A real wise guy

Here's a shot of the "living nativity scene" in which we participated the other night. I'm one of the wise men (the one who looks like he's holding a crockpot in his sleep) and R is, fittingly, the beautiful angel. Not pictured are the shepherds and some living animals. (The camel is a strange beast, clumsy and flatulent.) All in all it was a one of a kind experience.

Merry Christmas, everybody! I'll catch up with you again in 2009.

2008 holiday letter

Here's a copy of the holiday letter we recently sent out. If you've been following Midnight Toast / Jeblog for a while it won't be anything too exciting for you, but it makes for an easy post and maybe some of my newer readers can use this to get up to speed on my situation.

Jeff and R here, wishing all you dudes and dudettes a happy holiday. Please note our new address on the envelope if you haven't already recycled it. In June we left Delaware to make a new home in Santa Barbara, California!

And so we've begun to explore the west. Since the move we have visited LA, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Montaña De Oro State Park, and Zion National Park. There's still plenty more to see, and we plan to see it, but it can be hard to leave Santa Barbara. Our condo is located two miles from the beach and about the same from the mountains, making it very easy to get outside under the sunny skies for a hike, bike, or swim. Y’all should stop by for a visit. We have a guest room ready for you.

R was transferred here by DuPont to research and develop the future of display technology: Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs). It's an exciting business and technology to be involved in, and R enjoys the challenges it brings. She also finds time for yoga, kickboxing, ceramics, and sampling new restaurants. One of her goals for 2009 is to try surfing!

Jeff was able to keep his job after the move and work out of the new house, making for an easy commute and the freedom to stay in his bathrobe all day. The software company he worked for was purchased by the massive Oracle Corporation this year and the transition has kept him on his toes… but he still manages to have at least one video project underway at all times too. Oh, and Jeff started skateboarding this year.

We will also remember 2008 for the two weeks in February we spent in New Zealand. This trip had us climbing on glaciers, hiking in rain forests, jumping off cliffs, kayaking through fjords, swimming with eels... it was an adventurous tour through an extraordinarily beautiful country. We feel so lucky to have had these opportunities to explore the world. You betcha.

The best gift of Christmas is sharing our lives with friends and family, in spirit if not always in person. We hope this holiday brings you peace, love, and joy into 2009.

Shooting the moon

I dusted off the video camera to take some footage of the full moon last week. It will be used in the music video I'm cobbling together, although not the shot you see above because the video is supposed to take place in Wilmington and you won't find any palm trees there.

So it turns out I'm finding time to work on my video this month after all. I'm feeling better about my "to do" list now that I've had the chance to dive into it. My Christmas shopping is out of the way for the most part. Our holiday letter is written and just waiting to be printed, enveloped, and dropped in the mail. I do have a big project to finish up this week at work, but it will get done one way or another. There has been much to do, but perhaps I underestimated the amount of free time I would have in which to do it. Having the nights and weekends open has certainly helped.

We weren't planning to get a Christmas tree this year because the season was speeding along so fast and, as usual, we'll be out of town for the actual holiday, but we broke down and got a tree anyway. It is now fully decorated too, furthering our immersion in the Christmas spirit. We also attended Handel's Messiah in concert at the Granada last weekend to help us get there. This is the musical piece that contains the famous "Hallelujah" chorus that has been spoofed so often in pop culture. It was great to hear it in it's original context for a change.

Also on the entertainment scene, we saw/heard our favorite local band, Threadspinner, perform at a little place down the street. We went out to the movie Slumdog Millionaire and watched Tropic Thunder from our couch. Slumdog was good but not everything I had hoped for. I fell asleep during Thunder. I haven't seen too many movies this year, so I'm glad we're making a last minute effort to catch up. The Dark Knight is probably still my favorite from 2008, but I have high hopes that something else will blow me away before the Oscars arrive. Nobody wants to say the most popular movie of the year was also their favorite.

Dream beneath a desert sky

Whew. December is off to a busy start. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with work and with life in general right now. Don't expect much blogging from me this month because there are so many other things to finish up before the holidays. I wouldn't be surprised if I don't even touch my video project this month, which is a bummer since I'm getting so dang excited to share it with you.

At least the next few weekends are looking relatively uneventful. Last weekend was sort of our final hurrah before we buckle down and face the weeks before our Christmas vacation in Minnesota. We drove out to Las Vegas to spend Thanksgiving with my grandparents and then up to Zion National Park in Utah for some hiking and camping. If you've been following me on Twitter, Facebook, or email, then this is probably not news to you, but I feel the need to document it here anyway simply because it was such a wonderful extended weekend.

It was pouring rain when we left last Wednesday morning. We cruised across the desert in an unexpected fog, arriving on my grandparents’ place mid afternoon. That evening the four of us hit a buffet, where I showed great restraint and managed to avoid getting the hiccups! It occurred to me while I was there that the first time I ever got what I call the "Killer Hiccups" was after eating at a buffet during my last visit to Vegas (I was thirteen or fourteen at the time). At the wise old age of 29 I finally overcame them by simply not eating so much. I wanted to stay at the top of my game when it came to playing computerized BINGO. That's right -- they have machines that do all of the work for you now. The numbers are still read aloud, but there’s no need to daub cards with ink anymore. Your only responsibility as a player is to yell the word when the machine tells you that you won. So in our case, we had no responsibility at all. Oh well, it was fun to get an inside perspective of my grandparents' night life. They appear to be some sort of BINGO royalty at Boulder Station.

The next day was Thanksgiving. My grandma made a turkey and all of the fixings, and it was very tasty. I was glad to be with family after spending the holiday alone last year. After dinner and some good old-fashioned relaxing, R and I went off to explore the city. This was her first time seeing The Strip and it had been 15 years for me. The place has changed a lot and so has my perspective. We walked a long way, in and out of casinos, stopping in a few shops and for a drink in the Eiffel Tower. Of course we had a good time, but after seeing this town that is all surface we couldn’t help but appreciate the real Eiffel Tower or the real New York City or the real Michelangelo’s paintings more. Maybe that’s the point of Vegas. The façade itself is impressive, but it leaves me with a sleazy, empty feeling. It's a good place for wild night life, but as you all must know, that's not really what I'm looking for.

We got up on Friday and drove northeast to Zion National Park in Utah. Ideally we would have had enough time to see Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon as well, but Zion was plenty for two days. It’s quite a spectacular place, a deep canyon carved out of sandstone. Camping was cold, but we had a couple of fires and bundled ourselves up pretty well inside our sleeping bags. We took three separate hikes, the highlight of which involved following a narrow spine with 1500 foot cliffs on both sides to Angels Landing. It was a little daring and quite outstanding. We really fell in love with the park. The only disappointing aspect was high volume of people present over the long weekend. It’s hard to revel in the glory of a landscape when there are screaming kids on the trail ahead of you or a big group of people rushing you out of the way so they can get a photo in front of the vista on which you are gazing.

Check out our photo gallery from the trip. We took 350 shots, kept 150, and posted 80. Many of the shots were scrapped because the light had either too harsh a contrast or was too dim. An improperly exposed sky or a little unwanted blur is sometimes (but not always) enough for me to hit the delete button. But I guess it works out because if I posted a gallery of more than 80 photos, it would be too overwhelming for anyone to view entirely anyway. If I made you wade through a bunch of garbage, you'd surely miss the few decent shots. That's the value of editing.

