A couple of our East Coast co-workers visited San Diego last month. They have a pretty sick-ass-penthouse-like suite in the heart of Union Square in NYC, with views for days. Literally, they have all of the 19th floor in an open office kind of setting. It’s quite stunning and after my third visit, I am NOW over it lol. My jaw doesn’t drop nearly as low anymore. I have pictures of their office somewhere. Maybe I’ll post them one day. I’m tellin’ you, the views are killer.

But you know what? I’ll take this weather over that… That’s how much I hate the cold. I <3 NYC, don't get that twisted, but I just can't handle anything less than 90% sunny weather.

But let's say the weather was like San Diego... OMG, I'd probably be residing in Chelsea as I type. I picture myself as a Carrie Bradshaw type New Yorker, minus the fabulous shoes. I guess maybe one day? Hmm, probably not. I'll just stick to visiting.

I can never quite get my b&w photos to look good, which is probably why I rarely attempt it, but here’s some I was randomly testing conversions on:

From last year:

Pretty happy with it!

For a 300 dollar lens, I’m kinda of trippin’ out. This is shot at f/1.4. Click link under image for 100% view of focused area. Not as much CA as I expected coming from a non L lens. WOW.

View 100% crop

Me: omg so the other night, after the shoot, I went to mcdonalds cause i was craving soft serve ice cream with fries…
Holly: lolol
Me: btw you can get it without the cone and it’s like triple the serving
Holly: you can!?? like, just in a cup
Me: but by the time i was almost home, all the fries were gone (mind you this is like 3 minutes in) so i had to stop by carls jr to order more fries
Me: yea it’s in a plastic to go cup the size of a tall cup from sbucks
Holly: LMAOOOOOOOO shut the fuck up. that sounds like the most pothead thing to do ever.
Holly: did you just get fries or did you get more than fries?
Me: i got fries and fucking fried zucchini and those mini burritos with guac LMFAO

02/25/2010
Debit Card Transaction
MCDONALD’S F2902 Q17 S 02/23MCDONALD’
$4.99

02/25/2010
Debit Card Transaction
CARL’S JR #7615 Q26 S 02/23CARL’S JR
$7.32

Holly: LOLOLOOLOL
Me: WINNER
Holly: omg i wish it had a time stamp
Me: i told mark too like, omg i got us fries and ice cream! he was so excited i could not come home without fries
Holly: LOLOL!!

We had a photoshoot a few days ago and being the senior designer for the company, I don’t normally shoot on set (sometimes I’ll do candids). I’m usually there to help style and see to it that the vision pans out successfully, while also making sure the shots translate well to the web.

For this shoot, we did a “1 Look 5 Ways” theme where you’d take a staple piece, like a button up or a dress and style it for 5 different settings. So basically, translating this look to a vacation getaway look, or weekend look or office attire… you get the picture.

So being that we had a studio set up along with a location set up, it made sense to shoot the model in studio and then take them to a location and shoot the same look. In order to be efficient, we had our main photographer on set in the studio, while myself and our second photographer take the models outside to snap a few images in an environment that caters more to the style of the look.

So anyway, here are a few images I took from the shoot. Disregard the Starbucks logos as those will definitely not be on the final images lol. As always, click for the larger (and better quality) photo.

So with a few jobs coming up, I decided to get a carry-on ready case that would fit enough gear for a destination shoot. My co-worker Ryan was sporting a Pelican 1510 in military green and it was looking pretty damn sweet. Literally minutes later, I bought one from Amazon in desert tan.

Being that I have this problem of wanting something and wanting it now, I ended up ordering the wrong case. These cases either come with foam padding, padded dividers, or no padding at all. I originally wanted the padded dividers but mistook foam padding for the dividers. So I’m pretty much stuck with these foam pieces because I don’t want to ship this back to amazon and re-order the case with the padded dividers. They do sell the dividers separately, so I guess I’ll just wait and see how this foam padding works out.

Anyway, this case is awesome. It’s rugged, sturdy, acts as a stool on location and rolls really well. The only thing I think would be an issue is the weight. Obviously, being a hard case, it’s packing some weight without gear inside. But that’s ok with me. I figure this is a case to get me to an on location shoot rather then a case I plan to tour cities with.

So far, I’m able to fit the following:

Speed light
Pocket wizard flex x2
Canon 85L
Canon 200L (2.8)
Canon 5dmk II Gripped with r-strap connector, 35L and hand grip
R-Strap
Blower and lens brush
Batteries
Diffuser
CF cards
Lens hoods

Keep in mind, this was all pretty much impromptu because I wasn’t sure I was going to even give this foam set a try but I think I’ll see how it goes. I pretty much just plucked away until the specific gear fit. I have to admit, I did this carelessly but I’m fine with the outcome. Anyway, see pics below… doesn’t my LV bag match perfectly? Now I just gotta find some awesome stickers to personalize it. I’m thinking an Apple logo would fit nicely.

Continuing my Love with fast primes.

Masks courtesy of James Valentino

Portrait session with designer, Michael Manguino.

Took out zefron this weekend. Nice ride up to Del Mar with a few miles clocked in on the 101. Then we stopped for some refreshments and a fresh sandwich. Not much shooting but managed to snap some foodie pics.

Also, the images have a cool vibe to them. I wasn’t sure which way to go, cool or warm. I decided that even though the sun was out, the air was so crisp making the ride feel really cool. I figure it’s getting warmer by the day so gotta enjoy what’s left of this cool air. Hope everyone’s weekend was wonderful. Happy Tuesday and bring on the sun!

Update: I just checked the weather and apparently it’s going to rain in a few days lol. Pretty much cancels out my post… whatever! Summer is still coming!

