That has always been the Bigelow parting song whenever a visit would end.  I can still remember hearing my Grandfather singing it to this day.  Grandpa died almost 18 years ago, and today, my Grandmother joined him and their dog Dusty.

I have an image in my head that will stay with me forever. Gram is in her chair holding a cigarette and the newspaper with her toast cut into squares and coffee sitting on the table next to her. Gramp is lying on the couch, with an iced tea and the television is on and showing a golf tournament. Dusty is resting peacefully on the bean bag under the big windows.

I went through my email earlier today and pulled out all of the photos that Mom has sent along over the past few years.  I think that by looking through them, you can get a sense that she was a woman who was quite unique in her own special way. This leads me to Gram getting her wish. Each time we would travel home and I would ask her how she was feeling, she would reply “Ok, but I wish I were dead”. That was Gram, always telling you how it is.

While reading a book of rhymes and tales
I began to ponder what lies ahead
Of days to come and tales to make
Of rhymes to live and rhymes to take
To wonder
What’s next, in store for our fates
To realize
Don’t worry, for that you can change
For Today is Today for only Today
Tomorrow, may never come
Today

no music playing, no television sounding
no lungs are burning, no heart is pounding
the laptop is off, still humming in its sleep
the baby is listless, yet not breathless
first, it starts lightly as it comes through the window
and feels as if you stepped into a spiderweb in the dead of night
then it gets louder and turns to a roar
the wall you’ve watched inch closer and closer is here
upon you
and all you can do
is turn to the window
and smaller and smaller, you close the window
until there’s still, a sliver indulging
your quiet moment forgetting of nothing
a moment that is broken by sounds of real life
of sirens and church bells going off with great strife
you come back to view that your chosen life
has lead you to sit and reflect with a tear
that you are still happy and will never fear
a moment of moments that lets you feel
alone and content

It is with great sorrow that I cannot be with you all today, of all days.

Gramp was a gentle man, who had a firm grip, and a smile that is unrivaled. He was devoted to his wife for 68 years, and served his country during World War II. He was soft spoken, but strong willed.

I’d like to invite everyone to join me in helping celebrate Gramp’s life by taking part in the act that I will forever remember him by.

Please look at the person next to you. Offer your hand and take theirs. Look them in the eye and squeeze their hand, and just smile, for he is with you.

View on Flickr : Zooomr : Facebook

Phill’s rules:

1. Fill in the form at www.phillprice.com/index.php/2009/02/21/edit-my-photo-pro… and I’ll send you the full straight out of the camera Canon RAW file – or a JPG from that original raw.
2. Edit it as you like
3. Post it somewhere – be it a photo sharing site or your own blog
4. Send me a link to say you’re ready
5. Bask in the glory that you did better than me

Photo is licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/

So, how did I edit the photo? I imported Phil’s RAW file into Lightroom. From there I created 4 virtual copies of it. Then for each virtual copy I adjusted the exposure so I ended up with photos at +2, +1, 0 (Phill’s original), -1 and -2 exposures.

Then I exported the photos into Photomatix using their Lightroom plugin. Tweaked the HDR till I was happy with the results and then exported the file as a TIFF.

Next I opened the TIFF into Photoshop to try and cleanup the bright spot that is along the left hand side of the subject. I was able to recover some of the color after the HDR conversion, but not all. And since I’m not that skilled with restoring photos I decided to live with the results. I then saved the TIFF again.

Opened Lightroom back up and imported the new TIFF. Applied some Clarity and Contrast adjustments and exported the photo back out of Lightroom.

Last step was to clean up some of the noise that got generated creating the HDR. I opened up my Noiseware Professional application, applied adjustments till I was happy and voila, we have a final product.  I might spend some time to continue tweaking the photo to get back some brightness above the structure and recover that bright spot on the left but wanted to publish this before tomorrow’s deadline.

Here’s the Original Photo

I think I’ve been talking about this project since last summer, just not to many people. Well, now its time to talk about it to everyone because I think this is going to be the only way I will actually commit to it.

In less than a month I turn 30. In less than 5 months, my first child will be born. Its time to stop screwing around and get control over my health.

Ever since I stopped landscapping, I’ve let myself fall into a big pile of lard. My weight is upwards of 260 lbs. That’s right, 260 lbs. When I graduated high school I was somewhere around 210 lbs. When I finished college I was probably 230 lbs. Now, 6 some odd years later I’ve put on another 30 lbs.

So what is the point of Project 30? Well, originally it was that I would lose 30 lbs by the time I turned 30. Complete failure. I probably even put on a few pounds since I first started talking about it. No more regrets, now its just time for action.

Project 30 will begin with reaching milestones. The first milestone will be to lose 10 lbs, in 30 days. When I did WeightWatchers about 5 years ago I first weighed in at 254 lbs so I’ve been here before. The problem I had with their program was that to hit my “goal”, which actually was their goal, I had to get down to somewhere within 135 and 165 pounds. If you know me, seen my body frame, that just isn’t possible. My ultimate goal here will be to lose 30 pounds by the time I turn 31, and to be able to run a mile again. I probably could run a mile now, but you’d have to peel me off the pavement. Not a good thought.

I will do my best to keep track of a daily log of food intake and general activity over at my Project 30 blog and check in here with weekly updates on Friday.

Let the fun begin! Let’s hope the picture above is the last of its kind.