Category Archives: Macro

The Prodigal

September 12, 2024 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

I’ve been sick and tired
Of being sick and tired
Searching far and wide
For something that feels real
I need something real
I don’t want to lose my soul
Chasing after things that don’t lead
Me straight to you
I’m lost in the feeling
That I ain’t from this world
Going Back to Eden
Ain’t gonna be easy
But it leads me straight to you
Now I’m running home
Like the Prodigal
I don’t need the money
I don’t want the fame
I don’t want what I can’t take
With me in the grave
I don’t want to lose my soul
Chasing after things that don’t lead
Me straight to you
I’m lost in the feeling
That I ain’t from this world
Going Back to Eden
Ain’t gonna be easy
But it leads me straight to you
Now I’m running home
Like the Prodigal
I don’t want to lose my soul
Chasing after things that don’t lead
Me straight to you
I don’t want to lose my gaze
When I meet you face to face
Well done, welcome home
Now I’m running home,
Like the prodigal
I’m lost in the feeling
that I ain’t from this world
The Going Back to Eden
Ain’t gonna be easy
But it leads me straight to you
Now I’m running home
Like the Prodigal
Lost in the feeling
That I ain’t from this world
The Going Back to Eden
Ain’t gonna be easy
But it leads me straight to you
Now I’m running home
Like the Prodigal
-Written by Jared Condon & Josiah Queen
-Performed by Josiah Queen

Once again not a romantic song, but a love song. Not “eros” love. Not “philia” love. Not “storge” love. But “agape” love. Either way, it is a song I have been feeling lately.

But Thursdays are for flowers. Here are some pictures of the peonies in my yard.

A couple of bonus Bokeh pictures taken on the same day thrown in there. Next Thursday’s flowertography session will mostly involve daisies. Maybe only daisies.

Bokeh, Flowers, Macro

Closer to the Heart

September 5, 2024 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

And the men who hold high places
Must be the ones who start
To mold a new reality
Closer to the heart
Closer to the heart

The blacksmith and the artist
Reflect it in their art
They forge their creativity
Closer to the heart
Yes closer to the heart

Philosophers and ploughmen
Each must know his part
To sow a new mentality
Closer to the heart
Yes closer to the heart, yeah

You can be the captain
And I will draw the chart
Sailing into destiny
Closer to the heart
Closer to the heart

Well closer to the heart, yeah
Closer to the heart
Closer to the heart

I said closer to the heart
Well closer to the heart yeah
Closer to your heart
Closer to your heart
-Written by Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, Neil Peart and Peter Talbot
-Performed by Rush

I think this is the closest to a love song Rush ever recorded. It will work.

But Thursdays are for flowers. This flowertography session took place in my yard.

Next Thursday’s flowertography session also took place in my yard.

Birthdays, Bokeh, Flowers, Macro, Vest

Hello

August 29, 2024 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

Today is Vest’s birthday so I need to wish him a happy birthday.

Happy birthday Vest!

I hope your birthday is filled with travels and not too much work!

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“Hello”

I’ve been alone with you
Inside my mind
And in my dreams I’ve kissed your lips
A thousand times
I sometimes see you
Pass outside my door

Hello!
Is it me you’re looking for?
I can see it in your eyes
I can see it in your smile
You’re all I’ve ever wanted
And my arms are open wide
‘Cause you know just what to say
And you know just what to do
And I want to tell you so much
I love you

I long to see the sunlight in your hair
And tell you time and time again
How much I care
Sometimes I feel my heart will overflow

Hello!
I’ve just got to let you know
‘Cause I wonder where you are
And I wonder what you do
Are you somewhere feeling lonely?
Or is someone loving you?
Tell me how to win your heart
For I haven’t got a clue
But let me start by saying I love you

Hello!
Is it me you’re looking for?
‘Cause I wonder where you are
And I wonder what you do
Are you somewhere feeling lonely?
Or is someone loving you?
Tell me how to win your heart
For I haven’t got a clue
But let me start by saying I love you
-Written and performed by Lionel Richie

Just another great song from 1984 and one of the flat out creepiest music videos ever made!

