YAY!!! I'm almost there

I am so happy! This year has been so good to me in so many ways and I'm super close to getting this thing finished. Well, I don't know if I should say finished or not cause it will always be a work in progress, but to have a solid foundation of what I've been working on all year will sure be nice to see in action.

You know, when you finally figure out what it is in life that you wanna do... and I'm talking about career wise here. It is almost beyond words to describe. Especially when it's something that is completely different than what you've done your entire life.

I wake up and it's on my mind, I go to sleep and it's on my mind. You can pretty much say that I'm building on what I've dreamed of since I was a kid. So I eat, sleep and breathe this stuff. I've been fortunate to work very close with someone that is very talented and extremely popular in the industry that I am building upon and I am completely humbled that I've been so blessed to be in this position.

To me, it seems like it's been forever since I've started this journey, but to someone else, it probably seems like it hasn't been long at all. I don't exactly remember when the bells started ringing in my head saying... hey, this is what you're meant to do in life, but it was definitely in the last 15 months.

All that matters is this: I am as happy as a kid in a toy store, er video game store with what is happening. I've had to make tons of changes to things that I thought would be fine just the way they are now. I guess that's what you call a learning curve.

My only mission with all of this?!? To put it simply, to have an impact! When you have an impact on someone's life by what you do, it is by far, the greatest reward in life.

Lets get photo crazy

Yeah, lets to this. I've been posting long stories and no photos. So lets get to some pictures. We'll start with this one!

It's only one, but it's a start eh!

Layout

I'm scratching my noggin here. I guess I'll just roll with this for a while.

Can't get comfortable

I know I'm gonna blow you away when I say this but I think I wanna change up the layout of this blog. I just can't seem to get comfortable with a look that I like.

So... lets see what happens!

The iPhone rocks

So far I love my new iPhone. Not looking forward to the bill though. Hey... While I'm here... Here's another phone picture of my doggy. Hot dang I love my girly!!!

First smart phone post

Oh yeah. It takes a while to write out long sentences so I'll probably just post pics from my phone. Let's see if my doggy pic will post.

Guess what

I got me a new toy! You in stitches yet with wanting to know what it is? It's a smart phone. One of them kind that's so smart that it makes you feel like an idiot when you first get it. I'm getting the hang of it pretty quick though.

This time, I chose the iPhone. My first smart phone was a droid. My experience with that phone wasn't that good so I'm giving Apple a try. I love everything else they make so hopefully I won't be disappointed.

On a more serious note, I'm gonna step out on a limb here and say that you probably should think about getting one just to get use to it. Technology is booming like a wildfire in the mobile field. I don't think that flip phones will be obsolete but I think they'll make them so basic that they are nearly worthless.

Just my opinion.

Oh one more thing. Just the other day I was thinking... it would be cool if this phone had a blogger app. I started looking and bam... found it. So I installed the app on my phone. Now I can do little quicky blogs. I bet I'll be misspelling word like crazy when I blog with that thing!!!

Until the next time!

Tom & Jerry

You know something... I still love cartoons. The old ones, not the new ones. You know, like The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Bird Show,  Scooby doo, Tome & Jerry... I could go on. It's hard to find these cartoons on tv nowadays but I did find a consistent time for Tom & Jerry. Check out a few of these tv shots. I get tickled just looking at these pictures.

A few pics

If there is one thing I life that I love to do, it's to get a laugh going or laugh myself. Check these pictures out!!! You'll get a good laugh!


Allow me to spell it out for ya so you won't think I'm posting half naked pics of women. Look at the kid in the background taking a pic with his cell...

Have a peek at the tv screen in the back 

The dog in the background trying to hump the other dog...

And last of all, how in the world could you miss this one, the dog taking a dump for the nice family vacation photos...

Hold that thought!

I just thought about something... this is the most bunny show blogging I've done in a long freaking time.

Okay... that's all I had!

