Back in August I breakfasted at the Mason Jar in Eagan, Minnesota with Jesse, Bethany, and Nora. It was a weird experience as the Mason Jay has bizarre rules about coloring on their patio, but we made do.
Here are some pictures from the experience:
At the end of the day, I would eat there again. The food was pretty good. It was just the service that was a little suspect. Not bad, just suspect.
The next food adventure will involve the Tenderloin Trail 2.0.
Today is Bethany’s birthday, so happy birthday Bethany!
I hope your birthday has all the happiness you can handle!
After making a loop around the place I decided on a place called Hotsy Totsy*. A food truck, that in addition to having an amazing name serves a wide variety of loaded tots. They serve other stuff, but when going to a food truck called Hotsy Totsy, you get the tots and you like it!
And I did! In fact I more than liked the tots. I loved them. I ordered the Buffalo Chicken Tots. Kim got the Gyro Tots. Jesse didn’t get anything. Can’t take him anywhere.
Here are some pictures:
A picture of Elizabeth bailing that I didn’t realize I had taken.
How can so much goodness exist in such a little container?
I may have licked the paper. It is hard to say.
Kim couldn’t finish off her gyro tots, so she twisted my arm and I finished those off as well. I did love the Buffalo Chicken Tots, but I think I like the Gyro Tots even more. It’s a real Sophie’s Tots Choice.
After letting the tots settle we ambled down the street to get some ice cream being made by a John Deere, I don’t really know exactly what it is, thing. It doesn’t matter what it is. If it is John Deere, I’m onboard.
I stand by the old Ted Lasso quote:
Ice cream is the best. It’s kinda like seeing Billy Joel perform live. Never disappoints.
It wasn’t the best ice cream I’ve ever had, but it was still ice cream.
I’m not sure how much my tots cost because Kim bought them for my birthday. The ice cream was $5.00.
I can’t tell you much about Hotsy Totsy because their website isn’t the best, but it is definitely a food truck I would pursue if they were in my area!
The ice cream… there are better options around.
The next food adventure I’m going to share involves a bunch of Dutch nonsense. Delicious Dutch nonsense.
*Hotsy Totsy was heavily endorsed by Clevenger. This is historically a strike against it. I’ve never met anybody with such bad taste in food as Clevenger, but with Hotsy Totsy I think we may have turned a corner and found some common ground.
Today is Colleen’s birthday, so happy birthday Colleen!
I hope it is as magical as you want it to be!
On the health spectrum, this post is about a food item that couldn’t be more on the opposite end of the “healthy eating” spectrum than a tenderloin if it tried. Not that a tenderloin is the most unhealthy thing you can eat. That is probably cheesy fries. But it is no secret that any fried food is unhealthy. Delicious, but unhealthy.
Now a salad? They are usually pretty healthy. Unless you add unhealthy elements to it, like fried chicken. And then coat it with ranch or Caesar dressing. Or any salad dressing with the word “creamy” in it. However, I think we can all agree that ranch dressing does not belong on salad. It only belongs as a dipping sauce for things like onion rings and fried mushrooms and fried cheese and buffalo wings. Caesar salad doesn’t belong anywhere.
Ames recently had a new salad restaurant open. It is extremely unique. It is drive-thru only. Why? Because they grow all the greens inside the building.
This is what their website (https://www.claytonfarms.com/salads) says:
Welcome to Clayton Farms Salads, a drive-thru restaurant that is all about fresh, healthy, and smart eating. Our greens are grown onsite, ensuring that our salads and smoothies are the freshest in the world. Whether you’re on the go or simply looking for a quick and nutritious meal, we’ve got you covered with our delicious menu options. From bright and colorful salads, to refreshing and energizing smoothies, we’ve got everything you need, to fuel your day the healthiest way. So why wait? Swing through our drive-thru to taste the difference yourself, or to order delivery!
I think it is a brilliant idea! If you can keep up with demand. Despite that, I have a couple friends who loaded up their haterade with extra hate just to make sure they had enough hate for this restaurant. They are actively rooting against Clayton Farms Salads being successful. One has gone so far as to proclaim:
October of 2024, gentlemen. Mark me. “Salad Dreams” or whatever its called will have shuttered by then.
I have marked it on the calendar Jay.
