Monday, September 21, 2009 | by nathan

YOUR HAT IS TOO BIG!

Ohhhhhh, my God, you guys, have you been to the State Fair yet? You’re totally missing out if you haven’t. Brian and I went on the first night it was open, colloquially known as Dollar Night. It had rained all afternoon and so the people watching wasn’t quite the smorgasbord it usually is, but there was still some good watching to be done. I also took my camera along and had a blast experimenting with longer exposures, rack focus, all kinds of fun stuff. When I get a minute I’ll take you on my own personal culinary tour of the Great State Fair of Oklahoma!, but in the meantime – seriously, what’s the deal with this dude’s hat?

Thursday, September 17, 2009 | by nathan

Grooves

I took this picture several weeks ago at Red Rock Canyon. I’ve been going to the Canyon since I was a child, and it’s one of my favorite places on Earth. This spot in particular is special to me because it’s where I went rappelling for the first time. As you can see from these grooves in the rock, it’s a popular place for it. The first time I went was when I was fifteen, during the first of two summers I spent at science and math camp. YES YOU HEARD THAT RIGHT. Science and math CAMP. FOR THE SUMMER. Nothing else regarding my level of high-school popularity need be stated.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009 | by nathan

Orbs

I love taking out-of-focus photographs, especially when there are little points of light in the picture that I can expand into atmospheric, glowy orbs. With the Oklahoma State Fair starting up tomorrow, I imagine I’ll be getting a WHOLE bunch more photos like this very soon.

In a totally unrelated note, this is more or less what the world looks like for me without my glasses.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009 | by nathan

The Only Thing I Know About Salzburg Is That Their Marionettes Are AWESOME

You guys, I know. But I’m back soon with serious good bloggage and some awesome, awesome news. Seriously, you’re all gonna shit. But in the meantime, if anybody goes to Austria, do you mind to pick me up a couple of these steins? I see them every year at Oktoberfest in Choctaw, and I always want to buy one but I want one from actual Europe.

Monday, September 14, 2009 | by nathan

Weekly Reader – 14 September 2009

Old Rock Dudes With Meg Ryan Hair
"Can anybody tell us what is happening here? Why do all aging rockers go for this look?! These are Grown-Ass Men getting their hair styled EXACTLY LIKE MEG RYAN’s while wearing multiple necklaces, chokers, and rings on every finger. And why are HIGHLIGHTS a good idea?! Please stop with the $500 ripped jeans and tank tops. This is the worst look ever."

Odosketch
This site is SO MUCH FUN. It’s got a ton of great tools to help you create really neat little pieces of art online. But my favorite part is flipping through the stuff that other users have done; it’s some really beautiful work.

Invader Rubikubism
"When I first researched making butter, I truly thought the butter would be A) hard to make and B) taste terrible. Both of these hypotheses were incorrect.
This recipe is truly easy and the quality of butter is really unlike any I’ve tasted. All you really need is a stand mixer. A hand mixer will do but won’t be nearly as easy, although many of the posts I read called for shaking cream in a jar to make butter…Yeah. A huh. I kid you not."

Get Rich Slow!
I’ve read this article – no joke – six times. It helped me understand my 401k and the whole idea of saving for retirement. Seriously, whatever age you are, read it.

Thursday, September 10, 2009 | by nathan

Puzzling

This weekend at the cabin, we tried, we really tried, to put together this puzzle. But here’s the deal with this puzzle: IT’S A PAINTING OF POLAR BEARS IN THE SNOW. So – white. Maybe I’m just sore because I literally was able to piece together about 10 of the 1,000 pieces. At the end of the weekend we were maybe a quarter of the way done with the puzzle. So what did we do? WE PACKED IT UP AND BROUGHT IT BACK TO OKLAHOMA CITY WITH US. Yeah, believe it. We’re not going to be beaten by some jigs, no sir and no ma’am.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009 | by nathan

Ripening

My apologies for this week’s lack of blogitude. Labor Day weekend was a total, relaxing blast, partially because we were entirely without internet access. Thursday’s birthing situation went very well, thank you, and mother and baby are resting up just fine at home. Meanwhile, we got to spend the weekend in northeastern Oklahoma with some friends, where I shot this on a hike. It’s rather a favorite at the moment. More deets on the weekend and the goings-on with me to come.

Thursday, September 3, 2009 | by nathan

Big Brother

This is my two-year-old buddy Cooper, he of the famous animal noises, at last year’s State Fair of Oklahoma. Today Cooper’s little sister Camryn is being born, and I’ve taken the day off work to get to know her and watch as the two of them become acquainted. I love this family like my own and am excited to see it grow.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009 | by nathan

Green and Crawly

This is one of a multitude of insects that we met on last weekend’s hike. By the time we took this photo all of us – three grown men and two dogs – were all lying around wondering if this is how we were going to die. Well, at least, Sam was. That dog was worn out. So, we let him lie in the shade and Brian and I crawled around with the camera taking pictures of minutiae. After I took this photo I stood up and, for some reason, just brushed this guy right off the top of the electrical box he was standing on, like, "Oh well, I’m done with you, go away."

Tuesday, September 1, 2009 | by nathan

CRT

Red Rock Canyon, before it was a state park, before there was a state to park in, was home to the California Road Trail, which took prospectors seeking gold in California west from Ft. Smith, Arkansas, through Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle to meet up with older Spanish trails leading west from New Mexico. The trail is still there and still one of the state’s best hikes, though one should be careful to look out for ticks and rattlesnakes. As far as I know there are no remaining grizzled 19th century prospectors, con sarnit.