See ya later school talk

Ah yes... now that I've officially got the graduating school story off my chest, I think I'm gonna let that topic sink to the bottom of the river. Let me just say one more thing before I let it sink. It was right after I gave my presentation on my portfolio project. It was the moment when I walked out the doors for the last time. I had this little build up going for a long time. It would be like... this is my last week here... then, this is my last 2 days... then, this is my last time in this class room. So each time I had that feeling, walking out of that classroom had totally different feel to it.

During my last 2 quarters, I landed a job with the cage. Which was the print lab for our school. So I really had a chance to sit there and take it all in. It was like... I'm about to graduate college. Something I never thought I would ever do in my entire life.

So as I left each class room, I turned and starred at the room and thought back to the time I first walked in that room to the times I was waist deep in school work wondering how I was gonna make it to up to this point.

It was definitely a feeling of accomplishment. To know how I started and to realize where I was now. So all of that looking back was a good feeling. When I walked out the doors for the last time at The Art Institute, you better believe I remembered that butterfly feeling I had when I was there going through the enrollment process. That one final look back was sort of a shout-out to each and everyone that supported me and believed in me. And to most of all, my mom and dad. Cause I knew they were tickled pink at what I just accomplished in life.

  With that being said, here's to life outside of school. Well, maybe a tiny bit if I have too in another story, but I'd say for 99.9%... I'm done with school talk!!!

See ya later Art Institute of Charlotte.

After graduation

So I'm free from school and I'm back out on the streets! Ouch! I forgot what that feeling was like. Except this time it was a whole new ball game. The plan was to find a job doing what I studied in school. The economy was already sucking and I was a bit nervous to say the least about my new path in life. I really struggled for a few months with not going back to the quarry life. It was a job that I was confident in and knew I could do. But that was the whole reason I left that life... to make a new one.

While I was going through all these emotions, I had a couple of things going on in my life that were not making things any easier. Mom was going through knee replacement surgery. I mean she was at my portfolio show one day (Thursday) and the next day (Friday) she was in the hospitable getting prepped for surgery. This was going to be a bit of an uphill climb for mom cause she had to go through therapy before she could come home. 

This time of my life was actually a massive roller coaster ride for me. I can't say that it was a fun ride either. It was a roller coaster ride of emotions. You gotta think about something here... I was in school for 2 years and my life only consisted of school work, homework, project assignments and then being committed to my part time jobs that I had throughout my college years. Every hour of my life was spoken for.

So after graduation, you could say my wall of emotions came down pretty hard. I just didn't have time to be emotional in school. There were always ups and downs in school but nothing really emotion... except the feeling of me graduating college.

So we have mom and her knee. Then I had to look for work and actually started working at Walgreens just to make ends meet until I found something more my style. In addition to all of this mess, our dog Jack was to the point of no more. This was a very sad time in my life as I got very close to that doggie. We eventually had to put him down. And holy mother... I hadn't felt that much pain since my dad passed nearly 20 years ago.

On top of that I had one of my best friends that I met in college moving away to Texas. Mercy... it was just one thing right after another.

Then my walking ceremony for callege graduation was knocking on the door. This was December of 2009 and we were having some serious rain storms that year. And you'd know it was raining like a cow pissing on a flat rock that night. Plus, it was cold and there were some warnings of sleet in the area. So my mom, the most important person that I wanted to be present at my walking ceremony was not able to be there.

Good grief... I was so wrapped tight that I didn't know whether I was coming or going. With the way everything were going, I was just not happy in life. And to be quite honest, after all the dust cleared and I was able to sit back and take everything in, I became very sad and was dealing with a plate full of depression. Nothing in life felt worth a crap and I definitely wasn't feeling the glory I was hoping to feel.

I knew of only one thing at this time. And that was knowing that I was gonna make it. I didn't know how and I didn't know when but I just knew I would make it if I could just hang on. This time of my life wasn't easy nor was it any fun.

