D231 - Subsitute

So I just cant go without some form of ice cream at night the only problem is it will make me look bulky even if I have empty pockets. Only 140 calories of deliciousness. Score!

Ja mata. Brian

D230 - Buy my App!!

about 6 months on the 75 anniversary of the Akron Art Museum, Youngstown Artist Al Bright did a mural, on the spot, while a Jazz band played. After he completely blew the crowd away with his talent and work everyone got up to thank him for the show and congratulate him. I had a moment to talk to him as well as my mom and we both asked the same question "how can we keep and help nurture Sara's creativity with drawing?"

Mr.Bright's Answer: Help her creativity grow and don't buy her comic books, instead get her plain paper drawing pads.

Well after 6 months, multiple full drawing pads, an exceptional amount of exposure to the arts, and a tremendous amount of encouragement Sara drew her first App! On top of that she wants to put it on my phone, as in make a real App. You should see the excitement in her face when she talks about how the controls work and what each of the characters do. But her creativity still needs to grow, which means I'm off the barns & noble to get a book or two on programing an app. Good thing I have a little programing under my belt. Now she may lose interest in getting the app up and running, but I'd rather her lose interest organically instead of the loss of engagement be a result of me not helping her explore the world of Apps.

The first Sara App sketch:

D228 - Consolidate

I really need to consolidate my running 'supplies' for this training program as it's getting to be a bulky mess out on the road. As it stands, I have my mobile for speed/distance/timing of my runs, my ipod for music to run to, and headphones (obviously). Also I carry my ID in case I get stopped for running in the middle of the night as if that hasn't happened already. A house key and a flashlight are the last two items. I used to not carry the ipod but my mobile likes to recycle while playing music because it's awesome.

Tonight, I ran my fastest time yet, but can only prove it by what my phone recorded, which was only 2.3 miles at 19:34 minutes. The last mile recorded was a 9:31 and I pushed pretty hard through mile 3. At about 3.2 miles I took my phone out to see my time, it was powered off. Awesome. My ipod was at 28 minutes and some change. This isn't the first time I've lost my time and sadly it will not be the last. At least until I upgrade to a new device. But until then, if you see a guy running down your street at 2am with bulky pockets don't call the police, it's just me. Besides after 3 miles I'm mostly harmless!
Ja mata, Brian

D226 - TBT

Sara: "But daddy, we have to make the bubbles, it uses Turbo Bubble Technology (TBT). What is Turbo Bubble Technology?"

Here we go, time to put the years of schooling, that I am still paying for, to good use. Every instant growing up where I dealt with bubbles, days of blowing bubbles as a little one myself without these fancy technology filled devices. To times where I worked at an inventors hall of fame watching a master bubble maker cover a kid in a massive bubble. Also, all my experience in making bubble solution with dish liquid with cold water and crafting a wire hanger into a make shift bubble-maker stick. All of this lead up to this defining moment where I tell Sara "Turbo Bubble Technology means it make a lot of bubbles really fast". Yeah, really could have gave a little more, but I don't think Sara would have appreciated me breaking down the turbo technology further. Moments later she was laughing at her dog being scared by a hula-hoop (silly dog). Hopefully the next time I have to dig deep for an explanation it will be something other than made up bubble machine technology.

Enjoy.

Ja mata, Brian

D225 Ballet + Stars

Tonight was ballet under the stars at Firestone Park in Akron with Cincinnati Ballet performing. Growing up my sibling and I used to go to these events all the time so it brought back a lot of memories being out there. Sara really enjoyed it as she tried to copy the dance moves while watching the performances. If you haven't seen the Cincinnati Ballet you owe it to yourself to check them out. They did an incredible job tonight with 3 different performances. Here are a few highlights from the evening More images HERE.

Enjoy. Ja mata, Brian

D224 - Magical unicorn*

Cleo's life before arriving here per Sara: Cleo was a magical unicorn that lived on the moon with other unicorns. One day a mean prince arrived in the unicorn forest (Yes, still in space) and took Cleo's horn which turned her into the dog. Since Cleo didn't have magic she had to leave her planet and friends, so she parachuted down to earth and now leaves with us. It is our job to help her get back to her planet and turn Cleo back into a Unicorn.

So here is a picture of Cleo before she becomes a unicorn again.

Enjoy

Ja mata, Briam

D223 - Watch your noodle

Not that we are making something good to eat from these noodles, they do end up being great for still life work.

