The Arch

This is the St. Louis Arch. I took this picture when I went to STL with the trainee pool back in January. Wow...it seems like so long ago, but it was only a couple months. It was the last time I have been to the States, too.

I love it here, but I am ready for a visit back to the motherland. Really, the thing I want is to not miss my buddy's wedding at the end of September. I really, really want to be there for that. It would be great if I could make it back for that and stay for about 3 weeks. Then I could go to my University's homecoming and see a lot of my friends who will graduate this year. And I would not miss a chance to go to Lobster Battle 4 in Louisville. I think it would be an exceptional trip. Maybe something will happen and all the cards will fall into place in the next couple days and it will work out perfectly that way. I find it hard to be that optimistic...

The Tube

My brain wanted to come up with something profound for an entry for this photo, but I got nothin'. Life is awesome. It feels like a subway train gone off its tracks.

Which, in a round-about way, reminds me of a dream I always had as a kid. Not a dream while I was sleeping, something I wanted really badly. I always wanted a car with a big drill on the front. One of the badguys in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had one of those and I wanted one so badly. I remember being 9 or 10 years old and being soooo pissed that I couldn't have one. And, in my mind, the reason I couldn't have one is because I couldn't figure out a good way to get the dirt from in front of me to behind me. I already understood the basic principle of conservation of drill-debris. When you drill something, it doesn't disappear and you can't just compress it in front of your little drill car forever.

For those of you unfamiliar with the TMNT or this particular vehicle, I found this image online to share with you what I'm talking about.



I WANTED THAT SOOOOOO BAD!!! But I was forever tormented by the fact that those little treads on the outside would run into dirt because there was nothing in front of them removing the dirt. So awesome, but poorly designed.

Anyway, I thought of that because a subway train couldn't go very far off the tracks if it didn't have one of those attached to the front of it. One of those and an automatic track-layer. Or a drill on the front and emergency tires that would inflate around all the wheels so that when it wasn't on steel rails, it could drive off-road.

In fact, my guess would be, the sole reason subway trains don't have one of those drills on the front and emergency auto-inflate off-road tires, is for safety; it decreases the chances of running off the rails.

Man, I still want one. Maybe I can go down to the Mercedes dealership and test drive one.

Power Tower

From back in the days of the Schützenfest, here is a picture of the Power Tower. I love the festivals! I really like the fact that there are festivals so often here and I love what the festivals are, but I really want to make it back to the States for a Lobster Battle and I want to go to some rib festivals, both the one in Toledo and the one in St. Louis. It's perfect! I love festivals, I love beer, and I love ribs! Not necessarily in that order, but its a perfect combination! Now I'm all excited for ribs, beer, and festivals and I probably won't be having any of them for quite some time. Maybe I'll try to dream about them for a couple minutes. I just hope there will be no snakes in this dream. Only Festival, Friends, Ribs, and some Beer.

Path

It's my mom's birthday today. Happy Birthday, Mom! You're the best mom I've ever had!

Its very difficult for me to tell what is the way right now. There are so many 'options' and I am doing my best to follow the 'right' one. I always feel like I'm waiting right now, but I think there is a lot to be gained from this important experience of my life as well. It's just really hard because it's not what is commonly accepted as a step forward in one's life.

I had a strange dream last night. If any of you have heard about any of my dreams, you know that strange is 'par for the course' with me and dreams. Maybe one of you can tell me what it means.

So here's the setup, the background information that the dreamer automatically knows when the dream starts. I am in a speedboat. Above me is a hot air balloon. There is a rope going from the hot air balloon to me then further in front of me where it is tied to a snake. A very, very poisonous snake. In the dream it was called a Black Adder. Whether that really exists, I do not know. Also on a similar rope, from the balloon to my boat and on in front, was a small dog, used as "bait" for the snake. We, me and my family and some other people who were with us, were trying to use the dog and the snake to find something. I have no idea what it was we were seeking. But I was driving the boat. I drove it through a house that was flooded, then out a window and off a second story(European, third story US) balcony where I landed in a flooded alley behind the house. Then I followed the dog and snake further and we wound up inside of another house. Here I followed the snake and dog down a wooden staircase to a basement full of kitsch. The snake decided to go antique shopping instead of lead us where we wanted to go; he got himself inside of an old piece of junk in the basement, a coffee can from the 1850's or something like that. I had to pull him out. When I did, he bit me. I was taken out of the boat and taken up to a non-flooded bedroom where some more people were waiting to help me.

