Tuesday, November 30, 2010

11-30-2010



Remember the bike I got on 8-24? After months of Craigslist and eBay hunting, I finally got a pair of the black GT mags I've been wanting to put on it since I bought it. Considering I never win anything on eBay, I was pretty happy to win these. The bike looks much fancier now.

In other news, the 25¢ vending machine gifted me a mini-matching monkey to live on my monitor with my other plastic toys.

In other other news, there's only one more month left for this 365 picture project. I really can't believe I've made it this far. We'll see if I even attempt to make it a 730 picture project...

Monday, November 29, 2010

11-29-2010



Oh, hi! We're tearing apart (and vandalizing) our house again. Hopefully you'll see why soon.

Now I probably shouldn't be doing this, much less posting about it, but I think it's fun so I'm going to anyway. I was getting super bummed out about it getting so dark before I get out of work at this time of year. That is, until I discovered a new game called "Voyeurism." I noticed that my new lens can see super far and into the lit up windows of the office across the street. Have you ever seen the movie Rear Window by Alfred Hitchcock? I'm pretty sure I'll eventually see a shooting or at least a fight or something if I keep playing. I'll be sure to post pictures when I do.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

11-28-2010



I almost took a good picture today. Hopefully I'll be more ready next time we see a giant deer running at full speed down the highway along with traffic. That happens a lot right?

Today, we also saw Harry Potter, an old woman flossing her teeth with both hands while doing 65mph, and this store.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

11-27-2010



Still painting frantically, I started my color layers today. Then we got dressed up to have second Thanksgiving at my family's. My family has a strong resemblance of features. I think it's something right under my nose but I'm not quite sure what. Second Thanksgiving had everything again. I had everything again.

Friday, November 26, 2010

11-26-2010



Black Friday is gross. Nicole and I did our best to avoid ravenous soccer moms beating each other up over $6 DVDs (though that would have made for better pictures), and went shopping in places where they sell fish with antlers.

At the beginning of the year when I was first getting used to not eating meat, all I ever wanted was grilled cheese. Now at the end of the year, all I ever want to eat is eggrolls. I feel proud of the fact that I've discovered the two most unhealthy vegetarian foods on the planet.

11-25-2010



Nicole made these sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving, then we went to her parents so she could help make dinner. This is what her dinner-making outfit looks like. This is what the saying "too many cooks in the kitchen" looks like. I just uselessly sat in the kitchen and watched the grown-ups cook the turkey and cut it up with an electric turkey saw. Since Thanksgiving is so much about the turkey, I decided to cheat today and eat meat without being guilty. Really, I decided to eat everything and not be guilty. See, everything. Then we drove home to teach Mushroom to be thankful for turkey.

P.s. I was not a part of that line of yahoos camping on the sidewalk in front of Best Buy in the rain. We just drove by to make fun of them and take pictures.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

11-24-2010



I took the day off work today to paint all day in preparation for the show I'm in next month.

After Nicole got home, we reenacted one of my high school rituals of eating a ton of Taco Bell in the theater parking lot before going to a see a movie. We saw the new Disney movie Tangled which Nicole loved. There were even children so elated by the movie that they were dancing in the aisles as the credits rolled (super cute). I considered it, but I think I would have had a very difficult time explaining to their parents why a strange man with a moustache was taking pictures of their children at a kid's movie and what a "blog" meant.

Finally, Cleveland has very few things to be proud of, so when we have something even halfway good everyone goes crazy over it. Great Lakes Brewery's Christmas Ale is one such craze-initiating Cleveland thing to be proud of. As a non-beer drinker, I never really got into the hype, but gave it a fair shot tonight when we went to said brewery with friends (Hi, Gina). Yay! Wooo! At least I can palate this one, but I still think beer taste like stale bread water. Go Cleveland!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Monday, November 22, 2010

11-22-2010



The super evil looking pod still looks super evil...especially at night.

(See 10-4, 10-13, and 10-26 if you have no idea what this is about).

11-21-2010



Although a topic of debate for the the last thirty years, it's still not dead.

This is do-whatever-creative-stuff-you-want Craft Night at my house with Tony and Barb. We drawed, painted (yes, I use a plate), clay animal maked, and filled an entire bottle with candy wrappers...all set to the best soundtrack ever. I don't think I've ever linked to other websites on here before, but check out tonypretomusic.tumblr.com and feel jealous that my painting sessions in my basement get a live set from a DJ this awesome.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

11-20-2010



Remember the ring Nicole got in LA on 9-25 and the picture I took on 10-6? They've joined forces to create the nerdiest/cutest/awesomest cat super power ring ever.

I know I blog about/eat at Melt wayyyy too much for my own health and well being, but Nicole got this special Turducken sandwich that they have this weekend only. That's turkey, duck, chicken and bread stuffing grilled cheese, and probably illegal in most civilized nations.

Speaking of other things I do too much regardless of my health and well being, last weekend I posted about Four Loko (which has since been banned by the FDA). To make up for my trashiness, here's the ultra fancy drink of this weekend. Single malt, Cask Strength, OMGZ-best-Scotch-I've-ever-had-this-is-going-to-be-a-good-night-whisky-hooray!

My "because no one is making me wear them" tie collection is growing with $5 vintage ties from the 60s.

Friday, November 19, 2010

11-19-2010



I'm posting this as an extra picture instead of the main one, because I'm really hoping that my day will improve and that a yellow icecube coming out of the dispenser at work isn't the best picture I take all day, but grosss outttt!

So my day did get better thanks to Nicole's craving of Chinese food. A few days ago, I told her about a place I went to for lunch that put mushrooms in its vegetable eggrolls (pretty much the next step in the evolutionary chain of eggrolls), and she's been wanting to go there ever since. In addition to the mushroom eggrolls, they also advertise a vegetarian hot and sour soup (though after looking at hot and sour soup recipies, I'm beginning to suspect false advertising). Regardless, as a non meat-eating person, it's very difficult to find soup that isn't made out of a meat stock so it's very exciting to find places that have soups I can eat.

After dinner, we went to walk around the near by bookstore and have little-kid-quality fun. Inspired by Nicole's super weird fortune cookie fortune, we found a random book on the shelves and left a small note for whoever ends up buying the book. This probably seems really lame to read, but was way more fun than it sounds.

Also, since I have a t-shirt and jeans kind of job, I've been wearing ties just for fun on the weekends. This is only partially inspired by the movie Up.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

11-18-2010



Yesterday, my moustache turned one month old, so I bought it a present. It's grown a ton since 10-17.

This is a sad lonely chocolate covered donut that someone put on the free counter at work. It was there all day and no one wanted to eat it. Its existence initiated a discussion about what type of inside was under the chocolate coating. I naturally assumed it was that dry yellow-cakey inside, but my coworkers seemed to think that it would be chocolate inside and out. Of course, the only solution to this sort of disagreement to make wagers before cutting the donut open to see who was right. The next step of course is to take humiliating photographs of my coworkers doing laps around the office and akwardly doing push ups in the middle of the floor for losing the bet...then posting them on the internet. It was such a good time we that started making more bets involving physical activity as punishment like shooting dry erase markers with a Nerf dart gun. The moral of this story is that my job is pretty much better than yours.

P.s. I had two computers rendering at the same time though the whole office Olympics...I really do work too.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

11-16-2010



The place where I work is "interesting" in a lot of ways. This office is one of my favorite most interesting parts. Not even exaggerating, a lot of the electronics randomly strewn about were worth luxury car/house money when they were brand new.

Monday, November 15, 2010

11-15-2010



The Pizza Hut buffet is a hallowed and unholy lunch time tradition of deliciousness and gluttony. Here are three good ways to get there.

P.s. I can no longer even think about pizza without this Youtube song getting stuck in my head, so I'm spreading this curse around to anyone who reads this (like The Ring, but way creepier). Beware though...this really will haunt your dreams for the rest of your life.

11-14-2010



I don't really spray paint and take pictures, but my moustache may or may not be a permanent fixture at a local skate park now.

This is the perfect end to a very good weekend.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

11-13-2010



So today, Nicole and I went shopping for new fall shoes/boots/stuff. Recently I've been really into dressing kind of boarding school fake preppy so I got some penny loafers. According to the internet, for good luck, you're supposed to put a penny from your birth year in one side and a penny from the year you got the shoes in the other.

Then we went to Charlie's photography show and to see Jesse's paintings with friends. Woody was very excited about the tips/shot money he collected for the after party. A lot of people were excited about the after party and all the manly activites that it entailed. Like going to the gay bar down the street. Woody liked it, Victor not so much.

11-12-2010



We went to a local design company's open house show to go snoop around and see their cool custom designed studio space, but we got there a little too early and it's kind of awkward snooping around when you're the only people at the show. So naturally, we just ran away down the street to the Happy Dog for dinner.

