five is the new six

An Unexpected Visitor

2007-11-30T16:19:00.001-06:00

This morning I awoke to the sound of rodent claws scraping on metal. That was enough to get me out of bed, despite the early morning hour. It turns out a little flying squirrel had found his way down my chimney and got stuck in my room! Flying squirrels are quite prevalent in Illinois and Indiana, however few people get the chance to see them due to their nocturnal habits. I was amazed at how calm the squirrel was while I photographed him. I was able to get pretty close, as you can see below:

As cute as he was, I needed to get back to sleep. Donned in my winter coat, gloves, and headlamp, I set out to trap the little guy in a garbage can and a cardboard box. Needless to say, this did not go as smoothly as I had planned. Though calm while being photographed, as soon as I attempted to corral him into the garbage can he went buckwild. As it turns out, flying squirrels cannot fly, but they can sure jump and glide! He was climbing every wall and jumping over me, gliding to the other side of the room and hiding. I was finally able to trap him in the bathroom, which is a much more confined space. Once in the bathroom, I was able to set the garbage can down, and try to catch him with my hands. This did not work. The little guy was climbing all over me, jumping off of every surface he could. After about 10 minutes of this, he climbed up my leg, jumped to the wall, then jumped off towards the sink. Missing his mark, he fell into the garbage can and I was able to cover the top with the cardboard box. I took the can outside and released my furry little friend into the front yard. Climbing the nearest trunk, the flying squirrel paused a second to look back at me, and then disappeared up the tree.

I hope I see him another day. Just not in my room at 4:30 AM.

Crane-a-palooza!

2007-11-15T20:01:00.001-06:00

Last week when we had a free evening, all of us Naturalists drove down to the Jasper-Pulaski Fish & Wildlife area with one simple goal: To view the sandhill cranes on their migration south! As the days shorten and the cold air settles in, the sandhill cranes migrate from Canada by the thousands. On their journey south to Florida, the cranes stop to overnight in open fields and grassy areas. In addition to seeing thousands and thousands of sandhill cranes, there was one possible sighting of a whooping crane. While nobody in our group got a close look at the bird in question, the markings and coloration did match the whooping crane's. The whooping crane is North America's tallest flying bird, as well as an endangered species.

While waiting for the sun to set, I decided to fly one of our Karner blue butterfly kites in the parking lot. The Karner blue is one of Indiana's endangered species.
Atop the observation tower, Cre and B. Forist assume the "naturalist" position.
Braving the cold, we admire the flocks of cranes in the field in front of us.

All those gray spots are sandhill cranes. It turns out my camera doesn't zoom in that well... (click on the picture to enlarge)

As the sun dropped lower in the sky, a few stragglers prepare to land.
As the sun set, we wished our feathered friends a good journey south. I know I look forward to their return in the spring!

Turkey Run State Park

2007-10-15T09:21:00.001-05:00

After a restful night, we awoke and prepared breakfast. In order to limit the amount of food waste that we created on our trip, we combined our leftover pasta with sausage, and fried everything up in some eggs. Despite sounding nasty, it was actually good. After cleaning up breakfast dishes, we broke down camp and headed to Turkey Run!

Eddy snacks on some peanuts while Pete makes coffee in the background.
Ivana, Jenna, and Cowboy wait for the fire to burn down to coals before making toast.
As you can plainly see by the expression on my face, the mystery-egg-fry is quite tasty.
Then it was off to Turkey Run. The weather was absolutely beautiful. Everyone worked up a sweat hiking across the suspension bridge and up the trail to the canyons. Once down between the sandstone walls, the temperature dropped by at least 10 degrees. Water seeped from moss-covered walls, and mirror-like pools of water on the ground reflected the grand surroundings. It was truly an awe-inspiring afternoon.

After a full day of hiking, our group returned to the Dunes tired, but happy. Refreshed and ready for our next school group.

Shades State Park

2007-10-14T20:11:00.001-05:00

At the Learning Center, all of us Naturalists have been working quite hard. The weekends are packed, and it is not unusual to put in 12 hours of work before going home, thus the lack of blogging on my behalf. In order to help boost team morale, we went on a staff camping trip to central Indiana this weekend. It was great to get away from the Dunes for the weekend and spend some time in the outdoors without being responsible for 15 children.

Our first stop was Shades State Park. We spent the day hiking down to Sugar Creek, where we all relaxed on the banks. After spending an hour at the water, we hiked up to our campsite through a sandstone ravine. Stone walls covered in moss, lichen and ferns towered above us, while at our feet a slow trickle of water wound its way down to Sugar Creek. Back at camp, we ate dinner and told ghost stories around the campfire until midnight.

After hiking through a beautiful old growth forest, we finally arrived at Sugar Creek. I was actually surprised at the beauty and scale of the creek. To me, it looks more like a river, and several people commented that it reminded them of the movie A River Runs Through It.

Eddy, Jenna, Ivana and I skipped rocks across the water's surface. It was only after several minutes that we noticed there was a waterfall across from us. It was completely hidden by vegetation and rock outcroppings. Only the faint sound of water trickling over rocks betrayed its presence.
Jacquette ventured further down the creek only to find her way into a patch of burrs.
While the rest of us played, Abe took Mia for a walk before sitting down to enjoy the scene.
After an hour or so, it was time to return to camp to make dinner. Being naturalists, we decided to take the rugged path back, which led us up a steep ravine.
Ivana poses for me while Jenna and Eddy examine the plant life growing on the sandstone.
It turns out that the rugged trail is only navigable when the ravine is dry. Jenna shows how to properly climb the ladders that have been conveniently placed at spots where waterfalls would normally be found.

