Archive for March, 2008

[03.31.08] Monday Night Recap
- March 31, 2008 -

• [Photo Challenge] So today is officially the last day for the photo challenge, but I’ll give a couple day grace period for people to send their images in. It was fun seeing the “yellow” from others perspective. In the next day or so, I’ll post the collection of images that have been sent for the first challenge (and state my ‘favorite’) as well as post the challenge for April. I’m building a new site for the photo challenge to make it easier to view the images and stay up-to-date with the challenge, but that might only be completely later in the year (I’ve got like 5 site designs/re-designs that I’m working on for the year). So if you haven’t sent it yet, SEND YOUR IMAGES NOW!
• [Under the Weather] So over the weekend I came down with a bad cold, which was terrible because I went to visit Madelyn and couldn’t hold her. I put myself on bed-rest yesterday (took a 6 hour nap), and am slowly feeling better. Because of this, I haven’t been able to do my same day / day-after photo posts, but I’ll have something at the end to get you coming back.
• [Home Opener] Today was the home opener for the Chicago Cubs, and how else would we start a season than with a rain delay followed by an extra inning loss? Zambrano pitched a great game, but I guess we just couldn’t finish. Well, it’s only 1 game in a 162-game season, so anything can happen. All this to say - I love BASEBALL!
• [JabbaWockees] As I called it, Jabba won the Best Dance Crew title (so what if all my other assumptions were wrong?). The final show was entertaining, with a great collective performance by Jabba, Kaba and Fish. I expected a much better final routine, but can’t complain…they kept me entertained all season long. I wonder what season 2 will bring- dancers on stilts? Skateboarders?
• [NCAA Tournament] For the first time in history, all four #1 teams made it to the Final Four. Impressive. And with that, there’s still a chance that I can win at least one of the pools I’m in. So this is what I need…Memphis over UCLA, Kansas over UNC (even though I had UNC in the finals for one of brackets), and Memphis winning it all. So everyone wish your good feelings on this…I think I have a free dinner riding on this!
• [Uncle Bob] The term ‘Uncle Bob’ is used among photographer’s to define that person/family member who shows up to weddings and such with their own camera, and normally hangs over the photographer’s shoulders taking all the pictures they set up and such. Now, this can pose a bit of an issue, as the people in the picture sometimes look at his camera, his flash ruins the exposure of your shots, he gets in the way of your picture, etc. Different photographers deal with it differently, and all I ask for people is to just respect the photographer. Many will let you take pictures and such, just follow their directions so that the pro’s pictures (the one the couple paid for) turn out the way they expect.
  I bring this up because this past weekend was my friend’s engagement ceremony, and they hired a photographer friend of mine, Kenny Nakai, to shoot the event. At the end of it he was going through formal portraits with everyone, and I just thought it was hilarious seeing all the other cameras. He did a great job letting people get their pictures while making sure he got his as well. Normally you’re looking through your own camera and you don’t notice it, but this is what the photographer is dealing with.

And possibly my favorite…

So for all you guests at events, try to steer clear of the photographer’s way as much as possible, and for all you photographers working Indian events, get ready for 15 other photographers alongside you

[03.24.08] Monday Night Recap
- March 24, 2008 -

• [Easter] Quite possibly my favorite holiday. It really refocuses me, and helps me put everything in perspective. I hope everyone had a blessed Easter!
• [NCAA Tourney] And this is quite possibly the least productive weekend for me all year. This first weekend is the most exciting, tracking teams that I’ve never watched before. And like always, I have a few teams that lead most of the game, blow the second half, and totally mess up my brackets (thank you Georgia, Clemson). I’m still fighting strong, though, but hanging out a thread.
• [NCAA Tourney #2] I’ve made 6 different brackets, and am in 4 different pools (4 on ESPN, 1 on Facebook, 1 on Yahoo Sports). The hard thing is it takes so much effort to figure out who to cheer for! I might have one team winning in one pool but losing in another. Then I waste so much time figuring out which one is most worthwhile to win so I can win a pool…and then I need to think about which pool I have the best chance of winning, and so forth and so on. It’s tough! I need to figure out a better way to do this next year so it’s not so mind boggling.
• [Dance Crew] It happened. Jabba Wockees and Kaba Modern split the Asian vote, which kept Status Quo safe last week. Which meant Jabba and Kaba went head-to-head, causing Kaba to go home. It’s very sad- they should have both been in the finals this week. Ah well, now it’s up to Jabba to take care of the high-flying antics of Status Quo.
• [Photo Challenge] Just a reminder that there’s less than week to get your submissions in for the March Photo Challenge (Yellow). Keep shooting and get them in fast!
• [Perception] Check out this video:
  
  Did it work? It gets me thinking on so many levels…Leave a comment whether “it worked on you” or not. I’d love to get some stats on this thing.
• [Spring Break] Only in Chicago is there a ’snow storm’ during Spring Break. Luckily (or unluckily, I guess), the corporate world doesn’t have spring breaks, so it didn’t really hurt me too much. Still sad though. But high schoolers have this week off, which should be nicer for them. Congrats!
• [Madelyn] Might as well throw some pictures in this post, huh? Enjoy!

