Hailey's fight... continued

The story of two-year-old Hailey Meltz's fight with an inoperable brain tumor continues with this installment. Focusing more on her parents, Brian and Shannon, how has this whole ordeal of helping their daughter affected their family, their relationship, and their vision of family and life?

Length: 6:15 (don't let that scare you)

Valley not immune to foreclosure crisis

Foreclosure notices hang in the Outagamie County Justice Center in Appleton, Wis., Monday afternoon, April 21, 2008. While the foreclosure rate in the Fox Cities is half the national rate, it is at an all-time high and appears to be accelerating.

Tag-teaming baseball

Yesterday was a very busy afternoon. Kirk Wagner and I tag-teamed the baseball game I was assigned so we could head to an evening assignment we had to shoot together. We hardly ever do that but in hindsight, it was a wise idea because we only had about 30 minutes to shoot this game before we had to leave to be at the other assignment. I got shots Kirk didn't, and Kirk got shots I didn't. 

We even worked out a very caveman-esque communication method. After every half-inning we used a hand signal to each other to let the other know how many good shots we got... (one finger = one good shot, two fingers = two good shots, two fingers then one with a side-to-side waver = two shots, one good, one just okay). Of course we could have just used our cell phones but that would have been too easy... 

Kimberly's Luke Van Handel (17) strides to second base to throw out Kaukauna's Morgan St. Aubin (4) in the first inning of a baseball game in Kaukauna, Wis., Thursday afternoon, April 24, 2008. 

Kaukauna's Brett Arnold (10) takes a pitch on the arm in the third inning. 

Another pitcher shot... you're really not supposed to shoot a right-handed pitcher from the first-base line, but... eh... who cares... rules are made to be broken... 

The 222 building...

Took a walk to my downtown assignment this afternoon. Breezy at Superior and the Ave, but excruciatingly hot in the sun... even 70º is too warm when you're used to 20º! 

Mind-blowing...

About six months ago, this blog almost bit the dust. It wasn't because of a technological glitch, a server error or anything like that. I almost gave See With Me the proverbial "ax" because I felt like I was shouting into a tunnel... and hearing an echo. 

Finding time to blog about my full-time job after getting home from my full-time job was difficult and, quite frankly, draining. At the time, I was under the assumption that my audience; my readership; my circulation; was extremely limited. I estimated there were about 10 people who regularly came here... my girlfriend, my parents and siblings, and the remainder a smattering of colleagues and coworkers. My mentality at the time questioned if satisfying 10 people was worth my energy.

And then came along Google Analytics. 

Analytics is a little piece of computer code that's hidden on every page of this blog. It's truly amazing. As you're reading this, I'm able to know where you're from (shout-out to my lone viewer out in Alamosa, Colorado!). I also know what kind of internet connection you're on, what browser you're using, what kind of computer you're using, and if you've updated your Flash plug-ins (70% of you are using an old version by the way! Go here).

Analytics have proven nearly all of my assumptions about my readership incorrect. 

Predictably, my heaviest traffic comes from states where I have interests in: Wisconsin where I live and work, and Ohio where I came from. But, almost 75% of people who look at See With Me have never been here before. I have a somewhat substantial amount of visitors in California, Illinois, Texas, and New York... all states I've passed through but never made any meaningful connections. I can even claim a couple handfuls of visits each from the UK and South America.

Unique visitors? About 45 per week. A readership of 10, I thought? Boy was I mistaken! I say this tongue-in-cheek: For a really average dude, I'm a pretty big deal.

The point of this isn't to brag. The stats are actually quite paltry. I just see it as a testament to the fact that we really have no idea how far our influence reaches, and how small the world is becoming because of the Internet... and how bored 45 people must be every week that they feel compelled to look at the rubbish I post here!

Equally as interesting, I'm getting timely, sentient comments from people who I don't know. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but it is. 

Example: less than 14 hours after posting "Finding strength through bodybuilding," a visitor (who appears to be in the bodybuilding industry) posted a genuine comment. Somebody must receive Google alerts...

Girls soccer season begins...

I haven't shot soccer since the boys' state tournament in the fall. For some reason it wasn't too hard to adjust back...

St. Mary Central High School's Eric McGuirk (9), right, and Assumption High School's Ali Chapman (11), left, fight for control of the ball in the first half of a game in Neenah, Wis., Saturday, April 19, 2008.

Baseball season... cont'd

Wow... I got the nearly the same photo last week. But hey, this time I got a face. It's gonna take a couple more games before I'm back in the swing of spring sports.

Appleton West High School pitcher Kyle Mayer, right, and catcher Bubba Hunter (2) celebrate the Terrors' 1-0 win over Appleton North High School at USA Youth Sports Complex in Appleton, Wis., Friday, April 18, 2008.

Outdoors... finally

OK... I'll admit it. Track and field, when it's outside, really isn't so bad.

Finding strength through bodybuilding

It started as a simple Christmas gift: a personal trainer to foster Derek Dolgner’s interests in fitness and personal training. Joan Dolgner, the 17-year-old’s mother, admits that gift evolved into something much larger than she ever expected.

Boat-making school board member

What this guy's boat-making has to do specifically with his new role as school board member I don't know, but my oh my, spending a morning with him doing his thing sure beats a posed portrait!

Spencer Rotzel, a new Appleton school board member, works on a 12-foot New England catboat, sanding down the mast to size on a homebuilt lathe, at a friend's garage in Greenville, Wis., Saturday afternoon, April 12, 2008.

