Blog : June 2007

Eight Years Ago Today

Eight years ago today I married the most beautiful and perfect woman in the world. Too bad, so sad for everyone else!

See some photos from the special day in the Photoblog.

Seeking Pinup & Rockabilly Gals for Cruise Night Photos

I'm looking for a couple of pinup and rockabilly gals to walk around with me at the next Cruise Night in Westchester (Monday, July 2) while I photograph you with the hot rods. You will receive a CD of the final edited images from the evening for use in your portfolio, myspace account, match.com profile...wherever you need to promote yourself! I will also be providing a copy of the images to the car owners in exchange for letting us take pictures with their cars. I'm doing this to network with car owners and work with new models, all while building my pinup portfolio.

Oh, and I'll buy you dinner. That's right...free food.

I am specifically looking for ladies that already look the part! You have the look, the clothes, the hair, (and even the tats) and you don't require a hair & makeup artist and stylist to transform you.

The details for this particular cruise night are below, but I am open to hearing about other cruise nights you would like to check out with me:

Westchester - Westbrook Commons Shopping Center, 31st St. and Wolf Rd. 5 PM, May - Aug
http://www.ccecorvair.com/cruisenights.htm

If interested, contact me via e-mail. Please include a real e-mail address and a phone number where we can get in touch super-quick. I'm not interested in playing e-mail tag.

Pride in Chicago

I got to see Chicago's Gay Pride Parade today. What a bunch of fun! My face and arms don't think so, after getting a bit burned in the afternoon once the sun came out from behind the clouds.

There wasn't quite the display of flesh and eye candy of all genders and sexual orientations that I was expecting to see. I figured it'd be in the vein of Mardis Gras, but the flamboyance seemed rather constrained.

Oh, and photos. So many photos...but those will be forthcoming for I am spent and must catch up on my beauty sleep tonight due to a late night last night.

I was up late last night because I caught a Belmont Burlesque show. Also a fun time, although, I was seated in the back row so my attempt at photographing the show was hampered by heads in the way. I do so enjoy photographing live shows!

Also got to meet K Leo in person for the first time, who also referred to me as "the guy with the purple logo." A debate with the girl in the ticket booth ensued as to whether my logo is purple or blue. I told K that his monitor needed calibration, a fun little play on the fact that he shoots everything in black and white.

I owe a huge thanks to a good friend of mine who let us crash at his condo while he was out of town this weekend. This allowed us a free parking spot for the weekend and walking distance to all of the action. And by walking distance I mean half a block to the parade route and two blocks to the theatre. Outstanding.

Ow, my nose.

Have Pride

I get to attend Chicago Gay Pride Parade tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it and hope to capture many colorful photographs. Here's hoping that the weather lifts and we have a nice sunny day for frolicking amongst the crowds.

(I hate crowds.)

They're Dead

The cicadas are mostly, if not completely, dead. They are hardly making a sound outside today. Granted, it's raining, but even before it rained yesterday it sounded like there were only a handful make any noise at all. It's odd not hearing them after they were so loud for so long.

The trees in our yard are exhibiting clear signs of damage from the eggs that were laid in them. The cicadas inject their eggs into the tree limbs, and younger trees and smaller limbs don't take too kindly to this invasion.

Well, we won't see them again for 17 years.

**Update: Of course, as soon as I post this entry, they start up again. But not nearly to the degree they were a few days ago. So they ARE dying!

Let's Go a-Racin'

New Photoset posted from my day at the races on June 10, 2007. It's not going to show up on the Home page since it's backdated. I'm posting my Photosets based on the day which the event occurred.

Check it out!

Coloma, MI Photoset

I posted a new Photoset from our weekend with friends in Coloma, MI.

Ice Cold Gravity

It is on a very rare occasion that I am able to insert all of the desired ice from my freezer into my drinking cup. More often than not, a rogue piece of ice will flee my hand, bounce off of the shelf, then the edge of of the freezer, and down to the floor where it blends nicely with the white linoleum floor. I am then left to search out this escapee so that I do not later discover it while walking through the kitchen while wearing socks.

Where Creativity Doesn't Roam

There isn't a lot I miss about being in school, but one of the things I do miss is being surrounded every day by people with similar creative interests, motives and pursuits.

For as many people that are in the Chicagoland area, it sure seems like I'm living in isolation on some days.

