Foundation

I know that a limestone foundation isn't exactly a selling point for a home, but it sure is cool to look at. I believe that this is the original foundation laid in the late 1800's, but I could be wrong. The front of the house is the original building we saw in the photograph, but the back of the house was added much later and has a traditional cinder block foundation. Eventually, the limestone will have to be replaced with something more solid, but I sure as heck don't plan on being here that long. With all the interesting features our home has, it can't overcome it's unfortunate location.

Writing on the Wall

Our home is over 100 years old. A couple of years ago, we found a article from the Rockford Register Star with a photograph showing our house and the main street of Monroe Center. The photograph was from the 1890's. Pretty stunning knowing our house was here 80 years before I was even born! Today's picture shows the door to our not-so-old garage. The owners of the house in the 40's through the 70's kept written records on the garage door of all the maintenance they did on their cars. This was another thing we found really quaint about the house when we moved in. It really gives you a sense of the history of the house and reminds us that it's been here for a long time.

The Tent Room

This quirky room on the Eastern peak of the house is what we like to call the Tent Room. Used mostly for storage and the cats' bathroom, this is actually considered the third bedroom of our home. I can't imagine having a room in there personally, but I'm sure a kid would love it due to its uniqueness. Steph's brother Dan gave the room it's nickname early after we bought the house. This is also the room where we had to have the window replaced, and as you can see, we haven't yet found the time to paint it.

The Nail Room

Our house has a lot of personality. There are rooms and things in our house that have very unique traits. I'm going to take the next few days to photograph and write about these things, so I can share some of the character our home has.

This is a shot of a corner of our side porch, and 3 of the 4 walls are very similar in appearance. When the previous owners re-sided the house, they didn't take into account that the porch walls are relatively thin, so every nail they put into the wall spiked through the other side. The first time we came into the porch, I was thinking it looked like some sort of medieval torture chamber. We've tried to soften the effect by hanging various things on the spikes, but no matter what we do, I think this room will always feel a bit dangerous.

Showtime

Steph and I just got home about 1/2 hour ago from the concert. We got there around 7, and Faded Embrace, her brother Dan's band, was supposed to go on at 7:30. Unfortunately, they made them go on early, so we only got to see them play about three songs. I was able to get a few shots, but didn't get nearly as many as I would have liked to get since the time was limited. Anyway, here's what I managed to get. Oh, and the fist-pumping mohawk guy is Dan, my brother-in-law. :)
To see the rest of the shots from the show, click HERE.

Faded Embrace / Static X

Tomorrow night, Steph and I are going to the Forest Hills Lodge to see a concert. The headliners, Static X, is not the band we're going to see. My brother in law Dan is the guitar player for the opening act, Faded Embrace. It's a pretty big deal for Dan to be opening for Static X. He's been a really big fan of theirs for a long time. I'm taking my camera and have volunteered to do some photography for them, so I'll probably post pictures from the show on Wednesday. If you get a second, hit the link above or to the right to check out Faded Embrace.

Cuddles

Poor Stephanie. Every time she uses the computer, whether it's upstairs at the desk, in the recliner, or on the couch, her cat Chloe climbs all over her. After she's finished, I always find Chloe hairs all over the keyboard. If she's using the mouse at the desk, Chloe will head-butt her hand, pushing the pointer all over the screen. It may be annoying for Steph, but it sure is damn cute.

Black

I've been wanting to buy a second controller for my Xbox 360 since I got the system. I don't have people over to play often, but it's nice to have that option. I've been putting it off for a while, and I glad I did. They've recently released a newer version of the system called "Elite", and the system is black. Now, to tie in with that release, they're providing us with black peripherals. The controller looks really good in black, and now I have two!

Drained

I've learned something about my camera. After uploading my pictures to my computer yesterday, I left the camera plugged in to the USB on my laptop. Picking up my camera today, the batteries were completely drained. I guess leaving the camera docked and communicating with the computer drains the batteries quicker than you can believe. Unfortunately, this forced me to use my crappy point and shoot, which gives me shots barely any better than my cell phone.

Well, I started taking antibiotics today for my bronchitis, and I was also prescribed an inhaler for the mild asthma that's made considerably worse from the bronchitis. I leaned a nasty truth today. Having piss-poor health insurance is not a good thing. Being considered "temporary" at Chrysler, we're given a bare bones insurance plan that doesn't cover dental, vision, or prescription drugs. The antibiotic and inhaler I got today came to a grand total of $85. Under the insurance from my previous employer, that would have cost me roughly $10. Ugh. I have to remember to not get sick in the future.

Wildlife

The previous resident of our home really had a green thumb. We have a diverse garden of perennials growing in various locations throughout our yard. Some of the flowers, like the one above, are really odd, but really beautiful. We also have lilies, tulips, hostas, and some other things I can't identify. It's really great to have some of these plants, but sometimes our yard can look a bit wild.

