Apr 17, 2012

Another day I didn't get a job left us a nice day to go play disc golf at the Landis course. It was relatively calm so we could play without issue. We played about half the course before it was time to go pick up Aiden from school.

We took him to the zoo in Cape May where he immediately wanted to feed the goats so he did that and seemed to enjoy it. As did the goats.

It turns out he's not a fan of a lot of animals and he has a short attention span. He wanted to see the giraffes (the real ones) so we went all the way to the back of the zoo to see them and then he was like, "Yep.. okay can we go?" We walked around a bit more and he was transfixed by the otters for a bit before he lost interest in that as well. He doesn't like lions and the monkeys weren't being entertaining.

He did seem to have a lot of fun at the playground outside the zoo. He made some friends, as it seems like he can do very well, and began playing with them and crawling through tubes. There is a small rock wall that I got him to climb as well and he seemed pretty good at it. Eventually we had to tear him away and head home.

I met with Kim in the evening about the wedding to go over a few specifics and ideas. Later I met Ryan at the gym to do some circuits.

May 26, 2011

With no job, I slept in a bit and then took my bike to Randy's to get the back tire fixed and a tune-up while I was there. I picked up a new lock as well since I forgot the combo to the old one.

I went over to the zoo to park and then ran the trail along the road which led to a training path through the woods behind the high school. It was a maze of paths, but it wasn't easy to get lost so I took a bunch of them in different directions. I encountered a deer and some fallen logs along the way.

When I got back I took a stroll through the zoo to cool down. There really aren't many animals there. Or at least they weren't out, but it was a hot day. I hung out at the lemur cage for a while and then exited.

While I waited for my bike to get done I sat on the bridge over the stream and read more of The Girl's Guide to Homelessness. Good book. I got through a few chapters before I got the call and picked up the cycle.

Chuck and I went to Wildflower, where I got the chicken(less) salad sandwich. Really good. It may be healthier in some ways, but it makes me want to eat more food.

A little later I took the newly tuned-up bike out on the road for ride to my mom's house. I hung out there for an hour or so talking to her and then rode back in the cool air of night. It was a little more than twenty miles total. Not a bad start.

I was tired when I got home, but stayed up until I got a job that I didn't expect around 1am.

Jul 19. 2010

I started the morning with a good breakfast and then went to the gym to run and work out on my own a bit. Running is enjoyable by myself, I actually prefer it, but I have much more fun working out with someone else. I get motivated more that way.

After lunch, I picked up Shannon and we went to the beach where she laid in the sun and fell asleep for a while and I continued reading Proust Was a Neuroscientist. I think it's funny how fast I can get through books sometimes and it seems like I've been reading/trying to read this one for a month.

Once she woke up, I took some photos of Shannon on the beach. I had planned to do a series of portraits of my friends which would say something about their personality. The beach fits Shannon's personality.

I got some fun shots of her jumping waves in the water. It was amusing to watch.

We actually got in the water for a little bit. It wasn't as horribly cold as I was expecting. I guess the water is finally warming up now that summer is half over.

We went to the Cape May Zoo park and checked out the animals for the last fifteen minutes that it was open. We mainly saw birds. Apparently flamingos are pink because of the large amount of shrimp they eat. Who knew?

Once we were kicked out of the zoo we went to the other side of the park to play some disc golf. It was Shannon's first time and her first few throws were pretty girly. I can say that over nine holes, she improved dramatically. That's pretty impressive for a first time out. Even on such a terrible course.

We were both starving so we went to the Washington Street shops in Cape May and found a seafood place, The Ugly Mug, that had outdoor seating. We got crab cake sandwiches and watched people from out of town navigate the area. Our waitress spilled lemonade on my phone and laughed about it. Too bad for her. The sandwich was awesome though, as was the cole slaw. I would go back just for that.

After dinner we did some shots by the lighthouse. The lighting was nice at times but trying to shoot toward the lighthouse turned out to be a problem since the sun was right behind it. We got some good shots on the beach in any case.