If you recall, I reviewed the Olympus E-P1 with very high remarks here. Since then, I’ve added a black leatherette, Lumix 20mm f/1.7, ditched the OVF and never looked back. With the announcement of the Panasonic GF1, the E-P2 and the latest E-PL1, I really did think about “upgrading” however the E-P2 isn’t much of an upgrade and the GF1, though faster in operation, lacks some key features I love about the E-P1. Those features being the in-body stabilization and retro design. I can’t get enough of how this amazing this camera looks.

I never realized how useful IBIS is until using this camera. I have Canon lenses with IS and it works great but to think about having it for every lens is pretty awesome. The fact that I could shoot at slower shutter speeds with the f/1.7 lens is just amazing. Most of my subjects aren’t moving, people I’m shooting are adults so they could pose for a second or two without moving and my dog… well, if I have a treat she will pretty much wait for anything, so the IBIS really shines for me. The art filters are pretty cool too, esp. pinhole. Some say it’s a gimmick, but I find them to be pretty useful.

Unlike the Sigma DP2, I found the E-P1 operation to still be fantastic. I reviewed the DP2 awhile back and loved the image quality and felt that was more than enough to carry the weight of the horrendous operation of the camera… but after a month of shooting, it took it’s toll. The E-P1 on the other hand, is just a joy to use.

Anyway, there’s not much more I can say about the camera except that it’s the perfect companion for that photographer who doesn’t want to lug around 6 pounds worth of equipment on a weekends walk. It’s for the photographer looking for a mini dslr because the compact piece of shit sensor they have is just not cuttin’ it in the IQ department. It’s for me, the guy that likes to take pictures of crap on his desk, snap away at random things because in my head, I’m seeing something really fantastic or take quality photos of friends and family even if it’s just at a coffee shop.

Here are a few images taken with the E-P1. My little diamond in a rough mini workhorse:

I can’t remember what my favorite comic book series was but I do remember collecting 100’s of them when I was a kid. It was almost an obsession. I remember how nice it felt looking through a bunch of organized comics neatly placed in their plastic shield with a cardboard backing so they wouldn’t get messed up. I probably didn’t even read half of them, but the thought of owning them was good enough.

Kind of ironic. Why own something for the sake of owning it? It’s almost materialistic. OMG, am I materialistic? lol. Or is it just an attribute collectors-of-sorts have? I’m gonna go with the latter.

I use to pride myself in only wearing thrift store clothes. I use to say, “Eh, labels don’t matter.” I still do very much believe that labels don’t matter, so categorizing me as a materialistic person wouldn’t fully work… but (and this is a j.lo but) I also have a love for certain labels and it’s those certain labels that carry a certain something that make me crave for more of it. Take for instance Louis Vuitton. I don’t know what it is, but my god, I want it all. This logic is clearly a sign of a materialist person, but maybe I’m half materialistic and half practical. I’m gonna go with the latter again.

Same goes with technology. Announce the latest anything and I’m drooling over/googling/youtubing until I realize, ok, this is not for me… however 1 outta 10 times, I’m convincing myself that it is something I could use. I never look at my purchases as something I need… it’s more like, “I can use that!” I realize this is probably the stage before a self-diagnosed shopaholic, so there is still hope.

So back to comic books. Those shiny pieces of artwork, sitting pretty in their glossy package, unread and barely touched. I guess you could say that my collection of comic books was the first sign of the shopaholic in me.

In order to limit the RF noise produced by the 580EXII that limits the pocket wizard flex’s, they came out with this sock-like, RF noise shield. So far so good.

What are you suppose to say to this face?

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iPad iPad iPad iPad iPad iPad iPad iPad iPad iPad iPad iPad

Yes. I am getting one. Yes. It will be lovely. And no. You can’t touch it.

Can you see the Na’vi in the tree?

He knows I like my coffee iced…

I either ask you to pose randomly, or have you wait for me to randomly shoot randomness…

Here’s the before:

I wanted to find a really light and refreshing pasta dish. Something that’s healthy by using low fat ingredients. Shrimp is definitely a good option for a healthier protein and basil really freshens a dish up.

This shrimp and basil angel hair pasta is perfect for just that. Light, refreshing and healthy!

Ingredients:
Olive oil
Shrimp (almost two pounds worth)
Fresh tomatoes (about 5 small)
2 cans diced tomatoes (italian style)
1 medium chopped onion
Garlic, chopped
Basil
Parsley
Angel hair pasta
Hot pepper flakes (optional)
Salt and pepper

** Serving is for about 5 people

So the first thing you want to do is prep your ingredients because once you get going, there’s no real stopping. This includes peeling/rinsing your shrimp (and deveining if you want), chopping your garlic, onions, basil, parsley and slicing your tomatoes. Don’t forget to cook your pasta as well. I don’t usually time my pasta so I can’t provide an estimate. I usually just try it to see if it’s ready.

After everything is prepped, heat some olive oil in your pan and cook your garlic and shrimp (set aside some garlic for later). Don’t worry about perfectly cooking your shrimp. Just let it turn color and once that’s done, take it off the heat and set aside. If you don’t think it’s fully cooked, don’t worry about it. It will have time to cook later as well. Oh!, and optionally add in your hot pepper flakes with your garlic.

Shrimp aside, add in a little more olive oil to your pan and roast your tomatoes and onion. Pan fry them till they shrivel up and flatten. Once that’s done, add in your parsley, basil and 1.5 cans of your diced italian tomatoes. I only used 1.5 cans because of the fresh tomatoes I like to use. Let that cook till you have a nice hearty sauce. This would also be a good place to season with salt and pepper. Also, don’t forget about your pasta. Drain when done.

