BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN

Until last November I had been working out consistently for about 2 years. Mind you, that is not to imply that I am gym rat (my body would attest that) but I loved that post-workout feeling when the endorphins are being released (or whatever it is they do). 

So it was with a heavy heart that I had to put my gym membership on "hold" to save money. When you are forced to live on 46% of what you were making before, it's tough to justify spending $70/month to work out. 

Anyways, I got a call from the gym yesterday saying that the "hold" on my account had expired, and when they tried to process a payment, it got rejected. Fuck. So today I went to the gym and spoke with a manager. 

She explained that I had to pay the $20 "bounce check" fee and then asked if I wanted to put the account back on hold. I said I did since I couldn't afford $70/month. "Well what could you afford?" she asked me. Before I could even answer she said "What about $35/month?" to which I quickly replied that that would be doable. 

Finally I can go back to working out on semi-daily basis! Hooray! With a little hard work this extra winter (er, PBR) fat will fuck right off and all the boys will be drooling over me (or at least I won't be sucking in my gut when I wear skinny jeans). 

PS - I was also pleased to discover that hot gay guys are still in abundance at my gym. In a span of 10 minutes I spotted at least 6 guys that I would go all buck nasty on. WOOT!

24 GOTHAM IS THE SHIT!

When I got home today from running around I spotted an envelop with my name on it sitting on the floor near my mailbox. Since the mailboxes in my place are so old, anything marked "do not bend" is simply left on the floor. Thank Gawd the mail carrier didn't bend this particular envelope, as it contained a crisp 8x10 of the image below:

Devyn is a photographer I've been following for a few years now. He used to be based in Chicago but now resides in the splendor that is NYC. He's also a talented bastard and even better, a really nice guy I had the distinct pleasure of meeting last year. Do yourself a favor and follow his photo-blog HERE. 

Of his many urban-centric subjects are these SICK images of those security grates pulled over store fronts at night, and the interplay between said barrier and the neon lighting behind. The image above was and still is my favorite of this on-going series...and I am STOKED to have a print to hang in my home. THANKS DEV!

In related news, I've decided to re-focus on my long dormant photo-blog, URBS IN HORTO starting tomorrow. This was my first, and rather modest attempt at starting a blog, one which preceded Guy From Chicago. 

This re-found energy is a direct result of St. Louis friend "Cloudy" graciously gifting a digital camera to replace mine that died many months ago. Don't expect anything on the level of Devyn's work; my hope is to create a decent image every so often. At the least, I need to get my "eye" back in the game of visually capturing this city.