Seattle so far

--8-29-08-blog_Seattle so far--

So, I'm here. Seattle, Washington. I've come the 2,300 hundred miles to intern for the Seattle Post - Intelligencer as a photojournalist. ( I'll fill you in more about the internship after it begins )

I arrived in this wonderful city Sunday, August 24, 2008. My first day of work is Tuesday, September 2, 2008. I will be most likely be leaving this place sometime between January 5 and January 15, 2009. It seems like it will again just be a brief flirt with a city I have grown to love even though I have only spent a total of around 4 months here total.

It's already going fast. I've only been here for six days yet it feels like I just arrived last night. If the next four months continue to go this quickly I'll be packing up for the 2,300 mile drive home before I know it. I am going to make the most out of the short time that I have here, shooting everything, updating my portfolio, and bettering my skills as a photojournalist.... with a little fun on the side of course.

I hope to update as much as possible while here so hopefully everyone can follow along with myself as I hope to grow and expand my skills as a photojournalist.

Here is just a small taste of such a visual city from my first few days within its emerald walls. Some of which was the first day which Pat was still here, it was sad to see him go after such an epic cross country road trip. But it seems he has already gotten back into full swing of Midwest Photojournalism covering a recent house fire in the quad cities, luckily the house was abandoned. http://cuzpatsaysso.blogspot.com/

best ~ brad

--Last leg--

-last leg-
Belated writings again. However this time it was not entirely all my fault. As some of you know I arrived in Seattle last Sunday, the twenty-fourth. So I have been in the Emrald City for six wonderful days.

But this is just a quick post with the last leg of the trip west. Pat and I took of from Sheridan Montana on Sunday and pushed all the way through to Seattle to round out the final 8 hours or so of driving. It was a beautiful drive with a few great stops along the way, well at least one GREAT stop, Missoula Montana.

What a town. I am definitely sending out internship applications to papers in Missoula for an attempt at a spring in a little known, liberal, outdoorsy city in Red State stronghold of Montana. We came into Missoula on maybe the perfect day anyone could as for, a little marathon / street festival was happening downtown and the weather was phenomenal.

Either way, we came into Seattle at around 7:30pm and stayed with a great friend of mine, Susie. She just happened to be having one of her Sunday night vegan Potlucks. It was a great way to introduce this city to pat and continue where I left off with my brief affair that was the summer of 2004.

So here are a few photos of the final leg of the trip. From here on in pretty much every post will be from in and around Seattle... that is until I feel nostalgic in which case I'll probably post a few updates from things that happened at home or with friends.

Here's to new beginnings in a relatively familiar place.

-cheers

''wild animals''

--"wild animals"--

Here are some photos of the wild animals we saw along our way west. They are wild animals yet they are not really afraid of humans at all... Which makes them seem like zoo animals just without cages. We also saw a grizzly bear in Yellowstone but he was really far away and unable to be photographed.

--Yellowstone--

--Yellowstone--

On Saturday Pat and I started out in Sheridan Mt. We were hoping to push through to Billings the night before, but got ended up staying in Sheridan after stopping for dinner at a dinner named after a lynching, Hangman's 5.

Either way. We pushed off out of Sheridan in the morning, a little later that what we hoped for, but it was nice to actually get a great sleep. We were indecisive about whether or not to just push all the way through to Seattle on 90 or to make a side track trip through Yellowstone. Glacier national park was our initial plan, but after the trip was taking longer than assumed and glacier was just unreachable.

We did end up deciding to head through Yellowstone, and that was a wonderful decision. We got of 90 in Laurel Mt and pushed west on highway 212. If you ever have a chance I highly recommend taking highway 212 west from Laurel, it is an amazing sub alpine road that peaks out at around 11,000 feet before plunging back down the mountains towards Yellowstone. We stayed on 212 through Yellowstone, then up 89 and met back up with 90 on the West side of Yellowstone at the small town of Livingston. It is a great stretch of road if you have extra time and want something much more scenic than I90 West.

We were in a pretty big hurry so we couldn't stop and take to many photos or hike in Yellowstone. I drove through, so Pat has most of the photos from the trip through the park. His blog is listed on the right named 'There was jello in the fingerprints.'

So here are just a few of the 212 highway and Yellowstone.