A note about the labels

You may have noticed that I started adding topic labels to my posts. The idea here is that you will be able to click on one like "Minnesota" and all of the posts about Minnesota will be magically laid out in front of you. I'm hoping this organization will eventually make my archives more useful and accessible. But keep in mind the labels are not yet complete. I've been working my way back in time, reading my existing posts and summarizing them with keywords, but the going is slow. It will probably be another week or two before the process is complete. Just wanted to give you that heads up in case you picked up on any gaps in my history.

P.S. It's raining outside.

The meaning of "Midnight Toast"

The title of my blog comes from my senior year at St. Thomas when I was living with three other guys in an on-campus apartment. Most nights we would group together in the kitchen and share the interesting parts of our days. I don't think any of us had early classes that year, so we were up late studying (or at least exploring the internet) every night and midnight was the perfect time for a snack and a chat. Maybe they ate leftover pizza or applesauce or whatever, but toast with (lots of) peanutbutter on it was usually my choice. I came to refer to the break as my midnight toast. I'm not sure if the other guys used that name or if they would even know what I'm referring to today, but our discussions were one of the highlights of my school year. They were all the proof I needed that the best conversations occur late at night... and so do the best blog entries.

Second weekend

That is easily one of my favorite photos of all time. It was taken by my dad during the second weekend of deer hunting in 2003. I don't know what is going on in the foreground between the scared-looking Gopher fan and the man with the stick, but I love how it has nothing to do with my bizarre duet with a Special-Export-drinking buddy in the background. One thing is for certain: a scene like this could only materialize at a hunting shack in northern Minnesota. Craziness tends to ensue when when you fill a tiny cabin in the middle of the cold woods with a bunch of coarse guys and an endless supply of beer. For a surprisingly accurate look at what the experience is like, check out this little tune by Da Yoopers.

The notorious "Second Weekend" is an annual event in November, but I haven't attended since the year that photo was taken. It seems some distance has come between me and the shack. But I'd like to return one day, as I find it oddly inspiring. Heck, Bread Man was born there! He was based my uncle. I woke up early one morning to find him asking "who wants some bread?" He must have been talking to me because I think everybody else had finally gone to sleep.

Tea time (the fire situation)

Click on the map to enlarge it. That way you can see the scale and the legend. The little red target is where we live (and where I spent an intense 10-hour work day typing away at this computer for a bunch of coworkers who had no idea about the wildfire up the street from me). So we're about half a mile from an evacuation warning. I think we're safe, as it seems unlikely the fire will come any further into the town, but it has made for an exciting last 24 hours, and I'm definitely keeping my eye on the news.

Last night I could see the orange glow from right outside our front door. R saw flames in the hills on her drive home from work. We lost power for a little while. Actually, that's how I found out about the fire. I was getting all excited about having an excuse to eat an ice-cream sandwich, and then a neighbor starts running around the courtyard shouting "We all need to leave! I've seen this before -- these fires move fast!" She left, so I haven't heard any more from her. The other neighbors have assured me we're not in danger (at least not yet). But that didn't stop me from getting a few things together (e.g. insurance paperwork, computer backup DVDs) just in case I had to head out of the door in a hurry any time soon. I never did have that ice-cream sandwich.

There is still ash, smoke, and the sound of helicopters in the air. Those aren't features associated with hurricanes, but I'm reminded of the storms we experienced in Alabama nevertheless. I have a fun map of Hurricane Ivan pointed right at our house saved on those computer backup DVDs. 24 years in Minnesota and the worst I experienced was a snowstorm. Upon leaving, R and I been exposed to a surprising number of natural disasters. Let's hope the "Big One" can hold off a few more years.

The name "Tea Fire" is being used as a label because the fire apparently started at some tea house or possibly a tea garden in Montecito. I haven't gotten the official word on that yet. The name doesn't sound that frightening, but tell that to the 200 families who lost their homes. When I was a kid my biggest fear was our house burning down. I can't imagine how devastating that would be. Let's mark wildfires as a point against California.

I should go. I feel like I still have a ton of things I want/need to do online, and I would eventually like to get away from this desk tonight too. R has been working late hours, but being that it's Friday and everybody in the area seems to be distracted by the fire, I expect her home soon. The other night, however, she didn't make it back until after midnight, so you never know. It's been a tiring week like that. I set my alarm for 2:00 this morning, so I could check out the news and make sure the fire wasn't heading our way. I don't think we are set up on the reverse 911 call. There's another thing I should look up online...

Bay area

Don’t get me wrong: San Francisco is an exciting place to visit with plenty of attractions for the weekend tourist, but being in a crowded, bustling city again after five months of “easy living” in laid-back, sunny Santa Barbara gave me a sense of relief that R’s latest corporate relocation did not bring us there or somewhere similar. Driving through Silicon Valley on the way up last Thursday evening did make me think the place could do wonders for my career (we even spotted the Oracle mothership along our way), but, at least for the time being, I’m happy hiding away down here and being done with my work day by 3 or 4 o’clock most days. In case I haven’t mentioned it enough yet, I am really happy with my life right now. I still don’t have as much free time I want, but I’m beginning to think having enough is an unattainable fantasy. I’ll take what I’m getting now, despite the fact that weeks still go by without the chance to open up Adobe Premiere and dig into my latest editing project.

Before I get any further off track with additional long-winded reflection, let’s get into my purpose for this entry: to cover our mini-vacation in the bay area. If you’d like an accompanying visual, see our photos here.

We spent three nights in a very cozy (i.e. small) room at a hotel downtown. Our location at 4th & Market Street was perfect for hopping on a cable car, a bus, or the BART, all means of transportation we made use of. My buddy from college, L, and his new wife were also in town and staying two blocks down the street until Saturday morning. We hung out with them all day Friday at Fisherman’s Wharf, the Golden Gate Bridge, and various other scenic hotspots around the city that you would probably recognize from the opening to Full House if nothing else. We had some lunch next to the water and a dinner out at an unpretentious place with motorbikes hanging from the ceiling. I enjoyed seeing these folks again, and it was helpful to have them show us around, being that they had already been visiting for a while and knew the city better than us. I’m so glad we were able to meet up and continue staying in touch with some friends from back home.

On Saturday, R and I were on our own. Since the tourist scene was starting to wear on us, we got off of the beaten path a little bit (but not too far). First we checked out the famed Haight and Ashbury district followed by a walk through the park to a Japanese tea garden where we sipped green and jasmine tea in an exotic setting amplified by a surrounding mist. Then it started raining. After a stop at the hotel to pick up some warmer clothes, we took the train out to UC Berkley and enjoyed a walk down the one-of-a-kind, funky Telegraph Avenue. Somewhere in there we also had a chocolate sundae at Ghirardelli Square and visited Chinatown, where I bought my only souvenir, a San Francisco T-shirt for $1.88. (Now that I think about it, Chinatown happened the night before, but it just doesn’t fit into that paragraph). The night was capped with a late, indulgent meal at an ultra swanky place called Ame. This is where I realized I didn’t pack appropriately because I felt severely under dressed in khakis and button-down shirt. Luckily R classed it up enough for the two of us and we enjoyed some of the finest Rice-a-Roni in the world :-).

