Taco 'Bout Awesome

Taco 'Bout Awesome #210

Gouache on Bristol Paper

NOT A PRINT OR REPRODUCTION

2.5" x 3.5" (6.35 cm x 8.89 cm)

© copyright Mike Kraus

To purchase, please visit: https://www.etsy.com/listing/250377324/taco-bout-awesome-210-artist-trading

10% OFF with coupon code JOINTHEFUN

These artist trading cards or ACEO (Art Card Editions and Originals) are frameable, collectible, enjoyable and can be given as a special gift for a birthday, wedding, new baby, anniversary, thank you or other occasion.  They are one-of-a-kind original works of art, NOT A PRINT OR REPRODUCTION. It is signed on the back and lends itself to framing in a standard trading card frame.

For more information or custom order, please visit:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MikeKrausArt

Taco 'Bout Awesome

 Taco 'Bout Awesome #207

Gouache on Watercolor Paper

NOT A PRINT OR REPRODUCTION

2.5" x 3.5" (6.35 cm x 8.89 cm) 

© copyright Mike Kraus

To purchase, please visit: www.etsy.com/listing/209759699/taco-bout-awesome-207-artist-trading

10% OFF with coupon code JOINTHEFUN

This artist trading card or ACEO (Art Card Editions and Originals) is frameable, collectible, enjoyable and can be given as a special gift for a birthday, wedding, new baby, anniversary, thank you or other occasion.  It is a one-of-a-kind original work of art, NOT A PRINT OR REPRODUCTION. It is signed on the back and lends itself to framing in a standard trading card frame or book.

For more information or custom order, please visit:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MikeKrausArt 

You're Bacon Me Crazy

You're Bacon Me Crazy #129

Gouache on Watercolor Paper

NOT A PRINT OR REPRODUCTION

2.5" x 3.5" (6.35 cm x 8.89 cm)

© copyright Mike Kraus
To purchase, please visit: https://www.etsy.com/listing/254233439/youre-bacon-me-crazy-129-artist-trading?ref=listings_manager_grid

10% OFF with coupon code JOINTHEFUN

These artist trading cards or ACEO (Art Card Editions and Originals) are frameable, collectible, enjoyable and can be given as a special gift for a birthday, wedding, new baby, anniversary, thank you or other occasion.  They are one-of-a-kind original works of art, NOT A PRINT OR REPRODUCTION. It is signed on the back and lends itself to framing in a standard trading card frame.

FREE SHIPPING IN THE UNITED STATES

For more information or custom order, please visit:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MikeKrausArt

Proof That Summer Did Exist (Even If Was Abbreviated...)

 This is the only evidence that I have that I saw my sister this summer.  I'm really getting lazy with taking pics...

THE TWINS!   Here's the questions: Are these really little chairs or really big babies?

The answer: really little babies.  But, they wear Megan and I out.  Too much fun.

Giants vs. the Bills.  This season started with so much promise..  And Eli Manning did not play well.  But, watching the highlights on TV, you would have thought he was a quarterbacking god 

BELL'S BLOOD SHED!  The best idea ever is to combine a family reunion with a Halloween haunted house.   

This was scary.  Scary good!

Mmmm...  Pig roast.

 My favorite moment of the family reunion:

Pig Roaster: (explains Pig meat.  Specifically bacon meat) Do you want to try some of the bacon meat?

Bell Kid: No, I want the heart!

Pig Roaster: (startled) What?  Uh...  Really!

Bell Kid: Oh yeah!

 Handsome Devil!

From the Rochester, Monroe County American Guide:

At Central Ave. and St. Paul St., unveiled in 1899, was dedicated by Theodore Roosevelt, then Governor of New York State. The statue, of bronze on a granite pedestal, designed by Sidney W. Edwards, is inscribed with quotations from speeches of Mr. Douglass.

Frederick Douglass (1807-1895) was born a slave in Easton, Md. Having run away from his master in 1838, he took up residence in New Bedford, Mass. In 1841 he began to lecture against slavery and became famous as an orator. In 1848 he published a newspaper, The North Star, in Rochester. At the outbreak of the Civil War he urged the employment of colored troops and helped organize them. He was an active agent of the Underground Railroad and his home, still standing on Alexander Street, was a refuge and way-station for runaway slaves seeking safety and freedom in Canada. During the administration of Benjamin Harrison, Mr. Douglass was appointed Minister to Haiti. After his death in 1895 his body was interred in Mount Hope Cemetery in Rochester.

