I met Jamie Lee at a pub in Suffolk on my way back from the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I asked her to tell me a story so she did. Apparently Jamie Lee was a wild thang when she was younger, but now that she’s 21 she’s turned over a new leaf and the new, improved Jamie Lee is responsible and mature. This is her story. The previous Friday was $1 taco/$2 Corona-Margarita night and the bar was full of Navy guys. Well Jamie Lee doesn’t do Navy guys, but this Friday she broke her rule and headed out with a bunch of sailors. To make a long story short she started drinking tic tacs (Bacardi’s rum, triple sec, orange juice and Red Bull) and didn’t stop, got followed home by a pimp and a hooker, blacked out and had to call one of the Navy guys to find out what happened. When I asked her what was responsible and mature about that, she said, “Well…I didn’t drive myself home.”

Meet Jeannie, the bartender at the Fraternal Order of Eagles. I became an Eagle for a day, so I could drink beer and roll dice for free drinks with my friends. Apparently they collect bartenders too. Jeannie’s real name is Norma Jean, named after Marilyn Monroe, and she once won a wet t-shirt contest in Ft. Myers in 1978 or ‘79. She wasn’t exactly sure.

Everyone should collect something. I’ve decided to start a collection of bartenders. They usually have an interesting story to tell and don’t mind sharing it. If they don’t, then they probably won’t last long as a bartender. This is Heather. I met her at a pub in Eustis, FL. Her claim to fame is she is the “2007 Georgefest Hotdog Eating Champion”. As she said, ” It was only one hotdog, but it was a big one.”

This is my friend Jimmy. He lives in Maine in the summer and Florida in the winter and is an expert on all things having to do with a good time, including but not limited to golf. He is also a personal friend of the Phantom, as evidenced by the cool skull ring, which he claims was given to him by the Phantom himself in the Skull cave. He’s also very proud of his hat.

So, like I said, Bill is responsible for getting me into the business of photography. He promised me a life of excitement and all the scambled eggs and Budweiser I could handle…you had to be there. I was making so little working at a local TV station that his offer seemed like a step up, so I took it. Now he’s retired on his boat in Florida and I’m still trying to scratch out a living.

I decided to fly down to Florida for a few days to visit my friends Bill and Sally. Bill is responsible for getting me into the business of photography. I forgave him long ago. This is Dexter. He’s a cockatiel and was named for the Washington Redskin’s Dexter Manley. When he’s not hanging out in his cage he sits on Bill’s shoulder and watchs You Tube videos or watches himself in the mirror. He probably wonders where the other cockatiel came from.

This is Anna. She’s a flight attendant for Airtran. It’s not a great photo, (I certainly didn’t do Anna justice. She’s much prettier than this), but it illustrates where the photo business is today. Old workflow: shoot film, drop film at lab, eat lunch, pick up processed film. New workflow: shoot on takeoff, process at 35,000 ft., upload on landing. My, how things have changed.