Category Archives: Kim

Alexis, Anders, Andree, Angie, Art, Baier, Bill, Black & White, Carla, Elizabeth, Jason, Jay, Kelly, Kim, Lowell, Michelle, Micky, Nader, Nathanial, Night, Sara, Sarah Toot, Shannon, Shawn Lockner, Steph, Still Life, Street Photography, Teresa, Travel, WPC - Reminder

The Windy City: Day 1B

May 19, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

I need to start out by thanking everyone that wished me a happy birthday. I believe this is a comprehensive list of everybody that wished me a happy birthday.

+ Kim and also thank you for buying me birthday Buffalo Chicken tots and the card.
+ Ron, Clevenger, Jordan, and Aaron. Although I may have bought those birthday wishes with donuts.
+ Elizabeth and also thanks for buying me candy bars I know you don’t like but the real thanks goes for looking for my favorite candy bars the Whatchamacallit and the Take 5! You are the real hero! Also, glad you are digging SHRINKING! Such a great show!
+ Steph. My birthday buddy, I hope FAST X was everything you wanted to be and I’m trying not to lose just a smidge of respect that you went to it.
+ Jesse – Sorry I was so aggressive in accusing you of eating all the mystery cheese.
+ Nader – Thanks for the frog statue!
+ Shannon- half credit for including a picture of a gross cat with your birthday wishes.
+ Michelle – good job taking a three day weekend to celebrate my birth.
+ Jay – doesn’t look like you got any rhubarb. It isn’t going to pick itself.
+ Kelly – thanks for the kind words. Not necessary, but thanks.
+ Angie – hope the postcard arrives soon.
+ Monica – thanks for sending me the picture of me in my Hulkster phase.
+ Suzie – thanks for knowing the proper animal to include in a happy birthday wish!
+ Jason – glad you are feeling better!
+ Bill – thanks for replying “no problem” when I said “thanks”. Don’t know why, but that amused me.
+ Sara Lockner – thanks for almost using enough exclamation marks in your birthday wishes!
+ Shawn – I’m sorry your wife used up all the world’s supply of punctuation in her birthday wishes and there wasn’t any punctuation left for yours.
+ Faust – thanks for pretending that banking sounds fun.
+ Teresa – thanks but I have my doubts you know who Dwight Schrute is.
+ Anders – I don’t know if it was a great one, but I’m sure May Movie Night will be.
+ Sarah Toot – Thanks for thinking I have the slightest clue what emoticons mean. Don’t feel pressure to do better next year.
+ Alexis – thanks for letting me think today was my day.
+ Baier and Dre – We didn’t have much interaction, but thanks for thinking of me.
+ Micky – thanks for multiple birthday wishes. It isn’t a contest, but if it was I think Elizabeth won. At least I think that is what she yelled at me as I walked out the door. But your message was the closest I came to having cake today. So that is something.
+ Lori – thanks, no need to apologize for transferring me my favorite kind of call, even if I really shouldn’t have been first in queue. Hope things went well today.
+ Mark – thanks. I suppose I should learn when your birthday is. Also stop using your desk for storage. Nah!
+ Lowell – thanks for the gift card. I like to think you would get me one even if the company didn’t require it.
+ Carla – thanks for getting your birthday wishes in right before the buzzer.
+ Nathanial – thanks for the final birthday wishes of my day.

I think that is the list. I think that is everybody that wished me a happy birthday! Thanks everyone!

If you are wondering what I did for my birthday, it was nothing super spectacular. It was mostly an average day.

I woke up about 5:54 AM. A little late for me. I was up late last night watching the NBA Playoffs. Then trying to watch the season finale of THE CURSE OF OAK ISLAND. Dang it! This wasn’t the season they actually found treasure. And I was so sure! I also ate fried food the night before. I’m trying to eat healthier, so it is fairly rare I eat fried food these days, he said hoping that there were people that believed him. Point is I slept in. It was my birthday. Cut me some slack!

I’m not sure what I did when I first got out of bed. I think I moved to the couch and watched the news for a little bit. Then I went outside and watered the flowers. I also took apart the trunk in the Camry. I had a slight gas spill in the trunk the night before and it was creating a pretty strong smell in the rest of the car. Then I took a shower. Brushed my teeth. Got dressed. But on cologne option #2. Said goodbye to Naima. Got in the Camry. Headed out.

There is an old birthday tradition at the Computer Mine where on your birthday you bring in food for the other employees. On a good day, there are about 10 employees in the building. (On a great day there is less.) On this day, half those people were gone for various reasons. On my way to work I stopped at the Dutch Oven Bakery and picked up a dozen donuts for my co-workers.

This is a small detail of what transpired on my birthday, but perhaps one of my favorite things that happened.

I left the donuts in the breakroom and then sent an email out to the people I knew would be in the building. Here is the backstory.

About 2 weeks, Elizabeth brought in a dozen donuts from a bakery in Nevada. (For the record, and I might get rode out of Boone on a rail for saying this, these donuts buried the ones from Dutch Oven.) She cut all the donuts in half. Now I feel like I shouldn’t have to explain why, but I will. She cut them in half so that people could try multiple donuts and multiple people could try the same donut.

Back to my birthday. Based on my current work schedule, Ron gets to the building about 30 minutes before I do. Elizabeth gets to the office about 15-30 minutes after me. She is in Special Forces so she can come and go as she pleases. I guess that is really more backstory, for what I’m promising you isn’t much payoff.

So back to that email. I explained in the email that there were donuts in the breakroom for my birthday. I didn’t cut them in half (cause I’m lazy – I didn’t write that, but it was in the subtext) but maybe when Elizabeth got here she would cut the donuts in half. I added that this wasn’t sexist on my part, just she is very passionate about the donut cutting thing.

Here is the “payoff”. I’m telling you that the ink wasn’t dry on that email before Ron was standing next to my cubicle. He wished me a happy birthday and then said that he was going to go get a donut quick before Elizabeth got here and cut them in half.

I said it wasn’t much of a payoff, but I thought it was hilarious.

I think it was somewhere in here I went to take a Snap of the donuts to keep my Streaks going with Logan (501), Brandon (257), Nathanial (89), Fran (37), and Alexis (23).

Somewhere after this, Elizabeth did come in. She did not cut all the donuts in half, but she did cut the donuts she tried in half. Take that Ron! She also brought me candy! So the day was off to a great start.

After that I put in a good solid 8 hours for The Man. I was a problem solving machine. Well to be honest, in the morning I mostly did a lot of rando stuff. I think the highlight of my morning (besides the other stuff I’ve highlighted) was being on hold with a customer for about 30 minutes as they repeatedly rebooted their computer before announcing, I’ll have to call you back.

Then came my lunchbreak. I did point out that I am trying to eat healthier. That means (amongst other things) that I only drink pop once a week. I’m pretty much completely off fast food. I rarely eat fried foods. This means that one of my favorite haunts, B-Bop’s has been off the table. But I figured it was my birthday, I could treat myself to B-Bop’s.

I drove halfway across Ames and got the #2 with Cheese with a Large Pepsi.

Sidebar: A great birthday present would have been the B-Bops across the street from the Computer Mine opening back up so I don’t have to drive completely across tarnation to get B-Bops goodness. They have been remodeling for months now! How long does it take to remodel a restaurant that doesn’t have a dining room?!?!?

It was just as good as I remembered. Although, I could feel the salad place next door judging me a little bit. But I literally ate there the day before. Asian Crunch Salad, no protein. So I think we’re square. Stop looking at me lettuce!

After I got back to the work I was a machine. Updating Server Managers. Modifying hosts files. Attaching SQL databases. All a beauty of motion, while sitting in a desk chair staring at 3 monitors. Barely taking a break to try to solve the mystery of what happened to the missing (I failed).

I called it a day, leaving many a satisfied customer in my wake. (Which means next time I work I won’t be able to solve anybody’s problems.) I drove home. I like to take a route home (sometimes called Old 30) where I drive by a bunch of railroad cars just parked along the highway to see if there is any interesting graffiti to photograph. There wasn’t anything transcendent like a painting of a dog or a clown or characters from The Simpsons, but there was one I found photo worthy. I pulled over and snapped a photo. I’m collecting these images and when I hit about 20 or so I will share them. This is what passes for an art scene in Boone.

