Hello, Good Friend....

It's been a while since an update.
Not too much has happened this past week.
I got my confirmation for my Warped Tour Pass, and the 10 for 10 tour.
Got my new 5D Mark II. I'm in love with the full frame sensor.
Took pictures for a skate comp in Buffalo Grove, and met a few new people over the weekend. I met people here that are friends with people in Dubuque, it's a small world.
Here's some stuff from the past week!















Check out the new flickr photos too!
Skate Comp and Some pictures of Smith
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradnoonan

Sleep Won't Come Easy

This is were I spend my time. Ha.



I am waiting for my photo pass for Warped Tour in Chicago.
I just need my confirmation email, and it's keeping me up.
A new camera tomorrow! Canon 5D Mark II.
I can't believe it. It's my dream camera.
Every time I'm ready to give up,
something comes along that pushes me back in.


I got bored tonight so I decided to create a picture.



Hear No Evil. See No Evil. Speak No Evil.

New photos up on flickr too!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradnoonan!

The Morning Sun On My Face

This is the view out my bedroom window.
Nothing to write home about, but a big change.
Nothing is the same. My life just changed completely in 2 weeks.
It's not like I've even processed all the changes that are still going on with myself.
I just hope that when they're all done, and I finally feel at home somewhere other than home, I'll be someone I want to be.
I hate looking at myself and realizing I'm not who, where, or what I want to be.



My patience is running thin with myself.

It should not be this hard to see, how to get from point a to point b, without losing sleep

CHICAGO LIFE



More pictures coming soon!



I miss home.
I miss having friends.
I miss my family.
Home, Family, Friends.
The three most important things to anyone, and they're all somewhere else for me.
I can't even think about the past or home, or I start to feel my breathing change.

Chicago has me homesick,
but I'm just so sick of home.



Captivate Your Life.





Artist of the week:
Sparks The Rescue






If this is perfect, then lets end this before it starts
we are not pictures, no. and this couldnt last forever.
and over time all the colors fade away, we cut and paste the words
we cannot bear to say.

have i been treating you right pretty baby?
id be better if i wasnt so stoned
but now your leaving me all on my own
i swear ill be a better man if you keep drinking that wine
little darling you'll be drunk before you know
when that other boy wont show any signs of a gentleman

New Music, Well Not Really

I'm loving this new band Sparks The Rescue.
They aren't really new, but new to me!
Check it out. http://www.myspace.com/sparkstherescue

Work soon....then whatever....
Life is boring once again

What a day

It's 5 a.m. and I just finished editing and uploading the rest of the photos from the show last night. It's been a long day to say the least.
So, my day started out with me waking up late and missing my package (A 1,600 dollar camera lens that I needed for the show at 5) I called UPS and tried to arrange a pick up, but they didn't call back so I attempted to drive to the center.
I got pulled over on the way there, and got a speeding ticket for $75.
I ended up never making it to the UPS center and they met me at a White Castle to give me my package. Then, I get there and spill a pop all over my car. I go to get gas after that on the way home before getting ready to leave, and the gas pump at the gas station won't work.
So that was my day up until I went to the show, and I expected everything else to go wrong, so I'm surprised that I am satisfied with how the photos turned out.








If you want to see the rest of the photo's of all the bands and the rest of the show they are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bradnoonan/collections/72157621467432011/

I had a press pass for the Four Year Strong/Set Your Goals show @ The Metro downtown, but
apparently Elton John and Billy Joel were playing right next door at Wrigley Field. When we got out I got to listen to Benny and The Jets, and Candle in the Wind on the walk to the Red Line.
I work Friday-Sunday this week.....blah.

I had a lot of fun at the show, and I feel a lot more confident in myself as a photographer now that this is done and over with, and it seems to have went well.
I met a couple photographers and got some business cards from them.
I also might get the chance to do more photography at The Metro if they like my pictures.


I'm tired, I have more to write, but I'll save it for tommorrow.

