Can you believe that this is the 5,750th entry in the blog known as “An Artist’s Notebook”? Every 250 posts or so I like to take a moment to reflect on where this post has been and post a lot of meaningless stats. As always on these posts, I like… Read More »Post 5,750
The first day of November No better day to share THE SELFIE PROJECT images from October. Once again, my travel was pretty minimal. I think the farthest I made it from my front step was Des Moines. Gross. But I promise that I will do better in November! Here are… Read More »Selfie Project – October 2025
REMINDER THAT THE TIME IS FAST APPROACHING WHEN YOU CAN MAKE SUGGESTIONS FOR THE YEAR 13 THEMES FOR THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. YOU CAN DO THAT BY AND ONLY BY LEAVING A COMMENT IN THE LAST WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLNEGE POST IN THE MONTH OF OCTOBER AND THE FIRST WEEKLY PHOTO… Read More »WPC – WEEK 525 – PORTRAIT
The second day of September! No better day to share the THE SELFIE PROJECT images from August. I managed to leave the state of Iowa in August. In fact August was an incredibly busy month. A month that I don’t think I will duplicate any time soon. I got to… Read More »Selfie Project – August 2025
The 2nd day of August! No better day to share the THE SELFIE PROJECT images from July. In July, I actually managed to leave the state of Iowa! Twice! I am planning to leave the country in August, so I am doing some travelling these days. I think July was… Read More »Selfie Project – July 2025
Back in early May I decided to hit up a different taco truck in Ames other than Rico’s Tacos. This is rare for me, but I decided I would stretch my wings a little bit. So I went to El Primo. This was also the day of the Kentucky Derby,… Read More »Taco ‘Bout It: East Lincoln Way Field Work
First day of July! No better day than to share the THE SELFIE PROJECT images from June. From the images it looks like it might have been a pretty lazy month. I definitely didn’t leave the state again, it almost appears that I barely left Boone. But I did take… Read More »Selfie Project – June 2025
In late September of 2024, Ledges State Park celebrated 100 years of existence. Existence as a State Park. Ledges is widely considered the best State Park in Iowa. Although Backbone State Park and Maquoketa Caves State Park are also fine parks. But they are not Ledges. On the morning of… Read More »Ledges Centennial: Morning
It’s a good time to share the THE SELFIE PROJECT images from May. It was a decently busy month. But I never left the state. I mean why would you leave Iowa? We’re second to last in economic growth. 48th in personal income growth. Our education system, which used to… Read More »Selfie Project – May 2025
It is a good time to share the THE SELFIE PROJECT images I took in April. It was a fairly busy month. There was the end of the season of Lent. There was also the work trip to Philadelphia. A busier month than most. Here are the April selfie images:… Read More »Selfie Project – April 2025
This is the final collection of images from my trip to the Valley Junction Farmer’s Market with Jay. These pictures more concentrate on the food and music of the farmer’s market. Here is the final collection of images: While I enjoyed my time at the Valley Junction Farmer’s Market, I… Read More »VJ Farmer’s Market: Music & Food
This is the 2nd collection of images taken from my trip to the Valley Junction Farmer’s Market with Jay. This one more concentrates on some of the fascinating art that we encountered. Here are the pictures: There is still one more collection of images left to share from this little… Read More »VJ Farmer’s Market: Art
Happy Easter everybody! Christ is risen! Here is the Easter Devotional I would like to share: Many churches of all denominations begin worship on Easter Sunday by singing “Christ the Lord is Risen Today.” Charles Wesley’s lyrics wonderfully celebrate how Jesus’ resurrection is God’s victory over death, and call us to tell the… Read More »Austin Grub: Day 5
I had always heard the legend of the Valley Junction Farmer’s Market. Some claimed it was as good or better than the Downtown Des Moines Farmer’s Market. I had never been, so it was on my list of things to visit last year. Jay actually agreed to go and one… Read More »VJ Farmer’s Market: Initial Impressions
It is the first day of April… which means that I should share all the March selfies for THE SELFIE PROJECT. I didn’t travel very much in March. I’d hoped to travel more, but both of Iowa State’s basketball teams had disappointing ends to their seasons. So I mostly just… Read More »Selfie Project – March 2025
A few weeks back Jay had the grand idea of trying Indian for Friday Night Supper Club. To be honest, it has been years since the last time I ate Indian. And I mean years. I bet it has been at least a decade. So a plan was hatched and… Read More »Messala! Ames Field Work
This isn’t a new food adventure by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, this food adventure is a family tradition. A tradition that goes back years. But I don’t think I’ve ever written about it, so I thought I better correct this terrible oversight. Of course, I must be… Read More »#pancakelife: Boone Field Work
It has been a couple of years since I’ve done the Selfie Project, so I thought it was time to bring it back. Why? In addition to being a fan favorite, it helps me at the end of the year when I’m filling out my Ledger and when I’m thinking… Read More »Selfie Project – January 2025
A new tradition (I hope) that started in 2023 was to go out for a roaring round of miniature golf. In 2023 we went to Jester Park. Last year we went to Perfect Games. Of the 2 courses, I would recommend Jester Park. The Perfect Games course is perhaps the… Read More »2024 Jay Janson Invitational
Time to reveal the March image for the 2025 Photography 139 Calendar: MARCH TECHNICAL DETAILS CAMERA: Sony 7M4 LENS: 14-24 Sigma f/2.8 DG DN Art FOCAL LENGTH: 24mm APERTURE: f/8 EXPOSUER: 1/800 ISO: 400 DATE: June 12, 2024 I took this picture because I wanted a Bokeh picture to enter… Read More »Sweet 22: The Beginning
All of the 2025 Photography 139 Calendars have been distributed or mailed except for one. It is fair game now to start sharing the calendar images. This is the front cover image: FRONT COVER – 2025 Technical Details: CAMERA: SONY 7M4LENS: SIGMA 14-24 f/2.8 DG DN ARTFOCAL LENGTH: 20mmAPERTURE: f/8SHUTTER… Read More »Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand, Six Hundred Minutes