366 Images

02.13.12 Cuddlebug and Fun

2012-02-13T18:31:00.003-06:00

These two met online through a matchmaking service for seniors. His name was Cuddlebug and she described herself as Fun with a capital F. This was from their wedding rehearsal. They are getting married tomorrow on Valentine's Day.

02.12.12 LOVE

2012-02-12T20:33:00.002-06:00

I love Sunday morning breakfast with my honey at the King's X.

02.11.12 Bedazzled

2012-02-12T11:43:00.003-06:00

Getting funky with some help from my friends at Funky Face Painters at the annual YWCA Mardis Gras party.

We'll be playing at Heroes on Fat Tuesday, Feb. 21 from 7-10 p.m. All ages (including the baby Mudbugs) are invited. No cover charge and the restaurant makes some great Cajun food for the holiday.

02.10.12 at Mike's Wine Dive

2012-02-11T09:47:00.002-06:00

with Molly

02.09.12 Ron

2012-02-09T17:49:00.002-06:00

He's headed to Vegas to cover gaming and he will be missed.

02.08.12 WSU Complaint Choir rehearsal

2012-02-08T20:55:00.002-06:00

This is definitely going to be entertaining.

02.07.12 fourth grade predictions

2012-02-07T20:07:00.002-06:00

9 out 0f 11 fourth-graders were correct.

02.06.12 shooting the documenters

2012-02-06T20:13:00.003-06:00

I helped Bon judge a photo contest with submissions from several young and fabulous photographers. They really did a nice job with the disposable cameras she hooked them up with. I'm pretty sure they had never seen negatives before in their young lives.

02.05.12 afternoon light

2012-02-06T08:52:00.002-06:00

The only bad thing about afternoon light is you can see the dust on the floors a little too good.

02.04.12 Boyz n the kitchen

2012-02-05T13:07:00.003-06:00

Cooking up two fantastic Indian lamb dishes.

02.03.12 they have thought of everything

2012-02-03T19:16:00.002-06:00

Pine Nut ice cream.

02.02.12 everything matches

2012-02-03T14:25:00.001-06:00

I just love how everything on Bonnie matches. Her red hair, coat, jacket and ring. She should be a fashion writer or something.

02.01.12 he laughs while we cry

2012-02-01T22:13:00.002-06:00

My kickboxing instructor laughing while my classmates suffer. Thankfully, I'm helping shoot photos for the website's redesign so I was able to opt out of that evil exercise. Phew. Sadly, I'm done shooting the project and I'll have no more excuses to opt out.

01.31.12 weird and wonderful weather

2012-02-01T09:44:00.002-06:00

I only wish I played golf because I hear it's great weather for it.

01.30.12 McDonald's ice cream cone

2012-01-31T07:07:00.002-06:00

My not-so-guilty pleasure of 150 calories.

01.29.12 there's a new cook in the kitchen

2012-01-30T09:30:00.003-06:00

Cat reveals her homemade hot pockets to a proud and excited papa. They are biscuits filled with ham and cheese. And for breakfast she made eggs in a nest.

01.28.12 basketball, baby

2012-01-29T08:29:00.001-06:00

Playing D and shooting a free.

01.27.12 Checkers

2012-01-27T21:16:00.002-06:00

Checkers, the Wellington Vet Clinic cat, greets all the guests with a friendly kiss.

01.26.12 at the car wash

2012-01-27T05:36:00.002-06:00

They're using some pretty psychedelic colored soaps these days.

01.25.12 my kind of assignment

2012-01-25T20:16:00.001-06:00

I get cold easily so I was thrilled when I walked into this hot yoga class and the instructor said, "You're gonna get hot." It felt like a sauna and even the floor was heated. It was amazing.

01.24.12 film paper

2012-01-24T20:52:00.002-06:00

I can't believe I haven't blogged about this until now. It's a toilet paper (or film paper) holder given to me at Christmas by Denise.

01.23.12 The year of the dragon

2012-01-23T19:49:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite days of the year at one of my favorite Wichita restaurants.

01.22.12 lunchbox

2012-01-22T21:06:00.002-06:00

I packed my baby's lunchbox with some Indian leftovers from fabulous meals he has cooked over the past few days: chicken makhani, biryani, potatoes and shortbread.

