Why just a few minutes? Well – I’m getting in the car shortly and making the run over to Bloomington. Indiana. And while Bloomington, IL is so much closer – the show Kev and I are going to see tonight is in the Eastern Time Zone. So we’re gonna race over there, see the show – featuring one of Kevin’s former theatre students at Indiana University – and then race back tomorrow morning. This of course throws yet another wrench into the “we need to take the Christmas tree down” scenario but it’s becoming a point of pride with me in seeing how long we can leave it up. But Kev has literally been that busy. Show last week and then she had auditions for the next TWO shows this week – which carried on until about 8pm last night. And then she was up at some unholy hour this morning to do homework for her graduate class where she sits – sounding pretty tired – right now. And, as I think I’ve mentioned before, the choreography of putting the tree away is better left in her hands – until it actually comes down to physically taking the tree apart and packing it away. Then, and only then, will I get involved. So we’re off to see Marat/Sade tonight (nice light themes) in Indiana. On the plus side, Kev does get Monday off for President’s Day – thank goodness – because we haven’t seen last week’s Lost yet. No one say anything.

A few follow-ups from previous posts: the guy who won the Democratic primary for Lt. Governor – the one who had a sketchy past where it concerned alleged violence against a girlfriend – was browbeat into withdrawing from the general election a few days ago (actually gave a mini press conference from a SuperBowl watching party with his family nearby). The state Democrats – who don’t want anything getting in the way of their mismanagement of things – guilted him into it. The $1,000,000-plus he spent out of his own pocket to win the silly race – yeah – sorry – you’re outta luck. Now the Dems will pick someone. I’ve heard talk of Tammy Duckworth which I would support – so that probably dooms any chances she’ll get selected.

Oh – and the plumber woes continue. After making it out here for a looksee  on Feb. 4 – the plan was for them to come back out here and do the work this past week. No work. No calls. Nothing. So now I gotta further bust their chops for totally failing to show up. Maybe by March.

And in other random wanderings – I’ve become enamored of vege sushi from of all places Kroger. I cannot explain it but I like it. Add a little wasabi and wow. And I swear I had about eight things to update when I started this entry but now I’ve forgotten at least five of ‘em so – lamely – I must sign off – go shower and pack – and head to Indiana.

And before I go, I’ve done quite a few self-portraits lately – but I think I’m done for now. Please enjoy this fellow (above) – standing in a very cold corn field in January. Only in Illinois – or maybe Iowa. Here’s one more from the same chilly day (slightly different lighting set-up):

I think “Catching Up” could be the title of almost any blog post this year – and now I’ve gone and used it up at the beginning of February. Not sure that’s my best plan. In fact this blog post could have been titled something like “Living In A Small Town” or “F*** Yes They Need to Reform Health Insurance – THOSE IDIOTS” – but no – “Catching Up” will do.

The funny thing about living in a small town (and we don’t even really live “in” the town) is the oddball way things happen around here. Two things to remember. On Tuesday night I spent FIVE hours in a Tazewell County Zoning Board of Appeals meeting. A “local” business wants to install an asphalt plant about 2800′ due west of us, on Springfield Road. The three subdivisions that hide out here encompass a little over 100 properties and some 300 people. And I think most of ‘em showed up at this zoning meeting in Pekin. And like all small local government boards in action, it was painful at best and a little contentious at worst. Almost everyone at the meeting was there in opposition, but the people seeking a variance had a lawyer. This was an administrative hearing – so the lawyer was trying object to things he couldn’t object to etc. We don’t want the noise, the smell, or the sight of it all. I won’t go into all the details (but if any of you are out this way, when you turn off of Springfield Road at Tullamore Road, you’d be just a couple hundred feet from the proposed site) but suffice to say the Zoning Board – after hours of testimony (I think the other side was trying to bore us into leaving the hearing) – did not reach a decision. They were a little buried in paperwork from the lawyer – and will take a month to study this before possibly rendering a decision (they could come back with more questions). Most everything points to them denying the request but the way politics works – well they may not deny it… Then you can come out and see our asphalt plant. More on that in March.

