Church Staircase
Goslar, Germany- Dec. 2007

I’m finally getting around to posting about the weekend. Work and school has really kept me busy lately. So much to do, so little time it seems these days. I did get out and about this past weekend a bit. We caught WALL-E, which I just loved. I particularly enjoyed all of the 2001: A Space Odyssey references. Pixar just really knows how to blend the digital technology with an actual storyline that’s interesting. I wish some of the Hollywood films would learn that we want actual interesting plots in our films, and not just special effects.

We actually caught the WALL-E at the newly opened Showcase Cinema de Lux, in Florence, KY. What’s cool about this theater is that they offer balcony seating on some screens where you can recline in leather seats, be served a meal from an on-call waiter, and drink al-co-hol. Yes, I enjoyed watching the movie with delicious sliders and a nice frozen margarita. A great concept, that more theaters should take notice of.

We also checked out a few of the several festivals going on around the city. Matt, Glenn, and I made our way over to the Panegyri Greek Festival. We sampled a bit of the food, shared a bottle of Greek wine, and I indulged in a baklava sundae. I was hoping to see a lot of hot Greek men walking about all tan and sleek, but they must have all been hanging in a bathhouse somewhere.

It was on to Westfest 2008 over in Westwood to check out the scene. The streets were littered with westsiders drinking beer and fighting their way through the crowds. I was good, and managed to stay clear of the booth selling deep fried twinkies and oreos. Talk about a heart attack on a stick!

We did pop into a few of the tents to find the usual “crafts” people were selling. I stumbled upon a table full of handmade ceramic dolls that seemed interesting, yet creepy all the same. I snapped a quick shot, and the booth lady, a.k.a the artiste was a little snippy about me taking a shot. She said, “These designs are protected, you know”. I said, “oh, the photo is to show my mom who enjoys crafts, it’s not like I’m going to post it online (yeah, right)”. She said, “Well then buy some if you’re that interested”. I chirped back, “Well, I’m sure George Lucas would want to know you’re infringing on his copyrighted designs”. Take that, Lafonda.

Montréal, Canada- May 2007

I’m currently on a two hour break between classes on my first day back for summer quarter. My morning draw-ring class was a lot of fun. I haven’t sat down and drawn in an art studio since high school days. Unfortunately, I found out that we won’t be studying the male nude form, so no hot college campus guys to sketch

While enjoying the free wi-fi on campus, I did a little video iChat with Matt at his home office. Silly boy.

Flagstaff, AZ- April 2006

I was at first a bit disappointed with the new Coldplay album, “Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends”. It’s definitely a grower, and is actually quite good. The track, “42″ is becoming one of my favorites. It starts out slow, very reminiscent of their debut album, “Parachutes”, but then goes full bravado.

The day started out like this…

And ended liked that…

- This past weekend was Cincinnati’s Pride festival. I wasn’t feeling too well most of the weekend, so didn’t make it to the festivities, but was able to make it to Troy’s for a little eat and greet yesterday.

-Matt finished up his last performance of Madame Butterfly Sunday afternoon, so he’s hung up his wig and kimono for the time being.

- Matt and I were invited to a Tony Awards party last night, and had a blast. The party was hosted by the Ensemble Theater, which is currently running the show, “The Great American Trailer Park Musical”. It was a benefit dinner with raffles, and a silent auction to raise money for the theater. The theme of the musical carried over into the party, so Matt and I arrived in our “trailer park” best. We had so much fun, and Matt even won tickets to Coney Island.

Welcome to the 12 of 12 project, created by Chad Darnell. On the 12th day of each month you take 12 photos showing how you spent your day, post them on your blog, and then link the post back to Chad.

*Previous months can be found here

9:17am- Having breakfast while checking email/updating software

9:56am- Chase and Mr. Patterson’s Playground

10:12am- Going through used books I purchased last week at “fill your bag day” at the library. All these for $10

10:49am- Catching up on the season finales of Bravo’s “Workout” and “Top Chef”

1:17pm- Studying for Finals

4:45pm- On campus for final exams

7:37pm- Smile, you’re on candid camera

7:42pm- Walking in to catch a performance of “Jersey Boys”- Great musical!!

9:29pm- Intermission– They weren’t kidding…sensory overload!

10:45pm- Heading to Below Zero for a drink and to visit with Alison and Chuck

11:55pm- Just started watching Weeds, Season 3. Love this series!

11:59pm- Watching shows about pot smokers makes me hungry. So bad, but so damn good.

