Club Sushi

randy's cousin invited us out to Club Sushi. the place was going to have a soft opening, a private affair, and we would be on "the list."

The temptation of free food and the desire to always support family made me jump on the chance to go.

Club Sushi is located in Hollywood near Sunset and Vine, just across from the Archlight.



i'm not entirely sure if it's supposed to be a club or a restaurant, most likely both. i had no idea what the place was going to be like before i got there. i thought it was going to be a little sushi joint, not the swanky place i ended up. i think i was the only girl in there not wearing 3+ inch heals. i was most definitely the only girl in there wearing jeans. of course i was under dressed (and felt very similar to a beverly hillbilly), but the free beer that wouldn't stop coming and the all i could eat food helped me not to care.


the place has a great atmosphere and equally great food. it's definitely a place to go as part of a night on the town.

upstairs has a large private area complete with a billiards table, a balcony overlooking it's own bar and, if need be, it's own entrance from the street.

thanks ate cyn for inviting us! we can't wait to go back.

Pinlux Eats

i spend a lot of time eating out because i don't know how to cook. i don't even know how to boil an egg. several people have attempted to tell me how this is done however the methods vary so much, i'm not sure which way is the best way.

anyhow, since i eat out so much, i thought i would start a blog just about the different food and the places i eat. check out pinluxeats for the latest places i've been. maybe one of them will be your new favorite place.

Christmas Puppy

it was time to shoot amber again. this time, i had a holiday theme in mind. you can easily imagine how hard it is to keep a pair of antlers (or for that matter any head ornament) on a dog, but we managed to do it just long enough to get these totally adorable pix.



this picture says it all... "why? why? why are you doing this to me? i've now lost all my dignity."



for pet pictures of your very own, please contact my friend and awesome pet photographer elizabeth gonzalez. i just do this for fun.

Where you want to be

don't take advice from someone who isn't where you want to be.

if you want to know what it takes to be a successful photographer, ask a successful photographer.

if you want to know what it takes to be a good doctor, ask a good doctor.

if you want to know what it takes to be a great writer, ask a great writer.

if you want to know what it takes to have a happy marriage, ask someone who has a happy marriage.

if you want to know what it takes to be rich, ask someone rich.

luckily, the rich write books on how they got to where they are.

The Last Day of Wedding

today the wedding class, taught by greg bumatay, had it's final. after the final the class got together for a group photo. it's so sad to see classes end and students move on. hopefully, some will come back for more classes next semester.

Moustaches are for Adults Only

randy and i were planning on going to see a movie. yes! nachos!

shortly before 8pm, arian came over. he told randy and me that jen was having a birthday party at her house that night and he was on his way there. why is it that we always find out about these things at the last minute? oh well, that's just what the family is like.

just after 9pm randy and i walked in the door. most of the family was already there. in the crock pot was homemade chili and on the counter fresh baked corn bread. food!


after dinner the fake mustaches came out. it was silly, but hey, we're silly people. it's rather funny what people can do with peel and stick facial hair after a few beers.

A Bird in the Window is Worth Two in the Hand

it was friday morning. ron and i were cleaning up the studio. he was looking out the window and said to me, "it happened again."

i looked out the window, looking for the car accident. he said, "you aren't looking in the right place." where was it? then, i saw it. a bird had flown into the window again. it had happened several years earlier as well.

the bird had left a dusty imprint of itself on the glass. i looked down, not really expecting to see a dead bird laying on the ground, but needing to check anyway. there was no bird there. hopefully it lived, a little stunned, but alive.

here, for your viewing pleasure, the perfect bird print.

How the Sparks Fly

the phone rang. it was her cousin. after a breif conversation she hurried out of the house and drove off.

it was just after midnight on a cold fall night when three people stepped outside with a camera, a tripod, and 16 packages of sparklers. they would all rather be warm in bed.

he wanted to do his extra credit assignment. light painting is what the instructor called it.

3 cigarettes and 2 packages of sparklers later, this is what arian got...

