Cleveland: The Cavs & Quicken Loans Arena

On Friday night, Mark and I went to the Cleveland Indians game. We got there before they opened Progressive Field, so we walked around the outside of Quicken Loans Arena for a little bit. [The Q and Progressive Field are right by one another.] People were already standing outside The Q, waiting to be let in to view the Cavs/Pistons game. [At The Q, they allow people to go there to watch the away play-off games. Pretty cool, huh?]

Well, here are some of the photos I took of The Q.

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Today, the Cavs swept the Detroit Pistons!!!! HELL YEAH!! I hope we will sweep the next team, too!! Crap, let's just sweep everyone we play till the end so we can win the NBA Championship!! Cleveland is so ready to bring home a championship win of some sort!! LET'S GO CAVS!!!!

On Our Way to Ohio: Ohio Photos

Here are some of the photos I took in Ohio while we were driving to my parents' house. I didn't get to take a whole lot because it was getting pretty dark, and the photos weren't showing up very well.

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Tomorrow, we're going to Columbus!! I am so excited!! So I'll try to have some Columbus photos up within a few days!!

Going Home & Drive-by Photography

That is what I will be doing tomorrow...12 long hours in the car!! HA. And I am hoping that with my wonderful Sony a300, I'll be able to get some amazing shots that I could never get with my old Canon Powershot piece of poop. HA. [Actually, the Powershot was good for that kind of camera. I just don't like it now because it's so two-thousand-eightlate!! LOL.]

I know I'll probably get the usual shot of "Mount Boob". LMAO. [Ashleigh, I think it's you that knows what I'm talking about. HAHA.] I'm looking forward to this one area in either Virginia or West Virginia...the scenery is beautiful!! I love it a whole lot more at night time, but we'll be driving through it during the day. BOO! I'm going to be lame and try to get a photo of every sign "welcoming" us into the state. HA. I know that once we get into Ohio, I definitely want to get photos of certain areas we'll be driving through. I'm going to try to get a lot of photos of my hometown. I think it'd be cool to show you all where I'm from. You'll get to see the one place I love to leave, but hate to be away from. [Am I the only person that has that weird feeling about where they're from?!] I love drive-by photography!! It's amazing!!

Maybe while we're home, I'll go around to places and take photos. I'll try to go to the center of town, the schools I attended, places that have some meaning to me, and just some other places in town that I like. I'd like to show you all where I grew up...Brunswick, OH.

I can't wait to go to Columbus!! I hope that we get to spend some time there after meeting with the ROTC Instructor. I want to go see The Shoe [the football stadium where The Ohio State University plays]. It may come as a surprise to some, maybe most, of you, but I have never seen/been to The Shoe in my life!! Gasp! So I am really hoping that I get to go see it while we're home. That'd be so cool if I got to!! I, also, am hoping that we'll just get to walk around the school and Columbus for a little bit. I want to get some photos of the city - the state's capital.

I can't wait to go to Cleveland to walk around the city and to go to the Indians game!! The Indians have been eh lately, but I love going to watch them play!! I want to go to Cleveland a good while before the game, walk around the city, photograph some of the amazing things there, hopefully get to the field/stadium early so I can photograph the guys warming up, then go to our seats, watch the game, take photographs throughout the game, and enjoy and photograph the fireworks once the game is over!! I ♥ Cleveland!! I really do!! It's such a fun city!!

I am definitely looking forward to going home. In less than 24 hours, we'll be home!! It's going to be so nice being home and being around my family!! I miss my family so much!! And I do miss that little shit hole town I grew up in!! HA.

Looking Forward to Monday!!

Monday morning, we are heading home to Ohio for pre-deployment leave. I am so excited about going home, but definitely not excited about the reason for us going home. Yuck! Also, I am not looking forward to the 12 hour drive in rain!! Laaaaame! I hate driving/being in the car for so long while it's raining!!

[A commercial for the Art Institute was just on TV. YAY! HA.]