I was not expecting a cinderella story after graduation but I wasn't expecting this kind of story either. But yet again I made through. I will say this much... depression is a very wicked thing and I am very sensitive to people that are going through this kind if sickness. Let me sum it up for you in a few words. Depression is the kind of sickness to where anything and everything in your life just completely sucks. It's even extremely hard to find the good in the best of things.

Fast forward to now, things have definitely made a huge turn and I'm happier than ever. So stick around and hear what has got this bald guy so happy!!!

Portfolio class

Okie dokie, we're definitely going back to where I left off a few years ago. But first here is a short recap of everything.

• I had a steady job at Vulcan Materials.
• I started thinking about my future and wanted to do more with my life.
• I figured out what I wanted to do and did some research on a college to attend.
• Got my nuts and bolts organized, quit Vulcan and enrolled at the Art Institute of Charlotte.
• Nearly went crazy from all the homework and assignments I had to do.
• And lastly, I freakin graduated!!!

Hang on just a minute... before I was eligible to graduate, I had to complete this class called... Portfolio. Hot dang that class was a monster. This class was a collaboration of almost everything I've working on as far as projects throughout my entire school year. Lucky for me, I caught word about this during my 1st quarter. I heard that if you didn't have your work saved, you either had to do it again or do something different in it's place. It was exactly everything though. I had to have 12 projects in my portfolio and then the next degree had to have 14 and the next 16.

So... in order to graduate, we had to take our existing projects, and make them look better... a lot better. We had to show what we had learned and make our crap projects look like we had some schooling. Now the final project was the big one. Since I was a web design major, we had to go through this big thought process on coming up with a name  and designing our very own site, upload it to the web and then showcase all of our work on that site. Not to mention stand before the web instructors and give this speech about what our projects were about and why. Then we had to talk about our new website and how it was going to be a thriving business... so to speak.

Now for someone that's never done that before, it felt like a ton of pressure on my shoulders. But I did it, and I graduated!!! That was actually the worst part. The only thing to do after that  was to strut our stuff at the portfolio show that the school put on for us. That was the fun part to me. It was held at the convention center uptown and it just had that refreshing feeling like... I FINALLY MADE IT!!!!

And the rest... they say is history.

My blog list

Check this out... I'm looking over my list of "things to write about for the bunny show blog" and I'm coming across some real goof ball stuff. To be honest, this might just work in my favor since I've been complaining so much about not being able to blog. It's been so dadgum long since I've thought about any of it that I don't remember half the crap on the list. I still remember the good stuff so I guess that all that matters.

Here's a new problem. I'm a tid-bit wrapped up in a few other things and it's really pulling me away from this blog. In case you haven't noticed already, online social networking has become some of the hottest things to do on the web here lately.

Remember myspace... oh lord, lets not go there. I will admit that I did have an account along with a decked out page. Mine looked nice though... none of those loud colors with polka dots all over the place. Oh brother, it would nearly blind you to see that mess.

Next in line for me was facebook. I actually had a facebook account long before I had myspace. An old buddy sent me a message on facebook and I had to make an account to read the message. At the time, I thought it was some kind of e-mail program. So I joined and hardly ever logged on. Now... geesh... I think we all know about facebook. Whether you have an account or not, everybody has heard of facebook.

While I was in school, I was introduced to a new networking program and decided to head up my very own networking group dedicated to motocross riders. Oh... I had massive plans for that network. And you know how much I love motocross.

Next thing you know, I met some folks... er teachers at the school and decided to start going to their monthly networking group based on photography. Now I was loving this. It was uptown and close to the panther stadium. You talk about swanky!!! Oh man... this studio was top-notch. I'm not talking about luxurious... I'm talking about a rustic look! Dang this place was nice. Long story short, I agreed to help rig up a new site for us to network on. So I implemented the same site that I used for my motocross riders.

Another long story short, the creators of this networking site decided to make it a pay only site. No more free access. And that was the end of that!

Then, I started working on a blog for my new business and tried to dedicate some time to that blog as well. Oh wait... dangit I forgot about one other thing! Oh screw it, it really doesn't matter. I've probably got you twisted enough as it is.

