Category Archives: Life

Alexis, Amanda, Brandon, Carla, Event, Holidays, Johnathan, Kanoa, Kupono, Mom, Teresa

Walking the Floor Over You

February 13, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

It was a bittersweet Christmas for the Bennetts. As always, there was much joy when the family gets together, but while the 2019 Christmas will always be known as the first Christmas with Kanoa. It will also be the Christmas when Amanda and Logan announced that they are expecting a new bundle of joy in 2020. It will also be known as the Christmas where Grandma passed away.
The good outweighs the bad though.

Here are some pictures from the Bennett Christmas, some are cruddy cell phone pictures that I took while experimenting with a camera phone app:

I don’t usually dwell on the names of my blog posts. I either figure that people don’t care or that they google it and figure it out. Although Google won’t always unravel the riddle.

This riddle is a reference to Ernest Tubb, who was my Grandma’s favorite musician. I’d like to share the lyrics to one of my favorite Ernest Tubb songs to close this post out:

Yesterday’s tears are still fallin’ yesterday’s dreams are still broken
Yesterday’s love is still livin’ a love that will never be spoken
I’ve tried so hard to forget dear tried not too smart everything
You are the one who has given but all you’ve received dear is pain
My life has been such a sorrow my world has crumbled like clay
My heart has slowly been dying since you told me goodbye that day

Long weary years you have suffered to keep from hurting someone
If only I could repay you for all of the kind things you’ve done
You haven’t spared me my darling everything to you I owe
All I can say is I love so much more than anyone know
So yesterday’s tears are still fallin’ yesterday’s dreams are still broken
Yesterday’s love is still livin’ a love that will never be spoken

9 Emotions Project, Andy, Becky, Bill, Birthdays, Black & White, Carla, Jay, Jesse, Kim, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Shannon, Still Life, Tamara, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 230 – REFLECTION

February 10, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Today is a very big day in the history of my oldest friends. Not just because one of my old friends climbed a building and set his shirt on fire and got arrested yesterday. No, because today is Bill’s birthday!

Happy birthday Bill!

+++++++

Looks like the streak lives on for one more week. 19 weeks in total. REFLECTION struck a chord with the absolute bare minimum to extend the streak of double digit submissions!

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates. You came to see the submissions:

Micky Augustin

Monica Henning

Kim Barker

Michelle Haupt

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Tamara Peterson

Christopher D. Bennett

Carla Stensland

Andy Sharp

Becky Parmelee

Jesse Howard

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:

FAMILY

FAMILY! What a great theme! But what is a FAMILY picture? A FAMILY picture is any picture that involves a FAMILY. And don’t let any Scrooge McDuck’s from Ankeny try to tell you that FAMILY can only be defined by DNA. Remember, a true family provides its members with emotional and spiritual kinship through:

+ Shared values, beliefs, and traditions
+ Common experiences and activities
+ Unconditional, non-judgmental support

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

+++++++

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

The picture has to be taken the week of the theme. This isn’t a curate your pictures challenge. This is a get your butt off the couch (my personal experience) and put your camera in your hands challenge. Don’t send me a picture of you next to the Eiffel Tower, when I know you were in Iowa all week. I will point out that I have let that slide some in the past. I will not in the future. Since it is literally about the only rule.

Your submission needs to be emailed to bennett@photography139.com by 11 AM on the Monday of the challenge due date.

I now allow people to text me their submissions. In the past, I had made exceptions for a couple people that aren’t real computer savvy, even though it was an inconvenience for me and required at least 3 extra steps for me. I am now lifting that embargo because I have a streamline way of uploading photos. I’m not giving out my phone number, but if you have it, you can text me.

It should be pointed out that this blog auto-publishes at 12:01 on Mondays. So it wouldn’t hurt to get your picture in earlier.

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

Nobody showed class, taste, and sophistication this week by signing up for a Photography 139 email subscription. I’ll try and do better next week.

+++++++

That’s all I got for today, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will commune right here again next Monday. Hopefully it will be a very familial Monday!

