BowerBlog

Good evening all!

Well, it’s been a long day, but I made it through work, through the Friday afternoon Detroit rush hour traffic, and I’m in Novi at the Novi Pet Expo! For those that don’t know, I’m here helping out with the Great Lakes Fancy Rat Association and their booth at the Expo.

Wow, I don’t know how to explain how friggin’ BIG this expo is!! There is every type of animal and every type of breed on display that you can imagine. Not to mention lots of pony rides, animal demonstrations, petting zoos, animal welfare groups, and pet goodies. The place where it’s being held, the Rock Financial Center, is absolutely enourmous and VERY well run. Lots of security, quite clean (even the bathrooms), and the folks there are freindly and very helpful.

Before I get too far off track, here are a sampling of some pics I took this evening (click on any pic to see it full size):

Pic 1 of the GLFRA booth

Pic 2 of the GLFRA booth (Robin and Dayna getting the ratties worked up to impress the public).

Pic 3 of the GLFRA booth

Pic 4 of the GLFRA booth

The American Bulldog Association weight pulls. This massive Bulldog can pull a tremendous amount of weight, all at his master’s command, but I got to play with him a little bit and he’s the sweetest, most freindly dog you would ever get to meet!

One of several petting zoos. There is no end of tame and freindly farm animals to pet here!

Man, I wish I had more time to write about all the things I’ve seen tonight. However, it’s getting on to 10pm and I need to hit the hay (I’ve been up since 4am this morning). I need to get up early tomorrow to head back to Ohio to pick up the RaffinHouse crew. I’ll head out at 6am, and will be back at the Expo by 10am. If all goes well, I’ll be able to post from there. Look for lots of pics and fun with the GLFRA, The RaffinHouse Crew, and the Expo animals!

As Always,
Chris

Morning all!

It’s finally Friday and I’m ready for the Novi Pet Expo! I’m at work right now, have a few jobs to finish up and after I grab my paycheck and get cleaned up, I’m on the road! I’ll post to my blog as soon as I get to the motel in Farmington, MI. Everyone have a great day and remember, where ever you go, there you are.

As Always,
Chris

Howdy all!

How did everyone’s weekend go? I had a great time Saturday at a nice little park in Okemos. Michigan. The Great Lakes Fancy Rat Association held their annual spring meeting at Wonch Park. I’m a bit of a rattie person myself, but I mostly went to the meeting as the group’s photographer. It turned out to be nice weather and I met some really great people inbetween taking shots. The little fella in the photo above was sticking his nose out of the cage to see if I had any treats and I couldn’t resist taking a shot. If anyone is interested, I have all the photos online at http://www.c-digital.us/glfra_06.htm . Robin, the group’s fearless leader, grilled up some tasty brats and there was tons of other food. I, for one, ate waaaay too much, but what the hell, that’s what freinds and good times are for.

It’s been a couple of months since I’ve actually put any of my cameras to good use. I don’t know why, I just haven’t been in the mood to shoot, but after this GLFRA meeting, I am now. Look for lots more pics on my blog soon and maybe even a gallery or two. I guess I forgot how much I enjoy imaging work, but you know how it goes. The drudgery of the work-a-day life kinda gets a person into a rut sometimes. It sometimes seems like all there is to life is work, chores, eat, sleep; work, chores, eat, sleep; yada, yada. Well, that ain’t all there is to life and sometimes all I need to shake me out of that routine is to get out and see new things and meet new people. My problem is I love taking people pics but I’m not the most socially-skilled monkey in the barrel. I need to work on that (among other things)

I thought I might mention a bit about a couple of interesting new people I met Saturday. The first is Kathryn Lovings, who goes by the nick “Kat”. She is one of the most genuinely sweet and kind people I’ve ever met. She’s one of those folks who smiles at everyone and really means it when she does. She’s a rat breeder and also sells some great craft items. Here’s a link to her website: http://www.ratdippityrattery.com/ .

One of the other interesting people I met was Mellissa Manzagol. She is also a rat breeder with what I think is a neat name for her rattery: Ratlandia. Her rattery site is, of course, http://www.ratlandia.com/ . I did a little digging around her rattery’s website and found that this young lady has had quite an interesting professional life and has a great many interests both in animals and other fields. I hope she doesn’t mind, but I’m going to post a link to her personal site: http://www.manzagol.com/ . Take a look at her resume’s…this gal has been a lot of places and done a lot of different things! She also has some great short videos that she’s made and an interesting script for a movie called “Space Rats”.

Well, it’s late Sunday night and I’d better get my ass to bed….work tomorrow, ya know (ugh). I have cylinder heads to put back on a Chevy Venture. If I ever get my hands on the ass at GM that designed these giant rolling turds, I’m gonna string him up and turn him into a candidate for the Vienna Boys Choir. My back hurts already just thinking about putting it back together tomorrow. Oh well, I get paid to work on the tough ones; it’s what I’m good at. Everyone have a good week and I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes:

 “A career is a wonderful thing, but you can’t snuggle up to it on a cold night.” - Marilyn Monroe

As Always,
Chris