I had a dream last night where G.W. Bush was singing hymns on television in a gaudy cowboy costume. He was trying his little heart out, and although he was absolutely terrible, a blend of respect and pity glimmered in me as it would while watching an obviously atrocious singer on karaoke night getting up there and, despite the embarrassment, singing a love song to his/her date.

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More photos and commentary coming shortly... like, maybe this afternoon. I have to get dressed for work now.

Sober karaoke and thousands of blog posts later...

You know what? People that use the word 'rubric' piss me off.

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My blogger dashboard just mentioned that this blog has 1,392 posts, not counting this one. Seriously? I have written one thousand three hundred and ninety two posts since September 2004? Jesus...

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My cousin Jenny came over tonight to go hang out with my sister who came up to visit from Cincy. Jen went to Ohio University (not to be confused with Ohio State University), which has the reputation of being the biggest party school this side of the Mississippi. She kept mentioning beer pong.

What the fuck is beer pong?

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Went out valentine's day with Dark Haired Girl. She drank, I drove and therefore didn't. Let me tell you, there's nothing quite as pathetic as the world's whitest dork with a tenor voice singing Seven Mary Three's "Cumbersome" stone cold sober. I wanted to crawl under a rock and die. Immediately I told the DJ to nix my other selection. If "Cumbersome" was that awful, imagine how bad Spin Doctor's "Two Princes" would have been. I was doing the bar populace a favor, although Dark Haired Girl mentioned that Cumbersome wasn't exactly a romantic song for Valentine's Day. I had to agree, but minus any alcoholic intervention, my inhibitions were up like a Star Wars force field. No more vocal stylings for Andy that night.

Being the social worker and nurturer that she is, but also very drunk, on a smoke break outside (smoking inside public establishments in Ohio is banned), she must have noticed a bar patron in a down mood because she rushed to his rescue (that's what I love about her) and came back inside with a new friend. His name is Andy, too, and he's from here in Troy. By the time we left, she wrote on an napkin for him her full name, street and email addresses, and phone number. She also included my full name, both phone numbers, email address, and this blog address.

So in case you're reading... Hi other Andy! She's just a really really caring person, I assure you.

So tonight I was making a second attempt to choke down Discovery Channel's new show, Smash Lab. Ok, what's the worst thing about 99% of movie sequels? They take the most popular elements of the original, and totally saturate the follow up with them, and nothing else, thus inducing a chocolate birthday cake reaction. Good, but ultimately chokingly rich with nothing to dilute it. Not good.

I've been a fan of Discovery Channel's "Mythbusters" since it first aired. To this day I still maintain that Mythbusters is the most fun you can have on television. Well, long ago, in a galaxy far far away, in a post from 2004. (back when I used to leave myself comments) I formed a fascination with one of the cast members, Kari Byron.

It's the red hair.

To make a long story short... she's part of the "Build Team", and alongside two geeky nerdy dorky guys, she provides the eye candy in the threesome that serves as a Greek Chorus to the main hosts of the show. Their role is to function as a separate unit and build things that occasionally explode or otherwise destruct in a violent fashion.

The Mythbusters Build Team... two nerds and a cute girl.

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So then, in sickeningly typical sequel format, this season Discovery rolls out "Smash Lab". It's a show where a team of four people, three geeky nerdy dorky guys and a hot eye candy girl build things that almost exclusively explode or otherwise destruct in a violent fashion.

It's like chocolate birthday cake with chocolate frosting with chocolate ice cream with chocolate syrup... and nary a glass of milk in sight to provide relief. It's enough to make you gag.

Make it go away.

Angels, Devils, and the "Holy BIBIE"

Thanks for the comments, guys! Well, I did hear back from the highway patrol. Governor Strickland has ordered a hiring freeze. No heartbreak on my part. It's not that I didn't get the job... nobody got it. I feel sorry for the guy who runs the photographic services unit. Poor guy has a labor need in his office, and now can't fill it. C'est la vie, I guess.