Now that your sauce looks great add in your pasta and shrimp. Also add in the garlic you set aside earlier. This will add a really fresh taste to your pasta… much like it does in bruschetta. Salt and pepper to taste.

And that’s it. A nice, refreshing, hearty, and healthy pasta for 5. Bon Appétit!

I was the crazy guy today, walkin’ around Seafood City taking pictures of produce while Mark shopped for a few groceries.

Just a little bit of every day things.

or right click save as

Something I say quite often. Here’s a couple more from that day:

Got a lot of requests for this wallpaper. Click for larger version

At home and at work!

With a side of t.r.e.a.t.

I don’t know much about cars, but when it comes to the design of a car, I’m all about it. The engine, torque, suspension, etc.? Not so much, although at one point I tried learning about it all. I’m currently driving a Mazdaspeed 3 with an CAI installed, tinted windows and sport springs. That’s probably as far as I’d ever go in terms of modifying a car. All the cars on my list are based on design alone since I haven’t driven any besides the one I own.

5. Mazdaspeed 3

This makes #5 on my list because not because I own it, but because I think the design of the car and the power inside the car, makes for one of those “bang for your buck” type purchases. It’s turbo charged, sits pretty low already (without sport springs installed), giving the car a really balanced look and doesn’t come with all those add ons to jack up the price.

The first generation of this car came in two variations. A sport version and grand touring (which is what I own). The only difference between the two is the latter has leather trim bucket seats and a bose audio system. Obviously there will always be add ons for cars like a navigation system and other random crap, but what I’m referring to is things like fog lights, 18in wheels, a large exhaust, etc., which in this comes standard.

I know many don’t dig hatchbacks, but I’ve always been a fan of them ever since Honda came out with that cool, og hatch.

4. Infiniti g35

If I didn’t want a hatchback, this would have been my car. It’s sleek. It’s minimal. It’s what I like about design.

3. BMW M3 Coupé Convertible

I’ve never been a fan of convertibles before. I hated the black ugly cloth-like top. But this car is brilliant. It looks like a normal M3 Coupé, sans that ugly black top. Instead it’s a hard top convertible that automatically folds down into your trunk for those days when you wanna get all boujie in the summer sun.

2. Mercedes G55

This car says transformers, meets rugged, meets modern design. Enough said!

1. BMW Z3 Coupé

My ultimate car of the decade, BMW Z3 Coupé. Technically the car was manufactured from 99-02 so it still falls under the last decade. I think it’s perfect for city driving. Small, compact but still still so stylish. I think the shape and proportions of the car are perfect. It’s almost as if you put together bits and pieces of all the cars listed above, this is how it’d look.

I could totally see myself, Mark and Cargo in this!

The world would be a better place. Taken with the lovely Canon 85mm f/1.2L of my lovely niece Jordan.

As we were driving along the coast, we spotted a home that probably best represents the closest style we’ve seen to looking like our dream home (shape wise). Mark and I both want our house to be architectural modern, taking form of the many principles of minimalism, which is basically design stripped of the unnecessary.

A lot of people don’t know that Minimalism actually takes root from a lot of Japanese traditional design. Clean lines, calm, attention to placement, etc. I guess the saying, “less is more” would sum up nicely what minimalist design takes after.

The reason I love minimalism so much in architecture is because it allows you to take the basic principle of design like line, balance, rhythm, emphasis, proximity, etc., and produce visually stunning structures. Come to think of it, that approach works well for me for most things. Like Louis Vuitton bags

I don’t know if my dream home would be exposed concrete like this, unless it was surrounded by a lot of greens to offset the concrete. But what I do love is the structure itself. Above the garage is what seemed to be a pool as the water from the pool cascaded down on the left side where the numbers of the house are located creating a little waterfall. How cool is that?!

The views from their home are amazing too. Probably more amazing then from where we were standing. Opposite of what the camera is seeing, is the ocean, unblocked and limitless with the setting sun. I mean, wow.

Another thing that caught our attention while driving by was the upside down Christmas tree hanging in what seemed to be a foyer, or larger living room? Mark and I have discussed hanging a tree upside down for Christmas. We haven’t got around to attempting it, but seeing this pretty much solidifies an upside down tree for 2010. The hanging vines from the top balcony with lights is pretty sweet too.

Anyway, just thought I’d share this amazing home. I can only imagine what the interior looks like, especially the kitchen!!!

Mark doesn’t like the pic cause it makes him look like he has a belly… I assured him it was the wind and that people would realize it’s the wind. But just in case, it’s the wind hah!

I wanna act like I didn’t touch my blog once during my vacation but in reality… I have posts waiting to be published lol. But I will say, I didn’t touch my email after my first day of vacation

My NYE outfit resurrected from a night out in NYC last year:

Miss Holly Haines:

Mr Mark Adam & Cargo:

** totally had to pixelate cargo’s private parts…

My Holiday vacation is over.

It wasn’t a vacation where you travel and leave behind where you reside for a few days and come back feeling fresh but sad because you had a moment of bliss. It was more like a mental vacation from work, responsibilities and complaints. For some reason, the end of 2009 was full off bitchassness. People complaining about every little thing. I have to admit though, I had my days of bitchassness too.

I think near the end of the year, it came to a point where it was hard for me to bitch about anything because everyone else around me was bitching for me. Left and right, up and down, diagonal and around. It was like a plague of crap that you couldn’t get away from. I think everyone just needed the year to be over.

It was then I realized… damn… people seriously take things for granted. For instance, your job. I mean, shouldn’t we be grateful for our jobs considering people around us, loved ones, family, or someone within our six degrees of separation had lost their job? I get it, bitching sometimes helps you get through the day. But this was bitchfest 2009. Laughable now that I look back at it.

