The One Hundred

So I went to California this past weekend and I had the opportunity to go out and shoot some photos with a couple of friends. Now I have the bug — BIG TIME. I want to shoot and shoot and shoot some more to see what I can come up with. Here’s today’s batch which, if you’ve been paying attention, consists of pictures taken in my backyard. Click to embiggen.

Photography My pictures let me show you them

I was lucky enough to attend this past Sunday’s NFC Championship Game between the Arizona Cardinals and the Philadelphia Eagles. It was terribly exciting, it was an awesome game and the outcome was the one that I wanted (Go Cardinals!). It was one of the best days ever.

Here’s a slideshow of pictures that I took during the game.

And here are some thoughts about the day — some relating to the images, some not.

• 005.jpg – The boy in the foreground was the less annoying of the two boys sitting in front of us. I can’t get too mad because they seemed to be genuinely excited about being there but, their actions seemed to be dictated by the guys sitting in front of them. If the guys in front were raising their arms repeatedly (indicating that they wanted the crowd to make noise) then so would the boys. If they were lowering their arms repeatedly (indicating that the crowd should quiet down) then the boys would do the same. I’m not sure which one annoyed me more because I have to wonder if they actually believed that the hundreds upon hundreds of people behind us were actually looking to them for visual clues for what to do during the game. Also, where the hell were their parents?
• 029.jpg – They gave out these towels before you got to your seat and everyone was waving them around during the whole game. You see it on TV and it seems impressive (although a little weird) but it’s nothing compared to being there and seeing it (more impressive, less weird because you’re doing it too).
• 030.jpg – That’s a big ass flag.
• 068.jpg – Check out the gun on Warner! WTG old man!
• The weirdest things I saw: Some one wearing what can only be described as a homemade neon green Randall Cunningham “jersey” and someone was rocking a Patriots/Brady jersey. Brady? Really?
• 096.jpg – The big three. Oh, how I wish I had them on my fantasy football team.
• 113.jpg – Through the uprights and it’s good!
• 115.jpg – For the halftime entertainment we all jumped through a wormhole and landed in 1994 where Collective Soul performed for “Shine” for us.
• 116.jpg – Probably the most action Leinart saw on the field all day. He actually got up on the award stand at the end and I had to wonder why. Maybe he was bringing Kurt a drink of Gatorade or something.
• 122.jpg – Bummer! And I really wanted the towel to be in focus too. /sarcasm
• 135-138.jpg – I’m missing an image, right? The missing piece? Ask the jerk guy in front of me who stood up right when he let go of the ball. /sigh/
• 142.jpg – Cardinals win! It was loud the whole game in there but when this happened, I actually feared for my hearing. It was pure awesome though. You could feel how bad the fans wanted it. At one point they showed on the big screen an older fan who was just crying — and I’m pretty sure more people were crying after that too (Yes, me too).
• 167.jpg – Me, my sister Michelle, and my brother Dave. Remember, the camera adds 10 pounds (and this was taken with about 500 cameras.).

All in all, we had a great time and if you ever get a chance to go to an NFC Championship game, I highly recommend it. Go Cardinals!

Photography, Sports Cardinals, Football, Lists, Pictures

You guys are getting really lazy. — Mabel

Short version:

We got a bad case of the burnout’s and took a break. (You may now skip past the long version)

Long version:

Back when this started, it was awkward and weird but we had an idea and we ran with it (in case you don’t remember, read this for a refresher. *sigh* I need to change that page too…). We also ran it right into the ground. “Too big” we said. “We need to bring it down some.”

So, we did.

We changed to a format where we had specific topics for the day of the week and while that was limiting we also decided to do it daily in an effort to keep it fresh. After that, we were rolling. We could probably talk endlessly about Music or Movies or Whatever and we always had questions for each other. But, eventually, that too ran its course. Although we didn’t acknowledge it to each other (Perhaps Jon may have tried a couple of times.).

The thing was, we had this streak going. We had been posting everyday without fail for months and I think we were both pretty pleased by it. But it soon became the focus of the blog — we were only posting to not break the streak. We often didn’t have anything to say anymore — YouTube and other online video storehouses became our content (That’s where Mabel’s comment comes in) simply so we wouldn’t break the streak. The blog became a chore instead of something we wanted to do.

So, we walked away.

We had a few questions from our friends wondering what happened — if the one-hundred had been abandoned and left for dead. “No, no. We’re just… reevaluating what we’re going to do with it. Thinking of how else we can approach it. It’ll be back.” And… days turned into weeks and weeks into months. And nothing else was done.

I kept looking for something, some sort of sign that would make me want to blog again. But nothing came. Don’t count this either. I’m not sure anything will come after this (well, I’m hopeful something will come after this post but not sure when. More on that in a moment.) but, in the spirit of the New Year (new beginnings and all that), I figured I would at least try to give an explanation (to those who were absolutely NOT clamoring for one) and maybe inspire myself (and others) to write again.

So, now it’s now.

I’ve been moved by all the new (to me, old to the rest of the internet I’m sure) things I’ve been subjected to — primarily Facebook and Digsby. I’ve made the blog look pretty (at least I think so). I’ve added a chat box so you can contact me directly if I’m online (I’ll see about getting Jon on this but no promises). So I guess the blog is back, but there’s a catch.

We’re going to post when we feel like it.

I know it seems dumb to point that out but, for a long time, Jon and I didn’t see it that way and it’s a little liberating to actually say it. We’ve both read blogs that don’t post everyday but when they do post, they actually have something to say. We like that. We also like blogs that post everyday too — as long as they are saying something. So that’s what we’re going to do. We hope to craft posts before hand instead of just posting just to post. We’re trying to stay away from the YouTubes of the web but we also recognize that it is a handy tool to round out our posts. So, as a compromise, it will be our occasional walking stick instead of our permanent crutch.

And it will probably still be weird and awkward. But, then again, so are we — and so are you.

Welcome to The One Hundred. Again.

The Blog Beginnings, No more YouTube (maybe), Welcome back