Thadd and Milan

Pause for paws.

2012-01-26T23:02:00.007-05:00

So about halfway through my shoot at Freedom Center with the Attorney General, my
Speedlight SB-600 decided to die. It had new batteries and the whole bit. But it just quit
working. When I got home, I messed with it more and couldn't get it to work. Thankfully,
I have a spare. And I tested the backup out to see if it worked...

Milan thinks it works just fine. :)

Great American Tower.

2012-01-26T21:00:00.001-05:00

Om a rainy evening in downtown Cincinnati.

The Attorney General at Freedom Center.

2012-01-26T19:18:00.004-05:00

The Attorney General, Eric Holden was speaking at the National Underground Railroad
Freedom Center this evening and they asked me to come down to take some photos...

And then there was a VIP reception for the Attorney General...

And finally me with the Attorney General, Eric Holden...

Click to see all the photos I took at the Attorney General's appearance at the Freedom Center.

Bleh.

2012-01-26T17:10:00.001-05:00

Downtown details.

2012-01-26T13:08:00.000-05:00

70 days.

2012-01-26T12:07:00.000-05:00

Until baseball returns to Cincinnati. And I can't wait. :)

Rain, rain, go away.

2012-01-26T07:59:00.004-05:00

I might as well move out to Portland if this keeps up. I think I'd rather have all this rain
be snow. I'm just so tired the constant rain. :'(

USA! USA!

2012-01-25T20:30:00.001-05:00

I didn't do much this evening. It was raining and cold. Again. But I did get to watch
the United States Men's National Team play a friendly match versus Panama on my iPad.

That WatchESPN app is really pretty cool.

UPDATE: USA won 1-0!

Say hello to my little friend...

2012-01-24T21:09:00.002-05:00

Bleh.

Happy birthday, Josh!

2012-01-24T17:30:00.002-05:00

Today is my brother's birthday!

I hope you have a great day, Josh! :)

Syracuse Orange vs. Cincinnati Bearcats.

2012-01-23T20:52:00.001-05:00

Tonight, we went up to UC's Fifth Third Arena to see the Bearcats take on ~~No.1~~ No.4 Syracuse.

Legendary Syracuse head coach, Jim Boehiem...

Good game and fun night. :)

Seen and noted.

2012-01-23T12:50:00.000-05:00

Our weekly walk totals.

2012-01-23T06:30:00.001-05:00

This week we did pretty good and walked a total of 20.2 miles. We love our walking. :)

Football Sunday.

2012-01-22T17:47:00.001-05:00

Geez. Those were some great football games today. We got some guacamole at Nada
before heading down to Holy Grail for some wings. Great day of football.
And the Pats are going back to the Super Bowl!

Pause for paws.

2012-01-22T13:38:00.001-05:00

Whoa. It's wicked foggy.

2012-01-22T12:30:00.000-05:00

It was a little warmer this morning and all ice started to melt and it was wicked foggy.

Smile!

2012-01-21T22:28:00.000-05:00

The new Blue Wisp.

2012-01-21T20:34:00.002-05:00

Tonight, we walked down Seventh Street to the new Blue Wisp. You might remember
a few months back we went to the old Blue Wisp, soon be a parking lot for the casino.

The place was packed. It's great to see the Blue Wisp doing well in their new space.
Especially, when other establishments really struggled there. And we learned that
if your id has the zip code 45202 on it, they wave the cover.Awesome night. Great
music. We can't wait to go back to hear some more great jazz. :)

The number one team in all the land... oh, wait.

2012-01-21T18:09:00.004-05:00

When we were at the Bearcats v. Villanova game a few weeks ago, I picked up two tickets
for us so we could see the number one college basketball team in all the land, Syracuse.

Because how many times do you get to see the number one team play in your backyard?
Case in point, all Syracuse had to do was knock off unranked Notre Dame this evening
for us to get to see number one on Monday. And... Syracuse got handed their first lost
of the season, 67-58. This means we don't get to see No. 1 Syracuse instead No.4 Syracuse.

Oh well, it's still going to be a great game. :)

Hello.

2012-01-21T15:03:00.000-05:00

Rio Grande.

2012-01-21T14:50:00.000-05:00

For lunch today, we went to try a Mexican place we'd never been to before called Rio Grande.

We ordered waaay too much food...

And the bottom of Genifer's margarita glass was a little catcus...

Delicious food but ugh... so incredibly full.

Ice storm.

2012-01-21T11:43:00.000-05:00

We actually got the ice storm that they've were talking about last night.

