Willie Mays. Hank Aaron. Reggie Jackson. Yogi Berra. The largest gathering of Hall of Fame baseball players ever! And it happened on the occasion of the All Star game at Yankee Stadium, the last such game to be played in its 85 year history, for this is the last season the Yankees will play in the House that Babe Built. As a former baseball fan, I was mesmerized by the broadcast of this historic event. Ed, less so. As this photo shows!

I continue to take LOTS of photos for my self portrait project, the one my mentor, David Alan Harvey, insists is a book-in-the-making. He gave my project an online portfolio review on Saturday and seemed pleased with my progress. 20-24 photos passed muster (out of 76) and he says I'll need 40-50 more for the book. David should know: four books of his photos have been published thus far, and he's working on another as we speak.

It feels strange--and wonderful--to have a Magnum photographer like David Alan Harvey take my work so seriously. This is not something I'd ever dreamed would happen. But it has, and I'm grateful. It certainly makes me take my work seriously too. Not that I don't continue to enjoy the process. I do. But I have such a different attitude towards it now. How can I say this? It's like I have a purpose beyond the simple taking of photos. There's new meaning to my work and how I approach it. It is literally ALL I think about, except my Eddie, of course. Who seems to be getting better day-by-day, thank god.

Life is good. Better than good. It is positively THRILLING!!!

CLICK HERE to see the slideshow of my updated self portrait series. Be sure to turn up your sound as there is music too!