Visiting Ohio...

Got to head back to Ohio and Ohio U. in Athens. I even got to catch up with my old roommate Alex at Red Brick Tavern... gotta love the deals on mega-mugs in a college town... I sure miss it...

Outdoors feature

A new weekly feature on the outdoors. This week, cyclists who can't wait until its warm to hit the asphalt.

Cyclists push-off for a brisk morning ride at the Gear 'N Up bike shop in Neenah, Wis.,
Saturday, March 29, 2008.

First baseball game of the year...

Holy cow was it cold! Look! The grass isn't even green, yet! The flying dirt saved my bacon... only good frame from the game...

Appleton West High School second baseman Cullen Buchanan (6) stops a sharply-hit ground ball before making the final out in the bottom of the fourth inning against Xavier High School during a baseball game at Don Hawkins Field in Grand Chute, Wis., Saturday, March 29, 2008.

Home and garden shows...

We've covered a lot of home and garden shows in the past month or so, and they're difficult to cover. People who attend for some reason are shy to be in photos and the action is really salespeople trying to get a nibble from the fishies. In the past I've totally flopped at these. But this one yesterday went alright.

Lucy Vandertie, left, and Gerry Fiebelkorn, right, both of Appleton, examine a Kitchen Craft pan during a cooking show led by Americraft independent distributor Tom Osenga, background, at a home and garden show at Tri-County Ice Arena in the Town of Menasha, Wis., Saturday, March 29, 2008.

Sun Comfort sales representative Jason Otis, left, demonstrates the flexible vinyl material used for the windows of a three-season sunroom to Appleton residents Dick and Nadine Gade.

Track...

I'll be up front with my opinion. Not to disparage the dedication of athletes who are very skilled at what they do (surely things I could never do with my body)... I really hate track and field.

I've just never enjoyed shooting it. It's a free-for-all with no jersey numbers and simultaneous events. I didn't think it could get any worse than outdoor track... until I came here. At the beginning of the season it's all held indoors. Great... And even worse, it's held at Neenah, whose lighting I've already complained about on this blog.

But on the upside of things, it's one helluva challenge that either makes you crazy or creative. Here's a little of both:

Some people say quiet moments are boring or aren't moments at all.
I don't really agree with that.

Whoa. You know you're struggling when you're taking pictures of shoes. But man.. I couldn't pass up the colors. Runners' shoes are crazy sometimes...

And... yeah... go ahead... give this one a big fat F for failure. Definitely not a winner, here.

Hey, I'll take this. That's alright. What, you say? It's only a trial heat. Psh.

Sweet, I'll take this, too. But, come on... Helmets? The ancient Greeks didn't wear helmets...

Here I go with the blur again...

I can't even escape fire extinguishers and electrical outlets at a sporting event. Lovely backgrounds I'm getting...

Thank you Mr. Official for standing in front of that weird wall.

Artists in schools

Nani Agbeli, originally of Ghana, prepares dyes while demonstrating batik techniques to a kindergarten class at Hoover Elementary School in Neenah, Wis., Tuesday afternoon, March 25, 2008. Agbeli is the school's current artist-in-residence, working for the next two weeks teaching the art, dance, music and culture of Ghana.

It's Eastertime...

Headed out to the quaint little town of New Holstein for an indoor Easter-egg hunt.

Amber Hansen, 7, of Potter, left, and Timber Schuler, 18 months, of Kiel, get a peek into the New Holstein Elementary School gymnasium before Easter Egg Activities sponsored by Premier Financial Credit Union's Penny Pouch Club in New Holstein, Wis., Saturday morning, March 22, 2008.

Joey, 3, and Katie Belair, 4, hunt for eggs in a heap of easter grass.

It must have been fun being that young mustn't it?

Soldier's mother

Really not one of my best portraits, but I found it pretty touching that this mother keeps alive many of the plants that were at her daughter's military funeral.

Mary Bosveld – mother of Army Pfc. Rachel Bosveld who was killed in an Oct. 26, 2003 mortar attack at Abu Ghraib, Iraq – sits for a portrait near plants she keeps alive from her daughter's funeral at home in Grand Chute, Wis., Friday, March 21, 2008. Pfc. Bosveld was the first Wisconsin female and fifth Wisconsinite killed in the war in Iraq.

Good Friday..

I find covering religion uncomfortable because it feels intrusive. It's usually challenging, as well, especially with Catholic ceremonies that I'm used to from growing up in the faith... it's not among the more active religious services when you compare it with, say, those of the Christian Pentecostals or those of the Islamic or Hindu faiths. Aside from communion, Catholic services are fairly stationary and individual.

Good Friday, though, is something of an exception. On this day, Catholics memorialize the crucifixion of Jesus with a multi-part Gospel reading and reverencing of the cross.

I guess the lesson learned here was to throw away your decades of visual memories of this day and enter into it anew as someone who's never witnessed it. With that outlook, I got a couple photos that I was at least content with.

Clergy and laity process with the cross during Good Friday service at St. Joseph Parish in Appleton, Wis., Friday, March 21, 2008.

Kelly Gonzales, left, and daughter Angela of Appleton pray together during the
Veneration of the Cross.

Frozen Field of Dreams

“If you skate, you shovel. No lifting of the puck. No checking – except when my (older) brother comes over. Then he and I will mess around a little bit.” Those are the rules according to Greg Vandenberg, a Little Chute man who built an ice rink for his family in his Main Street front yard.