Category Archives: Commercial

Computer Mine Gift Exchange

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:


Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

Computer Mine Gift Exchange - 2023

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.

Bottled Bliss

Maybe you haven’t heard, but there is a new bar in Boone called Bottled Bliss. It is a wine and crafter beer bar. It was started by a friend of mine (really Nate’s friend, but I’ve borrowed her as my friend) named Kelli.

I’m sure many of you are wondering why I’m writing about a bar when I don’t drink. “Sure… sure…” you are thinking, “I’ll listen to you when you endorse a company like Honey Hollow cause you look like somebody that has eaten your fair share of honey in your day. Probably more than your fair share of honey. I’ll even listen to you when you endorse a company like Little White Lye Soap because you come off clean and are clearly one of the best smelling employees at the Computer Mine. Top 5. Maybe even Top 2. Some days, #1. I’ll even give you the benefit of the doubt when you endorse Salon 908, when you clearly don’t have a great head of hair perched atop your Gulliver. But why should I listen to you… a notorious teetotaler about a place to go get a drink?”

Don’t worry. There is an answer to your question. It all started back on May 5. Cinco de Mayo. I had heard a rumor that my favorite The Colorado Grill employee was hanging it up. Calling it a day at The Colorado Grill. So Jesse, Willy, and I saddled up and took Friday Night Supper Club out to The Colorado Grill for Kelli’s last night.

Once we got out there, Kelli told us that she was leaving the Grill to start her own wine bar. (Incidentally, I haven’t been back to The Colorado Grill since.) I was heartbroken because Kelli is a master of customer service and she always keeps my raspberry ice tea topped off AND she always serves it to me in a giant mug. Not like the glass that the paupers get.

To commemorate Kelli’s last day and what I thought would be last raspberry tea I would ever receive from her we took this picture:


Kelli's Last Day

As fate would have it, it wasn’t the last raspberry tea with Kelli in our future. She told me that she would stock raspberry tea for me AND we struck a deal to put some of my photography on the walls of her new business.

Here is where you come in. You should 100% get your friends together and go down to a night of wine tasting or craft beer tasting at Bottled Bliss. My understanding is that Kelli really knows her wine and craft beers. She spent years honing her knowledge by stocking the craft beers at The Colorado Grill and running a monthly wine club. Also, she pours a mean raspberry tea… which is no easy job.

I’ve already heard a couple of “Yes!”es and a few “Sounds really good. I’ll have to do that”s.

But if I haven’t sold you yet, here is some information from her website (bottledbliss.net):

Monthly Cork Membership:
$35.00 Monthly
1 Glass of wine each weak.
$10.000 off Wine Club admission
20% Off bottles of wine.

There are 2 Wine Clubs.

4th Tuesday of the Month

Think of this wine club as a Wine 101. Become the expert wine lover you’ve always wanted to be. Explore new wines and expand your pallet. There’s no shame in enjoying a fantastic glass of moscato BUT there is more to wine than just one varietal. Enjoy new exciting wine in a welcoming and learning environment with great company and small bites.

This wine club will be hosted by wine distributors and Iowa Wineries.

2nd Tuesday of the Month

This wine club is designed for a mature pallet. Experience wines from around the world, build knowledge about unique wine regions surrounded by fellow wine lovers. Deep reds, dry whites, and full bodied wine can be expected at this wine club. Small bites will be offered to help compliment your wine experience.

This wine club will be hosted by wine distributors to help enhance your wine journey.

Wine Club events are $25 per event.

But I want to know more about Kelli other than she pours a mean raspberry tea. Also from the website:

My name is Kelli Casper and I was born and raised in Boone. My husband and I are raising our two beautiful daughters in Ogden surrounded by all the things that I loved growing up. Most people will recognize me from The Colorado Grill. I was just a month shy of celebrating my 19 years with the Gano’s at The Grill. In 2013, I launched a wine club there to learn more about wine. We dedicated one Tuesday every month trying different distributors and wineries all over the world; it was successful every month for 7 years and then Covid hit. Covid ruined so many good things. I’ve always enjoyed exploring wine and craft beer and The Grill was the perfect place to build my knowledge. My interest became a hobby and then a passion. I love talking “shop” with anyone who wants to listen. A wine bar was always my dream and then one day I decided I was tired of dreaming. And BOOM. Enter Bottled Bliss! We have around thirty chairs to offer anyone wanting place to land. A great craft beer selection and wines from around the country and globe. We offer bottle and glass service and we have prosecco ON TAP! For now, our main focus is beverage services but we are looking forward to building a small kitchen where we can offer small bites in the near future.

