Look Down!

A few weeks ago I told you the virtues of looking up every once in a while. Today, we’re going to talk about looking down. Now, like looking up, you need to be careful not to run into anyone as it could result in a most uncomfortable situation. Looking down isn’t quite as exciting as looking up, unless you’re somewhere like the Grand Canyon or the Hoover Dam, where looking down is expected. I like to look down as I’m descending a staircase; I find that watching where I step has led to a much safer trip down. Looking down can be especially good if you’re wearing a particularly fine pair of shoes and want to remind yourself of that fact; this is something I do often these days. Other situations where looking down can be fun are if you’re on a diving board, standing in the ocean, or maybe looking at a lost feather, or even your reflection in a pond! So many possibilities!

In other news, I hope everyone is having a good week. I’ve been busy this week and haven’t been doing much in the way of photos, but things should pick up. I have some rolls to scan, hopefully this weekend, and I have two rolls almost finished so maybe I can kill those this weekend and have them developed. We’ll see.

BLT: A How To

Now that it’s getting close to summer time I thought it would be good to tell you the proper way to make a BLT, a staple of summer menus. The BLT sandwich, or Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato sandwich was first invented by Sir Francis Bacon in 1894 when he was looking for a refreshing meal one summer afternoon. After multiple near misses with lettuce and tomato based sandwiches, Sir Francis decided to try the ingredient for which he was named. After the initial taste test, he deemed it delicious and set out to make BLT sandwiches for his friends to try. They confirmed it delicious and Sir Francis was declared a hero. It was for his valiant efforts in sandwichery that he was knighted and earned the formal title of Sir Francis.

What he knew was that fresh ingredients are a necessity for a good BLT sandwich. Everything except the bacon should be pretty fresh. The bacon can be store bought, but get a good brand. Homegrown tomatoes are the best, homemade bread is also a necessity. Top it off with a little slice of watermelon and you’re ready for a nice summer BLT sandwich.













**Some historical information within this post may not be completely accurate, but the foundation for a good BLT is sound**

Summertime

I tried to make a blog post last week; I really did. But between the time I started typing and when I tried to save the post, apparently blogspot went down. I should probably go back to writing my posts in Word, and copying them over to here, because I lost everything. I had even typed up a funny little story about a whiny, crying, singing kid my brother and I saw in Wal-Mart when we were younger. The kid was being a little punk because his grandmother wouldn't buy him a toy, but still had a song in his heart. It was funny.

Anyway, to try to salvage my original post, I'll see if I can recall what I was talking about. Something about being glad it was warmer, and that it was almost summer. I'm ready for summer and all that it brings. Cookouts, clotheslines, and baseball watching (specifically the NBC World Series) to name a few.

Look Up!

I’m in a writing mood today so I’m going to take advantage and share a few pictures I’ve been meaning to share for a while. I like looking up. Sometimes it hurts, like if you look up and into the sun. But sometimes it’s nice. You see a new angle on things. Things like light poles, palm trees, and well, other light poles. Just be careful not to walk and look up at the same time; you might run into something. And if that something is a someone you might be in for a lot more than you bargained for. Sometimes getting more than you bargained for is a good, like if you get a buy one get one free deal. In this case though, more than you bargained for is no good. It’d be like getting a buy one get one free, if what you were buying was a punch in the face. But of course, who’s going to just go off and punch someone who accidentally ran into them? A maladjusted person, that’s who. Are there a lot of maladjusted people out there just standing around? No, there probably aren’t. So just look up!

a momentous occasion

What a year it’s been! To recap: Started off living in southern California, visited Portland, moved away from California, lived in Wichita for a couple days, moved back to Kansas City, and ended it practically living in Oklahoma. I visited Portland; Minneapolis; Wichita; Tulsa; Alaska; Chicago; various other parts of Oklahoma including Durant, Ponca City, Muskogee, Okmulgee; various other parts of Kansas including Lawrence, Toronto Lake, Waverly, and Burlington; Michigan; and Colorado. I ate some great food, took some great pictures, had some rough times, and took some terrible pictures. I increased my camera collection from two to like seven now (I just found one hiding in my desk that was in storage).

All in all it was a good year and a good 365 project. I definitely learned a lot and I think I’m a better picture taker thanks to it. Maybe I’ll do it again some day. Some day far from now.

Hideaway Pizza

The first restaurant I ever went to was the Hideaway in Stillwater, Oklahoma; I was only a few days old. Maybe that's why I love pizza so much. I could literally eat it every day for the rest of my life and be happy. And there's no need to go crazy and add all sorts of toppings; a good old pepperoni pizza is as good as it gets. Maybe throw some mushrooms or pineapple on there now and then, but plain old pepperoni is all you really need. I'm sure some will argue with this, but to you, I'll just say you're wrong. And don't get me started on supreme pizzas. Too many flavors mixing together. It just becomes a mush of pizza. Toppings piled on toppings, building way too high for any pie. Then you've got toppings falling off, olives landing who knows where. It's a mess. Give me a pepperoni and cheese pizza.

I seem to have digressed. The Hideaway is a good pizza joint. They expanded a number of years ago and now have some locations in Tulsa. We go there every now and then when we're in town. This was one of those times.

Fu Manchu

Let me tell you a little something about myself. I listen to a lot of podcasts. Some are just funny and entertaining, like The Grapes of Rad, TBTL, and Jordan Jesse, GO!, but some are informational and provide a good learning opportunity. Lately I've been doing a lot of driving to Oklahoma for work, so I've had a lot of time to listen in the truck. One of the best informational podcasts is Radio Lab, produced by WNYC. It's entertaining and funny, while still being very informative. I listened to a particularly good one a couple days ago about a very sneaky orangutan. I don't want to give away the good stuff, but this episode was particularly entertaining; everything from the actual story, to Jerry, the head zoo keeper they interviewed. My favorite quotes from him were when he called Fu Manchu (the star of this story) an "ol' boy" and when he described one of Fu's female friends as "a big, heavyset girl." It's a good episode and it's a "short" which isn't a full episode. If you have 12 minutes to spare, give it a listen; it's a pretty good story.

Check out this episode here: Fu Manchu

And now for my orangutan! He didn't pull anything like Fu did, but he seems to have an attitude towards people. The guy was just laying there giving me the finger! How rude is that? Although we've got him locked up in this cage, so that's kind of rude too. I'd probably give people the finger too if they came by and stared at me all day and I couldn't go outside because it was cold. I've always liked great apes, chimps in particular. Orangutan's are pretty great too though. Especially Fu Manchu, and this guy. Just look at those eyes!