There is this hotel just down the street from the Naval Postgraduate School…towards the wharf, but not near the wharf. Most people have probably never seen it; or if they have, they have passed it by without a second thought. Even though it is a hotel, it is more of a local place. The ground floor has a great little 3-4 seat bar. The owner is always friendly. The first time I was ever there was with my buddy Britt (class ’02). He said he saw the hotel in a magazine and wanted to check it out. So, we ended up having a drink or two or three…or four. This was a couple months ago. The great part about this hotel is that you can get on the roof. I was finally able to make it last Wednesday for some live music by Britt and a couple other fellas. There was only about ten people up there that night…it was a beautiful day, but the fog rolled in late and we had to pull out the heaters. So, for the rest of the evening, I sat up there with a good friend and a few I’ve never met before…drank wine, snacked on cheese/crackers, listened to good music, and, of course, took pictures. A great way to spend a Wednesday night after a somewhat stressful week at work. Here are the shots from the evening (fullscreen is better too).
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Okay, so this may be my first blog to actually be posted. I’ve started a few before this, but they’ve either fallen by the wayside or I simply just decided not to finish them. Skill or luck with today’s picture of the day. After spending most of the day on iChat (my new favorite video chat program) with my dad or my mom or beth or a combination of all three, I decided I needed to get something productive done for me…and that happened to be…nothing less than going to Chipotle for a late lunch. I take my camera everywhere these days in the hopes of capturing the picture of the day well before the late late hours of the evening. After Chipotle, I planned my grocery shopping (the thing that I actually set out to do) while sitting in a warm car. It was a bit chilly today here in Monterey.
I set out to Safeway in Carmel after not having taken a picture yet. I grocery [verb] (my favorite thing to do–this is laced with sarcasm) still hoping to find the picture before I get back. But, I’m too sore (another story for another day…but I helped a friend pour his sidewalk yesterday, so I’m hurting) to think creatively…thus, no picture. I finally am turning into my apartment complex and see the sun hitting some yellow flowers just right. YES!, I park grab my camera and hurry to take the picture. Unfortunately, the yellow flowers are on the ground. If you’ve ever poured concrete without knee-pads, then you know how much your knees ache. Man-up I tell myself (funny because I’m taking pictures of flowers). I’m kneeling, taking the pain, shooting these yellow flowers. Nothing great, but after shooting a few dozen, I’m confident that I’ve got the shot. Phew! I can relax the rest of the evening…maybe even finish watching the movie I started in the morning.
Now, all this sets the state for the next few shots. So, now I’m carrying my groceries walking on the sidewalk to my apartment and there is now some decent light hitting these violet flowers. A little history on these flowers. I’ve tried to shoot them many times…almost every time I’m walking to my apartment with my camera I think I can shoot these and get a good shot. And every time, I shoot them. And every time, the results are pure suck. Let’s just say that I’ve shot probably over a hundred shots of these things and haven’t kept one. So, not really wanting to shoot them, I succumb to my temptations (like always) and shoot them. I took about 10 shots (low for me). I don’t think anything of it because I know they didn’t come out and I already have my picture of the day.
So, later that evening I edit the shots from the day looking for the picture of the day. Most of the yellow flower shots are out of focus or terrible composition. I keep thinking in my head, great, another still life tonight. But…………then…………I get to the violet flowers and low and behold, I got one. It’s not brilliant and probably not great, but it was the best one from today. And hell, I didn’t even have to crop it. So, was it skill that I was able to get this shot??….judges ruling, pure luck. Hope you like it.
Back in February Terry and I headed down the road to the little town of Minden, LA. Minden has a fascinating history. Founded in 1836, It was once a bustling town and home to one of the first public schools in Louisiana. It is also the county seat of Webster Parish. Like many of the small towns in Louisiana, the town has faded from a bustling railroad and lumber mill town to more of a sleepy berg, but the old buildings that survived fires and tornadoes remain. Its a pretty cool place to visit…I hope to get back over there again before I leave Louisiana for good in a couple months.
Terry on Main Street
I’m supposed to be writing a resume right now. Someone should pay me to be unproductive because I’m really, really, really good at it. It seems like any time I’m supposed to be focused and productive with something I end up opening Aperture and tinkering with photos. Too bad playing with photos is the fast track to us living in a van down by the river…otherwise I’d make it my job.