West Beach

2007-09-12T21:13:00.000-05:00

Well, training time is quickly coming to a close and all the interns are getting antsy awaiting our first group of students, myself included. As valuable as training is, there is only so much that you can do to prepare to lead a group of students through the Dunes. Thursday is our last day of freedom before our first school arrives on Friday. I am looking forward to starting, even though I still don't feel as prepared as I would like. I figure the best way to really prepare myself is to just jump right in there with my first group!

This weekend was fairly busy, with first aide and CPR training on Saturday and Sunday. Then Monday a few of us went hiking on a few of the trails we use for school programs. Even though I have been here 3 weeks, there are so many trails that I haven't explored yet.

Today, the entire group spent the day hiking at West Beach. It was a perfect day to be outside. Despite the heavy cloud cover, the sun was shining all day, and a cool breeze from the lake kept the temperature around 65. Allow the following pictures convey what a great day it was.

After a brief hike from the parking lot, West Beach opens up at your feet.
Steel mills and industry are a constant presence in the Dunes, and can be quite an eyesore. However, today I found the steam rising into the cloudy sky somewhat beautiful.
JQ catches up on some Harry Potter while we relax on the beach.
Leaving the beach, our group climbs inland through the dunes.
Over the top of one dune, a valley retains some rainwater, creating a temporary, hidden lake.
After a tiring climb up shifting sands, it was awesome to be treated to such a view of Lake Michigan.

1000 Cranes

2007-09-07T21:59:00.000-05:00

Here at the Dunes Learning Center, we often tell the story of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who lived in Hiroshima, Japan. Sadako developed leukemia after exposure to radiation from the atom bomb that was dropped near her home at the end of World War II. While she was in the hospital awaiting death, Sadako began to fold origami cranes, motivated by the Japanese belief that one who folds 1000 cranes will be granted a wish. In some versions of the story, she was able to complete her 1000th crane before dying, while in other versions she falls short of her goal.

Sadako has become an international symbol for peace and a reminder of all the children who were killed and deformed by nuclear war. People from all over the world fold cranes and send them to Japan as a symbol of goodwill and world peace.

In our house at the Dunes, my roommates and I have decided to start folding cranes in our free time to see how many we can get before our 9 months here are up. Then, next year's naturalist interns can continue from where we left off.

So far we have 9...

Training is Hard

2007-09-03T22:59:00.000-05:00

Well, I can hardly believe that only one week has passed since I started interning at the Dunes. It seems like I have been here for a month. Last week was focused on orienting us interns to the area, the various buildings and staff, and the basic workings of a National Park. The week culminated in completing one of the 3-day programs offered through the Learning Center, giving us a view of what we will be teaching as it is experienced by the school children that come to the Dunes. At the end of the week, the other interns and I were drained. It was nice to have a 3-day weekend!

Here are some pictures of various parts of the park.

Down Time

2007-08-28T23:02:00.001-05:00

One of the reasons that I was so eager to work at the Indiana Dunes was to be close to the water. Today, our "team building" afternoon was canceled due to some scheduling conflicts. Thus, we got several hours of free time. Since it was a sunny 90, my roommates and I headed to the beach, which is a convenient 3 minute drive directly north from our house.

My roommates and I agreed that living so close to the lake is something we will be able to get used to quite easily.

The Longest Journey

2007-08-27T17:06:00.000-05:00

First, I must apologize to everyone that I haven't posted anything in 3 months. I was just really lazy, and also frantically searching for a job. It turns out that looking for employment when you don't have any really solid contacts is an exercise in frustration.

However, I finally got a job, even though it is only temporary. I am now a Naturalist Intern at the Dunes Learning Center, which is located in the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. The drive here was pure hell, and took over 7 hours due to flooded roads. When I finally arrived, I got to enjoy a peaceful picnic atop Mt. Baldy, one of the tallest dunes in the park, with my fellow interns as the sun set over Lake Michigan. The crashing waves and the hazy orange sunset quickly set my mind at ease.

I will be living at the park for most of my 9 months here, but I will be making several trips home. And, the dunes are only 1 hour outside of Chicago, so on days when I am not working people can come out to visit! This will be a great experience, and since I will have some downtime with nothing to do, I will finally be able to dedicate some time to the blog!

2007-05-02T09:08:00.000-05:00

on the final day of our trip, we journeyed 8 miles west of governor dodge to visit 2 springs that have been part of an ongoing assessment study. one spring has been taken care of, while the other has been abused. it is amazing what human carelessness can do to an ecosystem.

the first spring was in great condition. shirley, the owner of the land where this spring is located, takes good care of the water source. as a result, the spring is cool, clean, and clear, and can support a healthy ecosystem.
the ground water bubbles up through the sandy bottom...
...and feeds a stream on the other side of the road.

compare to this spring, which is only 0.5 miles up the road. the ground around the water source lacks any substantial vegetation, and the spring itself has been trampled and polluted by cattle.
instead of fencing the spring off, this farmer has allowed his cattle unlimited access to the water. this is illegal. the cattle have completely trampled the spring bed. the green algal bloom is a result of the excess nitrogen added to the system by cattle defecating directly into the water. with algae choking out other organisms, the predominant lifeforms in this spring are e. coli and other coliform bacteria.
then this water flows downstream...

