Wayne Thume

I had to delay my December posting because something happened on November 23rd that ended up changing my life completely. This website BLOG was intended to chronicle some of my hobbies but most of them got pushed aside as I spent the majority of the month with a new woman in my life. I'm not going to share any details but I at least wanted to post something for the month.

November has been a busy month. The photo is from a Photoshop Photography seminar I went to with co-worker Dung Phan in Baltimore. I've been to several but it was really nice to have Dung along to talk to and to try different photos with.

I also got some good photos in Ocean City this month although the one that got the most attention was the one I took of Thrashers French Fries. There's something about hot beach fries on a cold day that appeals to everyone.

This is also the month that I started a search engine optimization course. As a result, I have redone my entire website and added this BLOG diary. I still have a lot of work to do but I wanted to use my website to test some of the techniques I've learned.

Had a great visit with M. Joyce Zeigler and her husband Frank at their home in Ridgely. I took some photos of her art and got a bowl of soup, a bag of cookies, and the warm feeling you get from being around exceptionally nice people.

Then my whole life changed on November 23 on the boardwalk in Ocean City (but I didn't quite know it at the time)

In October I got to visit Landis Valley Pennsylvania for the first time in at least 20 years. Rene and I went up and met my parents at the Landis Valley Museum. Once a year they have people doing all the different crafts and it is very popular.

This month I also created a website for local artist, Roberta Seger

My nephew Randy wanted me to take him to DC for his birthday present so we went to the Holocaust Museum (his choice) and then to the Hard Rock Cafe for his favorite lunch of burgers and fries. Then we walked up to Chinatown and then we took the METRO to Union Station where he got some more fries at Johnny Rockets. Then we walked from there past the Capital, the Supreme Court, and the Library of Congress before heading home. Hopefully one day (after his teen years) he'll be able to tell me if he liked any of the things I've shown him on our trips together.

I also got a wonderful opportunity to photograph a Quaker quilt at the Third Haven Friends Meeting House in Easton, Maryland Frank and Joyce Zeigler are both members of the meeting house and gave me a tour of houses and grounds while I was there. The meeting house was built in 1684 and has simple beauty an intense peaceful and calming atmosphere.

I can't express how much I enjoyed the photography workshop I took this month in Tennessee. The worshop was presented by Chris Marquardt, a prominent photographer and podcaster. I also got to meet Geoff Smith an entertainer and businessman who's work I have admired for years. Too much happened to go into it here but take a look at my Nashville Photo Set to at least see some of the stuff I did.

Another great part of the trip was getting to visit friends of my parents, Jesse and Iva Taylor. They took me around the area they live. Then they took me to Lynchberg where we got to visit the Jack Daniel's distilerty and then we went to Bell Buckle, Tennessee for lunch. The food they fed me was great; I wish I had visited them many years sooner.

And if the month wasn't exciting enough, I got to spend a couple more days in Ocean City with Rene and Dreama. All in All, a very good month.

My nephew, Joe Horton, got picked for the local South Caroline Little League All-Star team this year and his team won in their division and got to go to Waldorf to play in the Little League state championships in Waldorf, MD. I was lucky enough to get to see some of his games and to take pictures.

This was a month of great self accomplishment for me. I've been working with local artist, Roberta Seger to create a book of her oil paintings. We've been working on it for the past year off and on so it was great to finally get the book done and published. My work was mostly scanning and color correcting slides of art and then putting that together with all the text from Bobbie Seger. Besides being talented, she is a fun person to work with and she can put up with me teasing her on occasion. I just love the way the project evolved and ended up being a book we are both very pleased with.