We will have a monthly wine club (just like old times) and also a Cork membership (think gym membership) with weekly rewards for your monthly members. I am looking forward to partnering with other businesses in Boone to make downtown great and something to be proud of.

See you soon!
Kelli Casper

If you ever want to get together and you have a wine and I’ll have a raspberry tea, let’s go!

Bottled Bliss is located at:

706 Keeler Street
Boone, Iowa 50036

Current Hours:

Mon Closed
Tues wine club
Wed 5 PM – 9 PM
Thu 5 PM – 9 PM
Fri 5 PM – 10 PM
Sat 2 PM – 10 PM
Sun 2 PM – 6 PM

But… you are probably wondering about the deal I struck with Kelli to display my photography.

Currently there are 5 of my photos displayed there. I went a little crazy on the size, so they are 40×30. They are acrylic prints.

After conferring with Kelli, here are the 5 prints that are up (Click on the link below the images to see more information on each image):



More Info


More Info

Drone Photography
More Info


More Info


More Info

Kelli wanted pictures of local interest that people would recognize. Her favorite is the picture of the Teddy Roosevelt Statue. She claims she knows who has the thumb in their possession, but is sworn to secrecy. You can talk to her about it when you go in for a drink.

There are going to be about 6 more smaller pictures going up and then maybe they will rotate in and out now and again. But This does remind me that I need to swap out pictures at pictures at Salon 908 at some point.

Viva Las Vegas: Day 3C

After the party was over, Lowell and I waited around for what must have been hours for these people to leave so we could go back to the conference center to setup computers for the following day’s CMC.

I think we finally got into the conference center, set up the few computers we could and got back to the hotel room about 10:30.

We were supposed to arrive at the party a little early to eat before the guests got there. But that didn’t really work out. I had a couple pieces of shrimp and a slider. Not enough to keep me going. So after hitting our hotel rooms, we met up, I think at the Heart Bar for a little bit. I think this might have been the night I was either propositioned by a prostitute near the slot machines OR a very friendly and lovely lady wanted to hang out with me and buy her a drink. It is hard to tell. We will never know.

Things are starting to become a blur at this point. Then sometime after midnight we ended up at Earl of Sandwich for a late supper. Earl of Sandwich was pretty good except for the distinct smell of drain backup emanating from the drains near their pop station.

Per Diem Fund Update

I started the day with $240 in the Per Diem Fund.

Breakfast: Free
Lunch: Free
Cocktail Hour Snacks: Free
Earl of Sandwich Supper: $17

Estimated Per Diem Fund Balance: $223.


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I hope these party pictures don’t give the false impression that my job at the Computer Mine if fun. It is hard work. Nonstop. Nose to the grindstone.

After such a late night, the morning came around pretty quick.

According to my highly inaccurate fitness app, I walked 19,158 steps for 8.72 miles.

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This is your reminder that this week’s theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE is SCENES FROM YOUR COUCH:


WEEK 396 - SCENES FROM YOUR COUCH
SCENES FROM YOUR COUCH

SCENES FROM YOUR COUCH?!? That seems like an odd theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

This theme was suggested by Angie. It was meant to be subversive. If you have read the rules for (and there aren’t many rules, but they do grow a little by little) THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE, you may remember the this line:

“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.”

Here is your chance to not get your butt off the couch. You can literally sit on your couch. Take a picture of whatever you see from your couch and submit it to me. Now, you don’t have to take the picture from your couch. You can pile a bunch of your favorite people on your couch and take a picture of them. You can take your picture from behind the couch. It actually doesn’t even have to be your couch. You can find somebody else’s couch you like better and take your picture from there. It could be a couch in a store or a hotel or a bar. Doesn’t matter. It just has to be a SCENE FROM A COUCH.

There are two things I love about this theme. First, it means that there is somebody that actually reads the rules. Second, this picture can be the easiest one you take for this year’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE or you really take your creative juices for a walk to figure out how make this picture, let us say different. To really stretch the boundaries of the theme.

Happy photo harvesting!

Viva Las Vegas: Day 3B

Today is Good Friday. I wish those who celebrate, a good Good Friday.


Page 5 - Reject

Matthew 27:32-56
32-34 Along the way they came on a man from Cyrene named Simon and made him carry Jesus’ cross. Arriving at Golgotha, the place they call “Skull Hill,” they offered him a mild painkiller (a mixture of wine and myrrh), but when he tasted it he wouldn’t drink it.