Her eyes are HUGE!

Big sister Alexis will obviously still get her picture too…

Madelyn with daddy…

She started getting a little camera shy, I think…that can’t be a good sign

Big sister is doing a good job helping take care of Madelyn as well…

And that’s the end of that photoshoot! Let me know if you get sick of these (not that I’ll stop, but it’s still nice to get some feedback ).

Hello Madelyn!
- March 19, 2008 -

I know I said I probably wouldn’t blog again this week, but I just need to get this announcement out. I’m an uncle again! On Wednesday, March 19, 2008 at 12:02pm, my sister gave birth to her second daughter, Madelyn Joy. A little bit after I started work I got a phone call saying they were at the hospital, but my sister was walking around and such so no real hurry (I thought). A few hours later, I get a call saying I have another niece! I mean, seriously?! Who said this pregnancy thing was tough? [Totally kidding...]
Well, just wanted to post a few pics of the newest one to whet your palette. I’m excited to have a new model…you’ll be seeing plenty of pictures of her in the near future!

bonus notes:
- About a week and a half left in the photo challenge! Get your images in to challenge@nmathaiphotography.com.

- Last time to create your NCAA brackets is noon on Thursday, so go to ESPN, fill out a bracket, and join the nmathai photography group! HURRY!

Happy (early) Easter everyone!

[03.17.08] Monday Night Recap
- March 17, 2008 -

• [Illinois] After a disappointing season, I was thoroughly impressed that they made to the Big 10 Finals. I mean, they were a 10 seed going in expected to lose the first game, and came one game short of an NCAA Tourney birth. Rough season, but well played at the end (minus the last game…a little disappointed).
• [Tourney Time] It’s finally here! So, I really haven’t followed college ball this season at all, but I’m still excited for the tourney. Brackets are out so start building yours! I’ve created a public group on ESPN so make a bracket and join up. It doesn’t matter what you know of the game - I used to watch the games religiously in college and still couldn’t be in the top 50% of any tournament. Hurry, brackets get locked on Thursday, March 20th!
• [Girlfriend] She’s Back! She’s on her spring break now, and it’s rough that it’s during Passion Week as my evenings are busier and I still work days (I wish we got a spring break), but we were able to hang out Saturday evening. We watched this movie called Margot at the Wedding (her choice) starring Nicole Kidman…I was lost the whole time. I really don’t think there was much of a plot or character development…it did take up quite a bit of time. I think I actually fell asleep a bit too. Ah well, better luck next time.
• [Vantage Point] Yesterday we celebrated my brother-in-law’s brother’s 30th birthday. My goodness have we all grown up. After dinner with the family, a couple of us went out and watched Vantage Point with Dennis Quaid and Forest Whitaker. I’m not going to ruin it for you guys, but it’s an interesting concept but could have been written a lot better. A lot of details could have been added to make it a top movie…for now, it’s just ‘decent’. But definitely better than that Margot movie…definitely.
• [Passion Week] A bit late as yesterday was Palm Sunday, but we are now in Passion Week, remembering the week up through Jesus’ crucifixion on the cross followed by His resurrection. I’ll be busy most nights with church stuff so I probably won’t be able to blog much. In any case, wanted to get this resource out to you all - it’s a collection of bible passages that account Jesus’ last week. It’ll be a good way to reflect during this week.

#7 (2 of 12)
- March 11, 2008 -

March Photo Challenge: Yellow

This post is long overdue, but I’ve finished my second book in my race of 1 book a month for 2008, “UnChristian”. Like I stated in an earlier post, I’ve already started my next book which is “Never Eat Alone.” For now, a recap:

I was pretty excited/interested getting into this book. The premise of it is seeing how a new generation view “Christians” and the Christian faith. As a whole, its a very interesting topic, with a lot of research put behind it. A lot more research than I expected. Much of the book was stating the results of different surveys that were given, from how people view different issues pertaining to Christianity. Although it was more stats than I would have liked, there were some interesting points brought up:

• Christians seem to be too concerned with a “Get Saved” mentality, trying to convert the world and not really caring for the individual. (What happens after they ‘get saved’?
• Those outside of the faith have a smaller community of friends who do not follow the same belief. (If they are called to reach the unreached, why aren’t they interacting with them regularly?)
• There’s a perception that Christians do not live in ‘reality’…they don’t understand what’s going on the world, how society is run, and the likes. (It’s not as perfect as they make it seem).

Now, I don’t agree with every conclusion that was brought on through the research, but there are a great amount of points that need reflecting on.

Apart from Christianity, this is an important concept for people to think about. How do those around you perceive you, your community, your business? Where is the truth behind the statements? How can you change the perceptions that you are giving off so people get a true look at who you (your community | your business) really is?

And as a fun addition, here are a few images on my walk home from work today, with some fun processing. With the weather getting better, I’m excited to finally have more opportunities to get the outdoor shots that aren’t just snow!

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