[ VIDEO ] After arriving at Flagstaff, Arizona upon leaving the Grand Canyon we leave Flagstaff on the way back to Chicago. Had a long layover in Albuquerque, New Mexico on the way back to Chicago. I shot this video in July 2016.

[ VIDEO ] I'm reactivating this blog for a limited time. I will consider this my physical "videoblog" and mostly for creative purposes. Today I want to share my visit to the Grand Canyon back in July 2016. My first visit there was as a child in 1989 and this is the first time I visited via a tour bus. An amazing highlight after paying my second visit to Las Vegas before that also. I shot video and photos on my iPhone 6 utilizing an olloclip lens taking both wide-angle and fish-eye shots. Edited the video using iMovie and had to utilize Cooper Black for any video titles here. I want to share with you a shorter version that I shared on It's My Mind just last year actually. [ VIDEO ] If you like what you see subscribe to lbj79us ! And to Levois J where I actually have 50 subscribers

You can barely make it out, however, we're looking at Champaign, Illinois early in the morning while coming home aboard Amtrak's City of New Orleans. Sometimes I like it when the train goes through rain and as of late it seems a train I'm on always goes through rain. Even going to Los Angeles two years ago did my train run into some rain on the way to California!

A meme I found on Instagram . If you want to go somewhere find a way. It could be through a job or just your own hustle. Life's too short to just stay in one place and not see what else is out there!

Last month I was in Detroit, Michigan for a family reunion. Another part of the family tree on this day had a cookout on Belle Isle right in the middle of the Detroit River. Only the second time I have visited this island park and this illustrious and hopefully rebounding city. I noticed Michigan State Police patrolling the grounds as the park itself has been leased to the State of Michigan. Probably a sign of the state of finances in Detroit as it had been administered as a city park. BTW, I just really had to use this snapchat filter!

[ VIDEO ] In this video I'm headed back east to Chicago and traveling on Amtrak's Southwest Chief through the Raton Tunnel . I had some pics of a sign of the Colorado side that shows the elevation. All the same you ride on this stretch and see the signs you might see the elevation of this route and more about the Santa Fe trail . When going through tunnel essentially you are crossing border between New Mexico & Colorado.

[ VIDEO ] Shot this video last Thursday of the Great Hall of Union Station looking down onto the floor of the station from an entrance area upstairs. Shot with a wide-angle Olloclip lens.

Good God yes!

A job is nothing more than a means to an end. There are many ways to make money other than finding a job. Find a way or make a way!

An instagram story I shared during the past winter. I'm thinking it's to time to share an updated shot of the statue of Bob Newhart protraying his character from his self-title classic 1970s sitcom.

A classic car I shot near downtown Chicago during the course of the past week!

A shot I snapped of a bus sometime in June near 95th Street. This is one show you might have seen if you follow The Sixth Ward on instagram . Indian Trails bus picks up passengers at Greyhound 's assigned berth on State Street near CTA's Red Line terminal . This is likely temporary as work at 95th is ongoing!

This is something I posted on instagram a while ago. All very laudable and achievable goals! Don't get into things, don't bring attention to yourself, make money, watch your diet, travel, do something different, and then show up when you get ready!

Well I should see if this work of street art remains in the South Loop. Meanwhile as we endured hot temps during the past couple of weekends at least we can see where we came from. A very cold and snowy past winter in 2018...

The bad news is that in using this snapchat filter I wasn't anywhere near Evanston which is where the purple line runs through even though it does do express on what's formerly called the north side main line of the Chicago L. I snapped this shot at Belmont waiting for a train sometime in May.

Sometime in May snapped these two shots on Snapchat and posted them on Instagram. It made the news here in Chicago that some scaffolding on a building in downtown Chicago fell off and forced the closure of the intersection around Michigan/Randolph. It was scary for many however work was being down to do something about the scaffolding and soon it would be back to normal downtown. First shot I took with a wide-angle Olloclip lens The second shot was taken with a telephoto Olloclip lens you get more of a close-up of the scaffolding that was hanging off this building. If you want to know I was in the Prudential building about to head into the Randolph Street Metra station when I noticed people were pointing this scene out. And of course I noticed the news trucks also! 

This is from my Instagram story on Monday which was a very hot day. I decided being out and about to just sit in an air conditioned great hall at Union Station where I saw a line of Amtrak passengers getting ready to board their train. I really wanted to go with them which is the caption that you saw in this pic. The announced train that was boarding was my favorite train, Southwest Chief . It brings to mind how often I have hung around Union Station. Especially during the period of time that I went to community college in downtown Chicago. I often came here to people watch or eat lunch or occasionally look at the magazines at the convenience stores in the station. This place has changed so much in the ensuing 20 years. Where the passengers wait to board their trains has changes. Also where the passengers pick up their tickets - at least for those who are not computer savvy to print their own tickets at home - has changed. To board a bus to go into downtown Chicago has cha...

[ VIDEO ] Continuing to go through my footage and photos of my 2016 west coast, Las Vegas, and Grand Canyon jaunt. Today I show you some footage I shot of riding through Arizona moving further west through Flagstaff, Arizona and then in the morning Los Angeles! I wish I had kept a journal of this. Even if I didn't blog as it happened it would've been worth sharing in a post with photos (or video) when I ultimately returned to Chicago. My next vacation I promise I'll do much better! Meanwhile enjoy this latest vlog showing southwestern landscapes! 

  I was a late convert to snapchat I always thought it was a tool of the lascivious type. Now that I see this localized filter representing one of Chicago's L routes I've been sold. Unfortunately most of these filters have been used for videos, but this is one of the few that's a photograph. I forget when I snapped this, however, I was waiting for a train at Belmont on the north side going further north.

Another switchup. For now I'll post my favorite memes on Monday. This should be everyone's mindset honestly.Relationships should benefit you whether personal, romantic, family, etc. Hopefully it's not boiled down to materialism or money. Hopefully it's all about positivity and if it's not distraction!