West Seventh Freelance

Photography, seeking, writing…and learning along the way. Want to come along?!

recent posts

about

  • Asheville, North Carolina

    An amazing Thanksgiving is a memory and we soldier on… My nephew (via LA), his mom (who drove from Oak Ridge, TN) and my partner and I met in Asheville, NC for the long holiday weekend. Photos first…stories later :). Christine

    asheville wall
    Taking a picture of David taking a picture
    Taking a picture of David taking a picture
    Ashville street scene
    Ashville street scene
    asheville
    The wall at Asheville Brewery and pizza
    The wall at Asheville Brewery and pizza
    Nephew David and me
    Nephew David and me
    Counter Help
    Counter Help
    Chris Neville at Wicked Weed
    Chris Neville at Wicked Weed
    Chestnut Street Inn
    Chestnut Street Inn
    Chestnut Street Inn Welcome!
    Chestnut Street Inn Welcome!
    chef
    Pumpkin Pie, resident cat at Chestnut street Inn
    Pumpkin Pie, resident cat at Chestnut street Inn
    Staff from the Re-Generation Station
    Staff from the Re-Generation Station
    ashevillian
    river arts district
    Kath and David
    Kath and David
    best brew
    The Wine list
    The Wine list
    Truffles, truffles, truffles...mr. bowie
    Truffles, truffles, truffles…mr. bowie
    God is in town
    God is in town
    cute crosswalk
    Latte to go
    Latte to go
    Pumpkin Pie
    Pumpkin Pie
    IMG_9203
    Rockers at Chestnut Street Inn
    Rockers at Chestnut Street Inn
    David and his mom, Sue
    David and his mom, Sue

  • Weekly Photo Challenge: Unexpected (‘er maybe not)

    landry and purple hat

    http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/11/22/photo-challenge-unexpected/

  • Make-A-Wish, Mashable and Bat Kid

    No doubt many of you have seen the efforts of Mashable to spread the word about Miles, the little boy with leukemia, who’s express desire to the  Make-A-Wish Foundation was to be Batkid for a day. This morning I saw, to my absolute delight, the MOVIE TRAILER, made by YouTube user SandD2012… 648x444Where there may be darkness, shine light- and hope!

    http://mashable.com/2013/11/22/batkid-rises/?utm_cid=mash-com-fb-main-link

     

  • Joy

    A few pictures and then some words:

    For the last year I have been on a journey to figure out my “creative self”.

    I know I love to work with, and photograph, kids. I also feel really good supporting the work of local organizations and I would do just about anything for free. This is where things start to fall apart. I have not had success finding meaningful work- that pays. I have decided it is time to set aside dreamy notions and get practical. Perhaps it is time to rethink everything…Hopefully, I will be back soon with a happy update. All my best, Christine

  • Weekly Photo Challenge: Layers (Inspired by A Remark You Made)

    angel

     

    There are many ways to consider “layers”.

    The beauty of the photography by fellow blogger, ‘A Remark You Made’, made me think about a young man I know who wanted to be photographed wearing angel wings. His life is a tangle of layers; adoption, sexual identity, self-expression, culture…

    Layers by a Remark You Made:

    Weekly Photo Challenge: Layers (2)

     

  • Friday Night: Food Trucks, Beer and Heavy Metal

    The Motley Crews Heavy Metal Grill & Food Truck at Summit Brewery

    According to Noise Creep.com the top ten metal songs of the 1980’s include ‘Nothin’ But a Good Time’ — Poison, ‘One’ — Metallica ‘Bringin’ on the Heartbreak’, and Dr. Feelgood’ — Mötley Crüe.

    The music was definitely pumped up metal as we walked to Summit Brewery Friday evening for the weekly Tap Room hours. Under a perfect full moon, Marty and Lisa, owners of Motley Crews Heavy Metal Grill and Food Truck, offered their full menu to folks sampling Summit brews. The Heavy Metal Grill serves up luscious rib-eye, chicken, and ham as well as a kick-ass pretzel snack: Sully’s Sweet ‘n Heat Pretzels. Check out the whole grill menu as well as see when the truck will visit your neighborhood: Menu and Tour Dates!

     

  • Courage… Finding the Way with Alzheimer’s

    bailey pamBailey Wacholz was 14 when her dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Even though she and her mom Pam noticed changes, the diagnosis was not immediate.

    As the family wrestled with the new challenges in their world they reached out to the Alzheimer’s Association. Like others who contact the Association, Pam and Bailey felt they found help, support, and new family; people who understood- and stood by them, no matter what.

    Bailey, now a student at Bethel University, also discovered an unexpected network through the Association. A young woman with a busy life, Bailey had to figure out how this new world was going to work. Several things occurred that make Bailey both a star, and an explorer.

