Texas Blue Lime Productions

Friend’s Congregational Church
Thursday, January 31, 2008 @ 6:30pm

Directions from campus: Take Texas Ave S, Turn right at FM-2818, Turn left at Southwood Dr, 2200 Southwood Drive.

View news story by KBTX channel 3 in Bryan/College Station

View the trailer

A screening of the documentary For The Bible Tells Me So to encourage discussion about the seeming chasm between scripture, the church, and homosexuality and what that has meant for families and their gay children. This event is funded by a grant from Brazos Valley QueSt.

Sponsors include:

• Aggie Allies
• Aggie Amnesty International
• Brazos Valley QueSt
• Equality Texas
• Friends Congregational Church
• Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
• Texas A&M Lesbian and Gay Veterinary Medical Student Association
• Texas A&M Office of Multicultural Services
• United Campus Ministry in Aggieland

At the conclusion of the event we will have 30 minutes available for discussion and a viewing of a 5 minute film by a Texas A&M student entitled “Being a Gay Aggie”. Can the love between two people ever be an abomination? Is the chasm separating gays and lesbians and Christianity too wide to cross? Is the Bible an excuse to hate? Winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Seattle International Film Festival, Dan Karslake’s provocative, entertaining documentary brilliantly reconciles homosexuality and Biblical scripture, and in the process reveals that Church-sanctioned anti-gay bias is based almost solely upon a significant (and often malicious) misinterpretation of the Bible.

As the film notes, most Christians live their lives today without feeling obliged to kill anyone who works on the Sabbath or eats shrimp (as a literal reading of scripture dictates). Through the experiences of five very normal, very Christian, very American families — including those of former House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt and Episcopalian Bishop Gene Robinson — we discover how insightful people of faith handle the realization of having a gay child. Informed by such respected voices as Bishop Desmond Tutu, Harvard’s Peter Gomes, Orthodox Rabbi Steve Greenberg and Reverend Jimmy Creech, FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO offers healing, clarity and understanding to anyone caught in the crosshairs of scripture and sexual identity.

QueSt, I have outlined the information form. I’ll bring copies to the meeting, too.

The largest photography school in the world is held at Texas A&M every spring.

We always need models of all ages and shapes. So, if you need portraits made and are willing to feel like the paparazzi is following you around campus, check out what it takes to volunteer.

The 2008 Texas School is being held April 27th-May 1st.
Texas School begins accepting model applications on April 1st.

There are a couple of classes/photographers I can recommend. There is also one class I’d advise friends/family to avoid (The photographer is truly wonderful and amazing; she’s even a friend-of-a-non-photographer-friend. She drew some bad luck this year with regard to school.)

If you have questions, ask me.

love,
Lori

http://www.popgadget.net/2008/01/play_the_data_s.php

Aren’t these just too cool for words???

I wonder how much data you need to make a 4-2 domino?

2007 whew!

What a mess (and bless) it all was:

• As You Wish started off the year with three weddings in three weeks (one bride fainted during the ceremony and was too sick to stand for photos) and then the always-successful bridal show
• We had our first garage sale since moving into the house in 2003 and got rid of a lot of stuff we didn’t need
• One UNprofessional in the community reared his ugly head causing As You Wish to need to file formal complaints with several professional organizations
• GAYla was roaring 20s theme “Mobsters & Molls” and we raised over $3,000 for charity
• “REEX” started to get really icky really fast; a couple of employees filed complaints against our division director; it must have had some impact, because his behavior changed
• We used our time off for Spring Break to put Pergo flooring in the 2/1 side of the upstairs; we’ll do the master, stairs, and living room, eventually
• Easter brought us a rattlesnake; Emil killed it mid-strike
• The Larry Salter memorial golf tournament was another disappointment in poor planning, but we were glad to see more prizes, more sponsors, and more money raised
• Texas Photography School was “all that and more”; Lori learned a lot and brought home more ideas than she could implement; Lori was also flattered beyond belief by her instructors; it was an enormously rewarding experience
• May/June brought another busy season for As You Wish: 5 weddings in 5 weeks, including the wedding of our nephew Dusty to an amazing girl, Amanda; Lori had to hire someone else to process images in PhotoShop
• June also brought Lori a chance to work with another photographer in town; at first we were just learning from one another; now, we love the way we compliment one another and shoot almost every event together
• We enjoyed the “national birthday party” for Lori’s grandparents and celebrated Independence Day with friends in Bryan, too
• We were honored to attend (and help with) our dear friends’ wedding at the historic Paramount Theatre in Austin Texas; “At LAST” Kim & Lance said I do surrounded by the love and spirit of family and friends
• Thanks to a new group of friends, we partied a lot this year: happy hours, Duke-themed going away party, Super-hero themed birthday party, Bar Golf combination birthday/graduation party, and we still made time for Luzaween and a casual and laid back new year’s
• Lori was introduced to a wonderful new friend, Janice, who she has since hired to design wedding albums
• Fall Homecoming was amazing; we raised $1,700 for both the annual scholarship and the scholarship endowment
• Working for “REEX” got so bad/stressful that Lori took an extended medical leave of absence and was gone from the place for ~6 weeks; it took almost that whole time to readjust her sleeping patterns; she resigned the day of her return
• Four days later, on Thursday, Lori applied for and was granted an interview for a Technical Writer job at StarVision Technologies, Inc.; she interviewed on Monday, went to her first meeting on Wednesday, and started full-time on Thursday—a mere week after the position posted; it’s already proven to be a simply wonderful place to work
• After a year of trying to provide needs to a high-energy dog, we gave Indigo to a family with a teenager and some acerage
• Due to Lori’s bah-humbugs, Christmas was taken care of 100% by Emil; he shopped and planned and wrapped and everything; on Friday the 21st, Lori’s mom sent an amazing video that really brightened her spirits and got her ready to enjoy the holidays, which we both did

2007 sucked in a lot of ways, I won’t lie. I am thrilled to see the UNprofessional leave town. I just as excited to be away from “REEX” and their drama (Google for news stories if you are bored). It sure was a rough year getting through it all, though.

2007 also brought some amazing opportunities (photography opportunities abound!), friends (Friday Drinking Club!), and family (one new niece-in-law and several new great nieces and nephews).

Backstory

Ok, so there is a backstory that some of you have heard.

One day, when I was first working at “REEX”, my boss (and friend) Laine and I kept up with one another via IM. She streamed her music, so I could see what she was supposedly listening to at any point during the day. This gives you a lot of insight to a person. Since they can walk away from the computer at any point (and fail to hit the X “no do not play that song any more” button), you might also see some pretty random stuff.

So, one day the IM conversation went a little like this:

LLi (Laine has been an LL as long as I’ve known her, so she’s LL number one): [listening to: "mmm Bop!"]

LLii (I, Lori (Salter) married Emil Luza and became LL ii): “Are you really listening to ‘mmm Bop!’???????”

LLi: “huh?”

LLii: “Your IM status said you were listening to ‘mmm Bop!’. Is that really your style?”

LLi: “Oh. Gawd. No. WTF?”
(again there is some creative license going on, here)

So, since 2005, we have teased Laine about “mmm Bop!”.

Today

Since we have new phones (mine goes both ways), tonight, Emil is updating the music on the card that goes in his phone. As he does so, he plays some of the tunes out loud.

One song, in particular was annoying and “stupid”, and I told him so.

He said, “this song? are you sure? THIS song?”

Then, I heard the chorus, “mmm Bob!”

OH! Laine! You make us laugh even when you and your big vocabulary aren’t here!

The new issue of Brazos Valley Bride is out!

Look for the cover story on real Brazos Valley brides on pages 48 & 50. featuring Jae & Brant Hickerson and their wedding.

provided photography for the event and the article.