Category Archives: Birthdays

Animals, Birthdays, Black & White, Equipment, Logan, Macro, Mom, Naima, Nature, Pufferbilly Days, Scottie D., Self-Portrait, Still Life, Underwater, Work, WPC - Reminder

I Don’t Know Why You’re Mean to Me

March 20, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett 6 Comments

I took Thursday and Friday off this week to watch basketball. Obviously there is no basketball right now. There is no basketball for at least a month and there is no NCAA Tournament this year at all. I wasn’t sure if I was going to still take these two days off. I waffled for a few days and then I ultimately decided that I needed a few days off.

I understand that can sound tone deaf. To need a few days off, when there are many people that aren’t able to work right now. People who suddenly are finding themselves unemployed. I am blessed that for at least now, the Computer Mine is still open for business. I am also blessed that starting a couple days ago, the Computer Mine opened up the option to work from home for some employees. They started by opening it up to workers that are in high risk groups and workers that are around people that are in high risk groups. I fit into that second category.

I wasn’t sure I was going to work from home or continue to work from the office, but after listening to a few co-workers regurgitated Fox propaganda talking points, I knew that I no longer trusted my co-workers to make smart decisions for their health, for the health of the people the come into contact with, and the health of the people that they come into contact with.

Starting on Monday, I’m going to start working from home. Because of this, I spent Thursday building a computer to use as my work from home computer from some computer parts I have laying around. I didn’t want to complicate my main home computer. So that is what passes for ENTERTAINMENT for me yesterday.

I also added a web camera to my work-from-home-computer so I could have video calls with my co-workers:

It isn’t the best web camera in the world. In fact, it is the web camera I bought a few years back so I could set up a modest photo booth at my birthday party:

But it will get the job done as far as video chatting goes. Because the one thing that I’m definitely going to miss as I work from home for at least a couple of weeks is some of my fellow miners. Most of them have opted to work from home, but I think Joe, Micky, Elizabeth, and Ron and a few others still seem to be committed to showing up to the mine. I’m going to miss you guys

Working from home does mean that I’ll have more time on my hands. I won’t have the 20 minute or so one way commute every day. My one hour lunch break will also be spent at home. Plus with not going pretty much anywhere at night, I will definitely have added time to work on my photography backlog. You guys might have to endure some days of TWO “An Artist’s Notebook” entries! Oh the humanity!

Hopefully the webcam will help with the social isolation. Hopefully my dog adjusts to having me around all the time!

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Since I mentioned birthday parties, I might as well mention that while I have been planning to have a birthday party this year, it is definitely off. Which is sad because Scottie D. and I had a tremendous menu planned. Baby Got Rack was going to cater the heck out of that party! You’ll just have to imagine what it would have been like.

What you don’t have to imagine what it is like, was what the invitations were going to look like. My nephew Logan took some of the photos that were going to be used for the invitations, that were going to look like they came from a political candidate. Here are a couple of the pictures that won’t get used:

That last picture wasn’t getting used for sure, I just like it. Maybe 2021 will be a better year to bring the party back!

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Last week I took more than one picture for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE, so here is a good chance to share the once that didn’t have what it takes to make the big show on Monday:

The pictures of Naima were taken with a new Lensbaby lens I bought for my new camera. I will probably going into some boring detail about it at some point in the future.

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

ENTERTAINMENT

I have no clue what participation will look like this week. However, I can assure you that even if you are taking social distancing to self-quarantine, this theme and every theme in the WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is a theme that can be accomplished within the confines of your house or your yard.

Happy photo harvesting!

Alexis, Birthdays, Black & White, Carla, Elainie, Event, Linda, Logan, Mom, Photoshop, Sarah Toot, Teresa

Fly Iowa: A New Beginning

March 19, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

I should start today by wising my Aunt Linda a happy birthday!

Recently I shared a collection of pictures I took of the old Boone Dump sliding into McHose Park. Aunt Linda sent me a story that I thought I would share, so you would know what kind of people I come from:

I really liked this history of the junk yard. I have fond memories of going to the junk yard as a family….my dad, mom, David, Gerald and me. Dad would take a gun in case we were attacked by rats. We often found treasures to take home for one reason or another.

