My Life Once A Day II: 13 June 2008 14 June 2008
…because you shine on me wherever you are…
Baltimore, Maryland
Pentax K100D
13 June 2008
My Life Once A Day II: 12 June 2008 14 June 2008
Baltimore: The City That Falls Asleep at the Bus Stop.
Baltimore, Maryland
Pentax K100D
12 June 2008
After a long run at the lake, we wanted to stop by Safeway to pick up some steaks for dinner. Their choice of organic meat was pretty bad so James wanted to head to another grocery store for better steaks. We passed this guy passed out at the bus stop- not moving and holding an empty pill bottle.
My Life Once A Day II: 10 June 2008 14 June 2008
Straight..ish.
Baltimore, Maryland
Pentax K100D
10 June 2008
One of my current projects is replace the screen door on the back of the house with one that has a doggie door in it for the beagles. I special ordered it and when it came in it needed to be cut down an inch on the bottom and a half an inch on either side. This was my first time using a circular saw and I think my cut was pretty decent considering.
However- Safety no-no number one. Apparently you aren’t supposed to use a circular saw or anything with the word ’saw’ in it while barefoot.
James also suggested I might want to stop taking photo of my feet constantly.
Unfortunately, I was trying to finish up the project as a storm was a-brewing and the strong wind blew down the old door that was leaning up against the house. It landed perfectly on the rail of the porch and shattered everywhere.
Ooops. I was stuck surrounded by broken glass and had to call James for help. Yes- he did get to point out again that I should have had shoes on my feet.
I wish I had a photo of me cleaning up the glass.
I got the wet/dry shop vac out of the basement and spent almost an hour vacuuming the grass under and around the deck to get all the tiny little pieces of glass up so the beagles wouldn’t step on anything sharp.
My Life Once A Day II: 09 June 2008 13 June 2008
Gross 7-11 Cheese Hotdogs.
(I didn’t have one)
Towson, Maryland
broke ass iPhone
09 June 2008
My Life Once A Day II: 08 June 2008 13 June 2008
Lemon Boy.
Baltimore, Maryland
Pentax K100D
08 June 2008
My Life Once A Day II: 07 June 2008 12 June 2008
I agree.
Fell’s Point, Baltimore Maryland
Pentax K100D
08 June 2008
We took mom out for special tea on Saturday afternoon…. except the reservations got screwed up and so we didn’t get tea at Bertha’s. I walked over to the Petticoat Tearoom- but apparently they only take reservations for 15 or more people and if they don’t have that- they don’t open up. I called and called and called Teavolve to see if they could fit us in for a last minute reservation- but they don’t answer their phones.
So we ended up with mussels at Bertha’s for Mom and James, and then over to Slainte for a pint (or 5) and planned out our dream farm we want to collectively buy and move to in a few years- where we will grow vegetables, sheep, goats, babies, chickens, turkeys, llamas, alpacas, more babies and some asparagus, of course.
Mom wasn’t interested in going to the museum with us- so she headed home to garden and we went to the Baltimore Museum of Art’s second to last day of a photography exhibit before it closed. I went a few weeks ago and loved it- but I wanted to bring James back to see it, too. Afterwards- we had to run errands- and in the span of about 3 hours we took both of the following photos. We were headed down to and kinda underneath the Francis Scott Key Bridge when I took this photo of Baltimore from a distance- you can see the port/marina on the right and I thought that was Fort Carroll on the left- but maybe it is just a ship?
On the right, behind the giraffe looking things but in front of the city is where Fort McHenry is located and about 100 meters from where I took this photo is a buoy marking the spot where the HMS Tonnant was supposed to be anchored when Francis Scott Key, a then 35-year-old amateur poet wrote “Defence of Fort McHenry”, later named The Star Spangled Banner, after seeing the bombardment of Fort McHenry at Baltimore, Maryland, by Royal Navy ships in Chesapeake Bay during the War of 1812.
Later, we went to get our growlers filled up at the local brew pub and came across this beautiful lightning storm. I’ve never attempted lightning photography- and since it wasn’t raining and we weren’t in any rush- we spent probably a half an hour trying to get a decent shot of the amazing light show. This is the best we did- I had no idea it was so difficult to capture lightning.
My Life Once A Day II: 11 May 2008 12 May 2008
Deluge.
