I had a dinner date with Mere tonight, and she took me out for Pho. She is quite the connoisseur, so I thought she'd be the perfect companion for my first sampling of the delicious soup. And oh my, was it delicious. Sometimes, on a day when it snows for more than 13-hours straight, the best thing you can do is get some steamy Vietnamese soup with a good girlfriend and spend the evening catching up on boys, music and gossip. Am I right?

So eearrlly this morning (like around midnight, before bed -- hey, it's how I'm justifying these being the photos for "today") we went to the Triple Rock to see Mark Mallman's side project Ruby Isle play. They have just released a full album that covers Guns N Roses 'Appetite for Destruction' LP. But, as we all know, Axl Rose is always ready for a legal battle, so they released the album for free on the interwebs, but can't sell the CD. Anyway, it's a pretty funny take because it's all techno (cue metalhead eyeroll here).Last night's show was highly entertaining both because the band was super fun to watch, and the crowd was full of white people with no rhythm trying to dance horribly to this metal-gone-techno music. My face hurt from smiling at the end of it all. And on a random note, Mallman's partner in crime on stage, Dan, looks a LOT like Jason Griggers, the infamous gay hair stylist from Chris Rock's 'Bad Hair' documentary. And they are both living in Georgia. If it had been him, the evening would have been just that much more bizarre. To see the full take of photos, go here.

What a day! First off, today is the birthday of the state of Kansas. I know this a) because I'm from Kansas b) because they mentioned it today during the KU vs. K-State basketball game (in which the Jayhawks stomped the crap outta those Wildcats, as it should be) and c) because on this day a dozen years ago, Jamie proposed to me. He didn't purposely propose on Kansas day, but my mom uses it as a reminder, and now so do I. Someday maybe I'll tell you that story, but not today.But none of that has anything to do with this photo! I shot this image today at a christening at a Russian Orthodox church in town. Man, was it an interesting ceremony, and holy cow, was that the best-behaved baby I have ever seen. Barely a whimper as he was dunked into the water three times. He just quietly watched the 45-minute ceremony with his big eyes open -- very, very cute. This photo was of the dome of the church, which was so lovely and ornate. I was standing directly under a huge chandelier that hung from the center of the dome. Just a really great place and event to photograph all together.Then later tonight we hit up a house party before seeing Mark Mallman and his band, Ruby Isle, hit the stage at the Triple Rock. But you know what? That show started after midnight, so I'm gonna cheat and show you *those* photos tomorrow so I can head to bed. What? My blog, my rules ;).

How analogue! For Christmas, Jamie's parents got me a Fuji Instax camera, which is today's version of a Polaroid. I love having it -- it's super fun to catch your friends with. I armed my buddy Margaret with it on the night of my party a few weeks back and told her to just capture what I wasn't around for. They have been sitting on my bookshelf, and I picked them back up to take a peek tonight. Kinda fun, eh? Perfect for this kind of occasion and much less intimidating than the big DSLR. Oh wait, that shot in the middle of my buddy Pat doing whiskey shots was taken by me. I wouldn't have missed *that* portion of the evening.

Whew! Twelve-hour workdays are long! I started the day at the office and spent the last six hours at a big photo shoot we were having. I can't really talk about what we were shooting cuz it's all top secret and a bit of surprise, but just know that it was fun, and the best kind of work a girl can get.I had a hard time choosing the photo for today. This one shows more of my job and what my surroundings were for most of the day, but there was another photo I took that I loved as well. It was a tough choice, but this one was just a tad more unusual than my normal daily offerings. (Although no one ever complains about the lovely Margaret.)

 

Ah, The Goondas. I have shot these guys before, and they always make good images. They were headlining First Ave's Best New Bands showcase this evening which I caught after work. It was a solid show, but nothing amazing.You can see more photos over here.My emotions over the music were a bit muted today as I seem to be operating in a fog. There was an unexpected death in my family yesterday, and I have caught a bit of a head cold. So between those things and the medication I'm on, I'm just not really myself right now. If I seem slow or lame in the next few days, just gimme a little time. I'll be back to my rock'n'roll self shortly.