I want you to think about this story the next time you even remotely think of trying to mistakenly labeling me as an elitist. I’m the guy that comes from a family that used to go to the town dump, with my Grandpa packing heat to fend off the junkyard rats! These are my people!

Happy birthday Aunt Linda!

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Time for yet another collection of images from Fly Iowa:

Only 700 more images from Fly Iowa to curate!

Alexis, Birthdays, Black & White, Brandon, Carla, Derrick, Elainie, Event, Grandma, Jason, Jay, Jen, Johnathan, Mom, Monica, Movies, Photoshop, Robert, Sara, Teresa

Fly Iowa: The Final Chapter

March 15, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Buckle up Nancy, this is going to be a long one!

I need to start this post by wishing a very happy birthday to the middle child of the Bennett Sibling Triumvirate. Happy birthday Carla!

Here are some pictures of Carla:

I hope your birthday had the exact amounts of joy that you wanted!

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It is also Monica’s birthday. I think it has been a couple of years since I last saw Monica in person. But I know that she would still take a bullet for me. Small caliber. In the arm. Maybe the leg.

Happy birthday Monica! Here are some Monica pics:

I hope your birthday was absolutely wonderful!

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The Union Street Theater is pleased to announce that a date has been chosen for March Movie Night. March movie night will be Sunday, March 29. March Movie Night will be a tribute to one of my favorite actors, Kirk Douglas. Kirk was the start of a few of my favorite movies of all-time. PATHS OF GLORY, LUST FOR LIFE, and SPARTACUS. Kirk Douglas was instrumental in elevating the greatest filmmaker in history, Stanley Kubrick, to prominence. If he had done nothing else, that would have been enough.

Kirk Douglas passed away in February at the age of 103. The Union Street Theater is pleased to pay tribute to the iconic Kirk Douglas with our March Movie Night. He is only the second actor to receive such a tribute. Burt Reynolds got a similar tribute in 2018.

These are the movies that will play for the Kirk Douglas Tribute. First, the B Movie is:

SATURN 3

Here is a synopsis of SATURN 3 from IMDB.com:

Two lovers stationed at a remote base in the asteroid fields of Saturn are intruded upon by a retentive technocrat from Earth and his charge: a malevolent eight foot robot.

The feature film will be:

LONELY ARE THE BRAVE

Here is a synopsis of LONELY ARE THE BRAVE from IMDB.com:

A fiercely independent cowboy gets himself locked up in prison to escape with an old friend.

Anders is also providing a short film that is very intriguing. This will also be the 3rd, but hopefully not the last round of Jay’s Root Beer Symposium.

To Recap:

What: Union Street Theater Movie Night
Movies: SATURN 3 & LONELY ARE THE BRAVE
Date: Sunday, March 29, 2020
Time: 6 PM
Where: UNION STREET THEATER
TOILET PAPER SITUATION: As of right now, I still have plenty of toilet paper.

Hope to see you there!

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Might as well just get to it. This is the 4th collection of images from Fly Iowa:

Only about 800 more images to curate!

9 Emotions Project, Andree, Animals, Baier, Birthdays, Black & White, Dawn, Flowers, Macro, Nader, Russell, Teresa, Weddings, Willy

Ledges

March 11, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

I need to start today’s post by wishing a happy birthday to Dawn. Happy birthday Dawn!

Here are a few pictures of Dawn:

I hope your birthday is as happy as you want it to be!

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I also need to wish a happy birthday to Jason Baier. Happy birthday Mr. Baier. Here are a few pictures of Jason:

I hope your birthday is also jam packed with happiness!

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I also wanted to share some pictures from the 2019 backlog. Here are some images from a trip I took to Ledges back in August:

Just gotta keep plugging away on that backlog!

Birthdays, Holidays, Jay, Jonah, Laura, Nate, Nora, Still Life, Willy

The 4th

March 5, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

I need to start today’s post by wishing a big happy birthday to Laura! I’m sure today she will have her hands full trying to corral Baby Tri-Force and she will be loving every second of it!

Here are some Laura pictures:

I hope it is a great birthday!

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On the 4th of July I got together with Willy and Jay and grilled out and set off some smoke bombs and then photographed them going off. Here are some pictures.

The 4th of July is a Saturday this year. I love holidays that are also on weekends!

