This collection of flower pictures are from August. They are mostly taken in my backyard, but a few of them are from my Mom’s flowerbeds.
I in particular, like the supermacro sunflower picture, but I’m sure it’s somewhat impressionist feel will turn some people off. But to those people, I say stick up your nose Gauguin!
It feels so good to get more of this 2019 backlog knocked off!
Day 2 of working from home is in the books. The positive I learned about working from home today is that the bathroom is only about 10 feet away from my work from home desk. It is always open. At the mine, I don’t know if people’s bowel movements sync up or that my fellow miners take incredibly long times in there, but it seems like there is never a free bathroom.
It is a positive that I never have to wait for a clean (just cleaned it yesterday) bathroom. Also, Joe got his microphone working, so I can call him through Teams. He doesn’t have a webcam, but at least that is one more person I can have a conversation with that doesn’t involve a keyboard. Yeah, I know, nobody took my phone away, but it feels different somehow.
Today’s soundtrack was John Coltrane.
We’ll see how Day 3 goes.
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Here is yet another collection of pictures from when Fly Iowa was in Boone:
Only 500 more Fly Iowa images to curate!
Kenny Rogers passed away on Saturday. Celebrity deaths don’t usually have much effect on me. However, I was deeply saddened by the passing of Kenny Rogers. Kenny Rogers is my Mom’s favorite and therefore is one of my favorite country singers. I can’t stomach modern country, but I have more than a few old timey country artists I love. Like Hank Williams because of my Grandpa, (I’ve probably covered the Nirvana Christmas Story to recollect it again here) Ernest Tubb because of my Grandma, and Johnny Paycheck AND Tom T. Hall and Dolly Parton because of my Dad. Then there is Kenny Rogers because of my Mom.
Kenny songs were a staple in the Bennett household as I grew up. I have so many favorites:
-Coward of the County
-Lucille
-Lady
-She Believes in Me
-Islands in the Stream
-Don’t Fall in Love with a Dreamer
-We’ve Got Tonight
-Through the Years
-She Believes in Me
-You Decorated My Life
-Ruby Don’t Take Your Love to Town
-You Decorated My Life
-Love Will Turn You Around
and of course
-The Gambler
I think “The Gambler” is the song that most people in my generation affiliate with Kenny Rogers. It isn’t actually my favorite Kenny Rogers song, but I do love it so. I also think there is some real world, great, practical advice in that song.
You’ve got to know when to hold ’em
Know when to fold ’em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run
You never count your money
When you’re sittin’ at the table
There’ll be time enough for countin’
When the dealin’s done
When I was a kid, I foolishly thought that this was advice about how to play poker. It wasn’t until later in life (probably embarrassingly later) that I realized that this advice had nothing a card game. It was about life. It is advice that I should really apply to my life.
There are too many times where I should fold ’em and walk away. I can think of a couple times where I should have folded ’em and then ran. I’m a person who sometimes tries to hold ’em too much. Or as he says in “Lucille”:
“I’m no quitter, bit I finally quit livin’ on dreams.” I’m hungry for laughter and here ever after. I’m after whatever the other life brings”
It is sad that the dealin’s done for Kenny Rogers. But in his songs I found an ace I can keep.
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Thought I would share pictures from another event that takes me back to my childhood every time I go, the Iowa State Fair. This is the final collection of pictures from my trip there with Logan and Nader.
Most of these pictures are of animals. The DNR building is one of my favorite stops at the Iowa State Fair every year. There are also picutres of the baby pigs from the baby animal exhibit and cakes from the cake competition and sheep waiting for mutton busting.
I can’t wait for this year’s Iowa State Fair. Hopefully there is one.
This is Day 1 of me working from home for the next couple of weeks. So far, so good. I haven’t been crushed with the loneliness of isolation, yet. However, I also have been chatting quite a bit with people. So maybe it will set in this afternoon.
One bonus of working from home is that I can listen to music. I mean really listen to music. None of this headphone trash. Today is going to be Miles Davis all day.
Another bonus of working from home is that I was home when my annual battle with ants in my bathroom started. I was able to get the ant traps out nice and early. On the negative side, while I was cleaning my sink, I knocked my mouthwash onto the floor, spilling, half of it and as a bonus, the lid flew into the toilet.
A positive is that the coronavirus did not stop the streak of double digit submissions! We are now up to 25 straight weeks!
