Thanksgiving 2009

Finally posting the photos from this past Thanksgiving. It was a great time laughing with my cousins and experiencing the holiday with a new generation.

Click the photo to view the slide show:

A Christmas to remember

Every year, over 50,000 families in San Antonio don't get the chance to celebrate Christmas like the rest of us.

As a part of my final project in speech class, I joined a group of nine classmates in giving a needy family Christmas this year. In three weeks, we gave "persuasive" speeches and held a bake sale to raise over $2,500 in donations, providing the Martinez family of five children - three of them triplets - with a Christmas they will never forget.


On a mission to pick up a donated fridge and industrial freezer.

Joy spills over in the Martinez home.


posing for the camera








Jasper (left) takes in the moment. We are fortunate to have the things we need at hand.




Martina is from Germany. She was the treasurer a major part of the project's success.



The Martinez family said it would take a couple days to soak in.

She picked up the phone right before our team member was getting ready to choose another family.

Stevenson Holiday Concert

Jim Cain conducts the wind ensemble to Sleigh Ride Tuesday at Coke R. Stevenson Middle School. Cain has directed the band for over twenty years.

Jim Cain stands still following the concert. Cain said that he still deletes e-mails from the district requesting notification of retirement. His wife, Virlie, who works as a librarian at William H. Taft High School, said they plan to retire together and "always wait another year."

Assistant director Pam Trevino (? center) watches on as Jim Cain conducts the wind ensemble to Sleigh Ride. Trevino entered Stevenson's halls after former assistant director Gordon Bade died unexpectedly in June 2008.

Pam Trevino laughs with Virlie Cain following the holiday concert.


 I played percussion from 2001-'04.





Gordon Bade taught music to students at Stevenson for over 30 years. He was a joyful and lovable person to know, and I remember how well he played the clarinet. Bade married his wife, Becky - a fellow musician - during a performance intermission, with the band playing Frank Sinatra's “I've Got a Crush on You,” the San Antonio Express-News reported in an obituary. Bade was 58.

warm gym; cold night.

1st Multimedia Piece: Just Juice It!

Psychology sophomore Anthony Vasquez holds up a glass of vegetable juice at his residence off Ashby Street Nov. 16. Vasquez tells people who don't like to eat vegetables or are afraid to try certain ones to "just juice it!"

Producing a multimedia piece can be a time-consuming, sleep-depriving and technically challenging medium to tell stories with.

Yet the supplementation of sound (and sometimes video) to still images enhances the story-telling capabilities of photojournalists, giving readers a better sense of what the aspects of life - the people, places and events that characterize history - are like by the greatest extent that they can be told.

After several evenings reporting, photographing and recording classmate Anthony Vasquez go through his juicing routine, it would be several evening-till-mornings of editing, splicing and writing before my first multimedia piece was completed.

And I don't think it's done, really.

My photojournalism professor, Dr. Edmund Lo, a former photo editor at many publications (including top Hong Kong and Taiwan magazines), has reminded me that it's never going to be perfect in the story-telling business. The story won't always be fully told and from every angle; A finite amount of time is allotted for our coverage of news that never stops and an infinite amount of other stories waiting to be told. "You've just got to get it done, and move on," he told me.

So I wish I could have photographed my fellow juicer as he serves meaty dishes at the P.F. Changs, the restaurant he has worked at for about as long as he's been a vegetarian (four years); I would have liked to spend an extra evening at his residence downtown, a kind of vintage-style pad, to maybe catch the carrot juice mustache.

But from what I did manage to present in writing, sound and visual images over the course of two weeks, readers can gain a broader perspective of the community and deeper understanding of, well, juicing!

View the published story and soundslide here


Vasquez buys produce from Finca Pura Vida at the Pearl Farmers Market Saturday, Nov. 7. “Produce that was recently picked has about 100 percent more nutrients than old produce,” Pura Vida said, adding that "produce loses most of it’s nutrients in the first three days."

A pill-minder sits on the counter of Vasquez's kitchen Nov. 9 at his residence on Ashby Street. "Vitamins can contain up to 4000 components, and your body just flushes it out,” Vasquez said, adding that nutrients in juice are easily absorbed and stored in the cells for later use. "An average size carrot has over 110 percent of your daily value of vitamin A."

