Note to self…

… always – always - bring camera with you.
I was thinking about how I should start bringing my camera with me everywhere I go, even though it’s pretty bulky and heavy.
Then last week, as I was walking to lunch, I saw that one of the bridges over the Chicago River was closed and a giant crane was lowering a man in a tiny rowboat onto the river.
WTF?
Why? Why was a man in a boat being lowered onto the river? I’ll never know. And you’ll never get to know how cool a sight that was, simply because I was too lazy to lug my camera with me. I hope you can someday forgive me.
And then today there was a man in a chicken suit and another man in a cow suit handing out some flyers by the train station. That might have been nice for you to experience.
And then tonight there was this magnificent dessert that I ate with Natasha and Dee-Dee, that was essentially a $15 ‘smore.
But you’ll never get to know what these things were like, except in your vast imaginations. It’s a good thing you’re so creative.
Anyway.
Here’s a picture of a part of a tree that kind of looks like a mouth**. I know it’s no boat being lowered by a giant crane onto the Chicago River, but it’s the best I’ve got. Mwah!

**A friend who will remain anonymous has just informed me that this does not look like a mouth, but in fact, looks like a dirty, dirty picture that I should be ashamed of posting. So I’ve now deemed it not-safe-for-work. Good god – I’m a tree pornographer! Click if you dare…


tree yawn

24 Responses to “Note to self…”

  1. the_editter Says:

    I just imagined that tree-mouth doing your “mwah”. Imaginative, huh?

  2. Diana Says:

    That is a scarey-looking tree-mouth-hole-thingy.

  3. Darby Says:

    I like to imagine I’m capable of imagining some pretty awesome things. And yet, my mind reels when it tries to conceive of something as awesome as a $15 ‘smore.
    $8. $8 is about where my brain tops out on the “awesome ‘smore value level” graph. $15 is like, that area on old maps, when there were chunks of the world nobody had seen, and they were labelled “Here there be dragons.” Which, actually, is pretty awesome, when you think about it…but, not $15 ‘smore awesome.
    So, in conclusion, congratulations on breaking my brain.

  4. Dave2 Says:

    Wait… wait… wait a second…
    If you squint really hard, you can almost see a boat in there…

  5. Roy Says:

    I’m not sure, but it looks like there’s a hole in that boat.

  6. jenny Says:

    the editter: very imaginative! i also imagine that tree mouth singing an aria of some sort.
    diana: don’t fear the tree. he just wants to be loved.
    darby: the ‘smore came with the tiniest cup of hot cocoa i’ve ever seen in my life, and a spoon that we determined was the size of a coke spoon. so we snorted the marshmallow. sorry ’bout your brain. :)
    dave2: okay, i totally just squinted at my computer. you tricked me!
    roy: good thing he’s still attached to that crane…

  7. peefer Says:

    I think the hole in the boat in the hole in the tree kind of looks like a hole in a tree with a boat in it.

  8. Tracy Lynn Says:

    Dude, that tree looks like the one in FLASH – AAAHHHH! where they stick a hand in until someone gets tagged by the creepy insect/scorpion thing.
    It’s kinda sad that it was so easy for me to reference that.

  9. Cheryl Says:

    Because of not-having-my-camera issues, I recently missed out on taking a picture of a poetry event at a punk rock club where there was graffiti inside the toilet. How’s that for dirty?

  10. sizzle Says:

    i bring my camera with me everywhere but i have never seen a guy in a boat being lowered by a crane- just my luck! my camera isn’t as nice and fancy as yours though. you damn well better lug it to tequilacon! :)

  11. Seamus Says:

    I saw on the Chicago River a crane suspending a boat which was in turn suspending a portable toilet. Seriously. Crane ==> Boat ==> Portable Toilet ==> Chicago River.

  12. shari Says:

    The solution to all of this is a pocket digital camera. You can get them at Costco for under two hundred dollars. I know, because I just got one for our daughter on her birthday. But I can’t believe I’m sharing information with a tree pornographer. I’m so ashamed.

  13. hollie Says:

    love the picture and always appreciate the interesting images you post (for the record, i didn’t think it was dirty/disgusting–just cool). and if you ever find a super-lightweight, small, and powerful digital camera, that’s actually affordable, spill the beans sister. in the meantime, i’ll just continue enjoying your fab posts–keep up the great work!

  14. teahouseblossom Says:

    Hey, I had a moment like that today!!
    I saw the funniest sign, and then I wanted to photograph it so badly..I was so annoyed I didn’t have my camera.

  15. churlita Says:

    I feel like that all the time when I see cool stuff I want to photograph. I have such a hard time keeping the batteries working with my digital camera.
    That photo looks like how I imagine an elephant’s vagina might be…Not that I spend any time at all imagining that.

  16. jenny Says:

    peefer: my head just exploded.
    tracy lynn: what the heck is flash? sounds creepy!
    cheryl: wait – inside the bottom of the bowl? naaaasty!
    sizzle: oh believe me – it’ll be at tequilacon all right!
    seamus: what?!?!? why didn’t you call me?
    shari: i actually have a nice little pocket point and shoot, but unfortunately lost my battery charger… gotta get a new one!
    hollie: thanks so much! and thanks for not making feel like a perv like the rest of these people did. :)
    thb: isn’t that the worst? these moments – we’ll never get them back.
    churlita: i would like to issue a dare to anyone to do a google image search on “elephant vagina” and then report back to us all. but under no circumstance is anyone to actually link to any of the pictures here.

  17. Tracy Lynn Says:

    Just a man, with a man’s courage.
    Flash Gordon, man.

  18. egan Says:

    Damn, I missed all the fun. I’m always late to the party here. You described the potentials so well though. I can totally picture each shot as if I was walking about 15 feet behind you.
    I’m game for a little tree porn.

  19. egan Says:

    I’m confused, now I see the picture. Does that tree have a hymen? Should I even be asking that question? I don’t know, but I did.

  20. sandra Says:

    I generally have a camera with me at all times, and left it at home the other day when I switched bags. And you know what? I saw two separate and fantastic things on the way home from work that night, both of which were absolutely picture-worthy.

  21. Abigail Says:

    Dude, one time my mom saw a picture like this and made her dog stand next to it (you know, to enhance the picture). She emailed it to me and said, “look! a tree with a belly button!” I thought it was cute and showed my friends and they were all “ewwww.” I felt sad. Poor Tree With A Belly Button.

  22. McMonkey Says:

    I’m checking it for bees before I put my junk in there. You learn that lesson after the second or third time.

  23. Don Says:

    I came over because Chicago’s in the Super Duper Pooper Bowl and I wish your team well, unless you don’t care, in which case I don’t care either. And I take my camera lots of places, and have thousands of pictures no one will ever see. This is how I maintain control of my little world.

  24. Cindi Says:

    I can’t stop laughing over Churlita’s comment. That’s hilarious. lol