Rich 'N Roll

Damn thieves...

Well, San Francisco has definitely shown me it’s darker side the past couple weeks.  Torrential downpours, colder temperatures, shin splints flaring up keeping me from running, and the theft of my rear tire on my bike.  It’s been a lot to handle, considering weather greatly affects my emotions, I was hoping to run a marathon in spring, and my bike is my only mode of transportation.  Let’s just say I’m pretty frustrated…

But, I shouldn’t complain.  Until now I haven’t really had any bad days. And hey, work is still great, there’s no rain in the forecast the next couple days, and there are always the buses to get me around.  So I guess things are looking up already, although I don’t particularly feel it yet.  I’ll feel better when I get a new wheel.  …But that will fade when I get the bill…

*sigh* Anyways, enough with Debbie Downer.  On the bright side, the free time from running has allowed me to work on some songwriting.  When I finish the song, I’ll probably post it here.  And actually, I have a song I wrote over summer I’d like to share with you all here.  I guess that can be in my next post.

On a final note, I’m going to start some 3D animation projects soon.  I want to beef up my motion work if I want to have any kind of “decent” Reel to apply for a motion job this upcoming Summer.  But we’ll see what happens there.

Til next time, folks.

Although I’m not quite sure exactly how many people are actually following this blog, I apologize for not having posted in a while!  I haven’t really even been that busy.  However, I’m just now catching up on all my image editing.  

Two weekends ago, when it was still warm and sunny, I visited the San Francisco Botanical Gardens in Golden Gate Park.  It was a natural oasis of flora and fauna in a park already teeming with beauty.  I captured some images of several new Life List birds which I’m excited to share, but I’m waiting for my next post to show the wide array of avian inhabitants I’ve encountered here.

Then, this past weekend, there was a break in the rain so I decided to go to the Zoo.  I took the Muni transit train for the first time which was pretty cool… it was an underground subway train that then came out onto the roads.  Although I was kind of disappointed with the Zoo (a lot of closed exhibits,  and its relatively small size), it made me appreciate Cincinnati’s Zoo.  And, I did manage to see a few cool animals that Cincinnati doesn’t have, and get some decent photos.  Enjoy… and I promise I’ll post again soon!

Love.

Golden Gate Bridge from the Baker Beach shoreline

While snow is blasting the Midwest and East Coast right now, I’ve been enjoying consistent temperatures and sun, despite a few days of rain here and there.  I’m starting to get into a routine… during the week is bike, work, bike, run, tv… weekends are late nights dancing, park-exploring, photography, and, well, more biking.

Anyways, this weekend I biked up to and crossed the Golden Gate Bridge!!  It was crazy.  I hiked up the headlands Coastal Trail that leads up to the bridge and it overlooks the Pacific, high atop these rocky cliffs… the wind was intense!!  And the bridge was so cool, really big and a lot longer than I expected.  Well that’s about it for me here… I’ve been editing so many photos lately, I’ll just let them do the talking!  Enjoy!

San Francisco Bay (view from the Golden Gate)

Tidal Rock formations on Baker Beach

Dusk on the Pacific

Ruins on the Coast

Sea Cave on the Pacific Coast

Sunset on the coast

Climbing the tidal rocks!

I had another great weekend in California, consisting mostly of chillaxing on the beach during the days and going out for some dancing at nights.  I met a few people which is also cool, so I may have some new people to hang out with!

But yesterday, history was made, and the United States of America is embracing a future of change with President Barack Obama.  Maybe it’s because I’m older, maybe it’s because I voted in the election, or maybe it’s because I had the opportunity to see/photograph Obama at a rally in Cincinnati (see below), but either way, I’m finding myself extremely excited about this change.  I can’t say I know a ton about politics, but I’ve been reading articles and commentaries, and my interest levels in this election are exponentially higher than in the past.  

I had the opportunity to witness and photograph President Obama speaking at a rally at UC in November '08.

I’m not one of the crazy “Obama-worshipers,” but I really think he has what it takes to bring positive change to our nation: a good heart, tenacious determination (hell yes, Tenacious D!), a spectacular oration talent, and tech-savviness that can embrace and unify our nation like no presidential campaign in the past has ever done.  All this is so inspiring and exciting.  He has a lot of pressure to succeed and there are many problems to solve, but he openly admits this.  He’s an honest leader, and I’ve found myself on many occasions looking up to him as a role model of perseverance and dedication.  