They started with 4 salads and recently added a 5th salad:
+ Garden Salad
+ Caesar Salad
+ Crunch Asian Salad
+ Southwest Salad
+ Mediterranean Salad
To cut to the chase, it is the best salad(s) I’ve ever had in my life. The freshness of the greens is incredible and it makes a huge difference in the taste. I put the experience like this… it must be what it would be like to not be from Iowa, visit Iowa and then stop at a Peaches and Cream corn stand. Pick up some corn and go home and cook it. For them, it would be like eating corn for the first time in their life.
I’m not trying too hard to rely on Plato’s ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE for this example.
So let me put it another way. It is like the difference between cooking with produce you purchased at a big chain grocery store vs with ingredients you bought at a farmer’s market. If you know anybody that works in a grocery store warehouse, ask them about the room they use to ripen bananas. It will blow your mind.
Or one last example…
It was like the first time I got a watermelon in Muscatine County in the height of watermelon season.
That is what my first salad at Clayton Farms Salads was like. It was like I had never had a salad before. (By looking at me, it is possible you think that I’ve never had a salad in my life, but I love vegetables. I also love a good order of cheesy fries too.)
Here are some pictures of my Clayton Farms Salads experiences:
“Our greens are BETTER” is an understatement.
This guy is a member.
Southwest Salad
All the salads come with Salad Girl Dressing which is an organic line of dressings.
Even their forks are compostable.
Caesar Salad
Garden Salad
Farmer’s Punch – also delicious.
Crunchy Asian Salad
Mediterranean Salad
I’d rank the salads like this:
1. Garden Salad – romaine, sunflower microgreens, red onions, green onions, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, pistachios. and lemony herb dressing.
2. Crunch Asian Salad – romaine, pea microgreens, purple cabbage, edanmae, carrots, green onions, red bell peppers, mandarin oranges, sliced almonds, crunchy chow mein noodles, toasted sesame ginger vinaigrette.
3. Mediterranean Salad – butterhead/arugula, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, feta cheese, garbanzo beans, red bell peppers, red onions, sliced almonds, lemony herb dressing.
4. Caesar Salad – romaine, broccoli microgreens, cucumber, parmesan cheese, croutons, lemony Caesar dressing.
5. Southwest Salad – butterhead, radish microgreens, orange & yellow bell pepper, black beans, red onion, sweet corn, cherry tomatoes, butternut squash, avocado, pepitas, cilantro, chili limon dressing.
I’m not going to lie, when you add protein to the salad, it isn’t cheap. Each salad runs almost or over $15 after you add chicken. A dollar more if you add steak. At this point, I consider a meal that is under $15 as affordable. If I get a meal for less than $10, I alert the media.
The ultimate verdict is, would I pursue this meal? Yes I would. In fact, since I’m currently working in Ames 5 days a week, I pretty much eat here once a week.
You can find Clayton Farms Salads here:
2435 Grand Avenue
Ames, Iowa
They are open Monday through Saturday from 10 AM to 8 PM.
The next food adventure will be a road trip double dip.
It has been 6,052 days since August 9, 2006. 16 years. 6 months. 24 days. Since I first posted something in this little experiment known as “An Artist’s Notebook”. 145,2485 hours. 8,714,800 minutes. 522,892,800 seconds. Which is to say, it has been a minute.
There are some very important people in my life that I didn’t even know 16 years, 6 months, 24 days ago. There are people that I thought were important in my life that have come and gone in that 864 weeks and 4 days. It has been a journey. Some good. Some bad. Some of it ugly, I’m sure.
6,052 days ago I started this journal with the following words:
So here is the first journal entry. I felt like having as pretentious sounding name as possible for my journal. I have a few goals about this journal. My main goal is just to actually write in it. My second goal is to be as truthful as possible towards my true thoughts and feelings. I have another journal on another website, but it is really just a collection of sarcastic statements and cheap jabs at open faced sandwiches. This journal is meant to be about what my achievements and failures are in the world of art. What projects I am working on and what I have accomplished and what I have failed to accomplish. What I am photographing and what I am thinking about entering in photo contests. What I am thinking about. It might not always make sense. It might just be things I need to write down because they strike me as poignant or inspirational. This is in a small way an online “idea box”.
