Hello, Readers

'Tis I, your tardy blogger.

A lot has happened in this month of October including the breaking of my DSLR. It seized up mid-month and is quite broken. I get to send it in soon and see if it can be fixed or not.

I also was in China (!) for two weeks (felt like two months) and there was no blogger access there. I have lots of pictures and entries to come. There's a lot on my plate in these next few days... mostly catching up on sleep, unpacking, laundry and writing aforementioned blog posts.

I kept a 'diary; of sorts while there so I could remember things fairly vividly. I can't blog about absolutely everything, but you'll get the highlights.

So keep a watch out and in the next few days, I'll be posting again!

Forest Park Balloon Glow

Every fall, there's a Balloon Race held in Forest Park. The night before the afternoon race, there's a glowfest held on the launch field. The balloonists inflate their balloons and then, on an air horn cue, light up their balloons with the propane flames that heat the air so that they might fly. However, on this night, they are tethered to the ground.

I've seen balloons glow before, but ever since I took up photography as a more serious hobby, I have been wanting to go. I've either been out of town, or forgotten or what-have-you, and my roommate has also always wanted to go. So we did.

It was amazing. There were TONS of balloons, and it was great watching them inflate and then, watching them glow as the sun went down. There were TONS of people there and it was worth getting there early to get a good parking spot, and picnic spot.

Here's just a select few of the 109 photos that were 'finalists' from countless ones that I had taken that night.



















Go see more at flickr here!

#2 - Complete

2. Live in a city I love, or at least, don't hate.



It is time I cross this off the list. It's official. I love St. Louis. I grew up here, went to school here (not for university), and my family lives here. I wish more of my friends still lived here, but that's how life goes.

So St. Louis has my heart for family reasons. But it has my heart for other reasons. St. Louis is home to Forest Park which is an amazing, huge greenspace located near to where I once lived and also now live. But Forest Park alone isn't what is great. Forest Park houses many great things like the Zoo, Art Museum, Jewel Box and was the location of the 1904 World's Fair.

And so many of St. Louis' attractions are free: History Museum, Art Museum, St. Louis Zoo, St. Louis Zoo, Science Center.

Others have a nominal or small fee: Jewel Box, City Museum, special exhibits at the History Museum, Art Museum.

And who can forgot the Missouri Botanical Garden. It's world-renowned and makes most other botanical gardens I visit pale in comparison. It is worth every single penny that I pay for my membership so I can go appreciate its beauty at any time.

And St. Louis' Metro area also is home to Queeny Park, Faust Park, Laumeier Sculpture Park and Grant's Farm.

There's also an amazing array of truly amazing restaurants and the cuisines are from all over the world. It's a wonder that we're not one of the fatter cities in the United States because of all the amazing food that is offered to us.

And I could go on and on. I really do love this city. I've lived in Indiana, Los Angeles and Houston… and I've returned to St. Louis quite happily.

#53 - Complete

53. Have one of my photographs hung on the wall of someone else's house.

I've accomplished this a few times over. I've gifted several people with vertical collages of some of my favorite photographs. Though it doesn't much count for this item, my roommate requested that we hang some of my photos up on our walls. I made a collage of roses for one of my best friends, gave my roommate's parents a collage of palm trees and beaches (some of their favorite things), and a pair of collages for my parents - daylilies for dad, and irises for mom.

And at some point, i will come up with a collage or collection of photos for another one of my best friends who is an amazing photographer in her own right. She has very graciously reserved a wall space for me in her new apartment. We're not quite sure what will go there yet.

Someday, I might be able to update this entry with pictures of aforementioned wall-hangings, but for right now, I will enjoy the fact that people enjoy my photography enough to have my pictures up on their wall.