Sara graduated a few weeks back and to celebrate, she had a massive shindig.
As my present to Sara, I set up a photobooth in her garage. here are a few pictures from that photobooth.
Sara already was the most educated person that I know, but now the gap is almost immeasurable.
Next week’s random Wednesday will be pictures from the Straw Poll.
As you may recall, I like to check in on some statistics every 100 posts or so to see how things are doing in popularity. However, this statistical check-in will mark the end of an era. I am officially retiring the Snapshots Gallery and the Artistic Gallery.
The advent of the store has made them obsolete and why bother with galleries where you can’t buy anything, right Andree Jauhari, Marla Gorshe, and Jennifer Wohlgemuth of Minnesota! Right. Right?
Therefore, the only gallery that will remain is the Store. Check it out:
So here are the final rankings of the 10 most popular pictures in the Artistic Gallery. For the record, these are heavily skewed by spammers:
Here are the 10 most popular pictures from the Snapshots Gallery. Data heavily skewed by spammers.
Here is the list of the ten people that have contributed (in some way shape or form) to this blog the most in the first 1199 entries. Plus how many entries they have been in since we last looked at these numbers. Plus where they were the last time we looked at these numbers.
1. Jesse – 174 – +9 – 1
2. Jay – 165 – +13 – 2
3. Shannon – 153 – +6 – 3
4. Derrick – 138 – +14 – 4
5. Jen – 124 – +16 – 6
6. Teresa – 118 – +9 – 5
7. Sara – 112 – +15 – 8
8. Willy – 110 – +8 – 7
9. Vest – 95 – +14 – 9
10. Carla – 84 – +10 – NR
10. Mom – 84 – +17 – NR
Who are the 3 greatest movers outside of the Top Ten?
1. Dad – +16
2. Jill – +14
3. Evie – +6
Thanks to this group of friends and family for their consistent efforts in aiding me in my photographic pursuits, either through assisting, modeling, inspiring, listening, or just being around a whole lot. I couldn’t do what I do with out them. And so many other people too!
For the first time in several years, I was back to where I am supposed to be on the Fourth of July: eating Derrick’s cooking.
Here are some pictures from that day.
Next week’s random pictures feature a few pictures from the Iowa Band Festival, but in reality, they are mostly Evie pictures, again. I doubt there are any complaints about that!
The best laid plans of mice and men…
I had written this journal entry several days ahead of schedule because I was planning to be in Minnesota right now. I made all the appropriate plans, but fate took a hand and forced me to cancel my vacation.
At about 3:35 last Friday, I clocked out of work and left the building fully expecting not to see it again for 9 days or so. I spent most of Saturday morning mowing my lawn and packing and running errands and doing everything necessary to leave my humble abode for 5 or 6 days.
I pulled out of my driveway at about 3:15 and headed north to Oakdale, hoping to knock on Jill’s apartment door* at about 6:30.
But a funny thing happened on the way to Oakdale. My wheel flew off my car. That’s right. It flew the heck off.
It was a surreal experience and one that words will fail to describe adequately. I’m cruising along at about 75 MPH when suddenly the front passenger side of my car is clearly on the ground. My first thought was that I had very badly blown out the tire. I have done that before and this is kind of what it felt like. So I took a gander out the passenger side window and I saw my wheel flying through the air.
I immediately thought, “that is my tire flying through the air.. it isn’t supposed to be doing that… it is amazing I haven’t lost control of this car… I’m not going to be eating chicken wings tonight… this is garbage.”
About 10 miles north of Mason City my car came to a stop on the I-35 shoulder. There I sat for four hours roughly… pondering the questions of life.
As much as this incident has sucked (and continues to suck as my car has yet to be repaired and the towing bill from north of Mason City to Boone, well folks, it isn’t cheap!) I should be thankful for having such wonderful friends and family.
I had a pretty sweet vacation planned. Among other things, I was going to go to a chicken wing place that serves over 60 different types of wings. I was going to go to the Uptown Art Fair. I was going to watch the Minnesota Vikings practice. I was going to get to hang out with Jill, Bethany, Becca, Nate, Dae Hee, Faust, and Jackson.
Instead, I hung out with mile mark number 200.40.
But this isn’t about spilled milk, or in my case, uneaten chicken wings, this is about amazing friends and family, after all I will still be able to eat those chicken wings in about 3 weeks or so. Teresa and Ernie offered to come get me. As did Lowell, Jesse, and Sara. Faust and Jay called to make sure I was okay. Derrick even took my call while he was at a wedding reception. Becca and Bethany offered whatever assistance they could provide. After towing arrangements and picking me up arrangements were made (Thanks Mom and Jason!) and I was able to find my wheel after combing the ditch for an hour, Jill kept me company on the phone for the last 90 minutes while I sat in a ditch.