We hit the road early Sunday morning, taking the slower but more scenic coastal route down and stopping for lunch in Monterey and a few other spots to take in the view. It would have been nice to have more time to explore this area. We will have to return sometime and maybe do some camping in Big Sur. Speaking of Big Sur, I want to leave you with some Mason Jennings lyrics from his GREAT song by that name. This is the kind of stuff we had playing as we drove along the rugged coast:

Forty miles south of Monterey and the San Lucia hills
The sunshine shone me to sleep, and I dreamt I was alive
I sang myself a song, it went, know what you know
Stay when you stay, and go when you go
And I call it intuition, flowers bloom and hummingbirds fly
Yes, I call it intuition, it gets me by

The owls are not what they seem

Friday night I watched Twin Peaks. Saturday night I lived it. It was a good Halloween weekend. There are a few more photos at the bottom of our Santa Barbara gallery. Check 'em out.

R had to work until late on Friday night, so I stayed home to man the door. We had purchased six bags of candy in anticipation of hordes of kids ringing our bell. Our grand total of trick-or-treaters: zero. (I've been eating candy steadily since then, hoping to put a dent in the supply, but there's no noticeable reduction yet.) I didn’t let the night go to waste. I worked on editing my music video, which is really exciting me right now, and I watched the episode of Twin Peaks where they bury Laura Palmer. That certainly helped me get in the spirit of the holiday and inspired to dress up like special agent Dale Cooper. R had the better costume though. I'm so proud of my little Log Lady.

On Saturday night, after our impromptu photo shoot, we attended a Halloween party at the Scooby gang's house. It turned out we didn't know anybody other than Shaggy, and nobody recognized who we were dressed as, making the costumes feel like a bit of a miscalculation (18 years ago we would have been a big hit). These are some of the downsides to being new in town, but you have to start somewhere. Each time we see these people we’ll likely be more and more comfortable around them. I'm proud of us for putting ourselves out there and working on new friendships. It would be a lot easier to stay in every night.

Sunday probably worked out better overall. First we volunteered at a function raising money for the food bank. R helped people pick out ceramic bowls and I emptied trash cans. I'd further explain the scenario, but it's not that interesting. Afterwards we attended a birthday BBQ for one of R’s coworkers. We have hung out with this group two or three times now, so we’re starting to get to the point where we can relax and open up around them some more. They seem like fun, cool people… and I’m not just saying that because they might be reading this blog.

How has the Twitter stream been working out for you? Did you see that we went to a David Sedaris reading two Saturdays ago? Or how about that I noticed my first earthquake? I’m still looking for the best way of fitting these communication tools together without repeating myself too much. I probably had a bunch more to say about recent happenings, but the fun of Twitter lies in the art of brevity. Let's see how it goes.

Okay, I better get out and vote. The web has been abuzz about the election today that it makes me feel like I’m the last person in the country to hit the polls. Today feels like a historic day. I want to be a part of this.

Top 5 costume ideas for me and R this year

5) Sprockets - Easy, cheap, and just the right amount of obscurity in a pop culture reference. This makes a good costume, but, alas, we used it last year.



4) Paul Bunyan and Babe the blue ox - Distinctly midwestern but perhaps too much so. Californians might be confused. Plus, we're trying to avoid blue body paint.



3) Brandon and Brenda Walsh - Being Minnesotans recently relocated to California sounds appropriate for us, and I think I could pull off the pompadour and 90s clothing style, but the siblings factor may be too incestuous for a married couple.



2) Each other - This just kind of happened partially by accident one day a while ago, and we found it incredibly funny. I think it would make a good costume, as long as we're seen together the whole night. Maybe next year.



1) Wait for it - I don't want to spoil the surprise, so check back here sometime after Halloween for a photo of what we decided on.

Californified

That has to be the cutest fake mug shot I've ever seen. (I'm not sure if it's okay to display your plate number on the web, so I pixelated it just in case.) R and I received our CA driver's licenses and new plates after taking a surprisingly challenging written test the week before last. Here's a sample question:

To avoid last minute moves, you should be looking down the road to where your vehicle will be in about ________.

A) 5 to 10 seconds
B) 10 to 15 seconds
C) 15 to 20 seconds

What the heck? There were 36 questions like that. I passed, but just barely. R, being the over-achiever she is, aced the thing.

The DMV also requires a smog test when you register your car. Of course they don't do this on-site and can't even give you the name of a convenient place to have it done. You have to find your own automotive shop and spend another $50 and half an hour... in my case, it took just long enough so I couldn't make it back to the DMV on the same day, making the process a two-day affair. But let's focus on the positive: we are now officially California residents. I, for one, am proud to call myself one!

By the way, the correct answer was B.

New look

It may not be the Extreme Makeover: Blog Edition you were expecting, but there are definitely some new colors (or lack of colors) present. I will probably continue to tweak it here and there. I couldn't decide between a black background and a dark green one, so that might still change.

The image of the forest came from our New Zealand collection. I love how the photo turned out and was just waiting to have somewhere to use it. Of course it has nothing to do with toast, but that wasn't going to stop me. As for the meaning behind the new title for my blog... an explanation is pending. I don't want to get into it right now.

The end of the beginning

Mom Murdock sent us these flowers (as well as a care package full of Minnesota goodies) to help detract from the debris.

Our stack of packing paper is going to be taller than R soon. I should have asked her to stand next to it for a comparison.

R left this message for me on the wall of the office. Isn't she sweet? I didn't want to paint over it.

It takes roughly 2 years for me to forget how much I dislike relocating. That’s part of the reason I was willing to leave Wilmington: I had forgotten what it's like to be unsettled, to have to clear a path in the boxes to go from one room to another, and to make decisions about what to put where (that is, if there is even space for everything). The last week has been sort of like that. The excitement of being in a new home is mixed with a dirty floor that’s too cluttered to clean and walls that need paint before electronics can be hung on them. It is at this point in the process when I say, “I’m never moving again.” But then a few years pass and I get excited about living somewhere new and the process repeats.

Our transition to this town was actually pretty smooth. It was nice to rent a furnished place for the first four months as it allowed us to put the physical work of moving on hold and to focus on learning our way around and getting used to new/changed jobs. Aside from the job part, being here without our own home felt a little like a vacation. It didn't feel permanent. Eventually we had to put some roots down and stop living out of a suitcase or, more accurately, out of somebody else’s dresser.

The condo could haved needed a lot more work than it does. The fact that we might be disorganized for only two or three weeks is quite a relief. There's still a lot to do, but we're settling in fast. I'm hoping the photos above show some of the beauty amid the chaos of the last week.

We really like the place. I like how the big windows in our living room let a lot of light into the place during the mornings. I like how we can open our sliding patio door to a little courtyard and hear the fountain running out there… and how this place is cozy by lamp light after night sets… and how each room seems to have its own personality... and the how the kitchen stove heats a pan evenly. We’re going to enjoy making a home here. I get the impression the hassle of moving is worth it when you move to Santa Barbara.

