Bluetooth

One of the things I really dig about my new MacBook Pro is the built-in Bluetooth. It allows me to do cool things like sync my cell phone to the computer so I can put photos and ring tones on it very easily, and it also gives me the ability to use wireless accessories like this Logitech mouse wirelessly without a USB dongle. Sure, it's a little thing, but it's the little things that count. By the way, this is what you get when it's 11:45 pm and I haven't shot a picture or even thought about what today's post will be....

Training the Eye

I decided to take a walk today to look for something to shoot. While I was walking, I started to think about how sometimes, when I look at something, I can just see the potential for a great photograph in my mind. What I mean to say is that I can see there's something there, but it doesn't necessarily mean I'll be able to photograph it. It can be really frustrating looking at something, knowing that there's an awesome shot there, and just barely missing it. When I took this shot, I could see there was something there, but I couldn't quite get it. It's like having a word or a name on the tip of your tongue and not being able to get it out. It can be maddening, but when you finally get that shot or remember that name, it's very gratifying. I'm pretty happy with this shot, but I know that this isn't what I was seeing. I could spend a lot of time here trying to get that shot.

May: In Review

Well, another month has come and gone. I'm five months into this little project, and the year is just flying by. This month I was able to go to a concert, play some cards with friends, and expound on the sale of my employer. I showed some of the unique features of our home and spent some quality time with the family. I really feel like this was a great month photographically, with some of my best shots being taken in the last four weeks. Bring on June!

Here's my favorites for the month:

Tulip Tree

We have quite a few trees on our lot, but we have one that is quite unique. It's called a Tulip Tree, or Liriodendron, and from what I understand, it's very rare to have one in this area. According to Wikipedia, these trees are common in Eastern North America, so finding one in the Midwest is pretty uncommon. The flower you see is all over the tree, but mostly in the higher branches. They bloom about this time every year, but like the tulips it's named after, they never last long. The first time we noticed the flowers was in our first spring living here. I was mowing the grass, and a low branch was really needing to be trimmed back. I pushed the mower towards the tree, reached up to move the branch aside, and found myself looking directly at one of these flowers. It was a pretty cool discovery.

Favorite Shots #8: Abandoned

I have a thing for old, abandoned buildings. I'm not sure exactly why, but I really enjoy shooting stuff like this, and around here, there's a lot of it. Many farmers have buildings on separate lots that are run down or out of use and there are countless factory buildings in downtown Rockford that are no longer occupied. Eventually I hope to shoot an entire series focusing on the abandoned factories in Rockford. Rockford used to be a manufacturing city, but now, since it's much cheaper to purchase imported garbage from other countries, that is no longer the case. Like countless other cities in this country, Rockford's jobs have slowly shifted from manufacturing to the service industry. It's very easy to say that many jobs are being created in the city right now, but when those jobs don't even pay $10 an hour, that's not helping anyone.

Landscaping: Before

We decided to take this horribly overgrown mess out and replace it with evergreen bushes. Considering my schedule, doing stuff like this is really difficult. Luckily, we had a three day weekend, so I was able to get up earlier today and do some work. I got everything dug out, got the area tilled, and planted a tree and 3 bushes. We're putting a tree in the front corner and the back corner, then three bushes in between. It wont look good now, but in the next couple years it should look great and serve to hide the ugly foundation.

Cookout at the Campgrounds

Steph and I spent most of the day at Blackhawk Valley Campgrounds with my family, cooking out and enjoying the beautiful weather. First, a little background. My grandparents have been going to Blackhawk Valley for about 35 years. They go out for about 4 days a week every week throughout the summer. When I think of camping, I think of a tent, sleeping bag, cooking over a fire, etc. This is nothing like that. My grandparents' camper is like a smaller, second home. Full size bed, air conditioning, full bath and shower. It's crazy. It's really a beautiful place they go to, nestled in the valley of the Rock River. It's surrounded by trees, and there's something about the smell off the place that I just love. I really can't explain it, but I really love it down there. This is their last year going "camping". I'm really going to miss going out there.

We got to the campgrounds around 3:30, and we ate around 5. They always have a ton of people to their lot on these holiday weekends, and today was no exception. There were probably about 30 people eating. My brother Dave and his girlfriend Chrissy were there, and they surprised us all by bringing their new pet, Charlie. Charlie is a pygmie goat, is about 8 weeks old, and is totally adorable. I spent most of the day petting him, and he loved it. After dinner, Uncle Bob and my cousin Rob played music at the shelter for everyone attending. We stayed for about an hour after they started, then headed home. It was a pretty great day!

View the rest of the shots HERE

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