Got home. Said hello to Naima. Then mowed my back yard. Which needed to be done before it became a 3 man job… again. I was supposed to have a meeting with my friend Kelli. She is opening a wine bar and wants to use my photography on her walls. I was supposed to look at the space and kind of figure out what we wanted to put there, but that meeting got postponed cause, from what I’m gathering, one of her kids did something dumb. Like go to Grand Junction.

The cancellation opened up a hole in my schedule and I was able to take Naima to Dickcissel for a walk and some wading for her. It was also a good time for me to take the theme reveal image for next week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme.

There was a decent rain coming down on us when we completed the loop. Which meant Naima was soaked all over. I consider this to be a positive though, because the smell of wet dog masked the smell of gas. Not much of a trade up, but small victories.

I decided to go to Dairy Queen for ice cream on our way home since I’m eating healthier. Unfortunately, the line in the DQ drive-thru was crazy long, so instead I drove across town to Big Kahuna’s. This is a considerable upgrade in the quality of the ice cream for me, but it meant Naima didn’t get a pup cup. Sorry, Naima. Don’t feel too bad for her. She did get a full pork chop for supper. Me? I had a cherry amaretto ice cream waffle cone for supper. The supper of champions!

I came home and started watching the Lakers-Nuggets game to finish off my night. While sitting there I got a snap from Nathanial asking for my opinion on his options for the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon. He is the second person to ask for my opinion. Meanwhile, humble narrator, hasn’t even given any consideration to what he will enter. Usually at this point I at least know at least 2 of the pictures I will enter. This year I have absolutely no clue. I mean that could be a weekend project, but I don’t know I’ll have much time this weekend either. I guess we’ll see what happens.

After the Nuggets won, I watched a little bit of “90s Nation” on MTV Classic and called it a night. Nodding off into a golden slumber listening to the “Morbid” podcast on H.H. Holmes. Part 4. All in all, a pretty good birthday.

+++++++

We begin where we left off last Friday. Lowell, Tony, and I were walking around Chicago waiting for Kim to get done getting good union employees fired for smoking a joint while putting up our booth. Kim has no chill. We were going to checkout a place called Zombie Taco as a potential place for supper. Kim had told us that we were to pick the place for supper. Tacos are always a good choice. That is free advice that I’m giving you, that I wish I had listened to on Day 3 of this trip. Unfortunately when we found Zombie Taco it seemed to be only a walk-up window and on top of that, it seemed to be closed.

But back to the walkabout.

A play on “This American Life”. My favorite radio show. But I’m not sure what it means.

I think this place was abandoned.

Never let anybody tell you, wearing Skechers is not cool. I wear them. Snoop wears them. Tony wears them. Elizabeth’s Grandma used to wear them.

My greatest regret from the trip to Chicago is not taking a river cruise.

I wonder if this was the boat that the Dave Matthews Band dumped their poop on. As awful as that must have been, still better than listening to their music.

Chicago has a fair collection of interesting bridges.

More street art.

Down to the River Walk.

Another interesting bridge.

It was around here I met a lady that was walking a golden retriever. Such a good dog. Also, more street art.

I’m guessing this is to protect you from Dave Matthews dumping his poop on your head. Now if they could devise a way to protect you from his awful music.

I assume Dave Matthews put that there.

I’d tell you what I think of Salesforce, but enough work talk.

There is also a Dick’s Last Resort on the San Antonio River Walk. This parking garage is an excellent example of why I would never want to live in a city.

But it is pretty to look at.

My #1 goal of the Chicago Trip was to see The Bean. Crossed it off the list Day 1.

After telling us to pick the restaurant, Kim picked the restaurant. Which fortunately, was 1 block from The Bean.

The WPC theme this week was FRIENDS. Nathanial told me I could take a picture of my reflection and I could be my own FRIEND(S). I have FRIENDS Nathanial. Still a cool shot.

The sculptor (Anish Kapoor) of The Bean at first hated that people called it that. It’s official name is Cloud Gate.

It is made out of 168 stainless steel plates welded together.

It’s highly polished exterior has no visible seams.

It measures 33 x 66 x 42 feet.

The design was inspired by liquid mercury.

I still have one more collection of images to share from Day 1 of the trip to Chicago.

+++++++

This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is HAPPY!

HAPPY

HAPPY! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what in the Dave Rauker is a HAPPY photo? Simply put, it is a picture of somebody that is HAPPY or a picture of something that makes you HAPPY. HAPPY is, well it is a feeling of pleasure or contentment. In case you aren’t sure you know what it means to be HAPPY.

HAPPY has been a theme one other time. Here are a few of the submissions from that time to provide you with some inspiration:

Suzie Brannen – Week 71

Kim Barker – Week 71

Stephanie Kim – Week 71

Angie DeWaard – Week 71

Christopher D. Bennett – Week 71

In fact, that was pretty much every submission I received for HAPPY. I bet there will be more submissions this time.

Happy photo harvesting!

Alexis, Andy, Angie, Bill, Black & White, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Micky, Mindi, Monica, Nathanial, Ruins, Sabas, Sarah Toot, Shannon, Still Life, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 400 – RUINS

May 15, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

RUINS! One of my favorite themes and one of my favorite things to photograph. But was it a popular theme or did it leave many streaks in RUINS? This is the 400th THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE post since rebooting THE RANDOM WEEKLY PHOTO EXPERIMENT. (504th all-time) I hope it was popular. But you will have to keep scrolling to find out.

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, May 8, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):
1-Suzie Brannen – 1 week
2-Becky Parmelee – 1 week
3-Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 2 weeks
4-Sabas Hernandez – 2 weeks
5-Sara Lockner – 2 weeks
6-Mike Vest – 2 weeks
7-Alexis Baugher – 5 weeks (2)
8-Jesse Howard – 5 weeks
9-Mindi Terrell – 12 weeks (3)
10-Monica Jennings – 17 weeks
11-Brandon Kahler – 37 weeks
12-Linda Bennett – 41 weeks
13-Sarah Toot – 42 weeks
14-Angie DeWaard – 46 weeks
15-Dawn Krause – 50 weeks
16-Kim Barker – 56 weeks
17-Joe Duff – 57 weeks
18-Logan Kahler – 59 weeks (2)
19-Teresa Kahler – 68 weeks (2)
20-Carla Stensland – 68 weeks (2)
21-Micky Augustin – 70 weeks
22-Andy Sharp – 71 weeks
23-Bill Wentworth – 72 weeks
24-Cathie Morton – 76 weeks
25-Elizabeth Nordeen – 77 weeks (2)
26-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 79 weeks
27-Kio Dettman – 81 weeks (2)

Heading into today, this is what the Submission Map looks like:

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:

Teresa Kahler (Iowa) – 69 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa)

Andy Sharp (Iowa) – 72 weeks

Andy Sharp (Iowa)

Alexis Baugher (Nevada,Iowa) – 6 weeks

Alexis Baugher (Nevada, Iowa)

Alexis Baugher (Swaledale, Iowa)

Bill Wentworth (Nebraska) – 73 weeks

Angie DeWaard (Iowa) – 47 weeks

Carla Stensland (Iowa) – 69 weeks

Carla Stensland (Iowa)

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 1 week

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 78 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett (Ames, Iowa)

Nathanial Brown (Bagley, Iowa) – 1 week

Micky Augustin (Iowa_ – 71 weeks

Sarah Toot (Las Vegas, Nevada) – 43 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa) – 82 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa)

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 42 weeks

Dawn Krause (Iowa) – 52 weeks

Dawn Krause (Iowa)

Kim Barker (Iowa) – 57 weeks

Logan Kahler (Iowa) – 60 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Iowa) – 80 weeks

Joe Duff (Texas) – 58 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 13 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Sabas Hernandez (Cleveland, Ohio) – 3 weeks

Cathie Morton (Norwalk, Iowa) – 77 weeks

Brandon Kahler (Iowa) – 38 weeks

Brandon Kahler (Iowa)

Monica Jennings (Iowa) – 18 weeks

Monica Jennings (Iowa)

Mike Vest (Iowa) – 3 weeks

Jesse Howard (Iowa) – 6 weeks

26 participants. Not a very popular theme. But not bad either. Hopefully one of the upcoming things gets the creative juices flowing for more people.

