sampler platter.

It's a great time of year to find lots of 'best of' shenanigans.   So I decided to cruise through some of the best of the year lists for photos, and for the most part became massively depressed.  So instead of pulling which pictures were the best in my opinion, I chose a few that didn't make me want to run off and join a pack of wolves.  Also, this may seem a bit redundant, as a few posts ago I tossed a few links out to some amazing collections, but this is the lazy persons version.  You can enjoy a few without the work of clicking a link.  You're welcome.

 A Thai dude during floods in Bangkok.  When there isn't anything else you can do, why not watch a bit of TV.

 Holy crap, that's a lot of snow.

 First same-sex couple to get married in Manhattan.  Oh, shit.  Marriages are going to start falling apart all over the place.

 Because The Dude, that's why.

I would really like to go to this place.  If only it wasn't a seafood restaurant.  Looks rad, though.

 Those are spiderwebs.  GROSS.

Because thank God, someone has a sense of humor.

an old sang lime.

The Earth is yet again in the same place it was 365 days ago, and for this, we drink ourselves stupid.  To be followed up by a list of things we plan to change about ourselves, but never really get to because, let's face it- we're all too hungover on the first and that's a rotten way to start out any kind of transformation.  But then again, I'm perfect, so I've never had that problem.

But seeing as this was originally supposed to be some sort of photography blog (which has begun to get a bit redonk as of late... or as of the beginning) I will include a few of my favorite new year's pictures.  by a few, I mean three.  That's all you punk asses get.  Oh, okay, I'll share my resolutions too.  

ONE: learn, to use commas correctly.

TWO: fucking swear less

THREE: edit. proofread.  anything.

FOUR: make millions of dollars to somehow counteract the millions of nothing I have.

FIVE: work on that whole personal hygiene thing.

and SIX: post some damn pictures.

 I enjoy this picture since it's pretty classic New Year's.  A little cham-pagan.  

And it's at the LBJ, which is a pretty rad place to be.

 Upon review, this really could be any night.  But it was from this new years, and makes me laugh- so enjoy.  

I SAID ENJOY.

Again, this could really be any night.  But I do enjoy reposting this as much as possible to destroy what professional reputation my brother has at all.  

Have a super duper 2012, to the two, maybe three people that will read this.  Make it your best year so far :)

That's about right.

I'm definitely guilty of some pretty terrible pictures, but this was still a funny post to run across.  Fancy cameras don't make the photographer...

well said.

An open letter to God,


This morning you decided that my grandma was needed more in heaven then here with us, you seem like a smart guy so we will trust in your decision. However, you should be aware of a couple things before my grandma gets to you.

1) You best have heaven in tip-top shape. My grandma likes things to be neat and tidy and will get upset with you if you leave stuff sitting around and/or forget to turn off lights when you leave a room.

2) You had better have a nice selection of wine and a bunch of steaks in the freezer. Maybe some fresh veggies as well. She really likes good food, especially steaks and potatoes and pie.

3) If there is baseball up there, she is a huge cubs fan, so, make the heaven version of the cubs be real good please.

4) She will need either a library card or access to a selection of books, so she can read a book, have a glass of wine and sit by the window looking out at the lake.

5) Speaking of lakes, set her up in a nice cabin in the woods by a nice quiet lake. Have some loons and ducks hanging out and in the winter months you can have some deer hang out as well. She also likes to have bird feeders around as well.

Long story short, my grandma is awesome so you better be prepared when she gets there, because she deserves the best. If you don't hook her up, we are going to here about it and get irritated and then when we get there we are going to have some words.

Anyway, hope all is well, take care of my grandma

Sincerely,
Bugsy Hansen

I would like to add a few expectations for our Gram:

• Plenty of butter pecan ice cream
• Jane Austen...  Not only books but movies based on the books.  Every version of 'em.
• Lots of puppies in need of snuggles.  She's pretty good at that.
• Black Forrest gummy bears.  by the truck full.
• Self-fluffing couch pillows.
• Someone to go to movies with.  Preferably after having some Mexican food and margaritas.  
• And also- she does NOT allow for sick days.  Be on your game, my man.

link pile of mind-bogellingly awesomeness

I had a nice long shpeal explaining my lack of posts lately, but my POS work computer (yes, I'm overwhelmed by work at the moment, so taking a break to oggle some pics) lost my rant.  So here is a far less eloquent blob of a blog that includes two links to some of the most amazing pictures I've ever seen.  I will not deny that the first link includes a few pictures that made me cry, and one that made me yelp/wail/something pathetic.  When you get to the baby, you will understand.  But enough of my badly spelled, gramatically incorrect crap.  Click away at these beauties...

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-most-powerful-photos-of-2011

One of my favorites-  A group of Christians protecting Muslims at prayer during a protest in Egypt.  It's nice to have some visual proof that not all humans suck.  Mother Nature as a badie is one thing, but people need to stop trying to compete with who can be more terrible.



Thses aren't quite as sad, but equally amazing.
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/11/national-geographic-photo-contest-2011/100187/

This is one of my faves from this group...

Have fun or be a grownup? Ack. Too easy.

"Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to be always part of unanimity." 
       -- Christopher Morley

I will count my one silly thing for the day as pouring out the contents of a HUGE box of packing peanuts on my floor, and turning my apartment into a winter wonderland with my friend Kipa.   This is REALLY going to suck to clean up.  Worth it.

YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO MAKE A SNOW ANGEL.

 Oh my gosh, what is this!  AHHH!  Funz!

 Will this taste any good?

 You're not in on the joke.

And the wheely dolly is now involved.  My apartment rocks right now.

Let's Park.

Boy, that title seems way wrong with the first picture being of my dog.  Anyhoo- (yeah, I used the word 'anyhoo'), I cruised around the park the other day with my 25lbs of crazy running around barking at people, wrapping his leash around my legs, and generally being a punkass.  It was super pretty though...  would like to go again, maybe a bit earlier to catch the light...  and possibly without the furry lunatic.

the moon :)  looks more like a lamp post through some dead trees...   but you can pretend it's really pretty.

The smell of leaves is just awesome.

Does this kind of make Kipa look drunk?

I get bored trying to hold still without a tripod...  most pictures just become this kind of shenanigans.