imagine a different world of grilled cheese.

First off, I must say that I used a tripod for this photo and it is still on the darker side. I don’t know if my tastes gravitate that way so that is why shoot that way, or if I am just so used to not having a tripod around, and therefore would always have to shoot darker as to not have the image become blurry. Either way, I will continue to use my tripod and attempt to have lighter photos.

Anyways, onto the story. The other day, I was reading an article entitled Color Guide to Staying Healthy and Eating Right and I noticed the images associated with the story:

These above images made a light bulb appear over my head. I thought to myself, “Self, you could do a series of pictures that just focused on one color, just like these photos.” I always need ideas for A Photo A Day so I thought I would go for it. Yesterday, I saw a package of brussesl sprout in the refrigerator, waiting for my mom to eat them; I had my first victim.

This evening, I set-up my tripod, brought the sprouts out and started shooting. I know I was unable to capture the sprouts like the photographer captured the tomatoes or oranges above, but it is a start. Plus, these were not as green as I had hoped. The point of taking one photo a day is to allow myself to become a better photographer, and so in the coming days and weeks, I will continue with this one color theme, and hopefully soon, I will be taking pictures at near the level of the examples above.

Now I must give up these sprouts and allow my mom to much them as she does every evening!

But that didn’t slow him down one bit.

Fireworks Attempt #1.

Fireworks Attempt #2.

Third try is a charm, right? Wrong. Tonight was the end of Solon Home Day’s and so of course, there were fireworks. I was looking to tonight as the end of my horrible firework streak, hoping that I would see some great fireworks allowing me to take great photo. Well, one of those things occurred. The fireworks started early and ended quickly.

My mother felt bad for the people who came at 9:45 expecting them to start then, but then only saw the tail end. I told her, its no big deal, those people missed nothing. Honestly, they were not bad, they just were very quick and to the point. They started off with a bang, and then slowly, or should I say quickly, whimpered off. Last year’s fireworks were pretty damn good, while these were pretty damn forgettable.

Luckily, even with the quickness of the fireworks, I was able to snap enough photos that I would have one for today’s A Photo A Day. Here it is…another fireworks shot, from another disappointing fireworks show.

So this will be short: Go see the Simpson’s Movie.

Before I talk about today’s photo, I thought I would post something DMB, or in this case D&T related. It is a video that was posted on MySpace from their upcoming CD/DVD release Live from Radio City Music Hall. The song is Eh Hee and a must listen/watch, so enjoy!

Eh Hee - Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds

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Now onto today’s photo, and even though Dave intrigues me, he is not today’s photo. The road has always intrigued, and so tonight, I have taken a picture of it, as my mom was on guard. Cars came and went, but I was still, somehow, able to get a great picture.

Every year, for as many years as I can remember, I would go to the Indians game directly on my birthday and see the Indians vs Tigers. This year was a little different for two reasons, 1) We were playing the Boston Red Sox, and 2) We went the night before because of the pitching match-up: Josh Beckett vs Fausto Carmona, our new ace. We got what we went for, a pitching duel. The only run came way of the Indians’ Franklin Gutierrez. Unfortunately, the no-hit bid ended 5 1/3 innings in, when my mom decided to speak, out-loud, of the no hit opportunity. The next batter, C. Crisp, hit a ball to the shortstop, and with his speed, out ran any attempt to throw him out.

It is up to you whether to believe in the tradition that if there is a no-hitter going, you don’t speak of it. However, it is a little odd that right after my mom said it somewhat out loud, after trying to beat around the bush explaining the situation, Crisp got an infield single. Take it for what you will…

I take photos.

It is just what I do.

Today’s A Photo A Day comes to us from a fence that has separated neighbors since I was a yougin’. The fence has begun to rot and fall apart, so my mom played President and told our neighbor to, “Tear down that wall!”

And I expected today to be a very slow photo day…guess I was wrong!

But it did give me inspiration for today’s A Photo A Day! Oh and thanks to mom for the photo idea…

Tomorrow, I go…?

I thought tonight I would try something different and here is the result…

According to Ingenuity Cleveland’s web site, the festival is “four days of creativity and innovation.” I would agree with that statement. My folks and I went today to walk around and enjoy the festivities. When we arrived, we were greeted by the sounds of Beat the Donkey, Featuring Cyro Baptista. The music was unique and very entertaining. People all around the stage were dancing and simply enjoying themselves.

I took out my camera, acted like I had a press pass, and just started shooting photos of the band and the crowd. Unfortunately, I got so caught up in the rush, I didn’t really check my photos to see how they were coming out, as I took them. That caused a good amount to be blurry and pretty much worthless. However, there is a positive side. I enjoyed greatly taking these photos, and pretending like I was a professional photographer.

I sit at a desk Monday – Friday, 9-5, and well, it seems as though that job has become very stale to me. By 2 or 3 in the afternoon, I am falling asleep in my chair, pretty much bored out of mind. However, last night, I could have listened to that music and took pictures for hours. It was fun, energizing and the rush was amazing. Sure the photos I took weren’t as good as I hoped, but you know what, practice makes perfect. Hopefully that practice will take me from an amateur photographer to a professional one.

