Natural habitat

Erin decided that Clapton really needed a kiddie pool to wade in while he was outside. I had to capture the moment in video:


Don't Pee In It from ILoveVerdi on Vimeo.

Edit: This is post #200!

Tweeters unite!

Yesterday, Twitter users from around the Grand Rapids area met up at Hop Cat for some drinks and a chance to joke about the fail whale.



It turns out twitter users aren't so dorky after all.



A few more photos are here. Welcome to device notification: phone, all of you! You should feel honored.

Time for law school

My man Brandon turned 25 yesterday, and since he's leaving for Duke Law School in August, his friend Janelle organized a surprise party for him. Erin and Jaclyn and I drove over from GR, Tres flew in from New York, and there were a ton of people representing the Detroit/Ann Arbor area.

I decided to capture the first raw moment of surprise on video:


The Surprise Effect from ILoveVerdi on Vimeo.

I took a few more pictures which are up here on Picasa. Best of luck to Brandon, and god help him he's going to be working hard very soon now.

West side until i perish

I am a big fan of public markets. Whether they be butchers, bakeries, food stands, farmers' markets, or art fairs, I love the concept of a small group of specialized artisans exhibiting their (sometimes remarkably tasty) wares. I must be white.



As you might hasten to tell me then, West Side Market in Cleveland is a location I should check out! Well thank you for suggesting it, but I've already had the pleasure.



It has some great art deco architecture, and a great open hall. They sell meat there.



Lots and lots of meat!



They also have a balcony, which offers a photo-op almost exactly the same as the one in the wikipedia article I linked to.



Erin got a crepe with bananas and peanut butter. They also have baked goods! Unfortunately some of the bakers are liars.



This guy was nice though. He sold me a scrumptious loaf of sesame semolina bread. I ate the whole thing by the time the trip was over.



This was a hunger-inducing experience. It reminds me of Quincy Market in Boston, except the food is not cooked. I wish we had a place like this near our home, so we could actually make use of all the great un-prepared stock on sale. As it is though, we had a great time, and I got some great pictures.

Tomorrow: Bowling!

Domicile of anthony and mary beth

Cleveland this last weekend was a blast! I have dozens of photographs that I'm in the process of cleaning up and post-processing, so look for those all week, starting today.

First of all, many many thanks to Anthony and Mary Beth for welcoming us into their beautiful home and putting up with us stumbling back at all hours of the night (probably much noisier than we intended- more on that later). Just know that it was greatly appreciated, and if we ever get the chance to return the favor we won't hesitate!

We left on Friday with Cassie and Curtis after work, and arrived at the house in Euclid (half a block from Lake Erie) at around 11:30 PM. They have such a wonderful home!



It felt very much like the houses I'd known as a child in Rosedale Park, our neighborhood in Detroit. There is just something delightfully comfortable about it for me.



I actually caught Erin in a real smile! This is how she looks at me when I'm not upsetting her.



This looks like a Motto; Joseph Motto was a sculptor in the family during the art deco period. I love his work!



This is a dark photo, but I liked the mood. Exploring a new house at night is a more intimate experience than it is during the day.



One more image that I liked. Sorry for the high ISO, I was too tired to get out the tripod.



Tomorrow: West Side Market!

Digging

Well we thought we were going to be setting up a fence, but that will have to wait for another day. Clapton is hardly disappointed though; he got to go for a swim and loves being up in Hesperia!



I did get to take some fun pictures, even though it rained quite a bit. Everything is growing profusely due to that precipitation.



Here's a rare self-portrait. I think I need a shave and a haircut.



Birdbath on the back porch.



Erin and Lou in another heated Nemastil discussion. The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree sometimes...



This is the Pollen Nation.



I think we got these for Jayne on St. Patrick's day.



Curtis and Cassie came by to help dig the electrical line ditch out to the garage. It started pouring though so we came in for lemonade. (thanks Erin!)



I feel like I'm a 6 year-old again. Yay dirt!



Ok I'm going to be selfish here. The last two are just photos I am kind of proud of. One:



And two:



Ok, the rain has stopped, it's time to finish our little ditch. Hopefully nobody will hit any gas or water or cable lines!

Croton

The wife and I and Clapper (that's Clapton's nickname, one of many) stopped at Croton dam on our way up to the in-laws'.



I took the opportunity to dig out my camera, which I haven't done very much for the last two weeks. So excuse me if these are a little wannabe artsy.



It is such a nice day today! Upper 80s, humid, but for some reason I don't care at all and am enjoying the heat.