In my opinion, Obama has rallied this nation to a sense of purpose and pride that hearkens back to the weeks post-9/11.  The final years/months of the Bush administration almost made me feel ashamed to be American: the innumerable Bush-bashing jokes made the Presidency seem like child’s-play, our self-initiated aggression towards other nations illustrated our apparent disregard for Peace as an option, and our seemingly brash decisions brought us deeper in the hole of international contempt.  I hope and pray President Obama will fulfill his goals and remind myself and the nation why we should be proud to be Americans.  

I know I’m well on my way.

So I meant to post here 2 days ago, but I’ve been pretty busy editing photos in my free time.  But wow, what a weekend it was!!  I checked out a club which was a blast (like 8 dance floors!), I explored Golden Gate Park which is INCREDIBLE, and I chillaxed on the Pacific coast watching surfers!  ..And, all the while taking photos, so there will be a lot of them posted here.

The weather here has been perfect lately.. low 60′s over the weekend, and 68 today!  I was laying back on these big dunes on the coast yesterday, and it really felt like paradise.  I’m so glad everything is working out so well, I feel really blessed.  I really do miss all my family and friends though – I wish everyone could come out here!  I was biking home from work today and thought, “The only thing that could make this better is if I had somebody riding here next to me.”  So I miss everybody!

Back to the weekend… I stayed on the Pacific Coast for sunset.  It was spectacular…

Like I said, I also spent a lot of time in Golden Gate Park.  It’s so cool there, it’s unlike any kind of park Cincinnati has… it’s like a family-entertainment center, rollerblader-biker-runner haven, hippie hangout, a sweet array of natural habitats and scenery, museums, architecture, and live music all rolled into a couple square miles!  And, it ends at the coastline.  But, I’ve seen a bunch of new birds in the park which is AWESOME!  Here’s probably one of my favorite waterfowl photos to date of a new bird for me, the Ring-Necked Duck:

And, here’s an example of some of the cool architecture in the park:

 That’s all for now… more later!!

Today was my second day at work… and so far I really like it!  Everybody is really nice and welcoming, I already feel very comfortable with everyone.  This job is very different than my job over the summer… in fact, this whole experience is very different than my summer quarter as a whole.  Everything has gone so smoothly here… the flight, the apartment, finding a bike… very much unlike my hectic start over summer.  

But anyways, back to my current job.  I’m really excited to be thrown into actual, legitimate work from the start, instead of doing some kind of busy work.  I’m not allowed to disclose our clients or anything, but I’m currently starting on a software demo for a large software company.  It’s an animated walk-through of a new kind of software.  And I get to do the animating!  It’s not the most complex thing in the world, but it’s Flash Animation, and so far I really like it.  I should be finishing this first project tomorrow… then it’s onto the next section!  Right now I’m animating Section 1, and there are 4 sections I think.

I’m excited for the weekend!  There’s a club downtown I want to check out, and Friday, this one girl from my work invited me (and everyone else in the studio) to this get-together at her friend’s Moped shop or something.  So I’ll get to talk to the people in my studio more, and maybe meet some new people!  And of course, I plan to do some more sight-seeing and photographing.  Anyways, until next time…. :)

Okay okay, I’m not just jumping on the “blog bandwagon”… I want to easily share my thoughts, activities, and photos with my family and friends.  But no matter who you are, kick back and enjoy a look inside my head.

San Francisco, California.  Craziness!  It’s been my dream to go to Cali since I’ve been in junior high.. and I’m finally here!  It’s pretty awesome.. I mean, they have palm trees.  The scenery is just epic, I love being by the water already, and I’ve only been here a few days.  So today I biked through downtown and along the Northern/Eastern Bay area, near Fisherman’s Wharf.  It was pretty sweet, a lot of people.  I saw Alcatraz, and the Bay Bridge!!  It’s a little colder than I expected, too… mid 40′s to low 50′s.

I’m really excited to explore more of the natural areas around here, the rocky cliffs, Golden Gate State Park, the Pacific Coast… And I definitely want to go over both the Bay and Golden Gate Bridges.  There are also some really cool and busy streets with lots of shops around the Mission area, and downtown that I definitely want to check out too.  So as you can see, there’s a lot I want to do already! Well, tomorrow’s my first day of work.. I’m anxious but excited.  Wish me luck… and check out a few of my photos so far!  PEACE