I'm sittin' at my computer workin' away earlier this morning after letting the dog in, and all the sudden I here Mia in the living room soundin' like she's either high on crack or having her own WWF wrestling match.  I walk into the living room to see her in the fireplace (sans fire, of course) lookin' for something behind the gas logs.  I knew at that point she had brought in a playmate from outside; the only mystery left was whether it was a lizard, a bird, or a little bunny.  I grabbed my flashlight, tip-toed over to the fireplace like I was all stealth or something, and shined the flashlight under the logs as I bent down to see what was in there.  [inserting Friday the 13th music here makes this story more intense]  It was at that point I jumped outta my shoes and probably screamed like a school girl when this bird - who I might add also screamed - flew outta the logs and buzzed my left ear lobe in his flight for freedom.  HIs journey was a short one, though... about 23 feet to be exact; he proceeded to take a direct flight from the fireplace (which, btw, don't think it didn't cross my mind for a second to turn on the gas and light it up) straight into the wall clock at the opposite end of the room.  He went down briefly, got his bearings and then flew into window, a more logical choice than the clock, but the same result.  This time he dropped down in between the window and the blinds and was basically stuck. At this point, I did what any clear-thinking boyscout woulda done... I got on Facebook and asked for suggestions to get him out.  Within minutes I had several responses - some of them good, and some of them, well, bird-brained.  My favorite was Brandon's; "Open both doors and flap your arms while running out of the house".  I'm pretty sure the neighbor lady was dialing 911 after I tried that. Long story short, I did open the front door and back door and after several failed attempts (see video below), I finally chased him through the house - and sometimes he chased me - until he found his freedom escape through the back door.  All-in-all, it was about a 45 minute debacle that completely railroaded my plans for the morning. Here's a little video from my iPhone.  Not sure why I sound like such a knob in the video... I'm blaming it on bad iPhone audio quality.

Dear Tina N, You don't know me, and, well, I don't really know you either, but I feel like I owe you an apology.  A little over a month ago you took care of one of my precious client orders from WHCC and made sure everything was just right as usual.  How do I repay you?  Like a schmuck.  Somewhere between the car and the entrance into the house through the garage I accidentally dropped your signature inspection card, and for the last 4 weeks now I've walked by your card, read your name, and heard the voice inside my head mutter that I need to pick that card up and throw it away.  Each day I've seen your card laying in isolation on the garage floor, often wondering who you are and what you'd think knowing I'm stepping on your name almost every day, even after you gave me that complimentary Tootsie Pop with my order like you always do.  I just want you to know that I'm sorry, and you'll be happy to know that i finally picked up your card and put it in the trash yesterday.  That doesn't sound much like a feel-better statement, but it's better than me walking all over you.  I hope you don't hold it against me.  I'd really miss those Tootsie Pops.

We went to the Rodeo Friday night. Now, the rodeo is one of those things that - for me - is fun to go to about twice a year... max. Outside of that, it gets a little low on entertainment value. If you're a rodeo lover or, better yet, a rodeo clown or cowboy, don't send me hate mail. I'm just sayin', for me personally, it's a little, let's just say, not my bag of peanuts outside of the twice per year limit. But... this was our first time there this year, so I got my cowboy on and was all into it. I woulda wore my black boots and black cowboy hat, but I lost the hat in a bar fight back at Ohio State (another story for another day), and the boots? Well, let's just say that this cowboy's feet have apparently grown in the last 12 years. Also, I'm gonna share a little secret with you. My heart bleeds for animals, so everytime a cowboy got bucked off a bronco or bull, or anytime a calf got away in the calf ropin' contest, I was hee-hee'ing under my breath. My favorite part of the whole show is actually when they throw a 3-5 year old kid on a sheep, fling open the gate and watch them (the kiddos) hang on for dear life. Funniest thing. Ever. I brought my camera and coulda walked around all night photographing some killer scenes, but I only took a few on this night.

See, they just look like they know what's coming for them.

What up, Elsie?

Yee-hot.

Hey, wonder if Kylie was lookin' at this guy in that last image.

A little intermission entertainment.

Ahhh... cotton candiliscious.

So, I'm not sure how I've been in teh dark on this site for so long, but Fail Blog is one of my new favorite stops for a few minutes of nonsensical silliness each day. I had tears in my eyes laughing at the below video from yesterday.  The part that gets me the most is the reaction and laughing from the other students on the bus.  Good stuff.   [Disclaimer: I only laughed so much because no one was hurt.  If someone had been hurt, I would've only laughed a little.]

Matt Nicoosi Photographic Art is proud to announce we now provide complimentary child care for all our clients during their viewing/ordering sessions.

Actually my friend Tina stopped by the house tonight to borrow a lens, and she brought her 4 year old little bright star, Trinity, with her.  Trinity and Mia were off doing their own thing when we heard Mia's cage rattling.  We walked into the gallery room to see that Trinity had dragged Mia's cage in there and then promptly inserted herself into said cage.  We threw Mia in there with her to grab these two images.  Not great exposures, but still fun images.

My favorite part about this image is 1) the look of terror on Mia's face and 2) the canvas behind the cage is actually an image of Trinity from 2 years ago with her arm wrapped around her dog Ally's head.  And actually, the canvas behind that is a humungo image of Trinity's head from when she was 1.  I didn't even notice those images in the background until I downloaded the photos. I know the blog posting has been a little lean lately.  It's summer which is my "off season" with the triple digit temps, and on top of that I've been a little under the weather the last few days and haven't picked up the camera much.