01.21.12 Quelf

2012-01-22T14:37:00.002-06:00

Amy broke her concentration and lost a staring contest with Jill while playing a strange game called Quelf.

01.20.12 Blixie's pawprints

2012-01-21T08:59:00.003-06:00

Received this in the mail from Blixie's vet with a sweet card signed by the entire staff.

01.19.12 still trying to recover

2012-01-20T09:30:00.002-06:00

I'm hoping the healing powers of the Thai House's Thom Yum Kai's soup will do the trick.

01.18.12 I miss my girl

2012-01-18T18:57:00.003-06:00

Still feeling a little blech so I'm getting in some couch time. I wish I was cuddling with my Blixie while eating a Reese's.

01.17.12 a sinus clearer

2012-01-17T21:05:00.000-06:00

Pho is my chicken soup when I'm feeling kinda sick.

01.16.12 Remembering the victims

2012-01-17T08:41:00.004-06:00

"I thought we were in hell," Sonya M. House told me. The elderly woman was recalling the January 1965 morning when she was at home when a KC135 Air Refueling Tanker nose-dived into her neighborhood. She lives in the same house that narrowly escaped the plane's path. Each year on January 16 a ceremony is held to remember all 30 victims killed in the plane and on the ground.

01.15.11 playground weather in January

2012-01-15T18:54:00.002-06:00

Had fun swinging around like monkeys.

01.14.12 It's a sign

2012-01-15T08:35:00.002-06:00

I had a need to hug a kitten so I headed over to the Kansas Humane Society. It was a sweet surprise to find out that the kitties were living in a room named after my friend Diane Lewis.

01.13.12 the best cat ever made

2012-01-14T16:15:00.003-06:00

We laid our beautiful baby to rest at the Bartlett Arboretum and then toasted her with this crazy bottle of Riesling. She was the best.

Here's her life story and a link to pictures of her through the years.

Blixie Green was one cool cat. She was outgoing and greeted most with sweet (and sometimes stinky) sandpapery kisses. People felt special around her. She lit up every room she ever walked into (all five of them in her house).

Blixie was born in 1998 to a single mom in Chattanooga, Tenn. She spent the first six weeks of her life living with her mom and five siblings in a crowded and smelly newspaper-lined cardboard box. She never met her biological father but she thinks his name might’ve been Tom.

Blixie’s biological mom wanted a better life for her baby and gave her up for adoption on Valentine’s Day of that year. She was delivered to the newsroom of The Chattanooga Times and Jaime Green (then Jaime Oppenheimer) immediately fell in love.

It was a Times copy editor who helped name the kitten. “What is this blix I hear you photographers talk about all the time?” Dan Alderman said. “I’ve always thought that would be a great name for a pet.”

Blix is a bright purple chemical used to process films in the days before digital photography. The name stuck and it caught on. Within a week, two other photographers at the paper adopted animals they named Blix.

A year later when the newspaper closed its doors, a new one opened in Kansas. Blixie loved the idea of her mom working at a place named after a bird and was excited about finally meeting her cousin Bentley Neil.

Blixie loved Kansas. She could see forever on the Plains and did so once on the drive into town. She loved the people. She loved the cats a little less. Bentley turned out to be like a mean older brother, always hissing and whining and telling her to get out of his room.

Blixie began studying the culinary arts in her teenage years. Unlike most cats she was and adventurous eater and loved chickpeas, apples and green beans. In 2004 she hosted a chili cook-off in her home. She made T-shirts with her pretty face and bright blues eyes on the front and a quote from her on the back that read, “I like it spicy!” Years later she had a cameo in a video on how to make a beer butt duck – her favorite bird to eat.

She was also the subject of a song written and recorded by The Oppenheimer Bombshells, a pop punk girl group consisting of sisters Lara and Jaime Oppenheimer. “Blixie Lou” was inspired by her pizzazz for life.

Blixie’s world was changed forever on January 3, 2007 when Carter Green came into her life. A few years later he became her papa when he married her mama. He understood her in a way that no other human had before. He says it’s because he speaks cat and believes he might’ve been a cat in another lifetime.

Carter studied Blixie’s speech patterns and the two talked frequently. He started giving her singing lessons after learning that she could sing on-pitch. Another one of their favorite things to do was to walk around the house together with her perched on his shoulder like a bird. In a very convincing pirate accent Carter would say, “ARRRRRRRRR. This be me attack cat!”

