Ah man, I am so crazy about this guy.So as I mentioned yesterday, he's been having some health problems lately related to his liver, his arthritis (we think) and most recently some seizures. And then I was telling someone about him yesterday, and they wanted to see a photo, and I realized how little I put him on the blog compared to Magda. Or Memphis.And that got me thinking.It's so interesting how we (I) tend to focus on stuff that is causing you stress or worry in your life and how easy it is to completely overlook the stuff that is easy and wonderful. This guy here? Always easy and wonderful.I was also thinking about how I tend to list out all the trouble Mags is in every week, and I would have nothing to list for Merlin. Then I realized, maybe I should list all the great things about Merlin. There are so, so many. But here are a few of my favorites:• When you come in the door, he always greets you with a huge smile and his tail wagging. Not jumping or biting, but just a huge smile and maybe a little happy barking. And if he's feeling good, a deep downward facing dog.• He's a leaner. If he's standing next to you and you're petting him or scratching him, he leans in hard to show you how happy he is. And man, is he warm. This is a wonderful feature in the winter.• When he wants something from you (to go outside, usually), he gently nudges your hand with his nose. If you are asleep in bed, he touches his nose to your cheek.• When he gets tired at night, he waits at the bottom of the stairs, staring up at them longingly and then glancing at you in the living room. When you notice this, and tell him that it's ok, he can go to bed, he glances back and forth several more times to make sure you mean it and that it really is ok if he leaves the rest of the pack for bed because he's tired.See what I mean? Total sweetheart.For today's internet share, I'm sending you to this site called WorkWankers. It's a place that names and describes the most annoying coworkers. And it's pretty funny (and right on). And in the spirit of today's blog, I'm going to tell you about a coworker of mine at the Strib who I miss dearly and was wonderful.Her name is Cindy and she sat next to me, patiently, for years. I would always ask her how to spell something, what movie studio film X was from, if she had photos for movie Y I could steal, etc etc etc. I must have been pretty annoying. But! We had so much fun dishing on red carpet fashion, Project Runway and Scandal. If I look back at my last six months of Strib work and how they were represented on this blog, it was mostly stress and anger. But this woman? She was an angel.Take a look around you today, and think about the good stuff. We let that slip away so often.
Well, I still only have sparrows visiting my feeder, but man is it busy! All the birds must be filling their bodies for winter. Normally, I only have one or two birds on visiting at a time, but recently there's anywhere from three to five of them. And you know what? They are FIGHTING! It's pretty interesting to watch the pecking order (see what I did there?).In other (more depressing) news, I think Merlin is having seizures, which is an incredibly sad development. There has been a lot of weird trembling, more trouble with his legs and now random vomiting. We have an appointment with the vet later this week, and I'll keep you posted. For now, all kind and good thoughts are welcome and needed.Ok, for your internet share of the day, I'm going to send you to a DIY project! WHO AM I?! First home-made candy and now crafts? Fuck, am I getting old or WHAT? Hahahaha. Don't worry, you won't catch me making these any time soon. But it sure is fun to dream about the middle of winter when I'll have tons of free time and need projects and, oh hey, why don't I spend the afternoon making 
What a week with Magda! Let's see... there was the squirrel killing in the backyard, the toilet paper eating, the constant (and man, do I mean constant) barking at Merlin and the "diving in front of moving cars" incident.I feel like I'm raising a four-year-old boy. Holy moly. Thank goodness there was also the "snuggle and make baby noises all morning" incident along with the "sleep for hours by your feet in front of the fire" evening.Anyway! Halloween is fast approaching, and I have always wanted to get Mags a lion's mane to wear for the holiday as I think her coloring is perfect and it would be adorable. So I searched the internet and various pet stores and Target and no luck. Oh, I found a few, but none that either a) fit or b) were cute enough or c) were cheap enough. UNTIL TODAY.Today I had a meeting over at Magda's daycare (more on that next week, I promise), and afterward I decided to stop in to Arc Value Village which is right down the street. It's a thrift store that my buddy Nyberg has been praising for years (and years and years) and I know they have a good Halloween setup. And man, do they ever! I got my lion mane (you'll see that later) but as I was checking out I also spied these devil horns. For sixty nine cents! HELL YES, I had to get them. Pretty perfect for the week she's had.So! If you're in the Twin Cities, I *highly* suggest Arc Value Village for any Halloween costume needs both because they have a huge selection, tons of sizes and, best of all, it's cheap!For my internet share of the day, I'm sending you to one of my favorite cooking websites where they give you 
