March 2007 – Page 2 – Otis & James Photography

TBWMYF v.2 :: The Family Mack Edition!

Whadda do? I’m not sure that I really know what that means, or if I’m ever going to truly understand what that means, but I do declare it the spot that we shall jump off at. You see, my Goodly People of the Blog, you have got to start somewhere with these things, and I’m always looking for a new way to do it. Kind of like when Dan Rather wanted to sign off his newscast with the word ‘Courage’, and we really didn’t know what it was all about other than to think that good ol’ Dan was kind of off his rocker, but it didn’t really change how we felt about him, ’cause the news still seemed pretty solid (well, then there was that whole ‘What’s the frequency Kenneth?’ thing, and that does seem a little odd, but I still like him), so ‘Whadda Do’† seems like as good a thing to say as anything else.

Alas, my Faithful of the Blog (FOB’s..not to be confused with ‘Friends of Bill’, and I’m talking about instructors at Minot State, not Clinton), I have not come here to speak of straight nonsense here, I have come to you today to tell you the good news that doors of FunCenter opened up, and into our lives came The Family Mack!

We had a wonderous time working with this truly wonderful family, and when it came time for the shoot to end, our hearts filled with a little sadness. Before any of us could shed tears, however, we all had a moment of sweet realization that we would always have the blog to hold our memories, and they can always schedule more appointments if their o&j jones creeps up again.

MuchLove & ManyThanks (did you see, I switched it up a little bit there!) to The Family Mack for brightening up FunCenter, and to my FOB’s – Enjoy!

†Stolen From MSUM Students. Go Dragons.

TBWMYF v.1 :: The Samuel Edition.

If perhaps, you were to stop by the FunCenter at some point during this past week or two here, then perhaps (and, I know I’m rocking the word ‘perhaps’ right now, but ‘perhaps’ I’m just going to keep on using it until I think that it’s wore out its welcome…and I’m thinking that this is not going to happen any time soon) you would have had the goodlygreat pleasure of witnessing the righteous shoot of one man, one person, one good soul (in case you’re wondering, I’m talking about the same person here, not three people…you gotta stick with me here people, my mind is ablaze) that goes by the name of Samuel.

This person (and, could that sound any more clinical? It sounds as if I’m writing up notes for a scientific study, and I assure you…I am no scientist, but I will admit that I often times wear a lab coat and demand that the FunCenter Underlings ((and unless your name is Jamie, you fall into this category)) call me Doctor, but enough about me, let’s get back to the subject matter here) came into our lives to partake in a little ditty that we like to call, ‘Senior Snaps’, ‘Senior Pics’, or ‘supersweetlyseniorsnaps.’ Any of the titles will work.

He waltzed on in (and people, I’m speaking with what I like to call ‘flowery language’ here, he did not actually come dancing in like some sort of an extra from ‘Guys & Dolls’) to the Center for FunCenter Research (which, is like a mirror looking into itself) and tore it up, all crazy like. He actually tore the studio in half. I’m kidding. Again, I’m using colorful language (does that mean that I’m swearing?) to tell you that we had a great time working with Samuel, and the goods that were got were worthy to be called sweetlysweet. USDA approved, sweetlysweet.

ManyThanks & MuchLove to Samuel for stopping down and paying us a visit, and to all of my goodly clean people of the blog – Enjoy!

This Blog Will Melt Your Face (TBWMYF).

Alright now. I’m sure that some of you out there in the land of blog have thought that our virtual society has fallen into some post-apocolyptic world in which there is no longer a strong central government. I know that it has felt like our land of blog society has been falling to pieces, and I’m also sure that some of you have even been thinking that it was going to turn into some sort of a bad Kevin Costner movie around here (come to think of it, is there really any other kind?)

These thoughts of Costner aside, I come to you today, at this fine hour to let you know that your benevolent dictator is back. Law and Order have been restored to the land of blog. The hooligans that have been marching through our idylic community (Brittany, spell check that for me, I don’t have time for such mundane things, I’m busy saving the blog here) have been sent back to college, where soonly enough the fire in their bellies that rails against the injustice of the world will be replaced with a fire in their belly for money, and a house in the Burbs.

These thoughts of turning into our parents aside, I invite you to sit back, feel free to unlock your doors and take the plywood off the windows, relax, and prepare you to have your faces melted off by what is about to occur. Because, this blog…will melt your face off.

Peace Yo.

Megan & Chase!

Dig now, if you will. I think that a Prince song starts like that. Wait..something like, ‘Dig if you will a picture’. Yes. Prince. I like that, very much. Dig if you will, my peeps of blog, a picture. Dig if you will, many pictures. Many happy beautiful pictures, and this time these pictures that I want you to dig are of a wonderous couple that we, for conversation sake, shall come to know as Megan & Chase!

