Katie sporting her spiffy I Voted sticker!

Katie voted for the first time today in the Minnesota primary elections. She registered at the polling place (one of the churches up the street) and cast her first ballot for governor, congress, county board and District Court judge. Mom and Dad went along with her, as did little sister. Then we all went out to Buffalo Wild Wings and Coldstone to celebrate. Nothing says democracy-American-style like wings and ice cream. Ain’t it grand?

I shoulda voted for ol’ Basil. Hope my Dad did. Forget Governor, this guy needs to be the next President. Basil in 2012!

Here are some photos from our visit to Robert Treman State Park in Ithaca on our way to eat at the famous Moosewood vegetarian restaurant and to visit Cornell University (Jesse’s first college visit as she begins high school). After the visit to Cornell, Jesse is even more sure she wants to go there to study psychology. College recruiters, let the bidding war begin…

Jesse, Katie and Allie enjoyed a free outdoor concert by Thriving Ivory at the Hard Rock Cafe in Niagara Falls, NY, on Saturday, Aug. 7, 2010. Jesse is a huge Thriving Ivory fan and had the chance to meet with the lead singer, Clayton Stroope, and guitarist, Drew Cribley, before the show.

Something you don't see every day in Minnesota

Jesse and Allie wanted to get their picture taken with one of the “Amish Xing” signs that proliferate in Western New York. We tried to find an Amish restaurant for lunch, but the one I remembered from the old days had closed. Instead, we dined on mammoth slices of real New York pizza in downtown Geneva.

Here are some pictures of the girls reconnecting with old friends from New York at Long Acre Farms in our old neighborhood near Rochester.

Katie and her friend, Ryan

Taylor, Tori and Jesse

Sitting here in the home of Kodak and catching up on some work by the Seneca River. Came across the following story and felt a twinge of nostalgia:

Rochester, N.Y. (AP) — What should a photographer shoot when he’s entrusted with the very last roll of Kodachrome? Steve McCurry took aim at the Brooklyn Bridge, Grand Central Terminal and a few human icons, too. Paul Simon, the crooner synonymous with the fabled film’s richly saturated colors, shied away. But Robert De Niro stood in for the world of filmmaking.

Betting its future on digital photography, Kodak discontinued the slide and motion-picture film with a production run last August in which a master sheet nearly a mile long was cut up into more than 20,000 rolls.

McCurry requested the final 36-exposure strip. After nine months of planning, he embarked in June on a six-week odyssey. Trailing him was a TV crew from National Geographic Channel, which plans to broadcast a one-hour documentary early next year.

Read the rest of the article here.