ELP September $125 Holiday Special.

OH YES OH YES!  It’s that time of year… to start organizing the address book, start writing the annual update and start piecing through photos to send to the inlaws/outlaws, neighbors, co-workers, friends, brothers, sisters, cousins, grandparents, etc… Make it fun and easy this year and take advantage of ELP’s Special… $125 will get you one on location two-hour session, two online galleries, and three digital files… the only hard part will be trying to figure out which one’s your favorite!

But seriously… I’ve got much love for family but ELP’s availability is limited this fall!  So take advantage quick.  Email fun@erikaleighphotography.com for more details!   Tacky sweaters not required, but appreciated…………. jokes, jokes.  :)

Can’t wait to hear from you!  erika@erikaleighphotography.com!

Oliver & Dad

My brother remembers everything.  I often forget what year it is.  We joke Brandon remembers coming out of the birth canal… I have memories through pictures… pieced together I have a recollection of my childhood, but I don’t really remember anything, besides a few pivotal moments (the day I got in trouble for playing footsy with Dan Taylor in 4th grade… the day Ms. Barnum refused to call on me when I clearly knew the answer to the question that the hardest capital cursive letter is Q… like i said, pivotal).  There are pictures of my dad with his oversized hat and untrimmed mustache holding me as though I’m a rag doll.  My mom often reminds me that I was sick when I was younger and my dad would just hold me, my stomach and weight on his arm facing out, legs flopped down and arms over his arm and then I’d become content.  It was apparently the only solution for my discomfort.  I see that in this picture, not the same pose but same comfort… I love that a picture I took might piece together a memory for Oliver later in life… and the fact that a current picture pieces even my own ‘memory’.  There are days I still wish I could be slung over my dads arm…

My dad is my hero.  He’s inspiring on so many levels… And I basically have to twist the understanding of inspiring here.  I want to be just like him… he is my inspiration.  It’s not just a quality.  When I was younger I would eat raw potatoes with salt on them because he did.  I would eat every bit of spicy food (though, nine times out of ten, I was disgusted with the lack of feeling my tongue felt after said foods) because that is how he loved things.  I feel like early on I thought if I ate like him I would get to be just like him.  Like maybe it was his affinity towards excessively uncomfortable foods that made everyone around him happy… that made him so carefree… that made people love him.  I know now that no amount of hot sauce on my chicken would attract people and happiness the way my father did.  I still can’t explain it.  But if I were to give you one defining piece of amazing about my dad it would be his capacity for love….

I don’t know how he still has hair… or any resemblance of sanity having me as a child.  Not that I was atrocious… but I tested my boundaries… In general, I pray for all fathers of daughters.  The world is not simple… it is not easy… and as strong of a ‘woman’ I may be I still know that it is far more dangerous for a chick out there than a guy.  Being male it is natural (or so I hear) to want to defend your woman (or daughter, mother, etc.)… but fatherhood seems to me a yet another cyclical battle of always questioning what is best.  This is fatherhood but the line between definitions is thinner with daughters.  Cyclical in trying to give her space vs. letting her fall… between letting her fall vs. helping her learn a lesson… helping her learn a lesson vs. saving her from danger… saving her from danger vs. protecting her life… and back to protecting her life vs. giving her space.  I’m not saying my dad ever had the answer to these battles in any given moment … what dad really, truly does?  But I know in those battles one thing remained constant… his love for me.  And yea, one thinks, ‘What father doesn’t love his daughter?’  But sadly I think we all know blood doesn’t necessarily confirm love.  Sure, love is grand but what seems extraordinary to me about my dad:  he never led on that his love was something to be earned… it was constant.  It would always be there.  No matter what battle of the circle he teetered on, his love wasn’t weakened NOR strengthened in any given moment… maybe his pride… but his love could never be put on a scale from one to ten.  His love for me (and my brother) was and still is one of his most prized possessions.   Maybe to all parents it doesn’t seem that magical or extraordinary… but to me… it is inspiring.  And it is important that I let him know I understand it now… I can see those moments when he had to let me learn my lesson or had to protect my life it wasn’t about the right or wrong lesson necessarily… or the physical or emotional protection… it was bigger… or maybe technically smaller… it was just love.