They came down to Center For Fun & The Study of The Effects of Helium Exposure To Create Funny Voice (CFF&TSOTEOHETCFV) to get some sweetlysweet e.pics! Now, if you don’t mind here, I’m going to take a moment for us all to go down a road that I like to call ‘Digression Avenue’ (I almost wrote ‘Transgression Avenue’, but I don’t know if all you all really want to go down that road with me quite yet). Now, your old Uncle Otis (aging by the minute), due to his actions during the majority of the 1990’s and the first few years of the 2000’s, his memory can get…well…we’ll just call it ‘kind of hazy.’ And sometimes, when writing these entries, he has to (and yes, I do love refering to myself in the third person – I feel so much more official, or creepy, or something like that) rely upon notes that are scrawled on various surfaces (his hand, forehead, etc.). And sometimes, he gets the det’s (that’s kØØlio speak for ‘details’) all mixed up. Names, dates, times, etc., all fall into a strange realm of no return, and your Uncle Otis starts to get liberally relaxed with all the info.

Now, I’m sure that most of you are sitting there in your comfortable houses and homes and what not of Blogville wondering what this has to do with anything. Well, let me give it to you straight, my fellow people of blog. I am going to say that the one and only, the ever-lovely Megan & Chase came down to Center of Fun for some sweetlysweet e.pics (and for all of you that are still living in the land of ‘squaresville’, that means ‘engagement photo-graphs’), but there is a pretty good chance that they just came down for bf/gf shots (and people, please…I’m not going to explain to you what those abbrev’s mean), and if that’s the case, then I’m going to be starting some pretty crazy rumors about this wonderous couple. I’ve always wondered what the consequences would be if I were to confuse something like that. Like, what if I were to make this mistake, and the next day their parents were to look at bloggityblog and suddenly find themselves thinking that they have been left out of the loop on some pretty seriously big news…but alas…that is not the case with this gor-ge-ous couple.

You see, while I’ve been typing this epically longwinded post, I’ve done a little bit of research, and I have a verdict for you. Yes, they are getting married. Yes, these are e.pics. But I knew all of this already, I just needed to fully activate my brain, and I soonly realized that we are even going to have the goodly great pleasure of working with Megan & Chase on their wedding day! HipHop…Hooray!

Well, the Gettysburg Address was shorter than this, and I do believe that it is time for us to put all of these words to bed, and get to the goods..and thats the samplesnaps. MuchLove & ManyThanks to Megan & Chase for stopping down to Center of Fun for the snaps, and to all of my constituents out there in land of blog – Enjoy!

The Family Mappes!

Yo Yo Yo. Time to break it down all crazy like and get down and funky (I know…trust me…I know this is probably one of the lamest starts to a post ever, but you gotta work with me here people, you gotta trust me that I’m gonna take this train that is careening off of the tracks and am going to safely steer it back to the promised land of Blogville…work with me, peeps…work with me), as I’m about to give you – my fellow people of the blog – some sweet and goodly photographic goodness that I shall from this moment on, and from all moments on, for that matter, call The Family Mappes!

Behold, my friendlyfriends (really now, I must stop creating my new words as I fear my communication skills are falling into some weird other world that I fear I will ne’er be able to escape from…uhhhhh…where was I…oh yes…friendlyfriends), the glass doors to the Center For The Study of Fun & Butchery Training (CFTSOF&BT) opened up, and this incredibly righteous family bounded into our lives, and transformed our studio from an ordinary and average place, to an extraordinary and above-average place!

How, you may or may not be currently asking yourselves, did they do this? The answer, quite simply, is this: They did it by just being themselves! Whoa. Did I just turn this into some sort of a life lesson (and, by the way, every time that I type the word ‘lesson’, I always type the word ‘lesion’ the first time…kind of a different meaning if I were to type ‘life lesion’…The More You Know, huh?), because if I did, I truly apologize. But, ’tis true.

They came into our lives, tore it up in the FunCenter, and then went about their merry ways. All that we have to remember this time with is some wonderful photographic goodness. We shall always have that. Well, I think that instead of all these words talking about the goods, we need to actually take a look at some of the photographic goodness, and collectively marvel in the wonder of it all!

MuchLove to FamilyMappes for coming on down to FunCenter, and to all my beautiful people of blog – Enjoy!

Mason, Tianna & Patty!

Now, now, my peeps of blogville, do not think that I have forgotten about you. Oh no, my friends, quite the opposite is true, as you have never been far from my thoughts…far from my mind. In fact, I’ve been thinking that it’s been far too long since we have seen some sweetlysweet snaps, and I do declare that tonight, we shall see an example of what I so convolutedly speak of.

I invite you now to sit, and prepare yourselves for some beauty that goes by the names of Mason, Tianna & Patty! You see, the FunCenter opened up the doors at some point in our not all that distant past and welcomed this wonderful group to our warm and inviting confines! We could have asked for no better peeps than this wonderslyawesome family to brighten up our day!

It was as if a breath of fresh air and springtime love filled the FunCenter to the brim when they hiphopped their way on in, and we couldn’t have been any more happy to work with them! Well, I’m not sure if any of what my fingers hammered out makes any sense, so I will break it down for you like this:

Mason, Tianna, & Patty: Rocked.
FunCenter: Much happier with them.
Peeps of Blogville: Been missing you & loving you!

Now, we should say thank you to this family for coming down to the FunCenter and giving us some of their sweet & prescious time, and to all of you – my patient peeps in the land of blog – Enjoy!

Hailee!

And then we had the totally awesome experience of working with a young woman that goes by the name of Hailee! Now, I know that starting a sentence with the word ‘and’ is not really the Kosher way in the tradition of grammar, but I didn’t want to waste any time with all those dumb words that would lead up to me using the word ‘and’.

And the reason why (there I go again)? Because Hailee was just so absolutely and totally awesome to work with that there is no need to give you, my faithful of the blog, any flowery words or ruminations about her beauty. Instead, we just need to get right to the goods, stopping first along the way to give ManyThanks & MuchLove to Hailee and her lovely assistant (Mom) for stopping down to the FunCenter and giving us a little bit of their prescious time.

So, MuchLove & ManyThanks, and to you – my peeps of the blog – Enjoy!

Katie!

Now, one might think (and I’m not sure who this ‘one’ is, and where they claim to be, or how it is they hold some sort of a monopoly on the goings on of the World, or anything else for that matter) that we would eventually hit some sort of a ceiling on the amount of rocking that happens at the Center of Fun, or, as it is more commonly known, the FunCenter. One, however, would be wrong (I do enjoy proving this ‘one’ wrong, and any time that I can do it, I sit back and relish the moment, all the while enjoying a hot dog with relish, and there is no pun or coincidence going down, it is just how I like to enjoy these moments), as the amount of rocking going on at said FunCenter only keeps on keeping on, and their is no end in sight.

Take, for example, the one & only, the talented & lovely Katie! She graced us with her presence at some point during the not so distant past, and she did so not just out of the goodness of her heart, but also because she knew that the setting for ‘Rock’ at the Center for Fu…I mean FunCenter has been stuck at 11 for the past two years now.

I will admit, there are times when it would seem, when the mythical ‘one’ might think that we would like a break from the constant hard rocking ways of this Center for Fun I have spoke of. Again, however, ‘one’ would be wrong. It is as if we are at a never-ending concert with the hardest rocking bands of all time. That’s just how crazy it can get.

I digress. We are not here to think of the worlds greatest concert, and how it would affect the future of civilization. No, my friends, we are here to say MuchLove & ManyThanks to Katie for stopping by the FunCenter and spreading some sunshine our way! And, to all of my faithful of the blog getting all antsy for another post – Enjoy!

Neil!

Next up on the Otis & James Cavalcade of Good Times and Friendly Faces Tour 2007 (O&JCOGTAFFT2K7) was none other than our main man Neil!

I’m sure that you, out there in the land of blog might be asking yourselves what it is about Neil that allows him to have the classification of being a ‘main man’ of Otis & James, and I completely understand this wondering. I will now explain. You see, many years ago, Neil signed up for the Main Man Club at o&j. It was only $19.95 to join, and not only did you receive ‘Main Man’ status, but you also got (yes, I’m aware this is a bad sentence) yourself a subscription to Cat-Fancy Magazine and a complimentary dinner at Mr. Steak. All of that, and only $19.95! Amazing!

So, uhhhhhh…I don’t know what I was saying there. I’m assuming that like all things I have written, it was incredibly important and probly changed your life. Taking this point into consideration, let us now take some SweetSeconds to ponder that which was and is none other than Neil.

Ponder.
Ponder.
Ponder.

Alright. We are done pondering, now we shall express thanks with a jubilant heart (does it sooud like I should be standing in a pulpit as I say that sentence?) to Neil for giving us some of his prescious time, and let us also give thanks for all the people of blog out there waiting ever so patiently to see more of the colorful pictosnaps they enjoy so much! We are surrounded by good peeps, good fortune, and good pizza! I love cats too! Without any further delay, I present…Neil – Enjoy!

Nathaniel!

Alright now, my people of blog, I know that it has been a long time coming, and my usage of comma’s is bordering on insanity right now, but we’re back for another installment of some supersweet blog entries. Come with me, as I clean the cobwebs from my brain, and scrape the rust from my fingers all in the name of bringing the goods, the unqualified goods, I’m not sure that the word ‘unqualified’ actually works there…hold on…I’m gonna check Webster and see what he says…yes…the verdict is yes…in this situation the word will work…’without reservation or limitation; total’…thank you, Webster, and I’m not talking about the Webster from the el lameo 80’s television show of the same name, I owe him no thanks whatsoever, but all of this, these words, this nonsensical run-on sentence, none of this pertains to the matter at hand. And that is (and again, I’m fully aware that I should not start a sentence with the word ‘and’, so please save your grammar judgements for someone that cares) none other than the man of the moment, and I’m talking about none other than Nathaniel.

Nathaniel. You got it.

What kind of words can I use to describe this man? How about sweet…well…I don’t want you to think that I’m trying to say that he was sugary sweet…because that might make him feel kind of weird about the whole thing, and about me. I mean sweet. Like, sweet. Dead sweet. Totally sweet. Got it?

In actuality, I don’t expect you to have got much of what has just gone on here. So, instead of continuing some sort of a crazy word jumble, let us now put this all behind and say ManyThanks & MuchLove to Nathaniel for stopping down to the FunCenter for some righteous SeniorSnaps. And to you, my person of blog out there on an evening so fine – Enjoy!