This is kind of scary. There were a few of these posted around.



I like this photo a lot, I'm not sure why.



One more, of the great old brick building.

Top 5 albums on my shuffle

In response to the challenge here. I listen to these as I'm running:

5. Iron and Wine - The Shepherd's Dog - Great lower-key songs that add a little variety to the work-out. Can you say "hushed"?

4. Bloc Party - Silent Alarm - Perfect for running, this is upbeat and has an excellent british pop-rock feel. Amazing drummer too.

3. Lucky Soul - The Great Unwanted - Also perfect for running, this album borrows heavily from oldies from the 50s and 60s, but is very modern in its own way. A very fun album.

2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Is Is - An EP from one of my current favorite groups. A very talented trio that plays catchy, sexy, and energetic art punk. Karen O is my current favorite popular music vocalist.

1. Radiohead - In Rainbows - Just go get this album, there's really no reason not to. This will be on my playlists for years.

Now post your top five (with a bullet) list of anything. Top five echidnas. Top five reasons to read the dictionary. Your desert island, all-time, top-five most memorable breakups, in chronological order. Whatever.

Memorial day weekend update

I'm feeling very much under the weather today, but since I have a doctor's appointment at 11 I can't get too much sleep. That makes it a good time to try to catch up with the blogging.

Friday was a great start to the weekend. Erin and I got renter's insurance added on to our auto insurance, and with the multiple policy discount we actually ended up paying less per month. We also went to Fruit Basket Flower Land for some plants that Erin can practice her gardening on. Test Subjects, so to speak.



Greenhouses are great for photography: they let in the sunlight but diffuse it, giving things soft brightness. I of course whipped out the trusty G9 for the occasion.



I think this is dill. Dill weed.



This is my favorite of the ones I took.



I don't know why Erin looks skeptical in this photo. Maybe she just doesn't like me taking pictures of her, or maybe she smells tarragon from 50 feet away.



One more flower photo, and then I'm done, I promise.



After that we drove home through the city.



It was such a nice day for a drive through Monroe Center!



Here's a nice shot at the intersection of Fulton and Division.



Friday night Aaron and I ate at Cantina, and then drove his mustang convertible over to Hopcat to meet Erin and the girls (Liz and Colleen). For some crazy reason he let me drive, so I had to put the top down. After Hopcat got noisy and the band started playing jazz in front of a projection of Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, we decided to have desert at San Chez.

Saturday we both rolled out of bed late, as one might expect. We had dinner at my parents' house (barbecue boca brats?), and got to show them Wii Fit and Mario Kart. We took Clapton and tied him to a tree outside, and indeed, he doth protest too much at this neglect. Since both Erin and I are trying to eat healthy and limit our calories, I decided to take as few leftovers home as possible, which I think upset my mom a bit. I hope she understands, it's because we would consume all of it!

Sunday we went for a work out and then headed straight up to Aunt Mame and Uncle Terry's house in Big Rapids for supper.



With these elements, you too can cook delicious fish on a slab! We had tuna and Lake Michigan caught salmon, crusty awesome garlic bread, and lots of veggies. For desert Erin made strawberry short cake, which was light enough to follow so much food.

Here's Erin checking out a magazine. Hey gorgeous! How you doin'?



While Erin caught up with her aunt and uncle I played with their happy-go-lucky giant lab, King.



Marianne and Terry have another dog, Jake. Jake is less enthusiastic about the camera, so this is the best shot I could get of him.



King is not the least bit camera shy. I love the tongue!



After desert we played a few hands of Euchre. Guys lost the first game, but we battled back to take the second and skunk the ladies in the third. Pure talent, that's what I credit our victory to.

Monday was mostly spent doing chores. I think I started coming down with whatever I have now, because when I tried to run in the morning I only made it a little past half way, and had to walk back the rest of the way in shame. However I was feeling good in the afternoon after 46 minutes/credits on Wii Fit, and I decided to try again (I'm stubborn like that). The second try was a success, and I ended up running more total that day than I usually do.

Kabobs!

At Kirk and Michelle's! We brought some extra veggies and some salmon steaks that chunked up real good. We had more food than you could pierce with a skewer.

We ate grilled Jalapenos with seeds. They are pretty blazin', and Kirk was unfortunate enough to get some of the juice in his eye. Fortunately they have a remedy for that in Mexico.

As usual with dinner there are various beverages involved, the caps of which are traditionally collected by the daughter of the family.