Check out my pictures and let me know what you think!!


Heroes have betrayed, we sing for better days.
Don't sign our lives away, to impure industries

Who I Am Hates Who I've Been

My mother helped me purchase a $1,600 lens today for my camera. It's made me look at how lucky I am. How fortunate I am to be where I am, with the people around me. Especially my family, who I've neglected to appreciate and spend time with the last few years.
Growing up is hard, and sometimes you just have to do things on your own, and it's been hard for them to understand, but I've made it this far, and they've gotten me an amazing start on life.


Dear Mom,
It's your son, and I can't tell you how much you mean to me. I wouldn't be anywhere if it weren't for you. You've saved my life from going down path's that I would never have come back from. You've given me advice that I've carried with me in my heart every day, whether I listened intently or blew it off, every word you've ever told me has been heard. You've paid my way for things when I never deserved it, and even when it wasn't right. You've bailed me out, and always been there for me.
I can't say I've done the same for you, and I can't even say that I've shown you or told you enough that I loved you.
More than anything in the world. More than any of the things you've bought me, more than any of the camera equipment you've helped me buy.
You've comforted me at my worst, you've stayed up at night to let me cry on your shoulder and told me everything was going to be ok....
You've taught me how to treat a girl, and how to deal with heartbreak.
I could have been stuck with anyone, anyone in the world, but I ended up with you.

Here it is.
I love you.
All the way around the world and back. Just like you used to tell me when I was little.
When you grow old I'm going to take care of you, when you get sick I'm going to be there. I'm sorry for every time I've ever yelled at you, or for all the time's I've said things that you never heard because I was so mad.
You are the reason I'm here right now.
You are the reason for all of my successes
and the reason for everything i've learned from my failures.

You will always be the most important woman in my life.
I'll never let anyone come before you again.
Not even myself.


To Mom and Dad,

I've been selfish these past few years, and I love you so much more for putting up with it.
I'll make you proud.
I swear.







To everyone at home,

Thank you so much for all the memories.
They keep me going when I feel alone, and they remind me where I came from and how I got here.
I miss you all.
Your in my heart all the time.


(Insert Picture Here)
The next time I come home I'm going to take a family picture with you.
I don't even have a picture of my own mother and father to upload.
We'll have one soon.



I'm changing myself.
Before I change the world.

I'm hoping this all leads somewhere.....

It's a revelation, a moment of clarity,
and I am trapped inside this moment deadlines are left to die
And I guess I am truly free.
My brain was spent I worried as I fell in knee deep
where consequences and circumstances suffocated and I could barely breathe.
And by all means, this rain should be bringing me down.
Seattle is keeping me in tune with just right now
and a song that tends to be so oddly timed.
The city is cold and miserable but I am not.
All we are is all we've started. All could be gone.

SO LET'S BEGIN!
I often wonder if I'll ever finish all I've started, and the answer I have found is NO.
No, I will never finish all that I have started because life is about doing, the process
And not the result. Life is about doing whether you want to or not.

MY LIFE!: A constant work in progress and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Take a look back. Is that what you wanted?
Chances are that it's not what was intended to be, because it's gonna be better than everything.
Everything, you will see, comes together in it's own ironic kind of way, so live in just today.
In my eyes I hold a vision in contradiction of what once existed.
- Set Your Goals

I managed to get ahold of a press pass for the Set Your Goals/Four Year Strong show this Thursday @ The Metro downtown.
I'm pretty nervous, they are giving me a shot and I don't really have the lenses or equipment I'd like to have.
Thanks for all the encouragement from everyone who I've talked to, and for all the advice from the photographers that have taken time to talk to me.
Pitman Photography
Darkroom Demons
Davide Jackson

We'll see how this goes.
I'm excited and nervous...
it makes me have to pee.

