thank[full]

 there's nothing better than going back home to visit friends and family during the holidays...especially if you love them and miss them dearly. thanksgiving found us back in kansas with all sorts of family enjoying food, adventures, stores and good times.  to say i'm thankful for these people is an understatement.

i see the light[house]

 

[regatta] go see the boats

 

a [maine] reason

alright maine....you do fall pretty well.

 

 

[chill]y start to fall

they say you should do one thing that scares you everyday....


i don't really buy into that.  i'm more of a once-a-month-one-thing-that-scares-me kind of guy.


to balance that though, i really believe you should do one thing a month that sends chills down your spine.  for me, it was having the privilege of seeing neko case in concert again.  her voice alone will do it for me, but when you add in her lyrics along with the sense of nostalgia i get when she sings, it was full on chills that september night.  i enjoyed hearing my favorites and fully fell in love with several songs from her newest album, which have been on heavy rotation since.  i enjoy when seasons have beginnings and neko started off fall for me with a perfect chill.

much like doing something that scares you, gives you a feeling of being alive and helps you avoid getting stuck in a rut, i think getting chills is just a little natural reminder that you're out there experiencing life!

endless [new england] summer

this year maine was blessed with an extended summer with warm temperatures continuing well past the end of september.  during one of those late september weekends our friends invited us out on their boat to soak up as much of this late season sun as we could.  having experienced a maine winter last year we jumped at the chance.

it wasn't anything more than enjoying a few hours of sunshine from a the back of a boat and doing a little island hopping but it really did feel like a gift.  i'm learning [mainers] hold their summers to be very important and it was great to be sharing this warm weather appreciation in the company of good friends.

snap[chat] out of it

being away from your home for a long time is a strange feeling.  going back home is a strange feeling as well.

for the first time in nine months, i traveled back to kansas to celebrate thanksgiving with my family.  the minute i was in town, it felt like nothing had changed and this whole [portland] thing had been a dream.  making the rounds to my favorite spots, i was recognized and greeted by friends and people who knew me.  a feeling i hadn't had in a while. from bars and restaurants to shops, i constantly ran into wonderful people who had been a part of my life for a long time.  after being in a desert of anonymity for the past nine month, i was flooded with the feeling of being recognized.

i can't lie, it was a wonderful and warm feeling i missed.

i cherished every minute spent with family and friends. a perspective you only get after months out of eyesight from them.

days later i returned [home] to maine and slowly got back into my routine here. i found myself  looking back through my snapchat memories and the whole wichita trip now felt like its own dream.

and that's a thought i'll hold on to.  i'm lucky enough to be between two dream worlds.

here are a few of my snapchat memories, in their wonderfully raw quality.

 leaving the northeast

 airplane sketches

 

arriving in the midwest

 

wichita airport

 

 friday night crew

 

 friday night standard order

 

 board games

 an ace player

 kansas running

 pho sure

one of my favs

[autumn] attire

it's a fact.

i look better in fall clothing.

i love shorts...i enjoy wearing them...i enjoy being comfortable in them when it's hot.

i don't however enjoy being seen in them. (i have weird legs)

that all changes in the fall however.  put me in some jeans, boots, a nice button up, and a light jacket, and you give me a chance to hide my "fat" a little better.  also, there's a good chance the temperature is cool enough that i wont be sweating like i just thought about jogging a quarter mile.

if i have to meet someone, for the first time, i'd prefer it be in the autumn months.  the way i look and dress in the fall is a way better first impression then i could make in shorts and flip flops.  you never want to have someones first impression of you to be,

"whoa, those are some weird legs"

This is why, no matter what the temperature is, as well as general professionalism, i've always worn jeans or slacks to a job interview. i'd much rather the interviewer see me sweat and curious if i had just run a marathon before our meeting, then burn into their brain a vision of my weird legs.

i feel like inland maine and i are very similar.  since moving here, the majority of my exploring has been on the coast.  i haven't traveled "into" maine much.  last sunday is decided to change that with a quick trip around sebago lake.  the trees were at peak foliage and the reflections off the lake were amazing.  i drove completely around the lake and spent two hours in awe.  i'm not sure i would have had the same feeling if i would have seen sebago lake for the first time this summer.

i might have noticed weird "coves" or something.

the year in pictures [2014]

year ten for the [year in pictures] post.

without a doubt this was a year of traveling, and the pictures at the top of my list represent that. not only did i travel a lot this year but it was to new and exciting places i had never seen. it can't be denied traveling always gives you a unique perspective on your own little world. new sights, sounds and smells open your mind just that much more.  a favorite quote of mine is from st.a augustine who said, " the world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page."

i hope you enjoy a few of the [pages] i added to my book this year.

lincoln_memorial_3.22.14

in march, i was lucky enough to travel to washington d.c for an aia conference. the city was nothing like i imagined.  it was actually beautiful.  they layout, the scale and the buildings worked in perfect harmony and i found myself walking up and down the mall in total awe. my favorite spot, one that can be found on many [pages] of history, was the lincoln memorial. such an iconic place that is incredibly built and and beautifully designed.