35-40 After they had finished nailing him to the cross and were waiting for him to die, they killed time by throwing dice for his clothes. Above his head they had posted the criminal charge against him: this is jesus, the king of the jews. Along with him, they also crucified two criminals, one to his right, the other to his left. People passing along the road jeered, shaking their heads in mock lament: “You bragged that you could tear down the Temple and then rebuild it in three days—so show us your stuff! Save yourself! If you’re really God’s Son, come down from that cross!”

41-44 The high priests, along with the religion scholars and leaders, were right there mixing it up with the rest of them, having a great time poking fun at him: “He saved others—he can’t save himself! King of Israel, is he? Then let him get down from that cross. We’ll all become believers then! He was so sure of God—well, let him rescue his ‘Son’ now—if he wants him! He did claim to be God’s Son, didn’t he?” Even the two criminals crucified next to him joined in the mockery.

45-46 From noon to three, the whole earth was dark. Around mid-afternoon Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

47-49 Some bystanders who heard him said, “He’s calling for Elijah.” One of them ran and got a sponge soaked in sour wine and lifted it on a stick so he could drink. The others joked, “Don’t be in such a hurry. Let’s see if Elijah comes and saves him.”

50 But Jesus, again crying out loudly, breathed his last.

51-53 At that moment, the Temple curtain was ripped in two, top to bottom. There was an earthquake, and rocks were split in pieces. What’s more, tombs were opened up, and many bodies of believers asleep in their graves were raised. (After Jesus’ resurrection, they left the tombs, entered the holy city, and appeared to many.)

54 The captain of the guard and those with him, when they saw the earthquake and everything else that was happening, were scared to death. They said, “This has to be the Son of God!”

55-56 There were also quite a few women watching from a distance, women who had followed Jesus from Galilee in order to serve him. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the Zebedee brothers.

There is a Tenebrae worship service at my church (Boone First United Methodist Church) at 7 PM tonight if you are interested in attending. You. Are. Invited. At least I will be there.

But what is a Tenebrae service? Glad you asked is:

For United Methodists and some other Protestants, the story of the suffering and death of Jesus from John’s gospel is divided into 16 readings. After each segment of the story is read, a candle is extinguished. After the fifteenth reading, which confirms that Jesus had died on the cross, the last of the 15 lit candles is extinguished or taken away, and a loud sound (called strepitus in Latin) is made to convey the sense of total loss of God’s presence and the effect of the death of Jesus on the universe. The final story of the burial is read in near darkness.

Now aren’t you glad I used scripture from Matthew?

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After spending most of the day part of Day 3 in the conference room area making sure things were working for the speakers and being a de facto sound guy, the evening was for partying. The type of party that you are required to go to by the Computer Mine, but it is okay cause you are getting paid to be there. Plus, I was tasked with taking pictures of the event, so I wasn’t required to mingle. Just kidding, taking pictures of the event required much more mingling than not photographing the event.

The theme of the CMC Party was Game Night. Costumes were encouraged, but not necessarily required. Unless you were employed by the Computer Mine. Then they were required. I don’t believe a picture of my costume exists, so you will have to imagine what it was like. I will tell you that my costume was a BIG hit with some people and a head scratcher for others. It was maybe a little tangential to the Game Night theme, but my goal was 100% comfort. The one thing I didn’t expect was how boiling hot it was in that costume. The costume you only get to imagine.

Here is a first collection of pictures from the evening:


Las Vegas Day 3

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One of the jobs of Computer Mine employees was to hand out poker chips… I may have gave 90% of my chips to this office.

Las Vegas Day 3

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There is a strong yellowish hue to these pictures cause of the lighting at the event. I could fix more of that in post, but don’t know there is a reason to do that.

There is still one more collection of pictures from Day 3 to share. When I share them, I will give the Per Diem Watch Update.

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This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is ODD CAMERA ANGLE:


WEEK 395 - ODD CAMERA ANGLE
ODD CAMERA ANGLE

ODD CAMERA ANGLE! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!

But what is an ODD CAMERA ANGLE photo? Simply put, it a picture taken from an angle that is different than normal. The grand majority of pictures are taken from the eye level of the photographer. This theme challenges you to look down at your subject. Or look up at your subject. Or look at it from an angle where something small looks big and something big looks small. Or try out a Dutch angle. Put yourself on the ground or in a hole or in the air. Just don’t take your picture eye level. That’s all we’re asking here. The world is your oyster. You just have to look at it askew.

