Jason Michael Dunnington

Tag: writing

  • Summer madness 2.0

    Summer semester has been a challenge to say the least. I thought it would be a lot easier than it was. If I make the Dean’s List this time I would be surprised because it’s looking like I will have two “B” grades in these two classes. Part of it was a requirement to have five people in attendence for my Speeches. Every person you were short it took 10 points off. I had three people so I lost 20 points off the top of all three of my speeches. That was the difference between an 88 and a 91 in this class. If I do another Speech class I plan on doing it in person. Also the History 120 class was heavy with reading and videos. I did great on the classwork but the tests were crazy hard. I can’t imagine for the life of me why a History test needs to be difficult by having five question-answer options and be reframed from different viewpoint to throw the test-taker off. I can understand why the EPA 608 is hard. If you mess up with refrigerants then great harm can be caused and you could be violating Federal law. What’s going to happen if I get a detail about history off? Nothing. It’s really not necessary to make it that difficult. These people aren’t studying to be Scholars or archeologists. We just need to get those core 42 general education credit hours so we can walk with a cap and gown. At any rate, I only have a final test left to take in that History class and I will be done with the Summer semester. Here are some of the photos I have taken recently.

    Flower July 2026

    Lovely view from Unity Village July 2026

    this was a dreamlike scene in July 2026 Grandview, MO

    this is the old red bridge in South KC that people put locks on as a symbol of their love photo taken July 2026

    Harry S Truman’s house in Independence. July 2026

    flower July 2026

    An old Texaco station in downtown Lee’s Summit, MO July 2026

  • Summer Solstice

    I started my two Summer semester classes a couple of weeks ago. These eight week classes go fast and they really pile on the classwork. I have also prepared something I am planning on sharing in the next few days. SOme memories of an old friend that I wanted to honor. That post will be up soon– I’ve been pretty active on social media (Facebook) sharing a lot of original music. I have also taken a lot of photos recently. Here is some of my work

    Some more of the ‘color pop’ flowers of June. June 2026

    ‘color pop’ June flowers 2026

    sunrise at Blue Springs Lake June 2026

    sunrise at Blue Springs Lake in June 2026

    Turkey Vulture at Blue Springs Lake early one morning in June 2026

  • Late Winter/early March

    My class schedule is really grinding on me. I finally have some schedule openings in the next month with Spring Break around the corner. Next week Daylight Savings TIme begins also. With all the drastic temperature changes this month brings I am looking forward to getting back to some macro photography. Flowers, insects and textures of all kinds. It reminds me of a good friend I lost years ago named Rocky. He was a painter. Not just like a house painter, he painted signs and murals. He was twenty-two years older than me and I met him in the 90’s as a teenager through some friend’s parents. I played guitar and a lot of the older folks in the town where I lived really liked me a lot. They included me in bars to drink and carry on like a regular customer when I was 18 years old because I was a known musician. I played in a lot of different bands back then. I played Country, Blues, Rock, Jazz, Synth Pop and typical music from the 90’s we all associate with that time period. I also got into played Reggae and Punk Rock in this time and my most successful bands were more original and had Punk roots with some Ska or Reggae mixed in. When I was 18 (1996) I was playing in 3 different bands as either a guitar player, singer or drummer. I needed work and Rocky offered me a job painting with him. I did that with him for every Summer for about 10 years. I really enjoyed doing murals on the sides of businesses. I really need to look for some of our old photos if I even still have them. The years haven’t been too kind for me keeping track of things like that unfortunately. Rocky, passed in late 2012. I miss him a lot. That’s where I get my painting techniques on canvas. I translated the skills I learned with him into an artform that is absolutely an essential part of who I am. My easel is in my kitchen right now with two stretched canvases on it.

    Anyway.. I have a few images to share this time.

    Our Lady Of Sorrows backdropped by The Sheraton Hotel. Kansas City

    Arp 2600 clone en macro Canon RF nifty fifty lens

    Late Winter cityscape KCMO Canon RF 35mm

    Collage created on Photoshop March 1 2026

    Variations on a theme. Collage created in Photoshop with a concept I previously incorporated. March 1, 2026