Last but not least...

Thought I'd throw up a few new pix of T. Gotta get all the blogulating out of the way at once.

Just thought I'd throw another shot from the show up. This one from LAX last winter. I like the texture and monochromatic color scheme.

Kodachrome

Before our trip to Albuquerque a few months ago I bought some Kodachrome on a whim. It's been forever since I've shot it and I was thinking it might be nice to shoot a few rolls before they stop processing it altogether. These are a few of my faves from the first roll, the second is still to come. I love the color rendition of this film. It's such a welcome change from today's super saturated, super contrasty films. The look almost vintage. And it kills me how different T looks just a few months later. Just a note, I don't have a film scanner so the way I digitize my negs is to put them on a lightbox and shoot them with my camera. It introduces a sort of almost low tech look that I like with the lens distortion and terrible color rendition. BW is easy (see last post) and these slides were pretty simple as well. Color negs on the other hand, ain't no trip to Cleveland.






This last one is downtown LA.

A shot I made of my mom while she was here in January I think. We drove up to Mt. Wilson and made a couple of stops along the way to see the view. I think it's the longest stretch of time T has ever slept. It's nice to come across something like this while trolling around for something else. Like finding a dollar in your pocket.

Now what?

So last night was the opening of my show and it went pretty well. Thanks to everyone who came by, the turnout was great. One of the owner's said it was the best turnout of family and friends he'd seen at one of their shows. So thanks for all the support. If you couldn't make it by last night it's running until September 28th so you still have some time to check it out. For hours and directions check out her website (she's only open on weekends).

One more day...

Tomorrow is the opening of my show. I'm getting kind of excited and a little nervous. Sari and Thom and I are going to go check it out later this afternoon to see what it looks like. Ramey, the owner, said she needs to re-hang one wall so I'll have to use my imagination but that's ok. I want to see it before I show up.

We're so screwed...

T just figured out how to unlatch all of our "baby-proof" cabinet latches. I think we're going to have to go through the whole house with boards and nails a la 28 Days Later.

1st life, 2nd life, whatever it takes.

I've officially begun classes toward my MLIS as of yesterday. Well, not quite officially yet but almost. I've signed into the Blackboard section and looked over the schedule. I'm excited and a little nervous to get started as it's been forever since I've done anything academic and the whole online format is a little intimidating. That's another thing, online. People raise eyebrows a little and I have to admit I'm a little apprehensive. I've asked around though, and it's got a pretty good reputation within the community and it looks like they're using a lot of really cool technology to bring people together to offer them something they wouldn't be able to get otherwise. So, we'll see.

I have been taking a class aimed at familiarizing us with that technology and it's been pretty interesting. It's a lot of content delivery type things in addition to online teleconferencing and mail lists etc. They have an online social network kind of like Facebook but not quite as flashy. That was sort of easy since I just signed up for Facebook recently so I was kind of used to it. The newest thing I've done for this so far is 2nd life. I don't really know how to explain it except as an online community where you can run around video game style and interact with other people from all over the world in a virtual environment. So you build an avatar and can go visit islands and own property and build things to sell or buy. There is an entire economy there based on Linden dollars, which you can exchange real dollars for. SJSU has a virtual campus there complete with cheery t-shirts and class rooms. Companies have places there and have meetings with people from all over. It's the new frontier I guess, though all I've seen of it is orientation island (could be a fox show, there's so much subtext in the title alone) and SJSU island, where the campus is. I thought it was creepy. People in various states of undress wonder around while they "edit" their appearance. And the one action I can perform at this point is undress. Though there was a blurb written on etiquette when you enroll that says you need to keep that sort of activity to specific places set up for that and rated appropriately. The default rating is PG. I guess it's like a smoking section of sorts for people who want to see naked video game people. Anyway right now I prefer 1st life but who knows, maybe I'll get used to it and get sucked in like Tron.

Siggraph

I went downtown yesterday to meet my brother for lunch and then checked out Siggraph 2008. This year was the "35th International Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques", whatever that means. It was a huge convention center filled with booths dedicated to video games and (this year anyway) Iron Man. You'd think that movie employed the entire industry the way that suit of armor kept popping up. There were models dancing around in motion capture suits and video games with no controllers (just a camera that watched your hands go through the motions of using a controller. A slightly disconcerting effect if taken out of context). There were video games everywhere. I even learned that online gaming has become such a spectator sport that they hire professional tv camera men from Fox Sports (or whatever) to control cameras in the gaming world. They even sell special devices set up like a camera that links into the game environment so they have all of their familiar controls. It's an enormous industry to say the least.

I had fun though. And got to hang out with my brother for a bit, which was nice.

The things I find myself saying these days...

"but there's poop on his hands and his hands are in his mouth!"

Wallace at One

Just a tiny taste to keep the grandmothers at bay. Some pix from T's birthday.

Sunday before we had a cake, he was pretty into it. He looks like Oliver Hardy here.



Went to the park a couple days later with his cousin. Here he is playing squishnose with mom.



A tiny moment of joy.



Best for last. Come on!!


I'll put the rest on flickr when I get the chance. Been busy with school lately. That's right, class is in session.

cocktail hour...

In an attempt to become more social we've begun what I hope will become a semi-regular thing with some friends of ours. We'll plan a simple, cheap dinner, take-out or we'll cook if we decide to go the extra mile, and head to there house in the early evening. The key to the evening, the reason for the evening really, is the cocktail. We'll decide on something seasonal, maybe with a theme for dinner or whatever, and splurge on that. We've only done it twice so we'll see how long it lasts but it's been pretty successful so far. The trick is to do it early so the kids can play in the yard before dinner and to pick something not too alcoholic because let's face it, J is kind of a lightweight.

So a couple of weeks ago we went with a vermouth spritzer. It's not something I'd usually drink (I like my booze with booze in it. And nothing else) but it's summer here which means it's hot and dry and it's nice to sit in the yard while the earth cools and enjoy something cold and fizzy and just strong enough to take the edge off. I'll admit we got the recipe from Martha Stewart (where else?) but it's pretty good. First off you freeze some orange juice in ice cube trays. Throw some of those into a glass and add 1 part vermouth and 2 parts soda water (I think, I'm writing this from memory so adjust it to taste. That's my philosophy for pretty much anything) and a couple splashes of bitters. It was pretty good. I've never had vermouth as anything but a mixer but it made a light, not too sweet drink. As the "ice" melted it cut the bitterness of the vermouth well and was very refreshing in the heat.

Last week we did a cocktail with Pimm's #1, Britain's premier drink of summer. You start with a tall glass layered with ice and cucumber slices, an ounce of Pimm's, 1.5 oz of vodka and top it off with lemonade. Garnish with a slice of lemon. It's a little citrusy, a little cucumber-y and a lot good. A little sweeter (though I not cloying) and more potent than the vermouth drink. You can't go wrong with either.

So there it is. I don't know what's coming up next but I'm sure it will be fun.