I just thought I’d share some random photos I snapped this weekend with y’all. Just ‘cause.

It’s always interesting to see what happens when Nathan decides to play with the selfie camera on his iPad. 

Happy Friday the 13th, y’all! The holiday that can happen several times a year or… never! But it’s the inconsistency that I love.

I snapped this photo in downtown Arlington Heights, IL, around this time 11 years ago. We were stopping off to buy a gift card for one of Katie’s family members when I saw a broken skateboard ditched on a sidewalk outside a store.

Man, that post-vacation crash is real, isn’t it? Brutally so. Now I know why so many of my coworkers took the final two days off this week. Recovery. So important.

I don't have nearly as many photos for you today. It was a slow, relaxing day and I tried to stay off my phone as much as possible save for driving directions.

I can’t believe we’ve already hit the final full day of our vacation. Where did the time go?? Well, enjoy these photos. I may have more tomorrow from our departure. We shall see. 

Here are some photos from day 4 of our trip. Enjoy!

I'm really not sure what to title this post. I chose “LA01/03” because it’s my first generic post about days 1 and 3 of our trip to the Los Angeles area (Disney was day 2).

I’m gonna make this simple and just post some photos from our trip to Disneyland today. Sound good?

Do you remember that post about early morning walks and sunrises? Sometimes, even when it's dreary, it's still beautiful...

I got a pop-up on my phone about an hour ago of a like on an Instagram photo I took from a name I didn't recognize. About 15 minutes ago, I received another notification of a comment on a photo from another name I didn't recognize. Both were attached to the same image in my account.

Early morning walks are the best. Few people. Little to no traffic. No construction sounds. And views like this.

For the last several weeks, I’ve been making it a point to go out nearly daily for walks or bike rides.

There was a time when we could get dozens of photos of Nathan in a single session. Then he started moving and didn’t stop. Or, if he does stop, he doesn’t give us a photo friendly face.

Has anyone else noticed that you can no longer actually take photos within the Instagram app anymore?

As I’ve got nothing much else worthwhile to say right now, I’m just going to take a moment to point out that I have surpassed the 5,000 post mark on Instagram! WOO!!

...Junction, what's your function?
Hooking up phrases and clauses that balance, like.

Okay, sorry, no more Schoolhouse Rock. Though the temptation be mighty! This is about the great Conjunction in the sky... the alignment of Jupiter, Saturn, and Earth that happens every 400ish years and is theorized by Johannes Kepler as being the celestial event that guided the wisemen to Jesus' birth manger in Bethlehem.

I’m really struggling right now to come up with a photography idea for 2021. I don’t want to do more macro cassette covers. I’m not sure I want to do regular macro photos. I failed miserably when I tried to do short stories based on a photo.

This morning before I started work, I went for a walk around the neighborhood. I knew it wouldn't be a long walk because it was really cold and it had snowed overnight, but I wanted to get some motion in before I spent the rest of the day sitting in front of my laptop.

Ten years ago today, I was in the midst of a Photo365 Challenge. One photo every day for a full year. I’m not sure if I finished it or not. I should really check into that. 

Back when I worked at Aurora University, my buddy Eric (the Pitchfork Music Festival-attending buddy) and I used to take this blue goo that I had for strengthening your hands and forearms and put it on top of toys and other random items and let it "melt" over them for a day or two and admire the results. I swore we used to take pictures of them, but I cannot find those photos anywhere and they pre-dated the iPhone so they're certainly not in the cloud anywhere. So I'm wondering if they actually happened or not.

On Sunday, Nathan and I went to our local park to have some 1:1 Nerf gun wars. While we were there, a guy and his son came by with a medium sized styrofoam box containing this...

One of my favorite things about Instagram is discovering an absolutely amazing photographer who also shares their skill for all on IG instead of just the professional photography sites. I mean, I really don't follow the pro sites anymore at all. Not even Flickr and I still, technically, use Flickr. 

I love you, Chicago.

Today, a month and a day ahead of the actual date, we held Nathan’s seventh birthday party. All three of us got to creative with the theme Nathan chose and everyone had a great time. 

Foodstagrammer - (noun) A person who compulsively posts pictures of their food to Instagram. 

The big news item in the Chicago area -- that has nothing to do with violence, politics, or the weather -- is that Union Pacific steam engine 4014, dubbed "Big Boy," is in town right now. Well, not Chicago exactly. West Chicago... far to the west of the Chicago proper, but only one town east of where I live. 

It’s kinda all over Instagram today... people comparing photos of themselves from today with photos from 10 years ago, presumably as close to the day as possible. 

Nathan found Photo Booth on his iPad. Oh yes, he found it alright. And I see every last one on my iPhone. 

If you’ve followed either my Instagram or Twitter accounts recently, you may have seen that we have a new houseguest. 

Beer! Glorious beer! So golden, hoppy, and scrumptious!

This past Monday, I finally started doing something that I’ve known for a while needed to begin again. I started going for early morning walks with the intent of transitioning slowly into running. 

I had completely forgotten about this photo. We were in Arlington Heights in 2010 shopping for something or other when I noticed a shattered and abandoned skateboard on the sidewalk. 

Happy belated birthday, USA! 🇺🇸