Back by popular demand, England pictures! Just a few today, that’s all. It’s by request, you see. I took these pictures at a Thai restaurant in London around royaltown. It was probably the 2nd best Pad Thai I’ve ever had.

Nothing too interesting today, just some signage from Jimmy John’s. I got accosted by an employee while taking these pictures. He was all, “Taking pictures of a copyrighted image, eh?” And I was all, “Um, no. Just the Free Smells sign.” And he was like, “Oh, okay.” It was kind of weird.

But it’s a different globe this time! This one resides at Orlando’s house. It is very brown, but in a good way. Don’t worry, tomorrow I’ll show you some nice red neon.

So I’ve never really had an interest in New York. It’s big and scary and smelly I guess, and I don’t really have a desire to go there. But now all the best and the brightest from the photolog community are from New York, making it the central location of my internet obsessions. I even read a blog specifically about New York. Why the hell do I do that? In any case, I find myself looking at The City in a different way, somehow. The internet has made New York a more believable and amicable, less mythical and cold place to me (recent blizzard not included). But really, it hasn’t changed, has it? Hmm. Food for thought.

I know what you’re thinking: shouldn’t this kid be washing his everyday? Well, apparently not, say some leading hair experts who live with me. While I have been skeptical for some time about this non-daily washing, I’m going to give it the ol’ college try…or cut all the damn hair off. Whichever, you know, comes first, or something. Did I mention I was kind of tired of this haircut? Yeah. Ok.

Today’s picture comes from out the living room window at dusk. The Twilight Hour. Ooooweeeooooo.

So I’m backing up my computer, finally. I’ve been meaning to for awhile, all my pictures, music, lyrics, etc. It would be beyond tragic if I lost them all. And it just so happens I’ve got a stack of blank CDs on my desk, perfect for the task, almost like they were waiting for this very moment of important data backup. Truth is, I think I was saving them to make copies of my CD, but, meh, nobody wants that anyway. Of course, theoretically I will have my CD up on this website somewheres. One of these days. Also keep an eye out for links, soon to make their appearance on this very page.

I made a mountain. One big mountain of rice krispy treats. Rather than little individual bars. You can cut some off for yourself, you see. Don’t let yourself be restricted by inside-the-box shapes for your krispy treats. Also our new neighbors are loud and I’m tired.

Also I wonder if this is the bastard who towed me last semester. What terrible irony that would be. Or maybe just a coincidence. I always confuse one for the other.

I couldn’t help but post as soon as I found this out.

Eliot Shepard of slower.net, one of my first and favorite experiences with photo(b)logs, has been something of an inspiration to me on this long journey of my own photo(b)logdom. Needless to say I am an avid reader. Well, about a year ago Mr. Shepard posted some lovely photos from a trip of his to England. I did not think much further about these photos, even when I myself took a trip to England the following summer. However, I now realize that I have taken pictures of some of the very same things that Mr. Shepard has, some of them resembling his almostexactly.

Clearly, I have been moved at sub-concious levels by Slower, and for this I am grateful.

So! Hello to everyone who came to visit the site yesterday and will hopefully now visit it forever until it is the most famous and awesome photoblog ever. It’s nice to see you. As for me, well, I’ve finally taken some new pictures, as you can see, and I have plans for more! Truly, the future looks bright.

In other news, I’m off to school in five minutes. Finally. Makes me wish I studied up on my Japanese a bit the night before, though.

p.s. that is the street in front of my building, the pole in back of the bookstore, and not my nicotine patch.

Ah snow. Makes everything colorless and bleak. And cold. Well, actually, snow means it’s not a million degrees below zero. Well, if it’s snowing. I suppose it could be a million degrees below zero with snow on the ground. But it’s not! It’s 19 degrees ABOVE zero!

This is the lot across the street from our building. The first picture is from the lovely leafy fall. The second picture is from about an hour ago.

So, clearly I cannot just keep posting old photos. Anyone who is looking at this site has already seen them, for one thing. For another, well, dammit, that’s not what this is supposed to be about. It’s just such a deterrent, the cold weather. I fear venturing outside. It is cold. And recently it snowed a lot. I mean, I would bring my camera to work. That is pretty much the only place I’ve been going besides my apartment. But I feel kind of bad not working, I guess. Or I feel weird taking pictures of the HRC. I dunno.

Right. So. School starting day after tomorrow. I’ve got an hour break between classes…and maybe I don’t take an hour to eat…so maybe I take pictures around campus? That sounds nice. I think I’ll do that.

p.s. these are some of the best (and just about the only) night pictures I’ve taken. i used a tripod. these are pictures of wendy’s. mmmmmmm wendy’s.

I’m posting these pictures from the St. Paul Cathedral (not basilica! that’s in minneapolis, I think) because Mike claims he doesn’t remember seeing them in my fotolog. Really that’s just a poor excuse to put up old pictures I like because I haven’t taken any new ones. But hey, those ice pictures were cool, huh?