Enjoy

Ja mata, Brian

D222 - Re-up

The toughest part about missing a day is posting the following day. On my first 365, I would have woke up at 4 am or something to get the post up. This time around sleep, planning, play time with Sara, client images, and the pug (who takes forever to empty it's tanks) are taking priority and rightly so...except for the pug! Anyhow today's image was from a flower this morning that looked list a sun burst with the window light hitting it.

Enjoy.

Ja mata, Brian

D221 - Patch work

Have to love the patch work on the side of a pineapple. Tomorrow I'm going to work with multiple off camera lighting flashes for more dynamic lighting.

Enjoy.

Ja mata, Brian

D220 - I'm Rich

Now this is a Yuan from China, not Yen from Japan as Sara thought. This morning, like most where Sara gets up early (grr) we were looking through a Japanese lesson book and she had questions about money in Japan. Thinking I still had some bill I went to my stash but had no paper Yen, I did have some coins so we used them while playing cards. It's really good to see Sara so interested in Japanese and Japan, my hope is the lesson will help make her transition a little easier when we get there. For today here is a photo pf the Yuan. -By the way I'm not right Sara beat me about 7 times playing WAR, I may have to school her in Spades.

Enjoy

Question: is it bad I stack the deck in my daughters favor when we play cards every Sunday morning so she wins? I feel like the parents of the kids who suck on American Idol reassuring them they 'sound good'. I guess it's OK as long as she doesn't go out for a poker Tournament. Ja mata, Brian

D219 - Owl

Fresh from the zoo a new stuffed animal for Sara. Since I was running a 5k this morning, I missed seeing her reaction when she found it. But once I was home Sara asked if it was for her, I told her yes, then she did her happy-hopping dance. The owl is officially named 'Trickie' after Sara's past ballet teacher. Tomorrow there is supposed to be a stuffed animal get together, and I've been hired to shoot the event by Sara. This should be fun.

Enjoy.

Ja mata, Brian

D218 - Long night expoure

Tonight was the annual summer safari at the Akron Zoo. And while there was a good amount of of people indoors, the real fun was at night once the sun went sown. Here are two shots from the event, the first was a 5 seconds exposure and the second is about 15 seconds exposure.

Enjoy

Ja mata Brian

D217 - Big Steps

In only a few short weeks there will be a lot of changes about, mainly Sara starting Kindergarten. Since she is our first and only child I can easily say I have not seen a more excited kid and it doesn't help that we drive part her new school every morning. Like clock work she ask 'Do I go to my new school today?', my reply is always 'not today, but soon'. Well, we received a letter today with the instructions on the first days at her new school making the big step to kindergarten right around the corner. Many other big steps in the works as well, but as always we take them one step at a time.

Enjoy

Ja mata, Brian

D216 - Chill

It's one of those nights where you need to just kick back and let the world pass you by for an hour or so. Ok, it's more like 40 minutes while watching an episode of New York Undercover. I remember when it first came out in the 90's, with detectives J.C. and Torres. These were the coolest detective you'd want to see, rockin' Timbos, jerseys, hanging at jazz/R&B club, and locking up trash in NYC.Plus every episode had new music from either an established or up in coming performer. You could get your hip-hop plus entertainment fix as well. Time to finish this Tea off.

Enjoy

Ja mata.

D215 - Sidral

This is one of the best drink I've had pretty much anywhere in the world, well non-alcoholic drink. Sidral, it's a carbonated Apple Juice Drink. Anytime I'm in Mexico it is about the only thing I drink next to water. But if I'm eating Tacos Al Pastor, then you can guarantee there is a Sidral at my side. Turns out these mouth watering wonders are available in the states, thank you Giant Eagle. Extra bonus, they are only $1.09 a bottle.

Enjoy

Ja mata, Brian

D214 - 家族 (Family)

私の名前はサラです. Yes, this is Sara's first of many books to start learning Japanese. Next step is finding a tutor or classroom that we can enroll her in. I picked up this book 'My First Book of Japanese Words' and was surprised at the mix of Hirigana, Katakana and Kanji. This will at least get her off to a good start to begin recognizing characters, other than the ones she is already familiar with.  Next learning tool kid learning videos. 

どうぞ.

じゃ、また, Brian

D213 - Finish Line

Today was the second day of the MS Pedal to the Point with riders going 150 from Sandusky to Brunswick Ohio to cross the finish line. The quote of the day was 'That last hill was a beast!', though I'm sure there were other words going through the minds of some of the riders. All in all, it was a great turn out and opportunity to raise money for the cause, find a cure for MS. The coolest part of this race is everyone is so nice and supportive of each others. I recall one racer saying 'It was tough this morning with the rain, but passing by people sitting the rain cheering us on, that made it worth it. How can you not push on?'. Now that is the truth!