Baltimore, Maryland
Pentax K100D
11 May 1008
.
.
.
Be Jealous- It’s okay. 2 May 2008
Guess the awesomeness I saw tonight?
Live in the movie theater.
On Thursday, May 1st acclaimed radio and television host Ira Glass will bring the wildly popular show This American Life to the big screen for a one-night only event. Glass debuts never-before-seen extraordinary, funny and true stories from everyday life, shows outtakes, and answers audience questions. This exclusive theatre event will be broadcast LIVE from New York via satellite to select movie theatres nationwide.
This one-night event features special guests and is presented in HD and Cinema Surround Sound.
It was so much fun- we loved it. It was a great two hours- and really fun to think that there were 300 theaters around the country watching the same thing. I wish movie theaters did more things like this- random broadcasts of live events.
My Life Once a Day II: 11 April 2008 12 April 2008
A new personal best.
Baltimore, Maryland
Pentax K100D
11 April 2008
Tonight I went running at the lake near my house and reached a new personal best of doing four miles without stopping. I’m not saying I was fast- but I *was* running. My feet never look so ugly or make me so happy as after a run. They really do look pretty beat up here and my arches were really hurty.
How I spent my Sunday. 31 March 2008
And yet another photo of red brick in Baltimore. I swear I didn’t edit a single color, contrast or saturation for this photo. I made James drive around the block twice so I could get a shot of this building- it was so vibrant and beautiful.
My Life Once A Day II: 30 March 2008 31 March 2008
98 Years Later.
Baltimore, Maryland
Pentax K100D
30 March 2008
On Saturday, I found an amazing website of the Maryland Historical Society full of photographs of Baltimore City. I spent hours looking through them and planning a long drive around the city today to find and photograph some of these same places. This totally combines three of my great loves- photography, history, and architecture. I have a very long list of locations around the city left to photograph now- and a nice long summer ahead of me full of sunny Saturday afternoons. This is one of the last locations we found- but one of my favorites.
It took me a while to line up this shot and figure out where the photographer was standing- it went much faster once I realized that most of the photos were actually reversed. Below is the original photo I found and my copy.
My Life Once A Day II: 28 March 2008 30 March 2008
Middle East.
Baltimore, Maryland
Pentax K100D
28 March 2008
And I went to the dentist again…
My Life Once A Day II: 26 March 2008 27 March 2008
Passive aggressive, much?
Baltimore, Maryland
iPhone
26 March 2008
My Life Once A Day II: 24 March 2008 27 March 2008
6:00pm.
Baltimore, Maryland
Pentax K100D
24 March 2008
I was walking down the street clicking away and captured these too crazy angle photos of the street and buildings.
Great Taste 2008 24 February 2008
Yesterday we went to the 2008 Great Taste show- basically a foodie convention where they gave out lots and lots of booze. I left my big camera in the car and only had my iphone- so the photos are a bit hazy.
Warren Brown Michael Midgley
Food Network’s, Sugar Rush
Bravo Network’s, Top Chef
My Aunt Kathy flew up from Florida to go to the show with us- here she is with my mom as we were signing in.
It opened at 11- but the food floors weren’t open until 12- so we went to the first workshop which was led by Warren Brown from Food Network’s Sugar Rush and who just opened up a bakery (cupcakes!) in Canton. He made an amazing European Butter Cream frosting and then passed out cupcakes to everyone. Perfect way to start the day. (That’s Jerry on the right)
James and I ran out at the end to quickly make it to the beer and cheese pairing session led by Hugh Sisson:
Presenter: Hugh Sisson, Clipper City Brewing Co.
Sure, cheese and wine go great together- but so does cheese and beer. Join Hugh Sisson, owner of Clipper City Brewery, as he tells you why some of his brews pair nicely with Cabot Creamery’s finest. Come find out why Loose Cannon’s herbal and fruity flavor is a perfect mate with Tomato Basil Cheddar, why the espresso taste of Peg Leg Stout complements the jalapeno peppers in Hot Habanero Cheddar …and more! Ticket cost includes one-hour interactive seminar, cheese sampling and beer flights.
Mom and I went to this one last year and loved it. It was equally good this year and of course mom told him after the session about how we did a beer/cheese tasting at her wedding this summer.
