Concert Announced!

Come see Owen Pye, Drew Danburry, John Krane and JOEL play live at LongStory Coffee in Belleville, IL

May 26th @ LongStory Coffee (732 S Illinois St, Belleville, IL) @ 6pm

There’s a $10 suggested donation to help support our touring artist. Also be aware that LongStory will be serving drinks for purchase as well.

We’re thrilled to be having this show and thankful for LongStory for joining us for this special event.

If you don’t have cash the day of show, or you spend it all on coffee but still want to support the artist you can utilize the following options:

Venmo | Paypal | Patreon | Bandcamp

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Springfield, Illinois

This past weekend I was asked to be a judge for the IAAF State Talent Show contest at the Crowne Plaza in Springfield, Illinois. Huge thanks to the board and my friend Kris Lowe who serves as Secretary for St. Clair County for asking me.

Jillian and I packed the crew up and we stuffed like sardines into the hotel room. Really it was meant for 2 adults, but that’s how we roll sometimes.

Before we headed home we did a little bit of site seeing around town.

One of the spots was this spot called Dumb Records. Highly recommend if you need some vinyl OR want to checkout some arcade cabinets or pinball machines. Of which they had a nice little collection!

In no particular order. Here’s a few shots I captured during our trip…

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever — “Behind the Curtain”

Curtain’s Up Theater Company, a local theater group that our family as grown close to this past year, has their final show of the season this weekend: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

Z and Cash are both in the play and my sister-in-law, niece and nephew are playing as well as several friends of ours that we’ve made this year.

I asked Evan Totsch, our young actor friend in the theater community if he would help me with a “man on the street” esk behind the scenes bit last night. I filmed it and edited it within a 24 hour window. I’m very pleased with the fun result we got out of this. Evan came up with the brilliant name. He wrote all of his material that he came up with on the fly. Awesome job, Evan.

Check out the video and then go grab your ticket!

BestChristmasTickets.com

Haven Homes Grand Opening

Big thanks to Melissa MacIsaac for asking me to provide photo coverage for her Grand Opening event for her real estate business, Haven Homes, located in O’Fallon, Illinois.

The event began after sunset, so you’re only seeing the interior of this wonderful space which neighbors Harmony Health and Home Birth as well as Premier Kitchen and Bath at their new shared building space.

Also shoutout to the event planner, Trinity Griffin, who did a remarkable job setting the tone and vibe for the evening.

If you’re in need of a home purchase assistant or looking to sell your home, reach out to Melissa MacIsaac and let her know! She and her new business partner (and husband!), Charlie, are ready to serve you at Haven Homes. You can contact Melissa HERE.

Here are a few more photo highlights from the evening 🙂

The Fun and Learning Variety Show

I had the pure joy & honor of recording The Fun & Learning Variety Show. This production is put on by The Colleen Nesbit Memorial Foundation and features skits and songs performed by adults with intellectual disabilities.

This Saturday Curtain’s Up Theater Company and the Nazarene Community Theater is playing this video on their movie screen and all of the performers and their families have been invited to come see themselves on the big screen.

I really hope this brings joy to the performers as much as it did mine 🙂

New Lens…Who Dis?

Purchased this antique lens off eBay and feel like a kid in candy store.
It’s been a lot of fun shooting without the convenience of Auto Focus or anything. And I’m loving the results from this weekend… Here are a few:

Chinon F2.8 135mm
Keep trying to teach the kids about ‘hot dog fingers’ and how not to approach a dog. But they can’t help it. They love dogs as much as I do…
Give me a mean look, babe.



gsh gsh
the only woman to light my fire…
Z is loving being on stage ❤

Some Highlights from the last few weeks

I was videographer for a wedding this weekend and snapped a quick pic with my Paper Shoot Camera
Glow Ride with Belleville Mural Project
Cash has been playing Soccer this season with his buddy Zeke.
How cool are we?
Belleville Philharmonic playing some lovely tunes in Belleville. ❤
Wells experienced his first ever Cards game.
My attempt at a Norman Rockwell self-portrait
Rock and Roll
HBD buddy

…

Art Hill fireworks – September 14th, 2022

Not always sure what to say or how to say it.
Because I’m still trying to connect the dots of how I feel and what my feelings are in a particular situation.

Life is challenging.

Not enough money. Not enough time.
So much clutter. So many todos piling up.
And my memory just slips more and more.
And I disassociate more and more.
But I want to keep the peace for those around me and for myself.
But in doing so, I avoid myself.
I lose track of the things that matter to me.

The Nothing.

When I’m uncomfortable I avoid and/or consume.
Whether that’s the junk that I consume in my diet or in my spiritual and emotional diet.
I avoid even the good things for me. Or I throw myself at whatever feels right in that moment. Shooting from the hip.

My prayer for myself today is to find my way back to an honest and true Peace.
To find my feet and stand tall.

// I apologize for this cryptic free type of post. It was more me thinking out loud for a second than anything.

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