Before we get into this week’s RWPE, here are a few pictures from my time in the ditch:
You may notice from looking at the pictures, the bolts were sheered off clean. Jason has been working on cars for his entire life. He has never seen anything like this before.
Also, because of my cancelled vacation, I did get to go to the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon Reception. So now I know if I won an award besides the Superintendent’s Merit Award. Hint: I did!
Here are the submissions for LEADING LINES:
Mike Vest
Next week’s theme:
That is a new theme for this year, so there is no looking back. Only looking forward. Good luck!
*This is hyperbole. Jill lives in a secured building.
These pictures come from the following folder:
Backup/Old My Pictures/Pop Art
I want to make one thing clear, I’ve always hated Pop Art and Andy Warhol. Although fascinatingly, very few of these pictures could be considered pop art, but I want to make sure that nobody misconstrues this collection as any kind of tribute Andy Warhol.
Jill once loaned me a movie called Factory Girl. The movie is about Edie Sedgwick. She was one of Andy Warhol’s first “superstars” and one of the people he used and threw away most completely.
There is a scene in the movie that best sums up the way I feel about Andy Warhol. Edie and Andy are having dinner with her parents. Although Edie’s father is definitely not a hero in the movie and he most likely sexually abused her in real life, his character has a brilliant line about Andy Warhol.
He looks at Warhol and says:
“You’re really more of a printmaker than an artist aren’t you?”
What I originally thought about doing with some of these pictures was hanging them in the kitchen. My current kitchen doesn’t really possess much picture hanging space, so this idea is kind of kaput, but I wouldn’t hang such terrible pictures on my wall any way. Not when I need to hang up the sweet apron that Sara (masquerading as Jupiter) gave me recently.
I firmly believe that the Bennett family pickle relish recipe is the best pickle relish recipe in the world.
I found this phone booth in Mexico.
I’ve been fond of growing Marigolds for nearly a decade now.
My Giverny (Picture named after Monet’s garden)
Next week’s folder will be:
Backup/Old My Pictures/Project Universe
I’ll just confess that my picture this week was not the intended picture. But I did what I could after I had some kind of memory card failure where I lost my original picture.
Here are the submissions for NIGHT:
IMAGE LOST
Dawn Krause
Mike Vest A
Mike Vest B
Next week’s theme will be:
A look back at last year’s submissions.
I am going on vacation next week, so next Monday at noon the theme for next week will publish, but none of the pictures will be published until I return from my sabbatical. Unless you get your picture in by Friday.
This Personal Photo Project was to photograph around an Amish farm on my trip to Kalona with Sara, Cousin Amy and the Funk.
Here are a few more pictures from the farm.
Next week’s Personal Photo Project involves lilies.
A few weeks back I went on a road trip with Sara, Cousin Amy, and the Funk to have lunch at an Amish woman’s house in Kalona. The trip was set up by the Funk who has ties to the Amish community in Kalona as she is formerly Amish.
I’ve really only known the Funk for a few months now, but she is truly one of the most fascinating human beings I’ve ever met. Not just because she is formerly Amish, but I can’t lie, that part fascinates me.
I really find the Amish community to be fascinating and to have somebody to ask question after question after question after question to is really cool for me.
The pictures of the Amish woman’s (Ruby Miller) house are being held back for Personal Photo Project #77, but here are a sampling of the other pictures we took on this incredible day.
Disclaimer: I go to Kalona about once or twice a year with my Mom. I never photograph the Amish while I’m there because I know that it is not something that they would enjoy (clearly not the right word). But on this trip I did take a couple of pictures of some Amish at the urging of the Funk. One of the pictures I took was of an Amish volleyball tournament. I really wish I would have been able to stop the car and enter the tournament. I have a history of dominating religious tournaments. A Pentecostal volleyball tournament here and a Mormon basketball tournament there. However, Amish volleyball tournament was not to be added to my list of life experiences.
Kalona Dairy
Kalona Dairy
Picture for The Story Project
Flower for Sale at the Bakery
The Funk in the Community Store
The Funk in the Community Store
Clematis
Good Grass Fed Beef
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Sara in Stringtown
Another bonus of this trip was taking Sara to Sister’s Garden. I’ve always kind of viewed it as Sara’s mothership even though she had never been there before. Now that has been remedied.
Next week’s Wednesday random picture collection will be from a baseball game I attended in Minnesota.
The eldest of today’s birthday celebrants is Jill!
Here is my birthday photo tribute to Jill!
Alexis would be up next for the birthday tribute!
Today is also Derrick’s birthday!
Here is my photo tribute to Derrick!
Wow! I photograph Derrick a lot! I hope this makes his birthday that much happier!
