Short Stories, Long Odds

Circa 1996, originally uploaded by jberthume.

I once had chops. And a cool harness. I ended up breaking that harness over the left shoulder, the same place I had broken my harness the year before a few days before PASIC.

The 17-year-old badass in me liked to think it was from dress center. The 28-year-old social scientist thinks it was a manufacturing defect.

At Parliament, originally uploaded by jberthume.

Describing a photo ought to be a simple thing. For instance, to describe this photo, I could simply say, “Here I am with my wife Diana, standing in front of Parliament in London.”

Sometimes though, remembering my first trip to London is a much more complicated process. It was so nice, and it meant quite a lot to me to be standing there, as Eddie Izzard might say, where the history comes from. To be there with Diana only made it more special, and more meaningful. To say that I wouldn’t have been there without her sounds kitsch. Maybe it is, but so what: it is also the truth.

The measure of a man is often not who he is but what he is, and I guess in many ways I have often made more headway towards the who rather than the what. Maybe in spite of the what.

I guess you aren’t ever too old to learn things about yourself, or for that learning process to be something of a challenge. The photo shown here is not much more than a simple vacation picture, but it represents a great deal to me, and speaks volumes about where I am and who I’ve become. Probably even more so than the picture of me in front of 10 Downing.

… which is also actually pretty boss.

DSCF2444, originally uploaded by jberthume.

No Spurs in the Cowgirl Museum

Swine in Fort Worth, originally uploaded by jberthume.

I was in Fort Worth on Saturday. This building demanded I take a picture of it.