I think I will “search for something else.”

Wackos.

Seve Ballesteros

I warned them that anyone who thought they could beat me at any sort of “cook off” needed to get out more.  And once I arrived and saw the competitors’ crock pots (you better sit down for this…some of them were electric), I knew right away I’d walk with that medal you see there.  Not unlike Seve Ballesteros in 1980.  After playing in the US for the first time and watching PGA Tour players chipping out from the trees, he said to reporters, “There’s no way anyone will beat me at Augusta.  I knew I was going to win before the plane landed.”  He did and went on to become one of the world’s most beloved golfers to watch play.  A fearless, swashbuckling Spaniard with no desire to play it safe or finish second.

Last night, as my beloved Saints were getting the job done, I ventured out to the incredible and irreplaceable Robinson Ranch with an old cast-iron pot full of CW’s Secret Chili for the 2nd Annual Good Shepherd Episcopal School Chili Competition.  An hour later, I stood in front of the crowd holding that medal.  It’s highly doubtful anyone will ever touch that medal again now that I’m in the game, but the third-place finisher last night is a worthy competitor, and since she’s from Fort Worth (they know their chili in FW) and went to school in New Orleans (where they know their cookin’), I’ll have to shift into another gear for the 2011 Championships.

Game on.  Geaux Saints.

Stupid Country Lyrics

As a member of the Advisory Board of the Texas Heritage Songwriters’ Association, I’m proud to say that none of our Honorees are on this list.  I have a feeling this list will certainly grow, since they’re asking for readers’ contributions.  Funny stuff, some of this.

Bee Cave Bob

Due to extremely high demand for a photo, I present to you:  Bee Cave Bob.  The premier political prognosticator in all of Texas.

Armadillo Day

So if you weren’t at The West Pole yesterday or anywhere near a TV in the Austin area, you probably won’t know what I’m talking about.  The very first “Armadillo Day” was held yesterday in Bee Cave, Texas.  Evidently, Texans don’t take kindly to others doing their thinking and prognosticating for them, especially when it comes from a mangy groundhog in Pennsylvania.

“Bee Cave Bob” emerged from his hole yesterday, predicted six more weeks of winter and more importantly, that Texas will see a definitive conservative trend in state politics.  You see, unlike Punxsutawney Phil, who only makes mediocre meteorological predictions, Bee Cave Bob is a dynamic, multi-faceted creature who makes more relevant prognostications such as the political climate.

The event was hosted by The Benevolent Knights of the Raccoon and was attended by celebrities, politicians, entertainers and scores of Texans.  Gary P. Nunn (pictured here at left with John Arthur Martinez and Mike Blakely) was on hand to sing the Armadillo Day Anthem.

Why I’m a photographer

Because cameras are fun.  Especially the little one up there above the screen.  Photo Booth might be the best app I’ve got.  I use all the big, fat deep pro tools necessary for work, but none of them can stack up to seeing a four year-old laugh at herself.

Songwriter

Meet Bradley D. Dunn, one of Austin’s up-and-coming songwriters.  A good man with a beautiful family, a day job, a solid golf game and tons of songwriting talent spanning several genres of music.  Brad was in a hair band back when hair bands were the thing and has played rock and country and traveled the world with Sugar Ray and has thousands of stories from the road, I’m sure.  I didn’t ask out of sheer jealousy.  Had a good time with him during this shoot down at Fosforus.  Have a listen to a few of Brad’s recent songs here.

Ryan Young

Don’t miss this one.  Some of you know Ryan as the incredible guitar player/singer/songwriter/frontman for the Ryan Young Band, and some of you know him as the kind, generous, thoughtful teacher to your preschooler or guitar student.  Either way, he’s very good at what he does and is a decent guy with a big heart, lots of talent and no ego.  Well, he has made a new album and will release it this Saturday night at Joe Ables’ Saxon Pub as the headliner, following Guy Forsyth and the Greezy Wheels.  As an early-to-bed, early-to-rise sort of guy, it’s going to be tough on me, but I’m going to do my best to be there.  Probably with a camera or two.  He’ll have his new CDs there…remember this?)

CWP BLOG TAKES GLOBAL LOOK AT 2010

AUSTIN, TEXAS – JAN 1, 2010  (From Market Reports) So that’s the total number of views this ol’ blog got in 2009.  Slightly lower than the street anticipated, but up almost 10% from the 2008 numbers.  Concern for the future of the blog as a business?  Not so, says one officer of the company.  “Since Carlton Wade Photography’s blog has no revenue and incurs no expenses, we feel the health of the company is sound, and future growth looks promising, especially in terms of profit and loss.”  He went on to add, “Carlton Wade Photography’s blog is a dynamic media outlet, and the operations team can change fonts, colors, add photos and even ‘hyperlinks’ to it’s UI (user interface).  We’re excited about what 2010 will bring in terms of new visitors, possibly even some from outside of Austin (Texas).”

