True to my word I started a photoblog..here it is..

http://www.jessicacampbellphotography.blogspot.com.

There once was a post here, but I removed it. Thought it best that I not blog about someone that I might want something to develop with. Friends - I sent you the blog via email and if someone else wants it..just email me.:-)

First things first...my apartment got shot into. Well, not my apartment per se..but my apartment complex. Living in a city. Scary. I am ok for all you out there who care..yes, I got only one phone call to check on me. Check out the story here. Isn't that picture scary..makes it look like I live in the slums..the eerie lighting. Really I guess no where is safe..no matter the area. Anyways, this all got me to thinking about something morbid that many single people..especially those who live alone..have no doubt thought of at one point. (If not prompted by the sex in the city episode where miranda is scared her cat is going to eat her). One friend went through these thoughts after she got sick..and I now contemplate this after my apartment is shot at. How many days would it take for someone to realize I was MIA? Really, I think it could go up 3-4 days. Scary, huh? I made a pack with one friend to do regular checks now, but I need to meet someone just so that if something happens to me I am found.

People..I can not cook cornbread. I have tried and tried. Today I went out and got all the ingredients..bought a cast iron skillet and for the love it still didn't work. I follow the recipe exactly as my mother instructs and still no luck. What is the deal! I opted to fry it on the second batch and it still didn't come out right. I suck at cooking cornbread. That will be my headline if I ever opt to do online date: I suck at baking cornbread but am willing to go to cracker barrel. I am like a dysfunctional southern woman. Shouldn't I have been born with the cornbread cooking gene? What happened? I will try again next week. I have decided that I am going to try at least once a week till I figure out what the heck I am doing wrong. (Note: we are not talking about cornbread from the jif box..although I have messed that up too).

Click on this pic..accidental self-portrait..can you see it??

I did own an iphone..for about 4 days..and then I returned it. It was great. And before you lecture me on how much I spent...especially men out there..let's talk about how much those game systems cost that many of you run out to buy..or those new televisions. Just saying.. a phone has a purpose as much as a tv. So here are Jessica's reasons of why she could not rationalize keeping the iphone:

1. $600 cost - enough said.
2. Battery life - granted this is the first "smart phone" I purchased, but my individual experience was that it had poor battery life. Nearly half bar after less than 30 minutes talk and checking email..granted I was in roaming though. (Which makes your phone drain battery quicker..I was just recently informed).
3. Lacks many basic features that many phones have:

a) camera - now I am most certainly not going to use this camera for major pictures..but it was lacking in features. No zoom, no lighting adjustment, and no flash.
b) no ability to use any ringtones beside the basic tunes. hello..a freaking ipod on the phone and you can't have music ringtones? furthermore the inability to change sounds on texts, and other things, etc.
c) no multimedia messaging. yes, not able to receive or send them.
d) could not send more than one text at a time.
e) i realize it's an apple and i don't know much about apples.but i know they have a comparable thing to word, excel etc - no programs of the such on the handheld.


4. The front is made of glass and there is no insurance. Yes, clumsy Jessica walking around with a phone..that I am no doubt to drop and there I am up the creek and out a lot of money.

5. When I would press to zoom in..it really didn't always do it.

6. My ipod accessories for the house and car did not work with it...so now i just have two ipods because I couldn't sell the other.

7. I found it too bulky to talk on. I felt like I was talking on my old handheld PC.

8. What's the purpose in bluetooth if you really can't use it? Can't have ringtones, so can't bluetooth them and my headset didn't work with it.

Ok. that being said the slideshow and picture display were amazing. Amazing internet...full service internet. Nice, simply sleek design. Easy to navigate. I did like the keyboard on the screen and found it easy to use. It really is amazing, it is just lacking in basic features that I feel like a phone should have and I have trouble justifying the money (because I do need to be watching it for real) when it doesn't do so many thing and I have difficulty talking on it. So..I returned it...and now own a palm Treo 750. Still not cheap, but it has the contacts, calendars, and email checks that I need for my photography business. I don't love it..everything does look worse after the iphone, but it is pretty neat. I fully intend to get an iphone one day..another generation of it perhaps when they get more things on it. So there you go. My thoughts on the iphone and my 4 day ownership.

I am up to my ears in pictures revision and about to go insane but that's about it. May be a bit emotional this week. Someone from another country will be in this country but not to see me. (code talk I know..but many of you should be able to break the puzzle). Anyways, back to pics.