The other funny thing about living in a small town is getting local service. We’ve been debating installing a small inline water filter in our house – in front of the water heater and water softener – to collect some sediment. I called the plumber here in town on Jan. 25. We finally got in touch however on Jan. 28 because the person in the office simply takes the information down and then has a scheduler call you back. They called me back on Thursday to tell me the scheduler would call me on Friday. Finally, it was decided they’d be able to get out here on Monday (this past Monday) to LOOK AT THE JOB before deciding how they’d do it. This install is so simple I would do it if I could solder with any consistency. Cut a section out of some pipe, put some threads on either end of the junction and solder them in. But Monday came and went before they finally called around 4pm to say they couldn’t come. They said they’d call back Tuesday but it was this morning before they called again – and now it’ll probably be next Tuesday before they’re out here. In reality it may be March too before this is a done deal.

Kev’s 46th birthday came and went yesterday. A typical week in her life works like this. On Tuesday we both went and voted in the Illinois primary – at about 6:10am. She then went to work and then left early (about 5pm – she has a show opening TONIGHT) to drive to Pekin for the zoning meeting where she lasted until about 10pm. No dinner. Nothing. She then was back on the road around 6am on her birthday (after getting up a little after 4am) and had a final dress rehearsal last night. We didn’t get home until about 10:30pm.  Some birthday huh? I got her a pretty necklace/earring combo from Re: in Peoria (all recycled materials – nice stuff too) and the entire cast/crew sang Happy Birthday to her (badly) at my insistence. But yeah… The show goes tonight, Friday, and Saturday. But she did get almost 110 “Happy Birthdays” on Facebook which is pretty cool.

Yeah – so our election out here on Tuesday. Just a primary. All the guys I voted for on the Democratic side lost. Not a big thing – they’re all about the same – which is too say I didn’t like any of them. Of course we’re voting for a new governor. The last one – good old celebrity “Blago” – was arrested on all kinds of corruption charges in 2008. His replacement – Pat Quinn – is running for his own term against the state comptroller. Both of the Dems are Chicago guys who I wouldn’t trust. The Dem running for the Senate seat held previously by Obama is a banker (oh great) who has some connections through his bank with people who I also wouldn’t trust. But that’s Illinois – the state with the second largest deficit in the country (behind only California). I’m not optimistic. The Republicans might get this seat too – not that it matters because the Senate Dems are fairly useless with or without a filibuster-proof majority. The guy who won the Democratic race for Lt. Governor – a position with no actual job description other then to replace the governor should something happen (like getting arrested on corruption charges) is a pawnbroker (or something close) from Chicago who was arrested on domestic violence charges – he alledgedly held a knife to a girlfriend’s neck. Can we pick ‘em or what. I did not vote for Lt. Gov – because a) they’re all the same; b) I think we don’t need the position (when Blago was impeached we didn’t replace the Lt. Gov. because there is no process to do that); and c) see a). Really makes one an optimist for the future of our state… not that I don’t appreciate them. Some things seem to work pretty well in Illinois – they must be farther removed from the political process…

Not too much else to report. I’m just selling, taking, trading, hawking my imagery. I’m fighting for health insurance – which is not going well – and my COBRA runs out at the end of June. Can’t wait to see how much this will cost. I’m trying to stay warm. The sun did come out for a few days last week – but is gone now. I could use a little spring – no doubt about it…

Thanks to all who wished Kev a happy birthday. We’ll catch up some more in a few weeks.