There were no new states added this week, but if you noticed, if you let me know where your picture was taken I will add that to your submission. The town. I’ll add the town. Not, “my Aunt Hildea’s place”. But I will add the town of Aunt Hildeas’s place exists in. I think that makes it a little more interesting. Than 20 submissions from Iowa. I will NOT assume towns though, like I assume states. I mean I’m pretty sure I know where most of these pictures were taken, but I won’t assume Kio’s pictures were taken in Boone.

Also, if you aren’t in a town, a county would do. For example, I assume Shannon’s picture is taken in rural Warren County. But she also might argue it is taken in Summerset, Iowa. Though.

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:

+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Nebraska
+ Nevada
+ Ohio
+ Texas

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

+ Arizona
+ Arkansas
+ California
+ Colorado
+ Florida
+ Georgia
+ Illinois
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Nebraska
+ New Jersey
+ New York
+ Nevada
+ Michigan
+ Minnesota
+ Missouri
+ North Dakota
+ Ohio
+ Oklahoma
+ Pennsylvania
+ South Dakota
+ Texas
+ Utah
+ Washington D.C.
+ Wisconsin
+ Wyoming

25 states and 1 district! That is pretty impressive! Over halfway there!

The Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ British Virgin Islands
+ Mexico
+ Nassau Bahamas
+ Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

I took my picture about 15 miles from my front door, so I continue to not contribute.

There were no major milestones reached this week, but many streaks lie in ruins now. Suzie and Becky couldn’t build on their submissions last week. Jen and Sara’s streaks ended at 2.

But enough dwelling on the past. Time to look to the future. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future! This week’s theme:

HAPPY

HAPPY! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what in the Dave Rauker is a HAPPY photo? Simply put, it is a picture of somebody that is HAPPY or a picture of something that makes you HAPPY. HAPPY is, well it is a feeling for pleasure or contentment. In case you aren’t sure you know what it means to be HAPPY.

While considering possible subjects for your HAPPY image, mediated on the following quote and I have no doubt you will create a fascinating image:

Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go.
-Oscar Wilde

I look forward to seeing your interpretation.

RULES

The picture has to be taken between 12:01 PM today and 11 AM next Monday. This isn’t a curate your photos project. This is a get your butt off the couch (unless you are taking your picture from the couch) and take pictures challenge. There is a limit of 3 submissions per participant. To be considered the photographer, you have to be the one that takes the picture. Don’t be stealing the work of other artists. You can submit pictures for other photographers that took pictures with your camera or phone, but give credit where credit is due.

You can send your images to either bennett@photography139.com OR you may text them to my Pixel 5.

That is it. Thems the rules!

That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing your idea of HAPPY in this place that I hope spreads a bit of happiness in this world next Monday.

Cathie, Kim, Lowell, Michelle, Still Life, Street Photography, Tenderloining, Travel

Chicago Food Adventures

May 14, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

I’ve decided to lump all of my Chicago food adventures into one massive post. I was in Chicago for parts of 7 days and ate meals there on 6 of those days. Some of them great. Some of the good. Some of them bad. All of them photographed.

I started the trip with $481 in the Per Diem Fund.

Meal #1 – Day 1 Lunch – Capriotti’s

My goal whenever I travel is to eat in a place that isn’t near me. I actually failed twice on this trip. First, was Capriotti’s. I didn’t know it at the time, but there is actually a Capriotti’s in Clive. I don’t regret it though because this was one of my favorite meals on the trip.

Cost: $22.74
Per Diem Balance: $458.26

Meal #2 – Day 1 Supper – Giordano’s

Giordano’s is the second restaurant I ate at that I could have eaten at in Iowa. I’m not a big fan of Chicago Style Pizza. New York Style Pizza is also trash, if you think I’m taking a side. While the appetizers were good at Geordano’s the pizza was definitely not all that great.

Cost: $30.02
Per Diem Balance: $428.24

Meal #3 – Day 2 Breakfast – Wow Bao

Also one of my favorite meals. Wow Bao was actually in the hotel and if I wasn’t trying to spread the wealth, I might have eaten there more than once. It was also dirt cheap. I don’t drink coffee because I don’t actively hate the environment, also it tastes like ass, so they gave me milk for free. Which was a bonus!

Cost: $5.91
Per Diem Balance: $422.33

Meal #4 – Day 2 Supper – Wrigley Field Concession Stand

I really thought I would eat more at Wrigley than I did. Especially considering I didn’t have time to eat lunch. I have to say that the concession stands at Wrigley were a real disappointment. I thought there would be better food options at a Major League Baseball stadium. Especially one as historic as Wrigley Field. But my “Bison Hot Dog” was just okay.

Cost: $17.70
Per Diem Balance: 404.63

Meal #5 – Day 3 Lunch – Taco Truck

The area where we stayed at was very nice, but it is lousy with corporate restaurants. Lowell and I probably walked close to a mile to get to some food trucks that were near The Bean. It was worth it. This was one of my favorite meals on the trip. There were 8 food trucks there. 6 of them served tacos. They mostly all seemed to serve the same menu. I’m not even hating. 6 taco trucks isn’t enough if you ask this guy. My only regret is also not getting an order of Mexican Street Corn.

Price: $13.50
Per Diem Balance: $391.13

Meal #6 – Day 3 Supper – Broken English Taco Pub

Between the Street Tacos and the Taco Pub there was a Computer Mine “Party” hosted by our Sales Team (or whatever they have been branded as this week) that included free appetizers. There are no pictures of that and it was free. I made a pretty huge mistake by not going for tacos at a place called Taco Pub. I zigged when I definitely should have stayed the course. These were amongst the worst nachos I’ve ever had in my life. The nachos at The Other Place hold the distinction for the “Worst Nachos Ever” for me. At least it was free. For reasons I don’t understand, Cathie paid for everyone’s meal at the table. It was about the last time I saw Cathie socially on this trip. She lost her voice the next day and I don’t know she ever left the hotel besides to go to the convention. I need to find a way to pay her back at some point. Like maybe she could make me monkey bread and I could eat it. I think that would make us square. I should have bought her meal at Zeno’s. Dang it!

As for the group photo… It is the only one from this trip. The THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE for most of my time in Chicago was FRIENDS. I briefly toyed with the idea of having servers from various restaurants take very poorly lit group photos of all my meals and then submit them to THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE under the name “Our Server at Place X”. But I didn’t do it. Maybe if I ever go on a work trip again.

Cost: FREE! Thanks Cathie!
Per Diem Balance: $391.13

Meal #7 – Day 4 Lunch – McCormick Place Food Court

I should have been like Tony and done a walkabout of the Convention Center and scouted out all of the food locations. I only knew about the balcony food court. There was a long line for the “burger” place up there. So I just grabbed a wrapped Caprese sandwich. I was trying to eat a healthy option and I do like a good caprese sandwich. This wasn’t it. I don’t want to give a way the ending of this blog… so I won’t.

Price: $15.00
Per Diem Balance: $376.13

Meal #8 – Day 4 Supper – McCormick & Schmick’s

This was supposed to be the most expensive meal of the trip for me. But, once again it was free. Gina paid for my meal and Lowell’s meal. I got the New York Strip which I think was in the $40-50 range. I added an extra side of grilled asparagus, which was around $11. Then I got their “Classic Crème Brûlée “, which was around $10. I wasn’t trying to stick it to Gina. I ordered all that stuff anticipating paying for my own meal. Then she picked up the check for Lowell and I. I should have anticipated that happening though. It is her move.

But there are two incidents at the restaurant I need to bring up. As Micky can tell you, I like a good bantering with the server. I had an intense discussion with the server about the dessert menu. As you can see from the pictures above, for the dessert I had crème brûlée . I have no complaints about it. It was excellent. It wasn’t what I wanted though. On the dessert menu they had something called “Chocolate Bag”. The menu described “Chocolate Bag” as “White Chocolate Mousse and Fresh Berries Topped with Whipped Cream”. What the menu doesn’t tell you is all of that is put in a bag. A bag made of chocolate. Yes please!

Only the answer came back, “No!” McCormick & Schneebley’s or whatever this dump was called, was out of chocolate bag. I had to settle for crème brûlée like a commoner.

The other dessert menu moment was the reason I love banter. On the dessert menu was “seasonal” cheesecake. When I inquired about what the current “seasonal” cheesecake was and what the cheesecake was for the other seasons is, the banter escalated to the point where the server said, “Yeah, for the spring cheesecake we should serve it with a dead bird on top of it!” Bingpot!