the amazing charles darwin

2007-05-01T08:37:00.000-05:00

in class the thursday before we left for wisconsin, anne asked if she could bring her chihuahua on our camping trip. my teacher agreed, but i had my doubts. my previous experience with chihuahuas has been a lot of shaking, biting, and yipping. i think the whole class was prepared to hate the dog, but he ended up stealing every one's heart. besides being quiet, obedient, and friendly, he was incredibly well socialized, so he wasn't afraid of everyone and everything. plus he had a kickin' wardrobe. meet charles darwin.

there were a lot of bugs out, and it got pretty cold at night, so darwin wore his red hoodie to protect from ticks and chills. during the day it doubled as a pen holder.
darwin also made a great research assistant, guarding the fish waiting to be measured and photographed.
he even put up with posing for cheesy pictures...
despite my apprehensions, charles darwin and i became good buddies in wisconsin.

in-seine in the membrane

2007-04-30T09:11:00.000-05:00

my conservation biology class also surveyed cox hollow, one of the man-made lakes in governor dodge state park. it is important to document what species are in an area when assessing an ecosystem. without knowing what is there, it is difficult to develop a conservation plan.

here we are using a seine to collect fish and other aquatic organisms. two people walk forward with the net while others corral the fish into the seine.

the seine is then scooped up, and anything that has been caught in the net is recorded. all of the fish are placed in holding tanks while they await documentation.

the fish are identified, measured, photographed, and then released back into the lake. in this seine alone, we caught over 30 fish from 3 different species!

in addition to fish, we also collected several species of gastropods.

i swear i still blog!

2007-04-29T22:39:00.000-05:00

well, as you may have noticed, i haven't touched this thing in awhile. i have been busy with school (so i haven't had time to blog), and i have also not done anything interesting to blog about (once again, i blame school). i apologize for my lax approach to blogging.

i actually did something interesting this weekend! i went on a field trip with my conservation biology class. we spent 2 days at governor dodge state park, located in wisonsin's southwestern driftless area. this area was not glaciated, so it retains the hills, valleys, and bluffs that were ground flat in other areas of the midwest. this area also contains a lot of springs and streams formed by ground water seeping through the sandstone hills, bubbling to the surface when the water hits solid bedrock.

here is one of the many springs scattered throughout the park. it is located inside of a stone house built in the 1850s. if you look closely, you can see the water seeping out of the wall. the water flows at a constant rate year round, and has an average temperature of 14 C. all of the spring water comes from surface water that has percolated through the surrounding hills and bluffs.

this is the "outside" of the spring. before refrigerators existed, people built stone structures around the springs and used them as cooling houses. dave, our conservation biology professor, looks in the stream for tiny organisms which are indicators of water quality.

2 of my classmates examine some watercress in the stream before the water plunges over the bluff into the valley below.

overall, this spring stream was in good condition. the watercress is an indicator of clean water, and we found many organisms in the stream bed that do not tolerate pollution. however, the waterfall basin showed many signs of damage, mostly from foot traffic. our class is going to discuss ways to reduce human impact when we meet later this week, and we plan to submit our proposal to the park management.

a truly unfortunate name

2007-03-10T14:17:00.000-06:00

save the snapper!

2007-02-14T22:09:00.000-06:00

sometimes i can't believe that i am actually wasting my time on this second master's degree. it seems that every teacher i have had in the education department does everything in their power to avoid teaching at all costs! we do a lot of getting together in small groups to discuss issues, which quickly devolves into just chatting about our weekends. then we reconvene as a large group, one or two people share a few thoughts about things that were discussed in our groups, then we move on to the next topic. while the official reasoning is that students learn the best when they are allowed to "create their own realities" and "discover connections and rules" on their own (which is not true), i chalk it up to lazy professors.

take this for example:

this is a button that i made in class tonight. we had 30 minutes, and you can tell i put a lot of effort into my creation. we were supposed to use our buttons to raise awareness of an environmental issue that we felt strongly about. so i chose to highlight the plight of the alligator snapping turtle, which is a threatened species in illinois.

i can't believe i get graduate credit for this!

minus degrees

2007-02-05T20:18:00.000-06:00

so, it is a bit cold here in illinois. normally, i don't mind the winter that much, but when it gets this cold, and stays this cold...

when i woke up this morning, my window was almost completely frozen over.

yeah, that was the actual temperature at 7 AM.

it was so cold in the garage, a pipe burst in the ceiling, creating an icy mess on the floor...

2006 was a good year

2007-01-05T09:32:00.000-06:00

and now, only five days late, highlights from the year 2006, in balloon form.

judy baar topinka, complete with hiked-up skort (combination of shorts and a skirt, a real fashion disaster!) and her big 'ol cup of new england coffee (aka bitch's brew).
k-fed and brit-brit go split-split.
long overdue!
there was also a michael richards balloon, but i think it popped before i got a picture of it.
r.i.p. mate.
i think this one is pretty self-explanatory...
by the way, in case anyone is wondering, limoncello is kind of gross.
the snake is hissing something about samuel l. jackson.
he may have been acquitted, but he is still insane in the bahrain. for those who are unfamiliar, bahrain is a small island country located in the persian gulf where jackson has been living this past year.
britney had a great year in 2006. i can hardly wait to see what 2007 has in store for her!
it's almost like looking at a photograph...
john mark karr and every one busted on msnbc's "to catch a predator" deserves mention here too. 2006 was a bad year for pedophiles...
but it was a great year for gay celebrities!

what are you waiting for?

