Google Image Search: Word & Picture #183

Today's Word:
Texas weather

Today's Picture:

It is hot in Texas. But today is especially hot. 105. Ouch. These are the worst months to live in Austin: June, July and August. But it is made better by going to Barton Springs Pool. Megan and I plan to do that again this weekend. Hooray.

Daily "Name This Person And Win!"

The first person who names the person in this picture wins a hug from Ben!!!

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Google Image Search: Word & Picture # 183

Today's Word:
No Way

Today's Picture:

There is no way that Michael Jackson died today. That is unbelievable. The King of Pop is dead. Long live the king.

Very sad.

Daily "Name This Person And Win!"

The first person who names the person in this picture wins a hug from Ben!!!

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Google Image Search: Word & Picture #182

Today's Word:
pancake performance

Today's Picture:

I don't understand. Barack Obama with pancakes behind him. Susan Boyle singing. It does not make sense. Yet strangely, I like it.

Last weekend was filled with Master Pancake performances. Joe went out of town for a weekend at the lake. I took his place in the Master Pancake show. The shows were fun... except the last one. I blamed the audience... specifically, David Strong. (I'm kidding, David Strong, I'm kidding)

We also took PugPuggy to the dog park. She picked a fight with a pitbull. She lost. Nothing bad happened (no blood, no stitches), but it was still scary. There is nothing like watching your dog's entire body enter another dog's mouth. I am not blaming the pitbull entirely. PugPuggy is a little instigator. She has a severe Napoleon complex. She has no idea she is little. She thinks she is the boss of everyone.

Sunday night, I played softball. My team did not lose... we took 2nd place... in a 2 team race in which we scored fewer runs than the other team we were playing. Hooray!

In summary: my softball team took 2nd place out of 2 teams, PugPuggy thinks she is the boss, David Strong is to blame for all my comedic short-comings.

Daily "Name This Person And Win!"

The first person who names the person in this picture wins a hug from Ben!!!

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Google Image Search: Word & Picture #181

Today's Word:
nothing

Today's Picture:

Nothing to see here. Please move along.

Hooray! It is Friday! Have a good weekend.

I am doing Master Pancake shows at the Alamo Drafthouse this weekend. We are making fun of Sixth Sense. It should be fun.

In Summary: Nothing important in this blog entry, it is Friday, Master Pancake: Sixth Sense... this weekend!

Daily "Name This Person And Win!"

The first person who names the person in this picture wins a hug from Ben!!!

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Google Image Search: Word & Picture #180

Today's Word:
boston red sox fan

Today's Picture:

Continuing the "I Crushed My Digital Camera, Lost All My Digital Pictures of My Trip, Therefore Photoshopped Myself Into A Bunch Of Crap For Your Entertainment" segment, today's leg of the trip is: Boston!

Boston is a beautiful city. Here is what a picture of Megan and I in front of the skyline might have looked like, had we been standing on a buoy in the middle of the bay:



There are more universities than residents in Boston. Well, maybe not that many universities, but there are a ton. And, unlike Arizona State University, they are REAL colleges that allow people to learn and everything! Here is a picture of me at Harvard:

Damn! I look smarter just standing in that gate with the big red arrow following me around.

While in Boston, we had a lovely dinner with Megan's friends, Ken & Marie. They are wonderful people. I enjoyed our amazing Chinese dinner. Ken, like myself, is a fan of the sport of baseball. He drove me past Fenway Park, home of the Green Monster. It was really cool to see a part of baseball history. I took pictures of it. Had I hit a game-winning home run for the Boston Red Sox, lent my digital camera to the center-fielder of the opposing team and asked the center-fielder to take a picture of me as I triumphantly rounded first base AND then NOT run-over my digital camera with my car, this is what that picture would have looked like:


In Summary: Boston is buoy-licious, opposing center-fielders take pictures of me hitting home-runs in my world, there is a green monster in Fenway Park (don't make him angry).

Daily "Name This Person And Win!"

The first person who names the person in this picture wins a hug from Ben!!!

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Google Image Search: Word & Picture #179

Today's Word:
Montreal

Today's Picture:

Hello loyal blog readers. Continuing with my "I Crushed My Digital Camera, Lost All My Digital Pictures of My Trip, Therefore Photoshopped Myself Into A Bunch Of Crap For Your Entertainment" segment, today's entry is: Montreal!

After Megan and I left Maine, we drove the rental car to Montreal. It was a beautiful and easy 5 hour drive from Maine to Montreal. The border crossing was very laid back. We showed our passports, they asked questions, we drove through.

