My folks met at Billy Rose’s Diamond Horseshoe in New York; both of them professional entertainers.  Mom was a dancer on the chorus line there, and dad a singer. She was a fifth generation Floridian born in Tampa. This picture is from her prom or graduation at Hillsborough High School. Mom's Prom Dad was born in the neighborhood of East New York in Brooklyn. This is him in Central Park as photographed by his sister. Dad in Central Park Eleven years after two semi-successful attempts, my parents finally mastered procreation. My siblings had rather large music collections and Dad's a singer, so my love for music was inevitable. Here’s an early family portrait. Ready For Takeoff I think Dad’s giant smile was to make up for my apparent indifference. Actually, I think I was distracted because I had just spotted my first beer. It’s evident where I get my extraordinarily good looks, but as my brother is fond of saying, “If only I was born rich instead of good looking!”  Here I am with my best smug expression. I was so cute. What happened?  I was voted “Most Modest” of my eighth grade class. This nearly caused my teacher to choke on her own teeth (even though I was teacher’s pet).  I’m not sure my classmates understood the meaning of “modest”. Or maybe it was just because “Class Clown” wasn’t on the list. After a year at Auburn University, I began teaching a DOS class at a local vocational school.  The brightest student in my first group became the love of my life. Here’s a composite photo of Betty Boop that I made using my first digital camera, a 3mp Minolta Dimage 5. Betty Boop Blows Bubbles See the thumbnails below for a more recent picture of her that I made with my latest toy, a 13mp Canon 5D. Here’s one I took of us together at Grizzly Falls in Sequoia National Park.Falls in love In our years together we’ve raised three cats and a dog.  You may see some pictures of our “kids” as part of my finds for the scavenger hunt. Besides my love for photography, music, and cracking stupid jokes, I enjoy gourmet cooking and gourmet eating.

Except where noted, the pictures in this post are by photographers unknown to me.

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