PSH #5

Kristi over at Photo Hunt Challenges is posting a PSH every other month - August is the month, so here it is.  

I'll be doing everything the same as before; posting the list and adding pictures as I get them.

(Click HERE to see the list of participants)

20 Items:

1. A Fountain - Downtown Minneapolis

2. A Road or Pathway - A path down the winding stairs

3. A Fence

4. A Symbol

5. A Black & White Photo - Top of the Witch's Hat Tower

6. A Clunker Car - The remains of a race car

7. A Cool Car

8. A Portrait - My Buddy Joey painted this of me last summer

9. Amusement - tell me this is not amusing :)

10. Back to School

11. Urban/ City - Minneapolis

12. Suburban - Townhouses (Little Boxes)

13. Country/Rural - Silo

14. Something Domestic - Locally Grown Wine (on-a-stick) @ The State Fair

15. Something Wild - Wild Grapes

16. Something Silver - Padlock (notice anything unusual about it?)

17. Something Gold - Mickey's Fine Malt Liquor

18. Something Shiny - Diamonds (or are they?)

19. Something Miniature - Eiffel Tower (I swear it's miniature!)

20. Something Delicious - SAKE!

New Banner 8.28.09

Well, it's as finished as it's going to be before I start to get sick of working on it and never post it because I've grown to hate it (I have a few WIP banners that will never be posted because I've spent so much time working on them that I now despise them).  This one, for whatever reason, seems to be lacking in quality now that it's posted on the site, but whatever... I've played too much trying to make it work.

This one took some time, I'll tell ya!  Gotta love PS tutorials :)

I'll update my picture once I get a good one of me with the new haircut... could be awhile.

Hope you guys like the new look... it's pretty simple, kind of.

UE: Second Attempt

Second Attempt: Gasoline Alley

Let me precede this entire blog by saying that I may have gone over-board in PS again... but I really dig this look for my UE adventures.

So far my partner in crime and I are 2 for 2 in our UE missions.

Gasoline Alley is a place a vividly remember as being a huge part of my childhood.  When we lived NE, it always seemed like such a far drive out to Blaine for Go-Karts, but so worth it!  It was a special treat each time; one I never took for granted.  Since GA closed their doors back in the early 21st Century I've always wondered what will come of the space left behind.  Well, as it turns out, to this day everything remains almost untouched.  The building remains, along with the track and bumper boat pool... the mini-golf course is quite grown over with trees/weeds/grass - it was hard to take a picture and clearly see that it had been mini-golf at one point.  The go-karts are gone and only a few bumper boats remain, as you will see in my photos.  All photos you are about to see are of the outside, the building is completely boarded up and on this day, it was [next to] impossible to get inside.

{click on any picture to enlarge}

Standing on the bridge that crosses over the race track:

Remember waiting in that line?

The only remaining race car carcass

Walking around the race track didn't really offer much for photos, however I did snap a few:

In my expert opinion, the bumper boats had the most to offer for interesting things to see:

As you enter the area, the ferris wheel used to be covered with a blue tarp (see ground)

Can't really say we were breaking any rules; they were asking us to come in ;)

Remains of boats...

As mentioned above, the mini-golf course was pretty uneventful:

The 'greens' had a new color green on top of them

I was just glad to see someone was still using the garbage cans

Just an FYI for everyone, I am posting pictures on my Shutterfly (more than what I've put on here) - if you want to check them out, go for it.  I have a tab at the top of the page called Urban Exploring, click on that and it will take you to the albums.  If you want to become a member of my site, just click to become one (accounts are free), then it will send you weekly emails ONLY if I add or update my site in that weeks time.

{real-life} Adventures in Babysitting

So, coming up in exactly 20 days (so far yet so close) I will begin babysitting my niece for 6 days.  I'm taking time off work and everything, so it's a 24 hours a day shindig!  I'm freaking out!

Jordan is 2 now and talking more than ever.  She can't say every word perfectly yet, but boy does she try!  My brother and Brooke encourage her to "use your words, Jordan" rather than allowing her to point; probably a good thing.

In trying to prepare for the 6 days, of what I'm hoping will be full of joy but realistically know will be hell, I've been doing little babysitting stints.  A couple hours here, a few hours there... I think I mentioned that a few blogs ago.  It gives Jordan the chance to get comfortable with me and it gives me the chance to get comfortable with her.  Overall it's a good thing, even though it's exhausting, especially after a day of working my actual job.

She is a doll... full of energy.. but adorable.  I finally figured out last night one thing she kept saying to me: "Hamma?  Hamma, Auntie? Pees" (Pees is Please) I hadn't been able to figure it out, but last night she added "backpack" to the "Hamma" and I figure out she was trying to say "Camera".  Do you think it's good or bad that my niece associates me with my "Hamma"?
The one thing that sucks about being over there and having my camera out is the lighting... there is not a lot of natural light, so I get blurry pictures.  If I use my flash I get washed out pictures, assuming I can get a shot off before Jordan reaches out to push the flash back down.  She's done that since I got my camera, every time my flash pops up, she gets a huge grin on her face and pushes it back down; she's a good helper :)

Jordan's "CHEESE" face (8/15/09):

... and cuddling with Auntie (excuse the extra chins, I didn't know my camera had an optical illusion button):
(8/17/09):

Here's to finding optimism in 6 days of babysitting a 2 year old....