Though I know my dad would agree with this title quote… his frugal nature alone would favor the safe-ness of the words.  But I must say that when you build a backbone from being loved by my dad… and from having bits of my dad in it… or even in weaker moments, him becoming a backbone… the wishbone doesn’t seem so much an extra.  With my dad and his love behind me… my wishes and dreams just seem like they’re an extension of my backbone.  This one-year anniversary… of my own business… of my pursuing my passion… of me owning my own future… of me understanding what I am capable of … is also just the beginning of the merging of my wishbone and my backbone.

You’ll always be my first love, Papa!  xo xo.  erika@erikaleighphotography.com.

Pure Joy.

This just makes me so happy.  That’s why I got into photography… it’s why I will try and never get out!  :)

My sweet Gabby.  I miss her.

Gabby came into my life out of selfishness on my behalf.  Yep, I decided to volunteer.  Volunteering is a cover up.  Everyone thinks people are so grand that volunteer but I know I volunteered because maybe I wasn’t being the person I thought I should be… and I knew I would feel better after doing so.  Helping is undoubtedly amazing… its healing to feel like you’ve made a difference and that’s what I mean by selfish… You help someone else but I could guess 99% of the time the person volunteering benefits more in a non-tangible way more than the person on the other end of the help.  I’m by no means looking down on volunteering but I have to admit my reasoning… Volunteering with the organization called HERO for Children did what I had expected… AND THEN SOME.  Gabby is my mentee… technically, but I’ll be the first to say she’s mentored me more probably than I would’ve ever mentored her.

She’s half my age but has lived and learned from more lessons than I never wish to learn through experience.  She has a smile that is constant and big but always seems to be at 95%… there’s more smile in her but I’m not sure she’d ever waste on it a joke or a good time… but her soul shines despite her not-all-the-way there smile, despite her sadness of being kept out of cheerleading for a year because she couldn’t get a physical in time, despite not being able to do certain things she loves because her irregular heartbeat, despite not being able to many things that I consider normal and expected in a childhood because of reasons beyond her control.  We’d go eat, she loves burgers, and every place we went she seemed at awe of the restaurant and always overly thankful for her food… My thank yous to her probably never hit home.  I doubt she’ll ever fully fathom her little strength that added to mine.  In the time we hung out, probably twice a month or so for a year she lost more than I’ve lost in all my years… she lost her health that subsequently caused her to lose her passion, but she said it was ok and that she’s happy she caught it early and was content in doing flags instead of cheerleading.  She lost her dog (as a dog lover put me into mini depression and we had to have a few extra french fries with the burgers that day) but she said that she was sad but she was more sad for her mom who had loved her dog so much.  Then, she lost her mom.   I found out from our volunteer coordinator late at night and tried to get a hold of her the next day but she was at school… she was at school?  Yep.  I got to talk to her on the phone and she didn’t cry… I did.  To be perfectly honest, I balled… SELFISHLY.  I was struggling hard at that time and when she talked to me and sounded so strong and so content with the idea of moving on, that these things happen, that we all find better places as we pass or move on.  I cried for my own pity of not being able to handle my hurt in that way, I cried for her loss and I cried a lot for the fact that she will never be able to let herself cry.  She’s grown up to expect that life doesn’t owe you anything… you’re not promised nor do you deserve anything just for being alive.  She valued her time with her mom and, my throat hurts as I choke back tears writing this, I remember her exact words on the phone when I told her, “Gabby, you know it’s ok to be sad about this…” and she said so matter-of-fact, “Erika, I was sad at first and thought how can I live without my momma, but then in the hospital I saw her and I just knew that she was going to a better place.”  It’s so simple, right?

She is an angel in my eyes… she just fights and she doesn’t even know that she’s fighting because nothing has ever just been too easy and therefore her attitude is nothing is too hard.  But she still shines… her soul truly shines.  At half my age she is still an amazing inspiration, just her and her resiliency.  I think most would think she would remind me to value the things I have but more so, to strive for those things I am not… to work at those things I fall short of every day… and remember nothing is promised to us.  Let your soul shine… Gabby always does.