I should so be in bed. I get carried away doing stuff and just don't seem to get to bed like I should here lately. So, I went to the cingular..i mean the new at&t today..and amazingly didn't purchase the iphone..yet. It is so neat..you just don't understand! Sending me to the at&t store right now is like sending an alcoholic to a bar. Really..I don't want to pay it..but it is very cool indeed. I am debating a reward system for myself (yes I am a dork). Perhaps if I lose x amount of weight then I get the iphone. What ya think? Speaking of trying to lose weight..I bought a bunch of these 100 calorie pack things to help towards the "need to lose weight before stacey's wedding campaign". I got these muffins..and I was like this is nice...something I can eat for breakfast. You want to know why it is only 100 calories? That would be because there are only 2 mini muffins (almost less than a bite) in a pack. Really..just don't make the 100 calorie packs of those then. I was like are you kidding me? I have been up past my bedtime looking at my last two weddings..which I am quite excited about. They turned out nice..or at least I think they did. I tried something new at this last wedding and I think I like it. I had seen similar things done before and wanted to experiment. I really like it. Thinking I may make only the Polaroid in color. Yes, I know I need to start a whole other blog as to not bore you all with my pics. Addendum to last blog: I corrected the "hear" that should have been "here". I read back over and noticed it..that is annoying. Sorry. 8 years of college..I promise I do know the difference between the two.:-) (Lisa..I promise!)

So, I changed the title. Definitely doesn't sound as good, but let's be honest - I am well past mid-twenties, so I had to change the title accordingly. May change it again if I can actually come up with something clever. Any suggestions?As I was half asleep driving to work this am (my body does not agree with getting up at 6am) I had several suggestions. As I woke up, I realized that none of them really made any sense or were just depressing. Possible titles this morning were "maybe" - in honor of one of kelly clarkson's new songs that I enjoy, "just need to be loved" - again alongthe same lines, but just right out depressing, "wide turns" - because when I drive I tend to make too wide of turns..haha.., "life by the dumpster" - because I seem to park by the dumpster at work alot. See amusing really and they don't really make sense in the broad daylight. Maybe I could change it each day to fit my mood?

So, you know what I hate about getting up earlier than you are accustomed? That yucky feeling in the pit of your stomach. I am physically sick when I have to get up much earlier or when I haven't had enough sleep. Lucky me that today is a combination of both.

Career crisis. I am am having the where to go from here..where is my life going trauma at the moment. I really would like to do the photography full time..and it is truly getting too much to do just on the side..however it is scary on many levels. Financially, legal, etc., etc. I need so much more training I feel too..yet don't have the time. I really need to just have a part time job so I can pursue this more. Which leads me to...I have had some job interviews. I actually interviewed at Transy for a part time job, but didn't get a call back. I am beginning to think I simply suck at interviewing. Oh well.

If my life is ever made into a movie because I do something extraordinary or write a book or some tragic happens..then I think the music for this period of my life should be from the new Kelly Clarkson cd. I see it now..a clip of me driving in the car with words from "How I feel" coming from the speakers (a sort of tom cruise/free falling moment if you will). If you click on the link the third verse is particularly fun to sing at the moment. Yes, I guess I am bitter and jaded at the moment (as a old friend of mine who lives in another state would say).

Your shirt is on backwards....this is something that I have heard quite a bit. This past Saturday I was taking a picture of a sign (related to the wedding I was shooting)...I am right off the interstate on the ramp really...when I get someone hollars at me. A lady informs me that my shirt is on backwards. Perhaps if this was the first time it had happened, I would be embarressed. However, this is just one of many incidents of my shirt being on backwards..I am so absent minded sometimes I guess. Off the top of my head I remember at least 3 times of me being in a similar situation. Oh well...at least I make others laugh, right?

Always the photographer..never the bride. For some reason I became rather emotional driving back from the wedding I shot this Saturday. Don't know what was up with that. Driving back..listening to Kelly Clarkson's new cd for some reason I got all tearful. I mean a sample of lines from her song Maybe, "I don't want to be tough. I don't want to be proud. I don't need to be fixed and I certainly don't need to be found. I'm not lost, I need to be loved".

Doggies steps. So many of you know that I purchased doggies step for Kaden a while back that he never learned to use..they just weren't high enough. A friend told me about some bigger steps at Petsmart. I bought them..and taught him how to use them in 30 minutes. First I used bacon..then it was Miss Sheep that finally got them to climb them. Typically man. Anyways he now will climb them throughout the night which means that I get much better sleep. I am so excited about it.

Had a day off for the 4th and now back to work. I am sure that there is research out there confirming this..but really I think you need two days off in a row to fully get rested. I have just been getting a day off here and a day off there. Back to the grindstone.:-)