Favorite Shots #7 / Sick AGAIN

This is getting out of hand. I've been having tightness and discomfort in my chest when I breathe, so I decided to go to the doctor today. I was given a laundry list of things she thinks may be wrong with me, including bronchitis, asthma, and acid reflux. What a great day, huh? Add to that only getting 4 hours of sleep today, and as you can see, I had a pretty crappy day.

Since I'm feeling poorly, I decided to take the easy route today and post this shot I took a couple summers ago at my brother Justin's baseball game. I thought it was pretty good at the time, but it's interesting to go back and look at some of my old stuff and see how amateur it really is. All those shots I thought were terrific at the time seem pretty average now, and in fact some are pretty bad.

The Drawbacks of Digital

I love my digital camera. It's convenient, it's easy to use, and it makes this blog possible by giving me immediate access to digital copies of the pictures I shoot. There is one aspect of digital, however, that I really don't like. When I was shooting film, there was always a certain excitement to getting prints made. You have these 5 or 6 rolls of film, and you have generally no idea of what you're going to get. You may get a masterpiece, you may get a bunch of garbage, but regardless, when you open that envelope and look at those photos, it's always an exciting moment. With digital, the closest you get to that moment is uploading your shots to your computer and looking at them. It's just not the same. You don't get that tactile sensation of holding the prints in your hand. I really miss that at times. I can't remember the last time I had prints made.

For Sale Sold!

It was announced early this morning plant wide, and all over the news today that DaimlerBenz, the parent company to Chrysler, has sold 80% of the stock to a company called Cerberus Capital Management LP, effectively selling the company. It's been rumored for some time that this was coming, but frankly, being a contract year, I thought most of it was B.S. Guess not! I don't know what this means for me in the long term, but short term, it doesn't change a whole lot. I'll keep you posted on any major news.

Complete coverage of the Chrysler deal, from Detroit Free Press

Green Days

Every year in the spring, I really try to pay attention to the trees. It's always a refreshing thing to watch the new leaves sprout out, but sometimes, with life's rapid pace, I tend to miss it. I wake up one day to discover all the trees completely full of leaves, and I find myself trying to figure out when it happened. I have the same problem in the fall when the leaves are changing. I try to make a point to observe it, but oftentimes I miss out.

Quality Time

I got to spend some time with my brothers, my dad, and my sister Amanda tonight. My brothers are both home on leave, and we decided to go to dinner and see Spiderman 3. Dinner was great, but Dad wasn't feeling well, so he and Mandy went home, and my brothers and I decided to play some poker. It was fun, but I didn't do quite as well this week as I did last week. It was a good time and it was great to spend time with my brothers.

Favorite Shots #6: Infrared

Today was another of those days, so I decided to share this shot. Infrared photography is something I dabbled in while taking photography classes at RVC. Infrared photography is done with a special type of film and with a black filter over the lens. The filter only allows the infrared radiation to get to the film, so you get these very surreal images. Plant life really reflects infrared radiation, so everything you see in the images as white is reflceting a lot. Things like water, tree bark, and the sky that reflect little to no infrared, come out as black. Infrared prints really don't scan too well, so this doesn't really do the print much justice. I also have another awesome shot of Punkin sitting in the grass, but the scan is pretty bad.

Whine

My ISP sucks. Once again, my internet was out last night so I was unable to post. I had this idea of talking about different wines that I enjoy, and how working 3rd shift has severely limited the times I'm able to enjoy a glass of wine, but now that it's 7:30 in the morning the following day, all that has slipped my mind. Meh. Guess I'll have to save that for another day. In the mentime, here's a bottle that I enjoy. One of the few White Zinfandels I actually like, it has a crisp, sweet flavor without being overwhelmingly sweet. The sweetness isn't a sugary sweetness, but instead is fruity, which I really enjoy.

Third Shift Annoyance #7: Day Sleeper

I sleep with a fan on. I always have, and it's likely I always will. As a result, I'm a pretty light sleeper. The slightest odd noise, or even a change in modulation of the white noise the fan produces will wake me up. This creates an unfortunate situation for my day sleeping. In the winter it's not an issue because all the windows are closed. In the summer, however, even with the fan running, having windows open in the bedroom just isn't an option. The last couple days the temps have climbed into the 80's, and believe me, it's been hot in there. I can only imagine what it will be like in the dog days of August when we're nearing the 100° mark.

Noisy

This is Punk's favorite time of year. He finally gets to go outside after a long winter being shut up indoors. Unfortunately for us, he lets us know continuously that he should be outside. He sits by that door nearly every night howling to be let out. Then, if we don't get the hint, he'll often run into the living room and attempt to dig a massive hole in the middle of the carpet. Either that, or he'll begin chasing the other cats all over the house. Basically he tries to cause as much trouble as he can so we'll want to put him out. We love him, but he's a pain in the ass sometimes.

Unfinished Business

I have a problem. I have about 40 to 50 games for my various game systems, and of these games, I've finished about 15 of them. I know I'm not alone, if any of you are gamers like I am, I'm sure this is a common problem. I've moved the bulk of my games to a small shelf next to our entertainment center, and hopefully seeing all these titles sitting unfinished will motivate me to go back to some of them.