For the last few months, we’ve been teaching a number of kids from one of the Peoria Alternative schools all about photography – or as much as they can learn in 90 minutes one day a month – when they drop by the Art Guild. These kids however are great kids – and if I had a tough year last year – I would posit that it was easy compared to some of the crap these kids must surely have gone through in their time. And yet they are totally into it. We wandered around the gallery space today, and everyone had digital cameras that we gave them about five minutes of instruction on. And then we turned ‘em loose, with a little guidance here and there. And they rocked. We ended up back downstairs to look at everyone’s work on the computer and they were really into checking out each other’s work. And they turned out quite a few decent shots – in fact I may eventually feature them over on the Photoblog. But I really like working with ‘em. We sent ‘em home with disposable film cameras today – and next month we’ll print contact sheets and start making prints in the wet darkroom. Eventually we’ll have a small exhibit for them.

So the title of this post should tell you that it’s been cold here lately. We went through a good week of mostly zero degree days and -10 degree nights. And it is just getting old. I can see why older folks – well older then me – head to the warmer climes. I have no concrete plans to head to warmer climates yet, but I can see the reasoning – oh yes I can. I’m downright thrilled that we’ve climbed up into the 20s this week – and are headed to the 30s for the weekend. It’s pretty sad when the 30s are considered a break.

We had a great time over at the Illinois State Theatre Festival last weekend. Kev’s kids did a great job putting on their show – twice on Friday – to good audiences in the intimate and slick Westhoff Theatre on the ISU campus. We saw a top-notch performance of Urinetown as part of the all-state show – it was pretty amazing for the age and experience of the performers. They did great. These kids really eat the festival up – she had 42 attendees this year (I think 3-4K attend the entire festival over 2.5 days) – and it was right up their alley. She also had five seniors auditioning – and I think they all did a pretty good job. The festival attracts all kinds of colleges – who recruit – and do auditions to see what kind of chops these kids have. A neat experience for me too – first time I ever got to attend…

On Friday morning I spoke to a group of about 40 Illinois Agribusiness folks down in Springfield to encourage them to take better photos. The presentation went off pretty well – I was happy enough with it – and they asked me to come back next year so I guess they thought so too.  I’m heading out the door as soon as I post this for a brief shoot tonight, and then back to Normal for a shoot Friday afternoon. And in between we have our annual Peoria Football League dinner – where we collect our winnings. We were so poised to have a big year – and both Dad and I fell just a tiny, tiny bit short. Oh well – just eight months to draft day…

And I’ll end this post with three photos – OF me – taken by others on flickr. Just a little something different.

Thanks Stacy

These two shots were taken on the same day. The one above was courtesy of Stacy Hanna – as we had a little no-look shootout in an alley on the Southside of Peoria. Definitely a different look for me since most of my face is outta frame.

Thanks Tim

This outing was part flickr outing and part class urban landscape outing. Tim Sheets, another of my Peoria Flickr group admins, took this shot with his Lensbaby Composer (a selective focus lens). I like the shot and I like the exposure.

Thanks Bill

And this one was taken by my ol’ buddy Bill Shaner, when he accompanied the Landscape Expedition class up to Matthiessen State Park a few months back. That water was chilly, and I probably made my student – Mitzi – stand there too long. I’m not sure she’s forgiven me yet…

]]> http://extrointro.wordpress.com/2010/01/13/i-no-longer-appreciate-the-cold/feed/ 1 escapesphoto Art Guild Triptych DBV1 DBV2 DBV3 http://extrointro.wordpress.com/2010/01/03/i-need-a-plan/ http://extrointro.wordpress.com/2010/01/03/i-need-a-plan/#comments Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:22:56 +0000 David Vernon http://extrointro.wordpress.com/?p=688 ]]> That’s right. I need a plan. For this blog.

And actually I think I have a plan – to get back to one of its original purposes which was to help me remember what the hell I’ve been doing. The plan is pretty simple – daresay it may even be a goal – a goal for 2010. The plan is this: try and blog twice a month – about every two weeks.

As plans go it’s not very ambitious but I need to have a few plans for 2010 so I’m not complicating matters. So 25 posts at a minumum this year – not counting this one. We’ll see if it leads to more – but it doesn’t have to. It should however lead to 25.