When I got up there, I could already feel the effects of the snake venom. My jaws were clenching together and I couldn't open my mouth. I asked, through closed teeth, for help from one of the three guys in the bedroom who I somehow knew were my brothers, even though they were clearly middle eastern. Maybe I was also middle eastern in the dream. I asked them to help me, so they laid me down on a bed in the room. My whole body ached from the bite. Then the pain started to go away in my feet and hands. Then, I tried to rub my face, but when I brought my hand to my face, it just flopped down and smacked me in the head. I realized that the pain was gone because my hands and feet were paralyzed. I couldn't move them. I got really scared and asked me brothers for help. (These are obviously not my real brothers because there were three of them and I only have two brothers.) One of them grabbed a knife and came over to me. He put it to my chest and I screamed. "Stop! What are you doing?!? Help me, don't kill me!" He just looked at me and grinned and said, "This is the only help I will give you." Two or three others in the room with me were laying on other beds, moaning and whining through clenched teeth, unable to move. He went back and sat down, but I realized the paralysis was creeping further. I couldn't feel up to my knees or my elbows anymore. I was going to die there, lying in this bed, unable to move or feel anything. I was terrified. Fortunately, the dream ended with the only pain being that in my jaw from the muscles being clenched sooooo tightly.

My dreams are very weird, but very real. I could feel the pain in my jaw and I could feel how tight it was. Probably you have similar experience with your dreams. One time, I had a dream and I got stabbed in the chest. I could physically feel the pain in my chest as I lay there with a knife in my heart. It was unbelievably real. That was the only dream I think I have ever actually died in. I didn't wake up until after I was dead that time. Freaky...

Water Throw

King and I went photographing around Hannover yesterday. In the Altstadt, there is this fountain with these three spinning balls and lots of water spraying straight up in the air. Well, as you can see, I tried to capture the water being thrown off of one of the spinning balls. I think it looks pretty cool. It reminds me of a woman's shampoo commercial. I can't remember which one it is, or if there are perhaps multiple commercial with similar scenes, but I'm talking about the scene where the girl swings her head so her hair flies off her head, kinda. See what I mean?

Angry Vulture

Following yesterday's "Bird" theme, I present to you this picture of a vulture ruffling his feathers. I took this one when I was in Belgium at the castle in Ghent. There were several birds of prey, Raptors, if you will.

I think after yesterday's long musings, I'm spent. I'll be saving up for another long entry, probably in a couple days but I make no promises (or threats, depending on your perspective, I guess.)

Self-Cleaning Duck Technology

I love this picture of this duck. Caught in motion as he dries his wings after cleaning himself in the water. (You don't know that, obviously, except that I just told you.) It also looks like he could be taking off or landing...who knows... except that I just told you. Anyway, most of today's writing has nothing to do with this duck, has something to do with another duck, but mostly has nothing to do with ducks at all.

I went yesterday for a ride on rollerblades. I wound up far, far away on the other side of the city. I found a nice little canal and sat down for a while with my thoughts, a bit of music, and all the pebbles I could ever possibly want to throw into the water. It was heavenly.

Regarding my thoughts: Basically, I was just being whiney about my opportunities for growth in my life right now. Reminds me of a Barenaked Ladies song: "If you think growing up is tough, you're just not grown up enough." Obviously, I have some growing up to do. I really have a lot of great chances now that I didn't have or would never have seen a couple months ago.

Regarding the music: I listened to William Shatner and Outkast while I was there. I also took the opporunity to listen to no music. All three of these were great. I am a big fan of the "Speakerboxx" album by Outkast, it speaks to my ghetto side. Haha... that's hilarious, considering I'm probably one of the 'whitest' guys you'll ever meet. OK, 'whitest' american you'll meet. Willy S is probably not always the best thing to listen to because his music is really quite depressing, albeit funny. And the silence was fantastic. It really took me farther from the city than I actually was and I really need that sometimes.

Regarding the pebbles: Ducks are stupid. I sat on the bank of this canal and threw pebbles in the water for a long time...probably nearly 2 hours. At least 4 times during these 2 hours, ducks came over to me and tried to eat the rocks as I threw them. The problem was not so much that the ducks thought from a great distance that I was throwing food, the problem was that the same group of ducks came 4 times to try to eat the rocks.

