Two-year-old in town

Because the wee one is not smiling in that photo, let me post one more...

...that's better.

The folks pictured above were our guests during the last week. That would be R's mom, sister, and our little nephew.

The boy is a handful! He requires constant attention and brings a ruckus with him wherever he goes, but as far as I understand, that's pretty normal for a two-year-old, so I'll let it pass :-) He's a sweet kid. We don't get to see him terribly often, and each time we do, he appears to have taken a leap forward in development. Now he's forming sentences and running so fast we can hardly keep up with him. Check out the footage below from a walk around the block to see him in action. He's a ball of energy.


Having guests is a good excuse to carry a camera when we go out and about, so I took a bunch of photos. A few of my favorites have been added to the second half of this gallery. Check them out because I'm counting on them showing you some of what we did and where we went. (This is my way of getting out of writing a full recap.)

It was good to see the in-laws. We're not used to being on the hosting side of a visit, so I hope we did okay. I was probably too distracted by work, as usual, and probably didn't make the most out of our time together, but I'm really glad they came and were able to enjoy Santa Barbara. I know R appreciated having some of her closest peeps around too.

I'll leave you with one more shot of little Ezra. What do you think... is the SoCal lifestyle going to his head?

Mud Brothers

How's this for a fun old film? It was recorded by my dad way back in the day, and I think it's a brilliant little piece of storytelling. The idea of capturing real moments like this (and attempting to manufacture them once in a while as well) is one of the reasons I wanted to get into video production. You are looking at some of my inspiration.

I always thought this clip would make a good character developing flashback in a larger work, possibly to demonstrate the start of a character's corruption or something. I'm not saying that's what happened to me in real life, but in some ways this does respresent my relationship with my older brother and our separate personalities. I think this piece speaks for itself.

I added the Smashing Pumpkins soundtrack and the feathered edge to increase the dreaminess of it. That's what it feels like to me when I watch it: a dream or a faded memory. I'm so glad I have this one preserved.

A kite blowin' out of control on the breeze

My parents gave me a power kite for my birthday last month. These are the kites that people use to pull them across the snow or water on skis or boards or whatever they can find. Mine is a slightly smaller version that is used in the more traditional sense, although I still want to try it in some really high winds and see if it can get me airborne :-) It's a really high quality kite with two strings tied to it, allowing for some stunt maneuvers if you know what you're doing (I don't yet). R and I gave it a shot the other weekend and took these photos in addition to the video below. Check it out.

Mammoth weekend

Where do the days go? This week seemed particularly short because last weekend stretched through Monday. We spent three nights about six car-driven hours northeast of here in the ski resort town of Mammoth Lakes, CA. This was my first time skiing outside of Minnesota, and I must say the difference is significant. The weather was warmer, the runs were longer, and the views of mountains were astounding. I brought our old point-and-shoot camera on the hills with me and grabbed a few shots. Check them out here.

One advantage to the point-and-shoot over our DSLR is it takes video, and since one of my goals is to post more "informal video" (as opposed to more polished ones like the music video I've been working on), here's a rough little "moving picture" of R tearing it up on the slopes:


It was a nice weekend away. We stayed in an old lodge next to a frozen lake. In addition to the two days of skiing, we went out for one really tasty dinner and one mediocre one, watched a DVD (Charlie Wilson's War), and drank some wine by the fireplace in the lobby. Ah, life is good.

There's lots of stuff going on these days, possibly too much. Stay tuned.