Category Archives: Michelle

Calendar, Candid Portrait, Formal Portrait, Michelle, Nature, Still Life

Sausage Fest

December 26, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Time to share the January image for the 2024 Photography 139 Calendar. It was taken on a foggy morning on the High Trestle Trail Bridge:

JANUARY

Part of the reason I selected this image for January was it suggested the cold of January to me. Especially since it was taken in January.

TECHNICAL DETAILS:

CAMERA: Sony ILCE-7M4
DATE: January 3, 2023 – 12:32 PM
LENS: E 70/180mm f/2.8
FOCAL LENGTH: 180mm
APERTURE: f/4.5
EXPOSURE: 1/500
ISO: 100

Tomorrow I will share the image from February.

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A few weeks ago I was invited by Michelle to attend one of her family traditions. Their annual making party. I took plenty of pictures. Here are a few of them:

The sausage dried for 24 hours and was smoked the next day. I have some of it in my freezer just begging to be cooked up. Probably should do that soon!

Commercial, Elizabeth, Event, Kim, Michelle, Work

Computer Mine Gift Exchange

December 23, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Back on Wednesday we had our annual White Elephant Gift Exchange at the Computer Mine. I snapped a few photos of the event for the Computer Mine social medias.

Here are a few pictures:

If you are wondering, I ended up with the tortilla blanket. I stole it from Amy because I thought it would make a perfect addition to Taco Tailgate and nobody stole it from me, cause of the general fear my co-workers have of me. So much fear.

Back before the pandemic, there were like 30 or so people that participated. This year there were 13 methinks. It is still a fun little work tradition. Even if this year nobody showed up drunk. Maybe next year.

Art, Candid Portrait, Cathie, Elizabeth, Iowa State, Jorge, Logan, Michelle, Micky, Night, Street Photography, Town Sign Project

A Long Day…

December 13, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

Back on May 6 I had a pretty long day. I spent the morning into the early afternoon doing photography for Sleeping Angels. Logan assisted me on this project. After we photographed the Sleeping Angels Fun Run crossing the Mile Long Bridge, we headed down to Grimes and had lunch.

After taking Logan home I watched the Kentucky Derby. Then I headed to Marshalltown to have supper at Zeno’s with Jorge, Randi, and their brood, Clevenger, Hope, Cathie, Micky, Robyn, Katelyn, Aubrey, Michelle, Craig, Elizabeth, Alexander, and Nicholas.

The dinner is the annual end of the Witch Hunt. This year’s Witch Hunt went to Cathie. At the end of the dinner she was presented with The Broom. The travelling trophy for the Witch Hunt.

There was an incident that happened after dinner and while there is photographic evidence of what transpired, I’m apparently not allowed to share them…

After leaving Marshalltown I stopped at Iowa State to do a little night photography, before retiring to my house for some much needed rest.

Here are some pictures of the day.

It was a pretty great day! Although any day that involves photography AND Zeno’s pizza is a great day!

Alexis, Andy, Angie, Bill, Brandon, Candid Portrait, Carla, Dawn, Elizabeth, Funk, Jen, Jesse, Joe Duff, Kim, Kio, Linda, Logan, Michelle, Micky, Mindi, Monica, Nathanial, Sabas, Sara, Sarah Toot, Scottie D., Shannon, Sheri, Street Photography, Teresa, Vest, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 430 – LINES

December 11, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

LINES! They are literally everywhere you look. But did enough people see them to make it a popular theme? You will have to keep scrolling to find out!

As of 12:01 PM on Monday, December 4, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks (ignore the numbers in parentheses):

1-Sara Lockner – 2 weeks
2-Willy McAlpine – 2 weeks
3–Mary Green – 3 weeks (2)
4-Susanna Funk – 4 weeks
5-Elainie Hernandez – 5 weeks
6-Scott Degeneffe – 15 weeks (2)
7-Sabas Hernandez – 16 weeks
8-Mike Vest – 21 weeks
9-Sheri Fakhouri – 25 weeks
10-Logan Kahler – 26 weeks
11-Nathanial Brown – 27 weeks
12-Jesse Howard – 27 weeks
13-Tamara Peterson – 30 weeks
14-Mindi Terrell – 42 weeks (2)
15-Brandon Kahler – 65 weeks
16-Linda Bennett – 70 weeks (2)
17-Sarah Toot – 72 weeks
18-Angie DeWaard – 76 weeks
19-Dawn Krause – 80 weeks
20-Kim Barker – 86 weeks (2)
21-Joe Duff – 87 weeks
22-Teresa Kahler – 98 weeks (2)
23-Carla Stensland – 98 weeks (2)
24-Micky Augustin – 100 weeks
25-Andy Sharp – 101 weeks
26-Bill Wentworth – 102 weeks
27-Cathie Morton – 106 weeks
28-Elizabeth Nordeen – 107 weeks
29-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 109 weeks
30-Kio Dettman – 111 weeks