Since those words, I have posted 4,756 journal entries. (Normally I would do this little exercise on post #4,750, but I was in Vegas at that time.) This website is still something of an “idea box”. Sometimes I’m just working stuff out here. I don’t know why, sometimes I need to work stuff out in public. But this website is definitely more than just an “idea box”. It is a place where I post a few thoughts and a ton of pictures. I’ve gone through a few photo projects on these pages. From THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT to the 9 EMOTIONS PROJECT to THE SELFIE PROJECT to the POSTCARD RECREATION PROJECT to name just a few. This website has also created a community with THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. Which is one of my proudest achievements. Even if it sputtered and spit and barely survived in its first few years.
4,757 posts. We’ve been through some stuff. I hope to keep going through some stuff for many, many, many more posts. 4,757 posts and I feel like I’m just getting warmed up.
On these reflective posts, I like to publish a bunch of statistics that me and Joe Duff find interesting. So I might as well get to it.
Every post in “An Artist’s Notebook” is tagged with at least one Category. It is one of the easiest ways to navigate around the website. They are listed at the top of each post. Here are some statistics about Categories:
THE TOP 10 MOST USED CATEGORIES (RANK IN POST #4500 & INCREASE SINCE THEN)
10. Macro – 495 (NR)
9. Teresa – 525 (#9 – +70)
8. Carla – 530 (#8 – +54)
7. Shannon – 539 (#6 – +39)
6. Road Trip – 569 (#7 – +92)
5. Art – 622 (#5 – +116)
4. Jesse – 630 (#4 – +51)
3. Animals – 735 (#3 – +37)
2. Flowers – 881 (#2 – +62)
1. Black and White – 992 (#1 – +74)
Dropped from the rankings was WPC – Submissions
THE TOP 10 NON-HUMAN CATEGORIES
10. Photoshop – 389 (NR)
9. Nature – 437 (#9 – +41)
8. Formal Portrait – 447 (#10 – +66)
7. WPC – Submissions – 493 (#6 – +38)
6. Macro – 495 (#7 – +54)
5. Road Trip – 569 (#5 – +92)
4. Art – 622 (#4 – +116)
3. Animals – 735 (#3 – +37)
2. Flowers – 881 (#2 – +62)
1. Black & White – 992 (#1 – +74)
Dropped from the rankings is PORTRAIT. I’m trying to eliminate it as a category, so it should eventually drop to zero.
NAIMA and CANDID PORTRAIT have a shot at cracking the Top 10 in Post #5,000.
THE TOP 10 HUMAN CATEGORIES
10. Willy – 318 (NR)
9. Logan – 329 (NR)
8. Derrick – 330 (#7 – +10)
7. Kim – 342 (#8 – +45)
6. Jay – 348 (#6 – +11)
5. Mom – 458 – (#5 – +5)
4. Teresa – 525 (#4 – +70)
3. Carla – 530 (#3 – +54)
2. Shannon – 539 (#2 – +39)
1. Jesse – 630 (#1 – +51)
Dropping from the rankings was Jen and Vest.
Micky, Vest, and Jen have the best shot at cracking the Top 10 in Post #5,000.
If you are wondering what is your best way to improve your Photography 139 Score and crack the Top 10, it is simply to be active in THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE or go on trips with me or participate in various other photo projects or be related to me. Now these aren’t necessarily the 10 people that have influenced my photography the most, but these are the 10 people that have made the largest imprint on this website.
I can tell you the people that have influenced my photography the most, but that is a tale for another time. But I’m pretty sure you can guess who.
If you have spent any time on the Photography 139 website, you know that on the left sidebar, the “Top 100 Categories” are listed. I thought I would give a little bit of coverage to the Bottom 10 of the Top 100. There are currently 200 categories used on the website. I could cover the Bottom 10, but they are mostly people that either very recently came into the life of this website by birth (Jonah Kahler) or another way (Nathanial, Mindi, Fran). Or people that I thought would be a bigger part of my life and then weren’t. No need to cover those people. The Category that is #200 probably needs to be purged.
