A Bloy and his Blog

A frozen Lake Monona.

read the rest of: Frozen waves

For the weekend photography challenge over at Digital Photography School, I shot my favorite morning activity. Reading the news with a cup of coffee.

I woke up this morning to find hoarfrost beautifully covering all the plant life in the neighborhood.

After a few cups of coffee, I grabbed my camera and headed over to Olbrich Park.

read the rest of: Hoarfrost

Dear Mother Nature,

Thank you for all the snow over the past several weeks. It really does makes everything look beautiful. Unfortunately, I am beginning to run out of places to put it when I shovel my driveway.

Would you mind holding off on the snow for a while, say maybe until some of it melts? That would be great. Thanks.

Your friend,
Jonathan

Spending time in the warm humid air of the glass domed conservatory at Olbrich Gardens does wonders during a spell of frigid winter weather.

read the rest of: Winter orchids

There are those that claim music made today isn’t as good as music made years ago. Reflecting on the past few years, I’ve collected quite a bit of evidence to the contrary. There is a lot of good music being made out there, you just have to know where to look. Here are my faves from 2009.

Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
This was my favorite release of the year. With their guitar/synthesizer sound, Phoenix’s music definitely has its roots in the 1980s (which is probably why I like it so). At the same time, it has a very fresh and modern sound.

read the rest of: Best music I heard in 2009

I went to Olbrich Botanical Gardens to check out their annual Holiday Express display. I found the look of wonder on most of the children’s faces the best thing about the exhibit.

read the rest of: The wonder of trains