Untitled

Good evening. Nice of you to join me for the continuation of this one-sided conversation. Not too much is new, but I figured I'd drop you a line just because this blog needs one last entry before the month ends (I'm cutting it pretty close).

Last weekend was busy. We attended three BBQs, a happy hour, and a dinner party. It's good for me to get out and socialize considering I spend so much of my time during the weeks alone. Not that I mind working on my own... I just need to cultivate relationships with others once in a while lest I forget how. And there are some amazing people to meet around here. Take this dinner party we attended in Summerland for instance -- everybody there was so interesting, successful, and friendly. The food was great too. We sat out on the porch after the meal and soaked up the dimming glow of the sky with a view of the ocean. It was my kind of scene.

I've been practicing with my video camera during a couple of the evenings this week. The still above is from some test footage that I managed to transfer to my computer in high definition (click on it to see all of its detailed glory, shadows and empty space and all). I've been shooting in HD since I got the new camera, but every time I transferred footage to the computer, I had to down-convert it to standard definition. So painful! This week I got a new, spacious hard drive and found a plug-in for my editing software, finally allowing me to edit in HD. It's yet to be determined if my PC can handle processing it for sure, but I'm going to give it a shot on my next project.

Speaking of my next project... it's beginning. I met with some people -- who's own art I really admire -- last night to discuss it. I'm sworn to secrecy for now, but I'll share some details in the coming months. This is an exciting one. It will feel good to dive into something I'm passionate about after exercising with a series of smaller projects recently. I'm hoping my practice with still photography will pay off now as well, as aesthetics will play an important role.

The project does not yet have a title. I'll try to think of some kind of code word for it soon.

Solstice weekend

Well, the weekend was as full as predicted. The Solstice festival on Saturday was sort of overshadowed (at least in my mind) by the music video shoots on Friday and Sunday. We did attend the parade, but to be honest, I thought it was a little dull. Last year's parade, being that it took place two days after we moved into town, seemed more eye-opening and odd. It was quite a first impression; this year felt more like a rerun. I'm glad we didn't invest too much time into waiting on the curb for it to start. We were actually a little late because we were busy "getting our wine on" with some Newcomer friends. I enjoyed socializing with them and continuing to make use of our porch. It sure beat facing the crowds at the beer garden in the park.

After the events in town we attended two BBQs. One was with R's coworkers, which made for a good opportunity to put some faces with names, not to mention eat some excellent food. The other party was at our friend Paul's house. We were worn out by this time and didn't stay long, but it was worth the stop. Paul and company are hip people and it's always a pleasure to hang out with them.

Back to the video shoots... It felt great to be on a set again, to witness somebody's artistic vision materialize, to help where I could... mainly in the form of crowd wrangling, set design, grip work... anything I could to make the director's job easier and allow him to focus on the creative stuff. It was a role I will gladly accept, especially when I stand behind the project as much as this one. Friday night -- with its fog machine'd trees and extra large crescent moon -- was the perfect setting for a party, and I'm pretty sure that translated onto the footage. I can't wait to see the results.

I was busy during the filming and didn't take too many of my own shots, but check out what I have in this gallery. Note: the people playing instruments in the photos are NOT the band. They were just some extras goofing around during a break. You'll have to wait a few weeks to see the real stars.

Time rides a bullet train

After tweeting so much lately, writing a blog entry feels like a lot of typing. I'm forgetting how to form a paragraph. Twitter is definitely easier to keep up-to-date when you are short on time -- a situation that applies to this week -- but I'm not ready to give up long form blogging altogether.

This weekend looks packed to the brim. I’m excited to be helping with the previously mentioned music video tonight and most of Sunday. I met with the director and gaffer on Wednesday to go over the shots and help set up. They have a giant, self-lit, fake moon that we hung from a tree. It is going to look so awesome on camera, floating over the heads of the band. I can't wait to see this come together.

Tomorrow, we have multiple BBQs to attend in the afternoon/evening, plus some people are stopping by our place for a drink before we head down to the Solstice parade and festival earlier in the day. I’d still like to get the house cleaned (or at least organized) before then. That will be my job tomorrow morning while R prepares some food for the BBQs. It’s all about teamwork.

The last few weekends have been a little quieter. We've been attending more Newcomer events, most notably a luau and another trip up to wine country. Otherwise, we’ve just been enjoying the start of summer: potting plants (pictured above), going out for coffee or dinner, biking to the beach, hanging out on our porch, etc. Can you believe that R and I moved here one year ago from today?

R had her wisdom teeth removed a few weeks ago. The recovery period was as unpleasant as a person, especially one with his or her own extraction experience, might expect. But she handled it well and followed the doctor’s orders to a T. Plus, she looked really cute with those puffy cheeks. Unfortunately, the camera was off limits during this time :-(

I do hope to take a few photos this weekend. The parade is sure to provide an interesting subject.