When she wasn’t cooking, singing or chatting, she was sleeping. She loved sleeping in boxes, on bags, under blankets and, at night with her parents where she liked to sleep on their heads.

“She was just the best cat ever made,” her mother Jaime Green said. “Carter and I would hold her and wonder aloud how we ever got so lucky to have her in our lives.”

Blixie died peacefully on Friday morning and was buried at the Bartlett Arboretum in Belle Plaine, Kansas. Her family plans to have a stone inscribed with the words, “Blixie – The Best Cat Ever Made.”

01.12.12 a new view

2012-01-12T21:17:00.002-06:00

Courtesy of the very windy Wednesday night we had in Wichita.

01.11.12 Sister Sam

2012-01-12T08:32:00.003-06:00

This beautiful bonafide therapy dog accompanied us during our visit with a group of seniors (and a few juniors) at the library. We were talking about a place she knows well, the Bartlett Arboretum.

01.10.12 the best kitty ever

2012-01-10T22:43:00.003-06:00

My sweet baby Blixie isn't doing well and her doctor told us today that she's not long for this world. I'm so happy that I've been lucky enough to share a life with her for the past 14 years.

01.09.12 school lunch

2012-01-10T06:18:00.001-06:00

It doesn't look terrible.

01.08.12 snuggin' with my Blixie

2012-01-08T19:09:00.005-06:00

Snugging and learning a little more about my camera phone. I found out that the rear facing camera is far inferior to the front facing one. The quality of this photo is terrible but it's abundantly clear that I love my Blixie.

01.07.12 taking a hot tub

2012-01-08T08:49:00.001-06:00

A beautiful January day. This weird weather is messing with my psyche.

01.06.12 Kupan

2012-01-07T08:03:00.002-06:00

Best coupon ever.

01.05.12 Imelda Marcos' long lost daughter

2012-01-05T18:21:00.003-06:00

Photographed my friend Sierra with her ginormous shoe collection. It's hard to believe, but this is only a third of the entire lot. Look for a pic of the entire collection in next week's Eagle.

01.04.12 The Air Capital

2012-01-04T21:23:00.003-06:00

One of several press conferences held today all over the city to discuss the news that Boeing is leaving town.

01.03.12 I love this man

2012-01-04T08:58:00.002-06:00

NOM!

01.02.12 backyard sunset

2012-01-02T21:45:00.002-06:00

Spent the day cleaning, organizing, editing wedding photographs and cleaning some more. Then I realized I hadn't shot anything so I stepped outside just in time to see a nice sunset.

01.01.12 making biscuits

2012-01-01T20:49:00.002-06:00

A great way to start off the year. Unfortunately, I had to leave town before they were made but I will return for a hot and fresh batch.

01.01.12 Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T13:29:00.001-06:00

12.31.11 New Year's Eve wedding

2011-12-31T22:29:00.001-06:00

A beautiful wedding and a great way to end the year.

12.30.11 Joplin wedding rehearsal

2011-12-31T18:47:00.002-06:00

Spending the last weekend of 2011 in the same city where I had one of my most memorable days of this past year. The bride is actually the sister of the woman married on May 22.

12.29.11 holiday fashion

2011-12-29T20:03:00.000-06:00

My girl shows off the latest in holiday diapers.

12.28.11 spotted in front of my hardware store

2011-12-29T09:27:00.001-06:00

Grooooooovy.

12.27.11 Looking for One Eye

2011-12-27T20:50:00.003-06:00

Colin and his new extra-long Nerf gun are on the lookout for One Eye, a swamp creature with one eye according to Cajun lore and the subject of a new Mudbugs' song.

12.26.11 Monkey Bread

2011-12-26T15:36:00.003-06:00

It's a Christmas Day tradition in the Neil family (the kiddos thought today was Christmas). Here's this little monkey doing the same thing three years ago.

12.25.11 Grandma's apple pie

2011-12-25T17:13:00.001-06:00

The dessert was as sweet as the baker.

12.24.11 Fa-Rah-Rah-Rah-Raaaaahhhhh

2011-12-25T09:51:00.002-06:00

Had a fantastic Christmas Eve meal at our new favorite Chinese restaurant.

12.23.11 Christmas Eve Eve Party

2011-12-24T08:13:00.001-06:00

Good times.