Also, the rocks really got me thinking about being a kid and how my dad taught me to skip rocks and how as a child, he would always take my brothers and I to lakes or creeks or rivers and skip rocks or have rock throwing contests. I think he still owes my brother 10 bucks from the time at a lake in Michigan when Kurt threw the rock further than my dad. Oh was he pissed... I don't think we had any contests after that. The follow-up thought that I had was that I want to make sure I remember to teach my kids how to skip rocks some day. Its an important ability.

Tavelling together

While walking through one of the more crowded squares that I could find in Lausanne, I saw these two just resting on the stairs of a church. So I made a photo. It looks like a good place to relax with someone and watch the people walking past, performing in the street, or taking photos while birds crap on their shoulders (that would be me...)

...Where the Watermelons grow...

::sighs:: So many lyrical references run through my head as this posting page loads and this is the one I choose when it is finally crunch time.

Anyway, a stump, hanging out in the water underneath dock, down by the bay, ...that is actually a lake. Somehow, its tranquile and I like the colors.

Cracked

I really like the look of these roses. They're slightly damaged, but it looks like they're just old, with wrinkly faces.

Gone

I am really excited about this photograph. Lately, I have been listening to a lot of Gnarls Barkley (much to the chagrin of many of my friends [you'll get over it]) and one of the songs, "Gone Daddy Gone", inspired me and gave me the idea for this photo. (Edit: It has been pointed out to me on a couple of occasions that "Gone Daddy Gone" is actually a Violent Femmes song and Gnarls Barkley covered it.) You can read the full lyrics here, but the most fitting part would probably be this section:

"Beautiful girl, lovely dress,
Where she is now I can only guess.

Cuz its gone daddy gone,
The love is gone.
[repeat 3x]
Cuz its gone daddy gone,
The love is gone away."

A friend of mine, being the good friend that he is, pointed out that there must be something in my life that made me want to take this sad picture. Besides the song, there is. A lot of my friends are in love related situations right now. Some are in budding relationships, some are enduring the pains of love, some are ending their relationships, some are holding out, hoping someone will feel as strongly about them as they do about that someone. There is, as always, joy and pain from love all around.

Anyway, my friend wanted to make sure I was ok; that I wasn't experiencing too much heartbreak now. And I'm not. I don't have time for such things at the moment, plus, Life is beautiful. But we got talking about breakups and heartbreak and how hard and terrible they are. But I think they are an important part of love. They make clear two of the aspects I find to be most important: you have a choice and you are suseptible.

If you didn't have a choice to commit to someone, what would be the point? If it was something you had to do, like breathing, it wouldn't be very special. Imagine if someone promised to breath for you. That wouldn't seem very special because, well, they have to. And so, you can choose not to act on your love for someone and it can really break their heart. But without that choice, it wouldn't be as special anyway.

Getting into a serious relationship makes you suseptible. Its a beautiful thing to trust someone else with your feelings like that: to trust them to be honest with you about the way that they feel, to be responsible and strong enough to be open with you and to trust you in the same. Its a big responsibility. And it can lead to a lot of pain. The fact that it can lead to such heartbreak is because it has so much power to be beautiful as well.

All that being said, I think a healthy relationship should obviously not have difficulties due to dishonesty, a lack of trust, or a lack of communication because both people hopefully understand those fundamentals that I just described.

Well, I know a couple of you are very much opposed to such cheesiness, but I wanted to share with you my inspiration for this photo.

In the words of my high school religion teacher: "Be good to each other."

Let\'s Go Sailing!

So I won't be getting a job in Lausanne (yet), but I still have more pictures to post of the lake-side. It was ridiculously beautiful there. With a job, an apartment, a boat, and a camera life would have been pretty sweet there. Heck, just give me the boat and camera... OK - obviously it only seems that way because I was a tourist there, but that's what unfollowed, unrealistic dreams are all about--dreaming.

Ivy and a Red Fence

Some ivy-sort-of-stuff growing on a red grid fence, clearly. I don't have anything profound to say about this one. I just think it looks cool. I like the green and red contrast...::shrugs:: It is simply pleasing to my eye.

Motion

Somehow, this building gave me the feeling like it was charging forward. I guess because of the long, wide base and the tall tower in the front, it looked like some sort of animal or something to me. I still get the feeling like it is captured in forward-motion.

Again, this one is from Lausanne, Switzerland.

Clock Tower

Again, this photo is from Switzerland. It's a clock tower on some really nice building. There were a lot of really nice buildings in The Swiss.

