Day Two Hundred and Twelve: County Fair

Today Emily and I joined my oldest brother's family on a visit to Bloomer, Wisconsin for the county fair.

The Bloomer county fair had everything you might expect in a local carnival, rickety rides included.

While the blinking lights of the Tilt-a-Whirl and the Zipper lured in riders less prone to motion sickness (or who had not just scarfed down a heaping portion of fried cheese curds), the shorter crowd seemed to prefer slipping their legs into a potato sack and speeding down the Super Slide.

Well...most seemed to enjoy it.

Of course, the main draw of the night was the demolition derby.

A total of 72 cars lined up to smash and be smashed in various forms of team and individual competitions.

Fans were treated with an array of crashes, smoke, fire, crumpled bumpers and twisted metal. The luckiest observers (those in the front rows) even walked away with mud-splattered shirts courtesy of some wild, wheel-spinning fish-tails.

In all, it was a perfect night at the county fair that left me feeling, if nothing else, a little more road-conscious on the drive home.

Day Two Hundred and Eleven: Road Glare

Emily and I hit the road today for a family reunion (mine) in Minnesota/Wisconsin. It was a great day for a drive...

...but definitely so bright we had to wear shades!

Day Two Hundred and Ten: Pad of Lilies

This row of lilies was standing tall and proud today outside my house, so I thought I'd capture their stature in today's pic-of-the-day.

It's all about perspective, though, and Emily saw things a little differently - check out her view of these flowers at her site!

Day Two Hundred and Nine: Fruit Medley

I made the mistake of going to the grocery store on an empty stomach yesterday, and a lot of the produce staring up at me as I walked through the supermarket doors looked pretty tasty.

I didn't realize just how much this fruit was staring back at me until I got home and unpacked it all on the kitchen counter, though.

Thank you, blog viewers, for giving me an excuse to play with my food.

Day Two Hundred and Eight: Creature Feature, Part 3

In today's third installment of the "Creature Feature," I will introduce some of the water life in the Baker wetlands.

But first, as my official picture of the day (since the wetland pictures were actually taken last Saturday), here is a screenshot that gives an inside look at the second half of the picture-posting process: Photoshop editing.

Once a picture is on the camera, there are any of thousands of ways to approach the editing it in Photoshop (or similar programs).

Sometimes a simple crop (to reposition the subject of the photo, or take out unnecessary clutter) is all that is needed - and if you're good enough (or lucky enough), not even that.

(I tend to rely on luck.)

Other times it may be necessary to remove some noise, add color, change color, take away color, or apply any one of the many effects, levels, and filters that photo editing software provides.

Often I try three, four, five artistic approaches to editing a picture before finding a result that I feel properly enhances or brings out the subject of the photo.

In the pictures below I didn't have to mess around too much. In fact, I found myself in a steady routine of "increase contrast...apply sharpening filter...remove noise" for most of them.

The result, ideally, is a crisper, clearer picture of what I saw on my journey to the wetlands. (Click on any of these photos to enlarge them.)

After watching these frogs walk on the murky creek stagnant enough to make me croak, I caught this dragonfly in a water landing.

Meanwhile, winding his way past my shoelaces and into the water was this sneaky, slithery serpent who, like most of the creatures here, blended in well with his environment.

I didn't want to leave the wetlands without getting a picture of a dragonfly in flight (turns out they are much easier to photograph when they aren't moving).

After about ten minutes of futile attempts to follow the insects in flight with my lens or predict when they would fly through my frame of sight and hope my trigger finger was quick enough (let alone hope the camera was in focus), I found that this little guy had a habit of resting on this wooden roost for about a minute and then flying around for a few seconds before returning to his perch.

So I developed my own routine of waiting for him to fly away, aiming the lens at the momentarily vacant perch, and snapping a picture as soon as I saw him come back into view.

After a few attempts I was able to capture him in flight, just before he landed...

...and I went home happy, mission accomplished!

Day Two Hundred and Seven: Creature Feature, Part 2

I caught this guy staring at me from the other side of the storm door when I walked outside this morning (at least, I think he was staring at me - he was no bigger than a dime so it was hard to tell).

15 minutes and a little super-saturation later, he became my picture of the day.


I'm glad he was there, because he gave me the perfect excuse to continue my "Creature Feature" theme from yesterday with more pictures taken from the Baker wetlands.

This time the creatures are of the "fluttering" variety. Click on any picture to enlarge it.

The monarch in the first picture seemed to follow me during my entire walk through the wetlands, so I thought it only appropriate to end today's feature with a picture of him gliding off into the distance.

More to come tomorrow!

Day Two Hundred and Six: Creature Feature, Part 1

Today I drove out to the southeast end of town, pulled my car off to the side of the road, and ventured out into the Baker wetlands to see if I could find anything photo worthy.

