Happy Holidays!

Just in case I don't get a chance to post again before the holiday:
Merry Christmas!


Not much has been happening here this past week or so. I put together my dresser from IKEA and I'm thrilled with it. I finally have a nice storage space for towels, sheets, and blankets.

To help put my dresser together, my dad gave me an early Christmas present. My old cordless drill died (the battery wouldn't charge anymore) and now I have a shiny new drill! It's pretty cool and I just know DM will drool over it a bit.

As for shopping, I'm sort of done. I think I have gifts ready for most everyone, but still need something for a pretty great friend. It's a small Christmas this year - that's what happens when you buy a house.

We're supposed to get another couple inches of snow tonight. I'm not sure if I want snow or if I'm hoping for the snow-free winter. No snow tends to mean extreme cold. Well, at least I've learned how to use my snowblower. It only takes about 10 minutes to clear the sidewalk/driveway when it works.

Oh! This was a nice surprise. Saturday brought us quite a bit of snow again. Before I woke up, my parents and Scott stopped by and shoveled my driveway! It was a nice, sweet thing for them to do and really made my day. I have a pretty cool family.

My Christmas plans include wrapping like mad on Christmas Eve (after work - I'm really hoping my dad's presents show up on Christmas Eve!). On Thursday, I'll get up, call Dad, and head over to Mom's for family time and wonderful food.

I hope everyone has a happy holiday, full of happy moments, and positive memories. Best wishes to all my friends!

Surprise ... Telegram*

This is the Crown Fountain. It is at Millennium Park in Chicago. The faces will change throughout the day and water will shoot out the "mouth" of the display. Kids run and splash in the pool. It is somewhat creepy, but cool in a way too. The technology is quite good and it does make for an interesting piece to view.



I'm on vacation from work again. This is my last week off until next year. It is time to winterize the house a bit - mulch the leaves, get the tomato plants out of the ground, etc. I am going out to dinner with family & friends many of the nights this week. DM was over last weekend for scrapbooking and she'll be over again this upcoming weekend. On Saturday I am going to have a party.

There is not too much else taking place around here. Char & I played pool earlier tonight and I had the unfortunate pleasure of a drunk man trying to grind on me while listening to Vanilla Ice. I do have to admit it was rather funny.

The weekend newspaper had a story about a bar crawl with a zombie theme. The crawlers would walk like zombies. This makes the walking much slower. They have a cheer:

WHAT DO WE WANT?

Brains!

WHEN DO WE WANT THEM?

Brains!

That made DM & I giggle for about twenty minutes.

*The title is a bit of an inside joke within my family. Years ago, we saw this TV show called, "Mad Movies." They would take old movies and dub in new dialogue. One of the episodes featured, "The Night of the Living Dead." The show turned it into a surprise party with all the zombies saying, "Surprise," in perfect dead pan. One zombie frequenting the porch is set up to be a delivery man who keeps saying, "Telegram." I wish I could find the clip for you all.

A New Reason to Smile

A couple of months ago, I had a problem arise that I didn't really want to discuss with anyone. The problem impacted my smile quite literally. As I bit into a treat at work, I had the unfortunate incident of having a temporary crown break off.

I was not pleased and I was not feeling confident about myself. It was not a nice experience.

Luckily, I was able to get into the dentist quickly. He was able to put the temporary crown back on and schedule up some appointments.

Well, after a few painful experiences (oh, did I mention that I metabolize Novocaine extremely quickly? As in less than 20 minutes quickly?), I left the dentist today with a new bridge on my front teeth.

I'm actually very happy with the results and find myself smiling even when there isn't much going on today.

That is my news for today. I'll leave you with a picture now. I'm trying to post every day, but give me a little bit of time. I might not get the weekends every day, but I'll keep trying.

Fire up the grill

(Larger image can be seen here: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3165/2905840959_ab3ea02afe_o.jpg)

Happy Friday! Want to know what I've recently learned? I've learned that I don't know how to make hamburger patties that won't fall apart on the grill. Is there a special trick to this? Anything I could do that would prevent the entire chunk of hamburger from falling apart through the cracks? Yeah, that was a mess to clean up. And then I ate rice.

Know what? I enjoy grilling. I really like making potatoes on the grill, but have a new way to make bratwurst (thanks to my cousin Brad) that is A W E S O M E! I'll never go back to the old way.

The top picture is a panoramic of Chicago taken from a boat cruise. What do you think? The bottom picture is from the subway/El in Chicago (notice a theme yet?). I just enjoyed the lighting in the shot - even though it is pretty dark. What do you think?

