Category Archives: Animals

A Blossoming Soul

Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature.
-Gerard De Nerval

Last time we took a look at the flowerbeds of Donna Jones, I said that I felt that I had taken a step away from flower photography back in 2017. Russell, who hates flower pictures the way some people hate cats or reality television texted me to call poppycock on such a statement. He would go on to ask how many flower photos I took last year.

It is just a very rough estimated, but I bet it was only 2,000. Definitely no more than 2,000. Possibly as low as 1,500.

He wanted to know how many I normally take. I can only estimate that number, but I bet it is closer to 5,000.

I think Russell appreciated the downturn, but I feel he still thinks that 1 flower picture is one too many.

Below, enjoy some of Russell’s pain:


Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

Donna Jones' Flowers

At the Computer Mine we have a photo bar next to the kitchen. Once a year they changed out the photos to display the work of employees. I always submit one photo because I personally feel that the photo bar should represent as many employees as possible. I’m considering submitting one of the grasshopper photos for my submission.

If any of you out there are the anti-Russell, don’t worry. There are plenty more flower pictures just waiting to bloom. This year might be a flower photo boom. Well probably not a boom, but have I mentioned that my hollyhocks are back!!

I’m excited too!

05-12-08

There are 3 sets of images to be found in the collection of pictures in the folder 05-12-08.

The first set are pictures from a Mother’s Day celebration at my Mom’s house.

The second set are a collection of pictures of flowers at my Mom’s house. A Mother’s Day Peony and a tulip.

The final set of pictures is from the first part of making a batch of Little White Lye Soap.


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Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

Making Soap

By adding these pictures to the Photography 139 Photography Gallery I was able to restore the following historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entries to their original glory:

The Most Fun You Can Have with Caustics

Mother’s Day Barcecue

Mother’s Day

On our next walk down the lane of memories, we will look at the first Jaycees activity I participated in. All the signs were there, I wasn’t paying attention.

WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE – WEEK 142 – RELIGION

Before I get into the participation and the tommyrot and the PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE quoting, I want to point out the historical significance of today. Today is the 2 year anniversary of The Great Turtle Race Robbery of 2016!

If you don’t know about The Great Turtle Race Robbery of 2016, let me give you the short, short, short version.

During the football season, me and few fellow computer miners engage in a spirited bit of gambling. The winner each week gets to claim a red solo cup filled with change. Well, maybe not exactly filled, but there is some change in it.

At the end of the season, the person with the most red cups is proclaimed The Witch and they get the travelling trophy. A Franklin Broomworks Children’s Broom.(Incidentally, I agree with Franklin Broomworks and their hardcore child labor policies.) In the event of a tie, the title of Witch gets conferred in a tie-breaking competition that is determined by the people that are not involved in the tie.

In 2016, the tie-breaker was a turtle race.

The 4 people tied for first place were Joe (AKA Flat Earth Joe), Michelle, Cathie, and Humble Narrator. Before our traditional year end banquet at Zeno’s in Marshalltown we congregated at the Colo Outpost of AMOutdoors. What happened next is something conspiracy theorists have been discussing for 2 years now.

But don’t take my word for it, roll this conspiracy’s Zapruder film.

NOTE: If you are an email subscriber to “An Artist’s Notebook and are in the Outlook list, you will have to go to the website to view this atrocity. If you are in the regular distribution list, you already had to come to the website, so this message isn’t for you:


As you can see, the Red Turtle (MY TURTLE), clearly wins this race! Yet inexplicably, the Orange loser turtle is somehow declared the winner. Rigged! I can only speculate at what level the Russians were involved.

That being said, if you are into hunting and fishing, you could do worse than checking out Micky’s hunting and fishing website by clicking on the link below:

AMOUTDOORS

Just don’t trust the guy to run a turtle race. He is as crooked as dog’s hind leg. Depending on the dog, crookeder.

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Participation rates!

Tommyrot!

Here are the submissions for RELIGION:


WEEK 142 - RELIGION - BECKY PARMELEE
Becky Parmelee

WEEK 142 - RELIGION - KIM BARKER
Kim Barker

WEEK 142 - RELIGION - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

WEEK 142 - RELIGION - SHANNON BARDOLE
Shannon Bardole

WEEK 142 - RELIGION - ANDY SHARP
Andy Sharp

WEEK 142 - RELIGION - TAMARA PETERSON
Tamara Peterson

WEEK 142 - RELIGION - ANDY SHARP
Andy Sharp

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:


WEEK 143 - WORK
WORK!