UE: First Attempt

(ETA: Sorry for the horrible formatting on this post, I have no clue how to fix it!)


So - a bit of background on me, I don't really do scary movies very well because I am always terrified of the person jumping out from behind the door, curtain, etc. This same fear applies when trying to become an Urban Explorer. Looking into a room with an open door is terrifying to me. I will attempt to get over this fear, until then you will most likely see pictures of open doors and nothing featuring the room beyond the door.


A bit of background on how or why I wanted to start this great experience of Urban Exploring (UE) - once upon a time I was presented with the thought of exploring a farm at night (SCARY!), I didn't even humor the thought. It continued to come up in conversation... The Hollywood Theater in NE has always been a place I wanted to get inside and see. Then it spread to wanting to see inside other places and, as it turns out, it's a very popular thought to have!
The other week, on a Sunday, we were out driving around and we decided to stop and see the Witch's Hat Tower in Minneapolis, right by the U. Upon stopping we discovered that someone had been there before us and taken the hinges off the back of the door, so any passer by could stop and walk up the stairs to the top of the tower. Did we join this fun? Of course we did! As proof, here is a picture of the new Gophers Stadium from atop the tower:

Now, the desire is growing inside of me and I've been reading a lot online looking for places to explore. This weekend was the first intentional journey out to explore.

Goal #1: Get inside any building!
Mission accomplished.


How f'n scary is this thrilling way of life?!  


It was gross walking up to this buildings entrance. It reminded me what a frat house would smell like after a huge kegger (vomit, vomit, and more vomit - yuck!). I had to do everything I could to keep from added my own.


So you get inside and it doesn't improve much. The stairs inside are scary and dark, you know people have made it to the top because you've done your research and you've seen the picture online... so you keep climbing.


After exploring the floors available to you, you look up and see something moving a few floors up and think... that has to be a person! Being that this is your first real experience urban exploring, you decide not to proceed up any further and make your way back down the stairs taking the lord name in vein and uttering common expletives in your vocabulary, did I forget to mention you may have a small fear of heights and these stairs may be metal grate and they provide the full view looking down?


Ok, so your visit might not go this way... you may actually make it all the way to the top, but you've gotta start somewhere and this was just perfect!


So, here are some shots from inside (click to enlarge any photo)! Enjoy :)

Ok, so I may have had too much fun with Photoshop... Hope you enjoyed.

Chanhassen Arboretum

Friday, Pam and I got together and took a trip to the Arboretum in Chanhassen.  They have tons of gardens and lot of neat things to see.
In all honesty I wasn't 100% excited to go there, I was sitting on my couch Friday morning thinking I wanted to go out on a shoot, but was thinking more urban themed (downtown Mpls or St. Paul) just because this whole Urban Exploring (UE) thing is all I can really think about.  I was down for whatever though, and I almost always jump at the chance to see Pam - she's one of my favorites :)

I wanted to post some pictures ... besides the extreme heat and humidity, it turned out to be a great place to spend the afternoon.

The Rose Garden was beautiful and we spent the most time there:

I thought the colors of this rose were amazing, though the picture doesn't show it as well as it could:

GO VIKES:

Busy Bee:

Chanhassen is near Chaska, where the PGA Championship was being played this year.  The blimps could be seen from all around... (click to enlarge)

They also had a maze garden along the 3 mile drive, so we decided to give it a try despite the heat!  It was a ton of fun, although a bit frustrating at first.  You never know what you'll find around one of the wrong corners or through the wrong door:

Then, once you reach the end you can climb a few stairs and get a view of the entire maze you just finished!

It was pretty cool, I'll be honest.

If you haven't checked it out... I'd stop through on a day you're looking for something to do.  It does cost $9.00, but its at least a couple hours of your day.. more if you're into photography or flowers/trees/shrubs.

My funkity funk

I'm not sure sitting here after having a couple glasses of wine is the right thing to do... but it's what I'm going to do.
(Let me first apologize for any merged words - I'm typing on my brothers computer and the space bar is testy...so far I've been making effort to go back and correct, but it's tiresome!  This could also make for a shorter blog than expected.)

I'm tired.  I don't mean it's 10:35pm and I want to go to bed I mean, I'm tired mentally andphysically. 

I'm not sure I know the exact reason for thefunk I've been in lately, but I have a pretty good idea of a few things behind it.
Finances are always on my mind - the older i get the more I am confused by how my  friends are buying houses andhaving kids and doing things that cost money.  Is my job really that bad and do I really make that little money - or I am justretarded and spend my  money foolishly?  I don't get it.  There is really no way I could afford to move out right now... not even to rent.  I hate money.