So anyway, I kept somewhat quiet the last few days before my vacation. I was readying to resolve myself of any angst and bitterness that might follow me on my metal vacation.

So there I was, starting my first day of this mental vacation. December 25th… oddly enough it was at Church with my family on Christmas morning. I don’t attend church anymore. I stopped attending church when I moved out of my parents house. Not because I had any negative feelings towards church at the time, but I just didn’t feel it was a part of my life that enriched anything. I questioned many things that church could not answer, so I could not follow any establishment that had no answers to my questions.

At any rate… there I was almost ready to complain about why I had to be there when I realized, “omg, this would classify as bitching.” So I stopped, sat patiently and reflected on 2009.

For the most part, 2009 was amazing. My relationship with Mark hasn’t been this strong, good and happy ever. I think to get to this point, we both had to be at a point in our own separate lives where we felt accomplished and happy with ourselves. I’ve always heard that before… how can you be happy with someone when you aren’t happy with yourself. I have to say, it’s true. I’ve always known for this to be true, but it doesn’t click until it happens.

We both had to feel, that in our own separate lives, happy and good. It’s like gravity. Things trickle down naturally so if you are unhappy about something, it will trickle down to those nearest to you and your partner is the first to feel it at it’s strongest negative impact. When we first started dating, I was still in college and he had a pretty good job. I hated school and hated that I wasn’t done and I’m sure this didn’t help us out. I used him as a sponge a lot of the time where I would complain so much that he would hold it all in and later down the line, would let it loose, out of nowhere. It probably sounds a lot worse than it actually was, because we really did have a lot of good times together which outweighed the bad, allowing us to build a foundation that was a relationship. But my point is… I was very unhappy where I was at.

Shortly after I graduated, I was finding myself to be at a loss. Finally happy I was done with school, but scared shitless about finding a career path. It was like they canceled each other out. At one point I wasn’t sure I wanted to do design anymore. Mark landed a new job with a Chinese natzi of a boss. She was horrible. She talked to Mark like he was her son. You can only be a cultural asshole like that and get away with it if it’s blood related. But if you are of different ethnicities, are in a work environment and your boss is slamming doors and yelling at you in broken English… that’s just wrong.

During that time, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and was just at a standstill I guess. I didn’t know where to go or what to do and felt lonely more than anything. During these times, our relationship was at it’s rockiest. We looked at other outlets for happiness, which was obviously a bad idea. We looked at other people and even at one point I turned to alcohol. I remember a summer when I drank almost everyday.

Things were pretty bad, but never to a point where we broke up, got together, broke up, etc. etc. I think we both realized that if we had actually “broken up” and left each other for awhile, it wouldn’t have worked out, so we both just stuck it out knowing we had something special… it was just bad timing.

Shortly after our most rockiest point, I actually found a career in my field that I loved. From there, we started to weed through things in our lives that weren’t good for us. We planned a trip to Hawaii in 2007 with our good friends and since then have been building a stronger foundation for our relationship. Now that we both had good careers (he still had the evil boss, but he found a way to gain lots of experience from it to move forward), we started to eat healthier and work out (for the trip to Hawaii). I needed to lose the 20 pounds I gained from drinking for a whole summer lol.

2008 came and it was almost like it was a big party. We lived with roommates that were our closest friends. We had problems here and there but nothing so crazy. I think we just got by, by having fun.

So here we are in 2009. Mark landed a new job where his boss actually respects him. I got a promotion as a senior designer. We both were doing so well with our careers that this hurdle of a past, was now something to celebrate. Our careers weren’t in jeopardy or at least we knew where we were headed and we weren’t tugged down by the lack of accomplishment. We were both very happy and used that as a catalyst to rebuild our relationship and anything that might have been tainted from past years.

For a period in 2009, we lived alone. Our roommates moved out and we started to fix up the house with renovations both big and small. I don’t know if you’ve seen “Life as a House” with Kevin Klein and Hayden Christensen, but it was a similar experience. The movie is about a troubled teen who reconnects with his dying father and they build their relationship through building their home together. Mark and I kind of did the same thing. We rebuilt our lives while renovating the house. We tore down a room to it’s skeleton with sledge hammers. We spent time researching materials and inspirations for a kitchen remodel. Countless hours of planning, shopping and trips to home depot. We made art, furniture, cooked, ate, played sports, shopped, etc. etc. All these things we love and to do it together is a solid foundation for a lifelong partner and all of this we realized in 2009.

We spent so much time together those months that we didn’t have any roommates, that we remembered how much we loved each other. From there, we accomplished so much together. I don’t know the exact point in time that it clicked in 2009, but it just did.

So anyway, if you recall the beginning of my post… I’m actually in church reflecting on 2009, which brought me back a few years only to bring me back to 2009 and why it was so great. The secret is happiness. I think when people are in a relationship, some tend to fixate so much in trying to make “the couple” happy. I know I did. Realistically though, the two need to find happiness within themselves. Find your happiness and be more than content with your own life because if you’re happy and your other half is happy, your happiness will naturally trickle down into your relationship.

Happiness will forever win over any negative feelings you may have. I think if more people payed a little more attention and actually tried harder at finding happiness – whether that be at home, work, or school. It would make way for a better state of mind.

So my resolution for 2010 is simple.

Be happy.

