Descanso Garden and the Brewery Art Walk

Not much happened this week, work wise. It's been really slow, meaning that the company had time to go out on adventures. We went to the Descanso Garden for an afternoon. We had lunch at an Italian place called Portabellos or something, was pretty good.

The Garden was quite nice, lots of things in bloom. There was a tiny train to ride on, and it smelled rather terrible. Wanted to have tea at the Japanese tea house, but it was closed. Next time.

Also went to the Brewery Art Walk on Saturday. There were some rather interesting displays and exhibits, including one by a man after my own heart.

It's unbelievable how much art costs(or how much "artists" think their work is worth). The compound the art colony was housed in was much, much bigger than I had expected, and was, I think, the most interesting thing about the whole adventure.

Not to say that the art wasn't interesting, just not as interesting as the architecture.

Malibu, Car Windows, Sucker Punch, and Confusing Situations

I went to The Grotto in Malibu today.

I've come to the conclusion that I need more friends who would actually enjoy hiking.

My car window is disabled.

I've come to the conclusion that people shouldn't stick their feet out of car windows.

I watched Sucker Punch tonight.

I've come to the conclusion that people will have differing opinions about things, and it's really not worth the effort to convince them otherwise sometimes.

I'm single again as of this morning.

I've come to the conclusion that I've had a generally bad day, but maybe tomorrow will be better.

The Beach, Knob Creek, and Future Adventures

Went to the beach today. It was quite nice, but sand still got all over the place.

Luckily, it didn't get into my camera.

 

Not the best picture

Ate at Plums Cafe for brunch. Expensive, yet filling. Would do again, if I got a raise.

Went to Fashion Island, hunting for sunglasses. Had an interesting conversation about Eiffel Towers.

Grandma's funeral is on Wednesday, and I had to scan some old pictures of my family for the slideshow to be present at said funeral. That was awkward, considering my family hasn't really kept up with the whole picture taking thing. My photography isn't really focused on my own family, as you can see in my photostream. Had to dig down pretty deep to find some pictures.

Realized from old albums and photosets that I'm much more cheerful and optimistic now than I was in the distant and not-so-distant past. Kind of sad about that. 

I could have enjoyed life a whole lot more if I was then the way I am now.

Ninja Edit: Finally found a bottle of Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve, and am enjoying the hell out of it.

It's what makes life beautiful

My grandmother passed on today.

Life goes on.

 The sunset, the eve of my grandmother's death

I wasn't close with her, but seeing her on that bed, and the reactions of my relatives does make me think some.

I don't think death bothers me as much as it does most other people. Maybe it's cause I've seen people die before, maybe because I don't think it's something to cry over.

People die. It may be spontaneous, it may be something you'll see coming from far off.

But when the time comes, we'll all inevitably move on. It's not like we'll have a choice. What are you gonna do, challenge Death to a chess game?

Sure, I'll be sad that I will never see so-and-so again, but I'll have the memories(I hope, 'less I'm so old or have some disease that means I can't even have those no more, but then, I wouldn't care, because I wouldn't remember I had the memories), and those memories will be all the more precious knowing that there will be no more.

I think it's kinda exciting, to see the Great Beyond...I mean, who wants to live forever? Your body, once strong and capable, becomes weak and ever more fragile. Where once you could leap fences and climb trees with impunity, your greatest fear becomes falling and being unable to pick yourself up.

And even if you should remain forever young, what would you do? I personally believe I would get bored of life within a few centuries.

No, immortality does not strike my fancy.

Sure, I don't really want to die yet, but one day, after I've experienced enough, seen enough, I'll take that long walk into the dark, and be satisfied.

And even should I die tomorrow, not having lived my life to the fullest, I'll shrug and move on anyway. I only hope that I'll live long enough my parents won't have to bury me, and that my death does not overly inconvenience somebody. If I'm extra lucky, maybe I'll die a glorious death, maybe I'll even die for a cause!

But even if I die young, inconveniencing thousands, under ignoble and pointless circumstances, I'm still not gonna challenge Death to a chess game.