Cost: FREE! Thanks Gina!
Per Diem Balance: $376.13

Meal #9 – Day 5 Lunch – Connie’s Pizza

Another lunch on the convention center floor. Connie’s Pizza wasn’t great, but a considerable upgrade over the sandwich I choked down the day before. I was thankful to Tony for pointing it out to me.

Cost: $12.00
Per Diem Balance: $364.13

Meal #10 – Day 5 Supper – Soju BBQ

Kim’s Meal Before

Kim’s Meal After

I might give Kim a hard time for having a Midwest white woman’s palette, but she was a trooper for giving Korean BBQ a chance. Even if she ate next to none of her food. She at least gave it a shot. So snaps for Kim for challenging herself.

I on the other hand loved this meal. Everything was fantastic! The “Kimchi Dumplings” that Tony ordered was possibly my favorite food item I had on the entire trip. Also snaps to Tony for going out to eat with a group larger than 4 people. Which is some kind of arbitrary rule he established for himself.

I haven’t had Korean barbecue since DaeHee’s mom made some for me. I made sure to send him plenty of pictures of it, cause I’m a swell guy. He was slightly jealous. By slightly, I mean extremely.

Cost: $37.00
Per Diem Balance: $327.13

Meal #11 – Day 6 Lunch – Robinson’s No. 1 Ribs

The final day of the convention. This is basically a polish sausage with barbecue sauce thrown on top of it and grilled onions on top of it. It was by far the best thing I ate on the convention floor. If I had found it first, I might have just had it three days in a row. A guy I’ll assume was Robinson said, he would “hook me up”. And I think he did. I have no complaints about it.

Cost: $16.25
Per Diem Balance: $310.88

Meal #12 – Day 6 Supper – Lou Manalti’s

Way back on Day 1 I stated I don’t really like Chicago Style Pizza. Give me a good Quad Cities Style Pizza and we are talking. But Chicago Style Pizza doesn’t do much for me. However, this pizza might have changed my mind. This was one tasty pizza! I would have this pizza again in a second! It was a perfect way to cap the trip!

Cost: $33.75
Final Per Diem Balance: $277.13

Day 7 didn’t involve any eating. At least not eating I would consider that came out of my per diem. We got up early. Didn’t eat breakfast. Flew back to the Cyclone State.

Those of you with a keen memory might recall that I did go through the drive-thru at Ted’s Coney Island on my way back to my house, but I don’t count that towards the per diem.

If you are wondering I’m doing with the extra $277.13 I just pocketed… I guess I spent some of it to send some of you postcards that I think maybe 2 of you cared about. I also bought a Chicago magnet for my fridge. But truthfully, the full $481 went into savings. A couple of weeks ago I outlined some goals I have. One of those goals is to switch banks. I took this coming Friday off as a birthday present to myself. My big plan is to start the process of moving banks. At the very least I will open a couple new accounts in a new bank. Actually a credit union. I don’t know how long it will take me to phase out of Bank of the Bear, but at least the process will finally be started.

The last bit of business for this blog is that I want to rank my Chicago meals from worst to best.

Chicago Food Adventure Power Ranking

12. Caprese Sandwich – Convention Center Food Court
11. Nacho Mama-s Nachos – Broken English Taco Pub
10. Sausage Pizza – Connie’s Pizza (Convention Center)
9. Bison Hot Dog – Clark Street Grill (Wrigley Field)
8. The Special – Giordano’s
7. Super Polish Sausage – Robinson’s No. 1 Ribs (Convention Center)
6. Breakfast Bowl – Wow Bao
5. New York Strip Steak – McCormick and Schmick’s
4. BBQ Chicken Cheese Steak – Capriotti’s
3. Street Tacos – Sabor Taco Truck
2. Malnati Chicago Classic – Lou Malnati’s
1. Korean Brisket – Soju BBQ

If I still make the cut for next year’s convention team, it is New Orleans. That could also make for a fascinating food adventure. We’ll have to see what happens.

Art, Bill, Carla, Dawn, Jen, Kim, Lowell, Railroad, Ruins, Still Life, Street Photography, Travel, Work, WPC - Reminder

The Windy City: Day 1A

May 12, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

I’m going to cover my recent work trip to Chicago in a different format than I covered my work trip to Las Vegas. I’m going to mix the camera images with the cell phone pictures. I’m also going to try to tell the story mostly through the pictures. Rather than telling the story and then sharing the pictures. I’m also not going to include the food pictures. I’m going to put all my Chicago food pictures together in one big Sunday food adventure entry.

Here are the first collection of images from my Day 1 of my work trip to Chicago:

I was dreading parking in the Gray Lot, but I got stuck there again. But now I’ve been there a couple of times I’m starting to dig it. Especially when I get paid by the hour.

Even though I parked approximately 15 miles from the terminal, I got to my gate in plenty of time.

I’m roughly 6 foot 4. Tony is pushing 6 foot 8. Putting us next to each other in one of the world’s smallest planes is the height of cruelty. The type of thing you would see in a museum dedicated to torture.

The hotel.

This time we didn’t have to wait 3 hours to get into our room. We dropped off our stuff and looked for food, but that meal will be covered later.

The hotel was straight across the street from the river and a half block from the Chicago Theater. A good location.

I never ate here, but reminded me that my favorite restaurant on my trip to NYC was Empanada Mamas.

A dispensary. I’m not into marijuana cause I have elements of a control freak, but seeing one reminded me how backwards thinking Iowa has become.

True words.

At Naima’s age, she might benefit, but she is such a dang picky eater, I’m not spending that much money for her not to eat it.

Wake and bake.

I do love the names of marijuana products.

Day 1 was the day before International Pot Smokers Holiday.

That is over 50% off!

Just looking up and trying not to run into somebody on the street. Full disclosure, I don’t care if run into somebody on the street.

I love street art so much!

Art in the hotel. The hotel was much nicer than the one we stayed at in Miami Beach, but less interesting. So a wash.

Taxi up close.

“Staytion”. Lame.

I don’t know if Kim hates me but I always get a “view” of a parking garage. Lowell’s view was so much better.

Wasn’t as loud as expected.

For people who don’t know how elevators work. Much better elevators than in Las Vegas though.

While waiting for Kim to get done, so we could go get supper, Lowell, Tony, and I went for a walkabout. That is a lot of commas, probably not used properly.

I miss this guy.

Two more collections of images from just Day 1 of this trip are in the hopper. I hope you like Chicago!

+++++++

This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is RUINS:

RUINS

RUINS! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what in the Ron Harris is a RUINS image? Simply put, it is a picture of something that is in the state of physical destruction or disintegration. Something that is in bad shape.

RUINS has been a theme a few times before. Take a look back at some previous submissions for inspiration:

Bill Wentworth – Week 30

Dawn Krause – Week 103

Carla Stensland – Week 121

Jen Ensley Gorshe – Week 211

Christopher D. Bennett – Week 362

Happy photo harvesting!

Alexis, Andy, Angie, Becky, Bill, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Iowa State, Jen, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Micky, Mindi, Monica, Night, Ruins, Sabas, Sara, Sarah Toot, Shannon, Suzie, Teresa, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 399 – SCHOOL

May 8, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

SCHOOL! It isn’t much fun, but it is the best shot at social mobility, so it has to exist. But did SCHOOL get people excited enough to take a picture and submit it? You’ll have to keep scrolling to find out!