It’s to the point, makes sense when you say “happy new years” and would actually tie in all of the last 9 resolutions of this past decade that I’ve previously failed to resolve. Happy 2010 and on everyone

Clarione was in town and we did a small, intimate, impromptu – but super delicious- dinner with him, Holly, Mark and our new roomie Stacy. The plan was to take a sophisticated menu you’d see at a restaurant and bring it home and enjoy cooking with these different flavors adding a twist of asian-infused ingredients to each plate. The menu as planned consisted of:

• Butter lemon scallops on a bed of japanese cucumbers marinated with rice wine vinegar
• Wasabi infused crab cakes
• Seared ahi tuna salad with cranberry gorgonzola dressing
• Vodka spritzers

Let’s start with the scallops. This was my first time cooking with scallops so I was a bit terrified to serve them without trying it first, so I cooked one scallop earlier in the day and it came out great! All you need for this appetizer is:

Butter Lemon Scallops w/ Japanese Cucumbers

Scallops (two per person)
Butter (enough to use to substitute cooking oil)
Lemon
Salt/Pepper
Rice wine vinegar
Japanese cucumber (can also use regular cucumbers)

Before you do anything, you’ll want to ready your cucumbers so they can marinate awhile in the fridge (at least 30 minutes). You can use a potato peeler to get some really thin strips of cucumber. Be sure to peel of the layer of green. Place your strips into a bowl and add rice wine vinegar and pepper (I add some hot pepper flakes to give it a little kick).

Once that’s done, all you’re really need to do is cook your scallop! Add some butter and lemon juice into a pan (not too much so the scallop can brown) and once it’s hot, really hot, put in your scallops. Don’t put them too close together so you have some room and time to work with the scallops. Once the bottom of the scallop has a nice brown on it (a minute or so) flip them over and baste them with some of the lemon butter that’s already in the pan.

Let that side cook about the same time. I read that it’s best to cook scallops on a non teflon pan so it can get scorching hot. We only have teflon so maybe we lucked out because it cooked really well. Once the scallops are done, place them on the bed of cucumbers and let sit for a bit before serving. Not too long or they’ll be cold. I didn’t salt these scallops because you’ll get a lot of acid from the rice wine marinated cucumbers.

Next up is the crab cakes:

Wasabi Infused Crab Cakes

Crab (real, not imitation)
Mayo (light please)
Wasabi mayo (optional mixed in or as a part of your sauce)
Mustard
Worcestershire sauce
Garlic powder
Bread crumbs (or crushed crackers)
Green onions (thinly sliced)
1 Egg
Tartar sauce (or any dipping sauce you like)
Bacon (totally optional)
Flour for coating

All you need to do is mix in your crab, mayo, mustard, worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, bread crumbs, green onions, bacon and egg into a mixture that looks good to your liking. I’d start light on the mayo. You want the crab to be the main ingredient and not the mayo.

Next you’ll want to flour them up in a mini pancake-like form. You can add some of the bread crumbs into the flour to give it more volume.

Once you’ve got your crab cakes all ready to go, place them in a pan of hot oil, enough to coat the crab cake all the way to the middle of the cake so that the center cooks. Once golden brown, flip them over and cook for the same amount of time. Serve hot with tartar sauce, wasabi mayo or your choice of dipping sauce!

The last dish to prepare since it’s the fastest is the Seared Ahi Tuna:

Seared Ahi Tuna Salad

Tuna (sashimi grade)
Spices (sesame seeds, all spice, salt, pepper)
Mixed greens
Cranberry gorgonzola dressing (Trader Joes sells this)

This is pretty basic. Put all your spices in a bowl and cover your tuna with the spices.

Pan fry on high heat with a splash of oil until the edges are cooked. Cut into thin slices and serve on a bed of mixed greens with a dressing you think would go well with searched tuna. In this case, the cranberry gorgonzola dressing was perfect and light enough to not overpower the tuna.

And there you have it. A modern, elegant, asian-inspired, seafood meal perfect for dinner parties where you take the restaurant setting and bring it into your home. And what’s a deliciously modern looking dinner without the cocktail? An easy vodka spritzer to cleanse your pallet…

Bon A’ Petite!!

Love his sound… Download his album below. Merry Christmas Eve!

**Download here

Pocket Wizard Flex, HSS, f/2

Love this song, from Conan O’Brien’s late night show.

Yet another sleepless night calls for another boring photo. If I had one, and only one f-stop to shoot at, it would be without a doubt, f/2. I love the razor thin depth of field it provides but also love it’s versatility.

Much like Ansel Adams was an f/22 kind of photographer. I am very much so, an f/2 kind of lover. f/1.2 is nice to have on my 85L, but f/2 is my go to aperture.

Gonna start the face project, inspired by a commercial from American Express seen here. Here’s my first one

There’s nothing like a nice hearty soup for winter. This potato leek soup recipe will warm your soul with a thick, delicious, soupy mouthful of goodness. Are you salivating yet? lol…

Ingredients:
butter, how much? Enough to pan fry your onions and leeks
5 leeks, sliced thin
10-12 small/medium russet potatoes
1 medium/large chopped onion
Chicken broth (enough to cover potatoes – I used 4 cans for this recipe)
1.5 cups heavy cream
salt & pepper to taste
Bacon (optional)

** This is enough for 6-15 people depending on serving. In this case, we’re serving a potluck w/ smaller portions

The first thing you want to do, if you’re like me, is pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy the kitchen. I love looking at all the colors of the ingredients, setting up and organizing everything. You don’t want to be scrambling around looking for a spatula or strainer amidst a bubble and boil.

Once you’re ready to rock and roll, or in this case, chop and dice, grab your leeks and slice them thin. I usually cut up my leeks first and then soak them in water to clean. There’s dirt between the leeks so it’s easier to get rid of when it’s soaking in water. You’ll also want to trim off the root end which is about 1/4 inch of the white bottom. I also don’t use the end of the dark green leek because it’s rather tough. While the leaks are soaking in water, go ahead and give your onion a quick dice as well.

Once you’ve got you leeks and onions ready to go, bring them to a nice sauté with butter. Cook them enough to where you’re comfortable eating the onions. They should slightly brown.