Art, Black & White, Jesse, Nature, Road Trip

Birthday Road Trip – Malanaphy Springs

February 9, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

After we left The Little Brown Church and the possible time travelers but probably LARPers, our next stop was the Malanaphy Springs Waterfall. It is the lesser known waterfall in/near Decorah. It isn’t as pretty as Dunning’s Springs. It definitely isn’t as accessible. It is a good 20-30 minute hike on a trail that isn’t well curated.

With that being said, it is definitely worth the extra work. It is a place out in the woods that is beautiful and private. A person can collect their thoughts there.

Here are some pictures:

I would like to return to this waterfall at some point this year. Looking ahead, I’ll probably take my birthday road trip on May 15 this year. But I have no clue where I will end up. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it is back in northeast Iowa again.

More pictures from this trip still to come.

Black & White, Candid Portrait, Flowers, Formal Portrait, House, Steph

2009-08-29

February 8, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

The pictures from the folder named 2009-08-29 are mostly from a photo session I did with Stephanie. If I recall correctly, these pictures were supposed to be a headshot for her music career. I decided to convert those to black and white and save them for posterity.

The other pictures in this folder are from my garden.

This is the first time that I’ve published any of these images.

Next week’s walk down memory lane will involve Ottumwa, Iowa and fire.

Mom, Sheri, Tenderloining, Teresa

Tenderloin Appreciation Society – Three Strikes

February 5, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett 6 Comments

I went through a long drought where I didn’t experience a good (new) tenderloin for several months. I decided not to torture my people with 3 separate entries on 3 bad tenderloins. I decided just to knock them all out in one swoop.

Big Al’s BBQ – Des Moines, Iowa

Back in May, Mom, Teresa, and Sheri went to Big Al’s BBQ in Des Moines to try their tenderloin. It was somewhat hyped as a tenderloin that was smoked and then fried. Baby Got Rack tried something similar once and couldn’t make it work. This also doesn’t work.

Although I will say that there service was good, the owner was awesome, and all their other food was good.

Here are some pictures:

It was the best of the 3 tenderloins in this entry, but it wasn’t good. It did have many of the qualities of a good tenderloin. Decent breading. Good size. Proper thickness. But the smoky flavor just didn’t work.

GroVer Flavors – Van Meter, Iowa

I’m not going to pile on this tenderloin. This restaurant has since closed because the owner has lung cancer.

Here are a few pictures:

It was burnt. It was too thin. Let’s not dwell on it.

Whistlin’ Donkey – Woodward, Iowa

Whistlin’ Donkey was also a disappointment and by far one of the worst restaurant experiences I’ve ever had. From the time we ordered, until the time we got our food, it was over 90 minutes.

Here are some pictures:

I do remember them having an appetizer that was delicious, but now I can’t remember what it was. I think the high point of this tenderloin is that it had a toasted bun.

As I look at these pictures, I see that my tenderloin photography wasn’t always the best. As I pursue tenderloins in 2020, I will also effort to improve the quality of the tenderloin photography.

This is my solemn vow!

Tenderloining

Tenderloin Appreciation Society – Paton Field Work

February 4, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Scott and I’s schedules are often difficult to get to align, so last year I increasingly took other people with me on my tenderloin quest. Then I followed that up by not adequately reporting on my findings and furthermore, not taking good enough notes to post something of consequence at this late of date.

Therefore rather than getting a really good, solid review of the tenderloins I encountered in 2019, you are just going to get pictures and the general gist of my memories.

On of those tenderloins I remember was at 209 Main in Paton. The family and I went there after church on a Sunday in late September. Here are some pictures of the experience:

What I remember of this tenderloin is that it was delicious. Good breading. Good thickness. Toasted bun.

The rules of Tenderloin Quest are that you have to eat the tenderloin how it is served. However, I do not believe that lettuce belongs on a tenderloin. Lettuce is for the salad I should be eating for the two days before eating the tenderloin and the two days after I eat the tenderloin.

The onion rings and nachos were also delicious.