2006-11-25T01:49:00.000-06:00

better get your tickets now, cause they are going fast.

dude looks like a lady

2006-11-10T13:13:00.000-06:00

so, out of boredom i decided to find out what celebrities i most resemble...

all i can say is, i make one hot chick.

why i love fall

2006-10-23T01:32:00.000-05:00

so yeah...i haven't updated in awhile due to me being busy with school, compounded with me not really doing anything that interesting. so, today russell and i went hiking at waterfall glen. there was a chill in the air and fall colors all around. the summer is definitely over, and winter is on its way. as much as i love summer, fall is my absolute favorite time of the year.

here is a view of sawmill creek from above. since we have had so much rain, the creek was high and moving fast.

all of the maple trees were at their peak fall color, and seeing all of the changing leaves at once was quite impressive.

russell found this tree that had been demolished by another tree that fell on top of it. he decided that it was worthy of a picture.

there were all of these signs posted, warning that a student film was being shot in the forest preserve. russell and i happened to stumble across the secret filming site on our hike! since we were across the creek, and up on a hill, the picture didn't come out that well, but if you look carefully inside the green circle, you can see a man in a bear/gorilla suit. russell and i got to see him "attack" an extra. let me tell you, from the quality of this production, i think we have an early oscar contender on our hands!

eternal lovers

2006-08-22T20:59:00.000-05:00

this shrine to "rolyn" (short for carolyn, maybe?) was found in a cracked block of cement, in a stream, at leroy oaks forest preserve.and they say that romance is dead!

hot damn!

2006-08-02T00:34:00.000-05:00

lately, it has been really, really hot in the midwest. the "real" temperature has been in the upper 90's to lower 100's, with a heat index well into the 105 range. when is fall, again?

while driving around today, the car thermometer got up to 103, and stayed there for several minutes before dropping back down to 100...

milwaukee, part 2

2006-07-23T23:26:00.001-05:00

the last time russell and i went up to milwaukee, it was on st. patrick's day, which was a little bit crazy. this weekend was much more laid back, and even though we were denied a brewery tour (we arrived too late) we still had a great time.

after being turned away at the brewery doors, we spent some time at the lakefront. a huge storm rolled in over the city and part of the lake, but it never rained where we were.
russell managed to find a gazeebo that had all of this shit stuck to it. neither of us understood what the point of having random appliances attached was, but it was amusing anyway.
yes, that is a creepy elf boasting about his world famous sausage...

hotel pfister? perhaps they should have considered a slight name change...

i completely forgot to add the picture of the insane white supremacist that was driving around. in addition to looking like shit, his car was blaring this awful music.

good thing summer school starts tomorrow...

2006-06-19T13:33:00.000-05:00

you know you watch too much daytime television when you start to see re-runs of cheaters. but when you get to watch a grown man in a bumblebee costume being confronted by his pissed-off girlfriend in a 7-eleven parking lot more than once, everyone wins.

snakes in a creek

2006-06-06T12:05:00.000-05:00

dave and i were able to tear ourselves away from family feud and judge mathis for an afternoon to enjoy a great day at our local nature preserve. we made our way over to waterfall glen and spent the day hiking, climbing the "waterfall", and hunting snakes.

here dave and i are at the "waterfall", which is actually just a damn that was built across sawmill creek. it is a pretty spot to stop while hiking, and it even looks fairly natural, but this baby is 100% man-made.

while exploring the creek bed, we noticed that there were many snakes hiding among the rocks. dave always makes it a point to photograph any wildlife we see, so he went on a snake hunt.
here are a few of the better snake photos. they range in size from 8 inches to 3 feet, and are all non-venomous northern and banded water snakes.

this was the last snake that we saw. it measured about 3 feet in length, and had just caught a channel catfish. yummy!

shawnee national forest

2006-06-03T18:58:00.000-05:00

so, continuing in the footsteps of our historic highways and scenic byways series of roadtrips, russell and i ventured down into shawnee national forest in southern illinois. despite extremely hot weather and flash flooding, we had a great time!

apparently louis and clark did something at old shawnee town. there were cardboard cut-outs of the two explorers, however there was no nearby sign explaining anything.

posing on the bluffs at the garden of the gods.

russell and the devil's smokestack. who comes up with these names?

russell takes a lunch break before we continue on to the edge of the bluffs.

overlooking the shawnee national forest. it is hard to believe that we are still in illinois!

russell and camel rock, not to be confused with cameltoe rock.
you always have to take at least one picture of yourselves.

before it started pouring on us, we did finally get to the ohio river.

power skate 5000

2006-05-10T11:35:00.000-05:00

upon returning from france, amanda decided that we needed to take a trip to skateland for an evening of fun that came to be known as "power skate 5000". i have to admit that my expectations weren't high, but man, skateland is a dump! the building was probably built in 1982, and i don't think that any thing has been touched since!

of course skateland would have a huge poster of my favorite movie hanging right in the entryway!

even though i didn't include them in the picture, russell definitely has on a hot pair of rental skates. also, one of russell's classmates was an extra in roll bounce...and this person is extremely obnoxious and revolting...

check out that sick carpet! i also like how jessica's skate is attempting to mount mine...

out on the roller rink, we got to jam out to some sweet tunes ! there was an odd mix of hip hop, early 90's dance music, and the dixie chicks being played. it is quite possible that "it's time for the percolator" was playing as i skated by russell in this picture.

despite what it looks like, "my heart will go on" was actually not playing here, but it should have been...

when we got kicked off the rink for teen skate, we ventured into the food court, AKA pizzaland. pizzaland is the home of the "birthday zone". and yes, that tiny, dank room behind rusty is one of the "zones" you can rent out for your child's birthday. it is that depressing.
amanda and alex worked the skee-ball. i think amanda spent $1.25 to win enough tickets to get a package of laffy taffy...which you could also buy from the snack bar for $.50...go figure.