This isn’t the first time that ODD CAMRERA ANGLE or something similar to it has been a theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. Have a look back at a few submissions from the past for a bit of inspiration:


WEEK 326 - ODD CAMERA ANGLE - MICKY AUGUSTIN
Micky Augustin – Week 326

WEEK 359 - ODD CAMERA ANGLE - SARAH TOOT
Sarah Toot – Week 359

WEEK 359 - ODD CAMERA ANGLE - ANGIE DEWAARD
Angie DeWaard – Week 359

WEEK 359 - ODD CAMERA ANGLE - CARLA STENSLAND
Carla Stensland – Week 359

WEEK 85 - HIGH PERSPECTIVE - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett – Week 85

Hopefully something in there inspires somebody.

Happy photo harvesting!

2011-06-13, 2011-06-14, and 2011-06-17

The grand majority of the pictures in the folders 2011-06-13, 2011-06-14, and 2011-06-17 are from a trip to Kalona to eat an authentic Amish meal with Funk, Sara, and Cousin Amy. This was before Funk became a total badass and started spending her free time climbing mountains in Peru. There are also a couple pictures here from a camping trip to Ledges and a pictures I took and poorly photoshopped for the United Way of Story County.


Live United

Live United

WEEK 23 - DEPTH OF FIELD - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT

Guys' Night

Guys' Night

Guys' Night

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

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Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

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Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

Kalona Trip - Amish Meal

I miss Kalona. I will need to go there at some point this year, and not just for THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT.

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

RWPE Y2 #23 – DEPTH OF FIELD

GUYS’ NIGHT

LIVE UNITED

KALONA ROAD TRIP

Next Saturday’s walk down memory lane will involve a trip to a baseball game.

Computer Mine Secret Santa

The December image from the 2022 Photography Calendar is a drone picture of a forest along the banks of the Des Moines River.


2022 Calendar - December

I hope people enjoy the calendar this year. I’ve got some positive feedback on it anyways.

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Several years ago, I used to finish the year with the Proust Questionnaire as a form of reflection on the year past. Well, I think we can all agree that 2021 was a terrible, terrible year. And while even terrible, terrible years do have some positives and are still worthy of reflection, I didn’t feel like doing the entire 31-35 question questionnaire. So I thought maybe just answering the Bernard Pivot Questionnaire would be enough:

1. What is your favorite word? Well… I actually overuse it more than actually enjoy using it.
2. What is your least favorite word? Maybe.
3. What is your favorite drug? The open road.
4. What sound or noise noise do you love? Juicy Wiggle.
5. What sound or noise do you hate? My phone ringing.
6. What is your favorite curse word? Mulkey.
7. Who would you like to see on a new banknote? Ted Lasso – Be curious. Not judgmental.
8. What profession other than your own would you not like to attempt? Most really. Any job with more human contact than mine. It is pretty evident at this point in history that humans suck at the aggregate level.
9. If you were reincarnated as some other plant or animal, what would it be? Golden retriever.
10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? Matthew 25:21.

Maybe next year I’ll bring back the Proust Questionnaire. Maybe.

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Back a week or so ago, we did a Secret Santa thing at the Computer Mine for hybrid or work in the office full-time. I took some pictures for the Computer Mine social medias. Here are some pictures from the event:


Computer Mine Secret Santa - 2021

Computer Mine Secret Santa - 2021

Computer Mine Secret Santa - 2021

Computer Mine Secret Santa - 2021

Computer Mine Secret Santa - 2021

Computer Mine Secret Santa - 2021

Computer Mine Secret Santa - 2021

Computer Mine Secret Santa - 2021

Computer Mine Secret Santa - 2021

Computer Mine Secret Santa - 2021

Computer Mine Secret Santa - 2021

Computer Mine Secret Santa - 2021

Computer Mine Secret Santa - 2021

Computer Mine Secret Santa - 2021

Computer Mine Secret Santa - 2021

Computer Mine Secret Santa - 2021

Computer Mine Secret Santa - 2021

Computer Mine Secret Santa - 2021

Computer Mine Secret Santa - 2021

Computer Mine Secret Santa - 2021

Michelle was my Secret Santa. She got me some sweet Cyclone socks and some of my favorite candies. I was Denise’s Secret Santa. I got her some booze and some peanut butter cups.

WPC – WEEK 279 – COMMERCIAL

I need to start by noting that today is the day we honor the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.