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, May 1, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Nathanial Brown – 1 week
2-Jen Ensley-Gorshe – 1 week
3-Sabas Hernandez – 1 week
4-Sara Lockner – 1 week
5-Willy McAlpine – 1 week
6-Mike Parmelee – 1 week
7-Mike Vest – 1 week
8-Alexis Baugher – 4 weeks (3)
9-Scott Degeneffe – 4 weeks (2)
10-Jesse Howard – 4 weeks (2)
11-Mindi Terrell – 10 weeks (3)
12-Monica Jennings – 16 weeks (2)
13-Tamara Peterson – 26 weeks
14-Brandon Kahler – 35 weeks (3)
15-Linda Bennett – 40 weeks (2)
16-Sarah Toot – 41 weeks (2)
17-Angie DeWaard – 44 weeks (2)
18-Dawn Krause – 49 weeks (2)
19-Kim Barker – 55 weeks
20-Joe Duff – 56 weeks
21-Logan Kahler – 58 weeks
22-Teresa Kahler – 67 weeks (2)
23-Carla Stensland – 67 weeks (3)
24-Micky Augustin – 69 weeks
25-Andy Sharp – 70 weeks
26-Bill Wentworth – 71 weeks
27-Cathie Morton – 75 weeks
28-Elizabeth Nordeen – 76 weeks
29-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 78 weeks
30-Kio Dettman – 80 weeks (2)

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:

Angie DeWaard (Iowa) – 45 weeks

Kim Barker (Iowa) – 56 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 77 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa)

Micky Augustin (Iowa) – 70 weeks

Carla Stensland (Iowa) – 68 weeks

Carla Stensland (Iowa)

Kio Dettman (Iowa) – 81 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa)

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 41 weeks

Alexis Baugher (Iowa) – 5 weeks

Alexis Baugher (Iowa)

Sarah Toot (Nevada) – 42 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Nebraska) – 72 weeks

Christopher D. Bennett (Iowa)

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 11 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Logan Kahler (Iowa) – 59 weeks

Logan Kahler (Iowa)

Teresa Kahler (Iowa) 68 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa)

Becky Parmelee (Arkansas) – 1 week

Sara Lockner (Iowa) – 2 weeks

Sabas Hernandez (Ohio) – 2 weeks

Jen Ensley-Gorshe (New York) – 2 weeks

Joe Duff (Texas) – 57 weeks

Suzie Brannen (Iowa) – 1 week

Jesse Howard (Iowa) – 5 weeks

Brandon Kahler (Iowa) – 36 weeks

Cathie Morton (Iowa) – 76 weeks

Monica Jennings (Iowa) – 17 weeks

Andy Sharp (Iowa) – 71 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Iowa) – 79 weeks

Dawn Krause (Iowa) – 50 weeks

Mike Vest (Iowa) – 2 weeks

28 participants! That is a pretty good week! A slight dip from last week, but still definitely a good week!
There were submissions this week taken in the following places:

+ Arkansas
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Nebraska
+ Nevada
+ New York
+ Ohio
+ Texas

Thanks to Sabas’ work trip to Ohio, we were able to add a new state to the map! We actually now have more than half the states and districts. 26 out of 51! I have no belief that that I will get submissions from all 50 states, but I’m curious to see how close we get.

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

25 states and 1 district! That is pretty impressive! Over halfway there!

The Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ British Virgin Islands
+ Mexico
+ Nassau Bahamas
+ Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

I took my picture about 15 miles from my front door, so I continue to not contribute.

There were no major milestones this week, but there was a veritable bloodbath of streaks. Nathanial, Willy, and Mike couldn’t build on their contribution last week. Scott’s streak is over at 4. Most tragically, Tamara’s 26 week streak is over.

RUINS

RUINS! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what in the Ron Harris is a RUINS image? Simply put, it is a picture of something that is in the state of physical destruction or disintegration. Something that is in bad shape.

While considering possible subjects for your RUINS image, mediated on the following quote and I have no doubt you will create a fascinating image:

We moralize among ruins.
-Benjamin Disreali

I look forward to seeing your interpretation.

RULES

You can send your images to either bennett@photography139.com OR you may text them to my Pixel 5.

That is it. Thems the rules!

That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing your idea of RUINS in this place that will one day lay in digital destruction next Monday.

Alexis, Andy, Angie, Bill, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Flowers, Jen, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Lensbaby, Linda, Logan, Macro, Micky, Monica, Nathanial, Road Trip, Sabas, Sara, Sarah Toot, Scottie D., Shannon, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 398 – ROAD TRIP

May 1, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

ROAD TRIP! What a great theme and an even better way to spend a day or two. Nothing calls to me like the open road.
But did it call to many other people? Or did people stay firmly entrenched on their couches? You will have to keep scrolling to find out!

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, April 24, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Heather Courtney – 1 week
2-Scott Degeneffe – 3 weeks
3-Jesse Howard – 3 weeks
4-Alexis Baugher – 3 weeks
5-Mindi Terrell – 9 weeks (3)
6-Suzie Brannen – 14 weeks
7-Monica Jennings – 14 weeks
8-Tamara Peterson – 25 weeks (2)
9-Brandon Kahler – 35 weeks
10-Linda Bennett – 39 weeks (2)
11-Sarah Toot – 40 weeks (2)
12-Angie DeWaard – 44 weeks
13-Dawn Krause – 48 weeks
14-Kim Barker – 53 weeks (2)
15-Joe Duff – 55 weeks (2)
16-Logan Kahler – 56 weeks (2)
17-Teresa Kahler – 66 weeks (2)
18-Carla Stensland – 66 weeks
19-Micky Augustin – 67 weeks
20-Andy Sharp – 69 weeks
21-Bill Wentworth – 70 weeks
22-Cathie Morton – 74 weeks
23-Elizabeth Nordeen – 75 weeks
24-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 76 weeks (2)
25-Kio Dettman – 79 weeks (2)

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:

Nathanial Brown (Iowa) – 1 week

Jen Ensley-Gorshe (Iowa) – 1 week

Sabas Hernandez (Iowa) – 1 week

Sara Lockner (Iowa) – 1 week

Willy McAlpine (Iowa) – 1 week

Mike Parmelee (Arkansas) – 1 week

Mike Vest (Iowa) – 1 week

Alexis Baugher (Iowa) – 4 weeks

Alexis Baugher (Iowa)

Scott Degeneffe (Iowa) – 4 weeks

Scott Degeneffe (Iowa)

Jesse Howard (Iowa) – 4 weeks

Jesse Howard (Iowa)

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 10 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Monica Jennings (Iowa) – 15 weeks

Monica Jennings (Iowa)

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 26 weeks

Brandon Kahler (Iowa) – 36 weeks

Brandon Kahler (Iowa)

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 40 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas)

Sarah Toot (New Jersey) – 41 weeks

Sarah Toot (New Jersey)

Angie DeWaard (Mexico) – 45 weeks

Angie DeWaard (Mexico)

Dawn Krause (Iowa) – 49 weeks

Dawn Krause (Iowa)

Kim Barker (Iowa) – 54 weeks

Joe Duff (Texas) – 56 weeks

Logan Kahler (Iowa) – 57 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa) – 67 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa)

Carla Stensland (Iowa) – 67 weeks

Carla Stensland (Iowa)

Carla Stensland

Micky Augustin (Iowa) – 68 weeks

Andy Sharp (Iowa) – 70 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Nebraska) – 71 weeks

Cathie Morton (Illinois) – 75 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 76 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa)

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Iowa) – 77 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa) – 80 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa)

Christopher D. Bennett (Iowa) – 502 weeks

31 participants! That is a great week! I believe it ties the high for this calendar year. Strange that more people love the open road than love their friends, but maybe it isn’t so strange.

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:

+ Arkansas
+ Illinois
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Mexico
+ Nebraska
+ New Jersey
+ Texas

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

+ Arizona
+ Arkansas
+ California
+ Colorado
+ Florida
+ Georgia
+ Illinois
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Nebraska
+ New Jersey
+ New York
+ Nevada
+ Michigan
+ Minnesota
+ Missouri
+ North Dakota
+ Oklahoma
+ Pennsylvania
+ South Dakota
+ Texas
+ Utah
+ Washington D.C.
+ Wisconsin
+ Wyoming

24 states and 1 district! That is pretty impressive!

The Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ British Virgin Islands
+ Mexico
+ Nassau Bahamas
+ Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Thanks to Angie’s vacation, Mexico has been added to the list of international places!

I took my picture 87 miles from my front door. So Angie isn’t the only world traveler.

The big accomplishments this week… Mindi joined the Double Digits Club! WooHoo! Tamara joined the Half Year Club! WooHoo! Mike Parmelee had his first submission of the year! WooHoo! I finally got Alexis’ last name right! WooHoo !

But it wasn’t all unicorns and double rainbows. Heather wasn’t able to build her submission from last week into a streak. And most tragically, Suzie’s 14 week streak is a goner. ROAD TRIPs are her Waterloo.

SCHOOL

IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

Let me tell you about IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY!

Iowa State University (ISU) is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. It was founded in 1858 as Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, and it became the first land-grant institution in the United States in 1862, thanks to the Morrill Act.

Today, ISU is a comprehensive university with more than 35,000 students and offers over 100 undergraduate majors, 112 master’s degree programs, and 83 doctoral degree programs. The university is organized into eight colleges: Agriculture and Life Sciences, Business, Design, Engineering, Human Sciences, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Veterinary Medicine, and Graduate.

