Task #13: Complete

13. See a movie at a drive-in.

Item number 13 on my list was "See a movie at a drive-in". When I grew up in St. Louis, there were several drive-in movie theatres scattered about the metro area. As I got older, they slowly disappeared until there were none. The only one remaining in the near metro area is in Belleville, IL, about 20 miles from me.

A friend and I were talking about drive in theatres and right before my birthday, one of those LivingSocial deals came up and she snagged me one for my birthday. "Men in Black:3" was showing this weekend, so we decided to go see it.

It was, in some ways, nothing like I expected. People showed up FAR in advance, there was a playground for the kiddos and our fellow theatregoers were essentially tailgating (probably without the alcohol) prior to the movie.

It was totally fun to watch the movie from the car, with the movie playing over the radio. We didn't stay for the second feature, mostly because it didn't appeal to us.

A life-long yearning and a coupon may have made this one happen but I can definitely see going again and caffinate-ing myself up for a double feature!

52 Week Project: Week 20

If you know me well, you know that I don't like fire. Mind you, I don't mind a warm fire on a cold night, but if you want me to light a candle with a match or a lighter, forget about it. I've always had an aversion to flame, and I'm not sure why. Never the less, I'm always amazed by those whom it doesn't faze. Such as the Fire Technicians. I saw this daredevil group perform last night at Third Degree Glass Factory's Third Friday Open House. I've always wanted to go to the Glass Factory and this was the perfect excuse. I got to make my own pendant (for a price) and got the chance to witness this amazingness. I took over 700 photos; and managed to whittle it down to a mere 67 photos. I have a lot of favorites still, but this is probably the pick of the week:

The shirt he wears is pretty ironic, yes?

Here's some runners up:









More found here. Enjoy!!

My 30th Year

If you recall, my 30th birthday was kind of a fun time, but I think my 30th year has proven interesting without a doubt.

- I rode a Segway around downtown St. Louis - that's something memorable for sure!

- I successfully PSM'd (Production Stage Manage-d) a crazy summer opera festival in the middle of nowhere. Survived with sanity mostly intact thanks to friends & colleagues.

- I switched from a freelance career in opera to a salaried, full-time job in the arts, still doing what I love but in a different way. Yes, I miss traveling, but I'm enjoying both the personal and financial stability.

- I entered a photography contest/exhibition and got in. Even if it was at my high school as part of an alumni exhibition. I wasn't a photographer in H.S. so this came as a surprise to some.

- I got caught outside in a microburst in the Loop with my parents and feared for my life.

- The Cardinals won an improbable World Series!

- I completed Photo Project 2011 and started a 52 Week Project in 2012.

- I crossed #33 (Join the Bone Marrow Donor Registry) off my life list and am working towards others as we speak.

- I broke my right middle finger… AGAIN. At work. Boy was that an adventure. I'd forgotten how inconvenient and annoying it was to have that finger out of commission.

- I got shingles. Yes, you read that right. No one still knows exactly why but I did and it was a painful month, and now hopefully I never get it again.

- I learned a little on how to shoot on manual and am starting to learn how to post-process my photography.

-I got an amazing lens for my camera which I haven't taken off since I got it and my pictures are amazing as a result. Or at least I like to think so.

-An award-winning photographer praised my photography and encouraged me to pursue it professionally.

-I have met some great people at work, and have developed some great friendships with some of my co-workers.

-Made a surprise trip up to Alaska to see many friends which was well worth the trip and the jet lag.

-Had my iPhone stolen at work by juvenile delinquents. Never thought I'd be part of that statistic.

It has definitely proven an interesting year and a good(?) way to kick off the 30s. May 31 be just as interesting but maybe not quite as crazy, and less with the sickness and injury.

52 Week Project - Week 19

Work has been extremely busy but I managed to steal away a few moments this week, while setting up for our huge business conference. Rarely do I actually match up on my suggested guidance topics, but this week it was "one of these is not like the other". Not exactly how I imagined that it would be executed, but I like this picture well enough - despite the color orange:

52 Week Project: Week 18

Okay, I am loving shooting in RAW... and loving Lightroom 4. And I know I'm using like 5% of its capabilities. I need to start saving up for some guides/classes so I learn how to do it better. I have completely turned around my thoughts about post-processing. I know I used to think that it was unnecessary, and more of a challenge to shoot without help. But I've seen how many photos I could've have saved with just a little tweaking. A big opportunity came up photographically - the Super Moon. The moon at 10:34pm CST was supposedly 14% bigger and 30% brighter. By the time I saw it, it didn't seem bigger but it sure was bright. And it was a full moon moments after it was the super moon. I wish I'd been there for moonrise at the horizon, when moons seem bigger than normal. Nevertheless, here's the pick: and the runners up.