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2013-06-19 12:14:19 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 21 +1s)

#wordlessonwednesday



#artinstituteofchicago #streetphotography  

2013-06-18 13:14:02 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 19 +1s)

in mourning

I took a number of photos of the renovation in the Art Institute of Chicago.  Some of them are level and well cropped, juxtaposing a single statue against a grid of tile.  (I'll likely share one or two in the future.)  But when I looked through my Lightroom catalog this morning to decide which one to post, it is this one that really grabbed my eye.  It is messy, not level, and objects are scattered around the scene.  But it is this shot I loved today above all others in the series.

+Kim Beall I'm tagging you to celebrate you, and your membership in the Art Instute.  Have a great day!
+Molly Page I'm tagging you in this because you love all things Chicago. 

#art #instute #chicago #renovation #statue #dropcloth  

2013-06-18 12:59:20 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 12 +1s)

erase

“What makes us leave what we love best?
What is it inside us that keeps erasing itself
When we need it most,
That sends us into uncertainty for its own sake
And holds us flush there
until we begin to love it
And have to begin again?
What is it within our own lives we decline to live
Whenever we find it,
making our days unendurable,
And nights almost visionless?
I still don't know yet, but I do it.”
― Charles Wright

#publicart #milleniumpark #chicago #il  

2013-06-18 12:38:08 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

shadow

“I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next.”
― Gilda Radner

#milleniumpark #chicago #il #monochrome #pattern #shadow #tuesdayreflection  

2013-06-17 14:28:23 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

shameless self-promotion

My most recent "Losing at Board Games" column is up on Troll in the Corner !

Featured in this article:  why I would not be good at a game called "speed darts"

2013-06-13 14:20:14 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 14 +1s)

all things being equal...

#sweetener #artificial  

2013-06-12 13:02:43 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 20 +1s)

concert in fog
Millennium Park, Chicago, IL


+Molly Page +Kim Beall
#glenhansard #frames #millenniumpark #fog #eveningconcert #chicago  

2013-06-12 12:54:48 (5 comments, 4 reshares, 44 +1s)

disappeared

buildings moving into fog, a bird vanishes. 

#chicago #skyline #milleniumpark #fog #monochrome
+Molly Page +Kim Beall 

2013-06-11 20:11:07 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 21 +1s)

and a fog descended

Last night around sunset, Chicago was enveloped in a steady fog.  +Molly Page wrote a great recap of the concert we saw at Millenium Park, and has some great shots of the city in fog at http://www.aforeignland.org/2013/06/glen-hansard-fog-and-10-million-of-our.html
+Kim Beall
#milleniumpark #fog #chicago  

2013-06-11 13:41:54 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 27 +1s)

measure

“Being with you and not being with you is the only way I have to measure time.”
― Jorge Luis Borges

+Kim Beall

#art #museum #chicago
#minimalism

2013-06-11 13:09:42 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 21 +1s)

Michigan Avenue in fog at night

#chicago #michiganavenue #fog #night
+Molly Page +Kim Beall 

2013-06-11 04:34:27 (4 comments, 2 reshares, 23 +1s)

wonder

"Every moment of light and dark is a miracle"
-Walt Whitman

This was Crown Fountain in Chicago this evening.  +Kim Beall and I were celebrating our anniversary (9 years on Wednesday!) and met up with Brian and +Molly Page for a concert in Millenium Park.  A thick fog rolled in, and we took advantage of the changing light to revisit some favorite landmarks.
#crownfountain #chicago #milleniumpark #anniversary #wonder #water

2013-06-10 14:23:53 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 14 +1s)

dear chicago

+Kim Beall and I are celebrating our anniversary (9 years on Wednesday!) by going to the Art Institute of Chicago today, and then seeing Glen Hansard with members of the Frames and Lisa Hannigan at Millenium Park tonight for a free concert. 

Dear Chicago - By Ryan Adams

#chicago #architecture #minimal  

2013-06-07 13:04:51 (1 comments, 1 reshares, 14 +1s)

crown

I really don't like the way albums are organized in Google+ right now, so each photo I'm sharing (currently) is isolated from my other photo albums.  Has anyone found a good way of organizing your albums under the new Google+ system?