THE BOTTOM 10 OF THE TOP 100
#100. Kelly – 71 (NR)
#99. Commercial – 72 (#97 – +1)
#98. Self-Portrait Project – 73 (NR)
#97. Andree – 75 (#94 – 0)
#96. Flat Earth Joe – 75 (NR)
#95. Lowell – 79 (#93 – +2)
#94. Photo Journal – 79 (#92 – 0)
#93. Suzie – 80 (NR)
#92. Pastor Sarah – 86 (#95 – +12)
#91. Becca – 87 (NR)
The following categories have either fallen out of the Bottom 10 of the Top 100 or climbed out of it:
Jaycees, Vacation, Mark, Life, and Birthdays.
Now something I should explain is that I used to put Flat Earth Joe and Joe Duff under the same Category of simply “Joe” out of laziness, but in the last 250 posts, I split them.
Of these categories, I think Pastor Sarah and Suzie have the best chance to climb out of this list. Since I’m not doing the Self-Portrait Project his year, it could fall out of the Top 100. And I’m not sure what part of my life Flat Earth Joe will have in the future. He has taken a hard turn down the path of terrible decision making and has been in jail for over a month now. I hope he gets sorted at some point in the future. But quite frankly, I can’t make a prediction on his future. I can barely make a prediction on my future. So it is hard to say what will happen to that category. As for the category of Andree, I talk to Andree regularly, but he rarely makes an appearance on this website.
The categories that are closest to falling into the Bottom 10 of the Top 100 are Faust, Birthdays, and Joe Duff. But I think at least Birthdays and Joe Duff are pretty safe. I talk to Faust now and again, but he rarely makes an appearance on the website. I still someday need to go visit the Godzilla statue in his town. But I also need to visit Nate and Bethany and Becca and Bill and Sarah and well it is quite a list. When I think about it, I have to sit down on the couch and watch another episode of THE LAST OF US.
That categories that are closest to cracking into the Top 100 are Mark, Layla, and Vacation. But since Mark isn’t really part of my life anymore, I don’t see that busting through. I also can’t see a vacation on my horizon any time soon. But I like Layla’s odds. A lot of spunk in that one.
“An Artist’s Notebook” is part of Photography 139. The 139 comes from Psalm 139:1-12. The Photography part comes from the fact this website is supposed to be filled with photography. So, what are the most popular photo galleries on the Photography 139 website? Glad you asked:
9. Alexis Pregnancy Photo Shoot – 2020 – 47,269 Views
8. Jayton Poole – 2022 – 47,464 Views
7. 9 Emotions Project – 51,763 Views
6. Miami Beach – 2022 – 53,087
5. Christopher D. Bennett – 112,907 Views
4. Selfie Project -2022 – 162,595 Views
3. Town Sign Project Auxiliary Images – 184,949 Views
2. Town Sign Project – 201,352 Views
1. Weekly Photo Challenge – Year 9 – 223,723 Views
At post 4,500 these were the 10 Most Popular Galleries:
10. Iowa
9. 9 Emotions Project
8. Weekly Photo Challenge – Year 8
7. Weekly Photo Challenge – Year 9
6. Selfie Project – 2022
5. Alexis Pregnancy Photo Shoot – 2020
4. Christopher D. Bennett
3. Town Sign Project Auxiliary Images
2. Selfie Project – 2021
1. Town Sign Project
The galleries that are right outside the Top 10 that have a shot at cracking the Top 10 in Post 5,000 are:
+ Drone
+ Daisies
+ FatMumSlim 2022
But considering I’m done with the FatMumSlim project, I don’t know that its gallery will maintain any popularity. I only know one person that definitely loves my daisy pictures, but I don’t think they poke around my website much these days. However, perhaps the Era of Rodan139 is nearly upon us. I could live with that.
But what are the most popular single images of the last 365 days? Don’t worry, I’m gonna feed you baby birds.
9. Badger, Iowa – 1,967 views
8. Selfie with Mom – 1,993 views
7. Coon Rapids, Iowa – 2,146 views
6. Moingona, Iowa – 2,190 views
5. Prego Alexis – 2,415
4. Saydie and Kyle – 3,231 views
3. Baby Got Rack at Boone County Fair – 4,423 views
2. Miami – 6,039 views
1. Selfie at Bellevue – 6,864 views
That selfie at Bellevue was the most popular picture on my website at Post 4,500 as well.
The final statistic I want to share with everybody before riding off into the sunset and not boring you with these statistics for another 250 posts is the 5 people with the highest Photography Subscriber Loyalty Scores.