Tisha's Wedding Lilies

so, how did the lumen prints of the lilies from tisha's wedding come out? here they are.

my body, my choice

my friend elizabeth gonzalez is working on a project photographing people from different sides of political view points. krista is pro-choice and the idea was proposed to write "my body my choice" on her belly.

my roll in this is that i got to write the words on krista's belly with a big, fat sharpie.


of course, i kind of felt left out so i begged to have something written on me too. krista was kind enough to write the word and liz indulged me by taking time to shoot me too.





mucho thanks to liz and krista for humoring a friend.

Miss Amber

amber came in for another photo shoot today in much more casual attire. she hasn't been groomed in a while, so her furry self is much fuller.

as usual she didn't really want her picture taken, walking off the set several times... okay, a lot of times. every now and then she would humor me, at least that's what it felt like, and she would sit long enough for a few pictures.

who you don't see is amber's mother, sitting just off to the right. if her mommy was not there, amber would not be there.




after an hour or so of shooting, miss amber got tired. we pulled out her blanket and her favorite toy. somehow after the blanket and the toy came out and we got her nice and wrapped up, she stayed put, content to let me take picture after picture.

i think i'm getting better at this puppy portrait thing.



thank you to amber's mom for letting me take puppy pictures and for constantly grabbing puppy and placing her royal highness back on set.

Why the Printer Won't Work

I have no idea why I find this so funny.

Ash everywhere

there was ash everywhere. it looked like a light flurry of snow falling, but with that overwhelming smell of smoke. who knows if the ash was from the plants that burned or from someone's home that's no longer there.

yesterday when i woke up, i remember thinking i hadn't seen the sky so blue in such a long time. the santa ana winds were getting stronger, it must have blown off all the smog around the area.

several hours later i saw the smoke come in. i remembered hearing about a fire somewhere, but i paid little attention to where it was. i wasn't worried that it might reach our house. we hardly live in a fire prone area. there were fires every year, it wasn't something unheard of.



i had no idea the fires were so close, that it would come close to the homes of people i knew, but would eventually pass them by.

Congrats Rita!

my friend rita gave birth to a happy, healthy, baby boy today. congratulations to the family!



rita was nice enough to let me come to the delivery room and take pictures while she was giving birth. unfortunately, i was trying to get a guest pass and missed the delivery by seconds - literally. the doctor was pulling the baby out just as i was stepping into the room trying to pull the lens cap off the camera.

rita is a brave woman because she had no problem with me taking pictures from any angle. ANY angle. why, those pictures could easily end up here on my blog for all the world wide web to see. okay, so that's not going to happen. i promised i wasn't going to show the business end of her to anyone.

i was even there for baby's first pee pee. i put the fig leaf there for those of you who have issues about seeing a baby's winkie. your welcome.



being there for the birth was an amazing experience. i had no idea of the kinds of emotions that would come up. it was so moving, i thought i was going to cry when they put the baby in rita's arms and she saw the baby for the first time. i know it sounds sappy, but it really is spectacular.



thanks for letting me be there rita. i hope the family is doing wonderful!

Making a Coaxial Cable

randy is now a cable guy. today he showed me how to make my very own coaxial cable.

here it is, step by step. i have no idea what the pieces or tools are called, so they will all just be called "thingy."


first, cut the cable so that the end is straight.


then use a tool thingy to remove the plastic covering over the wires. this one removes two sections at once.




then, pull back the braided wires that are covering up that other silvery part.


then slip the connector thingy over the wire.


use funny tool thingy to make sure connector goes on to wire all the way and crimps on tightly.


and there you have it, my very own coaxial cable. i feel so manly making my own.

Dim Sum

randy and i love to eat dim sum. the place we end up going to the most is great seafood harbor in cerritos, mostly because it's close to the house.

i usually estimate how authentic and good an ethnic food place is by the proportion of people from that culture that are there eating. for instance, if there are more white people (no offense to white people) in a thai restraunt than there are thais, chances are it isn't very authentic thai food.

well, great seafood harbor has a lot of chinese patrons every time i go in. heck, even the people pushing around he dim sum carts and wait tables hardly speak english. most of the communication happens with pointing "i want that one" and nodding or head shaking.

i love the novelty of picking the food i want as the cart goes by. i never seem to get over it.