200

Hey hey hey. This is my 200th post on Blogger. It all started on May 19th, 2006 when R and I found ourselves in a new town and I was figuring out what to do with my life. It’s funny how things haven't changed all that much. I blogged on a homegrown web site before that and filled up a large number of notebooks with some slightly more personal journaling before that. The bottom line is that I enjoy recording my thoughts. The writing is good practice--it has helped immensely with communicating in my job--and I like being able to look back and see what I was doing on some random weekend years ago. Plus, although it's usually a one-sided conversation, it's an easy way to keep in touch and share photos with people no longer in close proximity to us. If anybody wants to follow along, they can. If not, that's fine too. It's just here and it will continue to be here either way.

This is an exciting time to be contributing to the blogosphere. Whether it's a pompous waste of time or not, the idea of "life casting" has taken off around the world. There are a number of blogs that I follow, a few of which have links posted to the right. I enjoy looking through the window into the personalities and adventures of friends and sometimes strangers. If you don't already blog, I encourage you to start. Use a fake name if you're insecure about privacy or only post about impersonal subjects... Just get your thoughts out there.

I feel a reinvention is an order. Here are some goals I have for my little corner of the web moving forward:

• Design a new layout -- Expect it shortly after we get settled into our new house. My current look is simple and easy to read, but I'm getting tired of it. And being that it is a preset Blogger template, I don't think it reflects my personality. I've got some ideas for a more representative appearance and am planning to implement it soon.

• Don't record everything -- Let's face it, if R and I go to the grocery store, you don't need to read about it. When I list what I did over a weekend, the completist in me wants to list everything I did that weekend, but that can make an entry long and boring. From now on, I'll try to stick to the more interesting things going on and less daily minutiae. We do laundry and groceries every weekend. I'm not going to mention them anymore, unless the wash overflows and ruins our floor or we're held hostage at the grocery store or something.

• Start Twittering -- This is where some of my daily minutiae may end up. I've been going back and forth about whether or not I want to start micro-blogging. I've been giving status updates on Facebook and been surprised by how much fun that can be ("Jeffrey wishes they all could be California avocados" anyone?), but I'm worried my regular blogging will suffer if I join another website dedicated to recording one’s thoughts and happenings, even if they are limited to 140 characters or less. Will I be repeating myself if I write on both? Will the need for this blog be gone? I would hope if I had to choose one, I would choose Jeblog, but keeping up with Twitter would require less of a time commitment... Let's see how it goes. Notice the new link to the right.

• Post more video – Aside from the two editing projects I have on deck (a music video and some Ultimate Frisbee action), I want to make use of this amazing video camera I have and shoot some spontaneous, less perfected videos. I hope to show you more of Santa Barbara, maybe record an occasional cooking piece with R, and do some short experimental work just for the fun of it. Part of what's been holding me back is my lack of high definition editing capabilities. My camera can shoot some sharp, colorful footage but right now most of it is lost when I copy it to my computer. Part of me wants to wait until I upgrade to an HD capable system before attempting to edit something like my music video, but I don't know if I can wait that long. Actually, I know I can't.

That should cover it for now. We're having a busy week moving into the new place, on top of working full time jobs, so hopefully this entry (and continued Twitter posts) tide you over for a little while.

Closed

We are now the proud owners of a condo in Santa Barbara! The movers are bringing our stuff over next Monday, so we have one last weekend of apartment living. We're anxious to get out, but in some ways I think I'll miss this place. There's something carefree about renting. We didn't have to clean (a cleaning service was included in the rent), worry about any maintenance, or pay any separate utility bills. But we're definitely willing to give up those conveniences for more space, our own furniture (including our TV!), and the freedom to customize. I'm also looking forward to having a refrigerator big enough to hold beer again.

Gotta run. Tonight we're having a picnic on our new living room floor (pictured above). A "camp in" was also considered, but we're not that desperate to start living there.

Ouch

We just plunked down a grand on two plane tickets home for Christmas. That doesn't even include the rental car or the cost of parking at the airport for a week. Good thing Christmas in Minnesota is worth it. Looking forward to seeing some of you there!

Catching up

Hey everybody (or nobody, depending on whether or not anyone is still following this blog). Other than my little notice about the rain, I haven't written in a while. Work seems to be occupying the vast majority of my time these days. I'm realizing I don't have a firm boundary between working from home and just being at home. The accessibility of my laptop combined with some recent big deadlines is making for extra hours in the virtual office. We also joined a gym recently, and that's been soaking up some additional time, but I'm not complaining because a daily workout is the only reason I'm able to sit at my desk for the rest of the waking hours in a day. I can't attribute all that time to my job though. My masochistic tendencies have me sitting here even after the work is done, surfing the web, snooping around on Facebook, curiously not blogging--nor editing--more. If R is working late one night, it's not unusual for me to eat all three meals of my day in front of the computer. Somehow I feel like it's not even enough time.

Last weekend was relatively uneventful. The notable bits were dinner at a restaurant with a scenic location on the beach on Saturday and a wine appreciation gathering with the Newcomers on Sunday. The latter event took place at a home in the hills with an impressive view of the sun setting over the town. It was another chance to mingle with the rich and sample some offerings from a local winery. That's life in Santa Barbara for you.

This weekend was laid back too. We've been sleeping in, eating dinners out, and of course we attended the avocado festival in Carpenteria yesterday. My appreciation for that wondrous fruit has deepened upon our arrival here. Lately I've been slicing them up and putting them between toast with some humus and calling it a sandwich. At the festival we tried avocado ice cream. I wouldn't say it was the best ice cream I've ever had, but is there really such a thing as bad ice cream?

After exhausting what the festival had to offer we walked along a pleasant beach in Carp. The sand was soft and waves rolled smoothly in. We found a spot to sit and watch the surfers do their thing. The pull to try surfing ourselves is growing in intensity, although it will probably have to wait until next spring, unless we want to rent wet suits along with the boards. Until then, I have my skateboard. I'm considering buying some bigger, softer wheels for it, which will limit my ability to do tricks (which, believe me, is quite limited by my skill level already) but will make transporting myself over cracked sidewalks quite a bit easier.

A guy who lived on my floor during our freshmen year at college found me on Facebook recently. It turns out he lives roughly a mile, maybe two, away. We met downtown for some beers and food last Thursday night. R joined us after she got out of work. It was an odd experience to catch up with somebody after 9 years. He is a guy I never knew that well, just from a few residence hall functions and maybe an occasional dinner in the caf, but the simple fact that he is/was a Minnesotan--and especially a St. Thomas alum--made him a welcomed find after the last 4 years of associating with people who at least started out as strangers.

I have been liking Santa Barbara a lot lately. R and I have a good situation going right now. Each of the places in which we've lived has had its redeeming qualities and provided an experience I'll never forget, but so far California is the only place, other than Minnesota, I can see us staying long term. The high cost of living and the distance away from family may be the only factors that could stop that from happening because otherwise I can't find anything wrong with this place.

We've been walking downtown the last couple of nights for dinner and soaking up the spirit of vacation all around us. Music pours out of almost every restaurant. People bike by with surf boards in their arms. Limos full of bachelorette partying women drive up and down the street. David Byrne holds a concert at one of the local theaters. There's inspiration and adventure waiting out there every night. Sure, I'm sitting at my computer or in front of the TV for most of those nights, but I like knowing what's out there and the idea that we're just getting started in this town.

(Editor's note: From now on all photos taken with my phone will appear in the smaller size seen above. Photos taken with the DSLR will be shown in the usual, larger size.)