FAMILY PORTRAIT SPECIAL will roll outta my email box into yours sometime next week… email me for details or to book now as availability will be limited.  erika@erikaleighphotography.com!

Innocence.

This image is 100% innocent.  Not only the subject, this young little thing, hair crazy all over, pearl necklace draped over high neckline, soft pink dress that she just got done spinning on the dance floor… but also it is untouched by technology other than it’s digital form… no fancy corrections to highlight her ruffles, no toning to dramatize her against the dark, no huge softbox to light her… just natural light and natural her.  So much can be done to change an image today… most of it is great and to a photographer’s advantage.  But I still love knowing shots like this exist… where its pure… subject, form and talent.

A year ago this time I wouldn’t have even called Alyssa a good friend.  She was an acquaintance… I liked her but we just ran in the same circle/organization and not much more.  Again, I’m going to pat myself on the back for the planning of these quotes with these particular inspirations.  I must say I just picked some of my most favorite quotes and loosely paired them with people… but everyone I write about I am in awe of how fitting they are to each other.  Maybe it’s like horoscopes and fortune cookies… it could say the most broad statement like, ‘Some one worthwhile will come into your life’ and I sit there and think, ‘Wow… that is so true I just met this awesome bride four weeks ago.’  Blanket application, I suppose… I love that though.  It’s almost a little like faith, if I can make that huge, bold comparison… sometimes you just want to believe something, sometimes it is so warming to think bigger things are at play here than just our own hard work.  This quote also speaks to the faith idea… and for me, more than anything, it is in those unclear moments that faith saves me… and sometimes Alyssa does, too.

So we were sent out to Seattle, WA together to spend a weekend with troops at Fort Lewis just north of Seattle.  The trip was originally planned for a month earlier but when weddings came up for work, they were gracious enough to take us at a later date.  It was a hard trip for me because I was in the middle of a lot of work stuff, I was overwhelmed with projects and I was sad to leave my then close friend.  It was made even harder with the time changes, the flight plans being rearranged, the long hours, the fact I couldn’t get in touch with my friend, my guilt about leaving work undone and I didn’t really know this Alyssa too well.  I look back now and KNOW that this trip, with all of its hardships and stress was a life-changing trip for me.  TRULY LIFE-CHANGING.  We of course got to meet wonderful troops and see amazing things on the base that everyday keep me safe in my little condo in Atlanta, remarkable.  Not only that in retrospect, I was forced (yes forced) to hang out with someone I wouldn’t normally… who I now call one of my best friends.  Also in retrospect, this was a time in my relationship with my ‘goodbye guy’ that the wrong started to happen, I tried to say goodbye on that trip but I wasn’t strong enough then.  Words cannot express the awe I feel when thinking about all the blessings that came out of my 09 Seattle trip… If I were to have opened a fortune cookie there, no doubt it would’ve said ‘Wake up Erika, everything going on right now… all over… will change your life.’  Though I find great joy in the smallness of applying a fortune cookie, I wouldn’t have done that application justice.

Alyssa is something else.  She fits wonderfully in with my other two best friends Shervin and Sheyvone in that they just have this ability to take everything away… I’m at complete ease with them.  I’m a 90 mile an hour person generally, so I’ll be the first to admit I’m not the easiest person to just sit around with… but Alyssa has this calming power over me… she comes over and my list of 47 becomes managable… and often times managable for TOMORROW.  This, I suppose, seems to not be a great business inspiration, maybe the opposite, but I don’t see it that way.  She inspires me to just chill… which is devastatingly important to my sanity and my goals even.  I send emails at 4 AM often and pull all night photo edit sessions, I NEED AN ALYSSA to settle that down sometimes.  She is this little school teacher (I went to her classroom once for an hour and needed to rest in my car before driving home I was so wound up) so maybe everything in her life in comparison to hanging out with 30 second graders becomes a non-issue or maybe she’s just always been Ms. Cool, Calm and Collected.  She has her moments, don’t we all… but those are moments I see her passion for her friends and her loved ones, never just little stressors that eat away at most of us.  She’s had many changes and challenges in her life recently and I hope she always remembers that things are unfolding just as they should.  In particular with me, I know Alyssa will now be forever by my side as the universe unfolds as it may… I got her out of the deal… so I’ll take my chances on faith in that belief.

