Back to School

"It's like a dream come true," said Terrence Thomas, 21, of Tampa, as he inspects his vehicle, checking the windshield for cracks, the hoses for leaks and the tires for bubbles before taking it off the lot. "I've always wanted to drive a school bus since I was a little boy." Assigned to King High School, Greco Middle School and MOSI Partnership Elementary School, Thomas is excited to start his first year driving one of the county's 1,200 yellow school buses. "I believe this is my calling."

Under the Road to Redemption

The roar of rush hour wakes him: trucks, cars and buses thundering across the causeway above his tent. Behind the shack next to his, someone guns a generator. Spanish music blares from a boom box. Homer Barkley turns on his side, pulls the covers over his head. His mother gave him these sheets when he got out of prison, to use at his brother's house, where he planned to stay. Instead, the sheets cover an air mattress Barkley hauled down here more than a year ago, when he found out he had to live on the edge of Biscayne Bay, with 70 other people convicted of committing sex crimes against kids. Home now is a spit of sand beneath a highway overpass. It's the punishment after the punishment.

Read the rest of Lane's story here.

Dating 101

I typically don't like shooting sign photos. Or using words to carry something visual. But this was too good to pass up.

You&Me.We held a relationship workshop for teenagers called Dating 101 for teens at First Baptist Church on Gandy Blvd. The teens learned about the healthy way to "hook up," what love is and isn't, and how to break up with someone. During one interactive session, they separated into groups by gender and made lists of things that they like and dislike about the opposite sex.

Just so you know, things teenage boys look for in a girl are a nice body, booty, chest, physique, and smile -- oh and not having kids was another quality they find attractive.

There dislikes were captured here. So if you're a stupid, controlling, nappy-headed, gold-digging girl with stank breath and a mustache or beard... you don't stand a chance.

Kids are funny. But at least they have standards.

Little Ballerinas

Well you can't change the world with your photos every day. Sometimes I just like hearing that I made editors in the budget meeting say "Awwwwwwwwww..."

Little ballerinas Aslyn Clark, 3, Kaylea Valdes, 5, Kayla Anderson, 6, and Jamia Gamble, 4, (left to right) throw their arms up in the air before taking a big bow during the Judith Lee Johnson City Dancers Kinderdance at Gladden Park Recreation Center.

Down & Dirty

Mud Wars competitor Cody Walters, 16.

mine

I always hold onto a twinge of hope that picture like this will run. But they never do. Shrinking space. Not a story-telling moment. Not an easy read. But I won't stop making them. If only for me. And my blog.

crap on white

...is what my editor calls it. and it's the bane of my existence.