The emails I get

San Francisco is hectic as can be, so in the meantime check out this email that randomly showed up in my inbox. Apparently I joined a frat:

Hey Guys! I hope everyone's semester is going well! I know there are a lot of parties on the go and a lot of beer being drank so keep up the good work!! I'm glad you guys are drinking but if you guys know you have a party on the go for the weekend try and stock up on your beer before 3:00 on Friday afternoon. It is much easier for me and you guys if you can pick beer up at Labatt Customer Service. I know Fitz's has cold beer but basically what is happening is that everyone is calling me between 5:00 and 7:00 on Friday and we're basically drinking ALL of Fitz's beer. While this is seen
as a good thing by most, it is important that Fitz has enough product to sell to the general public. So just to recap, if you guys can stock up on beer it would be greatly appreciated.

Also guys, tonight at the breezeway (Saturday, September 8) Labatt presents UFC World Light Heavyweight Championship, Jackson vs. Henderson. This is a Labatt exclusive night which means Labatt will be the only beer products available for sale. There are going to be a few giveaways and 120oz (The Big Ones) Keiths Jugs are available for $21.60. Guys, it's important that we have a good turnout from each residence. I apologize for the late notice but from here on out Saturday nights at the Breezeway are Labatt nights so be sure to pop over and check it out and I will be posting signage and sending you a calendar of events to inform you of what's coming up.

Cheers!
Wade

Or, no, I guess I work for Labatt? There's no way I can figure out how this meshes with the other emails that I keep getting mistakenly from a gay guy in New York, who apparently throws killer parties, such as

Subject: Keeping In Touch! Whoopie Goldberg-Phylicia Rashad stops by my summer house.

Whoopie hosted the annual benefit, The Fire Island Dance Festival, on Sat. July 21st. I was the only one who was so fortunate to be allowed in the house and to speak with her after the benefit before she was sneaked out the side of the host house. I asked her if there was anything new and exciting coming up in the future. She told me she could be hosting a show but would not let me know which show. I asked her if she might be co-hosting on ABC's daytime show The View. She looked at me with a surprised face.........

I promised not to mention this news to anyone until one day after it was officially announced.

On Sunday July 22nd Phylicia Rashad hosted the 2nd day of the benefit. Phylicia Rashad is best known for her role on The Cosby Show as Bill Cosby's wife, Ms. Huxtable. Phylicia stopped by my summer beach house and said hello. She was also with Broadway superstar Michael McElroy.

Enjoy the pics....

E.A., Keeping In Touch

A lot of Matt Wrights in the world, I guess, with a lot of varied interests.

Mystery of the internet

mimi and michelle smooch, originally uploaded by Mr. Wright.

One of the greatest achievements of the internet has to be throwing open the blinds on all the people of the world's unexpected little interests. The picture above, for instance, which I thought of mainly as a family heirloom, was discovered and sought out for something called bestkisses.com. Once I figured out the folks weren't some weird fetishists, I had no problem releasing the photo, albeit not without curiosity — probably like watching someone at a garage sale get excited over some something you had forgotten you even owned.

506,359

Grady, 11:15 a.m., via text: Yo just thought I'd let you know i just got a 506359 on tetris for the n.e.s.

Me: motherf---

Me: why were you playing this early to start with? Dang, that was my impossible dream you just shattered

Grady: I got up for work and it was cancelled. Then i just got in a groove and kept rollin. Got a tetris on level 18 to seal it

Me: Dag

—

I spent an entire summer during college trying to top 500,000. Playing every day, usually two or three games per day, I got as close as 498,000 and change. Grady is now officially the master in this family.

"The poop must flow."

Storm, originally uploaded by chuckdog.

This weekend we had to send my old friend Jason Willome off on his Hawaii professor adventure. That's right, I'm friends with a guy who has a professor's house in Hawaii with an extra room just for friends to crash. Doesn't get much better than that. Photos of Jason double-fisting hardy mainland ales at his going-away party are forthcoming.

For now, though, I had to pass on this picture from new Flickr friend Chuck City, who I virtually met by virtue of meeting in person his very cool chick, Heather G.

Chuck is stationed in Afghanistan right now, where he — no joke — shuts down Afghani Burger Kings that get their food "from a doo doo meat factory." Anyways, I got back from San Antonio to find that Chuck had commented (from way out in the geopolitical boonies) on a few of my photos, noting one in particular that he thought had an outstanding caption, all of which prompted me to look through his stream and find the picture above.

The caption: "Shit trucks aint scared of no storm. The poop must flow."

Now that is an awesome photo and caption. I could see "The poop must flow" becoming sort of a mantra for life.

More music from the '60s

After having "Working in a Coalmine" stuck in my head the other day, I was at the Chili Parlor for lunch this afternoon and heard a contemporary song that has to rank among the creepiest of all time.

Behold, "Young Girl"



How does a song with the lyrics "So hurry home to your Mama, I'm sure she wonders where you are, Get out of here, Before I have the time, To change my mind, 'Cause I'm afraid we'll go too far" become a classic?

An open letter

Dear The Couple Sitting on the Couch Four Feet from Me,

The coffee shop is not the place to snuggle and smooch slowly, gently, slurpily and generally disgust me.

Sincerely,
Matthew C. Wright

This is nutty

I really don't know what to say about the photos you'll find here. I just had to pass it along.

One last shot from DeafACT

the imaginary camera, originally uploaded by Mr. Wright.

Loved the geometry in this setup. Another cool shot looking this direction is here.

Tiii-iiime is on my side

apprehension, originally uploaded by Mr. Wright.

Amanda volunteered recently to help out with a thing called Deaf Act. It's a theater program for deaf kids around middle school age, maybe a bit younger. Tonight they debuted "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" at the Texas Union theater. The folks in charge of the production had asked for as many volunteer photogs as they could get. They got at least four of us tonight. I think that's almost as many as were at Barack Obama last weekend.

Earlier in the day, when Amanda asked me to shoot, I immediately went through the excuse rolodex, with an early season Spurs-Cavs immediately jumping to mind. But I went of course and, wouldn't you know it, ended up getting some great stuff. The picture above, though, gets at something I wish I could consistently capture: a sense of timelessness. Reid was the first to apply that term to one of my photos, and I think it pins down the special capacity of photography to record something that is simultaneously universal and not generic. Like a good essay, now that I think about it.