This monument to Frederick Douglass had been located near the train station in Rochester, but due to the fact that smoke and congestion became heavy in that area, city authorities moved the statue to Highland Park Bowl in 1941. This location is near the site of his home on South Avenue, which burned in 1872, arson was suspected.

The home on Alexander Street, that served as an Underground Railroad site has been torn down.

The granite section of the monument was made by Smith Granite Co. of Westerly, R.I. The model for the bronze statue was Douglass' son, Charles R. Douglass.
It appears Douglass' birth year is either 1817 or 1818, not 1807 as the guide suggests. 

Personally, I think this monument should be moved back to downtown Rochester in a very prominent spot.  Perhaps Washington Square Park or a new river walk park just off of Main Street.

Collect Them All!

Twilight Woods #81

Gouache on Watercolor Paper

NOT A PRINT OR REPRODUCTION

2.5" x 3.5" (6.35 cm x 8.89 cm)

© copyright Mike Kraus

To purchase, please visit: https://www.etsy.com/listing/236003429/twilight-woods-81-artist-trading-cards?

10% OFF with coupon code JOINTHEFUN

This artist trading card or ACEO (Art Card Editions & Originals) is frameable, collectable, enjoyable and can be given as a special gift for a birthday, wedding, new baby, anniversary, thank you or other occasion.  It is a one-of-a-kind original work of art, NOT A PRINT OR REPRODUCTION. It is signed on the back and lends itself to framing in a standard trading card frame or book.

FREE SHIPPING IN THE UNITED STATES

For more information or custom order, please visit:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MikeKrausArt

The Morning Cup of Coffee #82

Gouache on Watercolor Paper

NOT A PRINT OR REPRODUCTION

2.5" x 3.5" (6.35 cm x 8.89 cm)

© copyright Mike Kraus

To purchase, please visit: https://www.etsy.com/listing/236003539/the-morning-cup-of-coffee-82-artist?

Have S'more #83

Gouache on Watercolor Paper

NOT A PRINT OR REPRODUCTION

2.5" x 3.5" (6.35 cm x 8.89 cm)

© copyright Mike Kraus

To purchase, please visit: https://www.etsy.com/listing/236117362/have-smore-83-artist-trading-cards-25-x?

Good Eats

Have S'more #80

Gouache on Watercolor Paper

NOT A PRINT OR REPRODUCTION

2.5" x 3.5" (6.35 cm x 8.89 cm) 

© copyright Mike Kraus 

To purchase, please visit: https://www.etsy.com/listing/235718621/have-smore-80-artist-trading-cards-25-x?ref=listing-shop-header-0

10% OFF with coupon code JOINTHEFUN

This artist trading card or ACEO (Art Card Editions & Originals) is frameable, collectable, enjoyable and can be given as a special gift for a birthday, wedding, new baby, anniversary, thank you or other occasion.  It is a one-of-a-kind original work of art, NOT A PRINT OR REPRODUCTION. It is signed on the back and lends itself to framing in a standard trading card frame or book.

FREE SHIPPING IN THE UNITED STATES

For more information or custom order, please visit:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MikeKrausArt

The Green Pepper #79

Gouache on Watercolor Paper

NOT A PRINT OR REPRODUCTION

2.5" x 3.5" (6.35 cm x 8.89 cm) 

© copyright Mike Kraus 

To purchase, please visit: https://www.etsy.com/listing/235832858/the-green-pepper-79-artist-trading-card?

Pizza Time #78

Gouache on Watercolor Paper

NOT A PRINT OR REPRODUCTION

2.5" x 3.5" (6.35 cm x 8.89 cm) 

© copyright Mike Kraus 

To purchase, please visit: https://www.etsy.com/listing/235717899/pizza-time-78-artist-trading-cards-25-x?

Slab of BBQ Ribs #77

Gouache on Watercolor Paper

NOT A PRINT OR REPRODUCTION

2.5" x 3.5" (6.35 cm x 8.89 cm) 

© copyright Mike Kraus 

To purchase, please visit: https://www.etsy.com/listing/186507940/custom-commission-original-art-by-mike?