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:

Alexis Stensland (Iowa) – 1 week

Andy Sharp (Iowa) – 102 weeks

Angie DeWaard (Iowa) – 77 weeks

Bill Wentworth (Omaha, Nebraska) – 103 weeks

Brandon Kahler (Boone, Iowa) – 66 weeks

Carla Stensland (Hilton Coliseum – Ames, Iowa) – 99 weeks

Carla Stensland (Hilton Coliseum – Ames, Iowa)

Cathie Morton (San Antonio, Texas) – 107 weeks

Cathie Morton (San Antonio, Texas)

Christopher D. Bennett (Ankeny, Iowa)

Dawn Krause (Iowa) – 81 weeks

Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 108 weeks

Jen Ensley-Gorshe (Washington D.C.) – 1 week

Jen Ensley-Gorshe (Washington D.C.)

Jesse Howard (Iowa) – 28 weeks

Joe Duff (Houston, Texas) – 88 weeks

Kim Barker (Nevada, Iowa) – 87 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa) – 112 weeks

Kio Dettman (Iowa)

Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 71 weeks

Linda Bennett (Kansas)

Logan Kahler (Iowa) – 27 weeks

Logan Kahler (Iowa)

Micky Augustin (Iowa) – 101 weeks

Mike Vest (Madrid, Iowa) – 22 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 43 weeks

Mindi Terrell (Iowa)

Monica Jennings (Iowa) – 1 week

Nathanial Brown (Hollywood, Florida) – 28 weeks

Sabas Hernandez (Iowa) – 17 weeks

Sara Lockner (Iowa) – 3 weeks

Sarah Toot (U.S. Virgin Islands) – 73 weeks

Sarah Toot (U.S. Virgin Islands)

Sarah Toot (Fashion Institute of Technology – New York City, New York)

Scott Degeneffe (Iowa) – 16 weeks

Shannon Bardole-Foley (Iowa) – 110 weeks

Sheri Fakhouri (30hop – Ankeny, Iowa) – 26 weeks

Sheri Fakhouri (30hop – Ankeny, Iowa)

Susanna Funk (Torreys Peak, Colorado) – 5 weeks

Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 31 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa) – 99 weeks

Teresa Kahler (Iowa)

Willy McAlpine (Iowa) – 3 weeks

32 participants! That is a pretty good week!

There were submissions this week taken in the following places:

+ Colorado
+ Florida
+ Iowa
+ Nebraska
+ New York
+ Texas
+ U.S. Virgin Islands
+ Washington D.C.

Here is the current calendar year list for states:

+ Arizona
+ Arkansas
+ California
+ Colorado
+ Florida
+ Georgia
+ Hawaii
+ Idaho
+ Illinois
+ Indiana
+ Iowa
+ Kansas
+ Kentucky
+ Louisiana
+ Maryland
+ Michigan
+ Minnesota
+ Mississippi
+ Missouri
+ Montana
+ Nebraska
+ New Hampshire
+ New Jersey
+ New Mexico
+ New York
+ Nevada
+ North Carolina
+ North Dakota
+ Ohio
+ Oklahoma
+ Oregon
+ Pennsylvania
+ South Carolina
+ South Dakota
+ Tennessee
+ Texas
+ Utah
+ Vermont
+ Virgin Islands
+ Washington
+ Washington D.C.
+ Wisconsin
+ Wyoming

41 states and 1 district and 1 territory! That is pretty impressive! Over 80% of the way there! Every continental state west of the Mississippi is now accounted for.

The Outside of the United States map is currently:

+ Spain
+ British Virgin Islands
+ Mexico
+ Nassau Bahamas
+ Canada
+ Peru
+ France
+ Austria
+ Germany
+ Italy
+ Slovenia
+ Belize

The major milestone this week was Sheri joining the Half Year Club! WooHoo!