Bobby.

Bobby is the man.  This little boy can and should be the poster boy of all baby products… he is perfect frame, perfect size and the most perfect, warm-your-heart personality.  I never wanted him to leave, he smiled the whole time and just won over my heart… not to mention his mom and dad were a dream to work with and why wouldn’t they be with the most problem free child in the world on their hands.  I love photographing babies in natural light in just their mini diapers… its innocent and simple and you get the great little details like that little neck line on Bobby, or the wrist line on those with those little chubby arms and the still in tact un-aged, un-calloused skin of their tiny toes.  Oh Bobby… so sweet.   REMINDER:  FAMILY SPECIAL COMING IN SEPTEMBER (but being debuted below… read on for details for booking and securing your spot early!)

The day I saw Nikky… not even met her, I wanted to be her friend.  Though it sounded like a pursuit I went on, it was probably the easiest thing to want as Nikky is friends with everyone… REALLY, EVERYONE.  I’m surprised she doesn’t have a key to the city by now with all her connections.  It was easy to be her friend but through my own faults it wasn’t always easy to keep her, I’m so happy now to call her one of my forever friends… there won’t be a day from now until I die that I won’t consider her one of my closest friends… we have our moments but I will love her and need her in my life forever.

She is a short tiny blond that always wears cowboy boots, when not wearing roller skates.  She has been seen in every location in Atlanta and has worn every color of spandex created.  She knows your mother, she knows your cousin, she knows your best friend’s ex-boyfriend from Utah… if she doesn’t know them, they know her.  I love these things about her but I love her most when she’s wearing her children sized shorts (still too big for her), old screen printed shirts, half brushed hair and amazingly imperfect manicure sitting in my passenger seat, on a couch or across the table from me killing chips and queso.  Regardless, her most public moments or more private with friends, she is always herself… not afraid of it… enthusiastic about it… about everything.  That’s inspiring to me… with everything we all face it is truly hard to be enthusiastic about everything and do so in a way that is believable and real AND inspiring.  Things get in her way, people get in her way, life gets in her way but she doesn’t stop drilling away enthusiastically toward being happy…

Her outlook on life is definitely an inspiration in my business and life together but in her case she has been more than just an inspiration to me.  She has been my support in times where I wasn’t hers & my friend in times where I wasn’t a good friend.  I have no doubt that she’d work tirelessly to help me and my business out, as she has already through referrals and words of encouragement.  I want to mention one very key thing though… I say ‘saved my life’ often… I believe all my friends at one point have taken me from a dark moment to light and often them being in my life as a group saves me… (from myself often .  But Nikky truly has saved my life, kept me breathing… her and Sheyvone together pulled me back.  They both ‘enthusiastically’ hounded my mother, father, brother, Montana hotels, Montana airports when they knew it was necessary and they wouldn’t have stopped until I was safe.  Simply put, she knew what was necessary.

She now is in a spot of unknown and what is next but I never worry for her… I love her deeply and feel her pain but know that she knows better than anyone that she will be fine… she will be happy.  Because she defines this quote… comfort and luxury, stability and money, easy and rich won’t make her happy… they’re not requirements in her life, they’re by-products of her enthusiasm for everything else.  Thanks for being my friend, through it all, Nik.  You rock… yep, you read it, you rock… one more time, you rock!  :)

SNEAK DEBUT: I’ve mentioned the family portrait special I’m rolling out in September… well I anticipate the fall being SLAMMED… So I wanted to offer it up to my lovely visitors first.  $125 Family Portrait Session (savings of $125)… ON LOCATION… that’s right, at your house or at a park or anywhere your heart dreams it-ish… or dreams it within 45 minutes of 30319.