Anyways, back to the festival. After the music, we walked around to look at all the other exhibits. There was a game where you strapped a headband around you, sat in a chair, and tried to sit as calmly as possible. The person was the most relaxed, moved a ball on the table towards their opponent and then eventually won the game. Next to that exhibit was a robotic chess player who was nowhere near a robot, he was a human.

Other places there were holographic images of the human form, a video shot on the walls of eyes changing from different people and races. There was a circus area with different sculptures providing shadows and fun.

To end the night there was a music group that was playing simultaneously, in real-time,  in Cleveland, Columbus, Florida, Fairbanks. It was cool, but after waiting 20 minutes for them to work out the technical difficulties, it pretty much lost its luster.

Today’s A Photo A Day comes to us from an exhibit inside where a quartet of musicians were tied up to computers to watch their vital signs as they played. It was very interesting and definitely cool to watch. I am not sure all of the particulars, but enjoy the photo where you see the 4 players, and their signs being displayed behind them.

Hopefully, one day, I will not just be taking these photos for fun…

…what do you think? Rain, rain, go away, come again another day.

On my way home from work about a month or two ago, I noticed on 90-E, around 3-5 State Highway Patrol police cars on the side of the road. One police officer was standing outside his car with his speed gun, while the other officers relaxed in their cars waiting for the sign to go after for the next speeder. I noticed this trend for the next couple days and even weeks with the numbers topping at 6 officers at one point. Sometimes there were even a couple of police cars a 1/2 mile further down the road. I memorized their location, and made sure to slow down every time I approached the exit for W 117th.

Here and there, I noticed a random police officer on my way to work, so at that point, I made sure to simply drive closer to the speed limit no matter the time or location. There were definitely a couple of close calls, but none of them ended with me walking away with a speeding ticket.

One morning, on 90-W I was towards the left lane, if not in the left lane, when I saw a police officer outside his car point at a car, telling him to pull over. This was the first time that I had ever seen a police officer pull someone over by simply pointing. Normally, don’t they pull out, pull up behind you, put their flashers on, scare the crap out of you, and then pull you over…isn’t that normally how it happens? I guess there is a new sheriff in town, and they just point and you are supposed to know you were speeding.

Yesterday, I was driving home from work, on 90-E as usual. In the same location as before, I saw 2 State Highway Patrol officers and just thought to myself, they are back. I made sure that I was prepared today on the way home.

2 people passed me today, going at a somewhat fast speed, as I neared “the spot.” I thought to myself, have fun, enjoy being pulled over. A few seconds later, down the road, I saw the flashers of Mr. Police Officer. I was one lane over from the left, where he was parked, and I slowed to somewhere between 63-65 MPH, and continued to listen to the Easy Bake Oven story on NPR. As the past script dictated, the police officer was not in his car, yet he was standing next to it, outside. I neared the police officer, and he pointed to 3 different cars, one being mine.

I pulled over, and 2 other cars did the same, one behind me and one in front of me. I thought to myself, this is going to be my first speeding ticket, ever. I turned off the car, and my Easy Bake story. I sat there for a few minutes, shaking and fidgeting. As I waited, and waited, the person behind me was being talked to by the police officer. This guy was definitely getting a ticket. The time continued to pass, and I called home, telling them I was about to get my first ticket and that I would call afterwards. When I finally hung up, the police officer still hadn’t finished with the other gentleman.

I searched the car for proof of insurance, which turned out to be for my old car and is about to expire. My legs began to rattle. I then searched for my registration in my wallet. I could not find it, I continued to search. My heart began to race and almost bounce out of my chest. Luckily, I found it, in a different location than I had thought. 20 or so minutes passed, and I still had not talked to the police officer. Finally, he finished up with the other car, made sure the road was clear, and sent them on their way.

He walked towards me. I clenched my wallet, drivers license and registration. I was ready for whatever he was going to throw at me…….or was I?

“Sir, are you pulled over for a reason?”

“I thought you told me to pull over…”

“I didn’t…[looks back at his car to make sure his partner, I believe, didn't want me pulled over either.]…you are free to go.”

After sitting for 20 or so minutes in panic and angst, I was free to go with not even a warning. The officer walked to the other car in front of me and told them exactly the same thing, we were both mistaken when we pulled over, they were only looking for the one car. I put my turning signal on, made sure that no cars were coming, tried to calm my legs down, and drove off into the sunset.

There was just one problem, and it wasn’t even that I just sat in the car, alone, for 20 minutes, thinking that I was going to be handed my first speeding ticket, it was the fact that I missed the Easy Bake Oven story on NPR. Darn you cops!

Tonight, neither my mom nor I wanted to play tennis, but we did and we played our best match of the summer. The final score was 6-4, but it definitely could have gone the other way. Next week, hopefully we will improve on this week and continue to become better tennis players!

Prior to the match, I took this photo on the path to the local tennis courts. Looks good to me…hopefully you agree!