April 2009

April marches on.




Twine




Darwin Minnesota is the home of the largest ball of twine constructed by one person. Its worth seeing.





Road



Being on the road makes one almost completely anonymous. If you have enough sandwiches with you, you can just keep going without encountering another soul. All those waitresses who pour you cups of coffee won't remember your face, and you're utterly free.





Lake Maria




Every day in spring when its slightly warmer than the day before feels like winning a thousand dollars.





Thaw



Different lake, more reflections, more oak leaves.





Texture



Burned wood!





Birchbark



Maybe sentimental feelings are simply when we put meaning on objects and actions that don't have much of any underlying meaning. For example, when we're absent from someone we focus on objects they've given us or left behind. Wearing someone's sunglasses becomes a way to feel close, or maybe even see the world through a lens that they once used.





Garters



Fun fact: Garter snakes are the most wide ranging genus of snake in North America.
This particular snake was pretty chill, but when threatened they spew out a stinky musk that you cannot wash out of your hands especially if your job involves participating in a snake survey, ie grabbing as many snakes as you can and holding them while they thrash around and musk everywhere. Fortunately, their teeth are tiny and their bites harmless.





Heliotropism



Plants press toward the sun.





Willow




A friend of mine started taking antihistamines in February to ward off his horrific symptoms. When I see buds and pollen, I get more excited than afraid. Lucky lack of allergies.





Calvin



Even if cats don't have emotions, they sure look like it!




Andrew Bird




I didn't buy a ticket for this concert because I was unemployed when they went on sale. I was with friends before they went to the show, and while we were standing outside the venue, they started digging in their pockets and throwing money at me until I had enough to buy one from a scalper. Such joy.




Anya



As I've said before, beautiful women make cool pictures even better.




Home



This man perfectly embodies the welcoming atmosphere of my house. People make a home.

March 2009

March: a month of hope and despair. Light returns and birds fly over, but it snows and is miserably cold too. No one really knows what to do.



Through the Kitchen Window



Sure, there was snow, but February ended at last.




Broomball



"Say, fellows, what say we hit a ball around on that frozen lake? We don't have skates, so we'll fall down all the time, but it will be great!"

Broomball is such a dumb sport, its important to wear costumes. Go Team LeVar Burton!




Still Life 2



Do we launch garbage into the sun?




Hiring Freeze



Minnesota has an unemployment rate of 8.2%.




Bread



The dough rises, the dough falls.



March Snow



Rosemary needles, staples, ice crystals.




Neighbor



This is my next door neighbor, Tim. He majored in math.




Light



Vertical lines. The paper lanterns were made by a sixth grade class that I taught one day. It was one of my worst days of work, because the kids would not shut up the entire time. They were constantly in each others business and tattling on each other. At the end of the day they made me cards to thank me for being such a great teacher. I was really touched. And wanted to get the hell out.


Sort of like March, eh?

FEBRUARY 2009

I don't really have much of interest to say, because it is February. February inherently sucks, if you live in North America, and particularly in the midwest. It is a safe assumption that everyone you know has Seasonal Affective Disorder. Last February killed this project. This year, deal with lame captions.


Hennepin



Its always the lines what get me.


Mississippi



Frozen rivers still run to the sea.



Kiera



Beautiful women make cool shots even better.



Oasis



So there is this cardboard tree in our house, and here it sort of looks like an octopus, and also, way cool.



Piano Man



Huck decided to go and teach himself how to tune a piano. Which he then promptly did.



Lounge



The living room, day after a birthday party.



Threes



Originally, I took this photo because of the perfect continuity of the colors and patterns, I just came upon the beautiful oranges and reds and yellows. I showed it to Ryan, the owner of these items. He said, " I remember this day but I can't believe that it was that perfect because I felt like shit so I'm glad that it looked perfect. Do you see the three threes?"

Until then, I hadn't seen all three threes.



Snuggy



What happens when a 78 inch tall man puts on a Snuggy?

Pure bliss.



Go(i)ng Crazy



See, sometimes my friends all get together and go absolutely crazy. We play games and then start singing and everyone grabs an instrument. Guitar or uke or banjo...creaky fan, telephone, gong. Then we all howl and dance and lose ourselves completely.



Someday the present will become the past, and the past will stay the past. The future just sort of looks around and shrugs.