Sean & Sarah’s Wedding
My brother got married on Sunday, and it was a fantastic time to be together with family and friends. I’ve went to many weddings and photographed many weddings, but I never felt quite an sense of connection like I did on this wedding, because well, duh.. its my brother getting married.
I didn’t take as many photos as I normally would have and I haven’t finished going through all of the pictures, but here are a few…
Weekly Omnibus Post
The road to recovery continues. My crutches which have been constant, necessary companions for the last ten weeks have begun to be left behind more often, for longer periods of time, as I slowly walk-lurch around under my own power.
At the coffee shop this morning, I set up at a table, walked over to the cashier to get my coffee and muffin, and about halfway there, I realized I’d left my crutch back at the table. For a brief second, I thought about turning back to get it, then I thought it was ridiculous to go back. I’d gotten this far. I could forge ahead.
I got my muffin and coffee. I basked in the moment, marveling at the feeling of being able to hold things in both hands and still be able to move around.
For ten weeks, I’d labored under the reality that any kind of action requiring the transport of items from one location to another (which happens a LOT in daily life, if you think about it), for me, it always had to be something I could hold in one hand, leaving the other hand free to help with moving around.
And now here I was. Holding a muffin in one hand, coffee mug in the other, and making my way back to my table. If this were a movie about my life, I’d probably have burst into tears of joy. But since this wasn’t a movie, and I was in a very public coffee shop, I settled for a little smile.
My brother’s getting married tomorrow. I’m rather excited about it. He’s got a fabulous woman that’s going to be his wife. I’m really happy for both of them. All my life I’ve always wanted nothing but the best for my brother, and I’m thrilled that this is happening for him and his wife. I’ll have pictures to share of course.
Last week I went to this art showing by a old friend of mine. We used to work together at Penn Cycle when we were really young. We’d fallen out of touch the last couple years, and just by luck, I happened to stumble across some of his artwork when they were showing at a local coffee shop. I also bought a print.
The last time I was home in Minneapolis was during the dead of winter. I wasn’t too happy here. It was just too cold and snowy. Now that I’m here during the summer, i’m really enjoying the city a lot more. I always thought that Minneapolis was the perfect city for me, only if the winters weren’t so harsh.
I’ve been thinking a lot about SF lately. it seems so long ago that I made the decision to move to SF, over a year ago. And my life has taken so many twists and turns. Things come up, events occur, and detours have happened. But I think its safe to say that within a few weeks, I’ll finally be in SF.
Well, I have pictures to edit. So I should get busy. Talk to you all later!
Friday Funday
Know how you can just end up, not just double-booked, but triple booked in a night? I was hopping from location to location all night long, but ended up at the Townhouse for Dragged Out, a monthly drag venue.
But of course, we need a drink to start the night off properly.
(a whole lot more pictures if you click through.. WARNING.. some might not be entirely safe for work)
The Hits Don’t Stop Coming, Honey
Well, while I was hanging out with a friend last night, I got clipped (by accident, I should say) in the eyebrow. I didn’t think too much about it, but this morning I woke up to a real surprise in the bathroom mirror!
All I’d need to do is put on some eye shadow on the other eye and I’d be all ready for Moulin Rouge!
Two Months Later - Rebuilding
I woke up this morning and realized it was two months to the day I went up the Pollen Grains a climber with the world at his foot and came back down with a broken foot.
This morning I got up, and slowly walked down the stairs, out the door and in the front yard without any crutches.
That’s how far I’ve come since that day. I still need one crutch if I’m walking long distances. My foot still gets sore at the end of the day, but each day is a better day than the previous one.
I weighed myself on the bathroom scale. 138 pounds. I’ve lost 7 pounds of muscle. I can see it in the mirror, I’m not as defined as I used to be. Thats what two months of inactivity will do to me.
Healing time is done, its time to (gently) whip myself back in shape, boys and girls.
Today’s Spray
Buncha random links, thoughts and whatnot.
- California Supreme Court overturns same-sex marriage ban. While they were not the first (Massachusetts was), the California Supreme Court is also known for being the first to overturn the ban on interracial marriage in 1948. I believe history will view this decision in the same manner.
- How much does an sculpture of an anime-style boy whacking off go for? $15 million.
- Tate Tullier returns to Fantastics Mag with photos of a real hottie model, Nyle.
I’ll be taking a second road trip out west to California at end of this month. Funny how at the start of the year I took a road trip to CA through the southern parts of the country. Now almost exactly six months later, I’m back to doing the same thing.. just this time I’ll be traveling through the northern part!
I’m really looking forward to this trip!
I also have a couple photo projects in the works. I know it’s been kinda dry here on the blog lately and hang in there.. things are definitely coming down the pipe!
Springtime The Second Time Around
This year is unique for me in the sense that I got to experience spring two times. In Bishop, it came early, with the grass getting green and the trees exploding in bloom around late March and the dry dusty desert plains picking up a definite green tint.
Then I drove home at end of April, just in time for springtime to roll through (a bit late, but its here) here in Minnesota. I drove around a bit, didnt take a lot of pictures, but here’s some of the good stuff.
Minneapolis - One Week Update
Well, its not actually a whole week yet. I rolled into Minneapolis early Monday morning, but close enough.
My foot continues to improve every day, more rapidly than I thought it would. Last week I was still not putting any weight on my foot when moving around - only when driving, would I use my foot.
When I arrived back in Minneapolis, I started putting a little body weight on when walking, mainly to get my foot moving, and to restore the range of motion. It was initially very stiff and clumsy, but over the last few days its really started to limber up and getting stronger.
As of yesterday, I started using just one crutch to support my weak side when walking. Its still rather slow going, and for long walks, I’ll still use two crutches, but its a major improvement, because now I can carry things with one hand when walking somewhere. That was the BIGGEST and most annoying thing about using crutches is that both of your hand are completely occupied and you can’t carry things like cups or plates of food while using crutches. You have hold up one crutch and hop wherever you need to go.
I really hope that if this rate of progress holds up, I should be able to start walking without crutches within a week or two. That’s going to be such a huge moment for me!
Its really nice to be back home in familiar territory, but I’m missing the weather in Bishop. Its still cold up here and there are no mountains to look at. 
I hope to get back to doing some more photos soon and have more exciting news to post as well!
I Put Bishop In My Rearview Mirror And Rolled On, Baby
I left Bishop after lunch on Saturday. My parents (as usual) were great and came up to help me load the truck. Since I was sort of on a time crunch (needed to be in Minneapolis by Monday morning), I didn’t get to take as many pictures as I’d like.
Driving across the western high plains - you really get an idea of the scope and enormonity of this country. Also makes you question whether this world is really getting overpopulated when you can drive a hour and not see a single sign of civilization.
Driving through Nevada, it really becomes apparent that most of this state is really just one big empty place with people stratching out an existence wherever they happened to land. And then there’s a lot of evidence where people just gave up and left. Abandoned houses probably outnumber habitated ones ten-to-one.
Shrine to the Tractor Wheel Gods?
Even the cemeteries are dry, dusty affairs.
Who lived here before? What did they do? Why did they leave? How long has all of this been sitting there?
Who knew Nebraska had such beautiful rolling hills?
For the first time in weeks, I took the 35mm off my camera to use my big-gun, the 70-200mm to take this amazing late-afternoon picture.
Back in Minnesota, and its Freezing Here
Yup. Left Bishop Saturday afternoon and drove back to Minnesota. Some (not many) pictures to come as soon as I shake off the last of the road fatigue.