It made going on our walk this morning a little treacherous. :)

Home.

2012-01-20T21:39:00.000-05:00

Laurence Street.

2012-01-20T20:32:00.000-05:00

They should keep these lights up all year.

2012-01-20T18:26:00.000-05:00

Just saying.

It's a sign.

2012-01-19T19:38:00.000-05:00

Seen and noted.

2012-01-19T13:33:00.000-05:00

Good morning.

2012-01-19T08:29:00.000-05:00

Goulash, y'all!

2012-01-18T23:35:00.002-05:00

Last weekend when my parents were visting, they brought me a ton of goulash.

Deliciousness! Thanks mom and dad!

ps. Check out this YouTube clip that Genifer and I think is hilarious.
Goulash, y'all! :)

Protest the internet censorship bills, SOPA & PIPA.

2012-01-18T08:00:00.003-05:00

You may have noticed today that many of your favorite internet sites are going dark
to protest legislation in the U.S. congress that would effect the open internet. I don't
have the technical skills to make my site change for the day (or the time to learn or
ask for help) but I do encourage you to learn more about the movement, and if you
have a blog or tumblr or whatever, join in.

Wired.com also has a good summary and some links for more details.

Pause for paws.

2012-01-17T23:59:00.000-05:00

Wait 15 minutes...

2012-01-17T17:46:00.001-05:00

Today's weather was crazy. It lived up to the old saying, "If you don't like the weather,
just wait 15 minutes." Milan and I got caught out in a torrential downpour on our walk.

Pause for paws.

2012-01-16T23:58:00.001-05:00

Rick Roll'd.

2012-01-16T21:19:00.004-05:00

When Genifer came over this evening, she gave me this gem...

We have so much in common. For example, we both love to RickRoll people.
I love her. :)

Errands.

2012-01-16T14:16:00.002-05:00

This afternoon I had to run some errands and I brought Milan along for the ride.

He loves to go on car rides. :)

Our weekly walk totals.

2012-01-16T06:27:00.000-05:00

This week we came up just short of our weekly walking goal by trekking 25.7 miles.
We love our walking. :)

Pause for paws.

2012-01-15T23:58:00.000-05:00

Wii bowling.

2012-01-15T21:14:00.000-05:00

Genifer and I bowled a lot tonight. And she kicked my booty. Over and over again.

Seventh Street.

2012-01-15T19:12:00.000-05:00

Sixth Street.

2012-01-15T18:11:00.000-05:00

14,000 Check-ins!

2012-01-15T12:06:00.000-05:00

This morning I hit another milestone on my Foursquare... 14,000 check-ins!

I love my Foursquare!

Pause for paws.

2012-01-14T23:03:00.000-05:00

Svensk. :)

Boonzaaijer Cake.

2012-01-14T21:02:00.001-05:00

My parents brought down a Boonzaaijer Cake for my birthday at the end of the month.

SuperYum FTW!

Moerlein Lager House.

2012-01-14T17:48:00.002-05:00

This afternoon we went down to The Banks for lunch. Before lunch, we wandered
around Smale Riverfront Park and checked out the Moerlein Lager House...

I can't wait for this place to open. :)

University of Cincinnati.

2012-01-14T15:34:00.002-05:00

After the basketball game, we wandered around UC's campus for a bit. I've never
wandered around Cincinnati's campus. It seemed pretty nice. Wonderful architecture.

Clcik to see all the photos I took during our afternoon on UC's campus.

Bearcat basketball.

2012-01-14T14:05:00.003-05:00

Today, we went to check out our first Cincinnati Bearcats and Big East basketball game.
The Bearcats were taking on the Villanova Wildcats at Fifth Third Arena.

Our seats were pretty awesome...

And we all got free Bearcats t-shirts...

During the first half, I went to get a drink of water and saw this guy...

And when I turned around UC football coach Butch Jones was standing behind me.
I wish I would have snapped a photo, but I just shook his hand and congratulated him.

At halftime, the Bearcats football team was honored for their terrific season.

The best part of the halftime festivities was when Coach Jones said, "Last time I checked,
there is only one nationally-ranked football team in the state of Ohio." LOL. It's funny
because it's true. And speaking of funny, then there were these guys...

And the Bearcats hit their free throws down the stretch to win the game 82-78...

Great game. Great afternoon. Click to see all the photos I took at the Bearcats game.

Cyclones hockey.

2012-01-13T19:34:00.001-05:00

My parents came down from Kalamazoo to visit for the weekend. And tonight,
we went to watch the Cyclones take on the Kalamazoo Wings at US Bank Arena.