--There are faces in the mountain--

8-22-2008_rushmore

--Faces in the Mountain--

On the same day as the Badlands we also hopped down to Mount Rushmore.

Not to much to say about it. It's a place everyone has to go at least once in their lives. Just to look up at the mountain and wonder how amazing it is that they carved 4 heads into it with the technology at the time is amazing to think about.

I wish they allowed you to climb right up to underneath the faces, but alas no can do.

(there were big horn sheep there, I have photos. I will be doing a post later on with all the different animals we saw on our way west)

cheers

Malas Tierra

--Malas Tierra--

On the way to Seattle Pat and I stopped by the Badlands national park. It is a pretty amazing place. Barren, dry, crumbling, yet full of life.

We did a like of off trail hiking and also did a tad of rock climbing. We attempted the whole time not to become a statistic by falling or getting bitten by a rattle snake. We succeeded in avoiding both of the hazards.

Either way, here are just a few photos from the Badlands.

I am currently posting from Seattle, we arrived on Sunday and Pat just flew back to Illinois yesterday. To bad he couldn't stay out here for the fall, it would have been crazy.

best

epic road trip, the beginnings

--Epic road trip, the beginnings--

Currently I am located in a seedy motel 6 with pat, my friend and road trip ally, in some small Montana town I can only vaguely remember being named Rocker.

It has been a pretty amazing trip thus far. About 1,600 miles down, about 500 or so to go. Maybe a tad less.

I'll try and update a few more posts further on including Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, and Yellowstone photos. But for tonight I think I will just give you a small taste of the beginnings of the 2,300 mile trip from Dekalb Illinois to Seattle Washington.

These photos are from somewhere in South Dakota just off of I-90 in one of the many giant sunflower fields. I wish Illinois was covered in sunflowers. They make for some good photos and great background. The flowers turned with us as we drove west in some sort of the same animal/plant instinct to go into the sun.

Also, a picture of the legendary josh birnbaum. We met up with him for a drink and dinner in Omaha Nebraska. It was good to meet up with him in such a different city.

Thanks for looking.

- brad

So Long Mr. Capone, Hello Emrald City

-So Long Mr. Capone, Hello Emrald City-

My last time in Chicago for at least the next 5 months. It's sad to be leaving but exciting to be going where I am heading, Seattle. I'm leaving this Thursday for the 4 day relaxing and aw-inspiring drive out there with one of my good friends Pat.

I think we are going to try to swing through a couple national parks on the way out, be it the Badlands and Yosemite or the Badlands and then Glacier. I am thinking the Going to the Sun road would be a pretty life fulfilling experience. Not to mention that I'd like to see a glacier before they're all gone, I know sad right>?

--------If you want your kids to see a glacier, not to mention have a better life, vote Obama--------

The last time I was in Chicago consisted of rooftops and great friends. First I hung out in Wrigleyville on a rooftop and caught the end of the Chicago Air Water show with my brother, his girlfriend mo, and a few other friends. Great place, if you like the cubs, I guess I could settle for it though even though my baseball heart resides on the south side.







Then later that night we moved farther up north to my buddy Sasha's place. He lives pretty much right where Lakeshore starts. Great views from his 8th story rooftop. It was pretty adventurous getting up there using the fire escape.

best ~ brad

Reading: Hawke ( not the most prestigious of books, but a great quick adventure thriller )

Listening to: A few older David Gray songs.













Goodbye Chicago, I'll see you again soon.

Back by popular demand (annnnimal photos)

-Back by popular demand (animal photos)

Due to some loud calls from a few of my friends for ''more PUPPY photos!!!'' I guess I will indulge the addiction to cuteness.

I'll really miss having so many animals around when I move to Seattle. Our family has always had quite a few animals. But only in the past few years has our animal count increased unexpectedly. Somehow stray kittens just seem to find their way onto our property, and since we have outdoor cats and therefore feed them outside these strays seem to take a liking to our confines. Our older cats love the vagabonds, and as do we now.

They even enjoy a little family dinner together all the time.

Oh and just for your information. My dogs love the kittens, no bites, just big licks. As you can see sometimes the kittens are caught off guard when Holly sneaks up on them, but it's love all around.