And once again, we've changed the date for the Indians game we're going to. HA. We're now going to Friday night's game!! And do you know what they do after Friday night games in Cleveland?! FIREWORKS!!!! I am so excited because I will get to practice photographing fireworks!! YAY! Honestly, photographing fireworks is something I've been wanting to do for a little while now, and [as long as the weather permits] I'll get that opportunity in a little over a week!! I just hope that the weather is decent for the game. The Weather Channel is showing that it's supposed to be mostly sunny, 20% chance of rain, and the high is 55 degrees for the 24th. Let's just hope that TWC is right!! I don't want rain!! I want to be at a game in decent weather so I can have fun, watch the game, photograph parts of the game, and photograph the fireworks!! Is that too much to ask for?! I think not!!

Since we're going to a night game, we might just go ahead and walk around Cleveland for a while before the game and I can photograph the city. I would love to be able to just walk around the city for an hour or two before we head over to the stadium and just take photos of anything and everything. How fun would that be though?! Just walk around a major city and just snap away, taking photographs of anything and everything in sight?! Who wouldn't love doing that?!

Not Photography, But Still Art

Last night was the 2009 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. This year, the ceremony was held in Cleveland, Ohio. Every three years [at least that's the current plan - so let's see if they hold up to it in 2012], the ceremony is held in Cleveland because that is where the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum "lives". [Now, I think it's completely effing stupid to hold the induction ceremony in Cleveland every three years since the dang place is in Cleveland. But whatever, the people who decided on that need to be slapped - hard.]

Anyway, the ceremony was in Cleveland!! YAY!! Some of my family members hold passes to get into the R&RHoF&M, and it's really cool what they get with their passes. There are many different types of passes you can get, but they're still cool, nonetheless. But since they have passes, they get some "priority" when it comes down to the induction ceremony and getting into it. Well last night, two of my uncles, an aunt, and my dad went to the induction ceremony!!!! Ummm...JEALOUS, RIGHT HERE!!!! I can't even begin to explain how jealous I am of them for going!! When my mom called me and told me that my dad was going to the induction ceremony, I starting screaming/yelling about how cool that is and how jealous I was!! If Mark gets into MECEP and we move to Columbus, you better believe that we'll be holding passes for the R&RHoF&M!! I would LOVE to be able to go to the induction ceremony in three years!!!! Do you know how AMAZING that would be - to actually be there and experience it?!?! DO YOU?!

If you know me, you know I LOVE music - everything about it. I will listen to just about any type of music [some not as much as others though]. I've been to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum twice - both times during last year, 2008. My whole life, I lived about 30 minutes south of Cleveland, but never went to the R&RHoF&M [since it was built]. However, that changed last year. I'd always wanted to go there, to see the artifacts, learn about some of the artists' lives, etc. Let me tell you, IT WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!! I can't even begin to tell you how awesome it was!! Then during the summer, Mark and I went there again, but this time with two of my uncles and two of my cousins. We went and saw a film on Bob Dylan. Right then and there, my love for Bob Dylan started. I'd heard some of his stuff growing up, but not very often. I was raised more on classic rock and "psychedelic" rock [as I call it]. It was such an amazing film, though, on Bob Dylan. Ever since then, I have downloaded around 20 songs of his, memorized just about every word to all of those songs, and have watched everything that's come on TV about him. [FACT: Bob Dylan is a genius!!]

I love the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum!! Mark and I are actually planning on going there again when we go home on pre-deployment leave later this month!! I want to go and see the new artifacts they have of the new inductees and see the new exhibit on the top floor. [The first time we went, the top floor's exhibit was of The Doors. It was SPECTACULAR!!]

You know how some people say "you have to do that/go there before you die"?! Well, I think everyone should go to the Roll & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum before they die - especially if they love music!! I suggest not going during the winter though because it's right by the lake and Cleveland gets some nasty snow. But if you go during the summer, it's amazing. There's so much to do right in downtown Cleveland. I love going to Cleveland to go watch baseball games, go see the Rock Hall [that's what us Ohioans call it], go to Tower City and shop and eat, go to Quicken Loans Arena, and other stuff. It's truly an amazing city. I hope that Mark and I get to spend a whole day there when we go home on leave. If we do, I hope that I can get some wonderful photos of the city and then share them on here, MySpace, and possibly Facebook [I don't go on Facebook often because I find it to be L-A-M-E].

