This is not Wasted Quarter!

This has nothing to do with Wasted Quarter.

For well over 20 years, I've been printing zines of my writing. These were based on whatever I felt like talking about at the time I was writing them. Issues of Wasted Quarter ran the gamut from a few of single sided-xerox pages stapled in the corner, to 150 page perfect-bound books. When asked some 15 years ago, I said that I would never turn Wasted Quarter into an online blog.

So this is not Wasted Quarter.

WQ68 20 Wasted Years


That will continue on at it's ever slowing pace, separate from my new little online project, "Four Baggers and Foreclosures".

Over the last five or so years, Wasted Quarter evolved in covering subject matter in greater detail to the point where it was outgrowing it's confines. As technology advances, even I have to admit traditional ink on paper self-publishing isn't the best way to get my ideas out.

I'd started taking pictures of abandoned buildings around the Denver metro in 2013. This was all started as research for my book about the history of Englewood, Colorado; "Abandoned Englewood". (Copies still available!) While I loved taking these pictures and writing that book, too much had to be left out because I couldn't afford to print a 500 page book full of photos. Self publishing a zine was now too limiting in terms of including the pictures to tell the full story, but take up too much precious real estate on a printed page. There are thousands of more pictures of urban decay, just sitting on my hard drives, waiting for their story to be told. And there's not enough years of my life left to get them all printed...

Abandoned Englewood
WQ70 Abandoned Englewood


In addition to pictures of failed American dreams, there's another, completely unrelated subject matter that needs a better format than printing an 80 page book once every three years can provide...

For years, I've been planning on writing a series of short stories covering some 30 years as a hardcore baseball fan. As this project was coming together, it kept growing to the point that trying to contain those ideas to seldomly printed books just isn't feasible either...

So it all adds up to needing a "new" medium.

And I know it's not 2003 anymore, so I'm far behind the times once again... But just as I jumped into the zine writing thing head first in 1993, I'm never one to shy away from a hot trend! It'll just take me about 20 years to get around to it...

Before we get started, I need to tip the cap to my longtime friend Trav for coming up with the name for this site. I briefed him on my idea, and said I hadn't yet come up with a name. He immediately came up with one that I was lukewarm to, then hit me with "Four Baggers and Foreclosures" and it was set.

Let's Make A TV Show!
WQ72 "Let's Make A TV Show!"
 Go watch My Buddie!


(And yes, WQ72 - "Let's Make A TV Show!" will be printed at some point in the future. There will be an announcement or something...)

I'm a die-hard Expos fan that grew up in Minnesota (following the Twins) and relocated to Colorado (now following the Rockies)... Resulting in being a card collector of three teams that very few people care about!

I'm also fascinated by urban decay. As the places around your community lose their value and are left to rot, I want to photograph it! There is a strange beauty in capturing something that was once useful, now obsolete... Despite being forgotten, buildings that still have a story to tell. Before they are wiped off the face of the Earth for something shinier and more luxurious.

To summarize: I'm Captain Honkass. That is not my real name. (And I don't feel like telling that story today) I am here to talk about the Montreal Expos, abandoned gas stations, vacant retail, some 30 years of collecting baseball cards, demolitions of off-beat local landmarks, the Minnesota Twins and how much I can't stand the generic architecture of 21st century gentrification...

I'm cranky and opinionated and recently woke up and realized that I'm in my early 40's... So I guess I better start a blog!

At some point, I may write something that interests you!

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Abandoned Mall: Villa Italia Mall - Lakewood, CO

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