On to the next topic...

Nows the time...

Ah ha... nows the time for me to be blogging away! I have another wedding being captured to my computer and since I have 6 tapes at my hip, it's gonna be a while. So what the heck... I have plenty of time to kill.

Yes I'm still alive

Woo-wee! Lemme tell ya... the last 2 months have been... well, for lack of better terms, crazy. A good kind of crazy I might add. I'm still working and building up this thing called "a business" and it's taking over my life hehe! Good thing I love what I'm doing!

The weird part with my new path in life is the change in the way I get my work done. I spent right at 10 years working at a stone quarry operating heavy equipment. It was a routine type job where I had to wake up before the dang roosters were even awake so I could get to work on time, then clock out when most families were already sitting in their underwear watching sit coms on tv. Yep... that job was actually something I always wanted to do as a kid but as they say... times changed. And they changed big time for this ole boy!

So now, I'm one of them ographers! You know, a photographer and a videographer! It's hard to believe that I really am making a run at this type of work. Wait... making a run is not the right phrase. Making a "career" is the right word here! Maybe it's because I'm so passionate about it and it's kinda hard to think that I'm getting paid to do it.

I went from a job where the work was waiting for me... to work that I have to make happen on my own. Big difference there! It's coming along though. As a matter of fact, I have some work processing right now on my desktop computer. After that's done, I have some other work to get started on. That's a good feeling for someone that's made a complete 180 degree turn in life.

The biggest part of revenue comes from my videography side. Weddings, dance recitals sporting events... I even have a birthday party coming up. And it's at Myrtle Beach too!!!! Woo-hoo! That's another part about this job that I love. Every event is at a different location. 

Well, I guess that's all for now. This blog is sorta become a struggle to get to nowadays but I'm not ready to let it sink. I'm still on pins and needles about getting back to some type of consistency here.

But for now, see ya next time.

 

Weekend 5.21.11

Well... I had a massive weekend! And I can't wait to share it with you. The only reason I'm not going to now is because I'm really trying to train myself to go to bed or start trying to get to bed by midnight! I've been staying up way too late, way too long and I really need get this in check. Then it's hard to get to sleep the next night and wind up staying up even later that night. It's actually bit me a few times already. I'll have something where I need to get up early for and when I can't sleep from staying up too late, I screw myself into not getting any or very little sleep for something important. And that's not good.

Okay now, back to my first point. I've come a super long way and this weekend was sort of a peak for me. I have a ton of weight lifted off my shoulders now. But... there is still one more step needed to seal the entire deal for me. And I can't wait to share everything with you.

This has been a long time in the making and I'm on pins and needles right about now. To top it off, this should free up some time to get back to business with the goof-ball stories of the bunny show.

Lets do it!

Weekend 5.14

Whew... I'm exhausted! These last few days have been super busy. But a good kind of busy I might add. Things are definitely coming together for my business. Good grief... what a long road this has been. I know I'm just scratching the surface but I'm getting to that point where I can glide a little with my work instead of the intense building process I've been going though.

I'm still not at a place to to where I can discuss the details. If you're a constant, returning visitor, I'm sure I have your mind all twisted in knots. Trust me, mine is about there itself.

Lets see, now that I've grown quite a bit with my business, I have a few other places where I've been publishing a few things.

First and foremost, I have my central hub of greatness... my factory987.com website. On this site is where you'll find my most treasured work. Or my personal favorites!

Next, is my factory 987 blog. There you'll find my latest adventures and brief stories of my professional work.

And lastly, I have a smug mug photo gallery. This is where I put nearly all my photos for viewing. This idea really came from my motocross background. I needed a way to show all my photos without cluttering up my website. Plus... it already has a built in shopping cart. So anyone that wanted to buy a picture was just a few clicks away from a print or a download. It cost extra for those features but that site has paid for itself!