While your leeks and onions are sautéing, give your potatoes a quick scrub and slice. I leave the skin on because I like the texture. Just make sure to rinse them well.

When you’re leeks and onions look cooked, go ahead and add in your thinly sliced potatoes. It’s important to thinly slice them so they cook faster and are a lot easier to mash. Also add in your chicken broth. Enough to just barely cover the potatoes. It’s better to under estimate the broth as you can always add later if your soup is too thick.

Heat to boil and simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until your potatoes are cooked. While you’re waiting, enjoy your kitchen! Fill your vase with the flowers you bought while shopping for groceries. Adding color to your kitchen really does make it a happier experience

Aren't they nice?

Now that your potatoes are cooked, mash and purée them with either a potato masher, or in this case, a hand blender. Mash and purée to your liking. I like my soup puréed pretty well, but I also don’t mind a few chunks here and there.

You should instantly start to see the heartiness of your soup. If it’s too thick, this would be a good place to add a little more chicken broth. If it looks perfect, go ahead and add in your heavy cream.

Salt and pepper you’re leek soup to taste and it should be ready to go in a minute or so! Next step is optional, or for me, essential. Bacon! I’ve tried adding the bacon in the soup as well as topping the leek soup with some bits and pieces. I find topping allows you to really taste the bacon, while adding it in the soup gives off a more subtle bacon taste. Some crazy people don’t like bacon so safer to add after.

A tip with the bacon topping. Just buy the pre cooked bacon. The kind where you can microwave it and it’s ready to go in seconds. This is perfect since bacon isn’t the star of the dish. That way, you don’t have to deal with the mess of cooking bacon in a pan.

Enjoy!!!

My favorite portraits of 2009. View my other favorite pieces here.

Just a few of my favorite things I’ve taken this year. You can also view my favorite portraits from 2009.

Taken at SCSB Band Tournament at Mira Mesa High School. I was a band geek in high school. I started playing the quads in Junior High. In high school, I transitioned to snare drum and after that, ventured off into keys playing the xylophone in field shows. I guess I couldn’t resist going to band rehearsals “with bells on.” Probably some of the best times of high school happened during my years in band.

As nerdy as the uniforms are/were, the field/marching shows gave a sense of camaraderie and union in achieving a goal of excellence. I’m sure you can get that same kinda feeling playing football, but band was alright too.

**band pictured is Vista High School

Download my collection of Slow Jams Volume 1

Think: New Edition, IV Example, Jodeci, Pepples, Shai Shanice, Soul 4 Real, Xcape, Nuflavor, Mista, SWV, Shai, Groove Theory, All 4 One, Tamia, Troop, 4PM, Bobby Brown, Monica, Tracy Spencer, Lighter Shade of Brown, Total, 3T and for all you Filipinos, even Kai lol!

Happy Hump Day!!! Enjoy while they last!

Alicia Keys – The Element of Freedom
Lady Gaga – The Fame Monster
Glee – Volume 1
Glee – Volume 2
Leona Lewis – Echo
Frankmusik – Complete Me (Acoustic)
The Twilight Saga – New Moon
Kris Allen – Self Titled
Jay Sean – All or Nothing
Jay-Z – The Blueprint 3
Kid Sister – Ultraviolet
Aaliyah – Aaliyah Revisited
Robin Thicke – Sex Therapy The Experience

Download Sex Therapy The Experience by Robin Thicke. There are a few really awesome tracks, but the fact that he has a track with Nicki Minaj is a #fail in itself which makes the album, for me, and overall flop.

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Michael : Hi I’m actually looking for the damier graphite camera bacl
Michael : bag*
Michael : item # N58027
Ryan P.: That is a popular item and I certainly understand your interest.
Ryan P.: As it is currently unavailable for purchase online, I am happy to check its availability in your local boutique.
Michael : Oh that would be fabulous
Michael : I am in San Diego, CA
Ryan P.: Thank you for your patience. Regrettably, it appears this item is currently sold out nationwide.
Michael : That’s quite alright, looks like I’ll just have to wait
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Not that I could have afforded this right now seeing as I have an unpaid parking ticket and medical bill (lol!), but who knows what I would have tried to sell to get my hands on this. Possibly even my soul? The Damier Graphite Camera Bag is seriously THE bag I’ve been looking for my entire life and will not rest until the day it’s on my shoulders.

Anyways, here are some other pieces to fancy. The backpack is looking kinda hot and I have the laptop sleeve in the regular damier and it’s really, really well made.

She looks pretty damn fierce with that on. I would definitely put the shippo in the back though.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Might go preview the Fall/Winter 2009-2010 Collection at Louis Vuitton Fashion Valley. Can’t wait!

Buy yours at the NOH8 Online Store

View the article here.

Some excerpts…

Mr. Paterson made an unusual trip to the Senate floor minutes after the last vote was cast, saying, “These victories come and so do the losses, but you keep on trying.”

-Preach.

The state’s Roman Catholic bishops, who had actively lobbied against the bill, said they were pleased by the vote.

“While the Catholic Church rejects unjust discrimination against homosexual men and women, there is no question that marriage by its nature is the union of one man and one woman,” Richard E. Barnes, the executive director of the New York State Catholic Conference, said in a statement.

- Unjust discrimination? WTF? Is he trying to say there is such a thing as valid discrimination? When is discrimination ever morally right? I guess when it comes to marriage and homosexuality there exists such contradiction. That’s what I hate about religions. The picking and choosing of their own rules to suit their lives but not the lives of people like myself. We’ve adjusted the way we live based on what we’ve learned about LIFE, why can’t religions? We went from owning slaves as being part of life, to thinking how FUCKED UP those times must have been. Why is it, religion can’t change for the better?