Me in a Porsche

So I'm not physically IN the Porsche, but this is my reflection in the right-rear door of a Porsche Cayenne. Again, I was in Switzerland at the time, as if that really matters.

Out and About

This pair was in the middle of a square in Switzerland. I like the guy's hat. I have no idea what they're doing. Maybe he was performing in the street, maybe they were just traveling through. No idea. The fact of the matter is, Kharma did not want me to take this photo. As I took it, a bird took a crap on my shoulder.

By the lake

Another photo from Switzerland. This guy was just chilling by the side of the lake, reading his book, obviously. He looks so relaxed and in such a beautiful place. It makes me want to read. And be by the lake.

Swiss!

As I mentioned a couple days ago, I went to Switzerland last week. I went to the city of Lausanne, on lake Genéve. It was ridiculously beautiful there. I love the water.

This photo is of some sort of metal obstruction sticking out of the water. I think it looks cool sticking up out of the water. It makes me feel relaxed and takes me back to the lake's edge. The sailboat in the background opens the idea up to me and gives me mobility. I really like the blue of the water and the mountains behind.

I have a mishmash of photos for the next couple days from Belgium, Switzerland, and from a trip around Hannover yesterday with King to make more photos.

A Tree

I think its pretty clear that this is a shot from the winter-time. All the leaves are missing and that makes it clear, but I can feel the crispness of the air in looking at this, especially in the way the light hits the things around and behind the tree. This is a tree in front of the Rathaus here in Hannover. I like the snaking, wiggling ways that the branches reach for the sky. I also love trees in the winter. I like that they go through such a dramatic cycle every year. You can see their change. And they grow anew. Maybe its better to be consistent like the pine tree, but I think change is good.

I have not been as pleased with many of the selections lately as I usually am. A friend pointed out that I should be posting and writing what I want up here and not detaching myself so much from it. Anyway, the point is, I have not had as much time as I would like to spend on photography. I have a lot of shots that I have in mind that I would love to take, but I haven't had time. I'm going to try to partially rectify that today.

Throw-Back

This picture is actually from my trip to Berlin with Pat, Jeremy, and Christina (three of my friends from the states). I really liked the way the shadow of the staircase looked on the wall, but I have to be honest, I'm not overly thrilled with the way I was able to present it here. I still think it looks cool, just not as cool as I wish it could.

I was happy with myself about taking this photo because when I wanted to take the photo, my battery died and my camera would not let me take the picture at all. Using Chemistry II knowledge, I heated the battery up in my hands and with a little bit of warm breath, was able to stimulate the chemical reaction and I squeezed just enough juice out of the battery to take this picture.

Cruising through Ghent

When I went to Belgium, we took a little boat tour through the canal/river/stream/moat/whatever-sort-of-waterway-it-was. The scenery on either side of the water was very nice. I found it to be either city-scape beautiful, with large sidewalks and beautiful people strolling about with flowers and art everywhere or intriguing, like this building.

I am going to Switzerland today so tomorrow, there will be no picture. See you all on Friday.

Kitten #1

At Mario's and Grace's place in Belgium, there were two cute little kittens. I took lots and lots of pictures of them because they were ridiculously cute. They were very curious, especially about the rocks that people would toss out in front of them.

Awe is one of the most amazing things to me. To see it in the little kittens was great. To see them exploring their world and learning so much about it was an incredible sight. Its the same for me with children who just stare, wide-eyed and open-mouthed at something. I love it.

Belgium

I went to Belgium this weekend with several friends. It was a great time. We stayed at the home of a couple friends. We went kayaking and mountain biking on Saturday and saw the city of Gent on Sunday. It was great. I really love short trips with people. I think it really builds and/or solidifies friendships.

The kayaking and mountain biking reminded me just how much I miss the outdoors and outdoor activities. I had a blast. One of my buddies and I spent probably close to half an hour trying to ride through a puddle that was WAY too deep to be able to get through. The water was up past the pedals, probably two-and-a-half feet (or approximately 76cm) deep.

I really liked this picture, which I took from the top of a castle in Gent, because it shows the beautiful architecture I saw in Gent as the backdrop to the Belgian flag. I really liked Belgium.

Thanks to everyone for all the comments lately. I really appreciate it!

Hero

There is something awesome to me about The Eagle. Some people hold other individuals as heroes. The Eagle is my hero. I imagine the Eagle to have the qualities that I find most important. What might those qualities be? I shall try to tell you.