Vasquez pours fresh carrot-radish juice. He said that a "12-ounce cup of juice is like four bucks" at Whole Foods, "and from what I buy I could make like ten of those and still have juice left over."

Vasquez eats an organic peanut butter and jelly sandwich with powdered green tea in Professor Jim Mammarella's Speech 1301 class Nov. 13. Kinesiology professor Andreia Brown said that vegetarians must combine food sources to create a complete protein (nine amino acids) for the body, which the peunut butter and jelly sandwhich can provide.Vasquez drinks at least one 32-ounce bottle of green tea everyday, which he says is a healthy alternative to coffee and provides more antioxidants.


Vasquez laughs with co-worker Matt Mauldan at P.F. Changs Nov. 13. Vasquez is a bar tender and server at the restaurant, always around meat but trying to "get people involved in eating vegan foods.” Vasquez will drink alcoholic beverages on occasion, avoiding those that are made with yeast or isinglass, a clarifying agent made from the swim bladders of fish.


PHOTOS COPYRIGHT PROTECTED BY TYLER K. CLEVELAND/THE RANGER

Thankful for Thanksgiving

Since the final Easter my family spent hunting for eggs on the farm, or Christmas gathered around my grandma Kay's Christmas tree, Thanksgiving has become my favorite holiday.

It's the one time of year where all or most of the family comes together - recently at my sister Laurie's house in Bryan, College Station - to give thanks for all of our memories and those being made for the day.

Click the photo to view a slide-show of last year's Thanksgiving:

Lady Rangers Undefeated

Story and photos copyright Tyler K. Cleveland/The Ranger


Biology sophmore Bethany Watson (from left) and american sign language sophomore Stephanie Munoz of the Lady Rangers Volleyball team, block the ball during the first set against the Trinity University Tigers Thursday in Candler. Watson "dominated the middle," said Coach Marisa Martinez, "shutting Trinity down." The Lady Rangers won the set 25-19 and went onto defeat the Tigers in four games.

Coach Martinez speaks with her team between games.

Biology freshman Faith Monsivias goes up for a kill during the Lady Rangers' second set against the Trinity University Tigers Thursday in Candler. With the first group on the bench, the Lady Rangers lost the set 13-25.

Starters of the Lady Rangers volleyball team, and coach Marisa Martinez (right), react during the second set against the Trinity University Tigers Thursday in Candler.

Kinesiology sophomore Kasandra Larios (from left), communications sophomore Nicole Plata, and business administration freshman Jasmine Perez of the Lady Rangers volleyball team struggle to keep the ball in play during the third set against the Trinity University Tigers Thursday in Candler. Midway through the set, the Lady Rangers improved their play by mixing up the first and second group, winning 25-22.

Fans cheer as biology sophomore Bethany Watson (middle left) celebrates a kill by kinesiology sophomore Kasandra Larios in the third set during the Lady Rangers volleyball game against the Trinity University Tigers Thursday in Candler. "She was really impressive with her kills," coach Marisa Martinez said of Larios. After trailing 16-21, the Lady Rangers rallied ahead and won the set 25-22, going onto defeat the Tigers in four games.

Stacie Robinson (from left), team manager Isabel Longoria, and Desie Baker of the Trinity University Tigers react during the fourth and final set against the Lady Rangers Volleyball team Thursday in Candler. The Lady Rangers won the set 25-16 and defeated the Tigers in four games.

La Luna

Moonrise November 2.

following a new trail

I decided to take a new direction at the park today, away from the concrete paths and what I've already seen. There were animal tracks in the drying creek bed, and I still can't figure out which animals they were made by (besides deer).





Deer and other animal tracks

Eva & Maya

Click the photo to see a great afternoon spent taking photos of my niece Eva (10 months) and her cousin Maya (20 months):

cold front clears the skies

A mild cold-front swept into San Antonio and cleared the hazy, humid skies, to show beautiful light at sunset. Mosquitoes were biting everything they could, but these photos are worth the itching next week. Next time I'll zip the hoodie up earlier and bring the OFF.