But you didn’t come her to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates. You came to see the submissions:
Andy Sharp
Monica Henning
Monica Henning
Andy Sharp
Micky Augustin
Monica Henning
Kim Barker
Michelle Haupt
Christopher D. Bennett
Aaron Barnett
Becky Parmelee
Tamara Peterson
Shannon Bardole-Foley
Cathie Raley
Logan Kahler
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:
MUSIC! What a great theme! But what is a MUSIC photo? It is a picture of somebody making MUSIC. An instrument that makes MUSIC. A device that makes MUSIC. I look forward to seeing your interpretations!
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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.
OR
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.
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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 musical Monday!
I’m going to dedicate the next several Sundays to the Senior Pictures I took for the Class of 2020.
The first set of pictures are of Autumn Sharp. We took a collection of pictures of her on a farm near Gilbert:
Plenty more Senior Sundays on the docket!
The pictures in the folder 2009-09-24 are from the annual Howard Family Photo Shoot in 2009.
Sometimes I look at old photos and think about how much I have improved as a photographer, but I think the area I’ve grown the most as a photographer is as a family photographer. That isn’t my forte by any stretch of the imagination and definitely isn’t a passion, but it has definitely been a source of growth.
Here are some of my favorite pictures from this photo shoot:
Although I may have been pretty harsh on myself at the beginning of this post, there are many a picture in this post I absolutely love!
By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Gallery, I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entries to their original glory:
Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve a regatta and several black knights.
I took Thursday and Friday off this week to watch basketball. Obviously there is no basketball right now. There is no basketball for at least a month and there is no NCAA Tournament this year at all. I wasn’t sure if I was going to still take these two days off. I waffled for a few days and then I ultimately decided that I needed a few days off.
I understand that can sound tone deaf. To need a few days off, when there are many people that aren’t able to work right now. People who suddenly are finding themselves unemployed. I am blessed that for at least now, the Computer Mine is still open for business. I am also blessed that starting a couple days ago, the Computer Mine opened up the option to work from home for some employees. They started by opening it up to workers that are in high risk groups and workers that are around people that are in high risk groups. I fit into that second category.
I wasn’t sure I was going to work from home or continue to work from the office, but after listening to a few co-workers regurgitated Fox propaganda talking points, I knew that I no longer trusted my co-workers to make smart decisions for their health, for the health of the people the come into contact with, and the health of the people that they come into contact with.
Starting on Monday, I’m going to start working from home. Because of this, I spent Thursday building a computer to use as my work from home computer from some computer parts I have laying around. I didn’t want to complicate my main home computer. So that is what passes for ENTERTAINMENT for me yesterday.
I also added a web camera to my work-from-home-computer so I could have video calls with my co-workers:
It isn’t the best web camera in the world. In fact, it is the web camera I bought a few years back so I could set up a modest photo booth at my birthday party:
But it will get the job done as far as video chatting goes. Because the one thing that I’m definitely going to miss as I work from home for at least a couple of weeks is some of my fellow miners. Most of them have opted to work from home, but I think Joe, Micky, Elizabeth, and Ron and a few others still seem to be committed to showing up to the mine. I’m going to miss you guys
Working from home does mean that I’ll have more time on my hands. I won’t have the 20 minute or so one way commute every day. My one hour lunch break will also be spent at home. Plus with not going pretty much anywhere at night, I will definitely have added time to work on my photography backlog. You guys might have to endure some days of TWO “An Artist’s Notebook” entries! Oh the humanity!
Hopefully the webcam will help with the social isolation. Hopefully my dog adjusts to having me around all the time!
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Since I mentioned birthday parties, I might as well mention that while I have been planning to have a birthday party this year, it is definitely off. Which is sad because Scottie D. and I had a tremendous menu planned. Baby Got Rack was going to cater the heck out of that party! You’ll just have to imagine what it would have been like.
What you don’t have to imagine what it is like, was what the invitations were going to look like. My nephew Logan took some of the photos that were going to be used for the invitations, that were going to look like they came from a political candidate. Here are a couple of the pictures that won’t get used:
That last picture wasn’t getting used for sure, I just like it. Maybe 2021 will be a better year to bring the party back!
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Last week I took more than one picture for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE, so here is a good chance to share the once that didn’t have what it takes to make the big show on Monday:
The pictures of Naima were taken with a new Lensbaby lens I bought for my new camera. I will probably going into some boring detail about it at some point in the future.
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This is your reminder that this week’s WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is ENTERTAINMENT:
I have no clue what participation will look like this week. However, I can assure you that even if you are taking social distancing to self-quarantine, this theme and every theme in the WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is a theme that can be accomplished within the confines of your house or your yard.