Other than that, I have been trying to stay up on social media. Twitter, Facebook, Linked In... I even have a facebook fan page for my Factory 987 business. So head on over and "like it". I'd greatly appreciate it! Just go to facebook.com and search for Factory 987.

I also try to post any video clips I might have to Vimeo. I have a few videos on You Tube but I like Vimeo way better.

I can't leave out Flickr! I's been a while since I've posted there but I will be adding to that site very soon.


Just check out My Websites and Stay Connected list on the right sidebar if you wanna check out any of those sites. 

So there you go! I told you... I've said it a 100 times in several other post and I'll make this 101. I just have my hands in a lot of cookie jars right now. It use to be worse but for the sake of time, (big yawn) I really need to shut this one down and go to bed!


Night all!

Checking in

I have a converter running on my other computer so while I have a few minutes, I thought I'd pipe in with my 2 cents worth.

Just when I thought I was about to get this show back on the road, I get side tracked, again ( sighs).  Lots of weight on my shoulders these days. It's definitely a good kind of weight but I'm all on my own here.

Do you think there are messages in movies? I definitely think so! Even when there aren't meant to be messages in a movie, I find that some scenes just relate to what I'm going through. Before I begin this story, you must first agree not to laugh at the movie I am relating to!

I was watching Pee Wee's Big Adventure yesterday and was actually thinking to myself, why on earth am I watching this crap! I was just a kid when I saw it last. Geesh... I don't even think kids these days would watch enjoy a Pee Wee Herman movie! Anyways, I kept watching the movie and it was the scene where Pee Wee was washing dishes for a mom-n-pop restaurant cause he didn't have his wallet. There was a lady that sort-of took a liking to Pee Wee and wanted him to go with her to watch the sunrise. As they watched the sunrise, they were chatting away about dreams. Course his was dumb but the lady next to him had a really cool dream. To live in Paris she said; the city of love.

She was in doubt about ever making it... but it was when Pee Wee said to her... you can't sit back and wish for your dreams thinking they will come true. You have to make it happen! And I found that statement to be a refreshing reminder of how you make it in this world.

You gotta make it happen!

Well, my converting has finished so I guess I getter get back to making it happen! I have dreams to ya know!!!

Allergies

Lord have mercy. It's like clock work with me. I love the spring time but the pollen rips me wide open. This year, I seem to be getting a little bit of the pre-allergies going on. Just drainage really. Add in the sneezing and headaces and that's what I call the pre-spring allergies.

A pug named Fergal

Meet Fergal! He is a trip lemme tell ya. I got to know Fergal when I first started working with Alan at crown alley films.  I kept hearing the clicks on the floor so I knew he had a dog but not what kind. Then the doors opens and this little guy walks in. Now that he knows me, I usually get greetings from Fergal when I'm there.

Check this guy out!!! Look at that face will ya!

Getting established

There is no better way to get on with things than to just... get on with things. Am I right? Or am I right?

Here is my break down of what's been going on for the last 18 months.

• I graduated and wanted to make use of my multimedia skills.
• I've been researching what people are doing in the multimedia world.
• And how those people do it.
• And why those people do it.
• Where will I fit in.
• How will I fit in.
• Lots of time thinking about stuff
• Research more
• Buy some very expensive camera equipment
• Lay out some details
• Scratch my head in frustration.
• Scratch a little more.
• Talk to even more people about what they're doing, how and why they're doing it.
• Started digging deep on details and structure and begin building a foundation.

Once I get my "foundation" built,  I can start filling in the blanks more often.

Okay, I think I've got all the above sorta figured out. Now it's time to start building. This process is a doozer, lemme tell ya! Oh, just keep in mind that this is the light version, the reality of it all was much different.

Okay, now that we've got that out of the way. We're all set. It's show time... er bunny show time!!!

Repeat of a repeat

I've been thinking. I think I am repeating myself again. I remember doing this a while back and thought as a reader, I would get tired of someone saying something over and over... like this - " one of these days, I'm coming back, or " I have my hands in a lot of cookie jars"  blah blah blah.