“When I walk through these doors, my Bible stays out,” said Senator Eric Adams, a Brooklyn Democrat who compared the law preventing same-sex marriage with laws that kept blacks and whites from marrying. “I believe there are certain moments here where we can benchmark our lives by the votes we took.”

- As it should.

Demonstrators on both sides of the issue were relatively scarce in the Capitol on Wednesday. A small group of Orthodox Jews gathered outside the Senate chamber, one of them holding a sign that read “Gay Union/A Rebellion Against the Almighty.”

- All I have to say is, people like you are sick and should wear long corduroy skirts and die lonely and afraid.

Updated our blog layout last night for 5byseven. Check it out: 5byseven San Diego Wedding Photography

For those that don’t know, I have a side thing with this whole photography stuff. 5byseven.com was created in mind with myself and my brother, 5 and 7 representing the number of letters in our names and of course the size format of a picture.

We started off doing some homie hook up weddings and have now successfully managed to book weddings throughout the year at a competing price with other local photographers. Our hopes for the future is to be able to open our own studio, maintain steady weddings, hire on other photographers and basically grow a business that started with the love and passion we both have for photography.

At any rate, check out our blog. Bookmark it so you can see what’s in store for the future! Thanks, xoxo

Taylor is a good looking guy, but I think he’s extra good looking because he had fugly ass hair in Twilight and in New Moon he cut it all off and grew up.

Zac is still queen though. haha! He sings, acts, dances and has a great sense of style. I hope Me and Orsen Wells is good for him… Personally, I’d rather see him in Footloose =/

Giving thanks to family and friends

Island Prime off Harbor Island

Category: Seafood, Steakhouses
Neighborhood: Harbor Island
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
880 Harbor Island Dr
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 298-6802
Price Range: $$$
www.islandprime.com

This review is based on their weekend lunch menu. After a very leisurely hike at Cabrillo National Monument, by leisurely I mean I wore jeans and a button up, we headed over to Island Prime off Harbor Drive.

The first thing we noticed was the view this place had. Once you walk in, over the hostess’ section, you see these huge floor to ceiling windows of the bay. It’s quite the scene. It’s so San Diego.

Luckily they had a table open right next to the window. Outdoor seating is available, but there was a slight breeze and under the shade would have been a bit cold. The first thing I noticed when we sat, aside from the view, was their C Level Lounge happy or “Social” hour menu (pictured above). We’re gonna have to come back for that for sure. The backside of the menu also had some great drink specials.

Wherever we go, I see if they have calamari. I don’t care if we’re at a Thai, Italian, seafood, etc., restaurant. Calamari has a special place in my heart and if a restaurant can get it right, I’m already a happy foodie. So of course, we order that first along with a pomegranate pearl martini (pearl persephone vodka, pomegranate coulis, grapefruit juice, pomegranate molasses swirl) along with a nice refreshing karl strauss amber lager.

The calamari was great. Lightly breaded and fried and came with a really good vietnamese infused dipping sauce. I usually like marinara but this was good as well. Would be nice to get both.

For our entrees we ordered everything crusted ahi tuna with chinese black rice, pineapple salsa, wasabi, soy-ginger reduction and a snake river farms kobe filet burger with garlic aioli, caramelized onions, smoked bacon and cheddar cheese that was split for two people. I love it when restaurants do that for you and loved it when they asked if that’s what we wanted to do. I love variety, so if I can share a meal with someone and get a two for one, I’m all about it. Our burger also came with some delicious herbed parmesan fries.

I highly recommend this place. The only thing we didn’t like was our burger came out well done instead of asked medium well and I probably would have said something, but we were so excited we were half way done with the meal before we even noticed. I guess it couldn’t have been that bad. Plus, the service was most excellent for everything else.

Great place to go and I’m definitely going to ask my boss (hi!) if we could go here for happy hour at our next department outing.

I would set this as a wallpaper for many:

One of the little gems of San Diego, CA.

Have a great weekend!

So far, I’m diggin’ it. Feels real sturdy and it gets the camera to your face like no other. This is how straps should be designed.

I will constantly check to make sure the connector is screwed in tight but I have no problem going a day without checking. Just gotta make habit of checking it before you start shooting cause something might happen during transport.

Download here

With Canon’s latest cameras like the 5dmkII, they have made it possible to micro adjust your specific lens to insure quality photos through the accuracy of its focal point. There have been times in my career where I’ve picked up lenses that I thought were awful.

I focused dead center on something and that focal point came out fuzzy and blurry. What gives? “Must be a bad a copy.”

This has all changed for me and many others out there. I have micro adjusted every lens I own making “bad” lenses now amazingly sharp and accurate and “good” lenses even better. The samples below show two states. The first being the lens straight out of the box, onto the camera, shot in raw and handled in CS4 with minor color and exposure adjustments. The second image is the lens after having been micro adjusted +15 on my 5dmkII.

This was a QUICK test, shot with the camera sitting on a table propped up by a box, iso 100, f/1.4 and on auto WB. The focal point was set to the word iron. I’ll use a tripod in my real test, but I just took two quick snaps just to see. I’m sure the camera shoot a tiny bit lol. Following the images are their respective 100% crops:

No adjustments

Micro adjusted by +15

100% Crops:

I only had time for 2 shots so I’ll have to go back and take a few more. I’m guessing I’ll be in the +13-16 range. But already, with this one adjustment, you can see how much more clear my lens is.

So to all you photographers out there… if your camera has the ability to micro adjust different lenses, you should really take advantage. If not for you, do it for your happy clients.

