Day 203: happy birthday Dad!

Today was my dad's birthday. If you want to get technical, his birthday on the other side of the world (which is where he was born and where he's at) is already over, but as this blog is subjective and relative to me, I'm celebrating today.


... I've been thinking a lot lately about my parents. Not just my dad, but my mom too. I'm feeling a little guilty that when February 20th came, I didn't really take the time to honor my mom. Sometimes, I feel like, even though I have a record of every single day I've lived this year, the days have still managed to bleed together that I didn't even realize it was the 20th of February til after the fact. Sigh. Epic fail, Joyce. Seriously.

I've always been a daddy's girl, because me and my dad have always had more in common, but I find that as I get older, I've taken after my mother a lot too. The friendliness, the generosity, the die-hard-do-anything-for-the-people-she-loves spirit, the helpfulness... that's all her. My temper comes from her too. hahahah Seeing how I can connect to both parents makes it a lot easier to see that I'm not just a daddy's girl. I'm my mommy's girl too. Just like my parents don't love me and my siblings in the same way, I can't love them the same either. It's not that I love one more than the other, but that they're different people to love. I talk books and movies with my dad, and I talk everything else with my moms. She does most of the talking anyway. :)

Now that my parents are so much further away, it's so hard to catch them on the phone. Between the time difference and my crazy schedule, I find it difficult to make it work so that we can talk regularly. It super sucks. But I hope they know that just because I'm not around as much doesn't mean I don't think of them every day. Or miss them any less...

Anyway...

If anyone ever asked me where I started with photography, I could probably say it all started with my dad. He's had a camera (both a regular one and a video one) for as long as I remember. He captured every single special occasion we ever celebrated, every school concert, every awards ceremony... For everything me or my sister or my brother were in, my dad was right there, snapping away (while he had the tripod going so he could film everything too). It was great that he owned his own company, because I'm sure he would have been fired otherwise for leaving in the middle of the day all the time to see me in a spelling bee, or have a class party for my sister's birthday, or watch my brother's volleyball games...

So... growing up, me and my dad were like two peas in a pod. I loved most of the things he loved: watching tv (Quantum Leap was my favorite, but he watched Star Trek alone), reading books (we could spend hours at the bookstore...and DID, much to my mother's annoyance in later years since she would come with and ended up falling asleep in one of the Barnes and Nobles chairs), going to the movies, playing with toys and electronics (which were toys anyway)... so picking up a camera was something I picked up from my dad. He was great at encouraging it too. When I was ten, he bought me one of those plastic cameras that came with a book appropriately entitled "my first camera" and that was the start of it. The film was expensive as all hell because it wasn't regular 35mm, they were 110s, I think, which was twice the price and cost much more to develop. But he bought it and I still have some pretty awesome pictures from that camera... some involving me in a bunny suit hugging my grandpa. I'm hoping it was Easter then...

I never really stopped taking pictures since then. I've gone through that first dinky plastic camera, to getting my own little point-and-shoot after the film for the plastic one got to be too expensive, to eventually getting a better point-and-shoot after graduating high school... and then I discovered the SLR. Dad convinced Mom to get me the Canon Rebel 2000 for my 19th birthday so that I could take black and white photography in school. That opened up a whole new dimension of photography for me, and it's only continued to grow. I don't know much about what my dad thinks about the kinds of photos I shoot, but I hope he knows that this great love for it came from him... I don't think I would have ever thought to even want to do something like this project if I hadn't liked taking pictures in the first place...




So to you, Daddy... Happy Birthday! My camera collection and love for film started with you... I wouldn't be where I am without you... well, I wouldn't be ANYWHERE without you. (and of course Mom. I love you Mother!!)

So lucky to have amazing parents. They're not perfect, but they're pretty damn awesome.

Love love love.



-- 自分のiPhoneから発送する