The Baker wetlands have been the topic of much controversy lately, as they are located directly in the path of the proposed extension to the Hwy 10 bypass around Lawrence.

A stop-and-start drive down any major east/west road through the city during rush hour is enough to show that some sort of Lawrence bypass would be beneficial to the easement of traffic congestion in the burgeoning college town.

Of course, the wetlands have many vocal supporters as well, and the ongoing debate has kept road developers sitting on their asphalt (forgive me) for years.

While the wetlands are still here, this amateur photographer doesn't mind taking advantage of their easy access to enjoy an afternoon walk in the wilderness with the camera.

I'll save the debate for another day. For now, I'll just enjoy the pictures.

Day Two Hundred and Five: Touch of Light

About half a year ago Emily came to my house with a package of candy canes and a bottle of egg nog liqueur. Her plan was to shelve the Christmas goodies until we felt like having a little mid-summer holiday celebration.

So tonight, on the eve of the 25th, we carelessly hung a few lights, popped in the movie Elf, uncorked the bottle of egg nog and celebrated Christmas in July.

Watching Will Ferrell leave the North Pole (through the seven layers of the candy cane forest, through the sea of twirly, swirly gumdrops) to romp around a wintry New York definitely put us in the Christmas spirit for a couple of hours...

...But letting the dogs outside in the 80° night heat reminded us that there is still 5 months to go before the real thing.

Regardless, Merry Christmas-in-July!

Day Two Hundred and Four: Lots'a Fur = Lucyfar!

It's a given. When you have dogs, you have dog hair.

It will turn up in the most unlikely of places - your office at work, your food at a restaurant, yourself even after a shower....I once had a friend living in another state find some of my dog Farley's hair on his clothing, even though Farley had never set paw inside his house (or in that same state, for that matter).

The point is, it gets everywhere.

I find it both fascinating and disgusting to watch my vacuum cleaner fill not with dust or dirt, but with hair, after a mere few swipes of the carpet.

As much as I get the feeling of satisfaction only a (slightly anal-retentive) dog owner could know watching that ringed clump of hair and dust (okay, so there's a little dust, too) fall out of the canister after I vacuum...sometimes it's nice to cut the problem off at the source.

Enter the Furminator.

No, the governor of California is not being sent from the future to eliminate all dogs with shedding problems. The furminator is a slightly less-cool, less-cyborgish hunk of metal used to brush out the loose hair beneath a dog's coat.

Using the furminator on Lucy (Emily's golden retriever/yellow lab) and Farley (my border collie/black lab) today produced nearly a full plastic grocery bag's worth of loose fur - fur that otherwise would have been found in my carpet, my furniture, or (for all you know) your cereal bowl.

Having already admitted my slight(ly disgusting) fascination with the amount of hair these dogs can produce, I thought I would take all of that fur and create the subject of today's picture: the devilish creature formed from the hair of Lucy and Farley I like to call, Lucyfar:



Almost as scary as Arnold, eh?

If I've learned one thing from dog ownership, it's that, try as you may to keep a dog's shedding at bay, it is a force that can never be stopped.

And as sure as the next Terminator sequel is already in the works, this much I know about our friend Mr. Lucyfar:

He'll be back.

Day Two Hundred and Three: Better Seen Than Heard

I've been back in the recording studio for the past couple of days. Today I found an excuse to break out my seldom-used mandolin as part of my current project.

It is definitely one of my better looking instruments, so I thought I would feature it as today's picture:


As it turns out, I'm better at photographing the mandolin than playing it. But I won't let that stop me from practicing!

Day Two Hundred and Two: Roman (Catholic) Font

The St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center chapel is a beautiful piece of architecture. The wood motif, stone walls, organ loft, iconic artwork - everything comes together to make an ideal atmosphere for reflection, adoration and celebration.

One magnificent feature of the chapel is its lighting theme. You will not see any overhead lamps hung from the rafters. Any artificial lighting is always aimed upward toward the heavens. Other than that, sunlight through a stained glass window in the back of the church reflects off of the baptismal font. A skylight above the sanctuary lets natural light shine down upon the altar.

This illuminating feature of the church is subtle, and one I did not even fully realize until Fr. Steve Beseau (Director of St. Lawrence) recently brought its purposeful design to my attention.

And so today I tried to capture a little bit of that lighting, with two pictures of the baptismal font (and in honor of this Roman Catholic baptismal font, I have posted today's entry using Times New Roman font).

The first picture faces the stained glass window and the back of the chapel. The second faces the sanctuary and the front of the chapel. (Notice the two completely different lighting themes!)