12.22.11 Fat Tire

2011-12-22T20:55:00.003-06:00

Our little Fat Tire is bundled up to protect himself from the elements.

12.21.11 on top of the rock

2011-12-22T10:22:00.003-06:00

Little sister didn't wanted a piece of the rock just like her older siblings so she made her throne out of drums with a little help from mom.

12.20.11 future rock stars

2011-12-20T23:17:00.002-06:00

My nephew Owen stopped in to test out my new electronic drums. He's quite the musician.

12.19.11 play nice

2011-12-19T22:29:00.002-06:00

You two are on the same team.

12.18.11 PLAID

2011-12-18T21:57:00.003-06:00

Randy Regier's latest work of art.

12.17.11 presence under the tree

2011-12-18T09:16:00.002-06:00

Blixie was chilling out under the tree so Colin decided to join her.

12.16.11 BRACES

2011-12-16T20:46:00.002-06:00

Somebody looks pretty darn cute with braces.

12.15.11 I didn't think it was possible

2011-12-16T09:57:00.002-06:00

Carter has made the ice cream cake even better by topping it with chocolate syrup and coconut.

12.14.11 a nice restaurant for the Smurfs

2011-12-15T07:43:00.003-06:00

I love my Chop Suey Palace.

12.13.11 a plane tree

2011-12-14T09:31:00.001-06:00

Not a plain one. This one is very aero.

12.12.11 Illuminations at Botanica

2011-12-13T08:57:00.003-06:00

Hey, mister. I think you have a poinsettia in your mouth.

12.11.11 The President's Medal

2011-12-12T11:45:00.005-06:00

That's Bon sporting the President's Medal given to her by the president of Wichita State University for her outstanding work in the community. I'm so proud of her and I hope she wears it every single day.

12.10.11 Smurf village

2011-12-10T20:42:00.001-06:00

It is complete. Next up: Ron Swanson Marshmallow Man.

12.09.11 I hate to be a braggart BUT

2011-12-10T11:49:00.003-06:00

Our little Lexi Lou does it all! That's her as a pesky mouse fighting off a soldier in the Nutcracker.

12.08.11 Leader of the Pride

2011-12-08T19:13:00.000-06:00

Lexi was awarded Leader of the Pride at her school assembly for her helpfulness and great reading. She received a pencil, a certificate and her choice between a pepperoni or cheese pizza. Lucky little lion.

12.07.11 it is complete

2011-12-07T21:49:00.002-06:00

Well, I could use a tree skirt. Now I need to finish the Smurf village.

12.06.11 birthday twin

2011-12-06T23:50:00.003-06:00

That's my birthday boss posing as Santa. In addition to goofing off for this photo, we also made our annual pilgrimage to Denny's for a free Grand Slam!

12.05.11 hugs from grandma

2011-12-06T06:19:00.002-06:00

It's a good thing she's such an excellent hugger since she has 19 grandkids to love.

12.05.11 Big win for the Shockers

2011-12-05T07:23:00.002-06:00

The team beat the previously undefeated Runnin' Rebels.

12.03.11 my love of all things ice cream cake

2011-12-04T09:00:00.002-06:00

Denise has known of my love for all things ice cream cake for about 17 years now. Several birthdays ago we had a cake that had a pitcher of beer on it with the word BEER written in yellow icing. The DQ masterpiece she showed up with last night is the best ever and, well, takes the cake (sorry).

12.02.11 a white Christmas for the Greens

2011-12-03T08:39:00.004-06:00

We settled on a white tree after unsuccessfully looking all over Wichita looking for a tinsel tree. It's gonna be great but we learned a hard lesson when we put the blue lights on it. When decorating a white tree it is best to use lights that are attached by a white cord and not a green one. Back to the store.

12.01.11 Yareeeeeeeeet

2011-12-02T09:45:00.003-06:00

CRG took me out for an early birthday (the real date is next week) and surprised me with this audible card. It's a song he likes to sing to me. When I opened it up he played the 5-track version he recorded in 5-part harmony of the song.

I didn't think it could get any better than the homemade card but he surprised me with gorgeous jewelry on top of that.

11.30.11 Judge Solomon

2011-12-01T12:52:00.002-06:00

That's a rock star name for a judge.

