Day 4 (Weds., June 15)

Call me crazy. Today was crazy. Today I was crazy. Tonight I am relieved. But today was crazy. It all started at 7:30 in the morning when I woke up with a slight headache. I think working late last nite at Billy Bob's really drained me down. Perhaps. But I know it wasn't all Billy Bob's fault. Today the convention kicked off as everyone shows up for day 1 of the conference. We were all excited as our first issue was published today.

Since the convention started today, I decided to go from my casual look to slacks and tie. That wasn't a good idea though. The first assignment involved going down to Fossil Creek Golf Club to shoot the first-ever NAHJ Golf Tournament. I walked up to the 13th hole as I chased around the golfers. I met some really cool people there. First, I met Charley Wilson, director of public affairs for Verizon Wireless. He was very cool as he gave me a ride on his golf cart to their next hole. It was tough walking out there in a tie and carrying all my camera gear.

The next team I saw was the Al Dia/Dallas Morning News team. It was cool approaching them as the day got warmer and warmer. It was cool because I knew the team on a personal basis. Last year when I did the Al Dia Internship, I got a chance to work side-by-side this men. There was Mauro Diaz, the Al Dia sports editor. He's cool because he was able to send me out to a lot of good assignments like Monday Night Football, pro boxing, Rangers baseball, Mexico Soccer League games, MLS soccer games and even a chance to meet Eduardo Najera, the only Mexican in the NBA. I also saw Gene Chavez, who does circulation for Belo, the newspaper's parent company. I remember when Gene and I had a talk in the lunchroom about life and when you, as a man, realize when you are ready to be married. Alex Fernandez, who does promotions for Al Dia, was there. He's been really cool to me and always shared his cool travel stories w/ me, particularly his trip to Puerto Rico. The foursome was completed with Jim Moroney, the Dallas Morning News' publisher. I met him last year at one of the internship events and he was really cool to me.

The above photos are of the members of the American Association of Retired People. This was the team that really made me laugh. They were having a great time and it was cool hanging out w/ them as they joked around and told me about all their cool golfing stories. They lost the tournament by one point to the Verizon team, so that was sort of a heartbreak. During my walk in the heat I bumped into the Knight Ridder team composed of Star-Telegram editors including Wesley Turner, the publisher. Mr. Turner was cool as he made sure someone from the clubhouse came to pick me up since I was done w/ my photography. Otherwise I had a two-mile walk back to the car and with the day getting hotter, it wasn't a good idea. Thanks Mr. Turner.

When I walked back into the office I caught Josh (Colorado) playing with a cup of water. His expression capped exactly how I was feeling because of all the sun. I came back tired and sun-burnt. The day had just started and I already felt like falling on my back and taking a nap.

In walking around the office I bumped into Juan Antonio
Ramos (above, on the left), the executive director for Diaro La Estrella in Fort Worth, next to Carlos Nava and Alfredo Carbajal, Al Dia's sports and managing editors, respectively. The two newspapers these men work for are rivals in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Before I took their photo, they were huddled having a conversation. I think they were fighting over who I am going to choose when I am ready to get a job.

After getting a little bit of rest I headed out to the NAHJ President's reception where the big wigs were expecting an appearance from a very important person. Antonio Villaraigosa, the new elected mayor of Los Angeles, walked in and everyone rushed to his side. Villafane walked over to him and extended the organization's warm welcome to the politician. I had a brief talk w/ him as I have worked w/ him before. First, four years ago when I was a student at Los Angeles Valley College. He was part of a debate there and I interviewed him afterwards. Also, this March he spoke at CSUN in a debate with incumbent-mayor James Hahn and later covered his victory party on May 17 in Downtown Los Angeles. It was cool to see him there and it was cool he remembered me.

After the reception everyone rushed over to the auditorium to see Villaraigosa speak. Above, Villafane spoke with members of the NAHJ board about a few issues as they waited for the show to start. Below, Cathleen Farrell, editor of PODER magazine, asked questions as Villaraigosa took the stage.

Once the assignment was over I figured I was done for the day. I headed for the hotel to take a very needed quick shower before tonight's opening reception at the Fort Worth Museum of Modern Art. However, getting down from the 10th floor at the Plaza was not fun as the elevators got stuck. Aurora (Miami), and Lynette, Marielis and Alsy (all of Puerto Rico) decided to go down the stairs. So, I followed. It was all good until we got to the first floor where we had to walk on top of some fence-like, metal net to get to the back entrance of the building. It was quite fun.

As I said, I thought my day was over. That's when I got a call from Jeffery Washington, my editor. He told me to meet him downstairs at the convention center as he had an assignment. He gave Emanuel (Puerto Rico), Reyna (Los Angeles) and I 15 minutes to shoot the opening night reception at the museum. The following photos are what I came back with in that 15-minute drill. What do you think? Did I do a good job?

The next photo was taken on my second trip to the museum. After the 15-minute assignment, we headed back to the office and worked on our photos. Once everything was done, I decided to go back and enjoy a little of the reception since I was done for the day. I couldn't stop shooting as I shot the people hanging out outside. And of course, I couldn't stop shooting when Aurora (Miami) and Lynette (Puerto Rico) started making faces at the camera.

The first day of the convention is now over. I had a lot of work. It was a crazy day. It made me run around like crazy. And, it made me think I was crazy. That's why I love photography, because although I get to do crazy things, it's the most sane thing I could be doing. Without photography, I probably would go crazy.

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