In the mean time, I'm still sitting on an $1100 nest egg (no longer required for a move to Columbus) that the miniature Andy angel on my right shoulder is telling me to sit on, but the Mini Devil Me on my left shoulder is tempting me to spend on camera gear.

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I was at the Town & Country shopping center in Kettering, specifically at Books & Co. in search of a decent photo magazine and cup of coffee at the attached shop, Joe Muggs. Upon exiting, a van had parked next to my car. It had window paint all over both sides and back, and the luggage rack on the roof was strewn with Christmas garland, candy canes, and plastic tree ornaments. I'd accidentally left my camera in black and white jpeg mode from a previous job I'd shot, but I kind of like it. Since the parking was tight, I had to stitch together two wide angle pics to show you what was written on the side of the van.

Can anybody figure out what on Earth the point is that this person is trying to make? The best I can figure is that it is somehow anti-Italian, given the word "WOP", and I'm guessing that "Sicely" is a misspelling of "Sicily".






How the "Holy BIBIE" is "TottaLy Sicely" is beyond me.

I was honestly hoping that I would draw the attention of the owner by hovering around their vehicle taking photos, but no such luck. I would have loved the opportunity to pick this person's brain. Without any fair input from their side, I'll just chalk it up to another psycho religious nutjob.

Dark Haired Girl said to me the other day after her teenage daughter had gotten in trouble at school, something to the tune of "Won't it be nice when we're, like, 50, and don't have to worry about kids?" I replied, "I'm still looking forward to it." She said "Oh, I keep forgetting."

Sunday, watching the Super Bowl, she said to me that she'd told her mom about our conversation. Her mom told her "You leave that boy alone and let him find a girl who'll give him a family!" We both chuckled.

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It rained buckets all yesterday and last night. We're under a flood warning, and I'm going to head out with the camera to shoot the river here through town. Photos to come, maybe. I may don the mud boots and visit some other spots, but my Canon Rebel XT isn't sealed like the pro model Canons, and it's still raining off and on.

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I went out last night with Ruben (Zen master and all-around swell guy) to a newly opened bar/grill/pool hall, M's. It borders our neighborhood, and is actually within a pleasant walk's distance, weather permitting... which it wasn't, this being Troy, Ohio in early February.

To make a long story short, it was a mostly uneventful night with nothing but college basketball on the hi-def screens, and a karaoke DJ whose song book was bursting at the seams with country tunes. Ruben had called some friends to meet us, and upon their arrival, immediately it became obvious he was trying to hook me up. His friend's friend was relatively pretty with a nice chubby figure in a tight blue tee shirt. Call me crazy, but I think she even tried a flirt or two. I was polite, not ignoring her or brushing her off or anything. I simply haven't the slightest inclination to pursue anybody.

I'm still far too stuck on Dark Haired Girl. There, inevitably, will be a time to move on, but now... it just isn't that time.

Fashion and Influenza

Still only back to about 70% after that flu. God... I never want to feel like I did monday ever ever again.

On top of it, sunday when I came down with it and left work early, I had to go later that afternoon and meet up with a local model for a shoot. Managed about 10 keepers despite, so I'd call it a red letter day. Here's a few:







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It was so cute... thursday night I went over to Dark Haired Girl's place to drive her to CVS, as she was in thick of her own illness. With her olive complection, when she's sick, it really comes out... olive green. So there she was in her room, wrapped entirely up in her comforter, with nothing showing but this little green face peering out at me. It was so adorable I couldn't contain myself, and had to start giggling at the sight as one would in reaction to a cage of puppies at the pet store.

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Oh! I almost forgot. Shot a senior friday of last week using the L&V's available light (you seriously couldn't ask for prettier light in a studio). Here's my favs from that one:





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Still haven't heard squat from the highway patrol. Called them tuesday after the death-li-est of the flu had passed, and the guy who runs the photographic unit said that the paperwork was still "upstairs", and that he hadn't forgotten about us. We'd know as soon as humanly possible. So the wait continues...