high school career night.

my high school asked me to return on sunday to talk to a bunch of sophomores at this year's career night. i brought jackson with me because he just got back from the marines (and afghanistan) a few weeks ago and i figured he would appreciate seeing the campus and some of the old faculty. it was definitely strange being back, and lots has changed, but it was definitely good to see and talk to some of the few faculty that are still around from eight years ago. we had our photo taken at THE statue before we left - it was where (and probably still is) the senior class claimed stake and hung out all the time, if memory serves.

ALSO! an update after the break..

new season; first game; new toy!

we went to our first game of the season earlier this week. it was dodgers versus braves on a wednesday night that was a little bit rainy. loved the seats we were in, and it was actually a really, really great game. until the ninth when the closer blew the lead and the dodgers couldn't make the come back.. oh well. they're off to a great start this season regardless and it was really quite fun. we even stopped at king torta beforehand to get my favorite lengua torta to eat at the stadium.

i bought this little guy in the store after the game:

so cute!

LACMA : metropolis ii.

we recently became LACMA members, so we went this weekend to check out In Wonderland : The Surrealist Adventures of Women Artists in Mexico and the United States, it's second-to-last weekend. unfortunately, i didn't take any pictures inside that exhibit, but it was very interesting. definitely glad we got to see it before it ends.

what i did get pictures of was metropolis ii, which was a large small-scale city of buildings, racing cars and trains. very fun.

my first time : death valley.

the other weekend, james and i drove up to bakersfield to meet up with his parents before driving to death valley. it is an amazing place - alien and unworldly, beautiful, and completely different every time you turn a corner. the skies were clear and gorgeous.. we got into the valley early friday afternoon, and left late sunday afternoon. it wasn't too hot; the major problem was the wind. saturday afternoon and evening the wind was blowing near 100mpg and made it really hard to do anything outside of the car, take pictures, or hike anywhere. i think i had sand embedded in my skin for a couple days afterwards.

great place to test out the pano app for android (silly me, i only brought my 50mm lens, which made capturing the vast landscapes impossible). afterwards i filtered them through the vignette app for android.

trona pinnacles; on the way to death valley.

mesquite flat sand dunes; day one.

lytro lightfields.

when the very first announcement of the lytro camera came out, i reserved one. and then once they went on sale, i was able to order mine first (grey 8gb), and i got my camera on the first shipment. this was back at the end of february / beginning of march. i've been having a ton of fun playing with it; though i have found what it is truly amazing at is macro photos. here are some of my favorites - click around to play with the focus!

the walking dead.

stitch and tigger and eeyore.