Basics

Basics, originally uploaded by lucienphoto.

I just saw a WalMart commercial on TV. WalMart saves you money by not paying enough to the vendors that provide the goods to you. We get caught in the trap of getting a deal, but we forget about the vendor who might be our neighbor. Each one of us that is so eager to save a few pennies might want to think about how this affects your neighbor and your neighborhood.

Feelings

4449, originally uploaded by lucienphoto.

We have all understood that Justice Sotomayor should not introduce feelings into any argument in which law prevails. She may not have feelings about civil rights. She should not have feelings about women's issues. She should have a blind eye towards justice and precedents because the law is all about objectivity, until we start the discussion about abortion. Her opinion about this topic is paramount. We need to know which way she might be leaning and I suppose the best way to ferret this information out of her is to explore her feelings on the topic. Sordid awful feelings. What makes abortion so very different? We did not talk about capital punishment yet. We did not talk about health care. Just the A bomb. OK

Fairy Tales

, originally uploaded by lucienphoto.

Sometimes when life is kicking your teeth in and you feel that you can't trust anyone, you just have to take a leap of faith. Do what you want; laugh at the folly of struggle. I have been listening to the confirmation hearings for Sonia Sotomayor. I am appalled at the rancor and vituperative nature of the questions and accusations. Pomposity and arrogance abound here. There are those who would actually postulate that The Supreme Court of the United States of America merely applies the law that Congress writes. That the law is immutable. If so immutable, why do we now have the abolition of slavery, women as whole citizens, abortion rights, civil rights and voting rights that were previously prohibited.

Sonia Sotomayor is a product of her history, culture and socioeconomic status. We all are. To pretend otherwise is foolishness. Each and everyone of our justices applies the law based on education, experiences, political beliefs, social awareness and a combination of other factors.

If the law were so objective, there would be little need to squabble about one's personal philosophy. If the law were totally objective, we could simply review rulings made and opinions offered by justices. If the law were not red nor blue, we could simply apply an objective test. But corrections have been made. The lower courts are not always affirmed in opinions and rulings. The court system is about fallible people making decisions about other fallible people.

Dream Sonia Sotomayor that your fairy tale can come true. It can happen to you. Stay young at heart. Know that there are those of us who acknowledge the challenge of impartiality and justice in an unjust and very partial world.

Copper Tones

Copper Tones, originally uploaded by lucienphoto.

Sunday afternoon. I am at the U11 baseball championship game at the park. Thankfully it is not swelteringly hot. We have a gentle cooling breeze. The boys have already given up because they were thumped in the first two innings and are down more that 12 points already. My cell phone buzzes in my pocket. A referral for a few portrait shots. Birthday coming up and wants to have some decent photos. I agree to meet her following my lunch break the following day. We crank out a handful of these cool images and this is what is I think one of the best. Always fun to work with fun people.

Opportunity

Opportunity, originally uploaded by lucienphoto.

Opportunity presents itself to us all the time. Sometimes we acknowledge this; most times we do not even see it. It however exists all around us. Each of us has opportunities to make the world a better place. We can choose to be kind or evil. We can choose to acknowledge our own blessings and assist others or we can be prigs about our righteousness. How do you want to be remembered? As one who took took took and ignored those in need when there was more than enough to go around. Or do you want to be remembered as one who accepts that he is his siblings' keeper.

Since we can't take it with us and the warehouse has plenty, couldn't we all afford to be more generous? Couldn't we let those who serves us have a taste without the fear that it would all be lost?

Cogs in the Machine

Cogs, originally uploaded by lucienphoto.

Some people complain about sunny days. It's just too bright for them. Some complain about the rain even when they are farmers and the soil needs moisture. Some complain about having too much work. Others complain that it is too dry when they are busy scheduling tennis and golf matches. But there are some who can simply appreciate the good things that happen in life. They take joy in the special moments. These are the kind of people I like to be around. They would be happy pigs in a pen with ample mud, or apples patiently waiting on a tree. They do not expect miracles and experience the everyday, the mundane as special. What can you do to magnify the moment?

Fence

Fence, originally uploaded by lucienphoto.

Fences are made to keep somethings in - dogs, construction materials and such. They are also made to keep somethings out - people, thieves, peeking eyes and so on. Every once in a while though, a fence can serve a glorious purpose. This fence was the backdrop and cage for girls softball recently. I loved the soft evening light and the abstract creation of the bats, the batting gloves and the chainlink. I am printing this one large as a memory of the marvelous carefree days of youth. We adults build fences to keep ourselves from life. How are your fences making your life difficult?

Sin Sombra

Sin Sombra, originally uploaded by lucienphoto.