This time I learned more about why I like most lagers and not most ales, except for stouts, and why James prefers the ales to the lagers. Apparently, beer drinkers are either Malt people or Hops people- I like Malt flavors and James likes Hops.
The aftermath…
After that we sorta wandered around the four floors and wandered in and out the room sampling good and wine and all kinds of different booze… We hit a couple of the best tables twice/thrice.
At the Bushmill’s table we sampled the 12, 16 and 21 year old- same with the Johnny Walker- we had the Gold, Blue and Green. I also remember Hendricks Gin, Boomerang Vodka from Australia, Jameson, Absinthe, Pirate Rum, more vodka, more gin, more tequila, more wine than I can remember… Also- I had a special moment when we went to the Lebanese Taverna table and mom reported that my humus was better than theirs
Me and Jerry
The only session I really wanted to see and missed with the Pie Guy from Dangerously Delicious Pies. I love their Chess Pie- except when we found their table on the floor they were charging $5 for a slice so I didn’t have any. You pay $50 to get in- every table except about five were giving out everything for free- it didn’t make sense to sell slices at a convention. 
“Get Pie Style”
Presenter: Rodney Henry, Dangerously Delicious Pies
One hour of pie construction. An entertaining and amusing look at the process of putting together top notch, 100 percent handmade, Gourmet Savory Pies, Sweet Pies and Quiche, From Baltimore’s own Pie Baking Rock-n-Roller, and proprietor of Dangerously Delicious Pies, Rodney Henry. Don’t miss out!
I ran across the Dude from Iron Chef… and he looked about as confused as he did on the show- but I didn’t go to his session because by 5 we had already left to have pizza at BOP and beers at Slainte.
“Easy Appetizers- Five Steps or Less”
Presenter: Michael Midgley, Top Chef
Mom only stayed for a few rounds but we ended up there until about midnight.
Then this morning the only solution for the morning after was IHOP omlette and pancakes…. 
… followed by snuggles in bed with Daisy.
My Life Once A Day II: 15 February 2008 22 February 2008
Moving out the way.
Eastern Ave, Baltimore
iphone
15 February 2008
I’ve been 30 for 20 days now… 20 February 2008
and finally some photos of my birthday party
Birthday Party
My Life Once A Day II: 27 January 2008 29 January 2008
We saw two random foxes in downtown Baltimore Sunday evening- they were running across some railroad tracks and we tried to follow them to get some good photos.
Foxes.
Baltimore, Maryland
Pentax K100D
27 January 2008
My Life Once A Day II: 25 January 2008 29 January 2008
Natty Boh Guy
Baltimore, Maryland
Pentax K100D
25 January 2008
Harvey Beaglestein: lost beagle in baltimore 25 January 2008
Meet Harvey Beaglestein. He’s the new (old) dog we are taking care of while we look for his owners.
The backstory: Wednesday night James got a phone call from a guy who had an older male beagle who had wandered into his yard a few days before not too far from our house. They called us and so James got off work and went over to see if it was Huck. He said the dog REALLY looked like Huck and when he perked up his ears when James arrived he said he *almost* thought it was- but when he got closer it was really obvious.
When we talked about it - I just felt like maybe we could use the good karma of taking in this dog and trying to find his owners. The guy who found him said he didn’t have a lot of free time to find the owner. He said he is really sweet and quiet and hasn’t been any problem. I figured if we could take him- I could spend the energy trying to find his owners and we can take care of him for a week. If we don’t find his owners by next Friday- we take him to the SPCA which is much nicer than the shelter downtown and if we want to keep him we would have the first chance of adopting him. If not- the MD SPCA is a really good shelter and would find him a new home.
He’s totally chubby-tubby-fatty-mc-fatterson by at least 20 lbs and from the back he looks a bit like a piggy.
He has the personality of a pup but he’s pretty old. James thinks he could be 10 or so- he’s really gray on his face and his eyes are cloudy and bloodshot. And given the opportunity- he quickly sacked out on the couch- even though we had to lift him up there. He has a hard time going up and down the stairs and needs a little help down the back stairs to the backyard. Poor old man.
His face really looks like Huck (except older)
And lest you think Daisy might be feeling neglected- this is how I woke up this morning…With her snout tucked up under my neck. Harvey was on the floor- he can’t make it up on the bed and seems to prefer hard surfaces. Not like my little comfort hound….