But Thursdays are for flowers! This flowertography session took place in my yard:

I thought I would also share some photos of Bokeh I took on the same day. This marked about 1 week of having Bokeh:

She has been a great help with the upkeep of my flowers…

Flowers, Macro

Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)

August 22, 2024 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

How can I just let you walk away?
Just let you leave without a trace?
When I stand here taking every breath, with you, ooh
You’re the only one who really knew me at all

How can you just walk away from me
When all I can do is watch you leave?
‘Cause we’ve shared the laughter and the pain and even shared the tears
You’re the only one who really knew me at all

So take a look at me now
Oh, there’s just an empty space
And there’s nothing left here to remind me
Just the memory of your face

Ooh, take a look at me now
Well, there’s just an empty space
And you coming back to me is against the odds
And that’s what I’ve got to face

I wish, I could just make you turn around
Turn around and see me cry
There’s so much I need to say to you, so many reasons why
You’re the only one who really knew me at all

So take a look at me now
Well, there’s just an empty space
And there’s nothin’ left here to remind me
Just the memory of your face

Now take a look at me now
‘Cause there’s just an empty space
But to wait for you, is all I can do
And that’s what I’ve gotta face

Take a good look at me now
‘Cause I’ll still be standing here
And you coming back to me is against all odds
It’s the chance I’ve gotta take

Take a look at me now
-Written and Performed by Phil Collins

Thought I would go back to 1984 (which was a complete crap year) and see if there were as many bangers on the charts. And it might have been an even better year than 1985. For one thing, FOOTLOOSE was in the theaters. So all of its great songs were hitting the charts.

Look at this list of #1 songs from 1984:

“Say Say Say” – Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson
“Owner of a Lonely Heart” – Yes
“Karma Chameleon” – Culture Club
“Jump” – Van Halen
“Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)” – Phil Collins
“Hello” – Lionel Richie
“Let’s Hear It for the Boy” – Deniece Williams
“Time After Time” – Cyndi Lauper
“The Reflex” – Duran Duran
“When Doves Cry” – Prince
“Ghostbusters” – Ray Parker Jr.
“What’s Love Got to Do With It” – Tina Turner
“Missing You” – John Waite
“Let’s Go Crazy” – Prince and the Revolution
“I Just Called to Say I Love You” – Stevie Wonder
“Caribbean Queen (No More Love on the Run)” – Billy Ocean
“Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” – Wham!
“Out of Touch” – Daryl Hall and John Oates
“Like a Virgin” – Madonna

Banger after banger after banger!

But the song for this entry’s title… one of my favorite songs of all time. Perhaps my favorite Phil Collins song, but it is tough to choose just one. This song was released for a movie of the same name. That movie has been completely forgotten, but this song will never be forgotten.

And the punchline in a great joke:

People said I’d never get over my obsession with Phil Collins.
But take a look at me now.

It is also instrumental in one of my all-time favorite episodes of “This American Life”. But if you want to know about that, you’ll have to ask me about it.

But Thursdays are for flowers. Today’s flowertography collection will involve flowers from my yard.

Next Thursday’s flowertography collection will also feature flowers from my yard.

Art, Black & White, Bokeh, Contests, Flowers, Lowell, Macro, Nature, Ruins, State Fair, Still Life, Tenderloining, Teresa

Food Truckin’: Winery Field Work

August 18, 2024 Christopher D. Bennett

By the time this publishes, I will be in possession of my entries to the Iowa State Fair Photography Salon. So it is safe to reveal what pictures got entered and what picture got shown the door. Which picture was told “You’re no good. Get outta here kid. You got no future!” I bet when the rejected image is revealed, there will be more than a few haters out there that will be filled with joy. That is okay. Marty McFly would go on to revolutionize rock music. Some day my photography will do the same.