Civil Rights Museum

I’d like to share a teaching on The Good Samaritan from the last speech that King ever gave as my small part of honoring his legacy today:

Let us develop a kind of dangerous unselfishness. One day a man came to Jesus, and he wanted to raise some questions about some vital matters of life. At points he wanted to trick Jesus, and show him that he knew a little more than Jesus knew and throw him off base…. Now that question could have easily ended up in a philosophical and theological debate. But Jesus immediately pulled that question from mid-air, and placed it on a dangerous curve between Jerusalem and Jericho. And he talked about a certain man, who fell among thieves. You remember that a Levite and a priest passed by on the other side.

They didn’t stop to help him. And finally a man of another race came by. He got down from his beast, decided not to be compassionate by proxy. But he got down with him, administered first aid, and helped the man in need. Jesus ended up saying, this was the good man, this was the great man, because he had the capacity to project the “I” into the “thou,” and to be concerned about his brother.

Now you know, we use our imagination a great deal to try to determine why the priest and the Levite didn’t stop. At times we say they were busy going to a church meeting, an ecclesiastical gathering, and they had to get on down to Jerusalem so they wouldn’t be late for their meeting. At other times we would speculate that there was a religious law that “One who was engaged in religious ceremonials was not to touch a human body twenty-four hours before the ceremony.” And every now and then we begin to wonder whether maybe they were not going down to Jerusalem — or down to Jericho, rather to organize a “Jericho Road Improvement Association.”

That’s a possibility. Maybe they felt that it was better to deal with the problem from the causal root, rather than to get bogged down with an individual effect.

But I’m going to tell you what my imagination tells me. It’s possible that those men were afraid. You see, the Jericho road is a dangerous road. I remember when Mrs. King and I were first in Jerusalem. We rented a car and drove from Jerusalem down to Jericho. And as soon as we got on that road, I said to my wife, “I can see why Jesus used this as the setting for his parable.” It’s a winding, meandering road. It’s really conducive for ambushing. You start out in Jerusalem, which is about 1200 miles — or rather 1200 feet above sea level. And by the time you get down to Jericho, fifteen or twenty minutes later, you’re about 2200 feet below sea level. That’s a dangerous road. In the days of Jesus it came to be known as the “Bloody Pass.”

And you know, it’s possible that the priest and the Levite looked over that man on the ground and wondered if the robbers were still around. Or it’s possible that they felt that the man on the ground was merely faking. And he was acting like he had been robbed and hurt, in order to seize them over there, lure them there for quick and easy seizure. And so the first question that the priest asked — the first question that the Levite asked was, “If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?” But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”

That’s the question before you tonight. Not, “If I stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to my job. Not, “If I stop to help the sanitation workers what will happen to all of the hours that I usually spend in my office every day and every week as a pastor?” The question is not, “If I stop to help this man in need, what will happen to me?” The question is, “If I do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?”
That’s the question.

In a time where we have white supremacist terrorists threatening our country, we should all heed the widsom of Martin Luther King Jr. and we should all strive for his calling of dangerous unselfishness.

And to honor the fact that the pastor at Martin Luther King Jr.’s church was just elected to the United States Senate. While the white supremacists throw a big shadow in this country, it is just a shadow. There are more of us, than there are of them. The election of Raphael Warnock is proof of that.

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I do want to point out that last week, in the chaos that was my 11 AM hour, I missed Cathie’s submission for FAMILY. I have corrected that error and it has since been added to last Monday’s journal entry. I encourage you to go to the website to see it. My apologies Cathie!

I was actually worried that this is the theme that would break the streak. I figured COMMERCIAL would be a tough nut to crack for many people. But we did it! For the 68th week in a row, we hit double digits!

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


WEEK 279 - COMMERCIAL - KIM BARKER
Kim Barker

WEEK 279 - COMMERCIAL - KIO DETTMAN
Kio Dettman

WEEK 279 - COMMERCIAL - TAMARA PETERSON
Tamara Peterson

WEEK 279 - COMMERCIAL - MICHELLE HAUPT
Michelle Haupt

WEEK 279 - COMMERCIAL - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

WEEK 279 - COMMERCIAL - CARLA STENSLAND
Carla Stensland

WEEK 279 - COMMERCIAL - KIO DETTMAN
Kio Dettman

WEEK 279 - COMMERCIAL - BECKY PARMELEE
Becky Parmelee

WEEK 279 - COMMERCIAL - CATHIE RALEY
Cathie Raley

WEEK 279 - COMMERCIAL - MICKY AUGUSTIN
Micky Augustin

WEEK 279 - COMMERCIAL - DAWN KRAUSE
Dawn Krause

WEEK 279 - COMMERCIAL - ANDY SHARP
Andy Sharp

WEEK 279 - COMMERCIAL - ANDY SHARP
Andy Sharp

WEEK 279 - COMMERCIAL - ANDY SHARP
Andy Sharp

WEEK 279 - COMMERCIAL - ANDY SHARP
Andy Sharp

WEEK 279 - COMMERCIAL - SHANNON BARDOLE-FOLEY
Shannon Bardole-Foley

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 280 - HOBBIES
HOBBIES

HOBBIES! Another great theme for Year 8 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