The real spirit of Christmas

Now that my kids are 6 and 4, I’ve begun to try to sell them on the very real fact that giving really is better than getting.  I’m reminded of this all the time, but especially around Christmas.  This belief may not hold true for some of you, and it certainly doesn’t for a six year-old with a bunch of friends who talk about nothing but what they’ve got and what they’re getting.  I get it.  I used to be one.  But, I suppose the older I get, the more this matters.  My father, pictured here a couple of years ago with my daughter, embodies the spirit of giving more than anyone I know.

We’ve all got issues with family, and lots of times those issues get in the way of spending holiday time together.  My family is definitely not immune to such issues, but we get by okay.  But this Christmas, I realized one special trait about my father.  He is a giver.

For the last few holidays (Thanksgiving and/or Christmas), my wife and I have had problems traveling to my hometown to celebrate with my side of the family.  Her side of the family gathers for Christmas, but Thanksgiving isn’t as big a deal.  Both are big deals on my side.  Coat and tie, silver and linen, waiters, the whole Southern bit.  It’s a show more than anything else, but it’s a family ritual, and its meaning and lineage have been burned into me so much that I now crave it.  Nothing against Luby’s, but if I never have to dig those disgusting side dishes out of cardboard containers again, I’ll be just fine.

Last Christmas, when we couldn’t make it to Thanksgiving, my father told me to “stay in Austin with your family this Christmas.  The kids will get to wake up and open their gifts at home, and y’all can come see us sometime after New Year’s, when things sort of quiet down.”  We did just that, and it was the best Christmas I can remember.  Watching my kids make cookies for Santa, fake being nice to each other, want to go to bed at 5pm on Christmas Eve and waking up at 2am and begging for three hours to go out to the living room and me finally caving and trying to video the whole thing on two hours’ sleep.  It was all more than I’d hoped for.

This year, we stayed home for Thanksgiving and are doing the same for Christmas.  My father again advised me to “stay there with your family,” and it was only today that I realized that his gift to me of “stay with your family instead of packing them up and driving nine hours and repacking and driving back and all that” is the greatest gift I can receive at this point in my life.  He is giving me the gift of irreplaceable moments with my own children, instead of a bunch of guilt about not being there with him and my mother.

And for that, I’ll forever be grateful.  My parents have given me far more than I ever deserve.  Support, material things, love, good advice, guidance and understanding.  I’ll never be able to repay them, and even if they read this, they’ll never know how much I cherish, value and appreciate their gifts.

It’s Christmas Eve, and while my kids climb all over me as I write this (and cook the turkey and assemble toys and mediate tantrums and everything else that goes along with parenthood), I wish you nothing less than what I’ve been given.  I have one wish this cold winter night, and it’s that my kids will one day think of me, just for a second, like I think of my parents right now.

Merry Christmas.

The Tower at UT

Snapped this one on the way out the door from a food shoot here.  Nothing special about this shot, but I realized in the ten or so years I’ve been collecting images around Austin, I’d yet to get a shot of the tower.  I’ll get a better one someday…maybe in a few weeks when it gets lit up orange.  Any know if they’re still spreading that “We’re Texas” campaign around?  Who came up with that?

Tiger Woods is in my house

He arrived a couple of hours ago in the form of a Christmas gift from the dog.

Another iPhone shot

Waiting for my wife and kids at Maudie’s on Lake Austin Boulevard, I shot this one of my pre-lunch companions.  I love Chuy’s, Guero’s, Tres Amigos, Cisco’s, Nuevo Leon and all the Tex-Mex places here in Austin, but if they all went away and Maudie’s was the only one left standing, I’d be just fine, for nothing else but the four things here:  their chips, salsa, queso and margaritas. A plate is a plate…it’s this stuff that creates the separation.  Joe Draker one of my local heroes.

iPhone

So I finally got an iPhone, and as much as I like it, I’m astonished by the quality of the photos it takes.  I say “it,” because there are no settings.  It’s all automatic.  This is the first photo I took with it, today, on 6th Street.  The only Photoshop work done here was to cut the file size in half.  Incredible.  Those people there at Apple may just have a future in computers and stuff.

Chef Josh Watkins’ Heirloom Tomato Salad