Category Archives: Jorge

Camping World Bowl Road Trip Day 5 – Superman

The last day of the Camping World Bowl Road Trip consisted of leaving our hotel in Kentucky and driving home. We only really made a couple stops. One stop was in Metropolis to visit Superman. The other stop was at the Hen House for lunch.

It concluded a great trip that covered many miles in very few days. 3 dudes and a pregnant lady carrying twins.

Yeah, I didn’t mention that Jorge’s woman Randi made the entire trip while pregnant. We left for Orlando the day after Christmas. They found out a day or two before Christmas.

They didn’t know it was twins, but the amount of time that I saw Randi throwing up in a Walmart bag on this trip might have been a good indicator that twins were on the way. But that just might be an urban legend.

Either way, I don’t know how she made the entire trip. What a trooper! Perhaps the real superhero on this trip. Sorry Superman.


Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 5
Slurped down breakfast as fast as possible, to avoid listening to the banality of Fox & Friends.

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 5

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 5

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 5

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 5

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 5

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 5

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 5

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 5

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 5

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 5

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 5

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 5

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 5

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 5

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 5

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 5

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 5

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 5

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 5

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 5

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 5

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 5

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 5

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 5

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 5

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 5

Here are my official Superman Power Rankings:

1. Christopher Reeve

That is it. There is only one Superman. Nobody played Superman before and nobody has played him after. Christopher Reeve is Superman.

At this point, it is a fairly safe bet that there won’t be a bowl road trip this year. That is because Iowa State will be playing in a bowl game that is played in 2021!

Camping World Bowl Road Trip Day 4

Day 4 of the road trip was a grind. We left Orlando and drove for like 15 hours to get back to Kuttawa, Kentucky.

The only real stop we made was a fancypants gas station in Georgia that sold pecans. I kinda thought the pecans down there would be cheaper and maybe they are, but they were still crazy expensive. But I’m not a pecan expert.


Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 4
#wafflelife

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 4
The hotel we stayed at had a sweet aquarium.

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 4
Attached to their phones. Worse than traveling with teenagers.

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 4

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 4

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 4
Crane in the hotel parking lot.

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 4

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 4

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 4

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 4

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 4

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 4

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 4
Bikers?

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 4

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 4

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 4

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 4

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 4

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 4
I got so many yard decorating ideas from this place!

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 4

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 4

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 4

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 4
Damn right we hit another Zaxby’s!

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 4
Good night from Kentucky.

This wasn’t my style of road trip. I like to be able to stop at random things and meander and photograph. I hope this year’s bowl trip is either closer (I already know it will be in a better city) or I’m able to space it out over a longer time frame. Otherwise, flying might be the way to go.

I would love to go back to Memphis, but there are a lot of people laying down some pretty high expectations for Iowa State this season. I think it will depend on how well the offensive line comes together though.

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



TREE

A TREE image is any image that involves a TREE or a TREE byproduct.

Happy photo harvesting!

Camping World Bowl Road Trip Day 3 – Alligators

After the game we went back to the hotel and took a nap. Well some of us took a nap. Some of us might have scrolled through Cyclone Twitter while everybody else napped.

Once the batteries were recharged, we went to a Brazilian Steakhouse that Jorge knew about. It was ridiculously cheap and made cheaper because Dre had found some coupons for it. It cost us like only $30 to eat there. Plus, I think it was the best Brazilian Steakhouse I’ve ever eaten at.

After the meal we parted ways with Andree and his brother and went out on my personal, very personal quest. We had been in Florida for about 24 hours and I still hadn’t seen an alligator.

There was a couple miniature golf courses that claimed to have alligators that we drove past on the way to supper. We drove back there, got some ice cream and checked them out.


Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

The first miniature golf course alligators were kinda sad. They clearly weren’t well cared for and the water was filthy.

At the second miniature golf course we met Joshua and we got to hold an alligator. That place was awesome! It was clean and the gators were clearly loved. For a brief period of time I thought Orlando wasn’t so bad.

Just kidding! Orlando is the worst!

Camping World Bowl Road Trip Day 3 – The Game

Day 3 was the only day we spent entirely in Orlando. It was one full day too many. Orlando is flat out one of the worst cities I’ve ever visited. It is dirty. It is poorly laid out. There is no culture. There is no music. There is no historical significance. There are no beaches. There aren’t any parks. There isn’t much to do.

I would rank Orlando just above Omaha for worst cities I’ve ever visited. Frankly, if I never go back to Orlando again, that is just fine.

The Camping World Bowl Stadium is in the worst part of Orlando. Most of the businesses that surround it are liquor stores or bail bonds. There is also a high school.

There is hardly any parking around it. What is there is poorly organized.

The stadium itself is okay. It isn’t a festering dump that ought to be burned down like where Kansas plays. However it isn’t all that nice of a stadium either.