Best

The Four Horsemen in Search of the Illusive Pink Elephant

-The Four Horsemen in Search of the Illusive Pink Elephant

Forgive my lax amount of postings lately. I have come into a very busy point in my life which is just finally starting to calm down and become less hectic. The brief calm will pass soon however as I will be back to the unbeaten path come this Thursday as I leave for the fall in Seattle.

This past weekend, well I guess two weeks ago now, again forgive my tardiness, I had my last weekend in Chicago where all three of my best friends from school were in town. It ended up being a pretty amazing and memorial weekend and a great last hooray before we spread across the country.

So here are just a few snaps from that great weekend. One to never be forgotten.

Cheers.

Listening to: Anything Sufjan Stevens

Doggy pool shake down

----Doggy pool shake down

It's hot, really hot. I love the outdoors, and love working outside. But days like the past few are pretty unbearable. I think my dogs agree with me on this fact as for the past few days whenever they step foot outside they make a beeline for 'their' pool. It's fun, yet annoying when they come inside and then decide to come over and flop down on you when they are still just wet enough to transfer most of the water off of them and into your shirt.

Mmm, smelling like a wet dog.

Reading: Into the Wild

Listening to: Beck, Orphans, well shit the entire Modern Guilt album... pretty great stuff.

Always greener on the other side

----Always greener on the other side--

So the saying goes at least, and this cow seems to adhere to those words. Well a small bribe that consisted of handfuls of ditch grass. My brother, dad, and I were able to coax over a herd of cows that we pass sometimes while riding in the country. One of the cows seemed to enjoy the untouchable grass so much that he took matters into his own hooves and knelt down, reached his neck under the barbed wire, and got his filling of the all elusive ditch grass.

I am hoping to follow the saying as well soon as I venture out to my first photojournalism internship. Come September 2nd I'll be starting an internship with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. I am really looking forward to diving right in and really making the most out of such a great opportunity.

Reading: Beyond The Green Zone, Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq

Listening to: Bon Iver, Creature Fear

------Frolfing with a side of Mulberries

------Frolfing with a side of Mulberries--

The last installment of on one of my last and best weekends in the soon to be gone and missed Urbana Champaign.

It's called disc golf, frisbee golf, or frolf for short, and it is a great time. I had the opportunity to play for the first, best damn well won't be the last, time on Sunday afternoon. In western Urbana there is a little challenging 9 'hole' course out behind a elementary school paralleled by a up and coming subdivision and an apartment complex.

A friend of mine, pat, was going to play with a couple other friends, maria and matt. And I couldn't turn down the offer to try out something new.

The best part of the course was the short walk between holes 4 and 5 where there was a small patch of mulberry tries along with a raspberry bush. I couldn't help but laugh at the great placement where the berries worked out as a great break to have a little snack. Though we did have to play out the rest of the course with stained fingers. Yet the payoff of a tamed stomach was well worth the semi-permanence of the purple and pink stained fingers.

Reading: Nothing, finished EOME and didn't bring another book to Urbana

Listening to: DubXanne, Message in a dub (Songs remixed into reggae)

Urbana(a) Spelunking

------Urban(a) spelunking... your heart is pointing me in deeper and your history leaves me wanting more.--

Fourth of five installments on one of my last and best weekends in the soon to be gone and missed Urbana Champaign.

Underneath the always bustling Illinois campus lies a land less traveled. A maze of curiosity, intrigue, danger, and heat exists. Some of campus' more adventurous souls know the fantastic experience these dungeons can hold in their vast steam ridden, random noise making, bowels. These untamed lands of adventure are known as the steam tunnels.

Only the privileged few know of the always opened entrances, yet the curious newcomers can find, throughout the many construction zones, broken latches, and unusually common unlocked lock, the mouth of these cavernous and seemingly never ending beasts.

Their corridors are full of amazing tales, photographs, and history of past adventurers. From old warnings and graffiti, to names marked from decades before I even started school and undisturbed footprints from the travelers of the recent past.

Although I do enjoy the tasteful graffiti and messages from veteran spelunkers, I treat the tunnels like a vast wilderness in need of preservation, pack in what you pack out and try to leave the least amount of disturbance in your wake of exploration. For that is what these tunnels are, a vast wilderness including all the intrigue and adventure of a majestic forest or mountain range, though this range is right under your feet and acts as the arteries of a campus of over 40,000 people. It is wilderness none the less. And I am just an invisible traveler enjoying everything the space has to offer.

