George Carlin: "a counterculture hero"

One of the great comics and — more importantly — social commentators of our times, I'm going to miss George Carlin

That guy could make me pee myself with laughter. In addition, he increasingly seemed to hit the nail on the head when it came to critiqueing the increasingly disturbing politics at play in our modern world.

George Carlin, r.i.p.

E. Weston idolatry

E. Weston idolatry, originally uploaded by mrtoastey.

After finding (and paying dearly for, btw) these gloriously saggy heirloom tomotoes at Kroger, of all places, I couldn't help but want to photograph them. Ed Weston, I ain't. A friend told me that Weston shot things like this pepper inside a tube. Some of great photography is definitely about clever.

jade crassula

jade crassula, originally uploaded by mrtoastey.

I'm becoming obsessed with my Jades/Crassulas thanks to the wonderful folks over at GardenWeb.

Jewell Rae Jeffers

If you'd like to see W cooked up southern style then you want to see this.

Family Portrait

Smile: the series, originally uploaded by mrtoastey.

in Soddy Daisy, TN, everybody does "the Chicken," which is a hand position designed to hide the ever encroaching "waddle" that comes with age/wisdom. Note: Bill, my dear stepdad, is for some reason doing "The Vampire," which is a different photo move altogether.

Campsie Tree Calamity

Campsie Tree Calamity
Originally uploaded by mrtoastey

We had a juggernaut storm roll through Lexington at dawn and it brought down a big old tree just feet from our property — and unfortunately on top of Neighbor Tommy's truck. The Honda parked behind it emerged miraculously unscathed (save for a few scratches). Here is a flickr set of the mayhem.