pure joy in that face!

...the day you left...

i recommend watching in full screen...

..."let's take a picture"...

while at ronan's home one afternoon, he went for my camera, which had been sitting on the couch close by. ronan leaned into my ear and whispered "let's take a picture."

he was too cute next to that large camera. i had to make a quick snap with my phone.

...coming up for air (ronan update)...

in my last update on ronan, he had just had a small surgery to replace the port in his chest. last weekend, that new port became infected, landing him back in the hospital for four days while doctors ran tests and gave him antibiotics to help fight off the infection.

another symptom of ronan's DC is the abnormal and fragile growth of his fingernails. i'll have to try and get a good close up shot of them, so you can see what i mean...

four days is a long time for anyone to be cooped up in a hospital bed, and although there are many people in the world who have to stay confined much longer than four days, it was a little rough for ronan and his family after a while, so a much-needed outdoor walk took place.

i'm still struggling to obtain approval from city of hope to document ronan's time once he goes in for transplant later this month. i understand that privacy of patients being important, and that ronan will only have limited time given for visitors, but i plan to contact the hospital again tomorrow and see what else i can do to get at least a small amount of time with him and his family while they're there. it is such an important (and lengthy) part of his journey, if not the most important. it would be a shame if it weren't visually represented somehow.

tomorrow ronan has another eye surgery. afterwards, i'll head over to spend the evening with his family. they only have ten days left at home together before he's admitted and the long process of transplant begins. i'm really going to miss hanging out with him as much. he really is a rad little dude.