It's summer - I'm supposed to be  happy and out having fun.

Another thing weighing on my mind is my self confidence; I've always  had a lot of the stuff but lately I've been feeling opposite of that - huge part of that is needing to get my ass back to the gym.  I cancelled my membership in the Spring because the place was falling apart and it pissed me off to be paying for a place that doesn't get taken care of.  I quit and havn't really been  doing  much to keep my girlish figure :( Hence, I feel it's gone away. 
I went out Friday night with some girlfriends and there were pictures being taken... my face looks fat in all of them - a fat face in  a picture is a sure tell, to me, that I'm gaining.  fuck.
My  insurance has a fit plan where I get a $20 credit/mo. if I go at least 8 times... so now I  just need thecash to pay the sign up fee.  I'll pull that from savings i f I have to; I need to do something.

I get into funks... this one seems to be lasting a bit longer.  I cry more than I have in a long time.  I feel tired and exhausted more than ever.  I have no motivation even if I weren't tired.

I'm pretty sure there aren't  many people  reading  my blog anymore, and that's fine - I never wanted people to read who didn't want to, but the hits are down so it makes me okay with writing something like this.  This blog started out as  my way of writing my life  down and I think I got carried away by trying to make it something for other people.  I dont want or need a pity party, I'm not even asking for sympathy - just talking out loud - trying to make sense of this thing called life.

I think happiness is something we all must seek  within  ourselves - I fear I am guilty  of looking for happiness around me in order to find myown.  I don't feel as happy as I was 6 months ago.  I don't feel as happy asI  was 3years ago.

To answer my own post from the other week... happiness on a scale of  1-100; currently I feel  I'm at about a 50, and  I can feel it lessen by  the day.  I need something more, but I'm  not  sure what that is.

Random - v.9.13

Dude... I don't even know where to start!

First things first, whatever that means - my laptop is dead - RIP Mango.  We need a new harddrive for him.
This also means that if I hadn't backed anything up, I would be pissed.  I think the only thing I didn't have backed up was my pictures from my weekend up North with my cousins... the keepers are on facebook, so that should be ok.  I don't think there is anything else worth much that was lost.
I now have to install all my BB feed watchers on my PC, which sucks.  I don't have a TV in my bedroom what good are feeds/chat without TV to watch in the process?

Work has been crazy busy, which is a good thing for the company.  Also part of the reason I've been sucking it up as a blogger.  Oh well, such is life - we are all obviously busy this summer.

I will be babysitting my niece for 6 full days coming up soon... in order to prep for that, I watched her Monday for a couple hours, I will be watching her this coming Saturday, Plus a few more dates between now and September 7th when my 6 days begin.  I'm scared shitless.  Watching a kid for a few hours is one thing, but 6 FULL DAYS?!  I'm going to drink myself to death.  Seriously.

I've decided on a name for my camera, I think: NLMA (which is actually my mom's initials, and pronounced NIL-MA) - it's kind of a inside joke in my family... but I think it's fitting.  That way I always have my family with me, I'm a sap. :)

I've all the sudden grown an interest in Urban Exploring.  The thought of going into run down, abandoned places is absolutely thrilling to me!  I'm in the process of researching places to explore... if you know of any abandoned buildings in the Twin Cities Metro, please let me know!  My interest is primarily in abandoned buildings and not so much the caves and drains/sewers.... The opportunity for photographs blows my mind.

I'm also looking for an old, potentially grown over, wooden school house (not so much to explore, but to photograph).  Steve wants to find some old Farm houses to explore -  I know I'll have to take a drive to see them, but that's all part of the game.  If you know of any... please contact me!

I'm super excited for Big Brother tonight... Chima is a whore and I can't wait to see what Jeff does with the Coup d'état.  Boy oh boy... it's gonna be exciting.  I hope Jeff survives it... cause he's a stud muffin :)

Lastly, is it possible to poll people and come up with the answer of 300%?  Like "How many people wash their hands after pooping?" ... a: 300% - just curious...?

Interesting

Via my tracker, I know that many of you have viewed this post - but check out the very limited amount of comments.

I know people are busy, so I'd like to think that is why some of you haven't commented - however, I can't help but think that maybe some of you are scared to really assess the answer?
Maybe I'm wrong.. but I know you've looked and read the comments, so why not play along and, if you're embarrassed by your number, don't leave your name.

I'm not playing along until the rest of you do.

I'm kind of disappointed.

Happiness Scale 1-100

Part of my blog title and often a word used in vain... in my opinion anyhow.

Today's blog is simple; you can choose to answer with just a number or answer with a number and detail behind it.

On a scale of 1-100 how happy are you in life, right now?  (1 being extremely unhappy and 100 being the happiest you think you could ever be)

Please, everyone participate!
I'll post my answer in the comments (or a new post) after some time.