There was a great fear that we were going to be rained on all game. That didn’t happen. It rained for a little bit. But we thought we had won the jackpot because we were sitting under the ledge of the upper deck, so we were protected from the rain.

However, we actually lost that hand. We sat under a pipe that leaked on us the entire game. So instead of being protected from a rain that barely showed up. We were the only wet people in the stadium. It is a shame we weren’t on the Notre Dame side of the stadium. It was pretty much empty. We could have sat anywhere we wanted. Instead, we sat there getting dripped on.

Here are some pictures from the morning:


Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3
#wafflelife

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3
I ate walnuts in tribute to my Grandpa Paris, the man that introduced me to Iowa State football.

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3
Lagoon behind our hotel.

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3
Yeah, they have these dicks in Florida too.

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3
I think this statue is a tribute to pedophiles that also play football.

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3
We met up with Dre and his bro before the game.

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3
View from backside of the stadium.

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 3

The game didn’t go the way we wanted. Iowa State finished the season decimated by injuries and it showed when they played one of the best teams in the country.

We left the stadium wet and down, but ready to see if this awful city called Orlando had anything to offer.

Camping World Bowl Road Trip Days 1 & 2

How many weeks of lockdown it has been has me really thinking about vacation. I have a ton of places I want to go, but I know none of them are smart. Instead, I’ve started curating the pictures from the Camping World Bowl Road Trip. Spoiler: there isn’t many of them.

The Camping World Bowl is in Orlando. Which is a forever drive from Iowa. But regardless of this fact, Jesse, Jorge, Randi, and I loaded up into a rented Cadillac and left for Orlando the day after Christmas.

On the first two days I took hardly any pictures because there it is a long, long drive. We stopped only for gas and food before we hit Kutatwa, Kentucky for the night.

Ernie hooked us up with a hotel room there and we met up with him for supper.

Here are the Day 1 pictures:


Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 1

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 1

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 1
Great sign. Smoking shouldn’t be allowed within 15 feet of anywhere!

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 1
Where we supped.

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 1
Ribs!

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 1

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 1

Day 2 was a ton more driving. From Kentucky to Tennessee to Georgia back to Tennessee back to Georgia and finally to Florida.

Here are some pictures from Day 2:


Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 2
Free continental breakfast, but the punishment is you have to listen to the morons from Fox & Friends

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 2
Day 1 Home

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 2
Gas Station in Georgia

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 2
My first ever trip to a Zaxby’s.

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 2

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 2
2 happy Zaxby’s customers.

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 2

Camping World Bowl Road Trip - Day 2
Stopping in Florida for gas.

We got to our hotel in Orlando pretty late, plus we lost an hour with the time change. I was ready for sleep that night. Ready for the Camping World Bowl the next day.

The Mine: An American Workplace

I recently had a sale in the Photography 139 Gallery. Thanks to Amy for purchasing 16 pictures from the gallery.



16 pictures! Suck on that Vincent van Gogh!

I don’t mention it very often, but almost every picture is for sale in the Photography 139 Gallery. Prices are only a hair above cost and you can buy things besides prints. You can buy key tags, cups. cards, coasters, ceramic tiles, ornaments, and whole bunch of other stuff.

If you are ever interested, you can check out the gallery here:

Photography 139 Gallery

Then click on “Buy Photos” that is above the picture on the right.

I’ not saying go buy some photos, but I don’t mention that it is something you can do very often.

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20 work from home days in the book. This week I found myself, not exactly fantasizing, but thinking about future vacations. I’m at a point where when we got the okay to go back to the office, I want to take the next 3 weeks off. I’m not sure they’d let me, but I’m ready. Ready for what, I have no clue.

My listening habits were the same this week. I’m up to Track #748 on the Master Playlist.

Track #748 is “You’re the Best Around” by Joe Esposito. Otherwise known as the montage song during the tournament scene of THE KARATE KID. A true banger if there ever was one.

I have eliminated a few songs from the Master Playlist. Either the recording quality wasn’t good enough, or it turns out, I don’t really like the song that much:

“Tell Me Lies” – Fleetwood Mac
“Hold On Loosely” – .38 Special
“Sister Christian” – Night Ranger
“Demons” – Imagine Dragons
“Roots” – Imagine Dragons
“And We Danced” – Macklemore

I don’t know that I’ve discovered any more positives with social distancing life, but I did discover that none of my smoke detectors work. Something I wouldn’t have discovered if I was working on so many cleaning projects. A new one arrived today and if I like it, I’ll buy a second one for the basement. Although I don’t know what the criteria would be for smoke detector that I don’t like would be.

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The show I have been binge watching while social distancing is THE OFFICE. I watched the show from its inception, but stopped during the writer’s strike and never got back to it.

