2-4-2011

I eat at/blog about Melt too much I know, but today I had an unbelievable sandwich even from them. This is what a sandwich with eggs, bacon, cheese and waffles for bread...dipped in pancake batter and deep fried looks like.

So clearly, I'm crazy and obsessive about things like Melt. I'm aware and resigned to this fact. I'm also crazy and obsessive about a bunch other things. Since I'm just staying in this Friday night to rest up and not be sick...here's a short macro tour of weird things I'm into. These are just a few things that were around and easy to take pictures of...there are many more.

Selvedge denim (pictured above) - This finished edge along the seam is the indication of an esoteric weaving process that no one on earth but textile nerds really care about. To everyone normal, they're just jeans. I care.

Polarized lenses - Just like a polarizing filter for a camera, this little P is supposed to magically block reflection and glare and help you see though walls. I sure hope it's all true for how much I paid for the little guy.

Patterened wovens - I own far too many variations of the same plaid, gingham, check, whatever shirts. They almost all have the nerdy little detail on the sleeve. I like this.

Gripper strap - my new Domke bag has little bits of rubber woven into the underside of the strap so it doesn't slip off your shoulder. I feel that this is in contention for one of the greatest inventions ever, and that this feature alone will make me a life long Domke user.

Random old stuff - If you've read this blog at all before you already know this about me.

Grey dots, orange middles, and Prestos - If you know, then you know. They each have their own time and place.

Camera lenses with 1:1.x f-stops - Nothing gets me all worked up like fast primes...I want to be buried with mine when I die.

This is a really strange one (don't judge me) - Ever since we got our first cat Sienna, I've been in the habit of collecting shed whiskers. Now that we have two cats, we get both black and white.

Bonus: Since I'm putting myself on blast, Nicole has awesome little quirky collections too. Here's just one that I saw as I was running around documenting mine.

Movie tickets - This is the stub for every movie Nicole and I saw together since we've known each other (except for whatever is still in her purse). These are all stored in a metal container that Nicole made by hand in college. Not only are her collections superior and thorough, they're far more organized.

2-3-2011

I'm stuck at work late tonight. And by that I really mean...I get to have dinner with my good friend Chester Cheetah at a Ritzy restaurant called "Mon
Bureau." The waiter is French.

Am I the only person who thinks Cheetos look like clubs that tiny cavemen would use to bludgeon their prey with?

2-2-2011

Provisions.

This is where I sprung a leak when they drained me yesterday.

2-1-2011

Hey look! Those are my insides. Don't my bones look cool? I went to the doctor's office today just to get drugs, but they made me put on this fashionable shirt and pose for the fancy camera again. They also drained my blood, but I was too busy being terrified to get any pictures.

1-31-2011

So I'm officially sick again. I don't understand how I hadn't been sick since high school, then suddenly get pneumonia twice. It's kind of like how I never got speeding tickets forever, then got three in a row. In any case, when I'm sick I drink tea. This is pretty much the only time I drink tea. Squeezing the last drops out of the teabag with the string is my favorite part.

Then I went home and slept all night. Nicole however stayed more productive. Remember the curtains I was making fun of on 1-18? They've been replaced by these ones that Nicole made all by her self.

1-30-2011

Sundays are really just for sleeping in and brunch. I managed avoid meat, but I love you more than bacon. Nicole loves coffee and misses it when she doesn't have any.

Nicole is always up to something.

1-29-2011

So last weekend, we went to Akron to try a locally famous cheeseburger place. This weekend, Nicole insisted we continue the tour and go to Skyway Drive-In to eat more cheeseburgers. I'm a big fan of classic Americana style fast food drive-ins where you park outside and they run to the car to take your order. I'm especially fond of the trays that attach to your car kind of like the speakers at a drive-in movie theater. Now the thing about Skyway is that its territory overlaps with that of Swensons. Bloods/Crips, Coke/Pepsi, Nikon/Canon...you know the deal. While impressed that their cheeseburgers were very good, way better than 90% of popular national fast food chains, Swensons still wins for sure. Between the signature burgers, The Gally Boy is just better than the Sky Hi (pictured above), and the onion rings and fried mushrooms just seemed too oily at Skyway. I would still say that this place is worth checking out though.

As not to exclusively blog about food all the time, here's an arty and pretty typical picture of Nicole from today.