WORK! What a great theme! But what is WORK photography? WORK photography would be a photo of somebody doing their job, at their job, the tools for their job. But WORK doesn’t just happen at a job. WORK can also be done for fun. Like gardening. Or landscaping. Or mowing. Wait, mowing isn’t fun, but it still counts as WORK. Along with doing dishes and dusting.

As always, I look forward to seeing your interpretations!

HOUSEKEEPING

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 RULES DIVISION

1. 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.

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

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 COMMENTARY DIVISION

In recent weeks, 3 people have earned their very own Photography 139 avatars by leaving comments on “An Artist’s Notebook” entries.

Welcome to the Photography 139 commentary world:

Joe Duff
Linda Bennett
Tamara Peterson

Do you want your very own Photography 139 like giants in the blog post commentary industry like:

Angie DeWaard
Andy Sharp
Jesse Howard

All you have to do is leave a comment on an “An Artist’s Notebook” entry and I will gladly create you your very own Photography 139 avatar!

A MESSAGE FROM THE PHOTOGRAPHY 139 POST NOTIFICATION

I’m currently using a post notification plugin called MailPoet. I’m not 100% satisfied with it, but it will stay status quo until I get back from my mission trip to Houston at the end of June. At that time, I will (hopefully) have the free time to play with a couple of different plug-ins.

If you use Outlook to view the post notification emails, let me know and I’ll switch you over to the Outlook subscription group.

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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 labored Monday!

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Oh wait, that isn’t all I have for today. If you are out and about from 4-7 today, I will be hanging out with the Boone Area Humane Society taking pictures for their booth and mascot at Ericson Public Library’s Summer Reading Kickoff.

If you don’t want to come see me, come to see Hope:


Summer Reading Kickoff

Just to make it clear, I will not be in the dog costume. I am about a foot too tall for the costume.

Custer State Park Vol. 3

This is the final collection of pictures from Custer State Park in South Dakota. In fact, I’ve almost come to the end of the pictures from my trip to South Dakota with my Mom. The only ones left to curate and edit are the pictures from Mount Rushmore.

Even though Custer State Park didn’t quite live up to the hype, I would definitely visit it again. If for no other reason than to visit my feral donkey friends.

So without further adieu, I present the last of the Custer State Park pictures:


Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

I’ll probably start unveiling the Mount Rushmore pictures in the near future!

Custer State Park Vol. 2

Today is as good as any to check into the back log and post some more pictures from my trip to Custer State Park with my Mom.

I wouldn’t say that Custer State Park was a disappointment, but it didn’t quite live up to the hype. I do feel however that I had more time to visit Custer State Park, I would be way more impressed with it. I hope I do get to do that again at some point. Maybe do some hiking. Maybe find these buffalo that are allegedly all over the place.

But like I wrote earlier. The lack of buffalo was made up for by the awesome feral donkeys.
>br?
Here are more pictures from Custer State Park:


Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

I felt really bad for the donkey that stood facing the sign. I did talk to him and give him food. He eventually came out and joined the other donkeys.

There are a few more Custer State Park pictures in the hopper.

05-09-08: The Big Jesus Road Trip

The photos from today’s blog come from the folder 05-09-08.

These pictures were taken during what historians have called THE BIG JESUS ROAD TRIP. It is hard to believe that 10 years have passed since THE BIG JESUS ROAD TRIP, but they have.

Jesse and I embarked on THE BIG JESUS ROAD TRIP with a destination in mind (Big Jesus) and a few stops in mind to make along the way. We wanted to see the place where “The Music Died”. We wanted to see the World’s Largest Cheeto. We wanted to stop at Bob’s Drive-Inn and try a Bob’s Dog. Anything else we experienced on the trip was gravy. Delicious gravy. The type you put in a gravy pitcher during Thanksgiving.

Mmmmmm…. gravy!