After dinner we went out and had some smores over the fire.

Gentry used the kabob skewers as a kind of sparkler. Fire sticks I think they were called, but I may need to be corrected on that.

Good fire. Makes me want summer to get here.

Finally an artsy one, just for me. 

We had a great time, as usual. Next time I will bring my A game for when Caden and I play basketball.

Barack Obama!

I took quite a few photos at the rally, and they're all up on a public album. I picked a few good ones to put up here.



Turnout was very high. Liz and her new boyfriend Onur arrived at around 6:15 and were turned away because Van Andel was packed full.



The event was loud, energetic, and a bit like a rock concert. When Obama arrived, the whole arena went manic.



Obama came on stage and quickly introduced Edwards, who was there to announce his endorsement. We didn't realize Edwards would be there until we were already seated and Erin's dad Lou called.



There was a lot of cheering for John Edwards, especially from the cute girl in the seat next to me.



Barack really stole the show though. He is probably the greatest public speaker I've ever had the pleasure to watch. He was electrifying, humorous, and if not detailed and specific at least substantive. The speech focussed on the economy, jobs, and poverty, three things that are very important to the people of Michigan and meshed well with Edwards' ongoing message.

All in all it was a good time, very inspirational and filled with plenty of Bush bashing (which always makes me smile). Let's hope he can win in November. I'll be volunteering if any out there would care to join me!

Obamania

Erin and I attended the electrifying Obama rally at the Van Andel Arena earlier this evening! We were lucky we got there early- by the time Liz arrived the arena was already full to capacity. I will post pictures soon. I "live-blogged" via Twitter the whole time, and you can read the posts here (in reverse order, naturally).

Earthquake!

http://www.notappealing.com/2008/04/18/54/

Sandhill Cranes

Erin's mother Jayne is passionate about nature and luckily lives in a place that lets her explore the woods and rivers of Michigan. She took us to see a wetland near Hesperia where Sandhill Cranes were grazing. We headed out just before sunset.



There's something wonderfully quiet about the evenings in rural Michigan. Quiet and pregnant with some kind of secret. I don't know...



Much of the ground is soaking wet, as you'd expect in a marsh at springtime.



Finally we found the field where they were all at. They came flying in two, four, eight at a time, landing next to each other in a line.



I felt like a bird hunter, trying to position the zoom lens with the flying birds somewhere in view.



Not all of the photos came out. I think the light was just too low for the birds to come in sharply in most cases, or else I was jiggling the tripod in my excitement.



This was my favorite, and it was just before (arguably after) there was any usable light left.



If I'd had the courage to leap over a wide, water-filled ditch and then gingerly climb some barbed wire, I might have gotten better detail. I can't imagine what kind of lenses professional nature and sports photographers must use, because even with 12x magnification I was still too far away to get any discernible features of the animals. Still, though, I had a good time, and I'm eager to try to get closer next time.

Her Uptown World

Took a constitutional through the town on Saturday in order to let mother nature do the tiresome job of drying off the dog, and packed with me the trusty G9 in order to document my exploration of the town of my lovely wife's youth!

I believe this is the hardware store owned by the neighbors.



This time of year one of the few colors in the natural world is the yellow in the budding willow trees.



I don't think any businesses occupy this building, and it's on main street too.



This is the favorite local mechanic of my wife's family.



I found these school buses around near the high school athletic field.



I don't know how long this car has been sitting there for sale, but it's at least as long as I've been with Erin (3 years in May!)



It was fun playing with the shutter speed while shooting the spinning fan on the greenhouse next to the hardware store.



I think this is for trash collection or something. Erin said it looked like a face (om nom nom).



There are a few spring flowers popping up. I prefer the wild ones, but those take longer to come in.



Back home again, with the dog finally dry.

Michigan State Veterinary School

Once a year the Michigan State Veterinary School opens its doors to the public, allowing glimpses into the strange world of experimental animal science. Three headed fish, radioactive locusts, giant killer shrews! Would we experience any of these horrorous wonders?! Stay tuned to find out!



Unfortunately we didn't see many genetic freaks or Snuffleupagus like alien pod people. There were quite a few normalish animals though. Here's a completely blind owl (Yes rly):



They had ferrets there that you could cuddle with. Little kids love ferrets because they bounce around much in the same way the kids do.



This alligator is surprisingly indifferent to being petted. At one point it started moving its legs like it was running, but its belly was still on the table, keeping him from actually moving. The handler said it was his "treadmill" and he was just grabbing some exercise.