Seriously though, if you're ever going up toward Ohio, add a day to your trip and just go to Cleveland and go to the Rock Hall if nothing else!! It's WORTH IT!! It's, like, $22 per person to get in, but only $17 per person to get in [due to military discount]!! The only sucky thing is that you can't take photos in the museum. [However, I am going to call to see if there's a way that I can. I'll pay extra just to take some damn photos in there - I don't care.] But just go there - see and experience the Rock Hall!!!! You will only regret it if you DON'T go...SO GO!!!!

Here are some pictures I took back in early 2008 when Mark and I went to the Rock Hall for the first time:

Click on images to view them larger.

Do you ever get like this?!

So, you're getting closer and closer to taking a trip/vacation somewhere, and the one thing you think about so often [or maybe the most] is about what you want to do and where you want to go simply because of the photo opportunities you'll have there?!

Mark's pre-deployment leave is fast approaching [yuck!], and all I keep thinking about is how we're going to Cleveland one day because we're going to a Cleveland Indians baseball game; going to Columbus one day so that Mark can talk to an ROTC Instructor and get help with the MECEP stuff, even though it isn't necessary for us to go there, but I look forward to [hopefully] walking around Columbus and seeing The Ohio State University; a birthday party that's for Mark [my idea] because it'll be his fifth year not being home on his birthday [I've never seen him on his birthday - ever]. Those are just things we're definitely doing while we're home, and those are great photo opportunities!!

Mark and I have been thinking about maybe taking the boys to the zoo while we're home [as long as the weather's nice] because we think they'll love it and have fun. So if we go to the zoo, I'll have another photo opportunity!! I just know that if Michael gets to see so many animals, he'll lose his mind!! That boy loves animals and gets so excited over seeing them just on TV. HA.

I think I am most looking forward to going to Cleveland and the baseball game though. The seats we have are behind home plate, a few levels up. They are GREAT seats!! We've had a few foul balls come up our way before. I always got good shots of the games we've been to with just the dinky cameras I've had, so I should get some really good ones with the camera I now have!! I hope that they do fireworks at the end of the game - I always love that!! Of course they'll do fireworks if someone from the Indians hits a homerun, but I love it when they do a huge fireworks show at the end of the game. One year, Mark and I went to a game with my dad and Uncle Kevin, and they did fireworks after the game, but they had the show set up with music and stuff. It was so cool!!

But please, tell me I am not the only one like this. Of course I think about seeing family and stuff, but I do tend to focus a lot on all of the things we'll be doing that present a great photo opportunity.

Some of my favorites.

I am always looking at photoblogs, sites for camera accessories, sites for pictures, and stuff like that. There are a few sites though that I am searching every time I sit down at the desk and am online. I thought that I would just share my top three with you, in case you've never heard of them.

My NUMBER ONE site is B&H Photo Video.
They have EVERYTHING on that site!! I first heard of B&H about a little over a year ago because we got this monstrous catalog in the mail. It was for someone that used to live here, but I just started flipping through it and looking at all of the amazing things that just the catalog had!! Fast forward to now, and I am constantly on the website, searching for things that I'd like to have one day for my camera [and future camera]. You can go to this site and spend hundreds of hours searching it for stuff, and you'll be nowhere near seeing half of the things they sell!! Plus, it'll be nice when I start my AiP online classes because I'll get a 10% off discount from B&H!! HECK YES!! I love looking for stuff on that site. It's seriously addicting - especially if you have a strong passion for photography and just want everything out there for your camera!!

Another site I love going to is Photocritic. I love reading the articles and learning how to do some really cool things with taking photos and editing. Probably the coolest article there is Digital Schizophrenia. Once I get a tripod, I am definitely going to try doing that!! It's just so cool looking! I love it!

As you should already know, I would love to be a sports photographer. So it's only proper for me to have a photoblog in my favorites that's by a sports photographer. That site would be Beyond the Best Seat in the House. This guy used to work for a newspaper or something, but due to the shit-filled economy, he decided to take the severance package from the newspaper company and go his own way. And what's really cool is that in some of the photos he's taken, he has Drew Carey in them!! Being from the Cleveland area [in Ohio], I obviously love Drew Carey...and miss always watching "The Drew Carey Show". [Seriously, who doesn't miss that show?! It was absolutely genius!!]

Of course, there are PLENTY of other sites that I go to, but none more faithfully than the three I listed above.