mission

during our visit to solvang we passes by a fair and decided to stop and check it out. It was a fiesta held at the mission. i didn't even know there was a mission here.

spending a couple hours at the beach at UC Santa Barbara. it's pretty chilly here, but not too bad.

Steak for lunch

even though we're camping, it doesn't mean we don't eat well. steak for lunch people!

The view from my tent

This is the view from my tent. Everyone is up except me. I'm happily lying in my oh so warm sleeping bag.

The site

Dang! My iPhone map is so accurate!! The blue dot is exactly where I'm at. I'm lying in a tent under that very tree.

On out way

it's nearly midnight and we're on the road on our way to the campground at cachuma lake. we got a late start and yes, it's my fault. i had stuff to do before we left and I didn't get done until it was pretty late. we ended up leaving the house at 9:45pm, but it's okay. some of our family members are already at the site.

this was a rather impromptu trip for us. I didn't even know we were going until thursday night. The family often does things at the last minute. every now and then you just have to get up and go. it keeps life interesting.

honestly, i was hoping for a relaxing weekend at home, but i'll still have fun. i always do.

David Pouge

one day while searching for people to follow on twitter i came across david pouge, the personal technology columnist for the New York Times and an Emmy Award-winning tech correspondent for CBS news. he's also one of the world's bestselling how-to authors, with titles in the for dummies series and his own line of "missing manual" books. i first saw david in a video on the TED web site and thought he would be interesting to follow (his TED videos cracked me up).

david was in the middle of collecting responses for his new book "the world according to twitter." every day he would post a question such as "what’s your greatest regret?" or "what’s the best toast you ever heard?" and his followers would respond. well, it turns out that a few of my responses actually made it into the book. david is current in the middle of signing 1500 hundred books to send out to people who contributed to the book. the last i heard (through twitter) he had signed about 750 of them. i can't imagine what that would be like. and i though signing my mortgage papers was a lot of writing! one of those books in the picture above is mine! i get a free signed copy! i'm so excited!

thanks @pouge! you rock!

Albertson's Beer Room

while grocery shopping for the photo house meeting vergil and i came across the beer room at the supermarket. how kick ass is this? a walk in refrigerator full of beer!

Pat Thai

nong nang made me some pat thai for me tonight. she even showed me how to cook it. it always kicks ass to watch your food being prepared, although i doubt i'll be able to make it taste as good as hers... yet.

thanks so much for dinner!

Max Gerber's History of Photography

max s. gerber's take on photographic history:

camera obscura - niepce - talbot - daguerrotypes - stereoscopes, man - matthew brady - muybridge wins a bet - kodak beings - stieglitz - f64 - man ray invents photoshop/practice of having hot female assistants - lee miller (see previous) - kertesz figures out that if he uses funhouse mirrors girls will pose naked for him (see two items prior) - fuji comes late to the party - farm security administration run by a guy with the most macho name ever (roy stryker) - bresson - hasselblad comes late to the party - steichen/family of man - winogrand - irving penn - avedon kicks everyone's ass - wegman jumpstarts greeting card industry - C41 jumpstarts cancer - mary ellen mark begins a 35 year ass-kicking career -- cindy sherman jumpstarts narcissism - avedon kicks everyone's ass in the american west - sally man jumpstarts exploiting your kids for art (in a good way) - canon EOS comes late to the party - adobe releases photoshop, bull in the china shop - digital cameras ruin life for everyone - flickr (see prior) - digital cameras slowly make life better for everyone - polaroid goes bankrupt - twice - annie leibovitz goes bankrupt - publishing industry goes bankrupt - everyone becomes wedding photographers - economic collapse - everyone becomes divorce photographers.

there's your photo history. i just saved you all six weeks of homework. you're welcome.