ISU is known for its strong programs in agriculture, engineering, and science, and it has a reputation for being one of the top public universities in the United States. The university is home to several research centers and institutes, including the Bioeconomy Institute, the Ames Laboratory, and the National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center for Biorenewable Chemicals (CBiRC).

The university’s mascot is Cy the Cardinal, and the school colors are cardinal and gold. The Cyclones, ISU’s athletic teams, compete in the Big 12 Conference and they completely dominated the Cy-Hawk Series with Iowa Hawkeyes this year.

Overall, Iowa State University is a well-respected and prestigious institution of higher education, offering a wide range of programs and opportunities for students to excel both academically and professionally.

Wait. Wait. Sorry. I’ve just been told that there are more SCHOOL(s) in the world than just Iowa State. I’m not entirely sure why. But I guess you can take a picture of some other stupid school nobody cares about.

SCHOOL! So what in the Terrence Allen is a SCHOOL picture? Simply put it is any image that involves SCHOOL. From a building to a playground to schoolbooks (before they all get banned) to report cards to teachers to really anything related to a SCHOOL. There are all types of different SCHOOL(s). Pre, secondary, high, middle, junior, dance, Sunday, vocational, technical, and even sometimes I take people to SCHOOL on the basketball court. It does NOT have to be Iowa State, but I mean, why would you take a picture of some lesser school? But you do you bro.

While considering how you are going to incorporate Iowa State into your SCHOOL picture, mediate on the following quote and I have no doubt you will come up with a great picture:

Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world.
– Malala Yousafzai

I look forward to seeing your interpretation.

RULES

You can send your images to either bennett@photography139.com OR you may text them to my Pixel 5.

That is it. Thems the rules!

That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing your idea of SCHOOL in this place that I like to think has a bit of educational value next Monday.

Alexis, Andy, Angie, Art, Bill, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Elizabeth, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Micky, Mindi, Monica, Naima, Sarah Toot, Scottie D., Self-Portrait, Shannon, Street Photography, Tamara, Teresa, Travel, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 397 – FRIENDS

April 25, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

It is the last collection of submissions of the month, so it is a good time revisit the THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE FAQ:

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS – WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE

What skill level photographer can participate?

THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is open to photographers of all skill levels. From award winning photographers to professionals to the highly ranked amateurs to those that are just beginning to those who don’t even know how to focus a camera. All skill levels are encouraged and welcome. You can’t be too bad and you can’t be too good! Everyone has room to learn and be challenged!

Award winning photographers? Really?

Yes. I can think of at least 5 photographers that participate regularly that have won a photography award of some kind.

Is this a competition?
No.

Is there a limit to the number of submissions I can have each week?

Yes. That limit is 3. If you send me more than 3, I will post the first 3 that you send. I’m not trying to harsh your photography buzz, but any more than that start to overwhelm the other submissions and it takes me about 5 minutes to take a picture from my inbox to code it on the website. So I have to manage my workload.

If participation rates climb, that limit of 3 is subject to lower.

Can I send you several pictures and have you pick the best one?

No! No! NO! If those words come out of your mouth or your keyboard, I consider that to be a non-submission.

Do you ever question whether somebody’s submission fits the theme?

Meh. Only if I think somebody is clearly confusing this week’s theme with last week or next week’s theme. Otherwise, if the submission makes sense in your head, that is good enough to me. However, I would urge you to not try to fit your favorite subject into the theme. This isn’t a challenge to share a picture every week of your kid or your business or your pet. It is a challenge to take pictures of different things every week. Which isn’t to say subjects can’t be repeated, but you shouldn’t become reliant on the same ones.

Why can’t I submit after 11 AM on Mondays if the post doesn’t publish until 12:01 PM?

I go to lunch at 11 AM. I leave my office. I’m not near a computer. At 11 AM I hit “Schedule” and then I go throw food down my throat. 167 hours is more than enough time to send a submission. Okay, 166 hours and 59 minutes. You got me.

Are there resolution requirements for submissions?

I won’t turn down submissions that are too small. I will probably ask you for a picture of greater resolution if it is really small. The typical 4 x 6 image posted to my website has a resolution of 1280 pixels x 853 pixels. While a 400 x 300 image might look okay on your phone, it looks like trash on a computer monitor. I prefer images that are at least 1000 pixels at their largest point, but don’t ban smaller pictures at this point.

What format should my submission be?

.JPG but .PNG also works.

If I write a description of my image will you include that in your post?

No. Photography is art that should stand on its own. Only exception is the SLICE OF LIFE theme.

When will you start accepting suggestions for next year’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE themes?

Suggestions are closed for next year’s list. It will be a minute before they open up for Year 11 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

+++++++

Well things worked out correctly.

I boarded an airplane.

I flew back to the Cyclone State.

I made it through the road construction on Fleur.

Made it to Ted’s Coney Island.

Had a badass tenderloin.

Onion rings.

And some delicious baklava.

Delivered popcorn to Elizabeth.

Greeted Naima. She was glad to see me.

Took her for a car ride.

Took her to Dickcissel Park.

Watched the show I’m currently binging. (SUCCESSION)

Did some laundry.

Then finally did all the coding necessary for you to see all the FRIENDS submissions.

So without further adieu, I present the post on this WEEK 397 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE…

+++++++

FRIENDS! They are pretty great to have in your life, but do a lot of people have FRIENDS in their life that they could photograph? You will have to keep scrolling to find out!

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, April 17, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Porter Degeneffe – 1 week
2-Scott Degeneffe – 2 weeks (2)
3-Mary Green – 2 weeks (3)
4-Jesse Howard – 2 weeks
5-Alexis Stensland – 2 weeks
6-Sabas Hernandez – 4 weeks
7-Mindi Terrell – 8 weeks (3)
8-Suzie Brannen – 13 weeks (2)
9-Monica Jennings – 13 weeks
10-Mike Vest – 14 weeks
11-Tamara Peterson – 24 weeks (2)
12-Brandon Kahler – 34 weeks
13-Linda Bennett – 38 weeks (2)
14-Sarah Toot – 39 weeks
15-Angie DeWaard – 43 weeks
16-Dawn Krause – 47 weeks
17-Kim Barker – 52 weeks
18-Joe Duff – 54 weeks
19-Logan Kahler – 54 weeks
20-Teresa Kahler – 65 weeks (2)
21-Carla Stensland – 65 weeks
22-Micky Augustin – 66 weeks
23-Andy Sharp – 68 weeks
24-Bill Wentworth – 69 weeks
25-Cathie Morton – 73 weeks
26-Elizabeth Nordeen – 74 weeks
27-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 75 weeks
28-Kio Dettman – 78 weeks (3)

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:

Andy Sharp (Iowa) – 69 weeks

Dawn Krause (Iowa) – 48 weeks

Angie DeWaard (Illinois) – 44 weeks

Micky Augustin (Iowa) – 67 weeks

Kim Barker (Illinois) – 53 weeks

Kim Barker (Illinois)

Scott Degneffe (Iowa) – 3 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 9 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Suzie Brannen (Iowa) – 14 weeks

Monica Jennings (Iowa) – 14 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 75 weeks

Heather Courtney (Iowa) – 1 week

Teresa Kahler (Iowa) – 66 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa)

Brandon Kahler (Iowa) – 35 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Nebraska) – 70 weeks

Cathie Morton (Illinois) – 74 weeks

Carla Stensland (Iowa) – 66 weeks

Joe Duff (Texas) – 55 weeks

Joe Duff (Texas)

Kio Dettman (Iowa) – 79 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa)

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 39 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas)

Christopher D. Bennett (Iowa)

Logan Kahler (Iowa) – 56 weeks

Logan Kahler (Iowa)

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Utah) – 76 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley (California)

Sarah Toot (Pennsylvania) – 40 weeks

Sarah Toot (Pennsylvania)

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 25 weeks

Tamara Peterson (Iowa)

Jesse Howard (Iowa) – 3 weeks

Alexis Stensland (Iowa) – 3 weeks

Alexis Stensland (Iowa)

26 participants! That is a pretty good week all things considered.

There were submissions this week taken in the following states:

+ California
+ Illinois
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Nebraska
+ Pennsylvania
+ Texas
+ Utah

Thanks to Shannon’s bee road trip, we added two states to the map! California and Utah!

