my poor neglected blog...

i have no time to blog.  no time to read blogs, or to write them.  i'm too busy taking photographs for fun and for profit.  taking the photos, then editing.  also, my day job.  and then there's having a house and dogs and cooking and cleaning.

and really, i think my mom is the only one reading my blog.  and maybe mark s. once in a great while.  the only thing i do online at this point is post my photos on facebook, because that's how my photography side business took off.  and it's where my business continues to grow.

it's also really fun, posting photos, especially the ones of old cleveland buildings, graffiti, etc...

a word about "urban exploration": it's become super trendy.  hipster kids breaking into old buildings, taking photos.  that's not my thing.  i just naturally found myself drawn to the old abandoned factories that i saw on my drive to work.  i started hopping out of the car to take photos.  then i researched the buildings online.  it all happened naturally.

so now i leave for work super early and take different side roads to work.  i find weird old biker bars, graffiti, all sorts of strange things.  i'm super careful, i take most photos from my car.  i'm just so drawn to these inner city landscapes.  and part of me feels compelled to tell their stories...

another pack member is gone...

lucy has been with us for years.  since dan & i started dating.  i think our 5th date was going to the kennel to help my mom find a 2nd dog to keep sophie company.

lucy was my mom's companion all these years.  she was a brindle beauty and a bit of a mystery.  she will be missed.

the people that you meet...

 this is pierre.  he is a cleveland clinic police officer that i got to know yesterday morning.  i was taking pics around the building.  he approached me and i thought, "oh no, he's going to yell at me for taking pics on clinic property."  

but no, he asked me if i ever attended any plays at the old theaters as a kid.  that led us into a long conversation about the beauty of the building, and how sad it was that now it sits vacant.  i told him about my photography project (taking photos of the old theaters, arranging tours for coworkers, hoping to get people talking about saving the buildings.)

i asked if i could take his photo and he kindly obliged.  he then gave me his business card and explained that when he's not being a cop (which he's done for over 30 years) he's an "ambassador to the amish".

he was born in france, of polish descent, raised in cleveland.  his parents sent him to work on amish farms during the summers when he was a boy.  so now he teaches people about amish culture.  

this is maurice.  he is in charge of the building.  when i started my job and heard about someone giving a tour of the old parts of the building, it was maurice who gave that tour.  so it was maurice that i stalked.  i wanted to see those old theaters and i wanted to get photos.

so i made it a point to introduce myself to him, to get to know him, and then to worm my way into getting a tour of the building.

maurice is incredibly kind and generous.  he's also hilarious.  and he loves to give that tour!  his father worked in the old theaters, so he grew up in these buildings.  he knows every inch, all the history.  when he gives the tour, he can tell you where that store the thousands of costumes, which parts he thinks are haunted, what famous actors walked the halls.

i've only been at this job for 2 1/2 months, so i really look forward to meeting more interesting people, and talking more pics of that amazing building.