The 'Cross Country Trip... and more

As of today, it's been a whole month since i've started up at the Carroll County Times in Westminster, Md. Which means it's been more than a month since i've left the state which has been my home for the past 5 years: Oklahoma. And what a month it has been. A word of advice to anyone out there who is thinking about moving to another state... make sure you have a place to live already set up when you get there. That was one luxury that i was not allowed in this last move, and because of it, along with the speed at which i had to leave my old job, pack up, move, find a new place, and start a new job, my head is just now slowing down from spinning so fast.

But to spare you with all the details of my trip down insanity lane, things are starting to clear up now and to fit into place. I found a pretty decent apartment right in downtown Westminster on Main St. It's on the 3rd floor, and has a lot of space. I'm still figuring out where all my furniture will go, but once i get it kinda set up, i'll post pictures. It get very hot when it's hot outside (being on the third floor), but i'm hoping that once things cool off, it'll be nice. And in the winter, I'll be able to save a lot on heating b/c i'll just use the heat from the 2 floors below me.

The job is going alright. I am still getting used to the people I work with, the way they do things, and the type of news that the paper covers. Just to let you all know, i have not taken a picture of an animal in over a week. I don't know what to do with myself. Maybe throw a party. The staff here is pretty young, a bunch are just out of college (like me) or are still in their mid- to late-20's. I've been able to shoot some professional sports, the Baltimore Orioles and Ravens, and even went to a Orioles/YANKEES game last weekend. It was pretty cool to be there with all of the famous players you always hear about(Jeter, A-Rod, Damon, Giambi, etc). Its a little step up from the Sooners, but to be honest, I still miss shooting college sports. My work schedule is such, however, that i am the saturday shooter, so I think i'll be able to go to some U of Maryland games. Theres a D3 college here in westminster that's supposed to have pretty good football, so i think i'll have my fill of college for now. Although no Red River games or Bedlam :(

Anyways, I'm still trying to get everything set up and settled into. I definately miss everyone i left back in Norman, but hopefully will talk/see you soon. Feel free to drop me a line if you get a chance. my email and phone is still the same. Take care for now.

Another Chapter change

Ok... I realize it has been a while since my last post again. I think this is about as involved with the whole blogging thing as I can get into right now. And I'm not even sure if anyone's reading this, but I figured this would be the best place to post this bit of news.
Before I left OU, I was told by a friend/coworker of mine Jess Brown that I couldn't go to Enid. Then she changed her mind and told me I could go, as long as I was out of Oklahoma within 3 years. Well Jess, it only took 6 months.
As of this past monday, I am the new photographer for the Carroll County Times in Westminster, Maryland. I start there on July 11, which means my last day at the Enid News will be July 5.
This is a pretty big decision for me, seeing how i'm moving back across the country. It will be closer to family, which will be nice. I will no longer have to plan visits 6 months in advance. My mother and step father are 3 hours away, my father's 45 minutes, and my brothers in North Carolina, which is only a couple of hours.
But I don't want to sound like I am happy to leave Oklahoma. It has been my home and family for the past 5 years. It's going to be hard. I hope to keep in contact with everyone. I will be heading down to Oklahoma City this weekend, for a redhawks game, and will be down in Norman next weekend. I realize it's the Fourth of July weekend, but I'm hoping to meet up with a bunch of people. If you are in that area, drop me a line.
I publicly want to thank everyone of you who has helped me through my time in Oklahoma. I hope to talk to you very soon.

5th Year Reunion

This past weekend I had the pleasure of going back to NJ for my fifth year high school reunion. It was a blast. It was awesome to meet up with friends that I haven't talked to in five years and see how much people have changed... or how little they've changed. Going into it, I was nervous because I wasn't sure how awkward things were going to be. I knew how Lawrentians(graduates of Lawrenceville) eventually turned out, and I knew I did not fit into that mold. A very good friend of mine reminded me before I left, however, that I didn't need to go back to impress anyone. She asked me: "Did I enjoy my job? Was I content with where I was in my career? Then nothing else matters." And I didn't realize how true that was until I got to the reunion and started to catch up with people. For the most part, no one has changed that much physically... I recognized almost everyone. Otherwise, people were all over the spectrum... many have already graduated and are working full time jobs in either Washington DC or NYC and see other Lawrentians frequently. Some took a year off to travel the world (literaly) and are just graduating, or still have a little time left. Many are starting/about to start Law/Med/Grad school. All of that was to be expected going into the reunion. More that half will end up lawyers/doctors/politicians at some point in their career. But there were the occasional surprise... graphic designers, mother(a 2 year old son), a couple of wives/soon to be wives, famous international athlete, attending seminary, among others.
Regardless of their profession/status-in-the-real-world, everyone I talked to was surprised to hear that I was in Oklahoma taking pictures. I think for them it was different, not the typical path, that intrigued them the most. For me, it was the confidence I had going into the weekend, not being ashamed of my job and chosen profession. I even passed out a couple of business cards. I figured, evey lawyer/doctor/politician needs a picture of themself, and someday I might find myself back in DC or NYC courtesy of a couple names being dropped. Either way, I had a great time this weekend. The only thing that stunk this weekend was that out of everyone there, I didn't take any pictures to bring back and share. I had my camera equipment with me, in the car all weekend, but never used it. Oh well. Maybe I can get a copy from someone else...