I'll never watch a sunrise the same again

No matter where I am, I will always remember this house.....
The smell of the porch from a homemade grill made of a paper basket and some aluminum foil.
The "room".
The nastiest kitchen known to man, and the best people anyone could have ever asked for.
Out of all the things that home was.....
That house was the place my heart felt the most at home.
Things won't ever be like that again, but I want to feel the same way again.
I'm searching.....
I'm still searching.....

Your somewhere. I know you are.
I can feel myself making you proud
from your place in the clouds.
I'm guessing this is growing old,
I'm guessing this is just a phase,
I'm hoping that I'll find my place.

Goodnight, Goodlove, Goodlife




I'm two cups into my coffe break.
I'm sitting alone in the café from the way.
Reading all by myself
Turning my cell off just to breath
And everyone I know just keeps calling me.
And I just need a little time.

Cause I'm overcommiting myself.
I guess this is growing up
I'm sleeping so little these days.
I guess this is growing up
I'm feeling things are about to change
I'm guessing this is growin up
Yeah I'm growing up.

And my mom hates my guts.
She has every reason to
From all the things I do.
And it breaks me just to know
That I have torn her apart so many times.
So many times

Cause I've overcommitted myself.
I guess this is growing
I'm sleeping so little these days.
I guess this is growing up
I'm feeling things are about to change
I'm guessing this is growin up
Oh I'm guessing this is growing up

Now I'm done with my coffee break.
I turn on my phone.
Oh that I've grown up

a little lazy to upload more pictures.....
a completely uneventful night.....
if you think there's nothing to do at home.....
it's not any better here.....
it's just worse.

see you tomorrow.
it's my day off!

There's a light on, in Chicago, and I know I should be home

Went to a hookah bar with Smith last night......



It was pretty cool.....
some Armanian dudes were doing a crazy dance....



I've never had cosmopolitan flavored Shisha. It was pretty tasty.
Unknowingly I went to the Cabrini green projects for a roof party.....apparently unsafe.....but I found that out after the fact......the view was amazing though.....



I still can't get over city life....
Like seeing a group of 800 plus bicycles driving down the street around me......







btw.....Attack Attack is off the hook!
http://www.myspace.com/attackattack

Thursday = Set Your Goals/Four Year Strong/Fireworks! @ the Metro downtown.....

Hopefully some pics will be uploaded from that.....

Peace

My Heart Feels A Million Miles Away, In A Place I've Never Seen

I'm literally the only one at work without a mustache.

I really don't know how I feel right now.

I keep bouncing back and forth between scared and excited.

Then between looking ahead and looking behind.

To be honest.....idk what im doing.....
and it feels exactly like I did being gone for a month on tour.
I still think about him anytime I think about home.....
I think about her...
I think about everything I've ever done wrong....
I think about all the great memories.
I think about the streets and street lights.

Everything is changing.


I miss _______

P.S.

Oh btw....
http://www.michaelpark.smugmug.com

This highway has a heartbeat....

One of my last nights home.....driving around.....
A lot of things go through my mind when I think of home.

From here:


To Here:

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner.....or maybe just a

Poker with Smith was a success.....
I am now 25 dollars richer.....
ha.

"Good fight, Good night" - Joshua J Sun

Dubuque to Chicago and everything in between

Well, this is my new photoblog.....I'll be updating it frequently....Enjoy!
It's been 3 days since the move to Chicago, all I've done is work and get lost....work....and sleep.
Getting used to a new city is hard.....getting around is ridiculous


I miss home.....
I miss my friends
I miss my family.
I miss being able to drive places and know where they are....

p.s. The train scares the shit out of me......it goes way too fast.....





besides all of that.....my job is different.....I cook asian food on a wok and none of my co-workers speak english....so work is pretty silent.....

the search for venues and things to do continues........

Upcoming events to look forward to:
ABR/IWABO at the Metro and Set Your Goals/Four Year Strong at the House of Blues
Warped Tour Milwaukee 7/30
Warped Tour Chicago 8/1

I hope everything back home is going well......

Love