What defines a HOBBIES photo? HOBBIES are activities done regularly in one’s leisure time for pleasure. What do you do in your leisure time, regularly, for pleasure? What do your friends or family do regularly in their leisure time for pleasure. Take a picture of somebody that is engaged in their leisure time pleasure. Or take a picture of an item that is used for leisure time pleasure. We aren’t here to judge what people do for leisure time pleasure. We are just here to photograph what give somebody leisure time pleasure.

As you should know, the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock classic PSYCHO is tied for being my favorite movie of all-time. Think about the scene is PSYCHO where Marion Crane and Norman Bates are eating supper together in the backroom of the Bates Motel office, with all of the birds that Norman has stuffed.

INT. NORMAN’S PARLOR -(NIGHT)

In the darkened room, lit only by the light from the office spilling in, we see Norman placing the tray on a table. Mary comes to the doorway, pauses. Norman straightens up, goes to lamp, turns on the light.

Mary is startled by the room. Even in the dimness of one lamp, the strange, extraordinary nature of the room rushes
up at one. It is a room of birds. Stuffed birds, all over the room, on every available surface, one even clinging to
the old fashioned fringed shade of the lamp. The birds are of many varieties, beautiful, grand, horrible, preying. Mary
stares in awe and a certain fascinated horror.

CLOSE UP – THE VARIOUS BIRDS TWO SHOT – MARY AND NORMAN

NORMAN
Please sit down. On the sofa.

As Norman goes about spreading out the bread and ham and pouring the milk, we follow Mary across the room. She studies
the birds as she walks, briefly examines a bookcase stacked with books on the subject of “Taxidermy.”

CLOSE UP – THE BOOKS ON TAXIDERMY MED. CLOSE SHOT – MARY

She notices, too, the paintings on the wall; nudes, primarily, and many with a vaguely religious overtone.

Finally Mary reaches the sofa, sits down, looks at the spread.

MARY
You’re very… kind.

NORMAN
It’s all for you. I’m not hungry.
Please go ahead.

Mary begins to eat, her attitude a bit tense. She takes up a small slice of ham, bites off a tiny bite, nibbles at it in the manner of one disturbed and preoccupied.

Norman gazes at her, at the tiny bite she has taken, smiles and then laughs.

NORMAN
You eat like a bird.

MARY
You’d know, of course.

NORMAN
Not really. I hear that expression,
that one eats “like a bird,” is really
a falsie, I mean a falsity, because
birds eat a tremendous lot.
(A pause, then
explaining)
Oh, I don’t know anything about birds.
My hobby is stuffing things…
taxidermy. And I guess I’d just rather
stuff birds because… well, I hate
the look of beasts when they’re
stuffed, foxes and chimps and all…
some people even stuff dogs and
cats… but I can’t… I think only
birds look well stuffed because
they’re rather… passive, to begin
with… most of them…

He trails off, his exuberance failing in the rushing return of his natural hesitancy and discomfort. Mary looks at him,
with some compression, smiles.

MARY
It’s a strange hobby. Curious, I
mean.

NORMAN
Uncommon, too.

MARY
I imagine so.

NORMAN
It’s not as expensive as you’d think.
Cheap, really. Needles, thread,
sawdust .. the chemicals are all
that cost anything.
(He goes quiet, looks
disturbed)

MARY
A man should have a hobby.

NORMAN
It’s more than a hobby… sometimes…
a hobby is supposed to pass the time,
not fill it.

When you are preparing to take your HOBBIES photo, meditate on an activity that passes the time, but doesn’t fill it.

Then send me you submission(s) by 11 AM next Monday. Remember, while I might consider you FAMILY, 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.

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

That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing our idea of HOBBIES in this place that passes the time next Monday.

Light it Up!

A few months back, I took a dead zinnia down to my basement, lit it and then lit it up. I believe Jesse and Anders were standing by as potential firefighters. Even though, they didn’t understand why I was starting even the smallest fire, inside my house.