Here is what I entered:

Class 11 – Colored Leading Lines – Selected for Display – Honorable Mention

Class 17 – Color Flowers, Plants & Trees – Not Selected for Display

Class 18 – Color Animals, Insects, & Wildlife – Selected for Display

Class 23 – Black & White Places & Landscapes – Selected for Display

This is where I tell you that next year I will put more effort into selecting my submissions. I might even look for the opinions of others. And like the mooks that you guys are, you will totally believe me. Then next year in June I will panic and select and order all my pictures in about an hours worth of time. Any ways, it was a good enough showing this year.

+++++++

Back in May Teresa and I met Lowell, Leah, and the rest of the Davis fan out at The Cellar Winery to watch the great Shannon Curfman rock the vineyard. A bonus to the fantastic music was food trucks. One food truck sold grinders which meant your boy had a chance to continue his quest to find a replacement for the grinder from Jennie’s Grinders. Widely, nay, universally considered the finest grinder the world has ever know.

Here are some pictures from the evening:

Mojo Grinders

Lowell and Leah checking out Shannon Curfman merch.

The grinder ended up being a little blah, but the onion rings were the truth!

It could have been better, but I still crushed it!

The cookie was dang good too!

Shannon!

Leah got this funnel cake monstrosity. I didn’t try it, but I bet it was deliciousness personified!

A sign in the winery that I found amusing.

The ultimate verdict. It was an okay grinder, but not transcendent. The quest to find a replacement for Jennie’s Grinder will indeed continue. They need to take the kick up a notch and lightly toasted isn’t the way to go for a grinder. As you can tell in the picture the cheese isn’t fully melted. A grinder needs some texture.

But I would eat it again, but if Mojo Grinders comes back into my sphere of influence, I would probably try something else on the menu. Probably the Porker. I definitely get onion rings again. And that parmesan garlic sauce was fantastic!

Next Sunday, I will cover my State Fair food experience OR a food truck that I had up at Fridays on the Green! You will have to wait and see. I know… the suspense is already killing you. Can you imagine what it is doing to me!

Flowers, Macro

Take on Me

August 15, 2024 Christopher D. Bennett 1 Comment

We’re talking away
I don’t know what I’m to say
I’ll say it anyway
Today is another day to find you
Shyin’ away
Oh, I’ll be comin’ for your love, okay

Take on me
(Take on me)
Take me on
(Take on me)
I’ll be gone
In a day or two

So needless to say
I’m odds and ends
But I’ll be stumblin’ away
Slowly learnin’ that life is okay
Say after me
It’s no better to be safe than sorry

Take on me
(Take on me)
Take me on
(Take on me)
I’ll be gone
In a day or two

All the things that you say, yeah
Is it life or just to play my worries away?
You’re all the things I’ve got to remember
You’re shyin’ away
I’ll be comin’ for you anyway

Take on me
(Take on me)
Take me on
(Take on me)
I’ll be gone
In a day
(Take on me)
(Take on me)
(Take me on)
(Take on me)
I’ll be gone
(Take on me)
In a day
(Take me on)
(Take on me)
(Take on me)
(Take on me)
(Take me on)
(Take on me)
-Written by Magne Furuholmen / Morten Harket / Pal Waaktaar
-Performed by a-ha

Just another absolute banger from 1985. It was Number 1 for exactly 1 week. The week of October 19. It replaced “Oh Sheila” by Ready for the World and then was replaced by “Saving All My Love for You” by Whitney Houston.

But Thursdays are for flowers! While trying to figure out how many pictures I still had left from 2023 to edit and share, I came across this flower collection that I had missed. So this collection is actually from 2023.

Next week we will be back to 2024 pictures, I’m pretty sure!

