Epilepsy Awareness Month – Miles For Us
This post is part of the Living Well with Epilepsy Blog 30 Day Relay for Epilepsy Awareness Month. I look forward to every Epilepsy Awareness Month. Even though I have had epilepsy for more than 35 years, I can feel isolated. Epilepsy Awareness Month provides an opportunity to feel connected to a larger community that […]
California’s Bloodless Bullfighting
Earlier this month, I traveled to a small Central Valley town for my first bloodless bullfight. The weekend was part of a series of Portuguese American events that occur throughout “the valley.” The bullfight was also sponsored by the Carlos Vieiera Foundation to raise money for autism. Portuguese California Bloodless Bullfighting Photo Gallery I attended […]
Overnight Walk San Francisco
I have been thinking about this post for weeks, and I have wanted to write something organized and transformative about suicide, but sometimes life and stories don’t work that way. Earlier this month I attended the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Out of the Darkness Overnight Walk in San Francisco. I volunteered to photograph the […]
From an Oakland Gala
I had the wonderful opportunity to photograph Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf’s Inaugural Gala to benefit the Oakland Promise and Keep Oakland Housed on Friday, January 11, 2019 at the Fox Theater. Here is the photo gallery; it might be best viewed in slideshow format. I have been photographing Mayor Schaaf since she ran for Oakland […]
Make Epilepsy Great Again
Show me a hero, and I’ll write you a tragedy – F. Scott Fitzgerald The Epilepsy Foundation of Northern California held their annual gala at San Francisco’s Four Seasons Hotel on Saturday, November 10, 2018. It was a 1920’s themed event with dinner, dancing, auction and speakers. The fundraiser was pretty good, but it left […]
The Goulden Argument – Pankhurst and the Window Pane
The argument of the broken window pane is the most valuable argument in modern politics. – Emmiline (Goulden) Pankhurst 1858-1928 Arizona vs Minnesota Gallery Depending on the source, Emmeline Pankhurst was born 160 years ago today (or the 15th.). Emmeline and her husband were active British suffragists. Arizona v Atlanta Gallery During this year’s Golden Bowl in […]
Roller Derby – Palace of Fine Arts
The 2018 Bay Area Derby roller derby season started this Spring with two bouts at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts. I photographed a bout in March and another in April. This is the first season that Bay Area Derby has skated at the Palace of Fine Arts. BAD changed their teams, uniforms, and regular […]
Four Seasons of Epilepsy Awareness
Winter, spring, summer or fall… but mostly fall. The 2017 Epilepsy Foundation of Northern California’s annual Candlelight Gala was last weekend. This year, EFNC held the event at the Four Seasons in San Francisco. I have had epilepsy for more than thirty years. I have been photographing epilepsy events for almost ten years. Those of us […]
2017 Oakland Pride Parade
Last Sunday, Oakland Pride held the 2017 Oakland Pride PARADE in downtown Oakland. This year was either my third or fourth year attending the parade. 2017 Pride Parade Photos I posted after attending the 2014 parade and again after the 2016 parade. Both years I started the parade with my church, but last year I […]
Anne Lamott – Hallelujah Anyway in Oakland
Last week Anne Lamott discussed her new book Hallelujah Anyway at Montclair Presbyterian Church in Oakland, California. A Great Good Place hosted the event; I took some pictures (that you can see here). I was excited to see Anne. In 2014 I was on the other side of the country when she visited Oakland. I […]
Run Run Run
I have had epilepsy since I was 16. I had my first seizure one month after running the San Francisco Marathon. For many years afterwards, I continued running with limited success. Mostly, I ran away from the truth about my health. Last weekend, I attended the first annual Seize the Moment 5K walk/run for Epilepsy in […]
Bay Area Derby “New Home – Old Building”
Bay Area Derby opened their regular season at the Old West Oakland Train Station ten days ago. The roller derby bout was held outside the abandoned train station on Saturday, March 18, 2017. Here is the photo gallery from the season opener. I have also photographed an event inside the 16th Street Station. On November […]
Hot Couture 2017 – The Beautiful Ones