Zoetrope
Great Lakes Science Center
Cleveland, OH- June 2006

Last night, Matt was able to get me and a few friends into an advanced rehearsal performance of, Madame Butterfly. It was great, I loved it! I’ve slowly come around about opera, not really being too familiar with the genre. My first opera experience was, The Barber of Seville, and that was on a music class field trip when I was in the fifth grade. I actually remember liking it back then. This past New Years Eve, Matt was able to get us tickets to see, Die Fledermaus, while we were vacationing in Berlin. It was all performed in German, with no English subtitles. Luckily, I had Matt to guide me through the story, and the performances/staging was really strong.

Another great thing about seeing Butterfly, is that Matt is a supernumerary for this production. You ask what a supernumerary is? I did too. It’s a big, fancy word for an extra. His love of opera, and experience in local theater snagged him a spot on the cast. It’s a non-speaking (or non-operatic yodeler) role, but he did get to wear a kimono. I joked that he’d be working in a rice field on stage. Maybe he’ll post some shots on his blog in full costume. It was really cool to see him on stage a few times, and be an integral part of the storyline. Madame Butterfly was sung in Italian, and yes, it had English subtitles! The sets were actually from the NYC Opera, and were simple, but beautiful. I fell in love with the lighting as well. Also, this was the first time I’ve been inside the Cincinnati Music Hall, which I pass on the way home everyday. The music hall was built in 1878, it hosted the 1880 Democratic Convention, and is listed as a National Historic Landmark. It’s a beautiful space. I sometimes forget how many historical buildings are in Cincinnati, and a few only a stones throw away from me.

To celebrate Pride month, Kelly is posting his challenge for the third year, in support of gay rights, etc. I especially love the photo he took and posted this year. He did mention to write something about what Pride means to us. For me, working in a job this year, even though brief, was bitter. It reminded me that even though gay issues have been in the public eye now more than probably ever, and that we are seeing some good changes happening, there still remains blatant homophobia and equality issues that we continue to struggle with. I had to deal with this first hand, and I hope they burn in hell. Not bitter, but anyways….I hope we continue to steadily improve these myriad of issues, and not fall back to old ways. I do look forward to hopefully having a democrat in the White House next January. There’s my endorsement. Go Obama!

I stole this meme from Kyle, thinking it was pretty nifty.

the concept:
1. type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
2. using only the first page of results, pick one image.
3. copy and paste each of the url’s for the images into big huge lab’s mosaic maker, or make your own to create a mosaic of the picture answers.

the questions:
1. what is your first name?
2. what is your favorite food? right now?
3. what high school did you go to?
4. what is your favorite color?
5. who is your celebrity crush?
6. what is your favorite drink?
7. what is your dream vacation?
8. what is your favorite dessert?
9. what do you want to be when you grow up?
10. what do you love most in life?
11. what is one word that describes you?
12. what is your flickr name?

Here are mine. Try and guess some of the answers

Manhattan Pedicab
New York City- Oct 2006

In Rotation: Keane- Leaving So Soon?

So yet another Mac upgrade. Last night, Matt and I upgraded our computers. It was only a day shy of upgrading to Black Mamba last year. We also are celebrating our two year anniversary together, so it was fitting to get his/his Mac’s. I really needed to upgrade from my MacBook to the MacBook Pro for school reasons. I needed the big increase in graphics card memory, and the added speed and hard drive space was a much welcome addition as well. I also like the construction of the aluminum case which is a lot more sturdier than the plastic MacBook, as well as several other bells and whistles.

Also, as an added bonus, I used my student discount to save off both purchases while also scoring free iPod Touches for both computers. We’re selling the iPods, since we don’t need them. So with those savings, and my mom wanting to purchase my MacBook, the upgrade didn’t hurt much at all on the pocketbook. Yes, my mom is now a MacHead, thanks to Matt’s selling skills on all things Apple. She even accidentally started calling him Mac instead of Matt, after it was all said and done.

Matt’s purchase was needed as well. He had the original Intel iMac which had a few issues, and went from a measly 20″ to an awesome 24″. Yeah, he’s a size queen He’ll also be selling off the older iMac which will help with the cost. I joked that his office now looks like an Apple Genius Bar with all of his computers.

Mac (Matt) Central

Size Queen?

Look what came to visit us here in Cincinnati, OH. The red eyed bug known as the cicada. I’m not much of a bug person, but they are somewhat interesting. There’s even a Ladies Cicada Society in town. I had one sitting on the back tire of my truck, as I was getting ready to leave work. I snapped a shot of him below, and just looked at him curiously until he buzzed away slowly. I said, “Goodbye, Jon Cicada”, as he reminded me of the Cuban singer from the 90’s. Whatever did happen to him?

In Rotation: The Cure- Icing Sugar