Sin sombra means "shadowless" in Spanish. I originally created this piece with a small shadow hanging over the window. Sometime later I learned that the transparency that we hoped for in the new administration will have lots of places for shadows. It seems that there have been such detestable atrocities at the behest of the US military and intelligence organizations that the expected transparency is becoming opaque. Opaque can be shadowless, though. Darkness can certainly be shadowless since one needs some light to create shadows. If we are to become something other than a shadow of our former selves, we have to be willing to look in all the dark and creepy places where we have tolerated evil; contemplated marginal morality, and turned our heads in the interest of a "post 9-11" world security structure. If we simply become what we have detested all along, all the shadows will be free to roam the earth. That would be Hell instead of Heaven. I'm just saying...!

Spring

Untitled, originally uploaded by lucienphoto.

Arrives here in the northern latitudes. We get beautiful days and cool evenings. We have almost no bugs yet. Life is good. This is an example of a flower from a natural light/available light workshop I organized this most recent month. Flowers make such great subjects because they don't usually move. Color is almost always an issue too. This time was late afternoon (golden hourish) and slightly overcast. Couldn't really ask for more.

People Get Angry

Mamiya M645 1000s, originally uploaded by lucienphoto.

My wife is angry with me...she knows why, but is not ready to talk with me. My son is angry because I turned off the TV while he was doing his math homework last night (he is struggling a bit with word problems). My daughter is angry with me. She could have a couple of reasons. I caught her whispering on her cell phone long after lights out last night and told her it stays upstairs for the rest of the week. Or she could be upset that I stopped for coffee this morning and chose not to buy her a smoothie just before I drop her off at school. Little did it matter that we were just leaving her early (really early morning orthodontics appointment in which I am told she should use the rubber bands. Nor did she have any of her own recently earned money from shoveling snow and doing laundry ( 1 load). Of all the nerve. How could I deny her this smoothie.

Work sucks. I am tired. Perhaps I should get angry with myself and stop trying so hard to do everything for everyone.

!

!, originally uploaded by lucienphoto.

Tragedy. In light of Black History Month I wanted us all to see what challenges to our existence there are. This young man in Nigerian by culture and parentage, but he was born here in the US. We need to give our children love and support. We need to give them hope. We need to be their refuge in their struggle. We too often fail because we want to mimic and be like the mainstream society. We can't. We must create and re-create our own history; our own culture and traditions.

Still Life

Still Life, originally uploaded by lucienphoto.

2nd sick day this week...sniffly, sneezy, kind of want to sleep all day sick. But I had time to think about the state of the world and the state of life as we know it.

I have had time to think about the bonuses that the CEOs paid themselves. I have had time to think about bailouts and executive salaries. I have had time to laugh about the music and the football game and so much stuff.

Living the Dream

Living the Dream, originally uploaded by lucienphoto.

I almost left without the family. Even though I had already told them that this MLK day was a very special one to me and that it was part of an ultra historic week for me. They wanted to hang out, watch TV and play video games. Even after we got there the magnitude of the moment continued to elude them. This was the culmination of the dream. The talent was only mediocre. I had attended better organized events. The mood in the salon though was electric. People of all income strata, ethnic groups and political ideologies waiting for the birth of this new era of hope.

Here are the faces of the new era. Faces and neighborhoods no longer divided along racial lines. A new place in which we practice loving our neighbors as ourselves. A time when we can truly believe that all men and women are brothers and sisters. Adelante.

This is one man's perspective on the best three days of 2009. Day one is MLK Day; Day two is the inauguration of Barak Obama; Day three is my 52nd birthday.

The Blue Room

The Blue Room, originally uploaded by lucienphoto.

It has been a tough week. Sick kids; lots of court activity; school conferences; volleyball playoffs. I am exhausted, but I wanted to share this gem with you all. The blue lights and the b/w print on the wall. Seem to be from two different worlds. I think that is what caught my attention.

Optimum Color

Optimum Color, originally uploaded by lucienphoto.

Today is one of those now blended holidays that we have. Too many days off from our increasingly need-to-be productive jobs. We would hate to admit that maybe we already have enough of this and that. That we have enough time and food and clothing and such. Those lucky few of us who have the day may feel the need to fill our deliciously free time with activities - working out, cleaning, shopping, or some other kind of pro-Calvinist superior work ethic kind of activity. What about just relaxing today? Sitting in front of a warm fireplace? What about curling up in bed with a good book and your favorite beverage? What about catching up on the sleep that so many of us find ourselves truly deprived of?

I am sitting and having my second cup of coffee and watching the people as they come and go. Stilletos and tight jeans here. Close fitting chic leather. Upscale fitting of an Uptown Starbucks. Trendy but not gauche.

These leaves are for my camera club digital salon submission. I stopped and took these just yesterday on my way to work. Just a few contemplative minutes in one of my old bicycle haunts. Woodsy but not wooded. Robber baron mansions high on the hill in Minneapolis. Beautiful homes. One not to far from where Mary Tyler Moore "lived" in the 70s here in Minneapolis.

It is a crisp morning with warnings of approaching storms. That likely means cold and snow here, but it is time. I think Minneapolis deserves a rest; a good holiday. Enjoy!

JL

I took a chance and followed up on her casting call. I was certain she would dismiss me as amateur but we were able to schedule a session. Good thing, because it is certainly too cold now for the fun kind of shoot we had three weeks ago. Leaves were aglow with color. Slightly cloudy; partly sunny, depending on your perspective. This image came from the end of the shoot. Wooded, covered and in need of a skosh of fill-flash.

Dancin' in the Streets

Circus Portrait, originally uploaded by lucienphoto.

I have a dream today." - Martin Luther King


There will be dancin' in the streets. Change is coming.

Back to Writing

I took the summer and most of the fall off. It has been a crazy few months here. My father has been in and out of the hospital. My mother's issues have not become better, and in fact, have gotten worse. The Nazi just keeps doing what she does best. Disinformation is the word for the day. My job is really quite difficult right now. It is harder and harder. Each day takes an extreme emotional toll.

I look forward to getting back to more information sharing.

Needs

We just returned from what is supposed to have been a truly relaxing time. My wife's family converged upon this quiet lake in northern Wisconsin to celebrate the unique flavor and attitude of this family. From Florida, California (San Diego, San Jose, and Sonoma), Wisconsin and Minnesota. Three generations of this family together. I guess I am about to get into the middle of the maelstrom now, so I will have to return to these thoughts later.

Random Moments

We have to prove that we are working on or addressing Child Welfare issues in order to get federal funding for our position. So let me briefly tell you about my day on Tuesday. It was the second day of scheduled trial. We did not meet on Monday for reasons yet unclear to me. The attorneys finagle most of this anyway. But Tuesday morning we are ready to start testimony at 8:30 a.m. But someone isn't there. Lots of hostile people waiting in the large unenclosed space outside the courtroom. The prospective adoptive families are waiting; the mother and the two fathers are waiting with their individual and collective support persons. There is an advocate from the transitional housing program. There are grandmothers who have not been willing to care for the kids. There is a sibling to one of the fathers, who only recently was reunified with her children. There is conflict in the air because this sibling is the ex-girlfriend of the other father. The sister to this father is dating the brother of the kin foster care provider. Enough yet?

The attorneys start to call this near brouhaha The Jerry Springer Show. I am prepped and ready to go when the county attorney starts to hint that the judge is not likely to TPR the children, especially since one of the fathers has not really done anything wrong. Of course, before this judge took the case, the previous judge informed me that I was not in a position to make decisions or recommendations to address this situation. We could not place this man's daughter with him at that time. Now we are looking at making sure that his rights are protected. So hear this mini-series of a story. His case plan was rather simple - address the domestic violence, complete a chemical health evaluation, and complete both psychological and parenting evaluations. What did he do? Just the psychological evaluation. He is the master of procrastination. The blame goes to everyone but him. He did actually assault his wife. They were on the brink of divorce or separation at some point. They never did any marital counseling. She failed to obtain the OFP and moved in with the other dad's sister (who hates her husband). Almost an agreement now...look at TLC of the children to the FP. Not as good for the kids; not as much a guarantee of consistency and stability, but better than letting these three children - ages 4, 3, and 2, return to the care of this severely dysfunctional family.

Deal falls through. Judge says trial to begin immediately following lunch. We all leave and return to more pointless negotiations. Judge takes the attorneys into chambers where who-knows-what happens, but my attorney comes back with an off-the-wall settlement proposal. Allow the judge to make the decision. This man who knows squat about our case, except what he has seen in recent hearings and what the attorneys have told him in secret, expects to make an informed decision about what is in the children's best interests. You decide for yourself.

Mom has 4 treatment episodes in the last 22 months; has been repeatedly homeless; has been reunified with her children 3 times during that period; has not consistently attended therapy (DBT recommended); allowed a Level 3 sex offender to "store property" (meaning live with her) while she was still working with Child Protection; was involved in a drunken domestic with the father of her two older children (he had not been working his case plan either, obviously); became homeless as a result of the domestic; failed to follow the recommendations for treatment, therapy and domestic abuse intervention; lied to treatment center staff; renewed the relationship with the boyfriend/father of children; failed to get safe and suitable housing (until just one day before the trial); and chose Valley Fair over a regularly scheduled supervised visit with her children. There is more but too much more would not really make our case strong enough.

We go back to court mid-September and the judge will take testimony about the TLC options. Meanwhile mom is now leaving for NYC to attend the wedding of her father. Gone for one entire week, missing two visits with her kids. She has been advised to take a UA before leaving and immediately upon her return.

So in the midst of all this I get a Random Moment e-mail requiring me to respond ASAP to what part of Child Welfare I was engaged in at a particular randomly selected moment. My life almost always is about what is in someone else's children's best interest. Hurry September.