LET'S PLAY HOCKEY!

I kept catching myself looking for Chuck on the Jumbotron.

There were some real characters in attendance...

The Cyclones lost 3-1 to the K-Wings but it was great to get to another 'Clones game.
Hopefully, things will slow down a little bit and I can get to more games really soon.

Click to see all the photos I took at the Cyclones game.

Fido Field.

2012-01-13T17:32:00.000-05:00

Have I mentioned that I love the view of downtown from the new dog park?

Silver Ladle.

2012-01-13T12:26:00.001-05:00

Today, I noticed that they were putting up the awning at Silver Ladle...

Silver Ladle is the latest addition to Restaurant Row and will be opening soon.

Baby, it's cold outside.

2012-01-12T23:07:00.000-05:00

Downtown details.

2012-01-12T18:06:00.000-05:00

snOMG!

2012-01-12T12:01:00.000-05:00

It has begun.

Perfectly imperfect.

2012-01-11T23:48:00.005-05:00

Back on New Year's Eve, my sister gave me this amazing piece of pottery that she made.
I love everything about this piece... the color, the shape and how it's perfectly imperfect.

It reminds of that scene from Fight Club... "Even the glass dishes with tiny bubbles
and imperfections. Proof that they were crafted by the honest, simple, hard-working
indigenous peoples of... wherever." Only I know where mine came from. And that's
straight from the hands of my sister.

Thanks Shanu! I love it.
:)

Downtown details.

2012-01-11T17:53:00.000-05:00

Good morning.

2012-01-11T07:45:00.000-05:00

This morning seemed more Pacific Northwest than southern OHio.

Good evening.

2012-01-10T19:07:00.000-05:00

And this evening we walked 2.76 miles.

Good morning.

2012-01-10T07:39:00.001-05:00

Today is my Twitter birthday!

2012-01-10T00:11:00.003-05:00

Three years ago today, I joined Twitter. 20,000+ tweets later, I've made a lot of great friends
and met a lot of interesting people. I love my Twitter. :)

From my baby book.

2012-01-09T22:19:00.000-05:00

My sister sent me this photo from my baby book...

My parents have a blog!

2012-01-09T20:50:00.001-05:00

My sister helped my parents start their very own blog! Now you can follow my parent's
adventures on their new blog... GeorgeAndJudi.blogspot.com.

Welcome to the blogosphere, mom and dad! And great first posts! :)

Christmas carnage.

2012-01-09T08:29:00.000-05:00

Good morning.

2012-01-09T07:06:00.001-05:00

Our weekly walk totals.

2012-01-09T06:17:00.002-05:00

This week we fell a bit short of our goal but still managed to walk 20.2 miles.
We love our walking. :)

Pause for paws.

2012-01-08T22:09:00.000-05:00

It was a pretty day.

2012-01-08T18:04:00.000-05:00

The Holy Grail.

2012-01-08T16:59:00.000-05:00

We stopped at Holy Grail to watch some football and grab some lunch.

Did you know you can get a growler of Holy Grail's incredible Blueberry Ale?
We just discovered that gem this afternoon. We really like Holy Grail. :)

Moerlein Lager House.

2012-01-08T12:51:00.002-05:00

We wandered around The Banks a little this afternoon. It looked like they were finally
making some good progress on the Moerlein Lager House...

The place looks like it's going to be pretty cool whenever it finally opens.

Hmm... artsy.

2012-01-07T22:48:00.001-05:00

I'm not really sure what happened with the photo. I was trying to take a photo
of the P&G Towers with the moon in the background. And this is what I got...

Still looks kind of cool though. :)

Who Dey.

2012-01-07T18:42:00.001-05:00

Our friends Gretchen and Martin came over to watch the Bengals playoff game with us.
And before the game, we made some stuff to snack on...

Of course the Bengals lost. But it was still fun to watch the game with friends.

Oscar Mayer Wienermobile.

2012-01-07T15:35:00.003-05:00

We ran to get a few groceries at the store, and outside was the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile.

You never know what you'll end up stumbling across around here. :)

Random object of desire.

2012-01-07T13:15:00.000-05:00

Sentinel Street.

2012-01-07T10:04:00.001-05:00

On our way to Fido Field Dog Park.

Seventh Street.

2012-01-06T17:50:00.001-05:00

At dusk.

Happy trails, holiday tree.

2012-01-06T13:28:00.001-05:00

At lunchtime, I couldn't help but notice the holiday tree on Fountain Square had been removed.

