I was, by no means, perfect as a child. I was geeky, nerdy, bookish and kind of a loner. I knew lots of other kids, but I can't say that I got attached to many of them. They may or may not have become attached to me, but I could not honestly say. I can say that no BFF-type life-long friends that I am aware of came out of my K-12 years. I can remember getting into plenty of trouble, and treating some other kids badly, and

I'm pretty sure, as a teenager, I never quite fit in with my age group. I usually found myself hanging around with the adults - or in many cases, people generally older than myself. I took on responsibilities early in life, working in the cafeteria, assisting in the school library, assisting in the career and counseling center, and even as an assistant in the school's main office. In my classes, I took on responsibilities, too - editor, photographer, teacher's aide... school newspaper, magazine and color guard...

But, I consider myself to have been a fairly well-behaved child, overall.

When I'm around kids, there are those who would say I turn into a kid. I laugh and jump and play and have fun... I have been seen bouncing in the bouncy house and climbing the monkey bars and all kinds of fun stuff.

I find photographing children now to be both a challenge, and also, a challenge. I haven't a lot of experience at it, and I find their parents to be of little help, lots of times. Temper tantrums and crankiness try my patience. But I have also found that some of the best shots come out of those situations. Children are, most times, more real, more realistic - and their emotions shine through. It's refreshing, compared to many adults I have tried to photograph who need cajoling and convincing...
As I wonder where the heck I was going with this blog entry in the first place, I am formulating ideas on how to develop this blog into something people might actually want to read. Since it is my hope to incorporate photos that I have taken into the blog, perhaps it will make the blog more interesting too. This blog is meant to help me get back into the habit of writing, so I haven't really taken any certain direction in it - no theme yet, no style, no structure, no creative elements - at this rate, I'm never going to amass a large group of followers... but I sure am enjoying going through old photos I have taken and wondering why I'm not taking more pictures... - I'll finish up my disjointed ramblings with a couple more pictures, including one with an adorable doggy: