Little Money on the Side

Novemeber 5, 2007

Well, my co-worker and splendid friend Dusty got engaged in late October. Although there were many other options for him when it came to finding someone to take his engagement pictures, he decided to ask me. I admit I was a little apprehensive at first. To start with, I am not a big fan of taking pictures of people (I will spare you the reasons why). But, because I work with him I thought it was the least I could do. So this past weekend I met Dusty and Angela in Fayetteville, and we headed to the U of A campus. It was the perfect day for with all of the leaves at their peak in color.

All in all they were happy with the results and I officially had my first paying gig.I got to use my major after all! I even got to climb a tree to get some pictures from a different angle. It helps taking pictures of someone you work with. Below are some of the pictures. I had a little photoshop fun with a couple of them.

The Jens, the Hogs, and Me

November 4, 2007

"Go Hogs Go!" I can't even count the number of times I said those three little words this weekend. If you need to know one thing about Northwest Arkansas, know that it is filled with University of Arkansas Razorback fans and they are loud and proud. This weekend I found myself in the midst of it all.

It all started with a call from my roommate Jenny who had 4 tickets to the Razorback men's basketball game and was having trouble finding people to go. Having been in Arkansas for two years now I thought it was time to step it up and expand my horizons.

By game time Jenny found two other people to come with us, Jen and Jennifer. During the game, Jennifer (one of those fans I mentioned above) began to teach us the many lessons of what it means to be a true Razorback fan which included learning all the cheers. (All the Jens pictured above)

That lesson was only the beginning for me. After seeing the Hogs hammer West Florida with a final score of 117 to 43. Jennifer asked me if I would like to join her the following evening for a Razorback Football game. How could I pass up an invitation like that. Little did I know what I was in for....

I would say that I am pretty familiar with football. I went to all the games in High School. I understand what is happening. I even know some of the signals that the referees give. That is pretty good considering the University I graduated from didn't have a football team.

I have watch countless football games on TV put that really didn't prepare me for this live experience. This was the last home game of the season, so the stadium was packed with over 70,000 people full of Razorback team spirit. With Jennifer, the hard core fan that she is, sitting ( I should say standing) on my left and a pregnant lady with a high pitched yelling voice on my right; the excitement became contagious as the Hogs had a 21 to 3 lead over South Carolina by the end of the first quarter.

By then I was among the many that called the Hogs several times, shouted "Pig Souie" (can't say I ever yelled that before), and was programed to respond "First down" when the announcer said, "and that makes it a Razorback". And of course no cheer education would be complete without doing all the motions.

As the game went on, their were brief moments when the fans got a little ugly. It was a tight game so every mistake had the potential of being costly. In the end the Hogs held for a 48 - 36 win lead by Darren McFadden rushing 323 yards and Felix Jones rushing 174 yards.

Even though my right ear drum felt like it was beaten to a pulp, all in all it was a great, Hog filled experience. I am by no means a sold out fan, but I find that I have a little better view of why some people are.

A Big thanks to Chuck and Jennifer for sharing their season tickets and making this experience possible.