Hello rain

It's drizzling this morning. California isn't always sunny, you know. There might be some moisture in the air every four months or so. I don't want you to think we're becoming too spoiled out here. Luckily, I'm pretty sure the weather will clear up this afternoon so we can head down to the avocado festival...

Montaña de Oro

What a terrific little getaway we had last weekend. We originally considered taking a couple of days off and driving the six hours up to Yosemite, but it didn't happen mainly because we've both been busy at work and didn't want to leave it behind (maybe "want" isn't the right word). So instead we spent one night at Montaña de Oro state park, which is about two hours north of here. Hiking along the rocky coast and up the treeless peaks was amazing. I'll let the photos speak for themselves. We also enjoyed cooking dinner--and drinking a bottle of wine--in front of a campfire, under a bright Milky Way. I didn't even attempt to capture that magic with the camera.

Oh, and you can see R's new haircut in the photos too.

Skate Jam revisted

Back in April I posted a few stills from some skateboarding footage I shot in Wilmington. Remember? I never intended to edit the footage. Instead I handed it off to Gordon, the guy who asked me to shoot it, so he could use it as a part of a promotional piece he was working on for the Wilmington Skate Project. Apparently he was going to conduct some interviews in front of a green screen and bulk it up a bit. He had another editor lined up to handle the technical work. But I kept my own copy of the footage, and decided to play around with it after we moved. Well, what you see here is what I came up with. I sent the finished product to Gordon. He liked it and so it has become his promotional project. He even decided to show it in front of the film festival he's organizing for September 25th. This is what the rest of the lineup looks like. I'm pretty excited to have my little video included.

The music I used is from a band I know from my hometown. They are called So Called Myth, and I'm grateful they let me use their tune. It's not the kind of stuff I normally listen to, but it has a punky edge the video needed.

Another little piece of trivia: Just about all of skateboarding sounds you hear in the video (e.g. wheels on pavement, launches off of ramps, the occasional "yeah!") were recorded at a skate plaza here in Santa Barbara. There was loud music playing in the background during the original shoot making the sound impossible to cut together and virtually unusable, except for in the interviews, which were mic'd with a lavalier. So I made a trip to the plaza and recorded the sound completely separate from the video. It's a little ironic (for the lack of a better word) that these kids are trying to raise money for a skate plaza, and the sound of them skating in the video is actually from one.

Anyway, I had fun editing this one. It was nice to work on a project at my own pace again, without deadlines or expectations (and of course money). Plus, I'm glad I can help out the Skate Project, who is planning to give the video a permanent home on their web site. The little bit of skateboarding I've been doing myself around here has made me appreciate their cause. I haven't had the guts to embarrass myself at the skate plaza down by the beach yet, and I'm finding the streets can be a harsh surface.

Expect worse photos

Okay, in the prior entry you read all about how I'm going to start taking better photos. Well, they will also be getting worse because I now own a phone with a camera on it . Obviously phones don't have all of the optics/resolution/controls that an actual camera has, so the results can be downright gross. I'm not going to pretend mine are any good, but by taking pictures in places and situations where I wouldn't normally have a camera with me, such as at the bar or on a bike ride, they could be fun. I'm going to embrace the imperfection. Let's see how it works out. I'll be storing my phone photos right here.

Expect better photos

I attended a day-long photography workshop on Saturday and, for the first time, received formal instruction about aperture, shutter speed, composition, etc. We covered the contents of a 7-week course in a matter of 8 hours. Most of it I had read about on my own before, but I think that put me in a better position to soak it all up on Saturday. I really enjoyed the class and don't remember the last time I was so interested in learning something. I'm getting excited about this hobby and the new dimensions that are added to it when you leave Auto mode behind.

The car photo above is one of my homework assignments from the class. The instructor gave us a list of photos to take over our lunch break. The purpose of this one was to use a slow shutter speed and pan along a moving object so that the background is blurry but the object is not. I think my experience as a videographer helped me here by giving me practice with smooth pans.

Another assignment was to shoot something that was predominantly white and overexpose it to make it actually look white (rather than middle gray, which is how it would look if you followed the exposure meter), and then do the same thing by underexposing black. We also learned about depth of field, a thing or two about lighting, how to white balance correctly for a sunset, and some tips about editing photos on a computer. Suddenly I'm seeing all kinds of problems in most of the pictures I've ever taken (the same can be said about my video as well). But I'm not exactly going to delete my gallery... even poorly taken pictures serve as a record of our adventures and good times.

One thing I'm realizing is I may need to buy a better lens sometime in the future. I've been using the one that came with the camera, but if I could get a telephoto that has a 2.8 F-stop, I'd have the capability of shooting at a faster shutter speed in lower light, which is really what every photography enthusiast wants. I know lenses aren't cheap, but I'm going to start shopping around. Too bad R doesn't have another birthday coming up.

Stomping the divots

I had big plans for this entry. I was going to break from my format, post a series of unusual photos, ramble on about a lucid dream I had... in other words, it was going to be great. But here we go again instead, trying to cram in a rather standard weekend recap before another weekend starts. The opportunity to blog just didn't present itself all week. My ground-breaking entry will have to wait for another time.

Chances are when someone says a hike is going to be "fun" and you're not starting it until 6:30PM, you won't be reaching the end of it until after dark. Such was the case last Friday. After a strenuous and constant climb, we arrived at a dried up waterfall at dusk and required the assistance of our flashlights for the entire hike back. It was indeed fun. I'm not opposed to an occasional night hike.

On Saturday, after getting some coffee and hitting the farmers' market, R brought me to my first ever yoga session. One of the studios around here was holding free classes for the day, so we figured this was my opportunity to try it. It was a good stretch and very calming, welcomed qualities after a stressful week of desk work. After that I wrote a blog entry about the condo we are purchasing (am I getting into too much detail here?) and then we had some ecletic California cuisine at a restaurant called Opal.

On Sunday we tailgated at a polo match with the Newcomers group. Yes, this is the sport where they basically play hockey on horses. R helped stomp the divots. We continue to meet interesting people at these events. In some ways I wish I was looking for a new job because I've been surrounded by networking opportunities lately.

After that another week started, one that was surprisingly stressful considering I barely left the house. Remind me to tell you about my lucid dream sometime. The vividness is waning... but I took notes.

The house post I've been promising you

Each place we buy is smaller and more expensive than the last. The condo we will be moving into in about a month (pending contingencies) has one less bedroom than our townhouse in Wilmington and is costing us roughly three times as much. And before that there was the house in Mobile, which seems now like a flat out amazing deal. We're used to living below our means, so it will be interesting to see how stretching to pay a mortgage out here will impact our lifestyle.

We looked at places that were less expensive, places that were closer to the beach, and places that had more space and better views of the mountains. But the best feature of the one we settled on is its location in the town of Santa Barbara (see point A on the map). It's three blocks from our favorite coffee shop, about the same distance from the best tacos I've ever had, and still only 20 blocks from the beach. There's a trolley stop close by that will take us down State Street to the ocean and pass through an area filled with restaurants, bars, and shops along the way. And I'll bet we could walk to that awesome movie theater I've told you about in less than 10 minutes.