Happy photo harvesting!
I should start today by wising my Aunt Linda a happy birthday!
Recently I shared a collection of pictures I took of the old Boone Dump sliding into McHose Park. Aunt Linda sent me a story that I thought I would share, so you would know what kind of people I come from:
I really liked this history of the junk yard. I have fond memories of going to the junk yard as a family….my dad, mom, David, Gerald and me. Dad would take a gun in case we were attacked by rats. We often found treasures to take home for one reason or another.
I want you to think about this story the next time you even remotely think of trying to mistakenly labeling me as an elitist. I’m the guy that comes from a family that used to go to the town dump, with my Grandpa packing heat to fend off the junkyard rats! These are my people!
Happy birthday Aunt Linda!
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Time for yet another collection of images from Fly Iowa:
Only 700 more images from Fly Iowa to curate!
Other than a couple sets of Senior pictures, this small collection of pictures represents the balance of the July 2019 backlog.
These pictures were taken in my backyard, except the picture of Naima. It is hard to recollect, but I believe that I was playing around with extension tubes. Playing around with extension tubes is as good of a hobby as a person can have, I reckon.
I’ve already been tackling some of the August backlog with pictures from Fly Iowa and the Iowa State Fair, but I still haven’t even touched pictures from the Minnesota State Fair or of Kanoa, but we’re getting there, by golly!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to those of you that celebrate. I don’t. I’m mostly of Scottish and Welsh stock, so I’ve been trained by the English to hate the Irish and I do. I do hate the Irish. At least I hate the Notre Dame Fighitn’ Irish. They can straight bugger off.
That being said, under normal circumstances, I would make my way to West Street Deli and have the most delicious Reuben in the world. That was before we were in a global pandemic. Also, I think West Street Deli closes during Spring Break anyways.
Another thing that would normally happen tonight would be the beginning of the NCAA Tournament. This year it was cancelled due to fears of over the coronavirus. I one hundred percent support this decision. In situations like we find ourselves in, we should very vigilant. When this is over, nobody will regret being too cautious. That being said, it still makes me a little sad. The NCAA Tournament is by far my favorite sporting event every year. There isn’t a close second. Maybe Championship Week. Followed by bowl games. Followed by about every college football Saturday.
So let me quote a Brandi Carlile song to express a little bit of how I feel about the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament.
Look to the clock on the wall
Hands hardly moving at all
I can’t stand the state that I’m in
Sometimes it feels like the wall’s closing in
Oh, Lord, what can I say?
I’m so sad since you went away
Time, time, ticking on me
Alone is the last place I wanted to be
Lord, what can I say?
Trap all my troubles away
Drown my sorrow the same way
Seems no matter how hard I try
It seems like there’s something just missing inside
However, while I drown my sorrows, it seems I should still honor last years NCAA Tournament and the winners of my annual Roundball Oracles Pool.
You may recall that there are two trophy winners. The winner and then the biggest adult loser. The winner of last year’s Roundball Oracles Pool was Becky Parmelee:
Then the winner of The Sara Trophy for last place adult was Russell Kennerly:
Last year, 42 people vied to join the List of Immortals with Becky finishing on top. Here are the final standings:
Roundball Oracles – Year 15
1. Becky Parmelee – 281
2. Linda Bennett – 265
3. Michelle Haupt -242
4. Lowell Davis – 242
5. Angie DeWaard – 242
6. Dawn Krause – 239
7. Sean Clubine – 237
8. Paul Golden – 237
9. Rachel Gildersleeve – 237
10. Jason Baier – 236
11. Jesse Howard – 231
12. Michael Augustin – 230
13. Corey Faust – 225
14. Derek Dohrman – 224
15. Shannon Bardole – 224
16. Cathie Raley – 223
17. Jordan Toot – 221
18. Robert Henning – 220
19. Frank Meiners – 219
20. Brandon Kahler – 210
21. Jackson Faust – 209
22. Which Mascot Would Win a Fight – 202
23. Bill Wentworth – 202
24. Ben Baier – 201
25. Derrick Gorshe -201
26. Humble Narrator – 198
27. Elizabeth Nordeen – 196
28. Jason Stensland – 195
29. Olivia Baier – 195
30. Tim Peterson – 193
31 – William McAlpine – 192
32. Jorge Rios – 189
33. Sarah Karber – 189
34. Toby Sebring – 185
35. Joseph Lynch – 181
36. Teresa Kahler – 181
37. Will Baier – 177
38. Jon DeWaard – 173
39. Carrie Baier – 170
40. Laura Miller – 166
41. Sean Gildersleeve – 161
42. Russell Kennerly – 160
43. JJ Baier – 150
The Updated List of Immortals
2019 – Becky Parmelee