selfie_steps_3.22.14

as i walked up the steps of the lincoln memorial i saw this group of people taking a group selfie, and i had to snap a quick picture. a place that's been the backdrop to amazing moments in history provided one more for an activity so definitive of my generation.

bachelor_weekend_6.21.14 

my friends bachelor party weekend at the lake. three days of fishing, meat, beer, world cup soccer, beer, corn on the cob, beer and a group of guys being guys.  it was amazing. i was glad to share this [page] with so many good friends.

the_city_girl_and_the_goat_7.27.14

my girlfriend is without a doubt a [city girl]. she knows more about chanel than sheep. so when she was offered a chance to be in a goat milking contest i told her she had to do it.  i of course was manly interested more in the photo possibilities than any competition. she did not disappoint. like the trooper she is she handled it with stride, especially after the goats handler helped out.

lighthouse_7.27.14

this summer i attended a wedding in long island with my girlfriend. being from kansas i find lighthouses fascinating, so the day after the wedding we traveled two hours to the montauk point lighthouse. it was more of a pain to get  there than we had planned but it really was worth it. this photo reminds me of the whole, fabulous trip.  a whole chapter of [pages].

covering_the_vines_9.22.14

this summer also found my girlfriend and i traveling to local kansas winery's. not only did we enjoy the wine, but the traveling and tasting allowed us to spend quality time together during our all too short weekends. this shot was taken while enjoying a bottle on the patio of grace hill winery. it turns out [pages] are much better with wine.

brooklyn_wedding_9.26.14

one of my best friends got married in brooklyn. it was beautiful.  everything about the wedding and reception reflected the couple and their love for each other, and i was so thankful to be a part of their [page].

festival_fun_10.5.14

it's getting harder and harder to find unique pictures of the austin city limits festival, but this photo taken the last day seems to capture the care free atmosphere that keeps bringing me back year after year.

 life_after_death_12.8.14

savannah is a hauntingly beautiful city and i was smitten with this city seconds after strolling through its spanish moss cover squares. as many tourists do i found myself at the gates of one of the cities cemeteries.  walking through the beautiful grounds i discovered tombstones tacked to the wall.  after help from my tour guide siri, i learned any tombstone which had been damaged, broken or misplaced over the years was placed on the wall; a wonderful way to honor the [pages] of past lives. this haunting but beautiful scene seems to perfectly capture my feelings on the city.

lincolns_gift_12.8.14

i started this year with a picture of the lincoln memorial and oddly enough end on [lincoln’s gift]. during the last stages of the civil war, savannah was in the path of general sherman’s destructive “march to the sea”, but upon reaching the city, found it so incredibly beautiful, he decided not to destroy it.  the city was saved and presented as a christmas gift to president lincoln in 1864, adding to the city’s history and charm. i found savannah beautiful as well, and was happy to have it, along with the many other places i saw this year, become a [page] in my book.

jack [hole] lantern

this year i wanted to try something different with my pumpkin.  i tried drilling holes into it instead of carving it.  i'm not sure it worked, as it ended up looking like some hubble telescope photo of the sun. my girlfriend on the other hand bought a carving kit and skillfully cut a cute pattern into hers. we had a fun time working on them and in a way i'd like to think both our pumpkins fit us perfectly. hers; neat, orderly and cute. mine, slightly rough around the edges and an attempt at being artistic.

new york state of [marriage]

i attended a great wedding last weekend.

it deserves this title for several reasons. first of all i've known this couple for a long time. he is one of my best friends and over the years his wife has become one as well.  it was intimate. the couple decided on a very small guest list choosing to celebrate this wonderful occasion with those people who had a direct part of their relationship. next, it took place in new york, a city they've come to love, and a place that helped foster their love for each other. finally, the whole weekend perfectly and beautifully reflected the couple. it was personal, elegant, meaningful, minimal and incredibly well designed, placing the importance on the essential. just the way a relationship should be.

congratulations adam and angela, love you both.

[equinox] girls

for the past few years i've hyped up wichitahenge, a play off manhattanhenge.  which is the phenomenon where the setting sun perfectly aligns with the grid of manhattan, new york.  granted the streets of manhattan are skewed causing this to happen on a very specific date, so wichita's version isn't as unique, falling exactly on the equinox, but it's still really cool to see.  the last few years i've photographed this event and invited other people to do so as well. although after three years of hoping to see crowds of people downtown with cameras in hand, this year i heard regina george's voice in my head saying,

"stop trying to make "wichitahenge" happen, it's not going to happen."

although there aren't mobs of people trying to get the perfect witchtahenge shot, there are a few pics from other photographers out there.

here's one from my friend brad ruder:

another from leslley anne scotte i found online:

maybe in a few years it'll take off.  as for now, this yearly quest, is just a simple reminder, summer is over. it's time for fall.