Category Archives: Photography

December 17, 2023 · 23:17

No Context For You – December 17th

I hate getting a cold.

Worse, I hate waking up at 02:15 or so with that buzzing, burning, electrical sensation in a sinus that feels like that one evil cold virus crawled in there and is trying to borrow into your blood stream. And there’s nothing you dan do about it. Yeah, like I’m supposed to get back to sleep with that nonsense going on in my skull!

The best defense is a good offense, as Vince Lombardi said. (Or it might have been General George Patton. Or Alexander the Great.) 02:30, chug some orange juice for the Vitamin C, use it to wash down two Dayquil, and then stay awake long enough to suck down a ColdEeze. This will remind you that ColdEeze tastes a tiny bit awful, but ColdEeze and anything else always tastes worse.

Keep hitting those OTC drugs with regularity over the next 24 hours, carpet bombing the viral terrorists that have invaded your corpus and harshed your mellow. With luck, the drugs will leave your brain only slightly fuzzy and instead of trying to breathe through a wet sponge all day you’ll just have some tingly sinuses (sinusii?) and the occasional sneezing fit.

Wear a mask if you have to go out around other, innocent citizens who do not wish to share your virus. (i.e., don’t be a dick!)

If you’re the praying sort, thank whatever gods you worship that all of the deadlines from Hell are behind you. You should be able to function well enough to deal with the routine workload on Monday.

Repeat as needed on the next day and hopefully it won’t be needed on the third day.

So far it seems to be working. Day One completed.

 

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Filed under Health, Photography

December 16, 2023 · 22:51

Skyscapes – December 16th

I like how, near sunset, there are layers of clouds over to the west that are making the lower band of clouds in the lower right be in their shadow, causing it to be darker than the still brightly lit cloud bands above it.

Contrasts, For The Win! They keep the world from being bland and boring.

A week ago we were at “A Christmas Story – The Musical” at the Ahmanson. You know the story, it’s been 40 years since the movie came out and these days there are multiple cable channels that show it 24 hours a day for a day or two around Christmas weekend. Ralphie, the BB gun he wants, the bullies at school, his friend who gets his tongue stuck to the flagpole, his dad swearing at the balky furnace, the “glowing sex” leg lamp that dad wins as a major prize in a sweepstakes, everyone telling him “you’ll shoot your eye out!” A dozen other gags and scenes that are legendary, all rolled into one.

At the intermission, a woman sitting with a group of friends in the row in front of us, got up and left. She was upset and couldn’t stay for the second act of a production that celebrated giving a child a gun. She didn’t make a big scene, but she was quite emphatic to her friends about her objections and clear that she would NOT. BE. BACK.

I have questions…

I can, in theory, understand her objection, even if I don’t necessarily agree with it. We definitely live in different times than when the movie was made, and MUCH different times that the era (early 1950’s) that was portrayed in the story.

But how in the world can ANYONE come in to this production and not be at least passingly familiar with the fundamental plot line?

I’m not saying that everyone there needs to be able to quote every line in the movie, especially their favorites (“Daddy’s going to kill Ralphie!” in case anyone was wondering), but to be a member of this society in the last forty years and be totally unfamiliar with “A Christmas Story,” or to be unable to figure out that “A Christmas Story – The Musical” was related to it?

(She probably wouldn’t get this one either!)

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Filed under Entertainment, Photography, Sunsets, Weather

December 15, 2023 · 23:00

Fixed Focus

This was a tough shot. The Moon was far away and tiny (relatively), the Christmas lights about 18″ away and big (relatively), and the iPhone naturally wanted to focus on the Christmas lights. But I remembered reading about how to lock the focus on the iPhone and played with it a bit to see if I could get it to work. And it did!

I don’t have any formal photography training, but I’ve taken so many pictures for so many years that I occasionally get something that I really like. This would be one of those.

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Filed under Astronomy, Christmas Lights, Photography

December 14, 2023 · 23:42

The Roller Coaster

I suspect that one reason we love (or hate) roller coasters is that, aside from the physical thrills and sensations, we recognize the way our emotional and spiritual real life situations are mirrored in all of the ups and downs, spins and loops.

I just hit a handful of key deadlines (as part of an amazing team, the kind that my Pepperdine MBA program told me about, but which I had trouble believing in at the time – that’s a story for another day) and after more weeks and weeks of stress and long days and all that goes with it, all of a sudden today it’s just…normal. I have plenty to do, and to a certain extent there’s some chaos in trying to figure out which items to pull off of “the back burner” first, but getting it wrong has minimal consequences. Annoyances, possibly. Inconvenience, probably. “Consequences?” Not really.

And then I looked at the Chiefs’ calendar and saw that we’re playing the Raiders in Las Vegas next week, on the 25th, and wait, that can’t possibly be right because we’re playing them on Christmas and HOLY GUACAMOLE, BATMAN! Christmas is in just ten days! When did this happen? Why didn’t anyone warn me?!

I understand intellectually where we are on the calendar. There are lots of lights up outside. There are stacks of gifts waiting to be wrapped and put under the tree.

But mentally, coming down off of that “deadline high” (and being a little bit sleep deprived) I had slipped into an emotional state where I figured that I could kick back, relax, and coast a little bit.

