mike g portraits

Shot my brother about a month ago. He rocovered, it was a small wound.

The Time Traveller:

























See some more on my flickr page

See Mike's website

A sense of place 2

Lunchtime adventures... take 2.



















I shot some portraits with my brother mike last week. I am currently processing and editing and I hope to be post some of later in the week.

a sense of place 1

I have an idea for this project. I want to begin thinking about and exploring the idea of "Sense of place".

Through a feeling or a memory we feel like someplace is familiar or we are comfortable there.
We may know that place and perhaps begin to take it for granted.

It needs some more thought..., but this is an image where I feel it may be an easy starting point.

I found this place while exploring the areas around my place of employment in the spring. I remember how I felt like this area was overly industrialized and uninteresting. It is full of fast food, strip malls, and Walmart. Throughout years of working in Hazel Crest, I have discovered places that were waiting for me to find them. I began exploring the areas around me where I discovered a sanctuary right beneath my nose.

Jeep

I love my Jeep.
Jeep in HDR

I found this spot right by my work. It's right next to this housing development site that seems to be halted. It's right off of 171st and Kedzie.
I was driving around during lunch and happened across this driveway entrance that looked like it lead into the woods. Being as inquisitive as I am I drove right in there and it opened up into this clearing. There were all sorts of Illinois wildflowers blooming everywhere and it was really kind of beautiful.
It was really muddy and there was a big storm lurking in the distance. I cruised around the path to get the jeep a little dirty. (Jeeps are really the only vehicle that I think looks better dirty).
When I pulled back out of the the little driveway I left some huge mud tracks along 171st street. I thought it was pretty amusing especially when a car pulled up behind me as there was all this mud and rocks flying off my car.

Abandoned house somewhere in southeastern illinois.

byebye Helen

Byebye Helen
moving to London for some time
she has this feeling deep in her spine
that she needs to go, go away
where she will get together with ben
and figure out where he's gone
where he's been
She'll come back to us
almost as soon as she's gone
back almost as quick as you can mow a lawn
She does have friends here that certainly will miss her
but she must go to London to find her better kisser.

Tucson, Az

My brother and I went to Tucson, Az around April 2007, to visit my friend from college. We rented a sweet mustang and drove all around tucson. This happened to be in and around Catalina State Park, just north of Tucson. I wish you could see his arms more, instead he looks like Kristin Wiig's SNL character on the Lawrence Welk show, with the small baby hands.
We also made our way to Tombstone, Az. which is pretty touristy, but well worth the visit.





We stopped in this shop to try to find a horseshoe so I could bring it back for my wife. The woman working behind the counter was wearing the old fashioned lingerie that you see in the movies at all the whorehouses. I asked if I could take a picture, she accepted the offer and began asking us questions. "How long are you two staying?" Why don't just go ask the horse carriage operator if you can have a horseshoe?" Why don't you two stick around here and wait for me to get off work, so we can have a few drinks and party a little bit? We declined to stick around, but I did go ask that horse guy for a horseshoe.

Which lead us to finding the Tombstone cemetary. It's kind of off the beaten path of tourists. It is supposedly where a lot of famous people are buried. Of course it didn't really provide anything all that interesting besides this picture.



And these are for fun

WYATT EARP

COWBOYS

Pool Players

Drive Home

The Annuals @ Ribfest on Lincoln

Sorry I didn't post yeterday. Woke up at 1pm and went to ribfest by 4pm. Saw "the Annuals".

♦

So last summer, almost exactly one year to the day (6/15/08), I was woke up at 4am by my neighbor Girard knocking on our door and calling our cellphones. I woke up just as he was about to go back upstairs and fall asleep. I opened the door and he told me my car was just involved in an accident. I said "bullsh*t, I've been home since midnight-ish. So he opened the front door and this is what I saw.
For those of you who don't know, I live on western ave, a very busy street.
So apparently this asshole was driving drunk and tried to weave between 2 cars, clipped both cars, one went spinning in one direction, and the other right into my #ucking Jeep (which you can see in the image). The drunk loses his front bumper along with his license plate, and decides to himself that he should probably just keep going.
The cops took down his licence plate and actually ended up finding the idiot about 2 miles north on western ave STILL! I guess he hit a few more cars on the way.
The most humor that I took out of this was trying to communicate with the poor little crossdresser named Eduardo, who was unfortunately the owner of the white car which spun out and hit my car. Poor Eduardo didn't have insurance.
So, I had to fork over a $500 deductible to repair the car, which was involved in an accident and I wasn't even driving!
The total damages on the car , which was less than a year old, were over half the actual worth of the car, but just shy of being totaled, in which I would have received a brand new one. So good luck to me trying to sell that bad boy in the future.
The mechanic I brought it to actually hooked me up by getting me new solid steel bumpers and a soft top. Thanks Eddie!... the mechanic, not the crossdresser.
Needless to say, I do not park on Western Ave anymore.

1 and counting...

So, this is my first attempt at a blog post. I wonder if anybody will really actually enjoy watching and reading my nonsensical bullshit. If you do I am severely impressed and invite you to comment. I invented this little blog right out from thin air. It's main purpose is a way for me to show pictures that I take... I mean actually show them! I have for years just collected and archived and... wtf is the point if no one see's them until I am dead or I loose my hard drive.

I really am going to try my freakin' best to try to post a new pic every day. whether I think it sucks or not. I'll let you decide... if there is a you.

So here it is my first image...