skateland also had all the newest arcade games...from 1983. i think this sign basically sums up the entire skateland experience.

road trip madness, part 2

2006-04-26T11:47:00.000-05:00

wow. how could you not pull over and stop at this place? i never thought i would find one store for all my interior decorating needs!

we stopped at the ballard nature center to get out and walk around. it was very nice, and all the little woodland flowers were in bloom.

of course, no trip to effingham is complete without stopping at "the cross", possibly the most disturbing thing ever constructed in the state of illinois.
that's right, i rule!

and let me tell you, the messages were totally gnarly.

russell and the commandments. make no idols, except american idol...that seems to be okay.

posing with everyone's favorite commandment...

this was some covered bridge in some small town...at this point in the trip, my brain was saturated with illinois trivia and it is all beginning to blur.

as i pointed out to russell, the bridge was fairly new. i think it had to be rebuilt recently. it smelled like the inside of home depot.

road trip madness, part 1

2006-04-25T18:52:00.000-05:00

on our way back from st. louis, russell and i took the historic national road which took us through highland, vandalia, effingham, and other great towns. sure, it doubled our travel time, but we got to see all these great little places. definitely a fun little road trip, and it was much more interesting than i thought it would be!

oh yeah! rockin' the historic national road...typical 6th grade field trip material.

i think they need to add a few more signs at this intersection...

me posing at the center of highland. yes, it is that exciting.

pocahontas, illinois and its one and only claim to fame...the birthplace of gretchen wilson! see the nice sign? i didn't get a picture of the park, but i bet you can imagine what it looked like.

people come to vandalia from all over the country to see d-rock and the madonna of the trail.

rusty in the old illinois supreme court. vandalia was the capitol city of illinois for either 3 years or 20 years, depending on wether you belive the sign in front of the building or vandalia's official website.

across the street from the capitol building, there was this rockin' statue of abe. rusty braved the burning metal bench to have a chat with mr. lincoln.

then i got my turn to burn my ass and chat with the 16th president.

no road trip is complete without a stop in st. elmo to see the gigantic buffalo!

while i show my unchained love for the bison, russell opts for a more classic tourist pose.

st. louis is for lovers

2006-04-25T01:09:00.000-05:00

this weekend one of russell's urban planning friends was getting married, so we packed up the car an headed to st. louis! the wedding was at the botanical gardens, which are amazing. after the reception, everyone headed back to the hotel, where the party continued in the lobby until 4 AM...

russell posing by the reflecting pools before the ceremony.

for some reason, i managed to get in the sun for my picture. it was really hot, but thankfully it cooled off shortly after the wedding started.

russell and the beautiful bride.

russell, shannon, and i pose with our free pinot.

after dinner, we decided to prowl the gardens. i call this one "ta-daa!"

then off to molest the sculptures...
back at the hotel, i pose with a bottle of wine that we were able to score from the open bar at the botanical gardens. and yes, that chair is comically enormous.

rusty eating the mystery pizza. someone in the hotel had ordered pizza and then forgot about it. the poor delivery guy was waiting for about 30 minutes. the best man finally talked him into selling the pizza to us.

grease leak all over the lobby table. party foul!
the next morning, shannon and i went out to get some greasy, nasty breakfast food. rusty was a wee bit hung over and didn't want to leave the bed, so we just brought it back to the room. i think this picture pretty much says it all.

gravity decides

2006-04-18T00:21:00.000-05:00

on saturday, russell and i ate at a chinese buffet that was obviously a hardee's at some point. the drive-thru menu was still standing, but spray painted over. i wish i had my camera. anyway, russell got a truly prophetic fortune in his cookie...

ummm...gravity? i think it is fair to say that this fortune sucks.

fear factor: tyra edition

2006-04-10T16:31:00.000-05:00

on the tyra show this week, people confront their deepest fears in front of the studio audience with tyra as their guide. of course, no one had a normal fear. some of the fears people faced were styrofoam, ovens, and clowns. ok, so being afraid of clowns isn't that unusual, but these people didn't really look that scared...i have my suspicions...for being so brave, tyra gave them tickets to the circus. what a deal.

send in the clowns! oh the horror! those balloon animals are absolutely terrifying!

marvel as these brave souls face the terror of laffy pants and his posse! can't you just see the dread in their faces?

i think the scariest thing about this is how the clown in the middle is splayed and pressed up against the unicycle...

she is so scared she has to cover her face to mask her heart-stopping terror! or she is laughing and trying to cover it up...

p-burgh killas

2006-03-27T13:37:00.000-06:00

this weekend russell and i went to pittsburgh to visit his brother and sister-in-law. they were married on valentine's day in mexico, and this weekend they were hosting a wedding party. we got there a few days early so we had some time to explore the city. despite a few snow flurries and lack of sunshine, it was a great weekend.

here russell poses on the bridge as we make our way across the river into downtown pittsburgh.

and here i am on another bridge, with downtown behind me.

after exploring downtown, we got some food in the tourist trap that is "station square". station square is basically a mall with some crappy restaurants, useless stores, and a little train that a middle-aged woman drove around the perimeter of the mall. outside there were all these gigantic engine parts on display.

here we are outside of the solider and sailor memorial. we were going to go in, but it cost $5, and we figured it probably wasn't that interesting, so we just sat on the steps for a bit.

saturday night was the party, and there were many drinks had by all. russell and i found a few minutes to sneak away to the roof of the apartment building to enjoy the view.

cemetary madness!