2018 – Paul Golden
2017 – Paul Golden
2016 – Michelle Haupt
2015 – Derek Dohrman
2014 – Brandon Kahler
2013 – William McAlpine
2012 – Lowell Davis
2011 – Carrie Baier
2010 – Mark Wolfram
2009 – Mark Wolfram
2008 – Mark Wolfram
2007 – Tim Peterson
2006 – William McAlpine
2005 – William McAlpine
A few final thoughts on the end of the college basketball season. This year’s Iowa State men’s team was one of the worst in school history. At least one of the worst in my lifetime. In some ways there is little in the way of hope for next season as Iowa State will (barring a miracle) will lose their best player (Tyrese Halliburton) to the NBA. They only lose 2 seniors in Jacobson and Nixon, but I’m not sure how much talent is returning. Every guy that returns has shown flashes of greatness and then has returned to the mean. Freshman like Tre Jackson had to play way too much before they were remotely ready. The bumps those guys took could pay off next season as at least Tre could take a big jump. Solo is the heart and soul of the team and he could have a big senior season. George Conditt is an NBA talent, but he struggled this season, but if there is anybody on the roster that is able to make a bigger jump than him, I don’t know who it would be. If T-Lew could learn to play just a little bit of defense he could be a big contributor. I’m sure his flex after his dunk against Okie State instead of running back on defense will be a big motivator this offseason. Zion might be the biggest question mark on the roster. His playing time diminished as the season went along, but he still has a huge upside. Bolton is in line to be the best player on next year’s roster, but he has to start playing with more discipline.
There is a great recruiting class coming in with Xavier Foster being one of the biggest recruits in school history. With his silky smooth shot, he could easily fill that stretch 4 role that Jacobson struggled to fill this season. Dudley Blackwell is also a highly regarded recruit that could also contribute immediately. Darlinstone Dubar has an incredible name and frankly that is how I evaluate most recruits. He wasn’t a highly regarded recruit when he signed with Iowa State, but then he shot up the rankings. He has good size. which is something this year’s team lacked. Jaden Walker is another mystery. He isn’t all that highly regarded, but he is built like Tyrese. His rankings are similar to Tyrese. I’m not saying he is the next Tyrese Halliburton, but even the Steve Prohm haters that came out of the woodwork this year would struggle to criticize his record with point guards.
The other big mystery is sit-out transfer Javon Johnson. He is a 6-6 small forward that averaged double digits for Troy. He has a good shot and allegedly had NBA athleticism. But it is a big jump from Troy to what has been the best basketball conference in the country for the last decade. He is a big wild card.
Finally, Iowa State will have at least one scholarship to fill. I’d like to live in the world where Tyrese comes back, but even with his injury, some mock drafts having him going as high as #4 in the draft. That gives at least one scholarship to fill. I imagine Iowa State will try to sign an immediately eligible experience point guard. Bolton can play the point, but he is clearly better as the 2. Otherwise, you are looking at Tre taking over at the point. He didn’t get a ton of time there this season, so it isn’t the best case scenario.
It is also certainly possible that somebody transfers, opening up another scholarship. If that happens, I imagine Iowa State would look at a sit-out transfer (if that is still a thing). Not sure what they would go after there, but my guess is another combo guard.
Now, the Cyclone women had a much better season. They ended their season by defeating #2 Baylor and ending their 58 game Big 12 Conference win streak. Leaving Hilton Coliseum that day was the most joy I have experienced as a Cyclone fan since leaving Jack Trice on November 16 after the Cyclones knocked off Texas with a 36 yard Connor Assalley walk-off field goal.
The women’s had an up and down season, but they were projected to be in the NCAA Tournament as a 9 or 10 seed. They could have improved that seed with a run in the Big 12 Tournament, but to get to the finals, they would have had to beat that same Baylor team in the semi-finals.
Not much was expected out of the Cyclones this year. They had just lost Bridget Carleton, arguably the best player in school history. If she isn’t the best, the only person in the conversation is Angie Welle… for now. They also lost Alexa Middleton, the best point guard Iowa State has had since Allison Lacey. Finally, they lost Meredith Burkhall. Meredith wasn’t a star, but she was a solid post that might have been primed for a big senior season if she hadn’t experience a serious illness the summer before her senior season.
