Day Three Hundred and Fifty-Two: Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk

Of all the people, places, and things Emily and I have featured on our blogs this year in over 350 days of pictures, one thing that we have not had is a picture of a "celebrity sighting."

In Lawrence, you won't find a much bigger celebrity (all Mark Mangino jokes aside) than KU head basketball coach Bill Self, seen here signing his latest book, At Home in the Phog.

Besides Emily and I not being able to spot a lot of celebrities in the past year (thus cementing the fact that we will never be tabloid photographers), I think these types of pictures haven't made their way onto the blog because, typically, celebrity spotting photographs are more "snapshots" than they are "artwork."

Though we may not always hit the mark, we are definitely trying for the latter, not the former, in this blog project. And while they may not all be considered artwork, we want our pictures - as much as possible - to tell a story.

Book signings are pretty common on the KU campus. Every year or so you can expect someone from the athletic department to publish their memoirs and make a few extra dollars attracting a long line of people to the bookstore to wait for a personalized, autographed copy for their own bookshelves.

Two years ago it was legendary Jayhawk announcer Max Falkenstien with his offering, A Good Place to Stop, 60 Seasons with Max and the Jayhawks. Last year Danny Manning sat with pen in hand, giving signatures and boosting sales of the book, What it Means to be a Jayhawk.

Coach Self's line this year required a little more waiting: Bill is very much a people's person, not refusing a little chat with anybody patient enough to stand in line to see him.

The line of people, though not quite like the day after Thanksgiving, did wrap around the KU Bookstore (unlike Black Friday, I decided it was worth my time waiting in this line).

I think what makes this picture more than just the average celebrity snapshot is Bill's positioning underneath his own "READ" poster in the bookstore. I'm sure it's something he preaches to his #1 ranked basketball team in one form or another:

If you're going to talk the talk, you have to walk the walk.