But it wasn’t all sunshine and roses! Mary’s streak ends at 3. Elainie’s is gone at 5.

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:

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

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

But what exactly is STREET PHOTOGRAPHY… besides one of my favorite forms of photography?

Here is a definition from the Nashville Film Institute:

Street photography is a genre of photography that captures the day-to-day life of people in a public setting. However, street photography may also be devoid of people and be filled with objects or an environment associated with human presence. For example, capturing the shadow or a discarded object leaves an intriguing effect on the viewer, as they signify an unfinished story. To excel in street photography, you have to be a reasonable observer. With observation, you can convey hints, feelings, ideas, stories, or questions that prompt your viewer.

The most important thing to take is that STREET PHOTOGRAPHY takes place in a public place. It is NOT posed. It does NOT have to include a street. It does NOT have to include a person.

Got it? Cool. I look forward to seeing your interpretation!

RULES

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

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

That is it. Thems the rules!

That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing your idea of STREET PHOTOGRAPHY in this place that is from the streets next Monday.

Andy, Angie, Boone FUMC, Carla, Contests, Dawn, Jason, Jesse, Logan, Michelle, Nathanial, Pufferbilly Days, Teresa

Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest Recap

August 18, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

I know I might have written that I was finally going to start sharing pictures from the Color the Wind Festival today, but instead I’m going to do a recap of the Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest before it gets too long in the tooth.

First, I should announce to those of you that voted in the People’s Choice Award what photo took home the prize:

Road Trip by Savannah Martin

Road Trip received 50 votes. The next highest vote total received was 21 votes.

If you are interested in seeing this year’s photo books, click on the links below:

Readable Photo Book

Printable Photo Book

There is a lot of people I need to thank for making this years Pufferbilly Days Photo Contest a success.

The Judges:
+ Andie DeWaard
+ Janae Erickson
+ Lisa Person

The Administrative Staff:
+ Teresa Kahler
+ Carla Stensland

The Pegboard Builders:
+ Andy Sharp
+ Jason Stensland

The Graphic Designer:
+ Monica Jennings

The Photo Display Team:
+ Dawn Krause
+ Jesse Howard
+ Monica Jennings
+ Graham Jennings

The Book Designer:
+ Michelle Haupt

The Best of Show & People’s Choice Award Creator:
+ Anonymous

The Merchants that hosted the photo entries:
+ Boone Theater (Teen and Adult Places)
+ Ema’s Elegance (Adult Animals)
+ The Houndstooth Haberdashery (Adult Trains, Planes, & Automobiles)
+ Infamous Ink (Adult Black & White)
+ The Lavender Basket (Adult Plants)
+ Paradox (Youth)
+ Studio 721 (Adult People)

I didn’t take as many pictures as I have in the past of the machinations of the Photo Contest but I did take a few.

Here are some from the Judging:

Judging went very smooth. There was some good and spirited debate from the judges and for the first time ever, had to engage in some tie-breakers. Including a tie-breaker for Best in Show.

I already have 2 of the judges picked out for next year. Still thinking on that third judge, for now. But I have a pretty good idea. Or at least a couple of candidates in mind.

Monica and I set up the photo displays on Thursday. Paradox and Studio 721 set up the displays themselves, which was a big help. Monica really put the displays together and I did the grunt work.

Here are some pictures of the displays:

On Saturday Jesse and I tore down all the displays. On Sunday we transported them out to McHose Park. Graham and Monica met us out there and setup the tents and the display. Jesse and I sat out there in the pouring rain all day trying to keep the pictures dry.

Here are some pictures from Art in the Park:

Watching over the photo display at Art in the Park was a pretty cool experience, even if the conditions weren’t ideal. I got to meet and speak with a few of the photographers that I hadn’t met before. And I met one person that is interested in entering next year and another that is an artist that urged their friend to enter this year. I enjoyed all of those interactions.

After Art in the Park concluded Dawn and Nathanial helped tear down the display and the tents. Logan returned all the pictures that weren’t picked up at Art in the Park for me.

All things considered, it was a successful year. I’m not sure what changes I will make for next year, but I know I will need to add some new faces to the list of volunteers. That volunteer might be you!