This hawk totally shocked and awed a mouse.



They freed another hawk back into the wild (not the "tame" one: his handler said that if the wild hawk had been in the crowded room tied to a post he would have been flipping out). The huge bird hauled it pretty quick away from the group of well-wishers.



Here's my sister and Erin, who didn't bother to wait most of the time for the slow moving amateur photographer. You just wait until I have a DLSR with 5 lenses and a tripod (according to Erin, I'm allowed to buy another camera when I retire).



I imagine this is what Mona looks like inside when you take away the pounds of hair, fat, and self-absorption.



My sister is actually planning on applying to the school. She has a knack with animals, and I think we've all wanted her to be a vet. She bugged our parents into getting so many animals, and even saved up for a horse which she rode for a couple of years. The horse in the photo below was at the MSU vet with pregnancy complications. When we saw her she had just lost twins.



This one deserves a caption:


moar funny pictures

Birthday Weekend

Saturday I rested in bed until later in the day due to some vodka/brain complications, but by Saturday night I was ready to at least hang out a little bit. Liz and Jason came over and we played Scene It in which I totally kicked ass. However since Jason had Corona, by law he is allowed to take a triumphant pose.



From there we then went to Yesterdog.



Yesterdog is a hot dog joint where the local emo and goth kids hang out, the drunk kids show up with greater frequency as the night proceeds, and where you don't worry so much about food cleanliness because the place has character.



The traditional Yesterdog comes sloppy.



They also have a veggie dog with kraut for those of us who abstain from the meat.



From there Erin and I headed up north so we could spend Feaster morning with her family at the cozy Hesperia villa.



The drum set is assembled in the corner of the guest bedroom now.



I don't have a caption for this photo but I thought it was nice.



The drive home was a nightmare: I had what had all the trappings of a migraine, and after suffering in the bright sunshine and bumpy ride, slept quite a while that evening and almost into Monday afternoon. I even missed my birthday dinner with my parents and sister, which we rescheduled for this weekend.

Vodak: it Comes in Pints?

In case you don't read FARK, vodak = vodka. And they do serve it in pint glasses, much to my initial surprise and eventual regret. It was Denny's 30th birthday party. We'll miss young Denny. Soon all we'll hear about is how much arthritis hurts when you've only got one good leg and why won't those gosh darn kids stay off my lawn?



Dinner was at Churchill's, the restaurant side of Moxie. Denny's kind of a big deal in this town so he had a huge gathering.



Kirk and Michele were there, and we have proof:



Mike Schmidt has kind of a dandruff problem but we'll forgive him cause he's cool.



Alexis and Michele looking glamorous as usual!



The birthday boy had quite his share of the ethanol.



Kirk was kind enough to take this photo of the two of us. Isn't my darling a darling?



We ended up at Hopcat after dinner, where the bartender was the guy that used to work at Martha's Vineyard. I was drunk by that time so the coincidence was quite awesome. There were too many red eyes in this photo so I said screw it, we're going black and white.



Happy Birthday Denny! I hope I look as good when I'm ancient. If you would like to view all the photos I took, I uploaded them to an album on Picasa. And Happy Feaster to everyone out there!

The Social Life

Some weekends we book ourselves to the limit with social engagements.   This coming weekend contains like 30% of all birthdays in the world, including Jesus'  (well, the second time anyway).   This past weekend our engagements were concentrated on Saturday; so let's examine in detail a day in the life of two glitzy 20-something white educated well-dressed nouveaux riche Grand Rapids socialists socialites. Just a heads up, this is going to be one of those really long posts that is mostly pictures.  Glad we got that straight.

If you don't recall, Cassie has a FIANCEE named Curtis!  We took them out to San Chez for brunch.

Yes, we all like him. In fact he's so cool he makes me want to snitch.  Not on you though, I swear.

This brunch is missing a tiara! I think it's because we've yet to find one pretty enough to even consider placing on the bride's head.

After San Chez we walked to the Grand Rapids Art Museum, where we met my parents for a quick walk-through of the Andy Warhol exhibit that's in town.

There was no photography allowed in the exhibit, or else this post would probably be about 50 pages of endless photos of pop-art. In the end, I just took a photo when Jason met us there too.

On the way back from the museum we got to take a warm, sunny stroll through Monroe Center.

Jason went back with us to our apartment, where Erin prepped some absolutely fabulous redskin mashed potatoes. There was garlic, and cream, and paprika, and I don't know what else but they were good.