Adam, Baby Got Rack, Boone County Fair, Candid Portrait, Contests, Logan, Macro, Still Life, Teresa

Tall & Meaty – Boone County Fair – 2024

August 11, 2024 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

If you are at the State Fair on Tuesday morning swing down to the Grand Concourse. Logan will be competing in the Barbecue Contest. He completely dominated the Boone County Fair competition to earn a berth at the Iowa State Fair. He won Turkey, Pork, and Beef. His Turkey took home the Grand Champion. However, he will be entering Beef on Tuesday at the State Fair.

Here are some pictures from the day:

Boone County Fair Barbecue Contest - 2024

It was a pretty great day and big congrats to Logan! Last year’s Boone County Fair was his first barbecue competition. It didn’t go the way he wanted. He went back to the lab. Put in the work. Now he is going to the State Fair.

I’m not sure what is on his calendar for the rest of the year. I believe both Tall and Meaty will be back together for a contest in Guthrie Center later this year. I’m not sure if there is a Barbecue Contest for Pufferbilly Days this year, but if there is one, I’m sure Tall and Meaty will be there too.

If you are wondering about Baby Got Rack. Scott couldn’t do the County Fair this year because he had a catering gig. It has been a couple of years since Baby Got Rack has dipped their toes in the competitive barbecue world. I don’t know if we are retired forever, or if there is a comeback is in the cards. Only time will tell.

Flowers, Lensbaby, Macro

Yum Yum Breakfast Burrito

August 1, 2024 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

Yum Yum, Yum Yum
Yum Yum, Yum Yum

Yum Yum, breakfast burrito
Yum Yum, breakfast burrito
Yum Yum, breakfast burrito
Yum Yum, breakfast burrito

Breakfast burrito, you’re hot and you’re yummy
You fill up my tummy with hugs
Breakfast burrito, you’re easy to eat
When I’m driving a car or a bus
Breakfast burrito, every time that you’re gone
I get sad, and don’t know what to do
Breakfast burrito, I’m in love, I’m in love
I’m in love, I’m in love with you

Yum Yum, breakfast burrito
Yum Yum, breakfast burrito
Yum Yum, breakfast burrito
Yum Yum, breakfast burrito

Oh, you’re so much better than a regular burrito
They should call a regular burrito a nighttime breakfast burrito!
Breakfast burrito, you’re fueling my dreams
With your morning time beans, alright
Breakfast burrito, when I’m lying in bed
Well, I think about you all night
Breakfast burrito, there’s a sparkling rainbow-y smile
In every bite I chew
Breakfast burrito, I’m in love, I’m in love, oh I’m still in love with you

Yum Yum, breakfast burrito
Yum Yum, breakfast burrito
Yum Yum, breakfast burrito
Yum Yum, breakfast burrito
Yum Yum, breakfast burrito
Yum Yum, breakfast burrito

Yum Yum, Yum Yum
-By Parry P Gripp

“Yum Yum Breakfast Burrito” might not seem like your typical love song, but at this point in my life I don’t know if a lyric has slapped me across the side of the face and said “I see you” more than “Breakfast burrito, you’re hot and you’re yummy. You fill up my tummy with hugs”.

Parry P Gripp is the artist I didn’t know that I needed in my life. A couple of Saturdays ago I spent almost the entire day at the Boone County Fair. First helping Logan setup. Then working the Boone First United Methodist Church hospitality booth. Then, judging the photo contest. Then helping and documenting Logan’s barbecue contest conquest.

Straight across from where almost all of this went down every few hours was a foam party for little kids. During this party, they would play plenty of little kids music. Including an undeniable banger called “Pancake Robot”. Such a great song that I told Adam that I was going to have to track down this song and maybe make it my ringtone on my phone.

When I got home and researched it, I discovered that this Parry Gripp guy is the lead singer of the band Nerf Herder. A band that did gain some notoriety in 1996 for the hit “Van Halen”.

While “Pancake Robot” will always be my #1 Parry Gripp jam, I soon came across and fell in love with the bop that is “Yum Yum Breakfast Burrito”. I immediately took to Snapchat and shared its infection groove with like my 15 or so top SnapChat buds.