Day Two Hundred and One: Roadside Flare

Driving home in the heavy rain last night, I turned down the dark alley that eventually leads past several well-placed potholes to the familiar parking space behind my house, and my headlights illuminated an unusual patch of warm color in an otherwise dark stretch of pavement currently speckled with raindrops and bits of light gravel.

These fallen petals, most likely loosed from their arboreal shelter by the current downpour afflicting Lawrence, seemed to me to be something worth noting for the day, and so I ducked in the house to gather my tripod, repositioned my headlights as they were when I made my initial turn into the alley, and - protecting my camera from the falling rain with a strategically positioned giant umbrella - snapped a quick picture.

Here is the result.

Day Two Hundred: A Wink and a Smile

Day Two Hundred of the pic-a-day blog project brings a hearty smile from a faithful friend, Gizmo (one of two puppies, along with Milo, who brought their owners Ashley and Adam down for a visit to Lawrence this weekend).


A wink and a smile never looked so irresistibly sweet....

Day One Hundred and Ninety-Nine: Fore!

This weekend Emily's good friends Ashley and Adam made the trip down I-35 from Austin, Minnesota to Lawrence for a visit.

While we Lawrence residents thought we were enjoying a relative cold-streak at 85°, the visitors from up north commented on the comparative heat, having just left near-Christmas-in-July temperatures of mid-50°s.

In any case, while the women were out shopping for wedding dresses-- er, "pants" (apparently this groom-to-be is not supposed to know anything about the dress ahead of time, let alone see the bride in it before the day of the wedding..."pants" became the operative cover-word in this case), the weather was perfect for Adam and I to enjoy a round of disc golf at Centennial Park in Lawrence.

Here Adam is, recreating a magnificent long par putt on the twelfth hole.

Centennial Park is so named for the 100-year anniversary of Lawrence celebrated in 1954. Click here for a very quick history of the park.

It is fun to note, in this description, that at the time of Lawrence's centennial, the area that was to become this park represented the western edge of town.

In fifty years (by the time of the recent sesquicentennial celebration), the city had expanded so much to the west that the park is now centrally located in Lawrence.

Who knows where the park will be located (relatively speaking) by the time the bicentennial rolls around!

The 18-hole disc golf course is a relatively new addition to Centennial Park, and one that I'm glad Adam gave me an excuse to enjoy.

I'm sure I'll be back for more!

Day One Hundred and Ninety-Eight: Monkeying Around

Jungle gym?

Monkey bars?

Semi-spherical, supra-terrain climbing apparatus with pentagonal concavities and equilaterally triangular subdivisions?

I was unable to find a consensus among a group of friends as to the official name of the half-dome metal-bar climbing structure that can be found on many neighborhood and school playgrounds (like this one outside Cordley Elementary in Lawrence).

But from the nostalgia I experienced climbing through the bars and lying on my back inside the dome to take this picture, I guess I could simply call it: childhood fun.

Day One Hundred and Ninety-Seven: Sidewalk Sale!

Today the downtown strip was flooded with pedestrians.

Today the streets were filled with bargains.

Today the sidwalk sale hit downtown Lawrence.

The annual event that is held on Massachusetts street for one day each summer was met this time around with cooler-than-usual July temperatures and plenty of red-hot bargains.

Sale items ranged from shirts and shorts to artwork to food...and shoes. Lots and lots of shoes.

Keeping an eye over everything in front of the Sunflower Bike Shop (which also featured a fair amount of sale-priced shoes in its sidealk display) was this employee (pictured above) on his umbrella-shaded lofty perch that protected him from the sun above and the crowds below.

This enthusiastic bullhorn-equipped Sunflower worker spent the day announcing deals to the crowd below that ranged from fifty percent off of winter parkas (the hot-selling item on this luke-warm summer day) to unbeatable prices on silk underwear (everybody needs a pair).

The best shopping happened early, though, as the sale official opened at 5 a.m. Thursday morning.

Here a few early-birds look to get their worms at bargain prices in front of the Francis Sporting Goods store not long after 5 a.m., before other shoppers arrive en masse.

With five blocks full of deals and sidewalks packed with folding table displays, clothes racks, and (oh, yeah) people, it was hard to not find something you needed (or something you didn't even know you needed) for a reasonable price.

Those that looked hard enough - or woke up early enough - probably found enough deals to last them quite a while.

At least until next July.

Day One Hundred and Ninety-Six: Mushroom Power!

I can't help but be reminded, when I look at today's picture, of a little piece of my childhood - a then-state-of-the-art piece of pop culture that sucked in so many kids like a vacuumous water pipe, and was as hard to avoid as a fireball thrown at a bouncing turtle.

