So, with this I am able to “feed” two passions.

To see more of my food photography check out my photography portfolio at www.dreier.com.

-Kyle

We continue to get people asking us where we got our window sticker … I Texas TN … so I decided to make them available to anyone who desires one for themselves.

These are being offered for free with a little solicitation for a donation for our daughter-to-be (Ruby) whom we are adopting from China.

Get a window/bumper sticker. Make a donation. Celebrate Texas. Celebrate Tennessee. Support adoption.

Send your request (or your donation) to:
Kyle Dreier (for Ruby)
2039 Glastonbury Drive
Franklin, TN 37069

If you’re from Texas, post a “comment” and let us know where you’re from, what you miss from TX and what you like about TN.

Or, click here to join our Facebook Group.

– Kyle Dreier

The other day I had a meeting scheduled in downtown Franklin and decided I would walk the 3 or 4 miles from my home. I overestimated my pace and underestimated the time it would take. As it ended up it was about 1 1/4 hours.

It was a peculiar morning as I headed out and, as usual, I had my camera in tow. It had rained earlier and the sky was quietly moving on. I didn’t camp out at any one point of interest but as I was walking I did see things that prompted a quick snap-shot.

Honestly, this was a great walk and besides being late to my meeting (sorry Brian) my soul was fed and I’m sure my heart benefited from the exercise.

This is a sampling of what I saw between Fieldstone Farms and Downtown Franklin.

Yes, that’s what the sky looked like. Almost like a painting.

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Um, … more sky.

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This growing just a few feet from traffic along Hillsboro Road.

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A cute little house just behind the rec center.

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Is this poison ivy? I never know.

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I love the graphic nature of common things.

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Location, location, location. 2 blocks from Downtown Franklin.

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This is a neat stone wall on the edge of a very old cemetery.

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Rose garden at the corner of South Margin and 4th Avenue.

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So there you have it. What took me over an hour to walk you just got to enjoy in less than 2 minutes.

– Kyle Dreier

I have the utmost of respect for my pal, Johnny Rogers, who recommended this book to me. I think I’m just not as smart or as patient as he.

In the book, Asher is preoccupied with his gift of art. I can relate. He and his art are not fully understood by those around him. I can sorta relate. The part that kept me from getting further than half way through was that the author Chaim Potok didn’t further the story … at least not at a pace to keep my attention.

Part of my problem is that I think I prefer non-fiction. I was interested in the human elements surrounding the Jewish persecution but would have been more interested knowing it was historically accurate. I may have been but I don’t know. Once again, my ignorance revealed.

I’ve had other artists recommend this book so I really really fought hard to finish it, but it just wasn’t going to happen. I did, however, pull a Harry from “When Harry Met Sally” and read the last page. It was the same at the first half of the book. Asher, his art, his whining, his not being understood.

I guess one redeeming nugget from the book is that I need to spend less time reading about art and artists and more time doing art. Maybe then I’ll have a better basis for my criticism.

– Kyle Dreier

We are still in the “waiting” stage BUT China does have all our paperwork. Our “log in date” is July 23, 2007. This means that on that date the Chinese authorities logged our paperwork and put us in line basically.

As of today “referrals” (the documents which actually have one’s child’s name) are coming about 24 to 26 months after login date. This being the case we’ll get our referral for our daughter, who we’ve already named Ruby, sometime around August 2009 or later. It is likely she’ll be about 12 months old at that time. If you do the math, this means that she’s probably been conceived but not yet born.

This is an odd place to be for us as we wait. To think that we’re adopting a little girl that isn’t yet born. That her mother may not have yet made a decision to give her up or abandon her. To think that this mother probably loves this baby girl very much and may be having to make a difficult decision because of finances or cultural pressures. We just don’t know but we pray the mother is healthy and is taking good care of this precious yet to be born girl.

In the meantime, we wait. At this point the only items on our to do list are to do fund raising and apply for grants to help offset the costs. In the end it’ll likely be around $16,000 to $20,000. Thankfully that is spread out and we’re about halfway through the expenses.

Look for another entry … in less than a year’s time.

- Kyle Dreier

Click image(s) to come see …

– Kyle Dreier

What you can expect in my new blog is highlights from jobs/assignments plus general musings about photography equipment, photography experiments and pretty much anything relative to my photography passion.

See my latest post about the lunar eclipse.

Be sure to subscribe to the RSS for both Kyle Dreier Photography and Mr. Critical.

-Kyle

March 1 officially starts the peak rental season and I’m rather pleased with how everything turned out. We’ve created a web site with additional information about our beach condo.

If you’re interested in getting discounts and last minute deals make sure to sign up via our www.1708shores.com web site.

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If you are interested in rates and availability and additional photos please check our Shores of Panama web site.

See you at the beach!

- Kyle

The love continued through high school and college and now well into adulthood. But this is where my story takes a dark turn.

In 1998 Amy and I moved to Tennessee where if you were to ask where to find a Whataburger you’d likely get a response of “A what-a-what?”

While my obsession for Whataburger pales in comparison to Wayne Geyer’s, I do, when given the opportunity, go a little out of my way to rekindle my Whataburger taste buds.

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This past weekend I kept an eagle eye on the roadside as I headed down to Florida. Apparently Alabama is more worthy of not just one, but multiple Whataburger locations. I stopped at one of them, just 2.5 hours south of my home.

- Kyle Dreier

Anyone that lives in Nashville knows that The Bluebird Cafe is the paramount place to go to hear artists and writers. Wednesday night was my first time to cross the threshold of this landmark here in town.

For nearly 10 years now I’ve driven by this place and have created what turns out to be a romanticized image of what this venue is beyond the understated facade. Once inside my first impression was “This looks like it used to be a Japanese restaurant.”

The place was filled with friends, supporters of the artists and I assume some music business executives or wannabe’s. Not much, if any, pretension – which is nice. This venue was pretty much just an intimate (shoulder to shoulder … “is there a fire marshal in the house?”) relaxed environment … at least for the audience. The artists commented on how it can be a little intimidating to play without all the lights, stage, tech that goes with big venues.

The event was an “ASCAP Presents: In The Round with …” and they had four artists/writers. For my taste I was really struck by the talent of Kelleigh Bannen and Meghan Kabir. All four were far more talented than I could ever hope to be but the style of these two really caught my ear.

Kelleigh Bannen had a style and tone that reminded me of Patty Griffin. Meghan Kabir made me think of Fleming and John. It was fun hearing their voices and enjoy them in a pure and unproduced environment.

I’ll never bill myself as a music critique but I certainly know what I like and do have an appreciation for people’s talents.

- Kyle Dreier (Mr. Critical)