2006-03-27T13:08:00.000-06:00

part of my assistanceship at northern requires me to TA a class. i don't really have to do much for it, so it is pretty sweet. last week, we went on a field trip to a local cemetary in dekalb. i had to wait out at the cemetary between the two classes on thrusday, and it was so boring. so i took the 3 hours to wander around and see if there was anything interesting.

there actually weren't that many humorous gravestones, but i found this one amusing.

it could be anyone!

take a ride in my coupe, you make me wanna...

then i ventured over to the pet cemetary. some of these names and epitaphs are just too much.

R.I.P. puffy...you were a noble squirrel.

after exploring all of the cemetary, i still had an hour to kill. so i decided to take pretentious, arty pictures of myself.

for jenna...

2006-03-21T22:41:00.000-06:00

i am shocked that something like this would happen in a denny's.

as jenna and i can tell you, there is no finer place to dine than denny's.

we are so cute!

2006-03-21T00:02:00.000-06:00

WARNING! this post is cheesy....proceede with caution...

as you may have noticed, i have been making up for my lack of posts by going blog-crazy these past two weeks. this post is just pictures of me and russell, taken over the course of a month or so.

the things i see...

2006-03-20T23:05:00.000-06:00

here are some other things that we saw on our milwaukee roadtrip. after getting back from milwaukee, i spent the rest of the weekend at russell's house in st. charles where we busted out the old fisher price record player and jammed out to some sweet tunes!

hebron's claim to fame.

if anyone needs a fur coat, stop by the "mink barn". with a name like that, it can only be a classy joint.

when we first went by this place, i thought it said "hymenopolis". i was some what let down.

please do not flush tampons down the toilet.

every night should end like this.

while drinking, playing uno, and watching real sex 28 in russell's den, he became inspired to dig out his old fisher price record player. we rocked out all night to such great hits as "rubber duckie", "c is for cookie", "good things happen in the dark", and other classic children songs that are ripe with sexual innuendo. russell commented while changing records "i never thought that i would be listening to this while drinking beer and watching porn!"

russell hooks up the fisher price. amazingly, it worked perfectly after sitting in the basement for 15 years! now just look at how cute and excited he is! i think his face shows the excitement that was felt by all in the room.

recommended for ages 5 and up.

read the song titles. read carefully. oh yeah, you read that right. where the hell is the FCC when you need them! dirty, dirty disney!

milwaukee shenanigans

2006-03-20T21:43:00.000-06:00

i spent this st. patrick's day in milwaukee with russell. the only other time i had been to milwaukee was in 7th or 8th grade, and i wasn't too impressed. however, this visit proved to be much more fun (being able to drink might have had something to do with it).

we started out eating dinner at the safe house, which is a crazy spy-themed restaurant. here russell listens to the payphone that played all sorts of pleasant noises, such as a machine gun and screeching tires.
i make my way to the bathrooms....

we are too damn sexy.

rusty goes for the green.

at one point, everyone was on their phones, so i just kept myself busy by taking "arty" sepia toned pictures.

pile-up on the love seat.

i think this picture pretty much sums up how we were all feeling at this point...

"say whaaaaat!"

this is another shot from my modeling portfolio. i call this one "mannequin"

...and this one is called "mannequin 2: on the move"

the bar was so crowded we had to wedge ourselves into the window sill.

and there was some synchronized dart-tossing going on too...all in all, it was a fun night, even if i did wake up a wee bit hung over.

how may i direct your call?

2006-03-17T00:22:00.000-06:00

at russell's apartment, i was studying for a test, and he decided to set up my name tag that my teacher insists that we use in class.

now it looks like i am a receptionist!

my parents' new pets

2006-03-17T00:12:00.000-06:00

the great JJB

2006-02-09T12:35:00.000-06:00

so, since i don't have class on thursdays, i get to watch some pretty sweet tv. i think that judge joe brown is my favorite judge show. today, there were 2 women straight out of the trailer park fighting over $125.

wow...they are both beastly women.

here candy explains to JJB that the defendant owes her money. over the several years of their friendship, she had lent terri almost $125! do you know how many cornrows that could buy! she is suing her "former best friend" because she started spreading rumors about her at work, so now she wants the money back...or something...

and here is candy's daughter...yikes. she is 16, full of attitude, and she and her mom apparently go to the same hairdresser in the trailer park i am sure they all live in.

the defendant, terri, got all dolled up for court. it is nice to see that all of these ladies put on their nice clothes for the judge.

here the "plaintiff's former friend" explains that the only reason candy is suing her is because she is jealous. she told JJB that "she just jealous cause i drive!" i don't even know what the hell that is supposed to mean.

and since i know you are all dying to know how JJB ruled, he gave candy $125 out of his own pocket! he told her terri didn't owe her anything, but since she was "acting so bizzarre", he was going to give her money just to shut her up! i love shitty television!

can someone say, 'sistah'?

2006-01-19T00:50:00.000-06:00

so, a few weeks ago i was at this bar in evanston called "the keg" with russell and two of his friends. here russell and i enjoy the delicious high life light that was on special...see how happy we are?

while sitting at our table, someone in our group just so happened to notice this lady walking out of the bathroom...

so a few minutes later, when warrant's cherry pie starting blasting out of the dj booth, was anyone really suprised that this was going down on the dance floor? it sort of looks like she is doing the robot...or hiking her bra strap up...
russell also pointed out that yes, indeed, those keds are floral print! i am only sad that a picture of this lady was not taken while she was doing her jumping spin-kick, psycho-ballet moves...