Cassie is in D.C. tearin shit up for the inauguration. I’m in St. Paul scanning in slides and messing with them in photoshop, which is an exciting thing to get paid for since I do basically the same thing with my photos at home. School starts soon, thank god.

Ah the weather. It’s been negative a million here for the past few days, but things are looking up. I think it’s gonna be around freezing on Tuesday or something. Have a look here for a series of pictures at the Tate Modern about a year ago of some crazy weather thing. I think they’re doing it again this year.

In other news I’m playing at Dunn Bros. tonight at an open mic, unless I’m misinformed about the whole thing. Wish me luck.

I swear, I SWEAR, that I will take some good pictures sometime. SOMETIME. SHUT UP.

This is from the Bright Eyes concert I went to tonight. Tilly and the Wall was there. I liked them the best, maybe.

I meant to take pictures at work today, at the slide library. Honest. But the camera ran out of batteries as soon as I got there, so… also I’m not convinced that there are a lot of good pictures to be had there, so… anyway. Mike comes back today. I’m picking him up in an hour and a half. Hopefully that will mean more exciting things going on. You hear that Mike? You better be fuckin interesting and exciting.

Right, so, that’s him in the middle.

We went to Tanpopo last night, voted best Japanese restaurant in the Twin Cities 2004. It was pretty good, I guess. I had Tori Soba. Cassie had Nagakieijubliggiyaki Udon, or something. Today, I have a headache. Maybe it’s from playing Prince of Persia too much, but hey, I beat it so now I can go lie down.

p.s. yes I know the middle one is blurry but just shut up about it cause it was a low light situation, okay?

Once upon a time I had a job. I worked Paul Revere’s Pizza. I was a pizza delivery individual. It was not as bad as you think. Now I spend my days pretty much just playing Prince of Persia/GTA: San Andreas, which, don’t get me wrong, is not a bad thing. I just get worried about not doing anything productive at all for the next two weeks. I emailed my Slide Library boss in hopes that I could start working there early…but I suspect there is not much to be done about that.

On a similar note I appear to be addicted to buying albums on iTunes that people who listen to the same music as me listen to on AudioScrobbler. It is swiftly becoming an expensive habit which I will hopefully cease shortly.

In other news Zachary is in England and in the 48 hours he has been there he has already met someone who lived in Cedar Rapids. What the fuck.

Someday I will take new pictures. I should have taken pictures when we went out for Cassie’s birthday, dammit, but I didn’t. I swear to even venture out into the cold to take some chilling and snowy pictures if I have to. But for now, series from a year ago will have to do.

As for accordions, man. Current music: The Arcade Fire, and they are goooooooooood. They have an accordion in one of their songs, and it’s awesome, but it’s not even their best one. If I ever get around to recording We Were Sailors, you can bet that there is going to be an accordion part and it will MAKE the song. Word.

These are from the Turf Club about a year ago, when we went to see Azure Ray. We went there just last night as part of a three bar celebration in honor of Cassie’s 21st birthday, but I neglected to bring my camera.

First we went to the Muddy Big (voted 2003 Best Neighborhood Bar in St. Paul by the City Pages) where I had a 500ml Keller Bier, delicious but expensive. They also have quite good food. Second, the Kitty Cat Klub, where they had some rockabilly band playing and I guess they are supposed to be a non-consumerist club or something but the drinks still cost at least 5 dollars.Thirdly, the Turf Club, probably my most favoritest because it is a) close enough to walk if you really wanted to even though it’s -50 outside, b) relatively cheap, or at least not unreasonably expensive, c) the hippest bar I’ve been to in the Cities (I even saw a guy with my same haircut. That was kind of embarrasing.), and d) they have bands that I like even when I don’t know who they are.

In conclusion, my fake ID works better than I thought it did.

These are from about a year and a half ago, at my father’s show in one of those Quad Cities. I think it was Rock Island, if that’s one of them. My brother and I wandered around and tried to sneak into the riverboat casino, but failed.

In the here and now I am back in St. Paul, probably for good. So, if anyone who is reading this is in St. Paul GIVE ME A CALL. It is boring and cold.

Revised weather forecast: Largest single snowfall in 50 years. 6+ right now, still snowing, 14 inches by tomorrow morning. I’m just pissed that Best Buy is closed.

Just another year or so.

P.S. It’s supposed to snow 6-10 inches tonight. Hooray.

Did some recording today with Eric. We’re basically finished with Bachmann’s Broken Heart and The Beautiful People’s Club, which, by the way, is fuckin awesome. Cassie’s leaving tomorrow, so I’ll have all the time in the world to work on We Were Sailors, probably the best sailor song I’ve ever written.

What did I do for New Year’s? Nothing. Stupid New Year’s.

2005 is starting well. Buffy is finished and this website is getting better everyday. However, I have yet to take, um, any pictures at all. So, I give you some old old stuff back from just after highschool. Enjoy.