Memorial weekend in photos

The long weekend was wonderful. We spent it around home, which is by no means a let down when home is Santa Barbara. We more than managed to keep busy. Rather than try to describe everything we saw and did, I'm going to let the photos do (most of) the talking.

We attended the Flight of the Conchords concert. It sold out a while ago, but more tickets became available the day of. We bought them an hour before the show and actually ended up with decent seats (my cell phone's camera, used for this shot, makes everything appear farther away than it actually is, I swear). An ex-James Bond, Pierce Brosnan, was also in attendance, sitting with his family only a few rows ahead of us.

The next morning we marveled in the amazing plants at Lotusland. I snapped a bunch of photos, the best of which can be seen here.

R got to try out her new bike (color still subject to change) when we went for a long ride in the afternoon.

We walked up to the Mission and saw some talented chalk artists at work during the I Madonnari festival.

The first of our two boat rides over the weekend was set up through our Newcomers group and featured a tour of the harbor in a fishing boat built in 1917. According to the Maritime Museum, Humphrey Bogart and Errol Flynn once fished from this same boat. We were the only Newcomers to show up for the event, so it became our own private tour.

Our second boat ride was the next day. A friend from church took us sailing along the coast. R woman-ed the helm for part of the trip, as pictured above.

We wrapped up the weekend with a picnic near the Mission, allowing us to check on the progress of the street art as well. We drank Chardonnay with strawberries and some specialty cheese that really knocked our socks off.

I love this town.

Working on it

This isn't going to be much of an entry, but I feel the need to post at least something each week so you don't abandon me (I worked too hard to pick up my three regular readers; I'm not going to lose them now). Plus I wanted to move the previous entry down the page because of it's lack of a photo. That was bothering me.

I'm having a busy week at work and attempting to focus on some editing during my free time. Thus I'm holding back on the social networking and blogging that usually seems to take up more time than it should. It was either that or give up my nightly hour of television, and we all know that can't happen.

Last weekend was nice. I shot a new video on Friday (details coming soon). We went shopping and out to dinner on Saturday. On Sunday (Easter) we did the church thing and flew a kite on the beach during the afternoon. We took pictures and video of the kite, but I haven't had the chance to prepare those yet, so expect a special entry sometime after I finish my more urgent video project.

R is out of town on business Wednesday through Friday of this week, making things slightly more lonesome around here. Also of note, starting next week she's going to begin working normal hours again, 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM or so. In some ways I will miss having the evenings to myself as I felt very productive during them and enjoyed following my own, uncompromised schedule, but it will be great to have her around too. We're both excited that she'll be able to attend happy hours, take evening hikes, and help me cook again :-)

Okay, I wrote more than I planned, but this entry still doesn't feel like much more than a tease. Y'all come back now, ya hear?

Par-T

My birthday celebration sort of stretched through the weekend and into Monday, giving the week an enjoyable, yet exhausting start. I'm happy with the way the events played out, but--whew--I'm glad they're done.

We spent Saturday frantically preparing for a get-together to be held at our condo on Sunday. The cleaning, shopping, and cooking took up most of the day. During the evening we found some time to relax, going out for a steak dinner out and then coming home to watch Milk. This is a good time of year for DVD viewings because most of the Oscar nominees are showing up on Netflix. Say what you will about award campaigning and mainstream pedigrees, but Oscar nominated movies are usually worth watching. Milk was no exception.

Our housewarming/return-of-spring/my-birthday-celebration BBQ started at 3:00 on Sunday. Despite living here only 9 months, this ended up being one of the largest gatherings R and I have ever thrown. We pretty much invited everybody we know out here (coworkers, Newcomers, a few others) and about 25-30 people showed up. Sorry to report I didn’t take any photos. You know how much I like to document things, but having a camera around sometimes makes people uneasy or self-conscious and plus I was simply too preoccupied with co-managing the event. As you probably know, there’s a lot of work that goes into keeping a house presentable, making sure people are introduced to each other, monitoring food levels, etc. But the party was a success, and I’m happy we threw it. It definitely made my 30th birthday more memorable. R, you were right about that.

The next day, Monday, we had some guests arrive around the time my workday was ending. They included a couple of family friends (known as the H brothers) from Minnesota and a friend of theirs who lives in Vegas. The trio is spending the week visiting SoCal, so they made the drive up from LA to see what Santa Barbara is all about. I took them on the signature hike to Inspiration Point in the afternoon. Later on, R dropped us off downtown and we spent the evening eating dinner and doing some bar-hopping. It’s not very often I engage in a guys’ night out, so I took advantage of the situation and had a good time. Yes, I drank too much and stayed out way too late for a weeknight, but really, is there a better time to act immature than the point in life when you begin to feel old?

Desert excursion

The specific Joshua tree that inspired U2’s album by that name is actually located in Death Valley, but that didn’t stop R and me from playing the album a few times while driving to and around Joshua Tree National Park over the weekend. The park is located southeast of LA, making for about a 4 hour drive for us if you include a stop for lunch along the way.