So if you ever find yourself in Champaign-Urbana and are looking for a little adventure look around for a few entrances and go ahead and enjoy everything the steam tunnels have to offer. Just don't forget to pack a couple water bottles and be in the right state of mind for they do not call them the steam tunnels because they are a nice 60 degree dry area.

Reading: Nothing, finished EOME and didn't bring another book to Urbana

Listening to: Death Cab for Cutie, I will possess your heart

Birding the airways in the wee hours

------Birding the airways in the wee hours--

Third of five installments on one of my last and best weekends in the soon to be gone and missed Urbana Champaign.

Radios hardly ever play exactly what you want all the time, scratch that, they never do. And along with all the crap songs you have to listen to all the damn commercials promoting things you would never think twice at. Well at the suggestion of my friend Max, I jumped at the opportunity to rule the late night airwaves of WPGU 107.1, the student radio station at the University of Illinois.

We took over a little after the bars closed and signed off a tad past 3. It was unusually busy for a late summer night in campus town and the night owls were out in force. It's surprisingly easy to coax inebriated people into making fools of themselves in front of the fishbowl that is the PGU broadcast desk. Especially with the help of a friend whose blood was running thin that night and was all for dressing in a giant milk costume frightening unexpecting by-passers.

The night consisted of great music, Andrew Bird, Girl Talk, and Beck just to name a few. Of course we had to accept the phone in requests, but for the most part we owned 107.1fm for a little over an hour and a half of great music and absolutely zero breaks.

Here's to free commercial free radio. (only really late at night, and while the students are away from campus)

Reading: Nothing, finished EOME and didn't bring another book to Urbana

Listening to: Andrew Bird, Imitosis

Illinois, halfway between Busey and Lincoln

------Illinois, halfway between Busey and Lincoln

Second of five installments on one of my last and best weekends in the soon to be gone and missed Urbana Champaign.

FUBART: for you by artists restoring-interest together. Public art is one of the strongest, expressive, outspoken, and controversial art that exists. Done correctly it can inspire, raise questions of yourself and your surroundings, speak out, and put a smile on ones face or a thought in ones head. If you have never heard of him I suggest you look up Banksy. He is one of the most controversial public art producers there are. However for every frown, or spat of angry words thrown his way there are countless more supporters and lovers of his creations.

Over my five years at the university of illinois, years that went far to quickly, I found it appealing to see the rise in good, thought invoking, visually tasteful public art. A friend and I had the idea to start a second 'art project' from an idea which we had originally seen high above the streets of the University District in Seattle, WA....

A shoe tree. All the fun of throwing your shoes onto the telephone wires minus all the gang affiliated hub bub that follows along with the territory marking.... and the slight risk of electricution. Something that can transform with the seasons much like the tree which they occupy. On top of it all, it is something in which the entire public can enjoy and participate in. (which is starting to take place)

One can only hope that eventually after different classes of Urbana house party hoodlums gaze up into the limbs of the behemoth red oak tree. High above a lonely light post which illuminates the dangling shoes like ornaments on a Christmas tree. Will the limbs eventually be filled with hundreds of shoes from all the local flavor Champaign Urbana has to offer.

Reading: (Finishing up) Evidence of My Existence (pretty amazing book)

Listening to: The Mountain Goats, Idylls of the King

Settling is natural

----Settling is natural

First of five installments on one of my last and best weekends in the soon to be gone and missed Urbana Champaign.

Well, it would be that easy, that natural if life was followed the instructions of an organic juice bottle at. For as long as I can see in the upcoming future settling will not be in my dictionary or words I will be living by. Hoping for the life of a hit and run globe trotting photojournalist (a dying breed), I have no clue where I'll be 6 months from not let alone five years.

So, here's to not settling. Not settling for the mundane everyday life, to following your heart in the directions it wants to go even though it may be as uncharted as a swath through the ever dwindling amazon rain forest, here's to adventure, kindness, and making a difference.

It's sad to be leaving Champaign-Urbana. The past five years went by all to quick, yea quick even for 5 years. Yet I know leaving is only the first step in reaching my dreams.

Cheers

Reading: (Finishing up) Evidence of My Existence (pretty amazing book)

Listening to: Wolf Parade, Fine young cannibals