Food, Fourth of July, and Launching Rockets

Wow. It's been a while since Ive posted.... or maybe it just feels like it. I have returned home from my Alabama Rural Ministries mission trip, been to visit friends in Decatur for the 4th, then brought my friend home with us to stay another few days in Birmingham.

ARM was great. We travel about 2.5 hours south of Bham to Tuskegee, AL to do our mission work. Our church (Trinity Methodist) team was divided into smaller teams of 6-7 people. Each of these teams then go to a work site, to do construction and repair work for those who do not have the means to do so themselves. It's a great thing, and this past trip was my 2nd time going.

You know, honestly, I sort of feel like I skipped the 4th. We didnt do anything terribly special or shoot off fireworks or anything. At one point in the day I said to myself "Oh. Its the 4th...".

The shot above is of our meal (well, part of it) on the 4th. Or maybe it was the 3rd. I dont know--either one. We had Beef Carpaccio, which is thinly sliced raw beef, topped with an aioli/horseradish sauce, arugula, and caper berries. It was delicious. I believe the recipe came from Birmingham chef Frank Stitt's new cookbook,  Bottega Favorita. My friends laugh at me when I tell them what we eat on holidays like the 4th, where most just throw some hot dogs on the grill. My parents are foodies. But hey--there's nothing wrong with a good cookout.

I had a good action shot of my friend Manny beating the slices of meat in order to thin them. My dad didnt think to get them sliced at the store when he bought the meat. Anyways-- the photo got lost somewhere in between my memory card and Picasa. I'll see if I cant dig it up.

Manny (my friend who was visiting from Decatur) and I like science stuff. Particularly stuff that flies, explodes, shoots, etc. So, we went to Hobby Lobby, and got a rocket to launch. We got setup with the launch pad, electronic launching thingy, and the rocket itself. We put it together and shot it off on the Shades Cahaba Elementary field yesterday. It was so cool. I posted a video of the launch on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQinPNBugZQ I'm in the blue shirt.

Ha ha-- I'm a total nerd.

-Rip

Perfectly Framed Art

I took this photo while riding a NY subway, the Purple 7 line, from Queens to Manhattan. Just as you descend under the East River, this rooftop and surrounding buildings is visible out the window. I like how the train door window frames it, too.

The frame also sort of reinforces what I like about grafiti. In my opinion, although grafitti is illegal, and is some cases, very destructive, I think it is a real form of art. These people pour their emotion into the art they display on these buildings. And I imagine many of the citizens who are doing this have quite interesting stories, too. Just like the "You Are Beautiful" graffiti in Birmingham... not all graffiti is bad. Illegal or not.

I just returned from our annual Gulf Shores, AL beach trip. Believe it or not, my camera never left its case the whole time. Sometimes, I just dont have that push to get up and shoot. I should have many good shots from our next trip to Grayton Beach, FL as I did last time. (See January posts.) Tomorrow I am leaving to go on my church's Alabama Rural Missions (ARM) trip. We are traveling to Livingston, AL (no, not my last name, the town...) and will be assisting needy residents in construction/renovation/home repairs.

I apologize if my blog bores you all. Its kind of just a mush of photography/travel/my-thoughts-on-everything/my life that no one cares about. Ha ha- I am going to try and steer back in the direction of photography and not just blogging.

So thank you to all of you who have put up with my long, drawn-out rants about the various issues of the world. Have a wonderful week. :-)

-Rip