Update

Well, I technically have one more day until I go back to State to start my second semester. I don't want to go back just because its school! It's been so nice waking up and being lazy for the past couple weeks! Oh well, all good things have to come to an end, right? On the plus side, I don't have a single night class this semester. In fact, the latest I get out of a class is 5:45 pm, so that'll be nice!

In other news, I finally decided to email the NC State Fair manager and give him my suggestions for the concerts that I talked about in my last update. Believe it or not, he did actually email me back and passed my ideas along to the entertainment person. Hopefully at least one of those acts could come to the Fair next year. That would be awesome!

In the Twitterverse, I have yet another celeb follow. This time from Corbin Bleu. That brings my total to three in a span of about a month. Like the other two celebs, I did absolutely nothing to get them to follow me. Many people will tweet and tweet and tweet to try and get them to follow, to no prevail. Not me! Guess I'm just a beast at attracting celebs to follow me on Twitter...haha! Anyway, Twitter has been a pretty cool addition to my social networking universe.

This week will be another busy one for me. In addition to school, I have Campus Crusade Bible study Monday and I am supposed to go see "The Lion King" at the DPAC with my church's music ministry on Tuesday. I say "supposed" because we are expecting some wintry weather down here so I'm not sure if we'll be able to go on this night. If not, we can trade our tix for another show, so I'm not worried about losing my money or anything. We will have a long weekend next weekend (MLK Day) so I'll have an extra day just to chill. Can't wait!

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Great Time At The Fair

Pic I took from the midway of the fireworks

I went to the State Fair again on Saturday and had a great time. Of course, I ate a lot, including my Italian sausage from McBride's and a piece of apple pie from Smitty's Apples. I also tried some new and somewhat crazy things. First, I tried deep fried Chips Ahoy cookies which tasted just like the deep fried cookie dough (but I like the cookie dough better).

I also tried the Krispy Kreme burger and it was awesome! I got it plain (no ketchup, etc.) because I was afraid it would ruin the taste. I just wanted to taste the doughnuts and burger themselves. It was the first time I have not put ketchup on a burger but I managed. Later that evening, I went to the Darius Rucker concert, which was worth every penny I paid for it. Security people even let you go down to the front, take a quick picture, then go back. However, near the end, I guess they gave up on sending people back because they let us stay down in the front. I got some really good pics of the concert.

I have to say, the only drawback of the whole thing was the parking! I ended up parking in a field off Edwards Mill Road about 2 miles from the fairgrounds and rode a shuttle. Having the shuttle did make it easier because it dropped you off and picked you up right at the gate, but going through the traffic to find a place to park was kind of a hassle. Oh, one more thing: I rode a couple rides, including Fighter; the one I really wanted to ride this year.

That was the ride where there's only two of its kind in the world and one was at the fair this year. It's basically a cross between the Spider/Octopus, Scrambler, and Swing rides and it was very cool! Word of advice, though, if you get a little scared while riding it, don't close your eyes. If you do that, it'll will feel like you are almost going upside down. I learned that when I rode it Saturday. Everyone is right: it doesn't look all that bad, but it is pretty fierce once you actually experience it.

Even though I came up empty handed again with the photo competition, I still had an amazing time at the fair. I ate some great food, saw an awesome concert, and rode some cool rides. I'm already looking forward to next year!

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Mediocre Photos = Blue Ribbons?

When I went to the State Fair yesterday, I got to see my photo on display in the Scott Building. I was, once again, very disappointed in how things turned out. I had already figured I didn't win anything since I didn't get a call, but it's even more disappointing when that finally becomes reality. Last year, I was just happy that my picture was simply recognized and displayed but, this year, I would have been happier had I actually won something for it. Heck, they didn't even have those little ribbon things on our pictures with the year on them acknowledging your photo was displayed.

The "winner" of the competition had an alright picture, but there were many more (including mine) that would have been better. Their picture was of a man in a retro car. The one thing I liked about it was the perspective it was taken from, but I thought the focus was off. I don't know if it was an effect or what, but the picture looked almost like it was a little blurry.

You know, I am actually pretty frustrated with the competition this year for a couple of reasons: first off, the people working at the competition site were not as friendly at all compared to last year. Second, I wish to goodness the judges would provide us with some kind of feedback on our pictures so we know things they are looking for. Seriously, how hard is it to provide us with some kind of feedback on our photos? Word of advice: if you ever plan to enter the photo competition at the fair, make sure you picture a mediocre picture to use if you want to win. Coming Soon: side by side look at my pic and the winner's pic.