    As a pageant participant and Miss Minnesota Outstanding Teen, Bailey chose education, specifically educating youngsters about Alzheimer’s, as her platform. In doing so, she created a curriculum she now takes to elementary and middle schools that includes books and displays to help young people grasp the meaning and implication of the disease. “It is amazing how many little kids are touched by this,” observes Bailey.

    In 2010, Bailey attended a session at Austin’s Camp Building Bridges at New Life Ranch in Colcord, OK. Specifically designed to offer young people respite; teenage caregivers can interact with peers, practice skills to help them cope with a relative with Alzheimer’s, and even learn how to become an advocate. It is also a chance to just have fun! Named for the founder’s son, who struggled with her diagnosis of frontal- temporal lobe dementia, the camp serves kids around the country. “I met girls who are in the same situation as me…one from Minnesota, another one from Georgia- I feel like we will be friends forever…” says Bailey.

    Bailey and her mom are trained support group leaders, allowing them to share their experience and wisdom with others in the community. “Bailey and I feel we need to educate and support people. People need to know what to do; those with Alzheimer’s or dementia- their family and friends. We also feel people in the community need to be aware, to know how to help out and reach out.”

    “The Alzheimer’s Association is always just a phone call or email away. Whenever I called, they jumped on it. Their hearts are truly in it.”

    To reach out to Bailey, check out Bailey Wachholz on Twitter

  • Chanel No. 5, Mother, and Mark’s birthday

    chanel-no-5-eau-de-toilette-bottle

     

    My mother wore Chanel No 5 all her life. I recall, as a kid, wondering why anyone would splash on toilet water! Gross! I could never figure out how something that smelled so lovely had such a dumb name.

    Yesterday, while looking for something to wear to yet another job interview, I was inexplicably drawn to the Chanel counter. Near the bottom of the polished glass case were the bottles of No 5 Eau de Toilette. The young woman staffing the display took some out and spritzed a sample card. I immediately teared up! Mother might just as well have been standing beside me.

    She and I were best buds when I was small; lunches out at Sibley’s or McCurdy’s department stores in downtown Rochester, NY (we always had chicken salad on white bread, crusts trimmed with a (shared) cheesecake chaser). At Christmas there was breakfast with Santa. Yes, I am a child of the fifties. 

    And so, standing at the Chanel counter, I bought a little bottle of Chanel No 5, sprayed a tiny bit close to my heart this morning and thought of another whom I love, my brother Mark, who would be 67 today! Though not here in the flesh, he is with us is so many, many ways. Be sure to look for a rambly, photo-filled blog after Thnksgiving. We will be spending it with Mark’s widow and my nephew in Asheville, NC!

     

  • Childhood Cancer Survivors: A Post in Memory

    ae3000_survivors_infographic_060713This morning’s obituary section listed a gentleman with whom I am acquainted. At 52, his career accomplishments are impressive. A loving family is left with memories of a talented, devoted father and husband. He died, of course, too young.

    What the article does not mention is that he was a childhood cancer survivor. There are hundreds of thousands around the world. Brave people, many now well beyond their twenties who underwent treatment for leukemia, Hodgkin’s, brain tumors, and other malignancies. For some, the treatment was in its infancy.

    A pioneering group of researchers at the University of Minnesota recognized the challenges and pitfalls inherent in the treatment of these young patients. In tandem with other standouts in the field of oncology, Dr. Ann Mertens, Les Robison, PhD, and Pediatric Oncologist, Dr. Joseph Neglia, launched a cohort study of 20,000 childhood cancer survivors (The Childhood Cancer Survivor Study). The research on individuals treated between 1970 and 1986 would, in effect, change the face of treatment as we know it today.

    Combining forces with venerable institutions around the country and in Canada, a detailed, longitudinal process commenced that would look at the late effects of the radiation and chemotherapy used to treat childhood malignancies. As survival rates improved, so did the unintended consequence –adverse events such as cardiac complications, breast cancers, and second cancers.

    Today, the key players are scattered. Dr. Les Robison is Chair, Department of Epidemiology and Cancer Control at St. Jude’s in Memphis where the CCSS is now based; Dr. Ann Mertens is on the research faculty at Emory in Atlanta, and Dr. Joseph Neglia is Physician in Chief at Amplatz Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis, MN. All three remain committed to research leading to positive outcomes for children, ‘beyond the cure’.

    For information on support and resources for Childhood Cancer Survivors, click here:

    Childhood Cancer Survivors: Resources and More

  • Weekly Photo Challenge: Habit

    Morning/ Love

    http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/11/08/weekly-photo-challenge-habit/