The inside of the condo looks great: hardwood floors, nicely updated kitchen, fresh paint. (I'll post more photos after we move in.) We considered getting a fixer-upper this time but decided to save that for next time instead. Who wants to spend their time in California working on a house? As you probably know, I'm not terribly handy anyway.

This place reminds us of the house we owned in Mobile in that it's older but in good shape, stylish, and move-in ready. We loved that house, especially in the way it had more character than the cookie-cutter townhouse of ours in Wilmington (which we still really liked for other reasons), so let's hope this new place works out just as well. Being that it's in a fourplex, it's a little more like apartment living, but I think we can handle it. If we can't, we'll just spend more time at the coffee shop.

Beachy keen

California scored another point today for its convenient beach access. R and I boogied it up this afternoon at a beach that was more scenic, less crowded, and much closer to home than any of the beaches in Delaware or Alabama ever were to us. (Alabama also has the hurricane season working against it these days, so we're not exactly missing living there, although I will say its low cost of real estate does sound appealing right now.) The beach was fun today. I hope the end of summer doesn't keep us from returning in the coming weeks/months. Around here I'm guessing we have a little longer to work with.

Tomorrow is the first day back at school, isn't it? I get shivers thinking about that for some reason, even if it has little effect on my life any more. I remember all of those Labor Day evenings spent in dreaded anticipation, reviewing my locker combination over and over, wondering about my new class schedule and if I'd be able to find the right rooms, worried my classmates wouldn't like me anymore. To be honest I still have dreams related to those fears. I get a sense of relief when September comes around and my job doesn't change. There are things about school that I miss, but the first day of a new year is not one of them.

By the way, I'm planning to do some EDITING this week. My inspiration has been lost, but this weekend has gone a long way toward finding it.

The good music continues

Last night we attended a concert by a band named Threadspinner in an intimate venue just on the other side of the mountains. The lead guitarist is one of R's coworkers, and his wife is the lead singer. I mentioned them in my previous entry and how we have similar tastes in music. "Homesick rock for moonlit walks" is how they describe their style. It fits. The steady, entrancing build of their songs to a swirling ocean of noise made for an atmosphere I won't soon forget. And what a great place for a concert -- an old stage coach stop on the side of the mountain, ten miles out of town, with good beer on tap. When we stepped outside afterwards, the stars were brighter than usual, and the people were in good spirits being that it was the middle of a long weekend. I had a great time.

Tonight we saw another concert of sorts, both bigger and smaller. It was the film U2 3D, now playing at the Arlington theater. I know a film can't compare to a live concert, but this was close. It may not have been as entertaining as being next to the stage at an actual U2 show, but seeing a performance in 3D from many different camera angles with amazingly crisp audio was pretty close... and probably a step up from seeing the band from the upper level at the Target Center (in the Twin Cities). No, I couldn't sing along, or even clap, being that I was in a movie theater, but this was easily the best recorded representation of the band I've experienced. I have quite a history with them -- a lot of memories tied to the music -- so it's always a treat to see them play. Plus, wearing 3D glasses is fun.

Fitter, happier, more productive

Our title today comes from a Radiohead song. They played the final show of their current tour last night at the Santa Barbara Bowl. I took a walk up on a windy road called the Alameda Padre Serra, through the lower foothills, with flashlight in hand, to see what I could hear. I joined a collecting group of upper teens in a dip off the side of the road where we could see some green and violet lights coming off the stage. After a while I realized there more people hidden in the woods and others hopping the walls of a nearby school to get a better view. The music carried pretty well up the hill. I was content with the performance, considering it was free, and then the cops came and broke up the group, saying we were on private property. I walked home to drifting bass and drum, got on my computer, and turned on the live webcast instead.

R's work hours have been shifted later (and some days even later), so it's been quiet around here. I've been working more too as a result. Life as an Oracle employee can be quite hectic, but it's rather refreshing to not have the crunch that comes from trying to leave on time to get to dinner. The tables have turned. Working from home definitely puts me at an advantage over R for getting to places on time... but it's surprising how stressful the days can still be.

I almost titled this blog entry "Rude Awakenings" because there's been a lot happening in the early mornings this week. For instance, on Wednesday I received a phone call from work at 1:00AM and then another one at 6:00 that same morning, which isn't that odd because 6:00 is 9:00 out east, but it's so difficult to talk about importing insurance data that early. People usually give me an extra hour to wake up, and I've come to expect it. The next morning our internet connection was down, so I had to run angrily out the door to Kinkos at 6:00 in order to respond to some email I knew I had waiting for me. And then the morning after that we had a fire alarm go off for no apparent reason, again at 6:00. Our ceiling is too high to reach, even on a chair, so our landlord had to get out of bed and bring a ladder in order to get the thing to stop blaring. Next time I'd rather drink a cup of coffee to get my eyes open.

Last weekend was meant to be laid-back and uneventful, but it filled up on us and didn't provide the expected downtime. That, by no means, makes it a bad weekend, just one with a lot to write about. Let's get to it.

Last Friday, we signed a purchase agreement for a condo. You'll have to come back here in a few more days to get the details -- they will require their own entry. We also took a hike, this time from the cold springs trail head. It was an up-hill effort with a rewarding view at the top. Darkness is settling earlier these days, so we could have used a flashlight (or R's beloved headlamp) for the walk down. Next time. The other notable occurrence from Friday is that we went out with the hiking club afterwards. We've been doing our own thing after the hikes, but this time we joined the group. Taking steps toward making new friends was sort of a recurring theme for the weekend.

I took some pictures at the farmer's market on Saturday morning. Check them out here.

After buying a bunch of colorful fruit and veggies, we drove north into the Santa Ynez Valley (aka wine country - hence the photo of the grapes). This is the area where much of Sideways was filmed. We drove by some restaurants and wineries made famous by that movie but decided to save stopping at them for another time (I'd like to see the movie again first). We did stop in the small Danish-looking town of Solvang to walk around and glance at a car show happening there. Next we dropped in the town of Buelton for Andersen's apparently famous pea soup. It was pretty good, especially with bacon, ham, cheese, onions, and croutons added on. Our trip wouldn't have been complete without a stop at a winery, so we did at the place for which we had 2-for-1 coupon, Sunstone. We did a tasting, liked it just fine, but didn't buy any bottles because it's cheaper at the grocery store. (Notice how we're looking out for good deals these days? That's probably because of the house we're buying.) Pictures from our mini road trip have been added to the end of this gallery.

But Saturday didn't end there. Next we went to a coworker of R's house for a barbeque back in the SB. This was a fun time. We met some new people there... people who like similar music to me. I had a good chat with somebody about how awesome Boxer is. This guy and his wife are in a band themselves, and we're planning to see them play this Saturday night. Showing up at this barbeque was a little awkward at first, but in the end I'm glad we went. We're putting ourselves out there. Young people around here keep saying how they keep running into the same people every where they go because it's such a small town. Well, we are new people.

Sunday -- church, groceries, and a bike ride that turned out to be about three times longer than we expected. We wanted to find the best route to R's office, which is about 7 miles away. It wouldn't have been so bad if we hadn't taken a round-about way back. We took some detours, and there was a lot of pedaling involved, pedaling up quite a few hills. The good news is that we found a great secluded beach. It wasn't exactly empty, but a lack of parking, a long trail, and a cliff makes it not terribly accessible. That has to keep some people away. We'll have to go back and explore again. Next time I'll try to bring a camera.