Logan took the pictures of me taking my first bites of the tenderloin.

Although it was a really good tenderloin, I’m not sure it was good enough to join the Tenderloin Pantheon. I would need Scott to back that up anyways. It takes a consensus opinion to be placed on the Tenderloin Pantheon.

I know there are at least a couple more tenderloins from 2019 for me to write about in the coming days. Plus, I might be checking out a tenderloin in Ames in the coming weeks. Plus a tentative tenderloin outing in Corning needs to happen before Ash Wednesday. If I get real ambitious, I should head up to New Hampton. However, I don’t see that happening until at least after Easter.

Until next time, happy tenderloining!

Animals, Black & White, Boone County Fair, Street Photography, Vest, WPC - Reminder

Sunday at the Fair

January 31, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

Hitting up the 2019 backlog for a collection of pictures I took while wandering around the Boone County Fair on the last day of the Fair. I was mostly just still playing a bit with the RXO II as I looked to capture many of the animals that were being exhibited.

I recall buying the RXO II because we got a rando bonus at the Computer Mine. I should’ve done something smart with that money, but instead I bought a really, really small camera to photograph sleeping pigs with.

+++++++

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

WORK

A WORK photo is any image of a person engaged in WORK or tools that are used in WORK or anything that might remind you of WORK. Remember, WORK doesn’t just happen at your place of employment.

Happy photo harvesting!

Flowers, Macro, State Fair

Smiles are to Humanity

January 30, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

On the day that Baby Got Rack competed at the Iowa State Fair, I took some time to go over to my favorite part of the Iowa State Fair to take some flower pictures.

Unfortunately, the lighting was atrocious, but I took a couple flower pictures I don’t hate.

I went to the State Fair a second time last year and I believe the lighting for my flower pictures was much more favorable. I guess you’ll have to wait and see.

9 Emotions Project, Anders, Animals, Art, Bill, Black & White, Candid Portrait, Christianity, Faust, Formal Portrait, Jay, Jesse, Movies, Photo Journal, Road Trip, Willy

Birthday Road Trip – Little Brown Church

January 26, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

For starters, happy birthday Anders! We celebrated Anders’ birthday last night at January birthday night with yellow cake, a DOLEMITE double feature, and a root beer tasting.

After all, DOLEMITE is my name and (expletive deleted) up mother (expletive deleted) is my game!

Here are some pictures of a man I consider to be at least the equal of Dolemite!

One of my secret (I guess) goals of 2020 is to be more proactive about putting information for Movie Night up on the website. Because if you are reading these words, you are invited to Movie Night.

But be warned, you may never be the same after you attend Movie Night. Exposure to great art tends to change a person. In fact, I think Movie Night broke Willy.

+++++++

Enough about Anders’ birthday. Let’s talk about my birthday. Last year Jesse and I took a road trip around my birthday. One of the stops we made was at The Little Brown Church. There were a bunch of LARPers there. Maybe they were time travelers. Either way, they were dressed up like it was the Civil War.

Here are some pictures from that stop:

Jesse had never heard of The Little Brown Church, but it is the church from that song. You know the song. The song about the little brown church.

There’s a church in the valley by the wildwood
No lovelier spot in the dale
No place is so dear to my childhood
As the little brown church in the vale

Our church hosted a filmmaker who made a documentary about it once. It was interesting, but it didn’t feature one time traveler.

Animals, Black & White, Candid Portrait, Cousin Amy, Ernie, Flowers, Formal Portrait, Geri, Jay, Jesse, Mom, Photoshop, Sara, Self-Portrait, State Fair, Teresa

2009-08-24

January 25, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

There are a ton of photos in the folder 2009-08-24. Most of them are from my trips to the Iowa State Fair in 2009. However, there is also a good chunk of them that are pictures of Teresa and Ernie.

This is already going to be a long post, so I don’t want to overwhelm you with a ton of words up front. I want to overwhelm you with pictures on the backside:

By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entry to its original glory:

The State Fair

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve some Stephanie and some of my mad gardening skills.