#chicago #fountain #googlephoto #albums  

2013-06-07 12:00:05 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 17 +1s)

from the BEACON archives

While searching through our BEACON surveillance photos the other day, I discovered this.  I'm not sure what, or who we're looking at here. 
“We are the other of the other”
― Marcus Aurelius

#alienabductionfriday has a number of curators out on assignment, but +Karl Geiger Jr +Karl Geiger +Alex Lapidus +Heiko Mahr +Michele Cornelius +Irene Kato 

2013-06-06 13:57:40 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 23 +1s)

footsteps in the quiet


this is from the game Triassic Terror for #gamejourneythursday with +Clinton Coddington +Rocio Goodey +Robert Washburn

+Alex Soued +Michael Taylor

2013-06-04 17:42:09 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 10 +1s)

Are you still in love with me
Like the way you used to be or is it changing?
Does it deepen over time, like the river
That is winding through the Canyon?
Like Rock & Roll And Radio (Live on Letterman)

21/52
#selfy   #52selfs   #52weeks   #monochrome  

2013-06-04 15:23:28 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 11 +1s)

under construction

I looked out my front door yesterday and saw this. 

It isn't a great photo; I was just trying to capture the moment.

its that time of year - a bit of tearing down, a bit of building up... a bit of noise. 

#chicago #transit #metra #crane #tracks  

2013-06-03 13:31:49 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 16 +1s)

hold on

“Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something."

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers<... more »

2013-06-03 13:20:24 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

shameless self-promotion
My most recent "Losing at Board Games" column is up on Troll in the Corner .  In this column, I compare Agricola with Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small .
http://trollitc.com/2013/06/losing-at-board-games-agricola-vs-agricola-all-creatures-big-and-small/

2013-05-30 15:02:58 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 10 +1s)

Pick-A-Dog, or Pig

for #gamejourneythursday   -
this is a photo of the card layout of Pick a Pig , a fun family fast-paced card collection game.  I'm going to be posting a quick review in the boardgames community on Google+, if you are interested in how this game is played. 
+Rocio Goodey +Clinton Coddington +Robert Washburn 

2013-05-30 13:51:57 (8 comments, 1 reshares, 21 +1s)

city in bean

not a coffee bean, but a giant silver colored bean... a bit of a stretch for #coffeethursday with +Jason Kowing +Stuart Dyckhoff +Sairam Sundaresan +Maki Silberberg
this is the city of Chicago, as reflected in the Cloud Gate... or "giant bean"
I took this during a fantastic day trip with +Kim Beall .

2013-05-29 12:21:23 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

wednesday question:
  how have the new Google+ changes impacted
 a) how many photos you have shared, or
b) how often you have interacted with other photos.

It seems since these changes have gone into effect my stream from other photographers has gotten a lot quieter.

2013-05-29 12:03:46 (7 comments, 1 reshares, 24 +1s)

#wordlessonwednesday  

2013-05-28 15:11:43 (7 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

one

I finally figured out how to go back to one column for my overall view in Google+.  The two column view is too much noise for me, and I found myself interacting with other people's photos much less  as a result of that two column approach.  This is an abstract based on shooting a small glass of water at +Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea while +Kim Beall and I were there with +Molly Page and Brian yesterday. 
#abstract #color #glass  

2013-05-24 13:58:22 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 13 +1s)

calm before the


I survived the dinner
And the air went thinner
I retired to the briars by the pool
It gets so loud

from "Humiliation" by The National

2013-05-24 13:35:36 (13 comments, 0 reshares, 19 +1s)

watch out for nukebot!

I missed #gamejourneythursday but I'm here for #alienabductionfriday ...
these are the aliens from Smash-Up attacking The Great Library. 
Why is it that the aliens always try to attack the library first?