The Eagle is proud and self-confident, but not flashy. He can hunt and eat and fly and be awesome very well. And he knows that he can do all of these things. But like Disco Stu, he doesn't advertise.

The Eagle is observant and judges his surroundings, but is always open to changes or errors in earlier judgement. In my imagination, The Eagle sits perched and looks around, taking it all in, learning what is going on around him. Then he makes an observation about his surroundings. But he is never so conceded to think that he has it all right. He is always learning and giving a second chance.

He goes for what he wants and will fight to get it. The Eagle is brave and doesn't give up. I imagine The Eagle to always love a challenge and be willing to face obstacles in order to achieve his goals. "When the going gets tough, the tough get going." In Kyle's world, The Eagle is tough.

I see the Eagle as honest. Always honest and open. He doesn't hide things from others, especially the people he calls his friends. He tells them the truth, even when it may be painful for them to hear because he knows that honesty means that people aren't misguided. Someone once said to me, and this is a rough translation, "To not tell the whole truth is the same as lying." The Eagle tells it how it is.

But he is also compassionate. Because he is honest, he helps his friends identify their true obstacles. Then he helps them overcome those obstacles. He doesn't guide his friends down a path that will lead to failure but he encourages his friends to follow their dreams and he offers his assistance whenever possible. The Eagle is a "Tough Love" kind of guy.

He has a sense of what is right and what is wrong and he follows that sense. He doesn't throw his morals to the side in order to get what he wants. As said before, he is open to new ideas of what is right and wrong, but he follows his moral code strictly. The Eagle is honorable and admirable.

The Eagle is my hero. OK - The Eagle and my dad are my heroes. But right now, we're focused on Eagles. Obviously, I have never met an Eagle, but I use the Eagle as an object for all of these qualities that I strive to personify.

I have a question for you. Audience participation, if you will. And even if you don't answer here, it is a good exercise in self-reflection and personal development: Who or what is your hero and why?

Adventure

A motorcycle, to me, is a thing of freedom and of adventure. More so than an automobile, it symbolizes the ability to just relax and explore. Granted, this is no motorcycle. However, looking at this scooter/moped, I still get the idea that it was someone else's adventure. The age and the colors give me the feeling that this little scooter has gotten around.

It also reminds me of the motorcycle journey around Europe that my buddy, Justin, and I will take. Someday. When we're wealthier, have more vacation time, and aren't scared of riding motorcycles in Europe. After overcoming those small obstacles, expect to see us cruising around.

(My biology teacher would kill me. Not only have I ended two sentences with prepositions, I ended two consecutive paragraphs with the same prepositions.)

Travel Buddy

My iPod is my travel buddy. Sometimes we have other companions, sometimes not. But he's always there. Even for trips to the supermarket or the train station. Everywhere I travel, he comes along with me. He sings me happy-fun songs like "Istanbul", high-school-swim-team-memory-inducing songs like "The Dolphin's Cry", energy-infusing songs like "When Worlds Collide", sad-love songs like "The Flag", happy-love songs like "Fell In Love With a Girl", techno-groove-on-the-train songs like "Sandstorm", down-and-depressed songs like "Just A Thought", psychological-"the-world-is-a-crazy-place" songs like "Fire Coming Out of the Monkey's Head", German songs like "Wenn Es Passiert", sad-break-up songs like "Somewhere Only We Know", political-message songs like "Megalomaniac", happy-sounding-not-at-all-happy songs like "I Spy". He tells me stories like "America: Democracy Inaction: The Audiobook" and teaches me lessons like "Spanish with Michael Thomas."

This is a picture of iPod on the train from Stanstedt to London's Liverpool Station.

For those of you coming from Photo Friday, my daily photo blog can be found here

Protest

On Saturday, I was walking around town with a couple of friends and we saw a protest walking through the Steintor area. Always on the search for photos, I tried my hand at photographing a protest march.

The protest was against Israel and the war they are fighting. At first, when I looked at this composition of photos, I was disappointed. I felt like it wasn't very active, it wasn't very lively: it feels more like a parade than a protest, to me. But that's how it seemed to me. Mostly, everyone was quietly waving flags or carrying signs or just showing their presence. There was one man with a bullhorn who was trying to organize a chant toward the back of the group.

A few chants and a few signs were also protesting Bush and the US. A friend asked if I felt scared at all, but I would say not really. At first when I approached, I felt uneasy because I always have a bit of fear about photographing people. However, the protest was very civil, so I had no fear of being hurt. Plus, there were police officers everywhere.