Iowa State’s season could have went south as the roster constantly battled injuries. Iowa State’s second best player Kristin Scott battled a back injury that sidelined her at the beginning and the end of the season. Starting point guard Rae Johnson also missed several games with a bad back. At the end of the year her minutes were being heavily monitored. Madison Wise missed a good chunk of the season due to debilitating migraines. Maddie Frederick was starting to get good minutes when she went down with an injury and only returned for the last few games of the season.
Despite all of that, Iowa State finished 4th in the Big 12 and were playing great basketball at the end of the season. They had the grit that the men lacked. People played out of position. People stepped up. Having Ashley Joens, who will be in the conversation with Welle and Carleton to be the GOAT when her career is over, probably didn’t hurt either.
But what will next year’s team be like? I think we are at the dawn of what could be another golden era for the Cyclone women. I don’t want to say that they could contend for a conference title next year, because.. you know… Baylor, but they could give Baylor a run for their money. Especially with what Baylor loses. But what does Iowa State lose?
Iowa State graduated 4 seniors. All of them were contributors, but none of them put the kind of a dent in the program that Bridget Carleton did.
Probably the biggest loss is Adriana Camber. Down the stretch, she played almost every minute of every game. Her numbers won’t pop out at you. She averaged 6.5 points and 3.8 rebounds a game. But she wassecond on the team with 845 minutes played. She was the consummate glue player. She did whatever the team needed. Usually that meant guarding the best player on the other team. More times than not, she was able to shut them down. She also lead the Cyclones with 48 thees. All of that will be hard to replace, but that is a role that a healthy Madison Wise could slide into. She struggled from 3 this season, but her history suggests she is a better shooter than she showed this season. Camber also struggled with her shot as a junior after all.
The second biggest loss is probably Ines Nezerwa. Ines was a post and probably one of the biggest fan favorites. Ines came to Iowa State very raw and left a little raw. You could see that talent there, but sometimes that meant bad turnovers. Sometimes it meant several minute stretches where she would dominate games. Sometimes it mean she couldn’t stop fouling. But nobody will ever forget the big 3 she drilled in the final minutes against Baylor to give Iowa State the lead. With Kristin Scott having an injury plagued season she came up big for the Cyclones over and over again. Especially when the only other big on the roster was Morgan Kane, who was a very green freshman. The good news is that there are people ready (hopefully to replace Ines). For starters there is 6-5 sit out transfer Lindsey Jarosinski. Plus it is hard to put into words how much Morgan Kane grew this season. At the end she was able to play valuable minutes. I don’t know that she will ever be much of a scorer, but she doesn’t need to be. Finally, Iowa State redshirted Gabby McBride this season. Iowa State will not be so thin in the post next season. Especially if Kristin Scott stays healthy.
The third Cyclones they lose is Jade Thurmon. Jade came up big for the depleted Cyclones late in the season. She was super fast with the ball and was hard to contain off dribble penetration. However, there are plenty of players coming that are coming that can take Jade’s minutes.
The last senior Iowa State loses is Nia Washington. Nia hardly ever played, but she was definitely a team leader. She was the player that gave the last words to the team before they took the floor. As an outsider, it is hard to quantify how much her leadership could be missed.
That is the bad. The good news is that Iowa State returns their (at least) 3 best players. Ashley Joens will be a junior. Kristin Scott will be a senior. Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw will be a sophomore. They will return Rae Johnson, their point guard and sometimes best player. Hopefully Madison Wise is healthy and returns to her freshman form. They add a 6-5 transfer. I’m very intrigued to see how Maddie Frederick develops. She has shown signs. She is somebody who could potentially take that Camber role as well.
While what returns on paper is more than enough to get excited about, we should talk about what is coming in next year. They have the #7 ranked class in the country.
Lexi Donarski from Wisconsin will be only the second McDonald’s All-American (Alexa Middleton) to play for Iowa State. She is the #12 player in the country.
Emily Ryan from Kansas has never lost a high school game. She has been the Kansas Player of the Year multiple times.
Aubrey Joens in Ashley Joens’ sister. Enough said, but she is also the #58 player in the country.
Kylie Feurbach from Illinois is the #77 player in the country.
If you can’t tell, I’m a little bit excited about the women’s team next year. The fact that thee is no NCAA Tournament this year doesn’t help.
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I also wanted to share some pictures from my trip to the Iowa State Fair with Nader and Logan:
I still need to crack into flower pictures I took at the Iowa State Fair on this day. I know some of you are looking forward to that!
