Matt and I have been discussing about getting another critter for a few months now. The obvious choice was another cat, since we already have 2. Urban living in a town home with nothing more than a 10 ft. square patch of yard in the front, a dog seemed out of the question. The more we discussed it, we both were on the same page on getting a puppy.
We adopted an 8 week old Bichon Frise/King Charles Cavalier Spaniel mix 4 weeks ago. She is perfect for our lifestyle. This breed is small (up to 10-12 lbs.), great with other animals/people, gentle disposition, and a big plus- Not Yappy!
Amélie is still getting used to Chase and Mr. Patterson, or actually more about them getting used to her. The cats tolerate her licks and puppy energy, up until she barks at them, and then they scatter. As she gets older, and can climb the stairs, etc. I think they will turn into a little hairy clan. Below is a video I made of them last weekend.
Link to all of the travel photos -Here-
In an attempt to play catch up here on the blog, I figured I would post some highlights from the last 2 months. First up, my spring getaway to Europe.
Matt found some real bargains with airfare/hotels and surprised me with a trip to Dublin, Ireland for my birthday. Prices were so ridiculously cheap that we also decided to add in stops to London, England and Milan, Italy. Mind you, our trip on April 1st took us to 3 countries/cities in 1 week. Kinda crazy you say? Well, yeah it was. I literally needed a vacation after the vacation, but it was totally worth it!
Dublin was really cool. We took in the Temple Bar, visited the Guinness beer factory (I’m a certified pourer now), and saw a few U2 sites (not sightings, wah). Dublin became the home-base for us, and was the bookends to our trip. There is so much more to see of Ireland, and I will definitely be back!
Radisson Blu St. Helen’s Hotel Dublin
Not sure what this was? Some kind of race I’m thinking??
Temple Bar
Wonder what they sell here?
Guinness Factory!
Guinness Beer “Archives”
Beer!!
It’s been a dream of mine for a long time to visit London. We had 2 days to take in as many sites and spots as we could. Both Matt and I had the privilege to acquire a dashing and dapper travel guide. It was none other than fellow blogger David, from David’s Daily Dramas. David was gracious enough to take the train from Brighton up to London, to show us some of the many sites in London. We had a busy but excellent time taking in London, and it was capped nicely with a tour of some fine gay bar establishments. Thanks again, David!
The National Gallery
Westminster Abbey
The Tube
I found this shot comical (guy in the back reminds me of Jim Carey)
The Tate Modern Museum
The Tate Modern
ATTACK: Inside the Tate
The Tate Modern
David & Me
The London Eye
The London Eye
Shadow of the Eye
The London Eye
Some of our finals days were spent in Milan, Italy. I really didn’t know what to expect of Milan. I knew of the famous Duomo di Milano (Cathedral), the high end fashion, and of course the food. I experienced them all. I will say I did find Milan a bit uppity, but I guess that was pretty much what most people have said you’ll find around the high end fashion district areas. In a freak turn of events, our second day (April 6th) in Milan was also the day that Rome was struck with a 6.3 earthquake. Rome is about 350 miles south of Milan, a little too close given the circumstances.
The time flew by, and my one week spring break from school had come to an end. Our trip ended up being pretty ambitious. If given the chance to do it all over again, I would have probably chosen to check out just Dublin and London within that one weeks time. Heck, next time I would want at least 2 weeks, who am I kidding!
Matching Mo’s
My rental ;-P
Duomo di Milano
Duomo di Milano
Me @ Duomo di Milano
Inside the Duomo di Milano
Duomo di Milano
While my posts have been sporadic at best, I am determined to keep this blog alive. I feel it only makes sense that it evolves, much like my life has since keeping this journal for almost 3 1/2 years. I will be posting more frequently than I have these last few months. I’m determined to, for no one else but myself.
My blog may sometimes take a serious tone, and other times not so much. Since going back to school for web/graphic design, I’ve been immersed in that field, so that of course will be reflected here. Photography is still a huge passion of mine, so you’ll definitely continue to see me express myself through that medium. I’m about to embark on a fitness routine, so I will be commenting about that as well. Add in all that life throws your way, I’m sure I’ll have something to say. Also, I want to catch up on my regular blog reads. I miss reading them.