The last thing we did on Sunday was go out to dinner with a group of younger folks from the Newcomers group we belong to. I had the blackened filet mignon at this Cajun place called the Palace Grill. Sometimes I need a good steak, and Sunday was one of those times. The opportunity also presented some potential friends. A couple of people we met oddly reminded us of people we know back in Delaware. That was strange, but it was good to meet them, and it looks like we'll be seeing them again soon.

Whew. This entry is probably laden with typos, but I need to post it and get away from here. Maybe I'll proof-read it over the long weekend that has now officially begun. We're expecting this one to be laid-back and uneventful.

Happy wedding day, Chili!

It's not a new video, but it has my old pal Chili in it. The dude is getting married today. He's a long time reader of Jeblog, so maybe he'll see this post once the dust from a busy weekend settles.

Congrats, dude! Wish I could be there to shake your hand in person.

A beach home companion

I'm falling a little behind on my weekend recaps. I probably have more free time now than I did in Delaware -- actually, I'm sure I do -- but it's still getting away from me. I have been putting in a few extra hours of work here and there, but that's doing little more than making up for the commute I no longer have. Maybe it's because I no longer leave the apartment to go to work that I don't have it in me to blog or edit as much from the same seat when the day ends, especially when the weather is nice every evening (although it is getting dark earlier these days). We've also been concentrating on the house hunt. However, that should be ending soon. You can expect an elaboration on that tease in the coming weeks.

Let's get to the recap.

We did a Friday night hike to some old hotel ruins located near the hot springs, but it wasn't as scenic as you may think. (Even the picture above is from the hike the week before.) The spring water came trickling down the rocks but nowhere near enough of it to pool up. This is mainly attributed to the big pipes running through the area. Supposedly the people of Montecito, down the hill, use it for their waste water or something like that. I tell you... those filthy rich. The hike wasn't bad; I just didn't get any blog-worthy photos out of it. Sometimes it's more about the exercise than the awe. It makes us feel better about chowing on tacos and beer afterwards.

On Saturday we had some errands to run and some shopping to do. I found me some new sunglasses. R found her some clothes. The day got more interesting as it progressed. Our early evening was spent at a Newcomers meeting. This is a club of people who have lived in Santa Barbara for less than two years. We joined for the networking and to make friends. Saturday's event included hors d'oeuvres and wine at a house in the hills, with an amazing view of the hills. One interesting woman we met wrote the theme song to the TV series Eight is Enough. Her website also claims she won an Oscar for writing the score to a short film, but I wasn't able to verify this one on the IMDB. There is a lack of information available about short films from the 80s. This woman recently moved into town from Santa Monica, which also fits the story. Anyway, maybe "buying" friends by joining a club is the easy way out, but the club is probably a good idea for us. R's coworkers don't hang out much after work, and my coworkers live on the other end of the country, so making friends the old-fashioned way is off to a slow start. At least we have each other :-)

After the get-together on Saturday, R and I went up to the Santa Barbara Bowl to watch a live Prairie Home Companion show. What a great place to watch a concert/show! A full moon was rising above us and there were fireflies abound. I wish we could catch Radiohead when they play the venue later this month, but that one sold out fast before we even moved here. Garrison Keillor and company put on a good show, one that made us a bit nostalgic for life in Minnesota. I truly envy that guy's storytelling skills. How do you put on a radio show for 30 years and avoid being totally redundant? It takes creative genius. This blog could use some of that.

Sunday was pretty laid back. We went to church in the morning and took advantage of a free trial at a gym in the afternoon. I also had some time to read -- a true luxury in life. I finished, and enjoyed, the sleek piece of entertainment that is The Da Vinci Code. Up next is one by David Sedaris. Then it's back to the Lord of the Rings. I'm definitely reading more these days while the DVD player is in storage.

That's the news from Santa Barbara, where the coffee is strong, the hikes are good looking, and the weather is well above average.

Yellow watermelon

Feeling adventurous, we left for Los Angeles on Saturday morning without so much as a map (although we did stop at a tourism office along the way and picked up a stack of maps and guidebooks, so that's probably cheating). We've met a number of people who "escaped" LA and moved to Santa Barbara for the slower pace and others who claim the trip down to the City of Angels is more bother than it's worth. Even Mason Jennings warns he "will stay away from LA" in a favorite song of ours. Nonsense. If the center of the world's entertainment industry is just down the freeway from us, we're going to see it. We've been in Santa Barbara for going on two months now and hadn't gone more than 10 miles out of town. It was time to explore.

As you may notice in our photos from the trip, we took the coastal highway down through Malibu and then cut up through Beverly Hills and into West Hollywood. We saw the Walk of Fame, ate lunch at a Polish place in Atwater Village (which has another story behind it), drove by Paramount Studios, took in the view from Mulholland Drive, walked a pier in Newport Beach, and had a milkshake during sunset in Laguna Beach. We drove the Sunset Strip, Rodeo Drive, Santa Monica Blvd... all kinds of iconic streets. LA, at least the parts of it we visited, seems to be much more accessible of a city than New York was from Wilmington. We didn't even have to pay for parking the whole day.

Some quick observations: Hollywood is a little more run-down than I expected; Laguna Beach, a little more posh; Newport, a little more wild. The LA area as a whole seemed oddly smaller than it appears on camera and in my imagination and memories from 13 years ago (when I made a trip with my parents). And contrary to popular belief, there are not famous people walking all over the place. Rather, there are simply people all over the place. Yeah, we weren't the only tourists in town.

I'd definitely go back. Maybe next time we can see some TV show tapings or check Venice Beach off our list.

Our final destination on Saturday was actually Carlsbad, CA, which is about halfway between LA and San Diego. This is where R's uncle, aunt, and niece live. They were at a wedding on Saturday afternoon, so we met up with them later that night and spent it at their house. R's grandparents from Jersey and another uncle from Alaska were in town for the wedding too, so we were able to visit with the whole bunch on Sunday while we ate some excellent food, most memorably some king salmon straight from Alaska, Lee's amazing homemade pies, and, lastly, some bright yellow watermelon. Have you ever heard of such a thing? When you cut it open, it doesn't look how you'd expect watermelon to look, but it tastes great all the same.

Drawn to the fiesta

Does that look like us? We don't think so, but who are we to tell.

The people of Santa Barbara were celebrating what they lovingly call Fiesta last week. It's a celebration of the town's heritage. We checked out some Flamenco dancing at the courthouse lawn on Thursday night and went down to the market in De la Guerra Plaza on Friday. The town was hopping. This annual event will probably be like Point-to-Point was for us in Wilmington. It will likely get better each year as we make friends and become more comfortable around with the local culture. We didn't know what to expect this year and felt a little out of place. Confetti eggs--yikes! Get this: we ran into some nice Minnesotan folk on the trolley ride home on Friday. They mistook us for locals. Imagine that.

On Saturday we attended R's company picnic. We ate some BBQ, played a water balloon toss, and had the caricature drawn (notice how R is the one holding the camera -- see, it does belong to her). Good times. After that we went for a hike in Rattlesnake Canyon. Yeah, the name freaked us out a little at first, but our hiking book ensured us it was just a name. The trail followed a creek through the woods and ended, at least for us, in a little meadow. The impending sunset kept us from continuing on any further. The scenery may not have been as breathtaking as on some of our hikes with the Sierra Club, but it was fun exploring on our own this time. It was such a nice evening for being out in the woods. I sure don't miss mosquitoes.