11.29.11 Top 11

2011-11-29T21:16:00.000-06:00

My somewhat annual pilgrimage to Emporia to shoot the state's Top 11 football players.

11.28.11 snow blower

2011-11-28T16:55:00.003-06:00

That's my friend Stan tossing a little bit of plastic snow onto a scene from the Nutcracker. It's always a great show and I'm especially excited because Lexi is going to be a mouse.

11.27.11 southwest bound and down

2011-11-28T10:33:00.003-06:00

Pa Green drove the entire way home. It's nice having a father-in-law with a Commercial Driver's License who thinks that 700 miles is nothing.

P.S. Have I mentioned how much I love the camera on my iPhone 4Gs?

11.26.11 my rock star sister

2011-11-27T08:01:00.002-06:00

Impromptu fashion shoot in the bathroom with the iPhone.

11.25.11 Opa!

2011-11-25T22:55:00.002-06:00

Souvlaki at Carter's old haunt, The Salonica.

11.24.11 Thanksgiving

2011-11-25T10:26:00.002-06:00

Great food. Great family. Great times.

11.23.11 Like Silly, like son

2011-11-24T08:58:00.003-06:00

We arrived in Chicago and my 5-year-old niece threw an impromptu ribbon contest. The CRGs won!

11.22.11 FIESTA

2011-11-23T07:54:00.002-06:00

What you can't see are the beautiful Mexican pastries I brought to celebrate.

11.21.11 Monday Night Live

2011-11-22T07:51:00.001-06:00

Watching SNL. I love my DVR.

11.20.11 It feels like Thanksgiving

2011-11-20T20:48:00.000-06:00

For the past six years I've photographed the Word of the Lord church's annual Thanksgiving meal. Rev. Schedra Moore is an amazing woman who is known by her members as the Chicken Lady. Each Sunday she serves lunch to her members of mostly homeless people and on the Sunday before Thanksgiving they go to Bishop's Family Dining restaurant. I love catching up with her once a year and it's one of the rare assignments that I get hugged followed by her always wiping her makeup off of my cheek. I don't mind. It now feels like Thanksgiving to me.

11.19.11 Funfetti

2011-11-19T19:54:00.001-06:00

Happy birthday!

11.18.11 mmm...coffee

2011-11-19T07:01:00.002-06:00

My favorite mug.

11.17.11 new show shirt

2011-11-18T14:23:00.003-06:00

CRG's anniversary gift finally arrived just in time for some Christmas party giggin'.

11.16.11 cute kid

2011-11-16T15:24:00.000-06:00

This kid wanted me to shoot him while I was in a classroom. I did and he's pretty darn cute.

11.15.11 lucky kids

2011-11-16T07:57:00.001-06:00

Back in the day I had to fight with my siblings to get my turn on the Atari. These kiddles each have their own computer.

11.14.11 sunset

2011-11-15T10:33:00.001-06:00

Taken from the parking lot at Sam's. Why am I never out in the middle of nowhere when these things happen?!

11.13.11 Nitty Gritty

2011-11-14T12:36:00.003-06:00

When the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band started playing "Jambalaya," we Mudbugs just couldn't sit still. I found myself creeping closer to the stage and Erin couldn't help but tap her feet to John McEuen's sweet fiddlin'.

The concert was great and about 500 people stayed for the premier of our documentary which looked great under the Loblolly pines.

11.12.11 Uncommon Ground

2011-11-12T20:55:00.003-06:00

We debuted our film today at the Belle Plaine High School and then tested out the screen we'll show it on tomorrow at the Arboretum. I'm pretty pumped up about tomorrow.

11.11.11 Candle Club

2011-11-12T08:23:00.002-06:00

Martini and olive stuffed with blue cheese

11.10.11 mugshot marathon

2011-11-11T12:03:00.003-06:00

I took mugshots of nearly 200 area high school basketball players for our annual preps basketball preview stories. Jalen Love was my favorite.

11.09.11 nails

2011-11-09T16:53:00.001-06:00

My back suddenly needs a good scratchin'. Or not.

11.08.11 diehards

2011-11-08T21:16:00.003-06:00

Playing golf in the cold rain. They work at the course and said that only one other golfer braved the elements to play the game.

11.07.11 it's been awhile

2011-11-07T19:05:00.000-06:00

It was nice to take photos of the rain today after a very long and hot summer.