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State Fair Part I

This is a picture of a deep fried honey bun

from Google Images.

This is my first in two posts I will have about my experiences at the 2010 NC State Fair. I went with my mom today and we had a pretty good time. The food was amazing like always! I had my traditional Italian sausage and fries from McBride's food stand.

Later on, I had a treat from last year: deep fried cookie dough. I did try the deep fried honey bun like I had planned and it wasn't half bad. They use those huge honey buns and cover it with batter, then top it with powdered sugar. It was very good, but I only ate about half of it. I thought about trying the Krispy Kreme burger, but I decided to wait until I go again this Saturday.

Speaking of that, I will be going this Saturday (I'm so lucky) and will be taking in all the great food and rides again. The day will be capped off by the Darius Rucker concert at the Dorton Arena. I've gotten so where, each year I go to the fair, I see one of the Dorton Arena concerts. There have been having some pretty good acts come through there in the past years (and the tickets are dirt cheap) so I try to take advantage of this when I can.

I did ride a ride too. I rode the Super Himalaya which is like the traditional Himalaya rides you see all the time. It didn't go backwards (which I love) but it did go really fast (which I also love). It actually went faster and lasted longer than any of the Himalaya-like rides at the fair. It was awesome! I also wanted to ride Fighter which is a new ride and one of only two in the world. When I got to it, though, it looked like they were testing it or somethiing because nobody was on it and they were inspecting it or something. Hopefully I'll be able to Saturday.

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Photo Competition Update

Well, it looks like I've come up empty-handed once again with the photo competition. As of tonight, I have not recieved a call or email, so I presume I didn't win anything. I think they would contact you if you won something and not let you figure it for yourself by going to the fair but, who knows? I guess I'll find out officially when I go this Sunday.

On a more positive note, I will get to go to the fair at least twice this year and will get to see Darius Rucker in concert. In fact, his concert is just the first in a string of events I'm going to over the next several months. I have a concert or event I'm going to every month from October to February. It's crazy! When I go on Sunday, I'll try to Tweet from my phone the official results of the competition, so make sure you're keeping up with me on Twitter.

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Photo Competition Update

Today is the day that judging begins on the photo competition. I took my photo over to the fairgrounds Friday and I hope things will turn out okay with it. I did see one guy bring in his picture and it was awesome. Let me put it this way, if he's in the amateur category, I'm doomed! Oh well, I gave it my best shot, so we'll see what happens.

At least this go-round, I'll know the results if I don't receive a call by Wednesday. Regardless of whether I win anything or not, my photo will still be on display throughout the fair so, if you're going, make sure you check it out in the Scott Building. I will update you guys here and on Twitter once I know the results.

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Photo Competition Update

Just wanted to give you a quick update on the State Fair photo competition. My picture is framed, wired, and ready to be sent over to the Fairgrounds next Friday, and judging will be from Oct. 11-13. I really hope I will win at least something this year for my photo. In my opinion, the photo I chose this go-round is much better than the one from last year. Photography nowadays focuses a lot on perspective and point of view. I think the point of view from which the photo is taken is pretty cool. Just in case you forgot, here's my entry...

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At It Again

I can't believe it's already that time again, but I entered in this year's photo competition at the State Fair! I am pumped about this year because, unlike last year's entry this picture is bigger, better, and in color. As you may recall, my first year of exhibiting went alright. I mean, at least my picture got exhibited but I didn't win anything for it. I hope this year will be different. Of course, I would love to get first place and a blue ribbon like anyone else.

However, I know the competion will be even tougher this year because I'm in the amateur category. I believe this category is larger than the school category I was in last year. This means I have to step up my game and present a picture that stands above the rest not only in quality but in framing, size, etc. The higher category also means the prizes are so much better. First prize this year is $120 and, of course the coveted blue ribbon. Second gets $95, third $80, and honorable mentions get $55. Just as a comparison, here's the photo I used last year...

And here is this year's entry...

The pic above was taken in Times Square, New York from my trip this past March. As you can see, there's a big difference between the two. In fact, I tried something new with thw photo this year. I got it enlarged by Shutterfly, an online company where you simply upload any photo and order prints at very cheap prices. Let me tell you, they made the picture look even better than the one above! I think I have improved my photo picking skills somewhat. Seriously, I looked back on last year and continue to ask myself, "Why did I pick that picture?" Oh well, I invested quite a bit in this year's photo, so I hope it will pay off.

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