City on Fire

Snared
Originally uploaded by Michael DaKidd

Every time I take the Metra into Chicago, my breathe starts to catch in my throat as I approach the downtown area. Architecture has not always attracted me as it does now. As a matter of fact, I'm not quite sure when it became such an obsession for me. I don't recall being very absorbed with it in high school, but when I arrived at college it felt as if an appreciation for beautiful buildings was already there. Perhaps the times that my dad would point out residential homes that he loved during long drives through the suburbs, paired with my love for photography jump-started my obsession.

Anyways, back to Chicago. Wow. I normally am a bit old-fashioned in the forms of architecture I prefer, at least in residential forms, but I LOVE the beauty of glass and steel and concrete found on Chicago's streets. My neck aches by the end of a day spent walking through Chicago.

This feeling is especially felt when I see Chicago at night. After spending most of my life in the quiet suburbs, where only a patch of lawn is lit with a lamppost, or perhaps the door is illuminated by one bulb, the way that the buildings themselves stand out against the sky at night never ceases to make my breathe catch.

If you have ever seen Chicago during the Christmas season, it is an especially mesmerizing place, especially on Michigan Avenue. Christmas lights make the trees seem other-worldly as you walk underneath them, and the lights of buildings lining the street across from Millennium Park seem to match the incredible magic of the season.

Heh. I'm even more dramatic than usual. Chicago just makes me really inspired and excited and exhilarated.

(By the way, the first picture on this post is another steal from flickr posted by Michael Dakidd. It should say so directly underneath the picture, but it's not showing up for some reason, at least not on my computer.)

The Simple Life

Gypsy Pony on High Street
Originally uploaded by thecnote

For some reason, I simply want to stop going to college. Instead, I've decided what I really want is become a bohemian vagabond. I will buy a gypsy cart, a little gypsy pony, a guitar, and a big furry Newfoundland. We will then travel around Europe, playing on street corners and making a bit of cash through little jobs that need to be done, or perhaps by giving pony rides to kids. My curly hair already gives me a head start on the bohemian look....add some broom skirts, loose tops, flowers in my hair, and patch-work jackets, and I'll be all set. This image just seems so ridiculously attractive. I realize that this could probably never really happen (for one thing, I need refrigeration for certain items of great necessity to my well-being) but I long for such a lifestyle all the same. Perhaps a small part of this is small portion of my brain that believes myself to be a photographer. Living with a big fluffy dog in a little cart full of books off of the land seems beautiful, both physically and emotionally. Look at the picture I've found on flickr, add a bonfire with a bohemian girl and a big dog in front of it, and there's practically what my imagination is coming up with. Except probably in the isolated Scottish highlands near a small village, not in an actual town. Bonfires probably aren't very much appreciated in that vicinity.

By the way, many thanks for uploading this photo onto flickr, thecnote. It makes me quite happy to see such a pleasant setting occurring somewhere in real life. =)

Today My Heart Will Rest

It's finally the fall. A lot of people around the college have been complaining about how cold it has gotten, but, wow, I love this season. It's hard for me to feel sympathetic when all I can think about are the autumn picnics in open fields with trees all around me, and orchards full of apples and stark trees silhouetted against the moon. The morning skies might be gray right now, but they make the bright leaves on the trees stand out as a glorious horizon, and the flocks of geese flying south only heighten my anticipation for this season. It really is magical. I only wish it would last longer, instead of scattering across the calendar in a mad attempt to escape the dull colourless winter.

This picture is one that I took of my sister during my fall break a couple of years ago. Actually, It might have been last year. My neighborhood has a beautiful path running behind it, and this field sits between the houses and the woods.

Clicker Happy

I love photography. I can't claim to be an amazing photographer, but I love trying to capture the little bits of beauty I find. I usually don't try to create a message through my photos, I just love taking pictures.

I took this picture during the winter a couple of years ago. I'm pretty sure it was my first Christmas break that I had during college. It was unnaturally warm that December, so I went out driving with my younger sister along some of the more scenic roads. This was a beautiful area. There is a covered bridge nearby, with a creek and horses grazing nearby, and there are trees everywhere. That tends to be rather unusual, coming from the suburbs where all of the new neighborhoods are filled with little saplings and the wind blows across the empty grassy lawns to rattle my bedroom window at night.

While I can't say that I'll ever be able to take pictures professionally, I have joined flickr because I enjoy taking photographs so much. Should you care to view more, my flickr account is http://www.flickr.com/photos/fhorngk/. Look at some of the photos my contacts have taken! Their pictures are gorgeous!

Heh, heh. I have a blog.

I've been jealous of people with blogs for a while now. Who knows what will happen after I've had this for a while? While this blog is empty now, I hope to develop a better sense of me. Or maybe something else entirely. Who knows? I'm pretty excited. I can't say I'm the artsy type, but somehow having a blog seems to give the blogger more of a voice in the world.