1. Kio Dettman – 100%
2. Aaron Barnett – 99.7%
2. Angie DeWaard – 99.7%
2. Mary Green – 99.7%
5. Joe Duff – 99.5%
There are a lot of people in the 90% range that could break into this list next time. Jeanette, Jesse, Sarah, Logan, Tamara, Frank, Michelle, and Andy.
To be honest, I don’t know how this number is figured. I believe it is the percentage of emails from the subscriber list that you open within the first 24 hours of getting an email from me, but I really don’t know if we are being honest. But thanks for doing what it is you are doing!
If you are interested in checking out some of the milestone posts of the past, I got you. Click on any of the links below to check them out:
I think that is enough for now. We’ll check in again in another 243 posts.
A few months back I picked up some cakes and Jim and went to the Wolf Lodge near Kansas City for the birthday party of the triplets and Jonah. I didn’t get to spend much time there cause Jim is kind of like Cinderella. He expires after being away from home too long.
I also didn’t get many pictures because we drove 4 hours to catch the last 25 minutes of the party. The rest of the day was spent in the Wolf Lodge water park area and I didn’t take any pictures there.
Here are some of the pictures I took:
Despite its brevity, it was a good trip. I wish I had some pictures of the kids playing in the water park, but I didn’t get any. I wonder what will happen with the birthday parties this year?
This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is BOOKS:
BOOKS! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!
But what is a BOOKS image? Simply put, it is any image where the subject or a major compositional element is a BOOK or BOOKS.
Happy photo harvesting!
Happy New Year to those of you sheeple that follow the Gregorian Calendar. I for one, moved to Unix time years ago. So if I have a birthday party this year (Sara wants me to have one, but I doubt it happens) the invites will list the time of the event in Unix Time, like an adult. But I don’t want to tell you what calendar to use.
I think you should look at the options. By the Gregorian Calendar, when this post publishes, it is the year 2022. But there are other calendars.
Here is a list of other calendars and what year it is if you use those calendars:
Hebrew – 5783
Islamic – 1444
Chinese – 4659
Coptic – 1739
Japanese – Reiwa 4
British Regnal – 1 Cha. 3
Buddhist – 2566
Nanakshahi – 554
Hindu – 5123
Juche – 111
Byzantine – 7531
Roman – 2775
Holocene – 12022
Unix Time (like an adult): 1672531199 (roughly)
As you can tell, Unix Time is clearly superior.
Even though I don’t celebrate New Years, I do like to give holiday Power Rankings.
Here are my champagne power rankings:
CHAMPAGNE POWER RANKINGS
10. All champagne is trash.
9. All champagne is trash.
8. All champagne is trash.
7. All champagne is trash.
6. All champagne is trash.
5. All champagne is trash.
4. All champagne is trash.
3. All champagne is trash.
2. All champagne is trash.
1. Champere
So Happy New Years to those who celebrate it. I will have been asleep a couple hours when the bell tolls for 2022. I’m old, lame, and don’t get invited to adult parties.
Time to reveal the December image for the 2023 Photography 139 Gregorian Calendar:
The December image is a picture of the old mill in Independence, Iowa. I took it while harvesting the town signs of Buchanan County for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT. In retrospect, it isn’t a great image for the brutal colds and snows of December. But it was the last selected image and December was the last month that didn’t have an image. These things tend to sort themselves out.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
CAMERA: Sony ILCE-7M4
DATE: May 28, 2022 – 9:41 AM
LENS: Tamron 17-28 f/2.8
FOCAL LENGTH: 28mm
APERTURE: f/9
EXPOSURE: 1/320
ISO: 100
EXPOSURE BIAS: +.3
I have no calendar images to share tomorrow. Or again until December. If the Photography 139 Calendar exists again in 2024.
This year when I handed a calendar to somebody I asked them to pick a favorite image. Then I photographed them with their favorite image. I also asked people that I didn’t hand deliver a calendar to to pick a favorite image and then send me a picture of them with that image. Like 3 people did that. So good for them? Not that such treachery might factor in who gets a calendar next year…
I forgot to do this for the attendees of the Westhaven Christmas, so this won’t be held against them. Maybe Nate. I did ask him and he said “No problem” and then never sent me a picture.
