Dinosaur Cookie

krista loves to bake. today she brought in some dino cookies for us. thanks krista!

Race for the Arts

cypress college patrons of the arts is a nonprofit community based organization, and committee of the cypress college foundation dedicated to providing scholarships to talented students in the fields of art, dance, journalism, music, photography, and theater.

each year the patrons hold several fund raisers; one of which is the "race for the arts." the race for the arts is a dinner held at the vessels club at the los alamitos race course and all the proceeds fund the scholarships.

this year i decided to take randy. for three weeks he knew i was going to take him somewhere, but he had no idea where. the idea was just to get him into the car and drive him somewhere. he thought we were going to see a play.



randy and i were joined by some family and friends. we spent the night eating, drinking, and betting on horses. we learned about win bets, place bets, show bets, exacta bets, quinella bets, trifecta bets, superfecta bets, and a number of other bets that i can't even pronounce. i picked horses based on their names like pegakiss, fangs, and dinnerinthediner. the others chose the horses based on what the experts picked, while some actually tried to figure out what all the stats meant.

thanks to a dear friend, we scored a sweet table on the terrace of the vessels club right above the finish line. she claims that's where she puts all the rowdy people.



in the end, i ended up loosing more money than i won, but having a small wager on the race made it all the more exciting. i'm definately going again next year, but chances are i'll be going to the races again before the year is up.



did i mention that i drank several pounds of beer?

The Orange County Fair - Another Take

back in july i went to the orange county fair with randy, chris, and andy. i even blogged about it. there you'll see the fair through my eyes.

here, is another take on it. this is what chris sees and what other people have to put up with when they are out with me.

David Griffin: Photography connects us with the world

Elephant Painting

i think this elephant paints better than i do.

Congrats to Pinky and Alvin

Congratulations to Pinky and Alvin on the birth of their first child!



while Pinky and Alvin where in the hospital, there was a flurry of e-mails sent back and forth between the family starting on sept. 26 at 4:37pm and ending on sept. 27 at 10:20am. this is how it went:

tisha1013: According to Kris... Pinky was admitted to the hospital a couple of hours ago. Looks like the baby is coming on time.. I am going to guess saturday at 1:48 am!

divinegrace327: I say 12:08am

marvin: Saturday @ 2:37 am

alymaria: I say 7:15 am. First labors can last looong!

pinlux: randy wants 5:23am. i want 3:22am

mannyrey: 5:04am

markyrey: false alarms til Sunday night...then...Monday 12am sharp. Ha!

divinegrace327: Did she pop yet? What do we win if we get the closest time?

maylambojon: Ringo said 3:30a.m. I say 8:00a.m.

markyrey: Nothing...you have to get the exact time! And then you win the right to claim that you have psychic powers.

maylambojon: Just an update I talked to Pinky and she said she was 4-5cm around 8pm but she already had an epidural.

tisha1013: anyone have the latest info on pinky?

tisha1013: It's a girl! Kayla Andrea (not sure if that's spelled right)

mannyrey: A few more details: 6 lbs 14 oz, 21in, between 9-9:30am

tisha1013: Hmmm.. So it looks like May can claim to be pyschic! She's the closest with 8am! But aren't you a nurse May? Does that count? ;) hahaha

maylambojon: Yeah I will claim it I am a psychic coz i got the time of her delivery and the sex of the baby too hehehe.....

Walking with Dinosaurs

last night, the family went to see Walking with Dinosaurs at the Staples Center. it's rare we get to do things together, so this was very special for me. i had a blast. i'm not sure who was more giddy, me or the kids.

we got tickets in the nose bleed section, (3rd row from the tip top) but who cares? i was out with the family watching a show instead of at home watching TV.





when the paleontologist walked out, everyone cheered!



they did a great job on the dinos and the whole show in general. i was so excited to hear that photography was allowed!

Depth of Field Demo

tonight mike asked me to take a group of his students out to shoot some pictures for a depth of field demo. unfortunately, i decided to take the students outside where there was very little light, which led us to use some rather long shutter speeds. we decided to have some fun with it. okay, okay, i decided to have some fun with it. i think half the people were rather bored and thought what we were doing was absolutely silly.

Portrait Speech

this semester, i'm taking speech class with Dr. Donna L. Friess. normally i hate public speaking, but i think Dr. Friess has done a fine job with getting us comfortable with each other and speaking in front of each other.

I had my first speech today. my speech was on how to shoot a portrait. i figured if i could do something i knew really well, i could improvise better in case i forgot what i wanted to say.



i have wonderful friends! krista, john, and chris helped me take a bunch of lighting equipment to the class and set it up. thank you guys!

Group Soup

7:00pm - Rob Johnson's Photographic Possibilities Class

when the students go into the main darkroom to process film together, we call this "group soup". i have no idea where this came from, it's been called this since long before i got to the department.

say hi to the camera class!

Cypress College Photography Department

we like to have fun at the cypress college photography department. the staff and students are like a big extended family to me. a typical day at the photo department goes like this.

10:00am - Greg Bumatay's Wedding Photography Class

chris has found himself a couple new pets: clone and patch (i'm not sure which is which). he can't wait to share this with greg and the four pose for picture for me.



now give me tiger!



greg has created a blog just for his class. there, you'll find out what the class is up to as well links to all of his student's blogs. check out www.ccwpc.blogspot.com.

7:OOpm - Michael LaNoue's Introduction to Photography Class



randy is even taking mike's class!



7:OOpm - Clifford Lester's Introduction to Professional Photography Class



this night cliff has an in class photo project in store for his students. the department is full of energy as students run around preparing for the shoots.







chob deserves an A just for taking one for the team. first he goes out and buys a $150 dress. then he actually puts it on for the shoot.



actually, chob makes a pretty decent looking woman.

Jit's Birthday at the park

right after getting my hair done, i headed to the park for jojit's birthday party. this is where i managed to mess up my hair. all in all, we had a fun time.











we all played volleyball.





look at birthday boy go!



we also had a piñata. poor little unicorn got the candy beat out of it.

Hair Cut

i rarely get a hair cut because it's so hard to find someone who can do hair well. i finally found someone. my friend michelle recommeded charity at Salon Gregorie in newport beach. michelle's hair always looks fantastic, so i went for it. charity is awesome! if you are looking for someone to do your hair, i highly recommend her.











unfornately, i never did get a chance to take a picture of my hair once everything was all done, but i must tell you i have never had so many compliments about my hair in my life. i promptly messed it all up a few hours later playing vollyball.

thanks michelle! thanks charity!