+Clinton Coddington +Rocio Goodey +Robert Washburn (the curating team for #gamejourneythursday )
+Karl Geiger Jr +Karl Geiger +Heiko Mahr +Alex Lapidus +Michele Cornelius +Irene Kato (the curating team for #alienabductionfriday )

2013-05-21 16:28:45 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 12 +1s)

empty

“Alone, I often fall down into nothingness. I must push my foot stealthily lest I should fall off the edge of the world into nothingness. I have to bang my head against some hard door to call myself back to the body.”
-Virginia Woolf

#minimalism  

2013-05-21 13:35:26 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 22 +1s)

quote, photo, unrelated

“What advice would I give the average homeowner to protect himself against burglars? Well, the first thing is to keep a light on in the house when you go out. It must be at least a sixty-watt bulb; anything less and the burglar will ransack the house, out of contempt for the wattage.”
-Woody Allen

2013-05-21 13:30:10 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 25 +1s)

empty hallway

"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education."
— Mark Twain

2013-05-20 12:56:29 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 11 +1s)

breeze

I took this photo at the #Chicagobotanicgarden yesterday.   The breeze was twisting and turning this parchment and though there were people in line behind me I was able to snap a few photos (hoping that one would be reasonably clear) before I moved forward.   It still isn't as clear as I would like it to be, but given the circumstances I was happy that this shot came out at all. 

#breakfastclub +Gemma Costa 

2013-05-20 12:29:55 (10 comments, 2 reshares, 23 +1s)

unevenly

We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.”
― Anaïs Nin

#breakfastclub +Gemma Costa

#MonochromeMonday (+Monochrome Monday) Curated by +Hans Berendsen , +Jerry Johnson , +Steve Barge, +Dominique Hilbert , +David Orr and +Martin Heller

2013-05-20 11:54:03 (10 comments, 0 reshares, 17 +1s)

yellow

“But tomorrow, dawn will come the way I picture her, barefoot and disheveled, standing outside my window in one of the fragile cotton dresses of the poor. She will look in at me with her thin arms extended, offering a handful of birdsong and a small cup of light.”
― Billy Collins

for #macromonday +Kelli Seeger Kim +Kerry Murphy +Jake Easley +Jennifer Eden

2013-05-16 13:14:02 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 15 +1s)

Trying to get used to this new interface.  I like the way my feed looks, but photo sharing seems a bit different.  (And I already disabled the settings for auto-enhancing my photos)

A bit of a pig, and a bit of coffee.  This is SOOC (Straight out of the camera) with no alteration.  From the game Pick A Pig
And from my morning coffee.

#gamejourneythursday +Clinton Coddington +Rocio Goodey +Robert Washburn
#coffeethursday
#sooc  

2013-05-15 16:14:05 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 13 +1s)

flow

“One should always be a little improbable.”
― Oscar Wilde

2013-05-09 15:12:08 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 13 +1s)

"How do you think we should go about subduing this ROUS?
Wait, are you even listening to me right now?  I swear, sometimes I feel like I'm in this by myself. "

a bit of monochrome Fantastiqa for #gamejourneythursday with +Rocio Goodey +Clinton Coddington +Robert Washburn

and, once again, +Alf Seegert 

2013-05-09 15:00:37 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 11 +1s)

"we need to talk about us"
"shhh! not while he's here. he might hear you!"
"him?  he's just gazing off into the distance in a perpetual state of melancholy.  don't worry about him."

non-stop Fantastiqa for #gamejourneythursday with +Clinton Coddington +Rocio Goodey +Robert Washburn

and, as always, the venerable +Alf Seegert 

2013-05-09 14:58:41 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 5 +1s)

seemed to be running

“As I looked about me I felt that the grass was the country, as the water is the sea. The red of the grass made all the great prairie the colour of winestains, or of certain seaweeds when they are first washed up. And there was so much motion in it; the whole country seemed, somehow, to be running.”
― Willa Cather

  you didn't think you would be able to get to the Forest without a few creatures blocking your path, did you?  Fantastiqa for #gamejourneythursday +Clinton Coddington +Rocio Goodey +Robert Washburn

and, because it is Fantastiqa, +Alf Seegert 

2013-05-09 13:34:22 (6 comments, 2 reshares, 17 +1s)

show-off

the pigs are passed (from Pass the Pigs ) for this #gamejourneythursday ...

your turn, +Clinton Coddington +Rocio Goodey +Robert Washburn

and, because I've been really enjoying his game photography I'm going to tag +Paul Beakley as well. 

