Campfire story? Cumbaya who?

Call this a shot in the dark, but I gave up rather quickly on my last attempt to create a collaborative story. Fear not, though! I have not given up entirely, my vigor has been renewed, my ambitions recast, my future (if you believe in free will) turned down a new path.

Imagine we're all around a campfire. Picture a duraflame log, a firestarter, or even the dragon Smaug from "The Hobbit" helping to keep the campfire going on this eternal night. Picture a beer in your left hand and a carved stick with a hot dog or marshmallow speared on the end in your right, and imagine that someone starts a story. Me. But this story isn't going around in a circle, it goes to whoever wants to pick it up. Here are the rules:

1. You add to the story by posting to the comments (if you're reading this in email format, you have to go to the blog to post, here), once a story is completed, I'll compile everything and repost so no clicking has to be done. I'll edit the compilation, so to speak.
2. A story will go on as long as it has to, and end only when it should. There is no time limit or amount of additions.
3. You can add as little as a sentence and as much as a novel. As far as I'm concerned, there are no constraints. I'm curious to see what happens.
4. If, however unlikely, no one adds on to the story, I will take a deep breath, look around the eternal campfire, and continue myself. I will do this every two weeks, on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month, until the story has signalled its end.
5. Pictures relevant to the story are welcome and needed. If you or anyone you know can draw, hook it up!
6. No cuss words. These are family stories people! Partial nudity is acceptable (pasties and butt shots, no frontals).
7. In the event that you have signed up for the mailing list on this blog and find this idea completely lame, if you hate reading stories or if my writing or anyone else's bores you and you want to be taken off the mailing list, just let me know. I will send assassins to your home at night while you sleep where they will torture you while listening to an eclectic mix of Indian Punjabi music and motivational speaker introductions. No, but seriously, if this annoys you, let me know, and I will have you tortured, I mean I'll take you off the mailing list.

This is a lot to write and then post a story. So keep this in mind as I will be posting the first part of the story this Thursday. In the meantime, stay away from people with crazy hair!

A Picture A Week...

My head has been a city teeming with activity of late. I recently got a digital camera and I'm really excited (almost too excited - pinky to mouth) about my new hobby. So, in the interest of keeping up my posts, I'm going to try to post a picture I like each week. The key word is try. To kick it off, here's two. The second has a story.

"the street where i live" shutter: 1/200 sec - aperture: 9.0 - iso: 100 - lens length: 22.0 mm

"san diego at night" shutter: 2.5 sec aperture: 4.5 iso: 400 lens length: 18.0 mm

The second picture has a story. On a recent trip to San Diego with my brother and Aubrey, I was taking pictures on our hotel balcony of the city, but I had to have the shutter open to get an exposure so i was steadying the camera on the railing. When I took this picture, Aubrey, my better half, was calling me from inside, so I moved the camera halfway through the exposure to go inside. The result is the picture you see, the streaks of light dancing across the frame.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I feel pretty lucky to have someone like Aubrey in my life. Without even knowing it, without even trying, she has this uncontrollable tendency to make things beautiful. Thank you. And thanks to everyone who chipped in on the camera, I am eternally grateful.