I am speaking of Super Mario Brothers, the Nintendo game that features two plumbers making their way through a world of drain pipes, flying turtles, and a variety of - you guessed it - mushrooms.

There were magic mushrooms that could make you grow twice your size. There were hidden mushrooms that could give you extra lives. There were creepy-crawly mushrooms that could end your life (the highly stompable goombas). And, after completing each of the first seven levels, there was a mushroom retainer (an official guard of Princess Toadstool) waiting with the message:

"Thank you Mario! But our princess is in another castle!"

I hated that message.

Of course, if you played your cards right, you never had to see that message before solving the game and rescuing the princess (thank you warp zones).

If at this point you are thinking, "man, this guy knows way too much about Super Mario Bros.," and, "he must have spent way too much time playing this as a kid," you are right about the latter. (Although my buddy Matt and I did discover how to get to the little-known negative (-1) world...let me know if you need a demonstration!)

As for the former, until twenty minutes ago I didn't even know what a "mushroom retainer" was, let alone that he was the one "speaking" that fateful message at the end of each level. I just thought it was a really short, less important princess (with a mushroom on her head).

Thank you, Wikipedia, for clearing all of that up for me.

And thank you, Super Mario Bros., for helping me become the well-rounded, thumbidextrous person that I am today!

Day One Hundred and Ninety-Five: Sparks Fly

A lot of sparks have been flying recently, and nowhere is this more literally true than at the construction site of The Oread hotel, whose steel and concrete shell stands mightily over the northeast end of the KU campus.

The new self-contained entertainment district (to call it a hotel would not do it justice: the blueprints also call for a full night club, several bars, spa, movie theater, four-level sub-terrain parking garage, large walk-out terrace with views of campus and downtown Lawrence, and two levels of condominiums - already sold to the highest bidders) is named for its prime location atop Mt. Oread.

Construction is expected to be complete by the start of the next calendar year (in time for a February wedding, perhaps...). Until then, a large crew of hard-hatted workers is busy creating Lawrence's newest noteable landmark.

Check it out if you're planning a visit in the near future!

Day One Hundred and Ninety-Four: Dead Bolt

Not much to say about this one...just a little experimentation with lighting and texture.

Day One Hundred and Ninety-Three: Masked Bandit

I caught this furry little guy grabbing a snack near Emily's place today (leave it to my photojournalistic curiosity to investigate the unusual rustling noise coming from the nearby garbage dumpster).

As it turns out, this masked bandit dropped into his local diner for a secondhand meal and realized too late that he probably shouldn't have come the day after "garbage collection" day. While their was enough refuse to provide a decent menu for ol' Rocky here, the recently emptied dumpster did not provide a stairway back out tot he free world.

Trapped red-handed, this striped-tailed thief had no choice but to pose for a brief photo shoot.

Other pics not included here illustrate his efforts (in vain) to escape, his apparent dislike for aanyone hovering over him with a camera, and his love for a particularly tasty Oscar Mayer hot dog container.

Eventually someone tossed a couple of fresh bags of garbage into the dumpster and provided him with a way out...and a meal to go!

Day One Hundred and Ninety-Two: Dock-Diving Dog

Today Emily and I went to a cookout near Baldwin hosted by our good friend Jeff.

On the property is a body of water big enough for a refreshing canoe ride, some good fishing, and hours of entertainment for two puppy dogs (Farley and Lucy).

Though the 11-month-old Lucy has been swimming before, she's never had a dock to take advantage of...until tonight.

And so, with a little bit of initial coaxing, convincing, and practice, Lucy became a dock-diving dog.

Here she is at sunset, about to test the water, leaving the dock behind and getting some major air:


Good girl, Lucy!

Day One Hundred and Ninety-One: Engaged!

If you look back at the past week of entries on my little bog site here, you might notice a theme: "Love Is In the Air," "Future Dreams," "I Dew..." all of these titles might seem to have a familiar little ring to them.

Well, today that little ring presented itself to Emily:


Emily navigated her way through downtown Lawrence, stopping at our favorite spots (many of which you have seen on our blogs!), following a series of clues that eventually led her to oone of our favorite places in Lawrence, the St. Lawrence Center, where I was waiting for her with a specific question.

While she might have thought she was going along this little "treasure hunt" alone, she was really being watched over all the way by some of our closest friends who were in on the plan. Here is the so called dream team:

We were pleased to have so many great friends there with us, and only wish we could have included more of our good Lawrence friends in on the festivities - but there will be an even bigger party to come in the near future!

(She said "Yes!")

Day One Hundred and Ninety: What's the Buzz?

What's the buzz? This little guy was hard at work today, as if he had some major plans floating about. Maybe he didn't want to keep his honey waiting.

He's not the only one with major plans...check back tomorrow for more!