big things photos

Published Photographer

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  • Post category:My Photos

I completely failed to mention this before, but I’ve had several more of my photos published. Previously, my pictures were in Indiana Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities, and Other Offbeat Stuff by Dick Wolfsie.

Recently, some of my Route 66 photos were published in the Journal for the Society of Commercial Archeology (yes, a real scholarly journal).

And I have some photos appearing in the just published book Weird U.S. – The ODDyssey Continues: Your Travel Guide to America’s Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets by Mark Moran.

Which is cool, because I own the first edition of that book, and they sent me a complimentary copy of the new one, which I’m really excited to get. It came in the mail while we were in Arizona.

So, I’m adding “published photographer” to my resume.

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Things to do before I die

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  • Post category:Life Hacks

Having 2 near-death experiences in the past 3 years has been eye-opening. I need to make some changes in my life, and feel like I’m enjoying life and not just living through it.

Self-improvement:

  • Lose 50 pounds
  • run in the mini-marathon
  • Take up a sport that I do every day
  • Learn another language
  • Learn PHP and MySQL

Fun:

  • Go on the Amazing Race
  • Read every book in my library
  • Have a conversation with Jon Stewart, and make *him* laugh
  • Marry my sweetheart and move in with her
  • Take my sweetheart to Niagara Falls
  • Finish scanning in Curious Myths of the Middle Ages
  • Buy a motorcycle jacket while I’m still young enough to look good in it

Creative:

  • Write a novel
  • Write a video game storyline
  • Build a piece of furniture — preferably the dining room table Stephanie and I were brainstorming
  • Help build an art car!! Woo hoo!!
  • Work more on my house
  • Redesign my Dad’s website

Travel:

  • Go to Disney World
  • Drive across America taking pictures of Big Things
  • Take a train trip
  • Italy: leaning tower of Pisa, Florence, Rome
  • Paris, London, Berlin
  • Visit an Asian country. Japan?
  • Visit a South American country
  • Visit an African country
  • See the Northern lights

Political:

  • Carry out my local freeway blogger project
  • get non-discrimination laws for gay people passed
  • Help get a political candidate elected
  • Eliminate special marriage rights for heterosexuals
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Louisville, Kentucky

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  • Post category:Big Things

It’s been a couple of weeks, but I finally got my pictures edited from our Big Things photography trip to Louisville, Kentucky. I love this city! In a lot of ways it’s more sophisticated that Indianapolis. Much better arts. Their historic areas are huge and much better preserved than in Indianapolis, and their downtown is in way better shape than here. There seems to be a lot more to do there, too.
And I’d like to point out that one of the many things that I adore about my wonderful girlfriend is that she’s willing to jump into my “big things” photos to show perspective. Check out the cute picture of her inside the giant baseball glove.

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Big Things Louisville Trip

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  • Post category:Big Things

Stephanie and I took a trip to Louisville this weekend to take some Big Things pictures. On Saturday, we visited the giant Colgate clock, the giant bat at Louisville Slugger Museum (another giant bat at the costume shop down the street) and a huge coffee pot at the Lynn’s Paradise Cafe.
We also went to the Louisville Zoo to see Gorilla Forest, the huge exhibit of gorillas. The zoo is really huge and very pretty and the weather was perfect for a visit. Gorillas are cool.
Once we got back Saturday night, I discovered I’d left my cell phone at the restaurant, so we drove back down yesterday to retrieve it. We ate again at the Paradise Cafe, which has really cool decor and a neat gift shop. We took pictures of a giant stone statue of hands, too. On the way back, we started brainstorming creating an art car, which Stephanie wants to do, with my help. We have a very fun idea. Also, I want to make a dining room table. It sounds silly, but we have a fun idea for one.
I like Louisville; it’s very pretty.

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Hidden Indy: The Mystery Tao on Delaware

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  • Post category:Indianapolis

Back in the early nineties, I lived in the Marleigh Apartment building in the 1400 block of Delaware in downtown Indianapolis, which is in Old Northside neighborhood. Across the street was an impressive array of old Victorian houses with all the gingerbread and other bling they put on houses back in the 1800’s. I used to walk down the street and daydream about owning one of them. One day on a walk, I stumbled across something really strange.

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I’m going to be on the cover of Nuvo (and weekend update)

So I found out today that the article that Nuvo Newsweekly is doing on my Big Things Photo collections will be a cover article. I have to go in for an additional photo shoot this evening and the article will run in the January 5th issue.
This weekend my grandparents and Aunt Rosemary and Uncle Gerald came from Iowa to visit my family, and they came to see my house on Saturday morning. I got to show off everything I’ve done so far, and stuff I plan to do in the near future.
On Sunday Stephanie and I went to my dads for Christmas presents and Christmas brunch at the country club, which was very nice.

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Lazy Sunday Afternoons

Yesterday, Stephanie and I curled up in the living room under the quilt, next to the Christmas tree, and watched TV while sipping hot chocolate and eating popcorn and cookies. We watched five hours worth of Survivor (including the season finalé) and one of Joan of Arcadia.
I love lazy Sundays.
On Friday night, a bunch of our friends came over and watch Xmas specials on TV, and on Saturday, I took Spike out and we got our picture taken by a photographer for Nuvo newsweekly, for an article they are doing on my Big Things photography hobby. The article should appear sometime in the next three weeks.

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Big Things Updated

Indianapolis Giant Red Arrow
Indianapolis Giant Red Arrow

I’m being interviewed by a reporter from Nuvo tonight about my “Big Things” Photo Galleries, so in honor of the occasion, I’ve added tons of photos to the galleries. I’d been behind in adding things for awhile, even though I’ve been taking photos constantly over the last year. Now all my new pics are added, with the exception of some photos that my friend Eric took for me in Minnesota. I have to research exactly where they’re located before I throw them into the mix.

There are a handful of new photos in the Indianapolis section, some of them updates of things I already had and some are new inflatables I spotted. There are a lot of new photos in the “Indiana and Beyond” section, because I took a few day trips and also added things I photographed on the way to my grandmother’s house last year.

I have a brand new tracking system at home now, too, with an Indiana map on my office wall with all the new big things marked that I need to locate.

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I have a new truck

A shiny red Ford Ranger that I bought on Saturday. I love it. I got a very good deal on it from Paul Harvey Ford, especially since my younger brother Todd bought one from there Saturday, too. I was originally just looking, but they had what I wanted, and I needed to trade in my Geo Metro before winter anyway, because it wasn’t reliable enough to get through the season. So I can drive to my grandma’s for Thanksgiving, and take some Big Things road trips, too. You can also look into the website of Affordable heavy truck parts if you are looking for parts for your heavy vehicle. Along, with the heavy vehicle parts, excellent exhaust and intake systems available here as well. In case you get involved in a raid accident while driving your truck, be sure to protect your rights by hiring a Riverside truck accident lawyer. An Injury attorney will help those who were injured in an accident caused by a negligent driver.

The other thing I bought over the weekend was a new cell phone. My old one was dying and getting the batteries replaced would have cost almost as much as just buying a new phone. So I sprung for it. It has a lot more programming to learn than the truck, actually.

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