Our house hunt is coming along. For those of you who don't know, we finally sold our townhouse in Delaware. It's a relief to have that behind us. The other big news is that we put in an offer on a cool, but small, condo. Being that it is bank-owned, well-updated, and located even closer to downtown than our current rental, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to place a bid. However, it sounds like we weren't the only ones: there were quite a few offers made. It should be about a week before we hear if ours was accepted. We're trying not to get our hopes up too high.

Gotta run (literally, I've been meaning to take a jog). Later, dudes.

Neither shaken nor stirred

California's 13th biggest earthquake in recent history struck on Tuesday, and it went completely unnoticed by me. R noticed -- in fact, they evacuated her office building. She said it felt like the ground was swaying for about 5 seconds and then it was done. I was eating lunch at my desk at the time, and I have to say I'm a little disappointed I missed it. I got the call from R asking if I was okay. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" I asked, completely oblivious. I guess hurricanes Ivan and Katrina will have do for my natural disaster experiences for now.

Hesitation

This blog has been lacking imagination lately. Let's crank up the crazy quotient a little bit. Let's all go to the best farmers' market in the world. Let's visit with R's uncle Tom during his daughter's regatta on Saturday afternoon and take the above photo afterwards. Maybe we'll add a few more photos to the gallery as well. Don't forget to include Friday night's hike--pardon me, chase--to Inspiration Point and be amazed we can get there so fast. Let's all think about how to prevent ourselves from being too self-absorbed, a side effect to the drug of living here. Let's all find a church to attend, for networking if nothing else. No, there is something else... something we may have forgotten. Let's get back to editing. Let's read more. Let's get addicted to coffee. Everybody's doing it. Let's all spend the day living like a slob but getting paid for it. Let's apply for new jobs and fear we'll hear back about them. Let's look for houses, too ridiculous to afford, and question if we can afford them and wonder what can break us or make us rich. Let's drink Firestone beer at Taffy's and the cheapest wine we can at home, except during a romantic dinner. Then we'll drink a smoothie because we're out of wine. Let's take long bike rides in both directions along the coast. Let's find notes from friendly people on car windshields and hesitate to call. Let's worry that if our lives aren't happy when they are full, what will happen when they empty out again. But nevermind because they are happy when they are full. Let's all go to bed and wake up at the desk, blurry eyed, by the light of the monitor, almost ready to face another day in some strange paradise.

Skating or dying

The rumors are true -- I bought a skateboard. R thinks I'm suffering a post-quarter-life crisis, and that might be true, but knowing it is not enough to stop me from having a good time with this. I rode a skateboard until about the 6th grade and then it became something only punks did. I didn't fit the image in junior high, so I gave it up to play video games instead. California seems more accepting of different types of skateboarders because, frankly, it's a nice way for anyone to get around town. My impression is that even nerdy (not necessarily geek chic) looking people can get away with it if they are using the board as a means of transportation. I don't exactly plan on joining the 12-year-olds to do hand plants at the skate park, but I already mentioned how nice it would be to skate down to the coffee shop once in a while. Yesterday afternoon I made it to the used record store to look for old albums by The Replacements; a record store is about the coolest place you can take a skateboard.

Aside from all that, a skateboard is simply an iconic Californian thing to own. I like seeing it propped up against a wall in the apartment. I bought the board used off of Craigslist, so I don't have a lot invested in it. If it turns out this isn't for me or if we buy a house that is quite a way out of town, I'm pretty sure I can sell it and recoup the minor expense.

It is more difficult to ride one of these things than I remember. Either that or I was a lot more fearless back in the day. Just balancing seems to be quite an effort now. Somehow I was expecting to remember how to ollie (or jump, for those of you not in the know), but apparently the feel for that doesn't stick with a person like riding a bike does.

I'm paying attention to the surfaces of roads and sidewalks more than usual these days. When I was shopping around, I couldn't decide between a long board with larger, softer wheels or the more compact, trick-friendly board that I ended up with. I may have made the wrong decision because on my board the wrong road can cause some major vibration and the cracks in pavement can be unexpectedly dangerous. The last thing I need is a broken wrist. That would make my job quite a bit more difficult (not to mention video editing).

Speaking of editing, I'm looking forward to re-entering the world of video production after my biggest break from it in years. I don't have any new paid jobs lined up yet, but I do have three of my own editing projects waiting for me. I'm also getting anxious to shoot something new, before I forget everything I learned about my camera. I've been too busy enjoying the weather outside during the evenings to dive into anything. Give me a little more time.

Just a reminder: I've been adding photos to my online Santa Barbara gallery, located here. Check them out and expect more soon.

Holy hiking and wine drinking weekend, Batman

The title of this entry sums up our weekend pretty well, but I'll go into more detail anyway. Let me first say it was a good weekend, very Californian. Maybe the novelty will eventually wear off, but right now our excitement over our new location is going strong. We are definitely enjoying being here.

We joined the Sierra Club for a Friday night hike that started at the Hot Springs trail head and took us up to a lookout, where we saw the pictured sunset, and back down on a path that pretty much crossed through Jeff Bridges front yard. There certainly are some characters in the club: a guy who played the harmonica throughout the hike, two guys who talked about some rather wild times in Thailand for anybody to hear, the occasional Hash House Harrier, text book writers, and a few others who are difficult to explain. In our limited experience, Cali appears to have no shortage of characters like this. But maybe they think the same thing about us... the crazy Minnesotans.

On Saturday we got up and moving to the local coffee shop and then to the biggest and best farmer's market we've ever seen. The produce around here is amazing -- watermelon, peaches, avocados, lettuce, strawberries -- all so fresh, so good. We loaded up.

Next we were off to a wine festival happening along the beach. R's bike revealed a flat tire so we took the trolley down instead and proceeded to drink/eat all the wine and hors d'oeuvres we could for the next 3 hours. It is yet to be determined if living here will turn us into wine experts or wine snobs. We tasted so much wine that we have no idea any more what was good and bad, but overall I'd give the event a thumbs up.

When we got back from the fest, we took an hour nap in a swirling world before getting on our feet again to hoof it down to a showing of The Dark Knight. The Arlington theater reminded me of the farmer's market; it too was the biggest and best I've seen. It's a Spanish mission style, single-screen theater that seats 2,000 people, in this case, 2,000 people excited to see Batman done right. I loved the movie. Its director, Christopher Nolan, is one of my favorites working today. He's done Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, The Prestige -- all great, highly recommended movies.

On Sunday we went out for breakfast at a neighborhood joint and attended a few open houses. We've seen most of what is available in our price range, and it's nice to know we have some options. The market is certainly in our favor for buying (we need to make up for our poor selling performance in Delaware). Every place we look at seems to have some positives (maybe an amazing view of the mountains, hardwood floors, or lots of space) and some negatives (usually work that is needed, a higher price, or a lack of space), so it's a tough decision. If we could get a really good deal on any of our top choices, however, I think we'd be happy.

That's the news from the weekend. Talk to you again soon.