The acclaim that came back was nearly universal. Shannon even turned me onto another Parry Gripp song about waffles!

The one person that dared to badmouth the song was Mindi. So now Mindi is on freeze out. Until she makes amends or gets better taste in music. Whichever comes first.

But Thursdays are for flowers! This flowertography session is the final collection of flower pictures I took in Pella.

The next Thursday flowertography session will be flowers from my yard.

Fisheye, Flowers, Lensbaby, Macro

Can’t Fight this Feeling

July 25, 2024 Christopher D. Bennett Leave a comment

I can’t fight this feeling any longer
And yet I’m still afraid to let it flow
What started out as friendship has grown stronger
I only wish I had the strength to let it show

I tell myself that I can’t hold out forever
I said there is no reason for my fear
‘Cause I feel so secure when we’re together
You give my life direction
You make everything so clear

And even as I wander
I’m keeping you in sight
You’re a candle in the window
On a cold, dark winter’s night
And I’m getting closer than I ever thought I might

And I can’t fight this feeling anymore
I’ve forgotten what I started fighting for
It’s time to bring this ship into the shore
And throw away the oars, forever

‘Cause I can’t fight this feeling anymore
I’ve forgotten what I started fightin’ for
And if I have to crawl upon the floor
Come crashing through your door
Baby, I can’t fight this feeling anymore

My life has been such a whirlwind since I saw you
I’ve been running ’round in circles in my mind
And it always seems that I’m followin’ you, girl
‘Cause you take me to the places
That alone I’d never find

And even as I wander
I’m keeping you in sight
You’re a candle in the window
On a cold, dark winter’s night
And I’m getting closer than I ever thought I might

And I can’t fight this feeling anymore
I’ve forgotten what I started fightin’ for
It’s time to bring this ship into the shore
And throw away the oars, forever

‘Cause I can’t fight this feeling anymore
I’ve forgotten what I started fightin’ for
And if I have to crawl upon the floor
Come crashing through your door
Baby, I can’t fight this feeling anymore
Ooh
-Written by Kevin Patrick Cronin
-Performed by REO Speedwagon

Thought I would pick this song cause it was from the same year as “I Want to Know What Love Is”. It was #1 from March 9 – March 23 of 1985. REO Speedwagon was the first concert I ever went to. I’m told I slept through almost all of it.

But Thursdays are for flowers. Time for more Pella flowers!

Still more Pella flowers left to share!

Flowers, Lensbaby, Macro, Road Trip

When I’m Alone

July 18, 2024 Christopher D. Bennett 2 Comments

I turned my back
You were gone in a flash
Like you always do
You’ve always gone off
Somewhere else

And when the phone rang
And I thought it was you
And I sprung like a kid
Who just got out of school
But it’s almost
Always never you
Never you

I scream like a child
My insides went wild

When I’m alone with you, you make me feel, you make me feel
When I’m alone with you, you are the one, you are the one
When I reach out and I only grab air
And it kills me to think
That you never did care and it’s hopeless
You’ve always run off somewhere else
I’m throwing a tantrum
Why are you such a phantom

When I’m alone with you, you make me feel, you make me feel
When I’m alone with you, you are the one, you are the one

When I’m alone with you, you make me feel, you make me feel
When I’m alone with you, you are the one, you are the one

Reminds me of home
When you’re around me
Next time you leave
Don’t go without me
No, don’t go, no!

When I’m alone with you, you make me feel, you make me feel
When I’m alone with you, you are the one, you are the one
-Written by Julian Emery, Elisabeth-Maurus, & James Lawrence Irving
-Performed by Lissie

I’ve recently been watching “Loudermilk”, a great show about the recovery community, and the third season features Lissie as a musician that gave up on her music dreams. It really got me into her music lately. And the music of Ben Rogers. Who is also great as an aspiring musician.

It is a show that has been of the air for a few years now, but I recommend it. It is currently streaming on Netflix.

But Thursdays are for flowers. Time for more tulip pictures from my trip to Pella.