QUICK FAQ SESH:

• Q:  ”But Erika, what’s considered family?” … A:  You and someone/something else… Yes, your hamster counts.  Up to eight people… oh that’s a big fam!
• Q:  ”What’s included?”… A:  Two hours of family + Erika time, on-location, and up to three digital files so you can make your holiday cards thee HOTTEST in town!  Sure to impress those ritzy fam members in New York or Iowa…
• Q:  ”How do I sign up?”… A:  With your calendar out, email me (erika@erikaleighphotography.com).  Tentatively only shooting Monday days, Wednesday/Friday evenings and Saturday and Sundays (limited weekend availability that’s why I want YOU to jump on it quick!)  Tell your other friends after you’ve signed up!  :)

All other details/questions can be worked out by shooting me a quick email!  erika@erikaleighphotography.com  OH FAMILY PORTRAITS ARE SO MUCH FUN… and in case you didn’t already know, these aren’t your typical, run-of-the-mill shots.

OTHER NEWS: Tomorrow look for #11 and #10, were getting close to the end of 1YA fun!  AND get excited because early September ELP’s newly designed blog will be up and ready for your viewing pleasure… it’ll be grand, GRAND I TELL YOU!

United.

As we start to get further into this image list my descriptions will become less and less… because so many need no description at all.  But I will mention these two boys… twins (obviously) that are a photographers dream.  They are beyond well behaved and though when shooting children I have very little structure… I prefer to just follow them around and catch what is there.  Often I ask little ones to give me different faces… though this isn’t one of those images, others show they have the most amazing understanding of fear and fun and crazy and weird… which a lot of kids don’t… they’re faces tell a story, they are Erika Leigh Photography’s initial poster children… as I update my site periodically I always have trouble taking out a photo of these two to stick another in… Jeanna, you’re so lucky… but they’re so lucky to have you, as well!  You all makes each others’ days really matter…

No seriously… I just said Taylor Swift is my number 19 inspiration.  Yes, she’s years younger than me and millions richer than me but an inspiration no less.  Just hear me out.

I’ve been blessed in this life with many a talent, some natural some acquired… I would consider myself an average dancer, my spelling skills are rather awesome, I am incredibly good at ‘knee-driving’ which alligns perfectly with my ability to text at stunning rates and in any environment… but I have no musical ability.  NONE.  I was last chair clarinet (in the good band) in high school, was forced into piano lessons for a few years until I actually ended up hiding, literally, hiding to avoid going to them anymore and though I work hard at it… I can barely whistle.  I’m not the average music lover… I’ve thought many a time how I can logistically be a ‘professional roadie’ and still maintain my business.  I go to live music concerts and belt out the lyrics… not always the correct ones but that is less important.  I have this instant body swagger that comes in the presence of live music… and my right arms somehow always does this awkward circular sway with an occasional fist pump thrown in there when really deserved.  Beyond live music I listen to music all day, I try to find new music daily, I’ve been known to quote music lyrics sporadically in conversation and use them as pieces of advice or evidence in an argument.  Music is healing to me.  It can take me back to certain places, it can take me OUT of certain places.  Like my Aunt Deann being the representative of my family inspiration… Taylor Swift is the representative of my musical inspiration… ODD… because just eight months ago I was so anti-Taylor Swift.

Why Taylor Swift then?  There are some iconic musicians out there that everybody feels affected by… the obvious, Michael Jackson… Madonna, perhaps… Bruce Springsteen (who I will talk more in-depth about in the near future) and a few others.  I am not claiming Taylor to be this… at least yet.  And that is maybe why I enjoy her so much.  She does what I can’t do in expressing herself through notes and through words.  And therefore helps me do the same.  She writes many of her own songs and is far beyond her years in maturity of subject matter.  I’ve always joked about these ‘teeny-bopper’ stars singing of heartbreak and life in ways they have yet to experience.  Not like I’m the expert on either as I am still young and have plenty of wisdom yet to earn.  I try and keep a little bit of a line between what I share here and what is suppose to remain untold for business professionalism but in a month of dealing with inspiration it is hard to not mention my recent heartache as a pivotal event.  It is that experience in my life that probably allows me to best spotlight those who keep me inspired in business and life because, like I often say, they are one in the same.  And this is how Taylor Swift became an inspiration, oh it sounds corny.  :)  But she spoke the words in song I couldn’t say, she put a little reassurance in the situation, and truly, she made me feel less alone… and she did so over and over again from my car stereo, my computer speakers and my iPhone headphones, which is something your mom or best friend can’t do.  Her work is touching, whether it’s the arrangement, her performance or the words that seem so pure, it hits home.  I hope that my work does the same.   It was my friends and family that stood by me but it was her words that spoke to me from afar… I think it is so inspiring that music can do that.  Thanks TS and all musicians… maybe I’ll pick up my clarinet again……………… ha.  I’ll just stick to the camera.

Oh I’m listening to White Horse now… solid hit Taylor, solid.  :)  You’re Not Sorry and Baby, Don’t You Break My Heart Slow are also rockin… but if you’re a TS fan and want to laugh… go HERE!

Gotta go meet my MOMMA for lunch, I can do that because I’m in good ol’ Iowa!  :)   erika@erikaleighphotography.com

Lifetime Love

I never stop loving this photo.  So I suppose the title of the photo describes both the subjects feelings for each other and my feelings on this image.  I am so very lucky as a photographer who specializes in babies and weddings (because I love them) to work with people at two of the happiest times in peoples’ lives… all circle around authentic love.  I never shot a wedding were I felt like the couple couldn’t make it to someday take a shot just like this.  A lot of small things make me deeply happy… live music, green arrows for left hand turns and 10 for $10 deals at Kroger… another one of these things is the look on the face of people like you see above when I ask them if they’ll kiss for the camera.  I urge all people out there to take a photo of your grandparents kissing (I got to just a few months ago, even though this isn’t them above) and remember their face when you ask them to do so.  I truly believe if you know to look for it before you do it, you will never forget the look.  You will never forget their excitement and almost fear of such a public display of affection… but you will also never forget what a lifetime of love looks like.

I think I must have been having a rather intuitive day when I organized this countdown as everyday I get up and get to write about these amazing people/things with title quotes and images that somehow always have this fun little way of fitting together.  It makes me wonder if all these things in my life just align so wonderfully or if I just find these correlations because I’m a classic ‘overthinker.’  Either way… my beautiful Aunt Deann hails the number 24 spot on this countdown… below a photo of lifetime love… just one way she inspires me in fact.  She’s married to my Uncle Dan, no easy task, he’ll admit himself (joking, of course) but they are and always have been, since I understood love and relationships, the great story of love!  They met in high school and have stayed together through thick and thin (though it never seemed like there was a ‘thin’ for them) and have always done so with this adoring look for each other.  Anyone in our family can attest to this.  Despite having two parents in love and not knowing divorce in any of my extended family, they just have an air about them that screams soul mate more than any other.  Though she found her ‘perfect love’ in high school, on a personal level, she inspires me to love all my life… and to find that someone you can do that with.

Professionally, her inspiration is much along the same lines.  I must admit that I have the best family in the world… I’m sorry to all you others out there… because this is one fact (yes, fact) I do not budge on.  My Aunt Deann represents all my cousins and aunts and uncles that root for me every day.  I know that this title quote was probably true for my Aunt Deann once but now it is true for all of us nieces and nephews and her three children that she so adamantly inspires just by her support.  I have been known to say that even if I murdered someone my family would probably still love me and I know it would be my Aunt Deann that would be bringing me Special K bars in prison.  :)  She is a kind person.  She remembers all birthdays, inside jokes and sends cards just to say hello.  She is an animal lover and an easy crier.  She is so much of what I look at as good in people.  And it is all enduring.  Her love will last for forever.  Her support is unending.  Her ‘Were so proud of you’ letters will continue to come.  She is timeless in that what she stands for will never get old and when she is gone everything she stood for will remain in all of her kids and nieces and nephews and all she has touched.  She inspires me to support others in the same way she has supported me… through cards, special K bars, words, hugs, and time.  I love you so much Aunt Deann… thanks for inspiring me with your support… it’s so much easier to build wings on the way down with you there to help!  :)