But there’s Christmas stuff to finish and cards to get out and presents to wrap and all of that stuff on the back burner and the budget to be working on at work and a couple of other big projects that are lurking around the corner and all of a sudden the corner is RIGHT HERE and we really, REALLY need to make 2024 the year we find our forever home, buy it, and move…

And above all, having coped for weeks with one critical task and deadline after another, gone (for an hour or two) into coasting and relaxing mode, and now almost immediately being surprised and ramping back up, there’s an element of PTSD. What have I missed? I’m tired, I’m worn down, I’ve let down my guard for an hour, is there anything I’ve overlooked? Day after day after day of critical deadlines, how can I not have one tomorrow? What ball am I dropping? What’s gonna bite me in the ass? I almost forgot about Christmas for crying out loud, what else am I capable of forgetting?

It will be fine. Really.

But.

It is a roller coaster. You can go through all of those plunges and rolls and curves and manage to make it through, but in life you don’t get to just stop and get off the ride. There’s another lift hill ahead. Or a hidden cliff that you’re going to plunge over.

Breathe. ENJOY! Relax.

But you may not get to kick back into cruise mode just yet.

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Filed under Deep Thoughts, Paul, Photography

December 13, 2023 · 20:35

Kings For A Night!

Out on the town on a school night!

While I try to get to a couple of games a year, left to my own devices I’m sitting closer to the roof.

But there’s this season seat holder who donates her tickets to this charity auction we participate in every year (New Directions for Youth) and we’ve won the bidding three years in a row. Maybe four?

It’s different seeing the game from down here. Somewhat great! I recommend it if you get the chance!

We’re up 2-0 after one. Three quarters left to go!

Go, Kings, Go!

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Filed under LA Kings, Photography

December 12, 2023 · 23:27

Morning – December 12th

I know that it looks like this in the morning as well as in the evening. Just, you know, over there instead of over THERE.

As I child I was a real early riser. As an adult I got some therapy and figured out what was causing that and got over it, so now I’m more of a “drag-my-butt-out-of-the-warm-soft-bed-by-8:00-ish-if-I-absolutely-HAVE-to” riser.

So if I ever get up at O’Dark Thirty to go do something with you or for you, you know that either, A) I really, really like you; B) you owe me, big time!; or, C) both.

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Filed under Photography, Sunsets

December 11, 2023 · 23:53

Random Old Photos – December 11th

Not enough minutes in the hours…

…not enough hours in the day.

And yet I remember THIS night very well, even though it was seventeen years ago. A glass of wine at that little sidewalk cafe over on the right, watching the crowd, waiting for the Astronomical Clock to sound off. Then going down a side street off to the left, down toward the river, looking for a place to get dinner, finding a hole in the wall with 80’s punk music being sung in Czech…

We all need more nights like that.

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Filed under Photography, Travel

December 10, 2023 · 21:14

Grand Park & Music Center

Last night we were downtown at the Music Center, which is all gussied up for the holidays.

One of the things that the views and lights brought to mind, which is not an entirely new concept, is that I’ve never gone around downtown as a tourist or photographer and just been there to take pictures.

Sure, I’m down at the Music Center eight or ten times a year and I always take a few pictures. I’ve run past a lot of the primary landmarks (City Hall, the LA Catherdral, the Music Center, Hollywood, Century City, etc) because they’re on the LA Marathon course – but I haven’t taken pictures because I’m pretty focused on breathing and not dying.

But when I visit a new city, I love to simply wander around, look at the sights, and take a metric shit-ton of pictures. Look back through the nearly ten years of posts here and you’ll see a dozen or more examples. New York, San Francisco, Kansas City, London, Prague, Chicago, Brussels, Shanghai, Washington, Seoul, Kyoto, Seattle, Mazatlan, Cabo San Lucas, Denver, Puerto Vallarta, Winnipeg, Montreal, Toronto… I’m sure I’ve forgotten some.

But Los Angeles? Sure, I’ve got a gazillion photos as I wander here and there. But a day or two just wandering around downtown, getting on the Metro, taking pictures of all of the tourist traps that I would see in the first day or two if I was just visiting for a week? I may have a picture, I may not.

Sounds like something to do for a day once I get out of Deadline Hell.

 

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Filed under Christmas Lights, Los Angeles, Photography

December 9, 2023 · 19:58

New Ahmanson Season Starts Tonight!

And we’re off!!

The parking is full, full, full!!! But the view crossing back from the Court House parking garage to the Music Center is wonderful!

I’ll try not to shoot my eye out!

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Filed under Entertainment, Los Angeles, Photography

December 8, 2023 · 23:50

What Shade Of Blue Is That?

I ran over to our office today and on the way home I noticed that this huge block of land, about a half-mile square, has been fenced off. It’s a huge vacant area with one big office building (12 stories? 15?) that used to be an insurance company office headquarters. (Anthem?)

Anyway, bordered by Canoga, Oxnard, Owensmouth, and Erwin, in the Warner Center area, that’s really valuable land and a LOT of it.

The fencing is a bit different – normally they’ll have these screens but they’ll be black or green or something non-descript. But this was a bright blue. A particular shade of bright blue, is my guess.

There was zero grafitti on any of these fences. That’s how I know that it’s only been up a day or two at most.

As for that shade of blue? Well, the new owner of that huge plot of land, and what they plan on doing there, is well known.

Traffic near the office is going to start to suck (even worse), real soon now.

GO CHIEFS!!

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Filed under KC Chiefs, Los Angeles, Photography