Art, Cathie, Elizabeth, Lowell, Michelle, Scottie D., Street Photography, Travel, Work

The Windy City: Day 3C

July 7, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

I have a confession to make here. When I decided to combine cell phone pictures with the “real” camera pictures into the same posts, I would have made my life a lot easier if I had realized that I hadn’t changed the clock settings on my camera after Daylight Savings ended or began or whatever it does in the spring. For that reason, putting the pictures in chronological order is something that fails me at times.

Anyways, we will begin where we left off last Friday. Lowell and I had walked to Buckingham Fountain, just to see that it wasn’t turned on. After the disappointment we began walking to some restaurant where the sales team hosts everybody for apps and brews at a restaurant as a “thanks” for working the Big Convention.

View from near Buckingham Fountain.

Chicago Rules? This should be a universal rule.

I wish I knew what this sticker said, but I do know that generational wealth is one of the great evils of our time.

I really don’t know what this is.

The Bean again. But this time you had to go through a security checkpoint to see it.

The Bean from farther away.

I had never heard of Garrett Popcorn, but apparently it is where it’s at in the popcorn world.

I was tasked with bringing back popcorn for Elizabeth and for Scottie. D. Elizabeth’s order was more complicated.

I left the “party” to go get the popcorn. But I decided to head back.

On my way back I saw the signs of the houseless situation in Chicago.

Walking back to the hotel with Jodi, Michelle, Michelle, Lowell, and not pictured Cathie.

Remember when I said Lowell’s room had a much better view? I wasn’t foolin’.

That mural is way better than the nachos at the Taco Pub.

Have I mentioned that I love street art?

This mural was on one of the walls of the hotel.

That concludes Day 3 of the work trip to Chicago. Day 4 was like a 13 hour work day. My only pictures are of the Big Convention. So I might combine Day 4 and Day 5. We’ll see where it itches when we get there.

Birthdays, Jen, Jesse, Michelle, Nader, Road Trip, Self-Portrait, Still Life, Tenderloining

Tenderloin Trail 2.0 – Graettinger Field Work

July 2, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

A pox upon me for a clumsy lout. Yesterday I forgot to wish Jen a happy birthday in this forum. (Don’t worry I still wished her a happy birthday in another forum. It is called text messaging. Kids, ask your parents what that is.)

So happy birthday Jen!

Happy birthday!

I know you were on the road for a good chunk of the day, but I hope it was still a day full of joy and wonder.

+++++++

After we left the bakery in Sioux Center, we drove east to Graettinger for lunch. In Graettinger there is a restaurant I’ve long wanted to eat at. It is on Tenderloin Trail 2.0, it was once the runner up for best tenderloin in the state of Iowa (meaning the world), and it was one of the 10 finalists for best burger in the state of Iowa this year.

There is no way to hide it. This was one of the best tenderloins I’ve ever had and one of the best burgers I’ve ever had. I ordered a tenderloin and Jesse ordered a burger and then we cut them both in half and swapped. Like an old married couple. Or like is somewhat expected when you go on a food adventure with me. Unless you have a notoriously unrefined palette.

I would say, not only was the burger great and the tenderloin great, so were the fries, the cheesy fries, the cheese curds and the brownie. Also, equally awesome was the owner/manager/chef Barry. We must have talked with Barry about food for close to an hour.

Here are the pictures:

Birdies, Burgers, & Brews - Graettinger, Iowa

That is an inexpensive tenderloin. 9 bucks and a side????

I wanted Jesse to go for the Peanut Butter Burger, but he pussed out and got the The Hole in One Burger. But I can’t say he made a mistake.

So many starters I want to try here.

Cheese balls.

Hillcrest fries. So delicious.

That is homemade beer cheese sauce.

Homemade ranch dressing.

You don’t let any of that cheese sauce go to waste.

Those are sweet potato fries and they were the only miss. But easily forgivable.

The Hole in One Burger.

Their Award Winning Fries.

Nader got the Wisconsin Rancher.

1st bite of the tenderloin.

Jesse first bite of the burger.

Jesse’s first tenderloin bite.

Last bite of the tenderloin.

My first bite of the burger.

View from our table.

The brownie. More on that later.

PrairieMoon on Main in Prairieburg won in 2020, I haven’t had it, but I will someday soon.

Hometowns of people that have eaten there from Iowa.

