Blizzard? Its okey, my baby has a beard.

Over this last weekend Josh and I went to the great state of Iowa with our friends Ryan, Lulu, and Hank. Ryan and Hank are in the band Left Hand Black and decided to pass out demos at a big metal show that was happening in Des Moines at the House of Bricks. We left for Iowa on Friday night, staying the night in Ottumwa. When we got up on Saturday morning it was a freaking winter wonderland, rain turning to glass on the trees and grass. As we drove it continued to rain and then sleet. By the time we got to Des Moines it was snowing. By the time we got to the show it was snowing and blowing in a rather blizzardly fashion.
The show was fun. Interesting. To say the least, it was my first metal show. Everyone was wearing black and there I was in my bright pink velour track jacket. Can you say sore thumb? I also think one of the prerequisites for that kind of show was you must have some kind of steel piercing your face. There was enough metal at that show to build a tank. It made me want to stab a hole through my face... but I think I'll just stick with tattoos.
The show was pretty good though. Josh protected me from the moshy mosh pitters. And (gasp) you can still smoke in the bars in Des Moines (all be damned). After the show it was still snowing like a bitch so we went to the HyVee across from our hotel rooms and got some adult beverages (cheap Champagne for me!) and some fixings for sandwiches. We holed up in our room watching the end of Forrest Gump and altering our states of mind.
And now! Pictures! Hooray!

It is Josh's foot, with a feather on it. This seemed like such an appropriate picture as we had just watched Forrest Gump... You know, the floating feather? Josh's feather is from my coat, which poops down everwhere.


What we woke up to on Sunday morning.

Bearded, bright-eyed and bushy tailed (My baby has a beard! Beards are sexy!). Notice my morning sucker.

The aftermath of our hotel room, our housekeeper was "Javier".

A rainbow on an otherwise blustery winter day. We didn't let the weather keep us from the pleasure of perusing the huge Goodwill in Des Moines, where the clothes were arrange by nothing other than color! Fantastic!

I gotted a little hitchhiker. An alligator I bought for my DeeDee dog. I had Josh hold it and the next thing I knew it was riding around on my back. The Delilah dog absolutely loved it. Josh gave it to her right after we got back into town and she grabbed it and ran around the house like a ninny. She had to show my dad her new present and then my mom. Now she can usually be found under the cupboard with it, enjoying the furnace vent.

Can you guess where I was?

On the ride home. Josh and I were squished in the back seat with Hank. My ashtray that I pirated from the hotel. Josh's infamous Thrasher hat.

Ice cream.

So, this semester I am in a creative photography class. It is basically an introduction to photography, how to shoot manually, and develop black and white photography. I am quite excited about this class in that this is something I have wanted to learn how to do since high school. I was always severely jealous of my best friend Chanel, who was on the yearbook staff in high school, since she was on the year book staff she was always shooting and developing in the darkroom (the lucky duck). Now I have my chance to get my feet wet.
Friday we had our first assignment-- a list of 24 scenarios to shoot. We were given time in class to fulfill some of them with a partner. I was unable to shoot during class time though, because my camera was having problems. The mirror kept getting stuck. So to remedy the problem Josh has been gracious enough to let me borrow one of his SLR cameras and was good enough to go out with me on Saturday and be my partner while I shot for class.
It was such a rewarding day. I had mentioned the assignment to my parents and my dad asked where I was going to shoot at, at the time I really hadn't any idea, so he mentioned an old abandoned church. It is located north of town, way out in the country. He knew of it because it is on the way to one of the churches he pastors. After getting ready on Saturday and eating a yummy homecooked-style meal at the Northtown Cafe we called my dad for directions and made our way to the country.
The church was absolutely beautiful, from its holed ceiling to its keyless piano to its feces covered floor (We are not sure where the poop came from, but it was big poop and there was a lot of it. We concluded that it was probably from whatever was living in the wall, because there was something definatly living in the walls as we could hear it scratching around. I would say it was probably either a 'possum or 'coon family). The windows of the church were broken out, but still had raggedy blinds. There was also a stage in the middle of the floor and the remnants of a chimney poking out through the ceiling. All the shooting I did at the church was for class so I have none to showcase as of yet, since we are developing in class tomorrow. Hopefully I will have something to put up soon, since I am kind of one for instant gratification.
However, there is one souviner from the day I can share. On the way back to town we drove by a field and there were these cow in this perfect little line. They were cold cows, and therefore I have dubbed them Ice Cream:


When I saw them all standing in a line I just had to take a picture so I grabbed my trusty little digital camera, stopped the car in the middle of the country road, tromped through a snow filled ditch and snapped away. The cows looked at me. I think they were trying to make friends.
Once back in town Josh and I went to the grocery, got fixings for chili, stopped off at my parent's house to see my little monster-dog and borrow a chili pot, and then came home for a night of burrowing into our little nest we made of our mattress dragged into the living room floor. We watched Art School Confidental which was clever and Mallrats which was absolutely brilliant and made me love Kevin Smith all the more. In Mallrats there was this one scene that positively killed me dead. Jay and Silent Bob are loitering outside of a pet store and when they go to leave Jay says "goodbye" to the "baby cats" and tells Silent Bob to show them some love. Yeah, that part pretty much moves that movie up into my "tops" list.
Anyway. I'll leave you with a couple pictures of my new hair via Rapture salon and Tierney (the stylist). In the pictures my hair is straight because she wanted to try out her new flat iron:


Yes, I am self indulgent.

We take vacations to the best places.

Saturday, despite a complete lack of motivation and a general zombie like persona, Josh and I ventured out to nowhere, with cameras in hand and a mere general idea of where we were going. Bob sang to us in the car (Dylan that is, in case you are totally inept). And we wandered around. We visited Cherry Box, which basically had a church and a cemetery, and I believe is largely a Mennonite community. We discovered this by stopping at the cemetery to take pictures, it has a monument declaring the cemetery the resting place of the "Mennonite Brethren," there was something that did not bode well in that cemetery, we didn't linger long. After Cherry Box we arrived in Leonard, and then Clarence. It has been decided that Leonard and Clarence were brothers. As is Elmer, but he was estranged, as in, while he is in the general vicinity of the two other brothers, he is a ways a way. We did not visit Elmer. Anyway. I honestly do not remember much about Leonard. But Clarence, well, let me tell you, Clarence is a diamond in the rough. It has a fantasy gas station. Like, seriously, it was all set up like an old gas station. There were old pumps, an old sign advertising gas at $0.36, and an old car with (get this) a dummy inside! Now, mind you, in my mental state that day, when we first pulled in across from that gas station I was confused, I was like, Is this real? Does Josh think this is real? Why is that man in that old car sitting so still? Is that man real??? Just how much did I smoke (kidding, well)? Wow, confused. Once we got out and wandered around things cleared up and it was utterly charming. There was a cemetery right by the gas station that we wandered through and in which my lighter decided to stop working, so I walked through the cemetery with an unlit cigarette in my hand, trying to calm my nicotine fit. I found the best headstone in the entire world though, so waiting on my cigarette was totally worth it. And now (!) pictures:

Inferiority.

Last night there was a show at a local bar. We were able to coerce our Swedish friends to go and experience what we Midwesterners do 'round here for fun. It was a good time. The highlight being when, after taking a few sips of Miller Lite, Paul came over to ask me if that beer was, "Low on carbs, or low on alcohol?" Needless to say, the Swedes were not impressed with our beer. I can still here their distinct accents as they said, "disgusting."

Ahh, The Midwest.

One positive thing about living in the Midwest. The fall sunsets are breathtaking. So simple, but so radiantly beautiful. That idea pretty much captures Midwestern life. Although, I must admit, I am a bit naive-- as I have lived in the Midwest my entire life. To be honest, I would like to branch out, explore a bit, but for now I am happy with where I am. I get all warm and fuzzy when I see a silo. There is something secure about this part of the country. Something wholesome. I suppose, as it has been brought to my attention recently, this wholesome atmosphere can be rather overwhelming. . . As I have mentioned before a friend of mine is visiting from Sweden, and he brought his friend. As we were sitting in our (one) quaint little town coffee shop the friend asked if, "Everyone here is Christian?" I suppose that the Midwest could be rather arresting at first, with our Jesus billboards and Christian bookstore (which they say would not go over at all in Sweden). They don't call it the Bible Belt for nothing. Lets just hope they don't visit Utah. . .