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

+ Arizona
+ Arkansas
+ California
+ Colorado
+ Florida
+ Georgia
+ Illinois
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Nebraska
+ New Jersey
+ New York
+ Nevada
+ Michigan
+ Minnesota
+ Missouri
+ North Dakota
+ Oklahoma
+ Pennsylvania
+ South Dakota
+ Texas
+ Utah
+ Washington D.C.
+ Wisconsin
+ Wyoming

24 states and 1 district! That is pretty impressive!

The Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ British Virgin Islands
+ Nassau Bahamas
+ Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

My submission was taken 360 miles from my front door.

This week saw the first ever submission from Heather. I don’t know if that is a sign of things to come or a one-off, but I hope it is a sign of things to come.

But it wasn’t all good news. There was a veritable bloodbath of streaks falling though. Porter couldn’t build on his submission from last week. Mary’s streak snapped at 2. Sabas’ streak is history at 4. Most tragically, Vest’s 14 week streak is gone!

ROAD TRIP

ROAD TRIP! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE! This is one of my favorite themes for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. It isn’t just because I am one of the few universally recognized Masters of the Road Trip. Okay, maybe it is.

But what in the Sam Hill is a ROAD TRIP photo? Simply put, it is a picture that is taken on a ROAD TRIP or in preparation for a ROAD TRIP. It doesn’t have to be a picture of a road or a car or a map or snacks. I LOVE a good ROAD TRIP snack. For example, if you are taking a ROAD TRIP to Pella to do a little flowertography this weekend, then a picture of anything you encounter on that ROAD TRIP is fair game. It doesn’t have to be a grand ROAD TRIP. You don’t have to leave the state on this trip. And judging by where many of my submissions come from, many of you haven’t left the state since Theresa Becker was the Iowa State women’s basketball coach*. I can cast stones, I’m in Illinois right now. I’m a world traveler baby! I go places. I’m a baller. I ask questions. You want me on your corporate team!

Sorry got sidetracked. Your ROAD TRIP could be a jaunt around the block or down to the grocery store. I don’t judge. Or it could just be a picture of preparations for a ROAD TRIP to PELLA to do some flowertography.

While considering possible subjects for your ROAD TRIP submission, meditate on the following quote and I have no doubt that you will come up with an amazing idea:

All he needed was a wheel in his hand and four on the road.
-Jack Kerouac

I look forward to seeing your interpretation.

RULES

You can send your images to either bennett@photography139.com OR you may text them to my Pixel 5.

That is it. Thems the rules!

That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing your idea of ROAD TRIP in this place that is more of a journey than a destination next Monday.

Andy, Angie, Art, Carla, Derrick, Elizabeth, Jen, Jesse, Kim, Lowell, Monica, Night, Sara, Scottie D., Still Life, Street Photography, Travel, Work, WPC - Reminder

Viva Las Vegas: Day 4 and Day 5A

April 21, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Day 4 of my trip to Las Vegas was the 2nd Day of the CCM. It was a busy day and I barely touched my camera. I spent pretty much the entire day at the conference center. I got to leave for the day at a pretty normal time and only felt the urge to punch another human being in the throat one time. But I didn’t. I just want you to know that. I didn’t punch that other human being in the throat. I only wanted to punch them in the throat.

That night I was taken out for supper by one of the biggest Computer Mine customers. They are big fans of Italian food so they took me to Trevi Italian Restaurant. Trevi is inside the Shops at the Forum. Our Uber driver dropped us off at The Caesars Forum, which is actually farther away from Trevi than our hotel.

Everybody else at the meal was Catholic and adhered to the no meat Friday deal. I ate lasagna. I offered to join them in not eating meat, since they were paying, but they told me not to worry about it. The lasagna was good and I followed it with some delicious tiramisu.

We walked back to the hotel cause we no longer trusted Uber drivers. We stopped and watch the fountain show at the Bellagio. Then I bid them a good night. I think it was late enough in the evening that I might have just went to bed myself. I don’t know. It is all a blur at this point.

I only took one picture worth sharing:

So after 4 days, here is the Per Diem Fund Update

I started the Day with $223.

Breakfast: Free
Lunch: Free
Trevi Supper: Free

Estimated Per Diem Balance: $223.

According to my highly inaccurate fitness app, I walked 18,170 steps for 8.35 miles.

Day 5 of my trip and Day 3 of the CMC is only a half day. I got to the convention center around 8. It ended at noon. Afterwards everybody “helps” pack the crates. This was the other time I wanted to punch another human being in the throat, but not as hard as the person yesterday. Also, not the same person. Just a person that had “opinions” on how the crate should be packed. After everybody else left, Lowell and I tried to redo the crate as much as we could. Then we locked them up and called it a day.

We took a moment to go back to the hotel and change clothes then we went to Nacho Daddy for lunch with Kim. Nacho Daddy serves the “most insane gourmet nachos smothered in queso and salsa made fresh daily and (they) guarantee you’ll never find a dry chip”.

I believe I got the Fajita Nacho. Which the menu describes as:

Marinated filet mignon, seared peppers & onions, refried beans, melted Cheddar & Jack cheese, yellow queso, cherry tomato pico de gallo, shredded lettuce, sour cream, guacamole, & pickled onions on top of our house made tri-colored chips.

Nacho Daddy also serves a Scorpion Shot. It consists of Telson Blanco, a scorpion, salt and a lime wedge. I don’t drink alcohol, so I was off the hook for trying it. But Lowell and Kim both backed down from the challenge. It was a bit of a disappointment.

After the meal we back to the hotel for a bit. There was talk of going to Fremont Street but I didn’t hear from anybody for hours, so after resting I decided to explore a bit nearby on my own. Scottie D. had recommend I check out the Botanical Garden at The Bellagio. I walked across the street to seek it out.

Here are some pictures:

It just absolutely poured rain all night. It pretty much eliminated the chances of anybody wanting to do anything that night. Which I guess was okay because we had to be at the shuttle by 5:15 in the morning.

Still more pictures to come from this rain-soaked night and one final Per Diem Upate!

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This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is FRIENDS:

FRIENDS

Not only is this your reminder that this week’s theme is FRIENDS, it is your reminder that I am in Chicago right now and won’t return until Tuesday. Three things to note about that:

#1. If you were hoping to have me in your FRIENDS picture, you better make it to Chicago.
#2. I’m going to be in Chicago on Monday, so there might not be many reminders sent out, so you will be on your own.
#3. I won’t publish the submissions until Tuesday at the earliest.

A FRIENDS photo is simply a picture that involves FRIENDS or a picture that represents a FRIENDShip.

While considering possible subjects for your FRIENDS image meditate on the following quote:

Friendship is being there when someone’s feeling low and not being afraid to kick them.

This isn’t the first time that FRIENDS has been a theme. Here is a look at a few of the submissions from the past to help inspire you:

Angie DeWaard – Week 246

Elizabeth Nordeen – Week 310

Andy Sharp – Week 172

Carla Stensland – Week 172

Christopher D. Bennett – Week 172

Hopefully this inspired somebody.

Happy photo harvesting!

Alexis, Andy, Angie, Bill, Brandon, Carla, Cathie, Dawn, Derrick, Elizabeth, Jen, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Mary, Micky, Mindi, Monica, Naima, Sabas, Sara, Sarah Toot, Scottie D., Self-Portrait, Shannon, Suzie, Tamara, Teresa, Vest, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 396 – SCENES FROM YOUR COUCH

April 17, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

SCENES FROM YOUR COUCH. Possibly the easiest theme ever. But did it get the creative juices flowing for many people? You will have to keep scrolling too find out!