This photo essay is from a little wandering I did a few weeks back. Plain Dealing is a small town straight north of Bossier City, LA. It happens to be on my long-ride training loop, and each Saturday morning when I ride through these empty streets and by the old auto garage I wonder about what must have been. It seems there is a lot of this “what must have been” around rural LA. Sad, but it does make for great photo subjects.
Enjoy. Leave a comment if you like. Hopefully with things getting a little lighter at work there will be more photo essays…let us know what you think–good, bad, or otherwise.
I suppose if there’s a Part 1, there should be a Part 2. While my parents were visiting the lovely state of Louisiana, we headed down to visit the cute little town of Natchitoches, the oldest town in LA that was made famous in the movie Steel Magnolias (which I’ve never seen). Natchitoches, which I’ve spelled wrong every time I’ve typed it so far and is somehow pronounced Nack-a-dish, is also famous for its meat pies. So after one of our morning rides we headed down through the always so interesting Louisiana countryside in search of a meat pie.
As it turns out, Natchitoches is apparently a town of morning people. Arriving in this hamlet after about 3 pm will lead you to closed restaurants and empty streets. Perhaps they siesta, I’m not sure. Never the less, we wandered around oogling the French architecture and old buildings. We did find a local drive-in sort of place that had meat pies, so the trip was not a waste. My two cents–not bad, but meat pies in Australia were way better.
One last cute one of Mom and Dad.
I think they enjoyed the trip, and its always fun to spend time with them. It was probably their last trip down south, as I’ll be moving back to Monterey in September! I’ll have to take them to Yosemite the next time they come to visit.
Yes, still way behind on updating the bloggie, but progress is progress. I figured I should post about spring break before Memorial Day and the official start of summer. Did I take a spring break…no. But, my parents did come visit me over their spring break. As the long Iowa winter continued to dump 70-some inches of snow and they ran out of places to pile the white stuff around the house, Mom and Dad decided that a week in the mild spring climes of Lousyana was an improvement.
The main reason the parents escaped Iowa was to get a few rides in without needing studded tires and lobster gloves. So we took a couple of rides around the seemingly endless fireroads of Barksdale AFB’s East Reservation. The area makes for some nice, long gravel road rides–perfectly sampled on a cx bike.
And after every good, long ride you need an even better late-afternoon lunch at the best little bistro in Shreveport. And blackberry bread pudding for dessert.
My relatively pedestrian morning at work followed by a lovely lunch hour of playing with the dog slowly derailed into a large pile of suck once I returned to my big, bad cubicle for the afternoon. And that afternoon lasted well into the evening. So now its time to go to bed and I’m left trying to find something to distract my busy mind from the ridiculousness that will be my day tomorrow…wait a minute, I’m about 100 days behind on photo posting, so hey, how about one of those photo essays I have planned in the queue. Plus, I’m enjoying John Stewart’s banter about the oil spill, so its not time for bed just yet.
As for the photos, remember way back in January when I was stuck in Montgomery, AL for a month? No? Oh yeah, that’s because I suck at updating this blog. Anyway, yes, I was in Montgomery for a month, and Terry was even with me. There’s a base in AL that Air Force likes to send all of its officers to every few years to learn how to be better officers. And all of us officers go because we get to drink beer more than we normally do because there’s nothing else to do but…drink beer.
Amazingly, in the less-than-desirable locale that is Montgomery we found this incredible burrito lounge. Yeah, those words don’t really go together…big fatty burrito and swanky lounge wear doesn’t really conjure up the best mental image, but I’m telling you, the El Rey Burrito Lounge in Montgomery is top 5 Mexican places we’ve every dined in…and trust me, I’ve eaten a lot of Mexican. This is an educated opinion. Plus, they have a beer list that is something like 200 brews long. Mmmm. Besides the tasty tortilla-wrapped delights, unbelievable salsa, and the cold beer, its a cool location in this neat old neighborhood in Montgomery called Old Cloverdale. So, if you’re ever in Montgomery for some reason, go there. Eat there. Drink there. Its worth it. There’s also a great little wood oven pizza place called Tomatino’s just across the street if burritos and salsa so good you could drink it aren’t your thing.
Enjoy the photos…and leave a comment if you like. Terry’s been working his butt off sprucing this page up, so let him know what you think!
Random scene over the patio fence.
The first round.
Serious discussion.
Sign language.
From the patio.
Beer List (just clicked this one, but now I see I should have shifted because that brew in the glass is a North Coast Blue Star I think).
The street scene in Old Cloverdale.
Beer Fridge.
Ladies Room.
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by terry
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