And the winner is...

How do you pronounce it again? Neekon, Naikon... maybe some odd combination of the two? (Nee-aikon ?)... Well, regardless... From here on out, Nikon and I are tied to the hip so to speak. Considering I've finally decided to take the (quote, unquote) 'plunge'... Sorry Canon ...

My initial goal was the D90, but I figured maybe opting for saving up a little might go a long ways towards my ultimate goal . So... now I've got a D300s (with the 's' basically denoting a successor model to the D300, but not enough so to come out with a completely brand new model)... So far I'm loving it though. I haven't had a chance to really play with the video features as of yet, but I've been practicing taking a couple shots when I've had the free time (aka kinda also eating up the time I normally otherwise might be using for blogging ). But it's definitely a lot of fun ...

I paid about $1300 and change, so not exactly breaking the bank as I thought it might've been. I think it's a worthwhile investment however... And hopefully I'll be posting up a couple shots in the near future ...

Snuggly Soft

I swear those pillows look remarkably soft... You can almost tell from just the contours and texture... maybe even the lighting as well, I don't know .

Kind of makes you want to just jump right on in and get comfortable snuggling with a good snuggly thing worthy of being snuggled relentlessly. So warm and comfortable, you could practically just fall right asleep with it. Caressing and gently touching as you hold on tight... stroking and feeling up and... ok, I think I'll stop there . Definitely gives my bed a run for its money though ...

Skater Love

You are now looking at my Iphone wallpaper for about the better part of a month now. Not just my Iphone wallpaper though, but actually one of my favorite art renditions by a prolific comic artist named Joe Phillips. I'm not sure if the piece has a name, but I've basically coined it 'Skater Love' for the sake of titling this post .

Just the level of detail in the graphiti, the skateboard, the tattoos alone are impressive. But the theme itself... I just find it appealing . Kind of also harkens back to that MTV commercial from a while ago. But yeah... I'm thinking there's a cool poster just waiting to be made here. The phone wallpaper conversion works for the time being though so I won't complain .

Boy of Summer

I think I'm in love...

Yes, granted the basketball season's given way this month in favor of a mass vuvuzela-fueled hysteria currently sweeping the globe, it is still summer here in the states.... And summer means summer activity type stuff (maybe a pick-up game?) taking place outdoors on a gorgeous June day... Preferably with a super hot shirt-deficient protagonist leading the way ...

...So yes, I think I'm in love... With summer... Along with all the sweat-work-up inducing, heart-pumping outdoors (perhaps drenched?) yet looks oh-so-hot in just those blue shorts playing on a court all by himself kind of way.

Or maybe I've just got a thing for uber-cute dark-haired guys, who knows. Either way I love this time of the year ...

And I'm Proud to be...

U-S-A...U-S-A....U-S-A... (Ahem)... Sorry, still had a couple more patriotic chants left in my system from Wednesday's heart-palpitation-inducing victory over Algeria's finest.

Every inner inclination had me wanting to label this as a miracle...

...but honestly, given the horrendous officiating both in this and the previous game, I'll simply settle for calling it well-deserved... not simply so much as in Donovan's ultimate vindication earlier this week... But if nothing else, for the simple fact that this past year's been kinda rough on the US. We could use a little good news every now and again, so thank you very much Donovan for coming through:

I get chills watching this video ... Here's hoping we'll get a shot at showing Ghana what we're made of this later today. Good luck Team USA.

Zadonis and bro heat up Maui

Take one Zac Efron and add a little water...

Subtract shirt and let him marinate a bit off the beautiful coast of Maui ...

Add a fortunate cameraman with camera in hand to properly document said Hawaii marination...

Mix in a sexy upper torso, dripping wet super-star good looks, throw in yet another younger/uber cute Efron bro for good measure and what do you get?... Well apparently from the looks of things, I'd say one of 2010s unintentionally hottest end of spring/early summer photoshoots.

And indeed what gorgeous duo these two brothers make . Apparently older bro Zac flew to Maui last weekend with younger bro, 18 year-old Dylan Efron, in preparation for (I believe) a Maui film festival. Zac is due to receive a 'shining star' young actor award, so of course these boys are there mostly for business.

Doesn't hurt taking a little time for pleasure in the lead-up to the awards ceremony though ... (*takes a moment to soak in gorgeousness displayed above*)... Honestly official business aside, I don't know how to better put it aside from stating the obvious; the Zacster's clearly reached an apex of boyishly masculine appeal...

Just Beautiful...

I have nothing more to add, so I'll just leave it at that .

The Beautiful Game

Way, way back in elementary school, growing up had you asked who do I believe are the most gorgeous athletes on earth, odds are I might've answered outright soccer players without giving a second thought.

Fast-forward to 2010 and I think my tastes may have shifted a just smidge, but I still rank soccer players pretty high on my hierarchy. With of course lean... err smooth... light reflecting (or is it emitting?) athletes like the one above further reinforcing my long-held preference. The beautiful game indeed... wish there were more of him .

Ed shows off... (for the camera)

I'll be the first to admit, I'm not exactly the biggest Ed Westwick fan...

Or perhaps maybe even Gossip Girl for that matter ...

But given that it's a pretty big soccer weekend and Ed makes for a hell of a sexy player on the pitch (whether intentionally or unintentionally ) and the fact that I've always found him kind of cute regardless, I figured perhaps a little feature of 'Mr. Bass' letting loose a little seems more than enough appropriate given the nascent soccer-related theme.

That + nice legs in short shorts (maybe boxers?) = yours truly is a sucker for...

Notwithstanding the whole soccer kit thing that inches ever so close to becoming a fetish. (*backs away from the cliff*) ...

And might I reiterate, one hell of a sexy soccer player in that outfit . Hm, maybe it might be time for me to give gossip girl another chance... (maybe )...