To Bren...

I'm definitely not the first, nor the last to use Instagram for wedding/engagement related posts. The problem is getting a photo good enough to post that doesn't 'spam' the feeds of the followers that don't know the couple. Ironically, that's where Bren--who is getting married today to his fiancé Dan Dan--could come into the picture.

Bren is a man of many talents. He can draw. He's an actor (as seen by his excellent performance in the fake commercial 'Bren Flakes' as well as a few other short films that he and I made together). He's a rock-star (the frontman for Stegosaurus, their bassist, a songwriter, and even an adequate rapper).

His most marketable skill, however is probably his talent for Illustrator and Photoshop. While the band, worked together to create music, Bren single-handedly designed the artwork for the albums, the website, the concert flyers and more. Bren and I share a lot in common in creative pursuits, but his 'Adobe' skills are something I'm nowhere near able to touch.

I could spend more time talking about how great Bren is, but I've already wrote a novel with him as the main protagonist when I lived in Shanghai. That better be enough!
In the novel he finds true love (he also fights against Godzilla). I'm glad you found true love in real life too--without having to fight Godzilla. ;)

Shanghai is just a flight away,
but I can't be there for this important day.
And so i'll fake it, find a way
To make it seem like a part of me is there anyway.

'They are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has yoked together let no man put apart.'

Point of Despair

Here's a new song for my blog.

Firstly though, I want to say I was really surprised and flattered that so many people read and liked my last post 'A Year In Instagram.'
Thanks so much again to those who read it and I'm glad so many enjoyed it. :)

When my Mom was here visiting me, I overheard her say, "Instagram has made my life so happy."
I'm not sure if I would go that far, and yes Mom, I'm quoting you completely out of context. :)
But seriously, my family and my friend family* are divided by miles, hundreds of miles, and thousands of miles--sometimes across continents. It's so great to have a tool that allows us to see pictures of what is going on in their lives as their lives unfold...and it's nice to see pretty pictures too :)
I'm obviously not alone in feeling this way.

Despite it's emo title, 'Point of Despair' comes across as almost a cheery song, and it's hard for me to not picture Esther smiling as she recorded herself singing the melancholy are-we-just-friends-or-more lyrics. I think it's been over a year now since this recording was made. I hope you enjoy this short, chorus-less tune performed on piano by the soon to be Mrs. Johnson.

*'friend family' is a Havalah Francis trademarked term. All unauthorized usage of this term is forbidden.

"Therefore, whether you are eating or drinking or [Instagraming], do all things for God's glory."
- 1 Corinthians 10:31 (MDAOSVBible - Modern Day and Overly Specific Version)

A Year In Instagrams

I really enjoyed 2012. Here is a selection of around 50 of my favorite posts this year. 

Ironically, it is also probably the year of Instagram itself--the year where it took off in international popularity.

I realize that many will not even know some of the people here, and since the quality of the photography itself wasn't the main factor in choosing the shots, a lot of the 'this is more meaningful because it's my personal friend'-factor is lost. I tried to make up for the difference in my explanations below the posts.

I wanted to do this to reflect on some of the great memories I had from last year, encourage others to do the same and give a little praise to my friends. I thought about breaking things down into categories such as 'best use of mutiframe,' 'worst use of kelvin,' 'best portrait,' etc--and to a degree I did do that--but the fact is I didn't want to take this too seriously.

Also, there are so many I'm missing, some posts that folks later deleted (Such as 'sign-language applause in Patterson dining room' by Daniel Lal and Melissa Mercado's clever use of time-sequence multiframe to show how she straightened her curly hair in preparation for the Safeguard Your Heart DC), and many that are not listed here for other factors. 'Super-instagramers' and some professional photographers that use Instagram for their postings were not included. Consequentially, what is listed below is ultimately more of a glimpse than an overview.

This is probably my longest blog post yet.

Hope you enjoy reading it.

Ayumi's self portrait above and portrait with my longtime roommate/her husband Josh (below) are two of my favorites.

The biggest event of the year for myself was easily Brian and Katu's wedding. I re-united with my roots and met with many elements which I feel will be a part of my future. Most importantly, events surrounding the wedding were the first steps in my subsequent decision to move to the Dominican Republic. Above is my favorite shot of the two of them. I would have chosen this shot for IG of the year, but if I did it would have been for sentimental reasons...which I guess isn't really a bad reason!

The 'jw-meme' is now a normal thing it seems. Blaine's post was one of the first I lol-ed to, and my roommate Bren's epub-study-post below induced a lol and a half.

 Photo of a Chinese man by Bren (Below).

I first met Esther in Stockholm and found out soon that she would be moving to Shanghai around the same time I returned from that very trip. She was one of my first followers on Instagram actually (I remember talking with her about the day when I finally got a photo to receive 10 likes). She is one of my favorite little sisters...and my singing slave! (She performs the back-up vocals on 'God is Not a Trinity')

Above and below are two of my favorite esthergrams.

Update: As of their announcement on January 3rd, Esther and Tyler (see below) are now engaged to be married. Congratulations guys! 

Jaron was a good photographer before canned filters came into play. He's continuing to take good photos and Instagram happens to be there.

My former roommate Bren and I both agree that Tyler (lao_tyty) is one of our favorites if not our favorite Instagramer (I wasn't sure if I should write 'Instagrammer' or 'Instagramer' -- they both aren't real words. I don't have any real affinity to the letter 'm.' And thus a decision was made). The one above and two below are three of his exceptional posts. I rarely see moments like this--much less capture them on camera.