I need to add more Squarepusher tunes to my collection.

More Hair History Fun

I finally got around to updating my Hair History.

And by popular demand I added a drop down menu for those that have visited in the past but just want to see the latest:

Working Out is a Lot of Work

A little over three months ago I joined the community gym...again. I made a goal for myself to exercise regularly - three times a week for three months. If, at the end of that period, I didn't feel like I gained anything from the exercise I would stop.

I'm in my fourth month now and I'm feeling (and looking) pretty good. While I haven't nailed the three times a week goal, I'm doing pretty well. There's a reason it's called "working out"...it's a helluva lot of work! I thought maybe after three months I'd be in some kind of groove and wouldn't have to struggle to get up off my ass and get out to make my heart pump faster, but alas, it is a constant struggle.

The interesting thing is that when I do work out, I feel great afterwards and can't imagine not ever working out again. But then the next day passes, and the next and the next...and I can't imagine ever working out again. But somehow I manage to drag my ass out and hop on the bike.

I started out with running on the treadmill and moved the running to the street once it got warm enough. However, due to various knee complications brought on by my years of skateboarding in high school, I've found biking to be a much less painful alternative. For the moment I'm trying to alternate between the two, but my left iliotibial band is really tight and is creating friction on my knee resulting in significant pain around the three mile mark.

A good quick ride for me is about 13 miles which takes me just under an hour. I've done a couple of 21 mile rides which have each taken me just over an hour and a half.

My running has been focused more on time than distance. I started off by running for five minutes, then walking five and repeating than pattern until I can't do anymore. Most recently I've worked up to running for thirty minutes straight, about three miles, before my knees just can't take anymore.

Oh, I mentioned my left knee above...my right knee clicks every time I straighten it. When I'm walking, when I'm running, when I'm biking. It's really rather uncomfortable, but not immediately painful. The pain comes after it irritate it for a while. I've had them both looked at and the current recommendation is not to operate, but to just be kind to my knees and use lots of ice. Um, okay.

I got on this whole excercise kick for some very specific reasons. For one, I had some extra time on my hands as I was going through a significant career shift. I wanted to utilize that time to reorganize my priorities, and my physical well-being was one of those. I was also depressed, due again to the career shift, and I knew that getting off my ass and getting some exercise would help to clear my mind and get me moving forward again. I still have my bouts, but this is just part of who I am. And finally, I didn't like what was staring back at me in the mirror. The office worker's belly was making an appearance, as were the toneless arms, chest, abs and legs.

But now, I do like what I see. And my wife sure doesn't seem to mind.

Oddly enough, I haven't lost or gained any weight in this adventure. In fact, I've weighed roughly the same amount for many years, plus or minus five pounds. Even now, while I'm exercising regularly, my weight fluctuates a few pounds up and down in the period of a few days.

I'm working on maintaining the three times per week goal, but I know I need to come up with a plan B for when the weather starts to turn cold again and I'm forced indoors for Chicago's winter.

Maybe that's when I move to California.

Race Day

I spent the day yesterday at the races. Drag races, to be exact. Wow. It's an experience. The top fuel dragsters are some of the loudest cars I have ever heard. It's "punch you in the chest" loud.

A friend of mine is very much into drag racing. I joined him at the Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, IL to watch the dragsters battle it out for the chance to stand next to hot girls and win a trophy.

My camera was in hand most of the day and I took a ton of pictures that will eventually manifest themselves in a Photoset.

Suggested Donation

What exactly does "suggested donation" mean when it comes to ticket prices for shows and museums and other such events and locations? This is something I will be researching further.

If the box office people plan to get all pissy with the person that doesn't have $10 to "donate" at the "donation box," then don't call it a "donation."

And I still want my "donation" back from the Chicago History Museum.

Beauty Sleep

Sleep seemed like a good idea tonight, but alas, it is no longer night, it is now morning. Ok, so it's only 1:00am, but it's the next damn day.

Oh well, I figured in the meantime I'd brag to everyone that I have the most beautiful woman in the world in my bedroom right now. Not just that, but she's in. my. bed. Yes, that's right the most beautiful woman in the world is IN MY BED.

She's asleep, but that's beside the point. Did I mention, she's in my bed? And she's the most beautiful woman in the world.

And I love her.

Yay!