Luckily, my fried Matthew's band Running just so happened to be in town and playing at a party house/show space called The Cool Ranch. Now I know I've previously ranted about my love of divey hole in the wall concert venues as opposed to nice clean ones like the House of Blues (I think this was brought on last time Matthew was in town actually). House shows are even better. Instead of having to deal with a cash bar, you get to do fun things like get booze from a gas station on the way and drink out of bags like a homeless person. My gas station selection was a Blue Raspberry Four Loko. Touted as a "blackout in a can" college student killer, and on the verge of being pulled from the shelves/already illegal in some states, I thought that this energy drink with booze in it would a perfect pairing for the occasion. Unfortunately, I failed to consider how much sugar (60 grams) they put in the stuff. Although the alcohol, caffeine, and other nasty stuff did their best to make me loko, I think my high blood sugar issues directly canceled any and all effects and I might as well have drank a bottle of neon blue colored water. At least the show was a blast.

P.s. Lou Dobkins seconds the motion that the House of Blues sucks, and that girl watches Adventure Time so we all know that she can't be wrong.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

11-11-2010



Nicole likes calico things, so this is for her.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

11-9-2010



The only thing more sophisticated (read "super trashy") than a real moustache is a silhouetted moustache in profile.

11-8-2010



This is pretty much exactly what it looks like.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

11-7-2010



I would consider today a pretty typical weekend for us. We went to a camera show at a hotel and I saw lots of fancy (nerd) things I couldn't buy (you're seeing that fanny pack right? That about sums up the camera show). Then we went and explored a haunted castle...you know, normal stuff.

No peeking yet, but I started new oil paintings for a show next month. I sure hope I can finish them with enough time for them to dry.

p.s. The main picture doesn't really do Nicole's jump justice, so here's a crop of her Mary Poppins leap.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

11-6-2010



Have you ever wondered what a rainbow and a sunset would look like if they happened at the same time? I never even considered it until I saw it happen tonight. It was exciting.

We saw the rainbow while driving down the highway after we were by the lake taking pictures. We had spontaneously decided to check to see who was playing at The Beachland Ballroom tonight and were pleasantly surprised. Now you may or may not know, but I've developed a strong affinity for super hillbilly hoedown bluegrass music. I think it stems from my past interest in the railroads and train hopping hobos, and my current obsession with road trip traveling across the desert to the middle of nowhere (while wearing a cowboy hat). Regardless of the origins, Trampled By Turtles, one of my current favorite bands in this genre just so happened to be playing tonight. They have a fiddler, a mandolin player that wears overalls, a banjo, and a singer that looks like my friend Jon. The Infamous String Dusters were also playing. They have a slide guitar player and a stand up bass player refuses to stand anywhere bright and will only play in the darkest corners of the stage.

Friday, November 5, 2010

11-5-2010



WTFOMGGTFO it's snowing. Like for real snowing a lot. Like staying on the ground and not melting snowing. It's like the physical form of depression falling from the sky.

On a brighter note, I often collect small random gifts throughout my day at work that I stuff into my camera bag and bring back to present to Nicole when I get home. Today's haul included a fortune cookie, an individually wrapped rice crispy treat, and two small plastic toys from a vending machine.

p.s. I took the last picture with the "free lens technique"...it's pretty fun.
p.p.s. that squirrel looks like it has a bra on it's face.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

11-4-2010



As I was leaving work today, there was some precipitation on my windshield so I mindlessly and innocently turned on the wipers. Much to my shock and disappointment, I saw a line of this go across my window. We are no longer in Hawaii and that is not shave ice. I do not approve.

Totally unrelated, I was reading today about the "free lens technique" of detaching the lens from the camera and moving it around separately to throw off the focal plane/kind of work like macro extension tubes without the tubes. This is the most interesting one I came up with.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

11-3-2010



Look closely at these hands. These are exquisite professional male hand model hands.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

11-2-2010



The tattoo healing process is the worst. My whole office smells like Dial soap and I have a Y2K-esque stash of bottled water on my desk so I can ritualistically wash and moisturize my leg...every few hours...for the next two weeks...as if I wasn't OCD enough as it is.

Monday, November 1, 2010

11-1-2010



Although we made it home in time to hand out candy last night, we missed the main onslaught of children that were supposed to consume the festive saturated fats and carbohydrates sitting in the giant plastic bowl in our house. This is not a good thing for a pre-diabetic person like myself.

I know I've been posting way too many nerdy cat pictures, but this one is special. We have an electronic fountain that's supposed to filter and aerate our cat's water. I recognize that this is a grossly lavish application of technology, and that there are many human beings with a lower quality of drinking water in many places around the world. I'm ok with that. Those humans aren't fluffy and don't curl up on my legs when I'm watching TV. In anycase, we know that the cats use said device since we're constantly having to refill it, but I don't ever actually see them drinking from it, and if they are they just drink out of the bowl part where the water collects. So look everyone! (who I'm sure doesn't care). They do actually use the flowing part.