Andy, Animals, Birthdays, Naima, Nature

Dickcisselin’

March 3, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

Need to start today by wishing a happy birthday to my mission trip and youth group buddy Andy! 5 or 6 years ago or however long it was when we first went to Martin, South Dakota together I never would have guessed how good of friends we would end up becoming.

Here are some pictures of Andy:

Happy birthday Andy!

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Hitting up that 2019 backlog again. These are pictures I took out at Dickcissel Park in June.

Only like 40 some days of pictures left in the 2019 backlog.

Animals, Birthdays, Flowers, Joe, Logan, Macro, Micky, Youth Group

Alas, Poor Yorick!

February 26, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett

I have to start today’s post off by wishing the happiest of birthdays to Micky! I’m not sure how old Micky is now, but I hope he is at an age where he start to gain a refined taste in pancakes. Micky is one of the best outdoorsman I know, if he ever conquers his fear of snakes, he could even be the best.

Here are some pictures of Micky:

Happy birthday Micky!!

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You are probably wondering what Micky would like for his birthday. The answer is pretty obvious, since it IS Ash Wednesday.

Micky would like you to come to the Heart of Boone Youth Fellowship Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser for our trip to Indianapolis!

It is all the spaghetti you can eat and you get to name your own price. Starts at 6. Ends at 7. At the Boone First United Methodist Church in the Fellowship Hall in the basement.

Why is this what Micky wants for his birthday? Because a funded mission trip gets me out of the office for an entire week! A full week he doesn’t have to deal with me at work. I know! I can feel people scrambling for their checkbooks right now!

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Since Micky is a truly great outdoorsman, I think the type of pictures he would like to peer at on his birthday are from when the family stopped at Jester Park after post-worship lunch some Sunday in August.

I just don’t make it to Jester Park enough.

9 Emotions Project, Andy, Becky, Bill, Birthdays, Black & White, Carla, Jay, Jesse, Kim, Michelle, Micky, Monica, Shannon, Still Life, Tamara, Willy, WPC - Submissions

WPC – WEEK 230 – REFLECTION

February 10, 2020 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

Today is a very big day in the history of my oldest friends. Not just because one of my old friends climbed a building and set his shirt on fire and got arrested yesterday. No, because today is Bill’s birthday!

Happy birthday Bill!

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Looks like the streak lives on for one more week. 19 weeks in total. REFLECTION struck a chord with the absolute bare minimum to extend the streak of double digit submissions!

But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates. You came to see the submissions:

Micky Augustin

Monica Henning

Kim Barker

Michelle Haupt

Shannon Bardole-Foley

Tamara Peterson

Christopher D. Bennett

Carla Stensland

Andy Sharp

Becky Parmelee

Jesse Howard

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:

FAMILY

FAMILY! What a great theme! But what is a FAMILY picture? A FAMILY picture is any picture that involves a FAMILY. And don’t let any Scrooge McDuck’s from Ankeny try to tell you that FAMILY can only be defined by DNA. Remember, a true family provides its members with emotional and spiritual kinship through:

+ Shared values, beliefs, and traditions
+ Common experiences and activities
+ Unconditional, non-judgmental support

I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

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HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

The picture has to be taken the week of the theme. This isn’t a curate your pictures challenge. This is a get your butt off the couch (my personal experience) and put your camera in your hands challenge. Don’t send me a picture of you next to the Eiffel Tower, when I know you were in Iowa all week. I will point out that I have let that slide some in the past. I will not in the future. Since it is literally about the only rule.

Your submission needs to be emailed to bennett@photography139.com by 11 AM on the Monday of the challenge due date.

I now allow people to text me their submissions. In the past, I had made exceptions for a couple people that aren’t real computer savvy, even though it was an inconvenience for me and required at least 3 extra steps for me. I am now lifting that embargo because I have a streamline way of uploading photos. I’m not giving out my phone number, but if you have it, you can text me.

It should be pointed out that this blog auto-publishes at 12:01 on Mondays. So it wouldn’t hurt to get your picture in earlier.

That is it, them’s the rules.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DIVISION

Nobody showed class, taste, and sophistication this week by signing up for a Photography 139 email subscription. I’ll try and do better next week.

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That’s all I got for today, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will commune right here again next Monday. Hopefully it will be a very familial Monday!