1-28-2011

This is Fitz and the Tantrums. We went to see them tonight and I took lots of pictures. Like probably too many pictures. Really though, it's sort of like "shooting fish in a barrel" when everyone is under colorful lights and the singer thinks he's pretty and likes to perform for a camera. Don't get me wrong, I think he's pretty too, and loved that he played it up for pictures. I just ended up with a memory card full of funny faces like this and this and this. I think another reason that I took a million pictures of a dude was because he reminds me of Morrissey but with a white stripe in his hair instead of pompadour. So here are some more. I think that's all of them anyway.

The girl on the other hand moved around all over the place the whole time when she wasn't singing. The only time I really got a picture that wasn't blurry was when she was drinking water. Well maybe not the only time.

The rest of the Tantrums were fun to take pictures of too. This is saxophone guy. He played the flute too, but I only got him when he was playing this. They also stepped on things. It was this guy's birthday.

The show was super fun though, and I would definitely go to see them again.

It was pretty late by the time we were going home, and I could only think of one worthwhile place on the way that was open...but it's so worthwhile. This is Whitmores a.k.a. barbecued meat heaven. It may look unassuming, but don't underestimate it. This is so serious. I keep saying I'm not going to apologize for eating meat this year, but eating that as a bedtime snack is just plain wrong.

1-27-2011

So I'm starting to get sick. It's just a little cold, but by default, my ailment entitles me to getting whatever sort of junk food that makes me feel better. Gummy peach rings are the obvious choice of a pre-diabetic. Ironically, we also took Nicole's wedding ring to get cleaned tonight. Hopefully high fructose corn syrup and artificial peach flavoring will add to the natural beauty of shiny stones and metal.

1-26-2011

The waitresses at this place are serious about footwear.

1-25-2011

So taking a picture every single day is pretty difficult. Especially because we don't really do anything that exciting on weeknights when everything outside is dead and frozen. So sometimes I have to improvise...and by that I mean create situations that I think are funny to take pictures of...like forcing Nicole to try to do a pull up. So dear three people that actually read this blog, you should feel very appreciated in light of what we do for your daily reading entertainment (and by "we" I mean Nicole).

1-24-2011

A giant snow plow needs a giant truck to push it around. I commute home with UFOs.

1-23-2011

This is a ball named "Shirley". I picked it because I thought that a ball with a proper name would help me not suck at bowling. Yay, we randomly went bowling! I also selected a hippie acid trip ball as a back up, but the finger holes were super weird, and like most other hippies, it was kind of a loser. "Shirley" however did come though and gave me a strike on my first shot. That didn't last long at all though and I'm still a terrible bowler. Nicole's technique emphasises finger position (on the wrong hand). We're both pretty serious bowlers. Nicole looks official and makes strikes.

Now you may be wondering, why is this cute tiny girl in a huge giant truck?. It's for the same reason a scrawny Asian boy is taking pictures in a huge warehouse. What's a fireplace without something awesome to sit on in front of it?. After receiving our fireplace a month and a half late, Nicole got her birthday present two months early and got a leather sofa. We still have some work to do, but this is what our basement looks like now. This is really about as classy as I ever get. Nicole on the other hand looks like an Urban Outfitters model.

P.s. Hi!

1-22-2011

So way way back on 12-4-10, Nicole and I ordered a fireplace as our big "Christmas present." The place we bought it from apparently doesn't celebrate major winter holidays...or new years...or my birthday...or appointments that they scheduled for that matter, and decided to make us wait until now to get their act together. Today a man named Paris came to our house to bring us our post-MLK day-present. We got to anxiously and excitedly wait for four hours while he did his stuff. I took this opportunity to take pictures of birds and harass (X-Files) Nicole. After 1,928,340 pictures of her eyeball a obnoxiously close range...we had a fireplace! See! Fire!

After waiting (starving) for hours, we went adventuring to a place I had heard about a long time ago but hadn't gone to since I wasn't eating meat. I would still consider myself a 95% of the time vegetarian. This is what happens for the other five percent. The place is called Louie's Bar and Grille and is considered a classic Akron establishment for the best burgers for over 10 years. They aren't kidding (though I'm still pulling for Swensons as the best cheeseburger in the area America). I love small, independently owned places full of character like this. Unfortunately, the place is closing due to sad circumstances, and today may be their very last day of operation. We'll miss you, Louie's. Even though we just met today, you made my first cheeseburger in months even better.