Any way here is a collection of, but not comprehensive collection of pictures of people with their favorite pictures from the calendar:
Bethany and Nora
Colleen
Also Colleen
Also, also Colleen
Andy
Baier (Jason)
More Baiers (Olivia)
More Baiers (Ben)
More Baiers (Carrie and J.J.)
More Baiers (Will)
Russell
Michelle
Elizabeth
Willy
Micky
Kio
Kim
Brandon
Teresa
Logan
Elainie
Sabas
Johnathan
Jason
Carla
Dawn
Lockners
Gorshes
Scott
Anders
Becky
Alexis
Jesse
Jay
Nader
It is possible more pictures might trickle in, if people I mailed calendars to haven’t received them yet. I think every picture got picked except for January. Poor January. Might try this again next year. We’ll see if the people like it.
This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is BODY PART:
IT IS POSSIBLE I MIGHT ROAD TRIP ON MONDAY. IF I DO, THERE WILL BE NO ADDITIONAL REMINDERS. YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN!!!
BODY PART! What a great final theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!
But what is a BODY PART image? Simply put, it is a picture where a major compositional element of the image is a BODY PART. Doesn’t have to be your BODY PART. Could be somebody else’s. It could belong to an animal. There are so many BODY PART(s) to choose from! Heads. Shoulders. Knees. Toes. Just to name a few.
Happy photo harvesting!
Today I reveal the March image for the 2023 Photography Calendar.
I took this picture of this American Gothic barn near Mount Vernon, Iowa on a TOWN SIGN PROJECT road trip with Michelle on November 14, 2021.
Here is a picture of us standing in front of it:
Here are some fun facts about the picture:
CAMERA: Sony ILCE-7M2
LENS: Sigma 28-75 F/2.8
FOCAL LENGTH: 53 mm
FIELD OF VIEW: 37.5 degrees
APERTURE: f/4.5
SHUTTER: 1/200
ISO: 100
EXPOSURE BIAS: +.3
I also Photoshopped a powerline out of the image… cause I hate powerlines.
Hello I’m looking for a friend I lost some time ago
Your mother says she wants her girl back home
Sometimes you think you’ve found yourself you really only lost yourself
Or maybe you’re afraid to be alone
-Brandi Carlile
Thursday is for flowers! Today I’m sharing the final collection of flowertography pictures I took on August 14, 2022.
Nora was infatuated with moonflowers, which shows she has great taste!
More flower pictures next Thursday!
Another month down and another month of THE SELFIE PROEJCT in the books. I think I had a pretty active August. At least in spurts. With Pufferbilly Days and the State Fair and some much needed vacation all in August, I did some things man.
I don’t anticipate September being anywhere as busy, but hopefully I’ll do some cool stuff this month.
Here are some of my favorites from August for THE SELFIE PROJECT:
August 2
August 3
August 4
August 5
August 6
August 8
August 9
August 11
August 12
August 13
August 14
August 16
August 17
August 18
August 19
August 20
August 21
August 24
August 25
August 26
August 27
August 28
August 29
August 31
Of course there can only be one selfie that represents THE SELFIE PROJECT every day, but I did have a busy August, so here are the many alternates:
You might be thinking, “That is a lot of pictures with ice cream!” There is a reason for that. The reason isn’t because I love ice cream, but that is probably the base level reason. I’ll explain the real reason in a future post. Or I won’t. What is important for you to know is that your humble narrator is a champion. A ice cream champion. Also, Willy and Jesse owe me dinner.
You also might be thinking, “How many gray t-shirts do you own?” The answer is, plenty.
Finally you might be thinking, “You need to retire that green t-shirt.” Yeah, that is true enough.
While I’m still not ready to reveal what picture got into the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon and what “award” it received, I am ready to share some pictures from Baby Got Rack’s day at the Iowa State Fair.
It was mostly great. We won 1st Place in our category (Combo/Specialty) and also won 1st Place in Showmanship. The only slight down is that we once again didn’t come home with the literal crown they give to Best of Show. That once again went to the guy that won Beef. Scott says that Beef doesn’t always win Best in Show. Scott is wrong about this, but we didn’t qualify for Beef so we couldn’t enter Beef. Anyways, this is one of the internal debates with the team. Like how some people on the team don’t realize that lemonade sucks. But what can you do?