Hi - not much to say

Not too much happening here today. My To Do list includes taking out the garbage (to the street) and that's about it.

Tonight's picture is of the John Hancock Center in Chicago. This was taken from Navy Pier. If you like the picture, give it a click! Thanks.

It's Been Awhile - How About Some Pictures to Make Up for My Vanishing Act

We all know that I haven't been around. Instead of apologizing and making a promise that I can't keep right now, I thought I'd just take the opportunity to post something that I wanted online. Dana and I went to Duluth a couple of weeks ago and stood along the shoreline of Lake Superior while the temperature was hovering around zero Farhenheit. Neither of us lost fingers or toes and managed to avoid frostbite by layering our clothing so much that someone could have pushed lightly and we may have fallen over.



But we had a good time. It might be crazy, but it really was fun. We drove along Skyline Parkway at night and viewed the HWY 2 bridge all lit up. We stopped along the shore of Lake Superior to see the ice breaking up and admiring how much it looks like broken glass everywhere. We stayed up all night long to watch the sunrise over Lake Superior. It was a good trip.



What would a trip be without pictures? You got it. Here are some of my favorites (and yes, I'm getting much better at narrowing down the field. I have decided to develop less than 10% of the pictures taken by my camera. I'm getting better!):




In the bottom row of images here, I would like to point out the two pictures with the orangish tone. What I love about these images is the fact you can see the ice evaporating away from the sun's rays. Pretty cool!

HWY 2 Bridge


A Very Cold Dana


A Very Cold Beth


Skyline


Arial Bridge


Ice on the Lake

The third picture from the left in the bottom row is an ice fishing hut. See, there are people crazier than Dana and I.

Dana again - looks happier here.


Vroom (or how I learned that my tripod is not strong enough to battle wind and the extra weight of my new telephoto lens)


If you're interested, the entire set of "best pics" from the trip are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brooksba/sets/72157604139620039/

I hope you enjoy. I'll now head back to the schoolbooks. I am so glad this is getting close. I do NOT like the class I'm in right now. Ug.

Published

Give DM the credit for this. I made a book. It is the first book that I've made and I guess it is a nice quality printer. It is a photobook, showing the bridges and sights along the Mississippi River that I saw on my trip in September with my mom. I ordered a couple for myself (one for me, one for Mom for Christmas).

If you're interested, it is available for purchase. I don't expect anyone to buy this book, but thought I should create the opportunity. I may make some more books. This was pretty easy and cool.

There is a link to the site in my sidebar.

A hardcover version is $39.95. This version has a dust jacket with additional information on the flaps.

A softcover version is $26.95.

The majority of the cost goes to the site that helped with the software and the marketing of the book. They also take a portion of any markup for their services.

I just thought I'd share.

My Kind of Place

Traveling through the Ozarks, Mom and I stopped at Mystic Caverns. Here we were able to experience two, that's right two!, caves. I've become a bit of a cave junkie, having visited four now this year. Before 2007, I had not experienced a natural cave. There was a cave in the Northern portion of Minnesota that was formed from iron ore mining, but that was not a natural cave. I've been told I may have seen another one when I was very little, but I don't remember it so it doesn't count.

But back to the trip. I was excited to visit these caves. I like walking through a cave - the temperature is always the same, there is clean, crisp air, and I don't have to wear sunglasses. A young girl took us on the tour, her male co-worker watched the counter/gift shop as we headed down into the cave. Which was good because there was a creepy man hanging around and I think they did that so she wouldn't be left alone with that man. Smart kids.

It was after Labor Day and a weekday, so Mom and I had the tour to ourselves. I appreciate that. Then I can take tons of pictures! The first cave had been used to make moonshine during Prohibition and also ballroom dances were held there. It was unfortunate that the cave had that history because the damage is still evident. It takes millions of years for cave formations to grow and minutes to destroy them. But there were still cool sights to see!



You can see where pieces of the cave have been cut off here. The straight lines at the end show the damage.






The main attraction of this cave was a formation called the Pipe Organ. It looks a bit like the pipes of a large instrument and I believed the story that if hit, the formation made loud, long sounds much like a pipe organ would. It was very large and impressive.


The soot on the cave walls shows the impact of running a moonshine operation inside this cave. I couldn't imagine being lowered on a rope through a small hole, dressed to the nines for a ballroom dance, and then partying in droves of black, sooty smoke. But to each their own.