As the sun lowered behind clouds we made our way to Sunset Beach, where I got some really nice shots. The flash shots were working out quite nicely, to my surprise.

I just really like this shot. What do you think?

I'm not always behind the camera either. Just most of the time.

I got a bunch of shots as the sun was going down and the nightly flag ceremony was going on to honor war veterans. After one last shot of us we took off. Shannon is concerned that this shot makes us look like a couple.

We went back to Sea Isle to meet up with Shannon's friend Courtney and get showers at her house. After showering and waiting for the girls to get ready, we went out to a bar in town. The beers were pretty cheap and we were having a good time until the acoustic band started playing bad cover songs. We didn't last too long in that bar. We tried others but didn't find one to our liking.

After grabbing a slice of pizza from Casino's Pizzeria (where the food is always a gamble...) we went back to Courtney's house and got in the hot tub with some cans of Yuengling. It was hot out but, strangely, the hot tub felt nice. We sat in there for a while, talking and drinking a little bit, until we got tired and decided to call it a day.

It was an awesome, fun day and I feel like I got my love for photography back! I retreated to my big spare bed (Courtney's brother's I believe) and said goodnight.

Aug 17, 2009

I went in search of a bicycle repair shop in the morning to get my flat tire taken care of. There aren't many bike shops nor are there many people in those shops that actually care to help you with a bike (or make any money I guess.) I found this place in Bridgeton called Randy's General Store. They were great. He took my bike and started on it right away.

To kill some time while he was working I went down to the zoo.

This was mostly what I saw there. Ducks, geese and chickens just wandering around the walkways and cages. Granted, it was pretty hot but I didn't really see any animals at all that I couldn't see in my own yard.

I finally stumbled upon this bear lounging in a giant Tupperware container. He looks happy.

These guys were looking for some attention, which I gave them for a little while until I got bored of them and headed to the exit. I went to the lake for a few minutes and walked around before I went back to the shop to see how it was coming. I got there just in time for them to finish it.

I decided to do a long ride on my new tired so I got prepared and headed east.

A couple of hours later I ended up in Ocean City.

I had to go to the beach, of course. I stopped and had something to eat and drink before turning around to head back.

I rode back down 49, slightly exhausted into the sunset. In the end, it was 56 miles there and back. I got back in time to take a shower before Jeff, Sam and Katie came over to go bowling.

We had a beer in the bar before putting in our names: KD, Swarley, Samn and Jeff.

Dollar games, shoes and beers is a good incentive to go bowling in Deptford.

Sam got this interesting split and she almost managed to get the spare.

Jeff and I both won one of the first two games and Katie and Sam each won a game as well so we played a third tiebreaker game. I lost to Jeff. Katie won her contest. I got a 175 the first game which is the best score I can recall getting in a long time.

It was a long day but I was surprisingly not overly tired when I got home at night. I watched some Dead Like Me before passing out.

Jun 15, 2009

After working for a very short time at the Senior High, I picked up Diebra and Pollock to got to the Philly Zoo.

I liked the bird area you can walk through.

And it was feeding time.

They are all tropical or subtropical birds of some sort.

Some are from Australia, Asia, South America, etc..

This one was really rare and amazingly bright.

We took Pollock to the petting area but he was more interested in the brush than the goat he could use the brush on.

Cat.

Melman. He wasn't as funny.

Pollock let us know where all the animals were.

And he was a happy camper.

That statue was hot!

We wanted to go in and feed the birds but couldn't because of construction.

Pollock wanted to go anyway but this little girl stopped him.

It seemed like we walked forever looking for this but we found the Pecooooooooo Primate Resereve.

Cool monkeys.

Sad monkeys.

We left and went to The Abbaye for food.

I got an awesome veggie curry dish. I want more now that I'm looking at it..

It was a fun, exhausting day. One of the monkeys got loose and they had to block off a path too.. don't tell anyone.