It’s true. A month has passed since my last entry. Why? Many reasons. School- kicking my ass, but ended another 4.0 gpa term a few weeks ago. I’m having a lot of fun, immersing myself in web and graphic design, but it does consume most of my time. Add in work, trying to get on some sort of regular fitness plan, and carving out a semblance of a social life. Well you get the picture. Oh, of course add in the fact that I’ve fallen under the Facebook spell, like most of you, certain things have to fall by the wayside. We’ll see if I can breathe new life into this blog. I think I need a total reboot. Let’s see what I can come up with…
Here’s what 12 of 12 is all about:
On the 12th day of each month you take 12 photos showing how you spent your day, post them on your blog, and then link the post back to Chad.
*Previous months can be found here
My Mess of a desk, both under and on top!
My desk is so bad, it’s attracting a black sewer rat (Mr. P)
Chase giving me a “high five” (or four)
Back to bed for Chase!
Looking over several travel books for vacation next month
A fine invention- Espresso machine!
Walking up to the Cincinnati Art Museum
Isn’t it Great to be an Artist? Isn’t it??
About to enter the new Surrealism Exhibit. Very cool!!
A couple chicks for my chick.
Heading to dinner @ Cactus Pear
A late night drink @ Bronze with Matt & British Steve
My first project for a design class I’m currently taking was to demonstrate the principles/elements of design using only circles/curves. We then had to create our own book to display these ink drawings. It was a lot of fun, and I got an “A” which made all the time and effort that much sweeter. Matt helped me with the idea on how to creatively display the drawings. He’s Mr. Origami, and suggested creating a cube that would open up to display the inked panels. I completely zoned and forgot to glue down the panels, so they stick out quite a bit when the box is closed. I’ll need to go back and fix that.
U2’s new album was released on Tuesday. Many people have strong feelings toward their music, love/hate, with not much middle ground. I’ve been following the band since “Joshua Tree”, and really became a big fan after their, “Achtung Baby” album. That is still my favorite album of theirs as a whole. “No Line on the Horizon” is being touted as the best since “Achtung Baby” from various outlets, including Rolling Stone magazine which gave it 5 stars.
I have to say, I’m really digging the new album. I kind of compare it to my initial feelings on Coldplay’s latest, “Viva La Vida”. I was not grabbed after the first listen. On the second then third spin, I was hooked and really saw the growth in the material. I’m always puzzled by the singles bands release, since most are not usually my favorite tracks from the album. I guess that’s more the marketing machine at work. While I like U2’s first single, “Get On Your Boots”, it does not really represent the sound overall on the album, and is really one of the weaker tracks when compared to the others. Just my opinion.
Take advantage of the mp3 download of the entire album over at Amazon for only $3.99!! Not sure how long that good deal will last. Anyways, check out their latest album, even if you’re not a crazy fan like myself 
So I finally finished my main project for my Adobe Flash class. The project counted towards 40% of our entire grade, so you could imagine the necessity to crank something cool out. I was so busy trying to develop and finish the video, I couldn’t even bring myself to blog about it.
The assignment was to create a music video using any song of our choice. The rules were that the video had to be at least 2 minutes in length and all of the graphics had to be created yourself using either Flash, Photoshop, or Illustrator. Of course I had to pick a song that was 3 1/2 minutes in length (trimmed from 5 minutes), so I was putting in very long hours to finish. I kinda struggled the first few days trying to really learn the software and be somewhat creative with it. If you’ve never heard of Adobe Flash, you probably have viewed a lot of it’s creations in the form of animated web banners, jib jab movies, various cartoons, and a lot of embedded video content on the internets.
I’m happy to say I received an “A” on the final project, and and “A” in the class overall. I honestly was planning for a “C”, and hoping for a low “B”. As most designers/artists say, “You never actually finish a project, you simply run out of time.” So true. So very true. I do plan to go back and re-work the video later on so I can add it to my portfolio. I had to rush the ending because I simply ran out of time, and there are a lot of edits and tweaks I need to make throughout. This is not the final cut by any means. There will be a “Director’s Cut” in the near future
So I share with you, my music video for Radiohead’s, “Weird Fishes”. If it prompts you to download the latest “Flash player”, it’s only a small download for your web browser, which is good to have updated anyways for smooth internet sailing. Also, it may take 5-10 seconds to load, depending on your internet connection. To view the music video, please click the image above, or –Click Here–