Catalina Island

Went to Catalina Island with friends over the weekend. We rented a condo for two nights, and finished a bottle of vodka a night.

Well, I finished most of it. The 95lb girl made a good effort though.

And really, Stoli is good stuff. I think it better than that weak French stuff the others seemed to prefer.

It was a good call to bring the usual sleeping bag.

Trip there was in a helicopter. I'd usually adhere to the rule that "if the wings are moving faster than the fuselage, it is inherently unsafe," but made an exception this time. It's a good thing that all of our group were skinny folk.

Food on the island was rather expensive, though that was no surprise. Zip-line wasn't really worth it, go bungee jumping instead. Scuba was brill, if expensive, and the water cold as f**k. Will probably go and get certified.

Weather was good to us, contrary to the claims of the weatherman. Got a couple good shots in, check the Flickr stream to the right.

Would do again, would recommend to a friend. Would also recommend said friend bring another friend so said friend would have other friend to warm friend during cold nights.

In other news:

dearblankpleaseblank.com is pretty awesome.

Work is dirty.

Gas is $4USD now.

Sundays Suck.

SuburbanDweller came back to SoCal for a wedding this weekend. Ate lunch with him and caught up. Was nice.

What wasn't nice was that it rained. And while I don't usually find rain all that disconcerting, it was raining on a Sunday.

And everything is closed on Sundays. I had wanted to go to Antique Row and Joey's BBQ, as well as the Mattel store, but that did not come to pass.

Luckily for my photographic hobby, I had already taken several photos in the days previous to the current inclement weather. and have posted them on Flickr for your viewing pleasure.

In doing so, I have discovered that there is a 200 picture photostream limit on Flickr's free service. Am now debating whether or not I should pay for Flickr Pro.

In other news:

Everyone got their gas masks ready? How about their survival bags? Food? Water?
Going out to get some MREs this week.

Shooting People 01

Yesterday, I took the day off from work and shot people.

With my camera.

A friend of a friend happens to be a make-up artist. She apparently heard from a little bird that I have a camera, and invited me to shoot some of her friends for some reason or the other. Having never seriously shot people before, it was kinda out of my photographic comfort zone.

Being the gung-ho, try everything, to-adventure-and-beyond person I am, I jumped at the chance.

Results can be seen in the photostream to the right.
I even brought along a model of my own(e.g. shoved fellow photo-enthusiast forward).

The shoot was pretty fun, even if I missed some of it due to logistical issues. Will do again, and happily.

In other news:

Donated $500USD to Sendai Earthquake relief. Hope all my favorite manga artists are alright.

Also, people protested at work. With a bike horn. They seemed trained. Kinda odd.

Day 24: 141lbs, Huntington Library

Went to the Huntington Library today. Never been, so it was fun.

What wasn't so fun was the fact I went by myself. Originally, I was supposed to have two others with me, but both bailed with various reasons/excuses. But as shown in Lone Ranger, I am entirely unwilling to let the inaction of others prevent me from doing what I want to do.

Stand Alone Complex?

Dunno.

Pictures can be seen in photostream in the sidebar.

As a side note, am now greasing the groove, 15 Perfect Pushups every time I go downstairs, and 5 pull ups every time I use the restroom. I'd do more pull ups, but I need my arms for work.

Day 16: 141lbs, Nixon Library

Gained a pound. Muscle? Maybe.

Went to the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda yesterday, didn't get any good shots.

The original plan was to go to the Huntington Library, but weather reports indicated rain, so we canceled our plans and I went to work. In truth, it did snow in Burbank, but from what I could tell, it was just fine and sunny where we were. I got off work early and gathered everyone up to go to Huntington, but the last person took too long to get ready, that decided that.

I really didn't get any shots I thought were good enough to post.

Hopefully, next week will be different.

Attended a birthday celebration today, the first in a while. Girl was really conservative, so the event was pretty tame.

Early work tomorrow, after a week off from it. Joy.

Day 8: 140.3lbs: Photography

Working out still, not much change.

Yet.

I still have hope.

Went on a photographic adventure today. Results are in the Flickr photostream to the right.

Too tired to add more, except my back feels odd for some reason.