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, April 10, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Scott Degeneffe – 1 week
2-Susanna Funk – 1 week
3-Mary Green – 1 week
4-Jesse Howard – 1 week
5-Alexis Stensland – 1 week
6-Sabas Hernandez – 3 weeks
7-Willy McAlpine – 3 weeks
8-Mindi Terrell – 7 weeks (2)
9-Suzie Brannen – 12 weeks (3)
10-Monica Jennings – 12 weeks (3)
11-Nathanial Brown – 13 weeks (3)
12-Mike Vest – 13 weeks
13-Tamara Peterson – 23 weeks
14-Brandon Kahler – 33 weeks
15-Linda Bennett – 37 weeks (2)
16-Sarah Toot – 38 weeks (2)
17-Angie DeWaard – 42 weeks
18-Dawn Krause – 46 weeks (2)
19-Kim Barker – 51 weeks
20-Joe Duff – 53 weeks
21-Logan Kahler – 53 weeks
22-Teresa Kahler – 64 weeks
23-Carla Stensland – 64 weeks
24-Micky Augustin – 65 weeks (2)
25-Andy Sharp – 67 week
26-Bill Wentworth – 68 weeks
27-Cathie Morton – 72 weeks
28-Elizabeth Nordeen – 73 weeks
29-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 74 weeks
30-Kio Dettman – 77 weeks (2)

I finally broke down and made a map of states where people have submitted pictures from:

You might notice that Michigan is filled in, even though as of last week we had no submissions from Michigan. That isn’t actually the case. After last Monday’s post published, Mary contacted me and let me know that her pictures were taken in Michigan! WooHoo! Another state. So don’t forget to let me know if you took your picture in a different state than the one you live in. Or if you want, you can always let me know where you took your picture at.

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:

WEEK 396 - SCENE FROM YOUR COUCH - KIO DETTMAN

Kio Dettman (Iowa) – 78 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa)

Joe Duff (Texas) – 54 weeks

Mary Green (Iowa) – 2 weeks

Mary Green (Iowa)

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 24 weeks

Tamara Peterson (Iowa)

Carla Stensland (Iowa) – 65 weeks

Alexis Stensland (Iowa) – 2 weeks

Alexis Stensland (Iowa)

Micky Augustin (Iowa) – 66 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 74 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa) – 65 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa)

Andy Sharp (Iowa) – 68 weeks

Kim Barker (Iowa) – 52 weeks

Angie DeWaard (Iowa) – 43 weeks

Sarah Toot (Pennsylvania) – 39 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Wyoming) – 75 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Nevada)

Bill Wentworth (Nebraska) – 69 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 38 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas)

Christopher D. Bennett (Iowa)

Scott Degeneffe (Iowa) – 2 weeks

Scott Degeneffe (Iowa)

Porter Degeneffe (Iowa)

Dawn Krause (Iowa) – 47 weeks

Brandon Kahler (Iowa) – 34 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 8 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Logan Kahler (Iowa) – 54 weeks

Sabas Hernandez (Iowa) – 3 weeks

Jesse Howard (Iowa) – 2 weeks

Jesse Howard (Iowa)

Monica Jennings (Iowa) – 13 weeks

Cathie Morton (Iowa) – 73 weeks

Suzie Brannen (Iowa) – 13 weeks

Suzie Brannen (Iowa)

Mike Vest (Iowa) – 13 weeks

29 participants! That is a pretty great week!

There were submissions this week taken in the following states:

+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Nebraska
+ Nevada
+ Pennsylvania
+ Texas
+ Wyoming

Thanks to Shannon’s annual bee road trip, Wyoming has been added to the map!

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

+ Arizona
+ Arkansas
+ Colorado
+ Florida
+ Georgia
+ Illinois
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Nebraska
+ New Jersey
+ New York
+ Nevada
+ Michigan
+ Minnesota
+ Missouri
+ North Dakota
+ Oklahoma
+ Pennsylvania
+ South Dakota
+ Texas
+ Washington D.C.
+ Wisconsin
+ Wyoming

22 states and 1 district! That is pretty impressive!

The Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ British Virgin Islands
+ Nassau Bahamas
+ Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

I took my picture about 3 miles from my house. I continue not to contribute.

Speaking of people who do contribute in a big way. Congratulations to Kim! She joins the super exclusive 1 Year Club! WooHoo!

But it wasn’t all good news. Funk couldn’t build on her submission last week. Willy’s 3 week streak is history. Most tragically, Nathanial’s 13 week streak is just a distant memory. Very sad!

FRIENDS

NOTE: I WILL BE IN CHICAGO NEXT MONDAY FOR WORK. WHILE I MIGHT BE SURROUNDED BY COMPUTERS THAT DAY, I WILL NOT BE IN ANY KIND OF POSITION TO POST THE ENTRIES FOR FRIENDS UNTIL I RETURN. THAT WILL EITHER BE LATE TUESDAY NIGHT OR AT SOME POINT ON WEDNESDAY. ALSO, DON’T COUNT ON GETTING ANY REMINDERS. IT MIGHT HAPPEN, BUT I DOUBT IT. PLAN ACCORDINGLY.

FRIENDS! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what exactly is a FRIENDS image? Simply put it is an image that captures a FRIENDS(hip). That can be through a picture of FRIENDS or a picture of an item that represents a FRIENDS(hip).

But what is are FRIENDS? ChatGPT defines FRIENDS like his:

“Friends are individuals who share a mutual bond of trust, affection, and support with each other. They are people with whom we have a close and positive relationship, and with whom we share common interests, values, and experiences. Friends can provide emotional support, companionship, and a sense of belonging. They can also offer advice, feedback, and constructive criticism, and can help us grow and develop as individuals. Friendship is an important aspect of human social interaction, and having strong friendships can have a positive impact on our physical and mental well-being.”

In case you didn’t know what FRIENDS are.

Now a reminder, I’m leaving for Chicago in a couple of days, so if you were hoping to include me in your FRIENDS picture, you either need to act quickly OR come to Illinois.

But if you can’t use me while considering possible subjects for your FRIENDS image, meditate on the following quote and I have no doubt you will make a great submission:

“A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.”
— Walter Winchell

I look forward to seeing your interpretation.

RULES

You can send your images to either bennett@photography139.com OR you may text them to my Pixel 5.

That is it. Thems the rules!

That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing your idea of FRIENDS in this place that was designed for friendship next Monday.

Cathie, Commercial, Elizabeth, Kim, Lowell, Michelle, Naima, Travel, Work, WPC - Reminder

Viva Las Vegas: Day 3C

April 14, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

After the party was over, Lowell and I waited around for what must have been hours for these people to leave so we could go back to the conference center to setup computers for the following day’s CMC.

I think we finally got into the conference center, set up the few computers we could and got back to the hotel room about 10:30.

We were supposed to arrive at the party a little early to eat before the guests got there. But that didn’t really work out. I had a couple pieces of shrimp and a slider. Not enough to keep me going. So after hitting our hotel rooms, we met up, I think at the Heart Bar for a little bit. I think this might have been the night I was either propositioned by a prostitute near the slot machines OR a very friendly and lovely lady wanted to hang out with me and buy her a drink. It is hard to tell. We will never know.

Things are starting to become a blur at this point. Then sometime after midnight we ended up at Earl of Sandwich for a late supper. Earl of Sandwich was pretty good except for the distinct smell of drain backup emanating from the drains near their pop station.

Per Diem Fund Update

I started the day with $240 in the Per Diem Fund.

Breakfast: Free
Lunch: Free
Cocktail Hour Snacks: Free
Earl of Sandwich Supper: $17

Estimated Per Diem Fund Balance: $223.

I hope these party pictures don’t give the false impression that my job at the Computer Mine if fun. It is hard work. Nonstop. Nose to the grindstone.

After such a late night, the morning came around pretty quick.

According to my highly inaccurate fitness app, I walked 19,158 steps for 8.72 miles.

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This is your reminder that this week’s theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is SCENES FROM YOUR COUCH:

SCENES FROM YOUR COUCH

SCENES FROM YOUR COUCH?!? That seems like an odd theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

This theme was suggested by Angie. It was meant to be subversive. If you have read the rules for (and there aren’t many rules, but they do grow a little by little) THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE, you may remember the this line:

“This isn’t a curate your photos project. This is a get your butt off the couch (unless you are taking your picture from the couch) and take pictures challenge.”

Here is your chance to not get your butt off the couch. You can literally sit on your couch. Take a picture of whatever you see from your couch and submit it to me. Now, you don’t have to take the picture from your couch. You can pile a bunch of your favorite people on your couch and take a picture of them. You can take your picture from behind the couch. It actually doesn’t even have to be your couch. You can find somebody else’s couch you like better and take your picture from there. It could be a couch in a store or a hotel or a bar. Doesn’t matter. It just has to be a SCENE FROM A COUCH.

There are two things I love about this theme. First, it means that there is somebody that actually reads the rules. Second, this picture can be the easiest one you take for this year’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE or you really take your creative juices for a walk to figure out how make this picture, let us say different. To really stretch the boundaries of the theme.

Happy photo harvesting!