Here are the pictures:


Digging for God - 2020

Digging for God - 2020

Digging for God - 2020

Digging for God - 2020

Digging for God - 2020

Digging for God - 2020

Digging for God - 2020

Digging for God - 2020

Digging for God - 2020

Digging for God - 2020

Digging for God - 2020

Digging for God - 2020

Digging for God - 2020

I actually start have a small collection of dead flower sitting on my dining room floor that I intend to light up at some point in the future. Flowertography doesn’t have an offseason.

+++++++

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


WEEK 279 - COMMERCIAL
COMMERCIAL

What defines a COMMERCIAL photo? I want you to think of something that you really like. Maybe even love it. Something that you think other people would enjoy or find useful. It could be something that you already sell. At least a few of you own your own business! Now think about how would you sell it to other people through the language of photography.

While this image, might recall a bit of the old days of magazine (anybody remember magazines, I used to subscribe to 6 or 7 of them) advertising, it isn’t the only avenue of sales. For example, the picture that people take and put on dating apps, that is a way of trying to sell yourself.

That is this week’s challenge, to think of something (or even somebody) and try to photograph it in away that other people would think, I want some of that.

You can even think of trying to make a COMMERCIAL image for something that is reprehensible like smoking. Here is a quote from a character named Nick Naylor from the movie THANK YOU FOR SMOKING. Nick Naylor is a lobbyist for the tobacco companies and this is an exchange he has during a meeting with tobacco executives:


Nick Naylor: [during a meeting with company executives and other staff members] In 1910, the US was producing ten billion cigarettes a year, by 1930 we were up to one hundred twenty three billion, what happened in between? Three things: a world war, dieting and movies

BR: Movies?

Nick Naylor: In, 1927 talking pictures are born and suddenly directors need to give their actors something to do while their talking, Cary Grant and Carole Lombard lighting up, Bette Davis a “chimney”, and Bogart, remember the first picture with him and Lauren Bacall?

BR: Not specifically

Nick Naylor: She shimmies through the doorway nineteen years old, pure sex, she says “anyone got a match?” and Bogie throws the matches at her, she catches them, greatest romance in the century, how did it start? lighting a cigarette, we need the cast of Will & Grace smoking in their living room, Forrest Gump puffing away between his boxes of chocolates, Hugh Grant earning back the love of Julia Roberts by buying her favorite brand, her Virginia Slims, most of the actors smoke already, when they start doing it onscreen, we can put the sex back into cigarettes.

Meditate on that, while thinking of how to make a COMMERCIAL image.

Happy photo harvesting!

WPC – WEEK 278 – FAMILY

Here it is! The first week of Year 8 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. I asked people to submit a picture that showed what they think, when they think of FAMILY. For the 67th week in a row, we had 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:


WEEK 278 - FAMILY - KIM BARKER
Kim Barker

WEEK 278 - FAMILY - ELIZABETH NORDEEN
Elizabeth Nordeen

WEEK 278 - FAMILY - KIO DETTMAN
Kio Dettman

WEEK 278 - FAMILY - KIO DETTMAN
Kio Dettman

WEEK 278 - FAMILY - KIO DETTMAN
Kio Dettman

WEEK 278 - FAMILY - KIO DETTMAN
Kio Dettman

WEEK 278 - FAMILY - TAMARA PETERSON
Tamara Peterson

WEEK 278 - FAMILY - TAMARA PETERSON
Tamara Peterson

WEEK 278 - FAMILY - CHRISTOPHER D. BENNETT
Christopher D. Bennett

WEEK 278 - FAMILY - MICHELLE HAUPT
Michelle Haupt

WEEL 278 - FAMILY - SHANNON BARDOLE-FOLEY
Shannon Bardole-Foley

WEEL 278 - FAMILY - MICKY AUGUSTIN
Micky Augustin

WEEL 278 - FAMILY - TERESA KAHLER
Teresa Kahler

WEEL 278 - FAMILY - DAWN KRAUSE
Dawn Krause

WEEL 278 - FAMILY - CARLA STENSLAND
Carla Stensland

WEEL 278 - FAMILY - CARLA STENSLAND
Carla Stensland

WEEL 278 - FAMILY - ANGIE DEWAARD
Angie DeWaard

WEEL 278 - FAMILY - CARLA STENSLAND
Carla Stensland

WEEL 278 - FAMILY - ANGIE DEWAARD
Angie DeWaard

WEEL 278 - FAMILY - BECKY PARMELEE
Becky Parmelee

WEEK 278 - FAMILY - ANDY SHARP
Andy Sharp

WEEK 278 - FAMILY - CATHIE RALEY
Cathie Raley

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 279 - COMMERCIAL
COMMERCIAL

COMMERCIAL! The second theme of Year 8 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.