NYE 2006...actually in control

2006-01-01T14:00:00.000-06:00

so, new year's eve was actually pretty tame this year. i didn't do anything until 10 PM. i went to palatine to hang out at lindsay's parent's and aunt's house. then off to bed by 1:30 AM!

in lindsay's aunt's basement, lucy and i decide to take pictures of us reflecting on the past year...while drinking franzia.

here i reflect on 2005...i guess it was a pretty sweet year.

when we went to get a beer, we noticed that the bottle opener was hanging from the ceiling on a long, white string...interesting, yet practical...

then back at the parent's house, lindsay downs a bacardi o while lucy and i polish off a bottle of white zin...and i don't know why lucy looks like a turtle coming out of her shell in this picture...

then off to bed! lindsay made a nest for me on her floor, and she has some great taste in sheets!

the next morning, lucy and i raided lindsay's old wardrobe...apparently, she wore a lot of horse sweatshirts back in the day...

...and other horse related apparel. (on a side note, no one in my family knew how to spell "apparel", so my mom had to look it up and make a big production out of it)

one of the non-equine themed shirts.

awww...how cute! i don't know why these are still at her parent's house...lindsay should be rockin' this shit down in houston!

this looks like a page right out of a harriet carter or home and country catalog.

another random post

2005-12-29T16:30:00.000-06:00

so, here is one of my "flavorite" generic cereals. no deceptive naming here...you know exactly what you are getting...

and, my grandparents misunderstood my request for a tool set for christmas, and gave me a tool box, monogramed with gold mailbox letters!

...and then they filled it with the most random assortment of tools, both new and used. my favorite is the leather punch/icepick.

i heart oil paintings and keychains

2005-12-28T17:53:00.000-06:00

so, while cleaning out the closets in my room in my parent's house, my brother and i came across the most awesome, gigantic painting ever. one of my mom and dad's hippie painter friends had done a portrait of them sitting at our dining room table. pure greatness. and my keychain collection, which i thought was dead, made a return this christmas. ever since my mom told my grandparents i collected keychains (which i have never done) they give me the most rediculous keychains on any occassion.

so my brother and i totally think that this needs to be hanging up in our family room, but my mom wanted to put it back into hiding in the closet. some people don't appreciate fine art, i guess...

and here is my hot new keychain...i honestly don't know what my grandparents were thinking when they bought this for me.

and here is a close-up...i don't know if they honestly expected me to put my keys on this or what.

break my couch, please!

2005-12-27T01:33:00.000-06:00

so, sunday night was my last night staying in the urbana house, so i had the boys over for one last hoorah. for some reason, colin and nate decided to wrestle the entire night, and it provided much amusement...until the couch broke. but you know what, i don't even care.

it is pretty much pointless to caption all the pictures, as they pretty much speak for themselves...

i sit and mourn the breakage of my couch...note the arm of the couch...that is supposed to be level with the table next to it...

a horn-y old time

2005-12-13T10:46:00.000-06:00

since i had been sad for awhile, jessica decided that i needed to go out and experience drunken bowling at western bowl. plus, becca was stopping in town on her way back to kankakee....so with both horn sisters in on the bowling action, i couldn't say no!

since you can't use your real name while bowling, we all selected our "bowling names" for the evening. in case you are wondering, mine was travis pendaflex (and check out that sweet score!)

another key factor of bowling is the awesome music. here jessica and megan rock out to "total eclipse of the heart", and who could blame them?

i wish becca would live in town so we could hang out more.
jessica forgot to tell me to wear my western gear, so i feel inappropriately dressed.

in other exciting news, i got a letter from santa!

santa is an all-knowing and powerful being

check out that return addy! no arguing with that. this is genuine santa material!
and i don't know why i felt the need to use my crotch as a backdrop to the santa-goodness...

git-r-dun?

2005-12-11T16:15:00.000-06:00

so i came home today, and this was on my door, left by the cable guy, whose name just happens to be larry...coincidence? i think not!

lucy vs the butt

2005-10-29T13:19:00.000-05:00

sorry that i haven't posted in awhile...but i don't do anything exciting anymore. i sit around and read. when i do go out, it is with sara, so she puts stuff up on her blog. i am going to try to not be so lame anymore. anyway, here are some pictures from a year ago. we were celebrating nathan returning from newcastle, and lucy made a new friend!

here are lucy and lindsay sitting on the couch. awwww! they are so cute.

then i draw attention to the girl who's ass is right ontop of lucy's head. she freezes in panic!

a picture of jenna, lucy, lindsay, and lucy's new friend, the butt!

the cabin

2005-09-17T07:14:00.000-05:00

ahhh...the cabin. i tried to go down there as much as i could this summer. i spent a lot of time swimming, reading, hiking, and "reckanoidering" with my family. reckanoidering is this thing my family does, where we drive around to small towns in the middle of nowhere and have cultural experiences with the locals. its great! sara, i am sorry that we never got down there! next summer, if not this fall!

so here is the big, scary cross that they built in effingham...for over $1 million...and its covered in aluminum siding...across the street from the porn store...classy. but don't worry, according to the sign on the highway, "truckers are welcome at the cross".

me outside of the cabin...i'm gonna git-er-done at gorilla grove, the name of our cabin. my parents have this thing for primates...don't ask, cause i can't explain it...

one of the many pieces of high-art that is on display at the cabin. the best part: this is what my dad got for my mom on mother's day a few years ago. he didn't understand why she was pissed at him for the rest of the weekend....