Last month I photographed the Hot Couture fashion show at Oakland’s Crucible. The 2017 Hot Couture fashion show was inspired by the artist Prince and called “The Beautiful One’s.” This is the fourth consecutive Hot Couture that I have photographed and I tried to be inspired by Prince. I created an 84 image photo gallery. Prince […]
Echo Brown Black Virgins
Two weeks ago, I photographed Echo Brown and “Black Virgins Are Not for Hipsters “at Oakland Tribe. I included this 34 image PHOTO GALLERY; the photos in the post are also in the gallery. Originally, the November 27, 2016 performance was scheduled as Echo’s final 2016 show; however, she has scheduled three more Oakland performances for December. Echo will also appear […]
Pop Television and Epilepsy Heroes
“People sometimes say that the way things happen in the movies is unreal, but actually it’s the way things happen to you in life that’s unreal.” From the Philosophy of Andy Warhol On Saturday November 19, I photographed the 2016 Candlelight Gala for the Epilepsy Foundation of Northern California. (I have included the entire photo gallery from […]
Pride – In the Name of 15 Years
What do we remember when we say that we will “never forget?” I spent the 15 year anniversary of the September 11th attacks at the Oakland Pride Parade. I found my church (and then lost them) and then joined the denomination that baptized me as a baby (the Methodists). I did not want to be alone this 9/11. While many Americans will never forget […]
2016 BAD Roller Derby Champions
“If the Good Lord had intended us to walk, he wouldn’t have invented roller skates.” (from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) On Saturday, two teams skated in circles and one team would be able to hold a trophy at the end of the bout. Last year the Berkeley Resistance won. This year they won again. Rocket Dog Rescue also […]
Bay Area Derby Pride Double Header
I almost did not photograph last weekend’s Bay Area Derby Pride double header. I would have missed something special. My derby photographs were not special, although I took a few decent action pictures somehow. There are two slideshows below the next two photographs. In the second bout, Richmond Wrecking Belles defeated the San Francisco ShEvil Dead. […]
A Suicide Memorial Day
Sometimes I participate in magical thinking, even when I participate in fundraisers. On Saturday May 21, 2016, I participated in the Out of the Darkness Overnight Walk organized by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Originally, I had also planned to participate in the Stroll for Epilepsy earlier on May 21st. When the dates for both events […]
10 Years and Walking – National Epilepsy Walk
Electric word, life On Saturday April 16, 2016 I attended the 10th Annual National Walk for Epilepsy in Washington, D.C. I have attended the last seven national walks. In this post I have included at least one photo from each walk and a link to the gallery. When I started attending the national walks, I […]
Purple Day for Epilepsy
Today is Purple Day. Purple Day is for those of us with epilepsy. Canadian Cassidy Megan started Purple Day in 2008 so that people throughout the world could connect with each other and transform how people saw us. I was 16 when I had my first seizure. Cassidy is still only 17. When I was 16, I […]
BAD United Derby Double Header
I am a roller derby photographer and my 2016 season started last Saturday. I usually photograph at The Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, California where light imitates art … or art imitates cupcakes. I forget. I posted one gallery of the two evening bouts here. Bay Area Derby created two “united teams” to compete against Sacramento’s Sacred City Derby Girls and the Santa Cruz Derby […]
A Reunion with a Mother and Child
This is my last post for 2015. I have included some words and images from my December 2015 photo shoot with Christine and her daughter. I took all the good photos and gathered them into an entire photo gallery from our time in Point Richmond, California. (I know they never match my sweet imagination, but […]
Defining Epilepsy and Creativity
This post is part of the Epilepsy Blog Relay™ which will run from November 1 through November 30. Follow along and add comments to posts that inspire you. (View my photos from the recent EFNC Gala if you wish too.) Last weekend when I was photographing the 2015 Epilepsy Foundation of Northern California Gala at the […]