This was from Wednesday at a fire that actually turned out to be arson. The house was way out in the woods under a bunch of trees, so this looks all shadowy even though it was 1 p.m. Sometimes I still have exposure issues, Nick.
OFF DUTY: Sgt. Jeff Jennings will retire from Big Rapids Department of Public Safety on Jan. 27, after serving the department for 35 years.
Sgt. Jennings is a really cool guy. He once put me in the backseat of a cop car while he instructed a deputy through some kind of high-speed maneuvering test. I got thrown all around in the back of a Charger while the deputy weaved cones in reverse at 45 mph and had a blast. Thanks for that, Jeff. Good luck in retirement.
Another bunch of scans from that same camera from the last post. Both sets are from the first two rolls I shot with it. I believe these were taken in Ludington. Our boredom often manifests itself into road trips to coastal towns with microbreweries. OMG, just typing that made me feel like a jerk.
I didn’t photoshop anything in this or the other post (as you can see, I didn’t even bother to crop the rough edges on my crappy scan job). Can you believe it? Real lens flare and I didn’t even use an iPhone app!
Thanks for reading. This post was assembled on Bryan’s computer, listening to “Bird Flu,” by MIA. Now we’re getting somewhere.
On an average day, my job requires me to be at a computer for a good chunk of time. And, even though I don’t like to admit it, I sometimes come home and willingly fall into what I can only refer to as the “Tumblr K-Hole.”
But I’m trying to reform my habits and do real things (go to the gym, read books/magazines/printed materials, draw, go to the bar before last call… ok, that’s less “real”) after work. That’s my excuse for posting these pictures from fall in January.
See, I had to actually get on Bryan’s desktop and scan them in because I took them with this $3 thrift store find. (After I bought it, Photojojo blogged about it here, if you’re curious. Mine is from Shell and says “You Make The Difference!” on the front.) And ya know… the music selection on Bryan’s computer is a mix of club bangers and hard rock station hits, not conducive to blogging.
These are from ArtPrize. They look better in prints. (Nick! I forgot that film scanner at your parents’!) And I wrote this post while listening to “I Wanna Fuck You,” by Akon.
Someone brought me this rose last week and it has confounded me ever since. It’s not painted, but each petal is a different color. How on earth? So cool!
On Wednesday, the Schubergs, a prominent Big Rapids family, celebrated the life of their father, Carly, who died on Dec. 30.
The Schuberg clan are some of the nicest people in town (some of the nicest I’ve met in life), but they’re all undeniably quirky. And I mean that in the best possible way. The first time I met Carleen, she offered to lend me her kayaks so I could tour the Muskegon River. The first time I met Rex, I think he was wearing a costume and running around downtown Big Rapids. They’re my favorite people.
I didn’t know Carly, but he must have been awesome, too, and this is how I know.
He restored a horse-drawn funeral horse to carry his casket, which he built himself, and kept two black draft horses, specifically so they could one day pull his hearse in his funeral procession. His funeral was complete with full military honors and a 21-gun salute.
As I was standing on a roadside on Wednesday, waiting to photograph the procession (Carly’s family followed the hearse on foot about half a mile from his house, where the service was held, to the cemetery), a family friend approached me.
“Are you a friend of the family?” he asked.
“Um, kind of,” I said. “I know the Schubergs, but I’m taking pictures for the Pioneer.”
“Oh. Well then. Carly would want you to have this,” the man said, handing me a can of Stroh’s. “Save it for later.” I didn’t even get the guy’s name.
I protested a little, but not too much because, well, it’s gotta be considered rude to turn down a can of beer an amazing dead man would want you to have. And to turn it down at his funeral, no less.
I put the Stroh’s in my camera bag, smiled, and caught up with the procession.
RIP Carly.
Some people live around the community, some people live in the community and some people live for the community. - Carly Schuberg (click for our coverage, none of which I wrote)