This little fellow met us as we were leaving the first cave. Kind of cute, in a lizard sort of way.


The second cave was discovered much later and so it is much better preserved. This first picture shows the white flow stone in the cave that looks much like white mud. I was told that if someone stepped in the flow stone, a foot print would be left for ages, much like a footprint would show in a pile of snow (but of course the flow stone wouldn't melt away).




This cave's major formation was a bell. It's very pretty. It also sparkles in the right light.


People see different things in the formations of a cave. This is supposed to be a dragon or a dinosaur. Do you see it?


I find this so pretty.


Ripples in the flowstone.


A large column in the cave.


Cave bacon! There were formations considered to be pancakes and eggs too!


The bell one more time. This cave had a tall ceiling and so some of the formations on the ground were very flat. It's interesting to see how the velocity of the dripping water creates different formations. Each drop deposits a bit of calcite before it falls and as it hits the ground. It's very minute and that's why it takes so long for formations to be created. I am just fascinated by caves!


Outside the cave is serene and pretty. I noticed that we were in the Bible Belt of the country though as we traveled through. The question about this picture that has formed is, "Do you think they believe Jesus is actually buried there?"


I think that is the end of the pictures I'm sharing from the trip. I've developed them now and I'm preparing my scrapbook layouts in my freetime (freetime? What is this freetime thing you speak of?) Maybe I'll complete the album before my next vacation, but that seems unlikely. I just had a week off last week (yeah!) and I have another week off in early December. I considered going to New Orleans to see where the Mississippi empties into the Gulf of Mexico (which I considered on my trip with my mom and then Diana commented the same! That was pretty cool to see great minds thinking alike). I haven't decided quite yet since that involves flying and some extra costs. But 2007 could be the year of the Mississippi. Who knows?

Rolling Hillsides

Let's see how this goes. I'd like to share some pictures from my trip again today. The images are from the drive Mom and I took through the Ozarks. If driving over big, scary bridges was not stressful enough, we now faced curvy, mountain roads that dropped out of view quite often.




And this just seems fitting proof as to being in the Ozarks. Yeah, we didn't stop to eat here. Wonder why?


Here is an old building that we passed on the road. I just really liked how this picture turned out.



Living in a rather flat state (rivers and lakes are beautiful scenery, don't get me wrong, but we've got little for hills), I was fascinated by the mountains. Sure, it's not like we were in the Rockies or visiting after the leaves turned, but the colors were still pretty great. Rows and rows of shifting hues greeted us as we drove and stopped at different overlooks.







This overlook was kind of cool. We met the Seizemores at it. This couple had driven up to the overlook to use their cellular phone. They live in the valley near the house with the red roof. (Which I couldn't find.) Reception was poor at home, so they made their way up the mountain a couple times each day. The husband told us their story on how they chose to live here. He was working, fixing all the lights in the Arkansas school districts, and he saw this view. He called home and said, "Honey, we're moving." They now found themselves building a house in the valley, hoping the roof would be done soon because the bear had destroyed their tent five times now. He let us know we were standing on top of a giant cave, probably where the bear lived.

As we spoke with the couple, the man asked where we were from. When we replied, "Minnesota," he asked, "Ever been to Ponka?" The blank stares must have indicated our confusion. As it turns out, he has a friend in Ponka. It's about 20 miles from where we were and it is known for elk herds crossing.

It was a beautiful place to view the mountains.



As I said, the drive was a little stressful. Mom is playing here, but this isn't too far from her expression behind the wheel.

A nicer picture of Mom. And yes! I got her to use a camera on the trip!






And just a few more pictures of our time in the Ozarks. Because I'm not addicted to photography. (I guess I just like these pictures.)





Also, while we were staying in the Ozarks, we decided to see a waterfall. Unfortunately, this plan didn't work too well. We had figured on going to a waterfall that was an easy, 1-mile hike. In speaking with people, we were directed to Lost Valley Trail. As it turned out, this trail was 3 miles one-way and a moderate hike. With Mom's hip replacement, this wasn't the best idea. We didn't make it to the waterfall, but I did get to see a few pretty butterflies.




And for Johnny, each did remind me of Uzi.

As far as trip photos go, I think I only have one more set that I'm going to share. Hopefully I'll get to them tonight. I'm going to try and jump start my blog back up and try to post daily in November. This also means I need to visit daily in November. Let's see how this goes. I used to love writing nightly, and there are things to write about. I'm off to work now. I have to give an interview tonight and it is Halloween, so let the madness ensue!