So, Who's the Starting Quarterback This Week?

Look at all that encased meat!

 Megan and I tailgating at the Bill's game against the Kansas City Chiefs last weekend.  

 We've got pork.  We've got beans.  We've got sliders...

So, the Green Bay Packers have had 3 starting quarterbacks in the last 20 years.  Buffalo's had that just in the first half of the season...

HEAT LAMPS!

PUPPY UPDATE:

Megan, Scout, and Gertie waiting for trick or treaters to come to the house.  Why aren't there any costumes?  Wait...

A demon possessed Eskimo.  

That's all from these parts.

Stupid Bills. Lost Again. Wait... They Won? How Could That Happen?

 It's football season again and that means Conklin's Bar & Grill's Illegal Motion tailgating is back!

What's on the menu?  Why, is that fried bologna sandwiches and other assorted meats your making? 

MARISA!  What are you doing in Buffalo?  Really, if you are going to visit us, this is the best way to do it. 

When in Buffalo, you need Buffalo Wings.  And, in Buffalo, they are just "wings."  The Buffalo part would be redundant... 

"I bought candy from you already.  Don't you remember?"
"NO!"
Smart little cheerleaders raising money at everyone's tailgate parties. 

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL!  Buffalo Bills vs. Carolina Panthers at Ralph Wilson Stadium.  

 Best way to avoid traffic to and get to the game.

Rainbow parachute!  What does it mean? 

 Ka-BOOM!  And here come the Buffalo Bills!

The mob rejoices 

It was a pretty rough game.  At least it was competitive.   

And, we got a CJ Spiller bobblehead just for attending the game.  As always, we had a great time!

Now for some other business...

A large book sale at the local Penfield Library.  A grocery store bag of books for $3!  Sounds like trouble.

Not sure if they were working on the utilities or having the best fried turkey cookout ever...

Upstate Living

TAILGATING AT RALPH WILSON!  Your choice of ribs, Philly Cheesesteak, pork tenderloin, a variety of brats and hot dogs, chicken, hamburgers, Buffalo Wings, and so much more.



Illegal Motion



When we made this walk last year for the Bills vs. Lions (a.k.a. Loser Bowl 2010 where they both tried to lose) we made this walk alone.  Amazing what a few wins can do!



I am now aware of breast cancer because I have seen so much pink.



Skydivers!  I think they jumped about 5 minutes early because he had the flag and all, but there was no national anthem.  They were talking about fan conduct or something on the PA and then he came onto the field.






The skydiver with the Bills flag missed the mark and crash landed.  Still, no national anthem...



Michael Vick about to have a really bad game.  Or as one sign read, "Awaiting a con-Vick-tion."



I'm not only a member of the Rochester Chapter of the Ruvell Martin Fan Club, but I'm also the president.  If you don't know who he is, he's the 5th wide receiver for the Bills and we went to the same high school in Muskegon, MI.  The last player I championed was Kyle Orton who later went on to QB both the Bears and Broncos until last weekend.  



It's not the first soldout Bills game I've been to, but it is the first one where people were actually in their seats watching the game and cheering.  Also, the first one I've attended that wasn't during a snow/rain mixture.



I hope it wasn't a long drive



Apple picking in Victor at The Apple Farm on 444



Where's the camera stick!



Fall in Upstate New York.  



Macoun or Cortland?  What am I, the scarecrow from Wizard of Oz?



Eve in Paradise picking apples.  Luckily for me, this Eve is really afraid of snakes.  We saw two this weekend and she almost had a heart attack.  



Apples by the bunches!



It's like living in a painting sometimes



Some kind of amazing tree.



So many apple trees.






This tree is struggling to hold all of them apples!



Bernardo's Pizza and Subs for lunch in Victor.  The pizza was really good and I'll have to get a sub the next time we're there because they looked awesome.  A great deal with huge portions.  The retro decor is amazing and I could look at all the old radios for hours.  



Still no salmon in the Irondequoit Creek.  None in Corbett's Glen either.  Last year, I missed seeing all the salmon coming up to spawn.  Now, it appears I'm too early.  If you see them jumping, let me know ASAP.  I can be at the creek in a matter of minutes!