Look at this cutie! This weekend has been full of family shoots, and tonight was no exception. The weather has been kinda rough for it (freezing and rainy), but tonight we made due inside of a train station with nice light. Not too shabby.This cutie is the daughter of 
How beautiful are these mushrooms!? I had a shoot at the farmers' market today (oh hey there, it was about 36 degrees... it was kinda chilly) and I bought these bad boys to bring home for dinner. I think I'll sauté them into a sauce for some meat. I didn't buy them with a specific purpose in mind, but I certainly couldn't pass them up.My shoot today was for Progresso Soups and I got to photograph a chef of theirs shopping at the market for ingredients, demonstrating how to make roasted pumpkin soup from scratch, and then all the people at the market sampling the soup. Overall, it was a pretty fun assignment as a) I love taking photos of food and b) I am a big fan of the farmer's market (as documented here before).For your internet share of the day, I'm sending you to see 
I've been thinking a lot the last couple of days about time. There just isn't enough of it right now.Because my business is so new, and I want to work as hard as I possibly can to make sure it's a success, I'm having an even harder time than normal saying no. To anything. Any job at all. And it's driving me insane.It's not that the jobs are bad or weird or anything like that -- it's just that the only days I have off this time of year are when I have a booked trip (thank goodness I'm pretty good about keeping those on the calendar). Because I shoot so many families on the weekends (five shoots this weekend, for instance), I don't get those normal days off. But since I work for myself, I'm also really bad about taking time off during the week. In general, I'm constantly working on something.And the reason is fear. I am terrified that my whole business will collapse and fail come January when my client work slows down, and I need to make sure I have enough of a nest egg from this fall to cover the loss. I'm sure all business owners/freelancers feel this way at some point or another -- and I'm certainly no different. But at some point, enough is enough.And today was the day for me. I still am not saying no to jobs, but I'm asking for help more on other tasks and I'm taking a day off. So don't bother me on October 30 (what? That's the soonest I could find that I didn't have an appointment!). I'll be getting my hair done, my brows waxed and having dinner and a long walk with a friend. And besides that? I'll be reading a book and sleeping in. Man, I cannot wait.I would love to know how you guys deal with managing your time and making sure you have enough quiet booked in to remain sane. All tips and pointers are welcome in the comments! For real.But enough about me and my time management issues. How about that sweet face up there? Pretty long eyelashes, eh? This was a calf that was on display at a petting zoo where I had a shoot tonight. The kids I shot were pretty cute, but not quite as cute as Percy here (says the obviously childless animal lover).For your internet share of the day, I'm sending you to 
That guy up there? He's one of my very favorite musicians. And I like a LOT of musicians, so for him to be at the top is saying something (or at least I think so). His name is Radical Face, and he barely tours at all. Last night was his first visit to Minneapolis, and I was so, so excited. I went to the show with my buddy Stacy.Stacy mentioned her love of Radical Face a few years ago on Twitter. My exact thought, I believe, was "That name is ridiculous. I'm gonna ignore that." But then I saw her and Astronautalis talking about how Radical Face had helped write some of my very favorite songs on Andy's album, and that made me think twice. So I listened to one song. And it blew me away.And then I told Stacy that I really liked that one song and she immediately emailed me about seven thousand songs of his. Ok, not really. But close. We music nerds? We love to spread the gospel.So that's my internet share today. Your homework is to 
Ah, there's my handsome prince! This guy has been so sweet since we got home -- all smiley and happy. It's really nice to see. Especially since he's getting up in his years (10 and a half now), and we're seeing the aging coming on hard. Poor Merlin has a really tough time getting up on the hardwood floors these days, and I now have to lift him into the car when we travel (and 80 lbs is HEAVY!). But I'd do about anything for this guy (including buying a ramp for my car), so it's no big thing. It's just so hard to watch them age. I remember him and Memphis practically knocking us down over and over again when they would play as puppies... sigh.But enough of the sad stuff! I have some actual business to take care of over here! So a few of you have asked recently if I'll be doing another calendar because you like the ones that you bought last year so much. I've been pondering this, and I would like to do another one... but I'm not sure what on.When I examine the people who bought them last year, many of you were not huge music fans, but rather photography fans. And since reaching out to each musician to get permission was a bit of a pain... I thought maybe I would do something different this year.I'm contemplating