I have officially completed all 9 seasons and somewhere during the middle of the 9th season it dawned on me, why deep inside I decided to start back up on this show. It isn’t because it is great, but it is great. I think I was drawn to it because… I’m starting to miss my co-workers.

I thought I would share a few images of my co-workers. Every year I am charged with taking the Computer Mine Holiday Card photos.

It secretly is one of my favorite secondary responsibilities I have. I even enjoy hearing the exact people give me the exact same complaint about “why can’t they just use last year’s photo”.

Here are some pictures from last year’s photo shoots of people that either subscribe to this here blog or appear in it somewhat frequently:


2019  Computer Mine Holiday Card

2019  Computer Mine Holiday Card

2019  Computer Mine Holiday Card

2019  Computer Mine Holiday Card

2019  Computer Mine Holiday Card

2019  Computer Mine Holiday Card

2019  Computer Mine Holiday Card

2019  Computer Mine Holiday Card

2019  Computer Mine Holiday Card

2019  Computer Mine Holiday Card

I’ll see you guys again. Sometime soon!

Mish Mash

Happy Maundy Thursday! Traditionally I would have been a the Computer Mine for a full hour by the time this was publishing. However, my mind would be thinking about tonight’s worship service at the Boone First United Methodist Church.

Maundy Thursday is traditionally one of my favorite worship services of the year because you never know what you are going to see. This was going to be Pastor Dave’s first Maundy Thursday Service at our church and I really wonder he would have had in store for us.

But there won’t be a worship service at our church tonight. But I still think it would be apropos to include a picture of the Youth Group to start your morning.

After all, my co-worker that likes to call this my “Jesus blog” would be disappointed if there wasn’t a little bit of Jesus’ disciples included on Maundy Thursday.

This is a small entry with a small collection of pictures that stretched across 3 consecutive days back in October. The Youth Group pictures are from the annual Hayrack Ride. The other pictures are from the Computer Mine. One is a Computer Mine company photo. The other is from the Computer Mine Halloween festivities.


Mish Mash

Mish Mash

Mish Mash

Mish Mash

Mish Mash

I swear I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel with this backlog. When it is done, I’m going to bore you with an extensive history of my cameras.

2009-10-01

I need to start my post by wishing a very happy birthday to my man Andree!


09-25-07 Wever Wedding

December 28, 2019

Photo Journal - Page 56 Reject

Happy Birthday Greg!

04-19-08

Happy birthday Andree!

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The picture in the folder 2009-10-01 are from a trip I took to an Art Festival in Ames with Johnathan and Logan. Plus there are a few pictures there of Thomas the Tank.


2009-10-01

2009-10-01

2009-10-01

2009-10-01

2009-10-01

2009-10-01

2009-10-01

2009-10-01

2009-10-01

2009-10-01

2009-10-01

2009-10-01

2009-10-01

2009-10-01

Coltrane's 1st Wife's Middle Name

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:

Coltrane’s 1st Wife’s Middle Name

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve shirts with beavers on them.

Pride. Integrity. Guts.

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:


2019 Roundball Oracles Champion
Becky with her Championship Trophy

Then the winner of The Sara Trophy for last place adult was Russell Kennerly:


2019 Roundball Oracles - The Sara
Russell with the Sara.

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:


Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

Iowa State Fair - 2019

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!

Selfie Project – December

December was a truly busy month. I actually left the state more than one. I visited places like Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida.

I feel I ended this attempt at THE SELFIE PROJECT fairly strong. Here are some of my favorite pictures from December:


December 1, 2019
December 1

December 2, 2019
December 2

December 3, 2019
December 3

December 4, 2019
December 4

December 5, 2019
December 5

December 6, 2019
December 6

December 7,  2019
December 7

December 10, 2019
December 10

December 12, 2019
December 12

December 14, 2019
December 14

December 15, 2019
December 15

December 19, 2019
December 19

December 20, 2019
December 20

December 21, 2019
December 21

December 22, 2019
December 22

December 23, 2019
December 23

December 24, 2019
December 24

December 25, 2019
December 25

December 26, 2019
December 26

December 27, 2019
December 27

December 28, 2019
December 28

December 30, 2019
December 30

December 31, 2019
December 31

January 1, 2020
January 1

I might do a year-end look at THE SELFIE PROJECT, at some point, but if I don’t, you can peruse all THE SELFIE PROJECT pictures by clicking on the link below:

THE SELFIE PROJECT

I’m not duplicating this project in 2020. I might do a “selfie-type” project, but it will be completely different.

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


WEEK 225 - HDR
HDR

Remember an HDR image is a combination of several images to create on image with expanded dynamic range. Pretty much every camera will have an HDR setting that will do this for you automatically. If you can find me, I can show you the setting on your camera.

Happy photo harvesting!