I havent written in quite a long time .

I haven’t had much to say.

Today begins a very long week.

Last week we suffered a loss of epic porportions at my job.

One of my officers passed away while in the city unrelated to work.

I can honestly say most of my “issues” with 223 where that he was always HAPPY.

Its so assinine when I think about it now. But he was. He was one of those rainbows and  glitter kind of  people. Always happy never had a bad day( grumpy, sleepy mad at life) not in 5 years. Didn’t matter days, nights, up, down or sideways. Tink was always happy. AND me– I’m the antithesis of that most days. Not so much unhappy as slow moving AND grumpy. I love to work but I’d rather do it from home.

I think that my resolve to be a better person helped me with one of  my last interactions with Tink.  I was in posession of his handcuffss from a previous arrest and he came by 150 to get them. My rookie said she’d never been handcuffed and I was commenting how smooth Tinks cuffs were locking and unlocking. He was explaining howoftern he oiled them and what with. He then offered to “secure for fit”  the cuffs on my rook. Nothing of significance or epic porportions but we hadn”t talked in a long long time about anything unjob related.

I’m thankful for that. I’m sad for his passing. It was a reminder for me. Always part on a good word a happy word even– because you never know. This morning I looked at the sky like I do since daddy died  and said good morning to my pops and added Tink’s name. You see I believe that heaven is up there in the clouds with the stars and the moon. I believe that our loved ones are there in a happier place and every now and again they look out of their window and see us and wish us well. I’d like to think that as two veterans they might run into each other … maybe maybe not.  

Tink left the  precinct to get some bootpolish from the store… a few minutes later he called 911 in distress  shortly after my officers arrived he left labor for reward. He is missed. He is loved

(whistles charge)

My father passed from Labor (earth) to reward( heaven) 6 weeks ago. In about 36 hours I will endure my very first birthday without him.  The thought of no more stories of the day of my birth and how amazing it was to have a daughter  is foreign and as I type tears are streaming. There is a sense of  loss that is unfathomable and WORDS  can not articulate. If you have lived thru the loss of a parent then you can understand. I’m mulling my way thru the day to day. Music seems dull and life is desaturated. The intensity isnt there anymore.  I need you to bear with me as I attempt to get my footing back and  begin the journey of life without the man who is the reason for this site.

 You see the  photography is a gift from my father. He is everything that  is close to my heart. My unique european name. The intense love of music. Composition in my work. The converse allstars that I am seldom without. Everything that is uniquely me is by the design of One  Dwight David Stone.

may 28th 2010 0515am. life changed for the family stone

time….. can get away from you- DD Stone

Gudrun….

4 different photos… available for sale.

Lots of things in the works right now.

So heres what you’ve missed

got some one on one time with The Ettes before their show  @ The Drunken Unicorn, in atlanta

www.theettes.com

the NBAF ( www.nbaf.org)  put on a benefit for Haiti after the earthquake. The benefit was a sucess not only in raising funds but for the patrons. 15$ min donation got you a concert feat :Vinx, Dionne Farris, Joi, Common Ground, Luis Carrera, Avery Sunshine and countless others

Fadia Kader  & SMKA hosted their Artist Showcase Perfect attendance. The Jan volume  being ladies night with the likes of iYana, Richelle Brown , The Dolldaze, Stahhr on point and a surprise performance from Brittany Bosco

the doll daze…

FEB would bring us. Brittany Bosco and the 54 tearing down 529 in an amazing  concert

and  BOSCO!!!

no words…. needed.

As always im late and behind and all that. Sorry ya’ll. I do what I can. Somewhere someone is saying.

BLESS HER LITTLE HEART.

I play  catch up tomorrow but tonight tonight. This past Sunday I did a maternity shoot for  new found friends.I say new found because I see them thru the screen of flickr more than real life.  They have a lot on their plates and while I love their smiles… I rarely get to hang and chill with them and now they are in the process of moving… .

However. Back in June I asked Nichelle if i could do a maternity shoot with her when she got farther along. Back in June her abs were still holding on and Baby Mac was still a bump. A divet really. His mom has abs of steel. So of course my life threw some curveballs and I wasn’t even sure if I could shoot them and then I remembered how awesome Damiens photos are and Nic mentioned he was tagging along. I got uber nervous. You see. This is only my 2nd maternity shoot. Ok so THE MCMURRAYS ARE AN INSPIRATION. They remind me of my mom and dad. They are so inlove with each other. Baby Mac is gonna be so loved… I mean SO LOVED….

Congrats on your impending arrival i hope i did y’all justice.

xoxo

Gudrun

 

we have to go back—-to 1995 at the very least.

My freshman year of college.I barely made it out of highschool. Its the truth I had stars in my eyes and music in ears. So busy being a disgruntled youth that math and science fell to the wayside and 2 summers in summerschool were the only recourse to graduating on time with the diploma (advanced academic) mom and dad had picked out for me.