Over 3 months ago

I first want to apologize for everyone out there that has been coming back to my blog more than once the past month and a half and has found that I have not updated. I thought I would be able to get into a regular routine of updating, but alas... I have not. So here I am again, with another update from the little town up north...

It has been just over 3 months since I moved up here. I have been a "professional" for 3 months-ish and I must admit... I'm ready for retirement. Just kidding. I really enjoy my job. I am not restricted to a desk all day, working on my fluorescent light tan, and interacting with the same people every day. (Don't get me wrong, that is not a bad thing if that is part of your job. This country is run thanks to those types of people. Personally though, with my attention span, I would end up streaking out of the office with my boxers on my head by the end of the first day. But I digress) At the newspaper, I never know what to expect when I head into the office. I do not know who I will meet, and whose lives I will touch.

Not everything is as peachy as I make it out to be though. I recently went out and purchased a portable police scanner, which allows me to listen to the Fire/Police/Medical radio traffic while i'm driving around. This has reduced my response time to accidents/fires tremendously (sometimes even before all of the emergency vehicles get there) and therefore giving me more intense pictures. (see my updated news portfolio at www.kylenosalphotography.com). Not only has this changed the types of pictures I am able to take, but at the same time, it challanges my personal ethics as far as what I should/shouldn't shoot and what the public needs to see and what's insensitive to the victims.

Well, that's all I have to say about that. These past 3 months have opened my eyes to a whole new world that i didn't even know existed. I get to have glimpses into other peoples lives, and get to experience all sorts of different things (like shooting an M-4 semi-automatic rifle during an assignment with the Vance AFB SWAT team).

Anyways, I hope to have another post in a couple of days on the other side of Enid... Till then... live ever day to it's fullest.

1st Spring Storm of the Season

Well, the first real spring storm rolled through Enid this evening. I think I am in the right place for these storms b/c it was a fairly small storm, but it plowed right through... with Enid straight in it's path. It was so cool. I was able to get a couple of pics during the storm... not very impressive... but the third pic is from after the storm moved through. I was outside shooting the lightning when the hail and monsoon winds/rain came through. It was awsome.

The first image of the lightning was the best that i got... i was really in a poor position... street lights everywhere. Then, the rain came in and I was able to get off the 2nd image from under the umbrella. You can't tell much but it's raining really hard. Then, when i was driving home i noticed the lightning looked cool behind the grain elevator. I couldn't decide which one, so here's both.

I had a great time in Norman this past weekend.. it was so nice to see everyone again. There's an open invitation for anyone to come out to Enid and visit... we can storm chase(Matt) or see a rodeo or just hang out and get away from the stresses of Norman. This is the perfect place for that. I have a large living room and can fit a lot of people. Anyways.. until next time.

SOONERS WIN

I can't believe OU beat OSU by ONE point for their 4th 1 point win in a row. I'm beginning to wonder if the games are rigged to end like that? Anyways... here are the pictures of my new car.


Hopefully you guys can see it this weekend... I should find out my work schedule tomorrow or wednesday. Until then...

A Week Like Any Other

Well, it has been a couple of weeks since I last posted my happenings from Enid, America and let me tell you the things that have been going on.

Work has been the usual coverage of small town assignments. I think since i've been here, I have taken more pictures of animals than I have since I picked up a camera in high school. It seems like every other day a photo of some sort of animal runs in the paper. Ranging from the new drug sniffing dog Enid Police got, to geese invading a local pond, to a $1200 purebreed dog spaniel that was put up for auction(and then taken down after local protests). This past thursday, page 1 had the spaniel, and a hog from the county fair, page 2 had an AP pic of a dog w/ glasses, page 3 had another dog and page 4 was another AP story of a 1 eyed cat. That was the front section. I'm begginning to run out of ideas of how to take pictures of pets. Other than the animal issue, the papers been giving me just what I want: an opportunity to go out and take pictures every day. I am learning something new every day, and for that, I still go back the next day.

Besides work, the other thing that has been occupying my time, especially this past week has been my truck... or lack there of. After 3 years of fond memories... I had to lay my truck to rest on Monday. Last weekend i was planning to venture to Norman before the snow storm got too bad, but on my way out of Enid, my truck decided it didn't want to go. I had been having problems with it the previous week, the temperature gauge jumping all over the place, it would hardly start one day. But on friday it was having trouble getting above 50 mph. So i let it sit for the weekend and on monday, took it into the shop. That evening, i recieved the news no car owner wants to hear... they had to put it down. J/K. but seriously, i was told the radiator leaked, the radiator cap couldn't hold pressure, and I blew a head gasket. They told me the parts would cost around $150, but the labor would be over $1000 because to get to the gaskets, they would have to take apart the entire engine. So, i began my search for a new car a couple of months before i wanted to. I was able to use one of the newspapers delivery trucks for the week while i searched for a new car. I eventually found a 2003 Jeep Liberty at the same dealership that had my old truck, so i was able to work into the deal a trade-in value of $1200 for my old truck. I really didn't want to get a new car, at least not yet, but the Lord had other plans and delivered me a very fine car for a great price. I will have pictures of it within the next day or so.

This past weekend I went on a "singles" retreat with the Emmanuel Baptist church to FreshFire ministries in Midwest City. It was very nice in that it gave me a chance to get away from everything and focus on the Lord. It gave me insight into where I am, and where I need to be and what I need to do to get there. Also, hanging out with other people around my age(most were at least 25 and up to 31) was very refreshing.

The theme from this weekend, and what jump started things inside me...

"Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" -Psalms 46:10