From the United States.

From the world.

They also have a hot wings challenge that only requires you to eat one wing.

While this might cost me a little bit of street cred on the tenderloin circuit, but I confess that I liked the burger better than the tenderloin. But I would knock down either one in a second.

Birdie’s, Burgers, & Brews ranks the highest on my restaurant scale, it gets the rating of:

I would pursue eating at this restaurant!

I would gladly eat there again. It is over 2 hours from my house and I would gladly drive it to eat there again.

A note, I bought the brownie, but I did not eat it there because I was full and I had plans for ice cream on the trip home.

After Graettinger we stopped in West Bend because Jesse and Nader had never seen The Grotto of the Redemption. I thought there was an ice cream place in West Bend, and there is, (Homestead Country Store) but it was closed. Which means I will have to get back to West Bend to eat there at some point.

Instead, we stopped in Fort Dodge and ate at The Dariette. The Dariette isn’t a new experience for me. I’ve eaten there a few times and it is a favorite of longtime Photography 139 supporter Michelle.

Here are a few pictures:

Blue raspberry.

Delicious blue raspberry.

The crew.

You know I have the Ted Lasso policy on ice cream:

Ice cream is the best. It’s kinda like seeing Billy Joel perform live. Never disappoints.

The Dariette’s specializes in soft serve ice cream. The flavors change weekly. Michelle recommends their peach, but I’ve never had it. I’ve never had anything that disappoints…

You can find The Dariette at:

17 S. 12th Street
Fort Dodge, Iowa

It is a little tricky to find and get to, so if you miss the turn a few times. Don’t feel shame. If you do, the ice cream will wipe that away once you figure out how to get to it.

But back to the brownie…

I might have left Birdies, Burgers & Brews without the brownie, but it comes with a great story. Well, I think it is cool. Barry (the owner/manager/chef) uses a lot of recipes from the 1920s that he learned when he was a cook in a hospital in Kansas. I know there is a stigma with hospital food, but maybe not from the 1920s. Or at least there shouldn’t be.

The brownie recipe isn’t from the hospital though. It is his great, great grandmother’s recipe:

His great, great grandmother could cook, cause this brownie slaps, as they say. I even ate it when it was at least a day old and it still slaps!

I can’t say enough good things about Birdies, Burgers, & Brews!

You can find it at:

701 South Cedar Avenue
Graettinger, Iowa

It is located on the grounds of the Hillcrest Golf & Country Club. I confess, I’ve been surprised on my food adventures that so many golf course serve an excellent tenderloin. I’m blue collar as it gets and I come from a blue collar background. The tenderloin is a blue collar sandwich. Ain’t nothing blue collar about golf. But if golf courses keep turning out food like this, I might change my tune on golf courses.

But right now I’m still in the George Carlin camp on golf.

Next Sunday’s food adventure will involve ice cream.

Animals, Art, Black & White, Carla, Cathie, Flowers, Jesse, Kim, Lowell, Michelle, Micky, Nature, Pastor Sarah, Railroad, Street Photography, Travel, Work, WPC - Reminder

The Windy City: Day 3A

June 23, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

Day 3 of my work trip to Chicago was the last day I really got to take any pictures of consequence. Every day after this was mostly filled with boring work stuff. Including Day 4 which was like a 13 hour or so work day. So after we get through the pictures of Day 3, the rest of the days will just fly by. Probably.

I started Day 3 wandering around the streets around the hotel taking a little photography before the Computer Mine training session that lasted from like 8 AM to like 12 PM. Or at least it did for a few of us.

I love street art so much!

You didn’t think I wouldn’t post some flowertography, did you?

Well, did you punk?

I didn’t know Chicago also had a Harlem until this moment.

Almost… almost enough bird poop for me.

Would you believe that Kim has never ridden on a train? Not even a subway?

Almost enough dirt, rust, and grime for me.

More tulips in this flower bed than all of Orange City.

I didn’t bring any of my normal flowertography lenses, but that is okay.

This guy invited Tony to a party after inviting him to a party. Tony did not attend cause he is a fun hater.

And maybe this conversation was the impetus for Tony to think about quitting smoking.

4 hours of my life that… well you know. But Steve V. was pumped.

In Miami we spent most of Day 2 trying to get machines working. In Chicago we only had to spend a couple hours tinkering with machines. Kim was pleased.

