Too cute, right? Tonight was the Lucero show at the zoo, which, admittedly, was much better than I thought it would be. I mean, don't get me wrong, these guys always put on one hell of a show. I just didn't know how it would be as an early show at the zoo with no real bar and a 10:30 curfew. But not to worry, it was still a blast.So why no photos of the band? C'mon. You guys should all know what they look like by now. I think I've shot them maybe four times this year. And I've never shown you kissing prairie dogs before! Aw, don't you worry. You can still see photos of the bands over here. And? I threw in a ton of other animal photos as well. Like cheetas. And bears. And tigers. Knock yourselves out, kittens.

This is one of the many antiques that my mother has gifted to me. But this is one that I kept. It appears to be just a pewter table decoration, but each petal of the flower is removable, and when you flip them over they are ashtrays! They were designed for guests to carry around at your party so they wouldn't ash on the floor. How cool is that?Anyway, I didn't really shoot anything relevant to my day today because it was all work. I've got several irons in the fire right now (wedding photos, wedding invitations and an exhibit coming up). But also? I'm planning a European vacation, so there's been lots of research on hotels, neighborhoods, weather, Euro conversions and the like. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I'm just explaining that much of my time today was spent on the computer, which resulted in this simple photo of house decor.But don't fret. Tomorrow should be good. You know why? Cuz Lucero is in town. And they're playing at the zoo. So tomorrow might be photos of lions, tigers, bears or Ben Nichols. Take your pick.

This giant mushroom has been growing in our back yard. Finally, today, it was bigger than Jamie's hand, so I decided it was time to pick it and shoot some photos. Plus, I don't want the dogs eating this thing. Look at that underbelly! Pretty, no?

Tonight I had tickets to see the Dead Weather at First Ave. A friend of mine had tried to get me a photo pass, but had emailed me yesterday to say it wasn't going to work out. But that was ok, I was happy to go and see Mr. White perform anyway. So imagine my surprise when I showed up at the club, and they handed me a photo pass!This was good news because I have always wanted to shoot Jack White (although I would prefer he was on guitar, between you and me). The bad news was that since I didn't know I was shooting a) my camera was back in my car -- which I had to run off and get and b) I didn't have my usual lens arsenal and I only had one 2G memory card on me. Oy! So this was a challenge, but still super fun. And about time I got you kids some rock stars to look at again! You can see a few more shots from the show over here. Enjoy!

Another night of summer storms. I snapped this shot when I was next door at the grocery store, I love those clouds.

Tonight I was watering the garden (yay me for keeping the plants alive!) and I went to water our porch plants at the same time. We have had a few sparrows hanging out in the hanging baskets lately (they are sheltered by the porch and a good place to chill), and I didn't really think about it when I poured the pitcher of water into the pot which was hanging above my head making it impossible to see inside.Lo and behold, while I was watering a baby bird JUMPED from the basket all the way to the ground and started bouncing and chirping away like crazy. Wow! So I ran down and immediately was having the argument of 1) Do I catch it? And put it back in the plant? Will it smell like me? Will the parents abandon it? OR 2) If I let it go, what if that pesky cat gets it! It can't fly yet! And that cat ate our baby bunnies (I am pretty sure).So yeah, there I am chasing around this baby bird in the new garden and I caught it in my hands, ran back up to the porch and just gently dropped it back in the pot. Again, which is above me so I can't see in. And guess what? THEN ANOTHER BABY BIRD JUMPS OUT. This one was much bigger!And now I'm chasing ANOTHER baby bird around the garden! Crazy! I got this one, too, and then I pulled down the hanging basket to set this one in. I figured this would save any other babies from leaping outta there.So I pulled down the basket and looked inside and found this perfect little nest! I didn't want to get too close or pull back the plants too much because I think I disturbed these guys enough. And I'm not sure who was freaked out more -- them or me.After all this drama we took the dogs for a walk, and when we returned the parents flew outta the nest. So I think all is good.