Montreal is beautiful. Here is what some of my photos might have looked like had I not destroyed the digital camera. This is a picture of Megan and I jumping off a bridge in our wedding clothes:


We went for a boat ride on the St. Lawrence River in Montreal. Much like Louisville, Montreal became a city because of rapids just upstream on the St. Lawrence River. The current of the river is extremely fast. It is much faster and more dangerous than the Mississippi River. If I had taken an off-centered self portrait with my digital camera of Megan and I on the St. Lawrence picture, this is what it would have looked like:



Before I went to Montreal, all I knew about the city is that

• they speak French
• they used to have the Expos
• they currently have the Montreal Canadians hockey team

This is what it would have looked like if I had a referee take a digital picture of me playing goalie for the Montreal Canadians:


Montreal was beautiful. We stayed in Old Montreal. There were narrow cobblestone streets, delicious restaurants and friendly people. I hope I get to go back some day... but only in the summer. It is damn cold in Montreal.

In Summary: Montreal is beautiful, I did a glove-save, Megan and I jump off bridges in our wedding clothes.

Daily "Name This Person And Win!"

The first person who names the person in this picture wins a hug from Ben!!!

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Google Image Search: Word & Picture #178

Today's Word:
fake

Today's Picture:

Today starts the fake-photo album of our adventures of the past week.

If you did not read the post below, I broke our digital camera by 1) leaving it on the hood of the car and 2) running over it with the car. It was tragic.

But I have decided to relive our trips to...
Maine
Montrael
Boston
Narragasett, Rhode Island
Austin (with special guest, Haleigh)
... via the magic of PhotoShop.

First, up: MAINE!

Megan and I went to Maine. Here we are in Maine:

Yes, it was beautiful here. The weather was perfect. The people were nice. They were very pro-environment. They put dirt on their roads instead of salt. They love the earth in Maine. I loved Maine.

Megan and I ate lobster. Here is a photo of what it would have looked like had I not run-over the camera with my Tahoe:

Yes, beautiful.

We went to Maine because Megan's cousin graduated from college. Here is a picture of what it might have looked like:

Congratulations, cousin-in-law John. John is off to work for IBM after graduation. He will be working in St. Louis. Hooray for the Midwest.

Megan & I stayed in Freeport, Maine. That is the home of the L.L. Bean company. This is a picture of Megan and I running away from the L.L. Bean Factory outlet in our wedding clothes:


In Summary: We ate lobster, we are scared of L.L. Bean, John graduated from college.

Daily "Name This Person And Win!"

The first person who names the person in this picture wins a hug from Ben!!!

Rules

Google Image Search: Word & Picture #177

Today's Word:
broken camera

Today's Picture:

Since I have last blogged, I:

• saw the Moore family
• watched Megan's cousin graduate
• ate a lobster in Maine
• drove to Montreal
• took a boat ride on the St. Lawrence River
• saw Fenway Park for the first time
• ate Chinese food with Ken and Marie
• partied hard in Rhode Island
• watched our dear friends Andy and Mary Ellen in Narragansett, R.I.
• saw Michael and John and their 2 adorable adopted children
• had a great visit with Haleigh from Seattle

... and I have pictures of none of it.

Why?

I ran over my camera.

Yes. I am a doo-dah. I put my camera on the hood of my car and forgot it was there. We had taken PugPuggy to the dog park with Haleigh. I put the camera on the hood while I was toweling PugPuggy off. She was wet from swimming in the creek. I put PugPuggy in the backseat, pulled out on Texas Highway 360... and CRUNCH! Good-bye digital pictures. We looked for about 45 minutes for the camera, thinking I could at least save the SD card with the photos from all of the above events. No luck. We could not find it. I was crushed.

So I have decided to Photoshop Megan and I into the above scenarios. I am also hoping some of our friends e-mail us pictures of our adventures.

This week is Photoshop week! Hooray!

In Summary: I am a doo-dah, I have no photos from our last 3 weeks, this is Photoshop week!

Daily "Name This Person And Win!"

The first person who names the person in this picture wins a hug from Ben!!!

I saw this person in the Boston airport about 2 weeks ago. Another mildly interesting brush with celebrity in the life of Ben Bartley.

Today

Today is the greatest. Hooray!

I promise a better blog entry tomorrow. But today. Wow. Today is awesome.

Back to Blogging!

Hello Party People!

Blogging starts next week. I am back from our East Coast adventures and will post pics next week. Also, next week, a full detailed report of Haleigh's visit to Austin (happening this weekend). Hooray!

Until then...

Ben