Beto.

Texas Politics.

A couple weeks back I’d read on Twitter that Beto O’Rourke was holding a town hall in Cedar Park, a mere 15 minute drive from our home, west on FM1431.

It was held this morning.

I left the house at 8:45 a.m.

I should have left the house earlier.

Parking was full at the Cedar Park Recreation Center – where the rally was being held – so I had to park near the local Costco and walk about an eighth of a mile.

I brought a bottled water to sip on, but I should have worn a hat, too. I thought the town hall would be indoors, but it was staged outdoors on the back patio of the center. I couldn’t get as close as I’d have liked, but I was able to hear perfectly from where I stood.

The crowd was a mix of young and old, lots of Beto t-shirts, I even saw a few red Moms Demand Action t-shirts. I’d say there were around a thousand people in attendance. Big crowd.

Beto’s a good speaker. Charismatic. Eloquent. And after visiting every county in the state this year, I’m sure he’s got speech makin’ down.

During his speech, the only politician he mentioned by name was Senator John McCain, and he spoke highly of him.

Beto spoke mostly about issues. Lots of hootin’ and hollerin’ with a healthy dose of applause following just about every point he made. The audience was into it!

I got a little overheated, so I started to back away from the patio area and seek shade under nearby trees, and from there listened to Beto speak for just a few minutes.

I wandered around to the other side of the center where I came upon campaign volunteers putting together lawn signs and handing them out for free, one per person. I grabbed mine, thanked them, and started walking back around.

By the time I got to the other side of the center, Beto was taking questions from folks in the audience. I sat at a bench under the shade of an old Live Oak and listened for a while longer, finishing off the water. Then I started walking back towards Costco, still able to hear Beto’s finishing remarks and the crowd cheering as I made my way back to the Escape.

Impressive. Glad I got to see and hear him.

Taking a shot.

Seeing my work in print.

I learned of Shots Magazine earlier this year, and after doing a little research about how it’s published, decided to subscribe. 4 issues annually for $29.

The good folks at shotsmag.com describe the magazine as “a beautifully printed black & white quarterly in world gone digital, not an on-line publication.”

Each quarterly issue revolves around a theme and subscribers can submit 8 images per issue for free.

Well, not exactly free – I figured it averages out to $7.25 an issue and a decent chance at seeing one of my pictures in a magazine.

I whiffed on my first issue’s theme, which was “Offerings,” then spazzed out on the Spring 2018 theme “Self-portraits.” It wasn’t until until the issue arrived in my mailbox that it dawned on me to submit a picture I made for Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day 2017 titled “My shadow over rocks.”

The newest issue’s theme is “Forces of Nature” and I entered 3 black and white pieces I’d taken over the last year or so. One of them made it in the Summer issue. I titled the picture “Thistles” for submission. It was taken while wandering around Georgetown, Tx for Kelby’s Worldwide Photowalk back on October 7, 2017.

Pretty cool.

The theme for the Fall issue is “Home.”

In with the new(ish).

Out with the old.

It finally happened.

Torri’s iPhone 6 reached the point of no return.

The battery over-heated to the point where it was starting to bulge, dislodging the phone’s screen from the body.

I’d been having problems with my 6, too. I couldn’t get the lightning cable connector to seat in the phone unless I jammed in a piece of very thin paper along with it.

Her issue, it turns out, was keeping the phone plugged into the charger.

I learned that the dongle problem is peculiar to men who carry phones in their front pocket. Pocket lint builds up.

My 6 was still usable, but the rule of compromise is, if one of us gets a new phone, so does the other. Fair.

We’re going to send my old 6 to her dad.

Although it’s nearly a year old technology at this point, I’m diggin’ the 8. It’s nice to have a 12 megapixel camera with a fast f/1.8 aperture in my pocket.

I’ve been having fun with the Blackie App, too.