Shout out to all of those checkin out erikaleighphotography.com and erikaleighfun.com both sites it record numbers last week!  AMAZING, in August… generally the off-season!  Thanks for your continued referrals… Kari P.  Ashley T.  and Sheyvone F. for just passing my name along (and doing some serious PR work for me!)   Still running my $250 off weddings for 11.01.09 to 11.01.10 if they are booked by August 31!  Still going to give away $150 in ELP money at the end of August… HOW DO YOU WIN THAT?  Comment on one or all of these daily posts to be entered!

Gosh, life is grand.  Stay in touch… erika@erikaleighphotography.com!

The Malones.

I love lens flare.  Most pro photographers work hard to keep it out of their pictures… but I sometimes work hard to get it in there.  I think this one came out beautifully… I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect set up and a more perfect look from lil Brooks either.  This photo though is now just a part of this family’s past as they have just welcomed a new little addition to the family!  Congratulations Malones!

I’m going to do all I can to give you an abbreviated post today… it’s Friday and the weekend awaits… today will soon be our own past, but it will always remain a part of our learning and experience towards tomorrow’s work/adventure/fun… Much like this show… It’s gone, done, finito… tear.  No I’m not talking about those famous (or maybe infamously) attractive presidential brothers.  I’m talking about the old WB show… yes, that is right, a show, from the WB no less, has inspired me quite a bit.

As all my close friends know I can’t get any work down without good television on in the background… I don’t watch it but for some odd reason it has to be something I want to watch otherwise I get distracted and tizzied (yep, that’s a new word) and my productivity generally hits low marks.  That’s when OnDemand comes to my rescue and that is when I rediscovered the wonderful little show, Jack & Bobby.  It’s phenomenal.  The premise, the writing, the character development… I mean truly should have, first off, been picked up by a bigger network and second, been continued for at least another eight seasons.  It follows two boys (yep, you guessed it: Jack and Bobby) brothers, one destined to be President.  It has ‘interviews’ with characters of the future that guide the theme of the episode… these people recount a part of Bobby’s campaign or presidency, the actual meat and minutes of the program take on Bobby and Jack in present day as boys just trying to survive.  These stories align and show how the boys’ childhood together, his relationship with his uber-intelligent, pot-smoking, liberal mother and his lack of a sufficient father figure in his life come to shape the decisions and actions of the future President of the United States.

This falls deeply in line with my West Wing obsession… not ironic at all, they share the same executive producer, Tommy Schlamme.  Who I always put on the short list of ‘People I MUST meet.’  Every episode gives viewers this introspect into the past and how it not only shapes our general outlook and actions in life, but also very specific incidences can be directly linked to one’s current reaction to another similar or completely different instance.  These seems oh-so-obvious but so often we neglect to learn from our past mistakes but also our past successes… though it such a simple and SMART idea.  This show reminds me and inspires me to be better with the tools of the past.  This title quote couldn’t fit more perfectly, again, with this inspiration because it does just that only by setting the ‘past’ as the present… it demonstrates, yes fictionally but still believably, those pieces of our past that should remain with us daily… in Bobby’s case how the struggles he faces as an undersized, space-loving, tag-along little brother help him grow into a man of integrity, opinion and pride.  Each episode has its own inspiring trait, I suppose even some uninspiring, that is hidden deep enough in the wonderful dialogue and great characters if those watching are open enough to let it soak in.  I hope to continue letting my lessons and mistakes of the past be a present reminder of why I’m here and how much easier it can be the second time around… good ol’ Jack & Bobby… so sad its in the past.  Is it too late to start a petition to bring it back………. ok, I’ll let it be in the past.

Ok that’s all for me for the weekdays… More to come on Sunday, I’ll be footballin’ it up at the Dome all day tomorrow!  Double dose day of #24 and #23… stick around.  RIP Kirby Winston Fitz, It would’ve been his 18th birthday-ish today.