I didn't really know Aaron or Savanna much when they were dating, and I don't even know them very intimately now (I'm probably even spelling her name wrong), but it's hard to not smirk at Aaron Dana's self-proclaimed 'greatest proposal in the history of humans' especially if you know the travel-to-Ecuador-to-surprise-her-story behind it, but even in case you don't know the story, the climax of it is captured right here. This is probably my favorite 'throw-back' post ever.

Above is an excellent shot that stands alone as good photo, but also captures a certain feeling unique to South Sweden in my opinion. Hans Christian Anderson's the Little Sea Maid is alluded to, but given an H&M makeover. Below is a shot of one of the worse things that could happen at a District Convention (or so i'm told). Hope Micheil will return one day! :)

Catherine's stone-face-melting-into-black, 'framed' by a white scarf self-portrait above may be the greatest self-portrait shot...ever? This is in my top five definitely.

One of Galen's debut posts to Instagram was his best/most disturbing post ever as well. The mischievous boy pooping on the Metro platform makes me laugh, is too ridiculous to be true, shows the contrast of Shanghai's high-tech world with a populous slow to follow at its pace, is an amazing moment to have captured/experienced and the photo is also a great reflection on the personality of the Instagramer himself. In other words, it says so much. An Instagram can be worth two thousand words. This was my favorite post of 2012.

Lindsay is one of the people I will remain friends with long after China. Above is her disturbing picture of roadside unhatched baby chick snacks in China. It's amazing to me that people would enjoy eating that.

I simply love Linderborg's photos, and this one is not only my favorite of his, it's also one of my top ten for the year. Long live Swedish style!

Violetta posts more than anyone else I follow (perhaps with the exception of her husband). She's also the Instagramer whose photos I 'like' the most according to statigram. Above is my favorite post from her. 

Natalie's 'touching of the sun' photo is still exceptional to me even in the flood of sun/sunset photos out on Instagram nowadays.

Above, Miquel captures an interesting shot in Dubai.  

I don't always like pet pictures. In fact most of the time, I find them quite annoying. That being said I loved this photo from Zeke and Luz.

Joanna Becker overfills the beach-sunset-photo quota on my feed and yet I don't get tired of her great shots. Above is my favorite post by her.

Kelli Shearer is photographer by profession, so I think it's ironic that my favorite photo in her stream and one of my favorite photos of the year wasn't taken by her.  This self-portrait is simple and reminds me that Lightroom isn't needed to spruce up photos. Kelli's girlnextdoor beauty makes the shot, but the amazing Latin American view in the back with an 'all-American-girl' in the foreground gives me a serve-where-the-need-is-great feeling that contributes to warmth and mood of the post as well.

Just another day in Shanghai China, taking the pig for a walk. Great shot Kajsa! :) 

Above, an excellent shot. I feel as if it's a screen shot of an independent film more than a sudden post that appears after hitting the refresh button. This is my favorite profile picture of the year.

Bren's self deprecating screen name (baldingbren) manifests its self-deprecating spirit with an added splash of cheesy in photo-form in this shot of himself with his fiancé--complete with plastic tuxedo. 

I grew up with Jaron and remember when Jordyn was born. It's startling to see such an excellent photo of the two of them looking as adult as I've ever seen them and is a reminder to myself how quickly time has carried on.

Erich posted a photo of the sign for the future location of Warwick bethel not too long after it was completed. I feel I saw history I would not otherwise have seen. My favorite breaking-news/i-was-there-post this year.

The shutter wasn't fast enough to catch the rotors--another interesting shot by Tyler!

Chicken feet in plastic wrap! Natalie captures yet another piece of the China experience and shares it with us in the outside world. I lived in Shanghai for five years, yet in her less than five months there she has better China-experience photos than I do. 

Above: Landscape picture of the year by Fan.

Witnesses exist in the Taboo world! (Post by Zihan Kong)

A recent post from Esther (mentioned above and in my previous blog post). This is my favorite photo from her yet. She made good posts way back then and still does now.

Another shocking Chinese snack brought to you by my former roommate Josh Galyean.

Hannah looks classy and beautiful in this excellent post by her. It looks like someone Instagramed a shot from Ken Watanabe's penthouse dinner party in the opening scenes of Inception.

Sunset photos are a dime a dozen on Instagram, but this shot by Daphne along with Natalie's 'touching the sun' (above) stand out as my favorite sunset shots of the year.

Natalie is probably my favorite person I've never met and along with Geoff and Tyler are my favorite Instagramers of the year. Above is my favorite post by her that also captures her personality (or at least what I know of it). A lot of people say 'this photo looks like it could be in magazine' is a great instacompliment. I don't necessarily agree, and Natalie's posts illustrate that point. There's a difference between photography and Instagramming! :) Her posts are square shaped portals into her everyday life and feel more like diary entries than anything else.

American-girl-in-Paris Havalah was able to take a photo of one of the most photographed landmarks in the world and still make it feel unique and interesting. In the words of Tyler Long, "whenever I see her photos, my finger is naturally drawn to the 'like' button."

The little girl from the tract is grown up. When I told her 'I didn't realize you were a celebrity.' She responded, 'Yep, one day I'll show you the bear suit.'

With Tyler, almost every post is a throwback post. Here is another one of his greats.

Catherine's photos in general are excellent, but this shot above screams out as one of my favorites all year.

Another excellent self portrait. Jaron is the James Dean of my social world.

Most shocking post of the year! Esther and her sister coincidentally bump into my younger brother at Stockholm Central Station. Esther lives in Shanghai and Jonathan in New York. They were both in Sweden at the same time for a trip.

Katu is the queen of multi-frame. This is my favorite of her shots, and my favorite multi-frame shot of the year. Focus on this photo for a few minutes and you'll get it. I love how all three shots feel so different even though they're almost identical.

That's all for now!

I'm looking forward to more great memories this year in 2013. Take care!