Good luck to me. Back in a few weeks as I’m spending this week prepping for my presentation on to the Illinois Specialty Crops, Argitourism and Organic Conference on January 8.  The topic – as they describe it – “Picture This,” Increase Marketing Impact with Photography”. My job – give participants some help in taking better photos.

Oh – and I’m back to hating Central Illinois weather. About -9F here this morning. Up to a stunning +5 now. C’mon Spring – get here.

So what’s going on? I’m good. How are you? Wonderful. I gotta tell you – it’s been a repetitive couple of weeks for me since mid-October. Literally a case of same-shit, different day. But into the muck a few half noteworthy things have crept (am I a salesman or what?).

In no particular order – just as I think of ‘em – here we go.

I spent a good amount of time cheering on Kevin’s fall play – a production of A.R. Gurney’s The Dining Room. Not only did they all do a great job – but the play was invited to the Illinois State Theatre Festival in January and will be seen by students and theatre educators from all over the state – in TWO productions at Illinois State on Jan. 8. It means a lot of extra work for the aforementioned Spouse of the Year (and she is) but she’ll make a beautiful corpse so… more power to her. I’m looking forward to seeing this group perform in a fantastic space over at ISU – the Westhoff Auditorium. Very cool space.

I’m even accompanying Kev and some of the crew to Chicago tomorrow. SPotY (see you can make a good nickname from almost anything) scored 20 tickets to see The Addams Family with Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwerth – which is in pre-Broadway, work-the-kinks-out mode in Chicago. Driving up in the morning (Kev gets to drive one of the little, nee short, buses – very exciting), seeing the show and driving back. Whirlwind day.

I wrote the first draft of the annual Christmas letter the other day. Absolutely worst thing I’ve ever written I think. Whatever you end up seeing will in no way resemble what I wrote a few days ago. Wow. On the bright side I did come up with my 40 pictures of the year, most of which will walk their way into the letter. No where to go but up.

I’ve been photographically busy lately. We just finished up classes at the Art Guild for the year. I taught three this fall – it was busy but fulfilling. Lots of getting out and shooting with people who want to be there and who want to learn. I’m also teaching an ongoing once-a-month class to a couple of disadvantaged teens who trek down to the Guild. And I gotta tell you – they were totally, I mean totally, into it in our first class – where they learned how to do Pinhole Photography. They’re back on the 16th, and we’ll head back into the darkroom to finish their pinhole projects. Then they’re getting a few disposable cameras to take home for their next project. An awesome group of kids – who’ve had it rougher then I ever have.

One of my adult students happens to own the big scrap yard on the south side of Peoria, and we arranged a big photo outing down there through the Peoria Flickr group. I gotta tell you – it was freaky awesome. The things that are there – unreal. It’s supposed to be almost all cars – but the other things that sneak in and fill these huge piles of scrap are quite unexpected. I took the picture featured today under the overpass next to the scrap yard – but if you wanna see the main victims down there, look no farther:

I’ve also started a new project called the 10×95 project. Details are over on the photo blog (and on facebook and twitter) but basically it’s one image. Ten prints. $95 framed. And when they’re gone – they’re gone forever. First one is an iconic nighttime black and white shot of the Peoria skyline.

Lastly on the photographic front, I’m headed to Springfield the morning of Jan. 8 to give a talk to farmers – about how to take better (re: marketable) photographs. Should be a very interesting 45 minutes – and hopefully my love of agricultural photography will translate. We can hope.

And last – but not least – well maybe least – I had my first root canal ever a few weeks ago. And was it painful – on my wallet. The procedure however was completely painless and didn’t even take very long. And the guy who did it was a budding landscape shooter who wants to learn more. I’ll invite him to a workshop in 2010 and then stick a big lens in his mouth over and over…

Good luck with December. Finish the year safely and I’m sure we’ll be blogging again next Fri- okay – next year.

I guess this means retirement agrees with the old man. And I think more of his work needs to end up on YouTube. I’m just sayin.