Sunflowers

Trying to take photos while walking two 50lb dogs can be difficult at times. I had been wanting to take some photos of neighborhood sunflowers for quite some time and fortunately, Tom was along on this particular walk with me and was able to take control of the dogs.

The Beach

What would a trip to California be without going to the beach? After The Getty, we made at Santa Monica and its famous pier. Lots of it is pretty seedy but there has been some big renovations in housing since the last time I was there. There is a very old indoor wood carousel (closed by the time we arrived) and portions of "The Sting" were filmed there. In the movie, Paul Newman (R.I.P) operated the carousel in a house of ill repute.

The Disneyland Parade

I had lots of problems taking photos of the parade. It was dark, the movement was fast and we were a little far away. I have posted some of the better photos here of it.

The Getty Center revisted

The Getty is not just paintings and scupltures; it's also furniture and entire rooms from certain past periods. Most of the furniture and rooms were way too gaudy for my taste but that doesn't mean I couldn't still appreciate the beauty and handcraftsmanship of most of it. Without further ado, see for yourself (keep in mind that photos are a little grainy because the rooms were fairly dark and flash was a definite no-no):

Another commissioned bag

Here is another one I made for Marge. She told me the colors she wanted and I sewed it up. The button and the embroidery design were just perfect for the fabric.

Splash Mountain

One of the best rides at Disneyland has to be Splash Mountain. It's a roller coaster type ride where passengers get into log like cars and go careening through a mountain setting with many dips and splashes into water.

We went on the ride twice in a row and got soaked from head to toe right down to our skivvies. It was so much fun. Unfortunately, I didn't dry off the entire day because I was wearing heavy denim shorts and those things don't get dry. My camera and our tickets to Disneyland were in my front pocket and they got soaked. Fortunately, the camera is fine. We had to check with guest relations to make sure our tickets were ok so that we could get in the next day.

Seems a litle fishy

That is one of Tom's favorite sayings of late and at the Aquarium it was appropo. The Aquarium had one turtle that we were able to see and he looked like a peaceful fellow swimming in his underwater world.



All of the fish tanks had photos and identification of each fish or species in the tank. Here was one that was on several tanks which shows the Aquarium has a sense of humor.

A day among the jelly fish

One of our vacation days was spent at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA. I have to admit I have never been in an Aquarium before so wasn't sure what was in store for me but I heard this was a very good one. We got there kind of late in the afternoon so most of the shows and lectures were over but that was ok. I took a lot of pictures there...some good and some bad. I liked the photos of the jelly fish which I have posted here.

Back to the work a day world

It's a bit rough coming back from vacation. I was swamped at work before I left on vacation and it's even worse now. So, I have not felt like getting on the computer at night after coming home from a day spent in front of the computer.

Fortunately, it seems we now have internet connectivity. Cox said our modem was dying so we had to get a new one. But now our T.V. is a little grainy. Oh well. I guess you can't win them all.

Still working on modifying vacation photos. Hope to get them up soon.

The Getty Center

I took a whole boatload of photos on our trip to California. The first two days were spent at Disneyland, the next day at The Queen Mary and the Aquarium of the Pacific and the final day at The Getty Center and Santa Monica Beach and Pier. Here is one painting from the Getty that was really amazing. Close up and regular perspective. Too bad I can't remember the artist but I believe it was a Flemish painting which I usually am not too fond of. However, this one was really incredible to me.*




Oh, and by the way, if you ever go on vacation, don't forget your battery charger for your camera. Could have been a real bummer for the trip if I hadn't brought along another camera, including extra batteries. Very, very glad I took two cameras on the trip.

* I found out more information on the portrait. Click here

Back from vacation

Just got back from a fun week's vacation yesterday. Took tons of photos and hope to get many of them up on the blog but we're having some internet troubles. Once we're past that...photo time.