I just need to shut up with all of the crap, pull out my list and get on with it. Like I never stopped.

Have mercy! I'm all screwed up.

Late at night with Bunn

It's 12:30 in the morning and I'm here on the blog. I think this is becoming more of a trend. I honestly don't plan it this way, it just happens.

I think I am about ready to send this blog out to all my contacts in my "bunny show directory".  Just to say hey, I've been slightly active lately. Once I WOW everybody that I actually still want to write about goof-ball-crazy stories about my child hood or everyday life, then I should start blogging away like I use too.

Wait a cotton-pickin minute... who am I kidding here! There is probably no way in tar-nation that I'll be posting like I use too, but close to it would be good enough.

It's all about getting established! I'll explain later.

Career puzzle

Lets see here, for the last... hang on a minute-let me count on my fingers... ah heck with it. Let say a year. For the last year, I've been frantically trying piece together a puzzle. And it's not the one your thinking about either. I call it a career puzzle.

When I quit Vulcan Materials back in August of 2006, I set me sites on building a new career foundation for myself. And when I graduated in October of 2009, it was officially time to start putting the pieces together. Whew... hot dang what a ride this has been.

Most people that start their own business have a regular job that funds the odds and ends, but for me, it has been a bit different. It doesn't help with gas prices higher than a teenager that just graduated high school either. It's rough let me tell ya. It also doesn't help that I spent my entire working life operating heavy equipment. That's nothing against equipment operators either. You just don't have to present yourself in a professional manner, or maybe you do but not like this.

On paper it looks like I made it through with a few scrapes and bruises. But the reality was a little bit of a different experience. Way different!

I'll get into all the details later but for now, I'm proud to say that this year is looking much better than last year. And even though I'm still putting some pieces together, I have some major news to share. I just need to get my " nuts and bolts together" so that it will all make sense.

That's another thing about building your own business. You no longer have people to do pittle work for you, or at least until you can afford a partner or a secretary. You have to do it all on your own. Everything is all on your shoulders.

So here is to putting the pieces of my puzzle together.

Cheers :)

Lets go outside

Now this is what I'm talking about. This weather is just flippin awesome! Days like this make me wanna drag a sleeping bag out to the front yard and sleep under the trees.  There is no humidity and there is no chill in the air. It's pretty much perfect... for me anyways.

So this post of the bunny show is coming at ya from my front porch... T minus 1 minute to midnight. I'm such a night owl.

As I sit here on the porch, I'm actually contemplating what to do this weekend. Cause there is no way I'm staying in this house with this kinda weather. It gives me a boost of energy and it puts a huge smile on my face when I can get out and do something outdoors in weather like this.

Well nuff said for now.

Christmas 2010

I sure hope Christmas was as good for you as it was for me. I ate so much dadgum food that I was pretty much in pain. I'm serious! You know them kind of dinners when it's so good that it has your toes wiggling inside your shoe? Well that was how it was for me. I was chowing down for sure. That's were the pain comes in. I went way past miserable and into painful. My goodness it was so good though!

After dinner, Shell Bell and I headed down to Pawleys Island to spend a few days with her family. Hold on a minute, I don't know why I said her family, they would be my family too since I'm married to her. Wouldn't they? Well You know what I mean? I guess I should have said her side of the family. There ... that sounds better.

Anyhoo, I drove separately cause she had the whole week off and I had to go back into work. Normally this is where most people would be like ... aw man that sucks and I'm so jealous that she got to stay, but not me. I love my job to pieces. I was actually ready to get back home and back to work. I haven't posted anything about my job yet but I'm planning on it.

So ... you know I can't go anywhere without taking an umpteen million pics so here they are. I've actually gotten a bit more reserved on what I take instead of taking a million like I use to.  Maybe it's because my creative eye is getting sharper!!! That's how I like to look at it!

Anyways enough with the flibba-de-flab and mumbo-jumbo!

Here are a few of the shots I took while we were out.