seasonal affects

Things are warming up a tad here in Wisconsin. Sometimes I have to look at pictures from warmer days to feel better, looking forward to the spring and the summer. I love fall and fall fashions and boots and hats. But what it comes down to is that I don't want to be cold anymore! Last winter I felt as if I was running on adrenaline; I could handle anything, including walking 1-2 miles home from the bar after midnight. This winter I am not doing that so much. I just don't have it in me.

So, I have been looking at the Stones River. It smells pretty horrid in the summer. I used to run for miles and miles on it with my friend Joe. A 5 mile run in the summer, being chased by a thunderstorm is a pretty awesome event. I could do 5 mile runs here, but the cold is stifling my activity.

On this day, my friend Meg-han and I jumped stones across the river. Good times.

Quintetting

The blog posts trickle in. Oh look, the semester started! The one and only explanation.

My woodwind quintet competed in the Regional MTNA competition last weekend and we played well considering how little we saw of each other over break. We gave an energetic performance in the wonderful fine arts facility of UW-Stevens Point. I think the best part was 5 crazies being crammed into a Hyundai economy sized rental. Just sayin'. We played the Beethoven Sextet (for quintet), the Hindemith Quintet and Wapango by Paquito.

At the end of the day, we got an Honorable Mention, had a fancy dinner at IHOP, and got to know each other a little better. Than we did. Onto the next project!

my kind of town

Most of my photographic endeavors failed miserably when I was in the big city for a short visit because a setting just wasn't right and my infantile knowledge of photography was no help when it came to correcting it. I am just learning! Anyway, Chitown was so much fun. I am glad and very lucky that I have so many connections there now. It feels a lot more inviting that way. We ate deep dish pizza at Giardano's, almost exploded and went to the Museum of Contemporary Art. We also went out to a tavern and played some shuffleboard (that was a new one for me). It was quite the abbreviated trip, but Meghan managed to get me to Andersonville...my favorite little ward or whatever. I usually like going to Hamburger Mary's - a drag show by night and wonderful brunch locale by day. This area also has a SWEET Swedish bakery. Instead, we went to Copi's Traveler's Cafe (a nice place to look at the hipsters, knitting and writing in books, sipping their soy lattes). I had a huge slice of carrot cake and an Alpuccino that was tasty and effective for the drive back to Madison.

While we were at Meghan and Caitlin's, we got it in our heads (well, mainly Becky's) that we needed some Spanish lattes, aka, Cuban coffees. This is just espresso with some condensed milk. We forked out a little extra for the sweetened variety. I wanted a photo with water coloresque qualities, and I managed to get this one. For some reason the milk earned the nickname, "Population Paste". *shudder*

There was some interesting art the MCA, as can be expected. My favorite were the ceramic body bags positioned on the floor, easy to trip over. Becky got in trouble for "interacting with the art". So I took some pictures of her interacting with the art. Someday I will figure out how to get white to look white on a digital photograph. It is not as if I want to edit everything to death.

All in all, it was a great trip, short and sweet. A little snow fell and a little snow melted and I got a free Ghiradelli sample of chocolate. I didn't shop at H&M this time because I am poor but I was made rich with the companionship of my friends and the life that Chicago has to offer. Even if it was just for one night. It is a short, 2 hour drive away from hippy-haven. If I ever need to get away from the desert-island of Madison, I know that I can jet to Chicago for some laughs and a few extra pounds.

Was this entry mushy enough for you people?

New Beginnings

Everything feels so fresh and virginal when the calendar rolls over. Well, maybe not virginal...but we can't deny that there is a sense of renewal with a new year. I want to learn more about photography because I know very little. I think that photography can be a raw and revealing art. Trying to capture reality or, for the more particular artist, ones own world, must be difficult. Like an effing hipster, I want to explore every artistic medium.

Basking in the glow of sloth that is January for a college student, I realized that I forgot to take pictures. Sitting in my room, I decided to focus on my stuff. Then, I remembered that there is a view from my room. Of the Octopus Carwash [here I must add that I will never get my car washed at this particular Octopus. The manager yelled at me when I was moving into the house because I was parking my Uhaul in the driveway of the carwash. He wasn't nice at all. And he had a mullet.] My desk thing is covered with junk; postcards, post-it notes, pictures, jewelry, hair products, dust. I was just staring at it and took this shot. That is my grandpa. He also made the snoopy portrait.

Sometimes I look at all of the stuff that I have accumulated. Every piece of junk tells a story and I have a lot of them. I don't mind that I keep adding to the pile. I guess in a lot of ways I am like my Grandma. I will always be a pack rat. Every now and then I go through things and throw out what I think is clutter and unnecessary. I find it highly difficult because when I throw it away, I feel as if I am throwing out my only connection to a memory. My memory is so faulty and spotty as it is. These memories become more important to me, especially during what I consider to be the most tumultuous, ground-breaking, mind-bending, whip-lashing time of my life. It is like I am reaching out, constantly trying to grasp for some stability.

Well now. I am getting ahead of myself. All of this belongs to a blog for another day

Fud and Bev'rage

It is good to know that the New Year has not affected my ability to procrastinate or to forget resolutions approximately 10 minutes after I make them. To make up for my slacking, here are two photos that I have actually taken the past couple of days. The bitter cold has prevented me from venturing out of doors much, so I have been sequestered here, photographing food and art (I found a really cheap travel art set that includes pastels, acrylics, oils and watercolors. Like I know @#$% about that). For three days in a row I cooked the same exact breakfast: eggs [with or without serrano peppers], turkey bacon, and pancakes. I don't stray much from this formula because it seems like the perfect meal to me. I am proud that I kept it up for so long, until a night of celebrating forced me to sleep in and order a pizza. They really should open these pizza joints at 9am.

Today, Becky and I walked out along the shore of Monona Bay toward the Washington Hotel Coffee Room. This place serves great foods and beverages made from local ingredients. I don't think our drinks today were as kick arse as they were the last time they were there, but it is a nifty place. We like to sit by the winders and look out over Bernie's Beach and the ice fishers toward the capitol building. On top of all that, it is connected to a knitting shop where yarn is bursting out of every hippy seam.



As Becky suggested, it is the kind of place where everyone looks familiar... but not really.

365 Days/365 Portraits

This project is pretty popular, but seeing as how I would like to take more pictures, I have decided to embark on the photo a day adventure! I actually didn't take this photo today, but I took it not too long ago and I really like it. This is Becky in the mirror at a local breakfast/dining joint called the Curve. It looks pretty sketchy on the outside (ok, on the inside, too!) but the pancakes are HUGE.