in southern illinois, they have doughnuts this big. seriously. they cover the whole damn plate. i am going to do some research to see if there is some correlation to things like this and fat americans...

at the effingham flea market and storage center, you can store all your crap in a trailer in the middle of a gravel parking lot during the week, and then on the weekends people come to buy your crap! look what dave and i found! it would go perfectly with my hat! also note the naked lady lighters in the box by dave's hand. when you squeeze them, they say "i git'er done!" and then shoot a flame from between their clevage. all that for only $3! who wouldn't want one of those!

the best part about the cabin is the lake! this is the view from my parent's dock. pretty sweet.

now for some "arty" shots. these were taken in cowden, IL, which is basically even more podunk than effingham! but i mean that in a good way.

cowden's claim to fame is the covered bridge. it is one of 4 surviving covered bridges in illinois!

dave inspects the awesome grafitti in the bridge. even though i normally look down upon defacing pieces of illinois history, there was some pretty funny shit in there. 2 of my favorites were "debbie and carla have sex here, you can watch for $4" and the timeless "tom is a narc bitch in prison getting fucked in the ass". those kinds of sentiments really help one enjoy this historic landmark.

and finally, to live in southern illinois, you need an old rusted out car in your yard. preferably 3 or 4, and big piles of broken stoves, washing machines with the doors ripped off, and a few random pieces of furniture. its a good look.

the most awesome website ever?

2005-09-14T12:10:00.000-05:00

ok, so i don't remember how i found this, but i was surfing the inter-web while eating lunch at work today, and stumbled across this site...

http://superdickery.com/galleries.html

it is pretty much hilarious. i think that the "seduction of the innocent" gallery is my favorite...

jessica turns 25

2005-09-01T11:58:00.000-05:00

this weekend was crazy. jessica turned 25, zack moved to memphis, and nathan, colin, heather and kristen came down from chicago...which pretty much means we stayed up too late and drank too much.

friday. cowboy monkey. colin and zack, discussing how zack and i have the same shirt.

jessica really likes this shot, because the shutter on the camera didn't open all the way. i have to admit, it is pretty bad-ass.

k-lo and i, waiting for my food. i'm hungry, dammit!

saturday. esquire. celebrating her 25th the 3rd night in a row takes its toll on jessica's sanity. well, that and all the beer.

the birthday girl in her "serious" pose. a young business professional if i ever saw one.

heather and i goofing around. beer and digi cams bring out the best in everyone!

"oh no you didn't!"

apparently i did, because a few moments later, heather throws a tantrum.

erin pours beer so fast, time and space are warped! that, or the flash didn't go off.

so, while at esquire, kristen and i were discussing how we should pose for cheesy pictures. sara's "prom shots" at boltini gave inspiration to pose for our "senior pictures". so, for about 20 minutes, k-lo, heather and i thought of all the great poses we would do later. we almost forgot, but thankfully i remembered at 5:30 AM before we all passed out.

the staple back-to-back-with-your-BFF pose

and who could forget the classic leaning-on-the-tree-with-the-street-sign-reflecting-the-flash pose?

then it was on to the pyramid shots. these proved challenging. our first attempt was admirable, but we didn't quite get it. hmm...perhaps putting the girls at the base was not wise.

so we rearrange...

...and just when we get ready to take the picture, hillary duff jumps on top! definitely one for the yearbook.

isle royal trip

2005-08-28T21:24:00.000-05:00

well, my brother and i recently got back from a backpacking trip to isle royale with the college of dupage. we were in the back country for about 8 days, and we hiked over 50 miles! since i have been threatening to start a blog for awhile, i figured this would be a good time to start! oh, and by the way, i don't really know what i am doing, so all the pictures are out of order. oh well.

here is a view from a cliff that is about 1100 feet hight...yeah, it was a fun hike up there. that piece of land you see in the fog there is canada!

me with my pack. this was about day 4 or 5. it was really hot most of the time and we didn't have access to showers, so that is why i look so awesome in most of these pictures!

some of our group hiking. we did a lot of that.

me again. note the hotness of my hair...i believe this was day 6 or 7...

my brother, dave, chillin' by lake superior.

this one is for lindsay and lucy. note the hot hiking shorts action going on.

the rock harbor area of isle royal. this is where the ferry comes to the island. the visitor's center pictured here is pretty much the only sign of civilization you see on the island. there is no running water, toilets, or garbage pick-up on the island. everything you bring onto the island, you bring off.

this was after hiking all day, and we were almost at our campsite. but then we saw a sign that said we had 0.7 miles to go. you can see how happy i was to see that. 0.7 miles is really far when you have 40 pounds on your back.

lake superior at night!

you see a lot of asses and packs when you backpack with a group. this is basically what i looked at all day.

me and dave on "mt. franklin", the second highest point on the island. and yes, we have matching hats.

dave and i again, this time we are sporting the rambo-bandanna look.

chillin' on lake superior. even though it was really hot, the lake is only about 58 F (which is really cold, priya!) so i didn't swim. i did wade though, and i got a leech on me, so i tried to limit my fun in the water.

dave and the tent.

me and the tent

dave happy to be back at the ferry. after spending 8 days in the total wilderness, it is good to see signs of civilization.

one of the 70 lakes located within the island.

on the 3.5 hour ferry ride to the island.

with my pack on the first day. i was still smiling because i didn't know of the pain that was to come. you get really bruised on your hips and shoulders from the pack. even though it was sometimes painful, it was one of the best trips i have ever been on!

dave packing up camp.