If you ever get the opportunity to ride Pedal to the Point I would highly suggest riding it, or at least coming out the cheer the riders on. In the heat or rain it can be a grueling 150 miles, so a little motivation goes a long way.

Big Thanks to all the riders, families, supports, MS Staff and volunteers, none of this would have been possible without you!


Enjoy these few moments from the race.

Ja mata,
Brian

D212 - Spinner

These are Sara's scissors in their spinning holder. They are actually scrapping scissors, 20 different types and cutting style. After she went through and cut paper with each and every pair of scissors, majority of the time she just like to spin the holder with the scissors in it and calls it her 'circle rainbow'.  Thought it would make a good photo of the day (or night). - Pedal to the point tomorrow.

Enjoy.

Ja mata, Brian

D211 - Pedal 2 the

Tonight I photographed the Pre-rally for tomorrows Pedal to the Point kick-off. Phil Keoghan was there as well as he will be racing tomorrow (but not eliminating anyone.) to Sandusky. Phil was great to hangout and joke around with. Well, good luck to all the riders, stay cool and have a great ride. See you all at the finish line. TogetherinMS.com

Enjoy.

Ja mata, Brian

D210 - Hoops

Sometimes to get what you want you have to jump through a few hoops, even when it seems like a sure thing. But those hoops are more like verification that you really want the end goal. Kind of like having someone there to say 'You can leave now and try something else' of course the quoted words are presented in a more appealing way. A way that will make changing course seem more desirable for you than actually attaining your goal. The hoops can be delays in the process, plan disruptions, inconveniences, or just uncertainty. No matter the hoop you always have a choice to jump through it or find a different, easier hoop to jump through. Jumping through hoops is like anything else you will do in your life, it gets easier the more you do it, even the hard ones.  Get jumping.

Enjoy.

Ja mata, Brian

D209 - The Wanda Hunt Band

This evening at Lock4 in downtown Akron The Wanda Hunt Band was performing and they blew it out of the water. Wanda has an incredibly soulful and powerful voice and the band was spot on with all the music. After the performance Ms.Wanda let take a few portraits of her while the stage was being broke down. Using the light from the floodlights, used to illuminate the stage, to capture a few fun moment with Wanda. Side note: The Wanda Hunt Band has been performing together for the past 15 years.

Enjoy.

*If you don't know The Wanda Hunt Band, You do now.

 Check out their rendition of Proud Mary/Nutbush City Limits

D208 - Trip & Fall

I don't know if yesterday's post was a prediction of today's run, but I'm glad we pulled the band-aids out. Sara and I set out to run at 9PM, she did good going up the hill and kept a good pace. On the way down she tripped herself up and fell towards the bottom of the hill. After brushing off the gravel from her knees and telling her she would be OK, the remainder of the run was her on my back and we jogged back home. We did a little clean up and then put a band-aid on each knee. Sara didn't want the Go Diego Go band-aides since they were kind of small. She has been saying she is never going to run again since the fall, but we will be out again tomorrow running it out.

Enjoy.

Ja mata, Brian

D207 - Feeling Better

Remember being a kid and getting hurt and all it took was a band-aid to makes things better again? In reality all the band-aid does keep the dirty out of the cut and helps it breathe without being fully exposed to the elements. So while getting better does, at times, take medicine, feeling better may only need a band-aid, hug, kiss on a sore, or a squirt of Windex (yes, I've seen it in action). If you need a band-aid I have plenty, though you will have to fight Sara for the princess ones.

Feel better!

Ja mata, Brian

D206 - Trains

Better than trying to dive around and find a parking spot would be taking the train. 100% more convenient and you are never caught in rush hour, well not in the sense of waiting 45 minutes on a highway to go 3 miles. There are people backups making it tough to get on a train or find a seat. Below is the scene from the platform waiting on the train to get back to the O'Hare station from a trip to downtown Chicago.

Enjoy

Ja mata, Brian

D205 - The Boxer

On the streets of Chi-town you never know who you are going to run into. This boxer [and owner] came strolling by and I had to photograph the pup. I am kind of kicking myself for mot getting their names. Anyhow, the owner had the best response to me inquiring to photograph her pet, 'sure, can you whistle? I can't whistle so I always ask if people can whistle.' You cannot beat the look on her pups face. Fun times in Chicago!

D204 - Gear to go

To have a good run all I need is a little music, my trusty night light, and the concrete. It feels like I could run forever, well until I get thirsty. This past run I changed my playlist up, among other things and shaved a minute off of each mile. I think the next investment will be a waist strap that holds a water bottle so I can have a sip towards the end of the three miles. Of course, for next year I will have to go without water longer as I want to attempt an half marathon at some point. Yikes, marathon, the only successful marathons I have completed are Law and Order Sundays, tough but fun.