We arrived in the early afternoon on Saturday, set up our camp, and hiked to 49 Palms Oasis. This was pretty cool… a group of towering palm trees growing in the middle of the desert thanks to a fault-created spring. Following that expedition we got back in the car and drove around the park, stopping at a few sights along the road and eventually at a star-gazing party. I wish we could have stayed there longer, but we gave into our hunger and went back to the campsite for some chicken sausage, couscous, and a bottle of red wine that disappeared way too quickly. We’re still trying to decide if the bottle tipped and we didn’t realize it or if we were just really thirsty from the dry air. My money is on the latter.

We didn’t quite have the courage to try an overnight hike yet, especially in an arid climate we knew very little about, so instead we slept next to the car in a campground. The idea of carrying everything we need for a night or two on our backs and finding some solitude appeals to us; being attacked by a coyote/snake/scorpion does not. Thus backcountry camping will have remain a goal for 2009 a while longer. We’ll get there.

On Sunday, we broke down the camp and drove to Key's View, from which we could see as far as the Salton Sea. Then, before beginning the drive home, we got out for one more hike, this one up Ryan Mountain. The scenery really was amazing and very distinct from any land we’ve seen before. There were huge flats littered with the namesake trees and other little bushes. Wildflowers are in bloom this time of year, making for colorful little highlights over the otherwise dry land. There are number of outcroppings of what R so perceptively called “cartoon rocks” because they look like something out of a Roadrunner cartoon. The rounded, cracked boulders were easy to climb, and I had some fun clambering on them, as you’ll notice in our photos found right here.

The weekend went way too fast, but it was great to get away. This was a brief, initial visit that we made without any advance preparation. Heading back to the park for a more in-depth exploration sometime in the future is a must.

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.

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.

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.)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Off with my head

Just want to get you caught up on last weekend before another one comes along and pushes it into the past. Mostly it was a recovery weekend. I needed to get caught up on sleep and to settle into life on the west coast again. Friday night I was out of consciousness before R had the chance to say good night. On Saturday we grabbed some coffee and met our new realtor for a plow through seven houses. We saw some decent options and are feeling good about our chances of finding a place around here. We talked it over during a walk down to the Verizon store (R is now a customer) and dinner at the wonderfully atmospheric Cafe Buenos Aires on State Street. Then we went home and I began reading The Da Vinci Code (I'm a little behind on the times) before passing out cold for the second night in a row. On Sunday, we rode the bikes to the French festival, where R decided it was time to execute her husband with le guillotine :-). We ate some savory crepes and a pain au chocolat for lunch, watched the end of a dance show, and got on our way to a couple of open houses. Throw in some laundry and a trip to the grocery store and you've got yourself a weekend.

Transient times and 4th of July

A month ago I was living in Delaware. The following week I was living in California. The week after that I was on vacation in Minnesota. Then I worked at a client site in Wisconsin for a week. Now I'm back in California, thinking of three different time zones each time I look at a clock. I need to start work at 9:00 EST. I have a daily meeting at 12:30 CST. R comes home at 4:30 PST. This is getting confusing.

Our definition of "home" continues to blur. Each place we leave is moving on without us. Our first week in California obviously wasn't enough to establish roots, but right now it's the best we can do. Returning to it after a two-week trip sort of cemented it as our current home. Some of our possessions, 10 boxes that didn't go into storage, have been delivered to the apartment. That helps, even if it would still feel more natural to fly into Philly and pull up to our townhouse (we do still own it -- not much luck with the sale). I think R would agree with me that there is an appeal right now to being somewhere familiar, somewhere settled again. There is certain amount of comfort involved with being in your own place, and we haven't been there in a while. That's not to say our temporary living space isn't comfortable; it's just not long-term.

Our vacation in Minnesota was great. Thanks again to our wonderfully accommodating parents. It was nice to take a nap on a hammock, hit the lakes, see relatives, and eat a bunch of home-cooked food. Other highlights were a stop in Coon Rapids to watch my brother's band rehearse and a stop in Rochester (on my way to Wisconsin) to have breakfast with my buddy L and his fiancée. Lowlights were R coming down with a cold for the second half of our vacation (she's doing better now) and a five-hour delay due to thunderstorms in Phoenix on my way back to Cali. Isn't Phoenix supposed to be a desert -- what's with the rain? Normally I would have loved to have the extra time to read, but I had finished my book during the first flight and didn't bring another one with me. Total bummer.

By the numbers:

- 1600 miles driven in a Yaris
- 540 photos taken
- 5 thunderstorms witnessed
- 4 long days worked
- 3 hours slept on Thursday night
- 2 go-kart rides taken
- 1 clown band watched

I've narrowed down my photos to a more reasonable number. Check them out here: EmptyGym rehearsal and the rest of the vacation.

Sorry, no pics from the Madison leg of the trip. But don't worry -- you didn't miss much.