2013-05-08 19:39:06 (6 comments, 2 reshares, 20 +1s)

still time left

“Time is what we want most,but what we use worst.”
― William Penn

2013-05-06 16:47:47 (5 comments, 5 reshares, 43 +1s)

morning bell

Morning Bell - Radiohead

#macromonday +Kelli Seeger Kim +Kerry Murphy +Jake Easley +Jennifer Eden
#radiohead  

2013-05-03 17:00:45 (4 comments, 3 reshares, 28 +1s)

softly, gently

the onset of spring in Chicago, for #floralfriday with +Tamara Pruessner +Beth Akerman +Eustace James 
and, because it is second coffee time, for #breakfastclub +Gemma Costa 

2013-05-02 14:28:51 (8 comments, 2 reshares, 9 +1s)

shameless self-promotion

+Clinton Coddington and I are writing a column called "Game Journey Photography", which will publish monthly on the first Thursday of the month - to coincide with #gamejourneythursday   (curated by +Rocio Goodey +Robert Washburn +Clinton Coddington and myself)

Our first column can be found here:
http://trollitc.com/2013/05/game-journey-photography/

Thanks for reading!

2013-05-02 12:44:04 (8 comments, 1 reshares, 22 +1s)

see the world

See the world, they said.
Play a fun game of train journeys, they said.

It all sounded so innocuous...
And then an hour later my forehead is mashed up against the table and I'm wondering how how did I not see that coming?  Just two trains, and my whole route is blocked off !!!

( Ticket to Ride: The Heart of Africa )

#gamejourneythursday +Clinton Coddington +Rocio Goodey +Robert Washburn +Jon Beall 

2013-05-02 12:24:07 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 7 +1s)

journey

"Jack: You wanna read a short story I wrote in France?
Francis: How long is it?
Jack: What?
Francis: How long is it?
Jack: How long is it? Never mind. Forget it."
from The Darjeeling Limited

a close-up of the board from Ticket to Ride: The Heart of Africa for #gamejourneythursday +Clinton Coddington +Rocio Goodey +Robert Washburn +Jon Beall
#macro #monochrome #minimalist  

2013-05-01 21:02:59 (6 comments, 1 reshares, 40 +1s)

#wordlessonwednesday  

2013-04-30 20:45:37 (1 comments, 6 reshares, 31 +1s)

welcome, spring

#breakfastclub +Gemma Costa
#macromonday +Jennifer Eden +Kelli Seeger Kim +Kerry Murphy +Jake Easley 

2013-04-30 19:33:51 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 17 +1s)

“The surest sign that a man has a genuine taste of his own is that he is uncertain of it.”
― W.H. Auden

I don't know why I like this photo.  I didn't want to touch it; I did a simple black and white conversion but made no other alterations.  I was happy with it, resting in my Lightroom 4 filmstrip. 

#MonochromeMonday (+Monochrome Monday) Curated by +Hans Berendsen , +Jerry Johnson , +Steve Barge, +Dominique Hilbert , +David Orr and +Martin Heller 

2013-04-30 19:33:35 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 19 +1s)

I'm stronger than the picture you took before you left

“Don't pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men.”
― John F. Kennedy


#macromonday +Kelli Seeger Kim +Kerry Murphy +Jake Easley +Jennifer Eden
#MonochromeMonday (+Monochrome Monday) Curated by +Hans Berendsen , +Jerry Johnson , +Steve Barge, +Dominique Hilbert , +David Orr and +Martin Heller 

2013-04-27 15:08:30 (4 comments, 2 reshares, 18 +1s)

Bring me some tuna, and we'll talk.

#caturday +CATURDAY! +Shantha Marie Fountain +Cicely Robin Laing +Lee Daniels +Christophe Friedli
#sooc #soocsaturday