Enjoy,

Ja mata, Brian

D203 - Makes Perfect

Practice does make perfect, but only if you practice it the right way. This is the same reason why there are certain words we all type incorrect the same way every time. Think about it, you spell a word incorrectly, then right click to spell check and correct the spelling without retyping the word the proper way, you have just taught yourself the wrong spelling. So how do you correct this? Spelling the word right in the first place would be a great option. Or correct the word, and then retype it, after a few times you should be typing the word correctly from the jump and not depending on Spell check to present you with a list guesses to what you tried to spell. Honestly spell check, if I didn't know how to spell the word in the first place why are your presenting me with 10 variations of the 'supposed' word I mean.

That reminds me of a time I had a to send out an email to a large group of people for an outage, at the end I wrote sorry for the inconvenience. Apparently, I spelled inconvenience wrong and it was wrong enough that Incontinence (the inability to hold one's bowels) was the first word in the suggested list. I didn't know this until I started getting emails back (as a joke ) asking about my incontinence and what I was doing to prevent it.

So far Sara is doing good with her practice.

Enjoy.

Ja mata, Brian

D202 - Long Look

Technically on assignment today. We have a photography forum group at the job and they are having assignments with this weeks theme: at the park. Of course by the time I get home there isn't much light left, so we do long exposures. With the movement of the clouds and the moon (think the camera might have shifted a little for most of that trail) a long explosure can end up looking very dramatic. Off to run.

Enjoy.

Ja mata, Brian

D201 - Flower fun

Sara loves her flowers, ever since she was big enough to pick a flower we would find wilted flowers in hers and our own pockets that she would try to save. It's funny to watch her make up names for flowers she doesn't know and talk about how these flowers are needed for her dogs birthday party.  Everyday is something different.

Enjoy.

Ja mata, Brian. ...Oh, I failed trying to jump rope yesterday, even smacked myself in the back of the head with the rope. Absolutely awesome. Of course I will try again, odd, I don't remember it being that difficult.

D200 - Lights and Rope

Time to add a little fun and safety to these nightly runs. For the past few weeks I have ventured out 2-3 times a week between 12 and 2 am. It's a pretty peaceful run with only minor car interruptions. So instead of just crossing the street when a car approaches I picked up a L.E.D. to wear as to alert drivers to my position. Also I grabbed a jump rope to assist in my warm up before running. Helps get the heart rate up as well as endurance. For today's photo it's a product shot of the light and rope. I used the inside of a shoe box as housing and off camera flash bouncing off of the wall behind the camera. Jump rope strings were secure with tape in the back.

 Enjoy...and get jumping. (So glad I'm doing this at night where not many can see me, I'm sure I will look like a hippo doing an impersonation of a dolphin jumping out of water. Awesome!)

So about a month or two back I saw a plug for a new clothing line, Five Four Clothing. They had this subscription service that you sign up for and receive clothing for every month, for only $60. This month we got shoes, which celebrates the launching of their shoe line. What is cool is the shoes go great with the gear the have already sent. For a guy that is not about going shopping for gear, this is an awesome supplement.

Enjoy.

D198 - Perfect day

Perfect day for a wedding that is. Today wasn't too hot, had enough cloud cover to make the sky look interesting, and there was a nice breezes that would cool us off. We stopped off in a garden to capture a few images so I grabbed a few of the flowers to the image of the day. I was worried about getting stung by all the bees, but was lucky they were too busy collecting pollen.

Enjoy.

Ja mata,
Brian

D197 - Forgotten Joy

The drive in, Sara lasted all of 15 minutes and then fell asleep. If you haven't been to one lately you should go, you get to bring your own food in for a small fee of $2. Other than people forgetting to only use their park lights it's not a bad deal. I will say I am used to the drive in where you can only see one screen, we were watching Ice Age, but Dark Knight was playing in the background...distracting! 2 movies, $18 per car, kids can sleep in the back seat. Fun times!

Enjoy.

Ja mata, Brian

D196 - Little Coffee

Of course I have to revisit the water drops with coffee and milk. Normally, all hell would break loose if I was wasting coffee in this house. But someone bought the wrong K-cups, so I am being encouraged to get rid of the 'bad' flavor ones. I still need to work on the timing and drip flow to get a collision. I did add a little dish detergent and cooled the water down, that seems to help produce nice drops. Tomorrow I will work on multi-colors.

Enjoy.