Blondes on his mind

This is an old story -- heck, I shot it back in November -- but I've been a little rushed on things lately, as ...

a) I'm moving back to Georgia on Wednesday.
b) Wednesday also happens to be my last day at the internship.
c) It's friggin' Christmas.

... so I'm going to post this and then That'll Be It For A While. As in, I probably won't be post for a week or two (or three) as I make the move back to Athens, college, and actually having a social life. Looking forward to all three of those. And not so much the same about leaving Birmingham.

... on second thought, I'll be posting something kinda a reminisce-y about the internship and Birmingham on the whole. Maybe not a whole heck of a lot, but just something pretentiously nostalgic and maudlin.

So, the story: there's a group that makes bikes for kids with disabilities. It's a cool idea, since what little kid doesn't love the idea of finally getting mobile? I think the excitement of a bike for a four-year-old is motivated by the same feelings a sixteen-year-old has for his first car. Anyway. It's a cool story, and the writer, Rakhia Nance, found a pretty cool angle to suit it.

This little guy has an unidentified mitochondrial disease that affects all the muscles in his body. He has practically no muscle control, none at all. He can't hold himself up, he can't lift his arms and legs, he can't even swallow on his own volition. I'm in awe of his parents. And these guys decided to build him a bike. It turned out more like a tricycle, but it'll allow him to sit up in the bike and be helped along by someone behind him.

Biggest thing I remember about this assignment: the kid was unabashedly attracted to blondes. A couple of the girls helping out at the foundation where they presented him with the bike were young attractive blondes, and every time one would walk by, he'd loll his head to the side to watch them, then give them this little grin. Mitochondrial disease or not, guy knows what he likes.

With grandma.

Just hangin' out, waitin' for my bike ...

Blonde alert.

With his mom.

The trike needed some adjustment when they first got him into it, but it wasn't bad for a first time.

I hope things work out with the little guy.

Okay, more later.

Rain on mine -- it'll make it interesting

Parade, that is. Tis the season for town parades, obviously.

Bunch of photos here, so be wary of viewer fatigue. Make sure to rest often, stretch when necessary, and take a buddy.

Catholics confuse me.
There are no book depositories or true grassy knolls in Homewood -- had there been, I would not have wanted to be this guy.

Then, of course, there are night parades.

Fun fun.

Other portraits

The article ran a week ago, and I've been busy and out of town, so I'm just now posting the rest of the portraits. These aren't the ones that ran, by the way, but the ones I took, cropped even tighter, monotoned, and did some little tweaks.

The article was about various religions that have been moving in the Birmingham area. The article (which is unfortunately not online) ran A1 and jumped inside which is where the photos ran. None of these were revolutionary, but there are a few that I really like.

Knee-Highs at McWane

The Jefferson County Committee for Economic Opportunity Head Start Early-Head Start kids ... whew, lemme catch my breath ... took a short trip to the McWane Center to check out some of the science exhibits. I found out about it halfway through the gig, and arrived as they were wrapping up the painfully short second half of their stay. It was dark, it was rushed, and there were lizards loosening their bowels, but they were 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds, and I'm just an older dog around young pups, so I had fun. Yes, the turtle was a big deal.
Where's that damned fish? Otherwise, the caption has to read: "Kid looks at tank."
Bam, outta nowhere, there's a kid in my 14mm.

Actually it did kind of surprise me.