All that was left is just this stump and a few remnants of some branches.

Kinda sad. :( Click to see all the photos I took of the holiday tree at the Light Up and on New Year's.

Cafe de Wheels.

2012-01-06T12:13:00.002-05:00

The Burger Truck was on Fountain Square at lunchtime. So I got some lunch.

Yum! It's been waaaay too long. :)

Good morning.

2012-01-06T09:05:00.000-05:00

Good evening.

2012-01-05T20:13:00.001-05:00

Milan and I walked 2.38 miles tonight.

Downtown details.

2012-01-05T17:59:00.000-05:00

Good morning.

2012-01-05T07:52:00.000-05:00

Pause for paws.

2012-01-04T22:14:00.002-05:00

Cats love playing in the sheets while you're changing on your bed.

More Christmas carnage.

2012-01-04T13:02:00.000-05:00

Sugar Bowl. HAIL!

2012-01-03T23:48:00.004-05:00

23-20. Great game. Go BLUE! HAIL!

[Photo by Brendan Gibbons :: AP]

Downtown details.

2012-01-03T17:30:00.002-05:00

I love the way the evening light shines through to highlight little architectural details...

Walking in a winter wonderland.

2012-01-02T12:27:00.002-05:00

Genifer and I went to nada for lunch and snow really started to fall...

Baby, it's cold outside.

2012-01-02T11:21:00.000-05:00

Milan and I went on a walk this morning with the snowflakes starting to fall...

Our weekly walk totals.

2012-01-02T06:02:00.004-05:00

This week we walked a very nice 23.0 miles. And that's not too shabby. At all.

For the month of December, we walked 96 miles. That's a little off our usual
monthly pace of just over 100 miles. But we'll take it.

And... Since I started using Runkeeper back at the beginning of March to log
and keep track of our walks, we've walked a staggering 1071.6 miles. That's a lot!
What can I say? We just really love our walking. :)

A long walk, family style.

2012-01-01T16:02:00.003-05:00

My parents, Shannon and I took Milan on a long walk this afternoon...

And we walked a chilly 4.60 miles.

Show me the way to the next...

2012-01-01T15:00:00.001-05:00

Whisky Bar. New spot opening up on Pete Rose Way.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

2012-01-01T14:55:00.001-05:00

I saw another one...

Overnight coffee cake!

2012-01-01T12:48:00.000-05:00

And continuing the Fiala family tradition, my mom and Shannon made overnight coffee cake!

So good, so good, so good!

Shanu!

2012-01-01T01:45:00.001-05:00

After doing her impression of Buddy the Elf in the revolving door...

I missed my focus. But it seems somehow appropriate after she went round and round.
:)

New Year's Eve... The aftermath.

2012-01-01T01:01:00.000-05:00

Best view of the fireworks you could ever hope to have. :)

NEW YEAR'S EVE!

2011-12-31T23:59:00.000-05:00

Tonight, I had to take photos on Fountain Square for 3CDC... So around 11pm, we all
headed down to the Square, and it was jammed pack with people wanting to ring it in.

And then arrangements had been made for us to go up to the roof of the Fifth Third Center
so I could get photos of the fireworks from a unique angle looking down on the Square...

What amazing way to ring in 2012! I hope everyone had a happy and safe New Years!
Click to see all the photos I took of the NYE celebration on Fountain Square.

New Year's Eve, Fiala style.

2011-12-31T22:20:00.001-05:00

As you might have guessed from the previous post, my parents and sister journeyed down
from Michigan to hang out with us, and do New Year's Eve up right... Fiala style. So that
means that there were lotsa great hors d'oeuvres. Like bacon wrapped water chestnuts...

And Polish mistakes...

Pigs in a blanket...

Lotsa of poppers...

And plenty of good beers...

This last photo was taken by my sister, Shannon. Be sure to check out her awesome blog!

Toys for boys.

2011-12-31T14:18:00.000-05:00

I gave Milan a new toy today...

New best friends.

2011-12-31T10:13:00.000-05:00

Milan and my sister Shannon...

Don Pablo's.

2011-12-31T09:15:00.000-05:00

Today Genifer and I went to lunch across the river at Don Pablo's.

Pause for paws.

2011-12-30T22:10:00.000-05:00

Milan was all snug as a bug in a rug on the sofa...

Christmas carnage.

2011-12-30T14:08:00.000-05:00

A sad discarded Christmas tree. :(

Sawyer Point.

2011-12-30T14:04:00.000-05:00

And we couldn't help but take another look at the OHio River...