Here are some pictures from the day:
It was a big day for Boone, which is low-key becoming the Barbecue Capital of the World. In addition to Scott’s TWO wins, Rashawn Parker of Boone captained Team Parker to 1st Place in Team. Sean Van Cannon of Boone also came home with 1st Place in Poultry. Just getting to the State Fair through the Boone County Fair is a gauntlet!
If you would like to peruse all the pictures from Baby Got Rack’s 2022 Season, click on the link below:
It was an up and down season that ended on a high. We will be ready to go in 2023.
This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is WEEKENDS:
WEEKENDS! What a great theme for Year 9 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.
But what is a WEEKENDS photo? It is simply a picture taken of something you do on WEEKENDS. Or it could simply be of something you do this coming WEEKEND(S). So taking your picture this WEEKEND(S) is probably your best bet.
Happy photo harvesting!
I’m not sure that FAMILY ended up being that popular of a theme. Which is weird. Are people embarrassed by their FAMILY? I guess you’ll have to keep scrolling to find out.
As of 12:01 PM on Monday, August 8, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):
+ Jesse Howard – 1 week
+ Sara Lockner – 1 week
+ Willy McAlpine – 1 week
+ Linda Bennett – 2 weeks (2)
+ Sarah Toot – 3 weeks
+ Suzie Brannen – 5 weeks
+ Sabas Hernandez – 5 weeks
+ Monica Jennings – 5 weeks
+ Mary Green – 7 weeks (4)
+ Angie DeWaard – 8 weeks
+ Dawn Krause – 12 weeks
+ Kim Barker – 18 weeks
+ Joe Duff – 19 weeks
+ Logan Kahler – 21 weeks
+ Teresa Kahler – 29 weeks (2)
+ Tamara Peterson – 29 weeks
+ Carla Stensland – 29 weeks (2)
+ Michelle Haupt – 30 weeks
+ Micky Augustin – 31 weeks
+ Andy Sharp – 32 weeks
+ Bill Wentworth – 33 weeks
+ Cathie Morton – 37 weeks
+ Elizabeth Nordeen – 38 weeks
+ Shannon Bardole-Foley – 40 weeks
+ Kio Dettman – 43 weeks (4)
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:
Logan Kahler
Logan Kahler
Brooklyn Erb – 1 week
Andy Sharp – 33 weeks
Carla Stensland – 30 weeks
Sabas Hernandez – 6 weeks
Teresa Kahler – 30 weeks
Teresa Kahler
Teresa Kahler
Micky Augustin – 32 weeks
Micky Augustin
Elizabeth Nordeen – 39 weeks
Bill Wentworth – 34 weeks
Joe Duff – 20 weeks
Kio Dettman – 44 weeks
Kio Dettman
Kio Dettman
Christopher D. Bennett
Mary Green – 8 weeks
Linda Bennett – 3 weeks
Shannon Bardole-Foley – 41 weeks
Tamara Peterson – 30 weeks
Sarah Toot – 4 weeks
Dawn Krause – 13 weeks
Monica Jennings – 6 weeks
Cathie Morton – 38 weeks
Michelle Haupt – 31 weeks
Brandon Kahler – 1 week
Angie DeWaard – 9 weeks
Kim Barker – 19 weeks
Kim Barker
24 participants! That is a pretty good week, but definitely the least popular theme for a bit.
There were 4 streaks that bit the dust. Jesse, Sara, and Willy couldn’t make it a second week. Suzie’s 5 week streak is history as well.
I can’t be certain, but I think the empire extended from Pennsylvania to Texas to Kansas to Nebraska and Iowa this week.
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:
But what is a WEEKENDS photo? It is simply a picture taken of something you do on WEEKENDS. Or it could simply be of something you do this coming WEEKEND(S). So taking your picture this WEEKEND(S) is probably your best bet.
While thinking on possible subjects for your WEEKENDS picture, mediate on the following quote for inspiration:
cozy+smell of pancakes-alarm clock=weekend
-Amy Krouse Rosenthal
I look forward to seeing your interpretation.
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.
You can send your images to either bennett@photography139.com OR you may text them to my Pixel 5.
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 WEEKENDS in this place that is my permanent Saturday next Monday.