My saving grace for 2 years was soccer. I wasn’t very good to begin with but Coach Mary Roach saw something in me.So she  started to  groom and between my on field skills and a high SAT score college bound was still an option. Even better the notion of going sans money out of mom and dads checking account. Let the church say AMEN! So it was my first time in 3 years playing with girls I didnt know.Even worse I was a walk on try out… there were about 50 girls vying for 8 spots. It was a tumultous 2 weeks as I went thru the whole unnerving process of tryouts. But I made it.

I was on the team but i was having a hard time settling in. Enter Duane Banks. Of all the people I would most like to find on facebook Duane is in slots 1-3. He’s truely a nice guy. He went to Lakeside High( MY ALMA MATERS ARCH RIVAL) and has a wicked soccer game. We were sitting in practice and Coach Armstead was on me about my lack of aggression. I wasn’t mean enough. I wasn’t intimidating in my approach. I will admit my run is pretty funny I run like a beauty queen. Duane took me aside in a much nicer tone told me that he and Coach saw the potential for me to be an amazing defensive player and Coach was trying to get me riled up. I told him I didn’t have a lot to be angry about except riding MARTA.

Duane said not to worry we would figure it out. The next day I was listening to a Meeks tape. The Meeks tape was how I passed Advanced English my senior year. Mr Jim Meeks made us learn about a hundred different passages of prose from great works. I have a hard time retaining things so i read the passages over music and listened to the tapes day in and day out even in my sleep.

Anyway Duane felt like that tape was one of my problems and he handed me his GOODIE MOB tape. I was like whats this. He asked me if i liked Outkast. I was like yeah. I love outkast I couldn’t always relate to the things theY rapped about but it evoked a feeling in me so when he told me Goodie Mob was their kin I was immediately geeked.

Its serious that I tell you this in this way. SOUL FOOD changed my life.The flow, the wordspeak, the beats. I instantly was in love. I listened to that tape everyday hundreds of times. Soul Food  would become my anthem, Cell therapy put me into *kill* mode before a game.  Every song although I had not lived it meant something to me. For me it was the begining of a beautiful thing.  Music became more prevalent in my life. I would go on to be one of the best junior college soccer players named and recognized on the books. Soul Food HELPED me find my voice, my strength. It was the basis of many a *turn that noise down* from my dad. It would spark debates about samples. It would give the parents an avenue to remind me the things I was “rapping” about i had never in my suburban life experienced. It was a life changing piece of magnetic tape.  Dungeon Family would woo me time and again. Society of Soul would be the album where  both my father and I would find a common ground thanks to Sleepy Brown & his father. Jamal Ahmad would play Migratenation on WCLK, while Mike Swift would play  ”Changes” on WREK. Old school to New school.

For me my music had finally met with my father- a record and I do mean record we bought it from Ear Wax (r.i.p)  we both could enjoy “Right Tonight”. The cuts were infectious and consious from there my dad would often ask me if there was anything new from Organized Noise he began to appreciate my music. He still felt that sampling music did not give *my artists* the right to call themselves musicians but he was open to  change

To stand at Masquerade tonight running into people I knew closely( Slyvester,Margaret, Shannon, Dominick) and some I only knew via word of mouth(Tara, Brandi ATLien).  Standing there in the rain,hoodie pulled tight to protect my camera. Listening to DJ Jelly weave a musical tapestry of my teen and young adulthood years. Hearing first hand the thunder and the swell of Georgia Me’s poetry. Throwing bows up for Pastor Troy … thinking about my heartbeat when YoungBloodz did 85( thats our song) and then to finally revel in Goodie Mob on stage. Hearing my song live with a band the growl of Khujo– the tease of  Ceelo  blessing us with a Frankie Beverly cover way better than the original. To hear the crowd all lifted in song trying to reach those notes in “before i let go”. So many beautiful people dancing, singing, smoking swaying in unity over and under the groove of Dungeon FAMILY. FAMILY. Tomorrow  they may go the way the roads take them but tonight. tonight. tonight.

I left early and people were lined at will call and hour plus into the show still getting tickets wanting to be apart of the experience. RAIN, MUDD AND MUSIC.  As  I drove to work  I considered the weight of what I’d  just witnessed. The leveity of it all. This was my WOODSTOCK people will ask if you were there. Not only can I say I was there in the trenches doing what I love.  Realization dawned on me I’m a Ga Girl born and raised. My mom went to Archer but graduated from Washington High. My cousins went to Mays, Banneker, Doug. I remember when Alonzo Crim wasn’t Crim highschool. Many things came rushing to the forefront of my mind. Pride that  GM could bring such a diverse crowd together unintimadated by the elements…. Ok my love letter is headed towards gushing and so I tie it off. If you were too cheap to pay for the $40 ticket. Shame.  Tonight Janet herself could have called me for a photoshoot and I would said  NO!