My Life Once A Day II: 17 January 2008 24 January 2008
Northeast Baltimore
Pentax K100D
17 January 2008
My Life Once A Day II: 16 January 2008 16 January 2008
1424 N Gay Street
Baltimore, Maryland
Pentax K100D
16 January 2008
A few more from my drive to work this morning, Bel Air Road
Edison-Belair Park
Kebabs. 10 January 2008
Monday night James picked me up at work to go out to dinner. He had a rough day at the funeral all day and needed a nice dinner out to relax. I was the picture of the iphone commercial- sitting in his patrol car on my iphone looking up restaurants on Citypaper.com
I was set on Kebabs for dinner and searched for a kebab restaurant. I found one in Federal Hill- but we drove there and they were a Japanese restaurant. Then we drove by the old Kebab Hut- which was torn down a few weeks ago.
We headed over to Mount Vernon- Never On Sunday is supposed to have the best Gyros. I remembered why I love Mount Vernon- restaurants everywhere. We parked and started walking. I peeked in at their menu while James looked at two Indian restaurants nearby. None really did it for us- then I saw the Helmand across the street. Hmmm… the Helmand.
Owned by Hamid Kharzai’s brother, Qayum Karzai, Helmand serves outstanding Afghan fare in a casual yet elegant space. Beautiful woven textiles and traditional dresses adorn the walls, adding color to the simple white table settings.
More about the restaurant from an article from 2001, where it mentions the owner talking to his brother in Pakistan… the same brother that became the next president of Afghanistan.
We went to the Helmand on our first anniversary- three and a half years ago and haven’t been back since. There are three or four other Helmand restaurants around the country and now I want to go to them all.
I had a nice Shornakhod appetizer: Potatoes, chick peas and spring onion salad served with cilantro vinaigrette dressing.
I ordered Aushak, Afghan ravioli filled with leeks. Served on yogurt and topped with ground beef and mint and James got Koufta Challow: Combination of lamb and beef meatballs seasoned with sun-dried baby grapes, paprika and turmeric in hot green pepper, green peas and fresh tomato sauce. Served with challow.
I now need a Afghani cookbook and spices- it was really freaking good and not too expensive. For the both of us- no alcohol and including tip- we paid $40. The meals weren’t very large- I would have still been a little hungry if we hadn’t ordered the bread basket- but we did leave full of yummy food. I had garlic breath all night and loved it.
My Life Once A Day II: 16 December 2007 22 December 2007
Construction site.
Pentax K100D
16 December 2007
My Life Once A Day II: 12 December 2007 13 December 2007
Shorty?
Baltimore, MD
Pentax K100D
12 December 2007
Decorating the tree. 12 December 2007
Not very impressed with all of this business in the house and will take the first opportunity to push the tree down.
James starts putting up the decorations after we added the red and white lights.
I really like just putting red and silver stuff on the tree- except for the special ornaments we have picked up along the way.
Here James is adding his Rainbow (or was it a Brook?) Trout ornament I got him in Colorado this summer.
Finished product, and Simpsons ornament in the lower right.
Beagle ornament on the bottom of the tree so Daisy can see it. Also… a simple job of vacuuming up the dropped icicles turns into a vacuuming the tree? We rethought the icicles after we realized that they might be irresistible to the cats if they were too low to the ground, so… Mom will be so proud of her son-in-law.
Setting up the Tree 12 December 2007
Christmas tree decorating. I really wanted a live/balled tree this year but when we got to the nursery I realized they were like $200 and not very exciting- so we settled for a nice big Douglas that is well over 7 feet and smells great.
I realized why he is making this face here- not because I surprise flashed him- but because he thinks he always blinks when I am taking a photo so he is concentrating extra hard on keeping his peepers open.
Some of you may remember when 16 year old James started shaving his head. He agreed to grow it out a tiny bit for me because I like his hair but and here is all the evidence he needs to start shaving it again- a nice big soft spot on the top!
My Life Once A Day II: 10 December 2007 11 December 2007
Truck.
Baltimore, MD
Pentax K100D
10 December 2007
Through the windshield. 8 December 2007
Snow this morning. I don’t like the winter- but if it is going to be cold- it may as well snow, am I I right?