The Big Jesus Road Trip

The Big Jesus Road Trip

The Big Jesus Road Trip

The Big Jesus Road Trip

The Big Jesus Road Trip

The Big Jesus Road Trip

The Big Jesus Road Trip

The Big Jesus Road Trip

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The Big Jesus Road Trip

The Big Jesus Road Trip

The Big Jesus Road Trip

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The Big Jesus Road Trip

The Big Jesus Road Trip

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The Big Jesus Road Trip

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The Big Jesus Road Trip

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The Big Jesus Road Trip

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The Big Jesus Road Trip

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The Big Jesus Road Trip

The Big Jesus Road Trip

The Big Jesus Road Trip

The Big Jesus Road Trip

The Big Jesus Road Trip

The Big Jesus Road Trip

The Big Jesus Road Trip

The Big Jesus Road Trip

The Big Jesus Road Trip

The Big Jesus Road Trip

The Big Jesus Road Trip

The Big Jesus Road Trip

The Big Jesus Road Trip

The Big Jesus Road Trip

The Big Jesus Road Trip

The Big Jesus Road Trip

The Big Jesus Road Trip

The Big Jesus Road Trip

The World’s Largest Cheeto did not disappoint. Neither did Big Jesus or the Bob’s Dog. The Pocahontas statue… yeah. That is one ugly statue.

Sometime this year I hope to make a trip to see the world’s largest popcorn ball. Who is game?

By adding THE BIG JESUS ROAD TRIP photos to the Photography 139 Photo Gallery, I was able to restore the following historical “An Artist’s Notebook” post to its original glory:

THE BIG JESUS

There are more pictures from THE BIG JESUS ROAD TRIP that I didn’t share in this blog post. If you want to take a gander at those, click on the link below:

THE BIG JESUS ROAD TRIP PHOTO GALLERY

Next Saturday’s trip down memory lane will involve a trip to visit the Cardiff Giant and his giant phallus. Jason Baier will be joining us!

Custer State Park Vol. 1

Custer State Park was one of the most hyped up Black Hills location that my Mom and I were told to visit.

Some people even indicated that it might be the best part of the trip. The reason:

Buffalo!

Repeatedly, I was told that when we went to Custer State Park, we would see more buffalo than we could imagine. Throw a rock, we would hit 3 buffalo. You couldn’t swing a dead cat without hitting 4 buffalo.*

Custer State Park was indeed awesome, but it had nothing to do with buffaloes. It was all about the feral donkeys!!

Here are a few photos from our trip through Custer State Park:


Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

Custer State Park

I have more pictures from Custer State Park coming in the near future!

*This is not an endorsement of swinging dead cats.

You Know I’ll Leave ‘Em Changing; ‘Cause You Know I’m Real with It; Don’t Care if You Feeling It!

The world wasn’t ready for these alternate TOY images on Monday. Most of these pictures are taken in the Photography 139 Backyard Studio where photography was often disturbed by 2 raucous dogs that had a whole yard to play in, but seemed to want to only play right on top of my rubber dinosaurs.

The flower image is from one of my Mom’s flower pots. It was taken with the TOY special effects setting on the trusty old Alpha 77ii.

However, the images that really might make you stand up and go “Huh?” are of the ginorumous smoker.

The smoker is the new smoker for Baby Got Rack. It was purchased in Louisville from another award winning barbecue man and shipped all the way up to Iowa. Many people have asked when will be their next opportunity to try some award winning Baby Got Rack barbecue.

You could try crashing a Catholic anniversary party in a few weeks.

Otherwise, the only competition that Baby Got Rack is currently eyeing is the Farm Bureau contest at the Boone County Fair.

Other than that, you’ll have to wait for my birthday extravaganza in 2019. I’m guaranteeing that it will happen again in 2019. I just have to settle on a theme. I’m thinking the theme might be “Jorts & Cargo Shorts”. That way the invitations will be easy to make.

Next year my birthday is on a Saturday, so I can actually hold the shindig on my birthday. It would be perfect timing. You can go to your favorite graduate’s open house and then come sit around to the fire tub and listen to KNMA Radio – The Power Retriever.

We’ll see.

Okay, I can’t hold the TOY alternates back any longer:


Toy - Alternate

Toy - Alternate

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Toy - Alternate

Toy - Alternate

You’re welcome world!

05-07-08

The images below come from the folder 05-07-08. The images range from a post supper photo shoot with an Ungs to pictures of painting Monica’s one-time Roland home to me showing off a fat stack of cash to some flowers from my Mom’s flowerbeds to one of the most fascinating creatures on the planet.


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By adding these images to the Photography 139 Photo Gallery I was able to restore these historic “An Artist’s Notebook” entries to their original glory:

TELL MY FRIEND WILLIE BROWN

SOME STORM

SUPPER WITH THE UNGS

FALSE SNAKE HYPE

That sick wad of cash that I was flashing in the Fazoli’s parking lot was my winnings from my bowling league. Helping Monica paint the Roland house was Suzie and Cassie.

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will be all about the Big Jesus Road Trip.