It took a long time for Lowell and I to find lunch, but eventually we stumbled across these food trucks.

Like 6 of 8 were taco trucks.

I love the mascot so much!

Lowell fed these guys some of his street corn.

And they couldn’t get enough!

After eating, Lowell and I headed for Buckingham Fountain, but that is a tale for another day.

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

‘SCAPE

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

But what is a ‘SCAPE picture? The “‘” in the theme name allows you to substitute in a few words. Your submission could be a LANDSCAPE or a WATERSCAPE or a CITYSCAPE.

Well for one thing, it is a great theme for me to remind you that you can include the town your picture was taken in or the county and I will include that with your submission.

Did you know that the first photograph ever taken was of a landscape?

“View from the Window at Le Gras” was captured by Nicéphore Niépce, in 1827. It features a very abstract view from Niépce’s window.

It would be another 12 years before somebody would think to take a “photograph” of a stupid human. I assume the 2nd picture ever taken was of a dog.

With this theme, you are literally touching the absolute deepest root of photography. Wow! That is powerful to think about. But maybe you are still confused about what LANDSCAPE photography is. Here is a definition from the Wiki:

Landscape photography commonly involves daylight photography of natural features of land, sky and waters, at a distance—though some landscapes may involve subjects in a scenic setting nearby, even close-up, and sometimes at night.

Photography of artificial scenery, such as farm fields, orchards, gardens and architecture, may be considered “landscape” photography as well. Even the presence of man-made structures (buildings, roads and bridges, etc.) or art (such as sculpture) may be considered “landscape” if presented in artistic settings or appearing (or photographed) in artistic style.

Further, landscape photography is typically of relatively stationary subjects—arguably a form of “still life.” This tends to simplify the task, as opposed to photography of kinetic or live subjects. However, landscape photography often overlaps the activity of wildlife photography and the two terms are used somewhat interchangeably; both wildlife and landscapes may be elements of the same picture or body of work.

This isn’t the first time that ‘SCAPE or something similar was a theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. Here is a look back at a few submissions from years past to inspire you:

Carla Stensland – Week 60

Christopher D. Bennett – Week 111

Sarah Karber – Week 111

Jesse Howard – Week 165

Micky Augustin – Week 223

Nobody objected to me killing off the Friday reminder. So next Friday will be the last Friday reminder. Then it will go the way of the dodo bird.

Happy photo harvesting!

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

The Windy City: Day 1B

May 19, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But back to the walkabout.

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

I think this place was abandoned.

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

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

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

Chicago has a fair collection of interesting bridges.

More street art.

Down to the River Walk.

Another interesting bridge.

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

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

I assume Dave Matthews put that there.

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

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

But it is pretty to look at.

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

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

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

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

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

It’s highly polished exterior has no visible seams.

It measures 33 x 66 x 42 feet.

The design was inspired by liquid mercury.

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

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

HAPPY

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

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

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

Suzie Brannen – Week 71

Kim Barker – Week 71

Stephanie Kim – Week 71

Angie DeWaard – Week 71

Christopher D. Bennett – Week 71

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

Happy photo harvesting!

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

Chicago Food Adventures

May 14, 2023 Christopher D. Bennett

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

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

Meal #1 – Day 1 Lunch – Capriotti’s

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

Cost: $22.74
Per Diem Balance: $458.26

Meal #2 – Day 1 Supper – Giordano’s

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

Cost: $30.02
Per Diem Balance: $428.24

Meal #3 – Day 2 Breakfast – Wow Bao

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

Cost: $5.91
Per Diem Balance: $422.33

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

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

Cost: $17.70
Per Diem Balance: 404.63

Meal #5 – Day 3 Lunch – Taco Truck

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

Price: $13.50
Per Diem Balance: $391.13

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

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

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

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

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

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

Price: $15.00
Per Diem Balance: $376.13

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Cost: $12.00
Per Diem Balance: $364.13

Meal #10 – Day 5 Supper – Soju BBQ

Kim’s Meal Before

Kim’s Meal After

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

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

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

Cost: $37.00
Per Diem Balance: $327.13

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

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

Cost: $16.25
Per Diem Balance: $310.88

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

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

Cost: $33.75
Final Per Diem Balance: $277.13

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

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

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

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

Chicago Food Adventure Power Ranking

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

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