What defines a COMMERCIAL photo? I want you to think of something that you really like. Maybe even love it. Something that you think other people would enjoy or find useful. It could be something that you already sell. Now think about how would you sell it to other people through the language of photography.

While this image, might recall a bit of the old days of magazines (anybody remember magazines, I used to subscribe to 6 or 7 of them), advertising, isn’t the only avenue of sales. For example, the picture that people take and put on dating apps, that is a way of trying to sell yourself.

That is this week’s challenge, to think of something (or even somebody) and try to photograph it in away that other people would think, I want some of that.

You can think of trying to make a COMMERCIAL image for something that is reprehensible like smoking. Here is a quote from a character named Nick Naylor from the movie THANK YOU FOR SMOKING. Nick Naylor is a lobbyist for the tobacco companies and this is an exchange he has during a meeting with tobacco executives:

Nick Naylor: [during a meeting with company executives and other staff members] In 1910, the US was producing ten billion cigarettes a year, by 1930 we were up to one hundred twenty three billion, what happened in between? Three things: a world war, dieting and movies

BR: Movies?

Nick Naylor : In, 1927 talking pictures are born and suddenly directors need to give their actors something to do while their talking, Cary Grant and Carole Lombard lighting up, Bette Davis a “chimney”, and Bogart, remember the first picture with him and Lauren Bacall?

BR: Not specifically

Nick Naylor : She shimmies through the doorway nineteen years old, pure sex, she says “anyone got a match?” and Bogie throws the matches at her, she catches them, greatest romance in the century, how did it start? lighting a cigarette, we need the cast of Will & Grace smoking in their living room, Forrest Gump puffing away between his boxes of chocolates, Hugh Grant earning back the love of Julia Roberts by buying her favorite brand, her Virginia Slims, most of the actors smoke already, when they start doing it onscreen, we can put the sex back into cigarettes.

Meditate on that, while thinking of how to make a COMMERCIAL image.

Then send me you submission(s) by 11 AM next Monday. Remember, while I might consider you FAMILY, 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.

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

That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will all be sharing our idea of COMMERICAL in this maybe not all that sexy place next Monday.

A Little Here, A Little There

This post is mostly a catch-all of cleaning up some image collections taken back in August, that were either going to part of bigger journal entries that I have abandoned or just a few rando pictures taken here and there that I just want to clean up and get out of the way.

The first little collection is pictures taken from church when they presented scholarships to Autumn, Summer, and Jentry:


2020 Scholarship Presentation

2020 Scholarship Presentation

2020 Scholarship Presentation

2020 Scholarship Presentation

2020 Scholarship Presentation

2020 Scholarship Presentation

2020 Scholarship Presentation

2020 Scholarship Presentation

2020 Scholarship Presentation

Church went back to the building in October. They opened all the windows in the sanctuary to increase air circulation. It gets pretty cold in there. Makes me miss warm weather all the more.

The second collection of pictures is of the creamed honey I purchased from Honey Hollow, AKA Shannon and her husband’s business. I got the straight honey, raspberry, and mango. I was going to do a little review and endorsement deal on them, and I still might some day. But I think it is sufficient to say, that it is honey. It is delicious. It doesn’t crystallize because it is creamed.


Honey Hollow Honey

Honey Hollow Honey

Honey Hollow Honey

Honey Hollow Honey

At one point I was going to do an entry on a remote control I bought for the A7 II. I think it is sufficient to say that I bought a remote control and I use it now and again. Usually with long exposures.


A7 II Remote Control

A7 II Remote Control

A7 II Remote Control

A7 II Remote Control

A7 II Remote Control

A7 II Remote Control

Speaking of photo equipment entries I planned and never made. I bought an infrared filter to play with. I have since misplaced this filter. It is one of 3 things in my house that I’m currently keeping an eye out for.


Infrared Filter

Infrared Filter
Test shot.

There there were some night sky photo I took when playing with a new fisheye lens.


Night Sky

Night Sky

Night Sky

Night Sky

I need to do some night photography again before it gets too cold.

Then finally, just a couple rando photos:


Radiation of Happiness - 2020

Beetle

Feels good to get these pictures out there. Real good.