1. Music Again** – Amazing. Rock. Gay. 80s
2. For Your Entertainment** – Britney meets Sam Sparro
3. Whataya Want From Me** – Britney meets Pink and has a baby with Swithfoot
4. Strut – If Carrie Underwood was high and drunk
5. Soaked – If Cher could really sing
6. Sure Fire Winners** – We Will Rock You for the gays
7. A Loaded Smile – Glambert gets Angelic
8. If I Had You** – OMG. Best. Song. Ever. Hands up & all. Reminds me of a gay Viva La Vida but w/ Adam Levine
9. Pick U Up** – The Gay Idol coronation song, FTW!
10. Fever** – What happens with two amazing artists. GAGALAMBERT. Love the Poker Face sample at the end
11. Sleepwalker – Ryan Tedder all over this track. I don’t mind. Leona meets One Republic
12. Aftermath** – Lifehouse meets Queen
13. Broken Open – A less weird Bjork marries Thom Yorke
14. Time For Miracles [bonus track] – Armageddon, Steven Tyler, Men Crying

** Denotes my favorite tracks

Download here

Just a few random images from the year:

Just another test image. Trying to test how well this Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L will work in my arsenal and I think it’s holding up.

Cute Facts:
She likes to cuddle at night
She tells me by scratching me with my paw
If I ignore her, she scratches harder lol
Sometimes she even sleeps like a human with her head on the pillow
She snores as loud or louder than Mark
She sometimes sounds like a pug when you pet a sweet spot (soft snorts lol)
She’s about 1.5 lbs over weight
We take turns being the pack leader =x
She loves to play tag or hide and seek

View set here

Try not to get too jealous

It’s just for show. The 24-105L is on sale.

They still fit! lol

View from the bar

Category: Mediterranean, Italian
Neighborhood: Banker’s Hill
Rating: 4 out of 5
505 Laurel St
(between Horton Ave & 5th Ave)
San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 239-2222
Price Range: $$

Let’s start with the important stuff. Happy hour. Everyday from 5pm-7pm. It’s too bad it’s only in the bar area but the deals are pretty good. $3 draft beers, $5 well drinks and $5 sangrias. They also have daily specials and we happened to be there on Thursday which is great for flat bread/pizza lovers. It’s all half off.

Peroni - Local and Italian. Very refreshing.

Me and the boss

Here’s the before:

before pic

Hanging

Another view

View DIY post here

Edited some images from a wedding in Lake Arrowhead and thought I’d share a set. The thing with editing images from a series is that when you do a set, you should edit all of them the same way so there’s a coherent vision or theme.

In this case, I went with a golden tone because the weather was just absolutely beautiful and had this golden shimmer that I wanted to exaggerate a bit. You also want to give the client the same set in it’s original color in case they don’t feel the same way as you do about your vision. You might think it’s extra work, but it’s also a win win situation. If they don’t like it, they have a back up of the edit in the original color and you can use your vision for your portfolio… and if they do like it… fantastic!

So Mark and I saw an art piece the other day that we fell in love with it. Because it was so pricey, we decided to replicate it for our kitchen. The price tag was $500 and because we already have paint, two canvases and some art supplies, all we had to pay for were some really cool magazines that we wanted both for inspiration and clippings.

Semi Final Design

When Mark and I set out to design our semi-dream kitchen, we never thought it would end up to be an almost-dream kitchen. I say semi-dream because this home, it’s value and location, isn’t quite worth doing a dream kitchen in, so there was a lot of things to consider.

The biggest consideration was budget. How much do you spend on a kitchen remodel and not over spend so that you don’t put in too much money? It’s a cost vs. value equation. You basically figure out the amount you should spend based on the value of your home.

We also had to consider materials. We didn’t think long and hard, we knew right away Ikea was the way to go for the cabinets. They had the cabinets in stock and a really nice quartz countertop. That was probably the first decision to make. Quartz is actually equivalent to granite so there was no skimping on that but going with Ikea cabinets really saved a lot. The color of the cabinets and countertop really is the basis and structure of the whole kitchen.

So we sat at the ikea kitchen planning station and designed our semi-dream kitchen and with a little photoshop, we added in the floors and backsplash to help us see our vision a little better.

Testing out some lighting for an upcoming shoot. Lending my 5dmkII to my brother so I used my EP1 with 20mm f/1.7. Pretty freakin’ impressed by this little camera.

Ideally I would have liked some fill light but I didn’t have an extra strobe with me. I thought about using my ringflash on camera and the beauty dish above but I don’t have my 5dmkII. Anyway, here’s the result:

Self portrait w/ EP1 and beauty dish

I’m in love with Glee. I think it’s genius that they found a way to incorporate pop culture, high school drama, adult drama and underdogs into a show. It’s like American Idol meets Ugly Betty and had a baby with High School Musical.

It’s so right but so wrong.

Just a random clip using the EP1 video capabilities in low light with the Lumix 20mm f/1.7. I’m starting to like shooting video. I’ve had the 5dmkII for awhile now, but who really wants to shoot video with that thing for “fun”?

Gonna start experimenting. Who knows, maybe a Director of Photography for movies is in my future? How sick would that be… to be honest I’m not even sure what that entails lol

I know right? Full article not included.

Download here. Get it before sendspace deletes the file. RT with that button below to share.

Haven’t had time to go out and shoot but this Lumix 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens is pretty freakin’ awesome on my Olympus EP1:

All at f/1.7. Oh and Bamboo Hut is also good Great sushi in San Diego. Check my Yelp review here.

Olympus EP1 w/ 17mm pancake f/2.8

I’ve decide to do my own, non-scientific, quick review of the Olympus EP1 since most of the reviews online managed to all remain non original by slamming the weak points of the EP1. My review will based on my style of shooting for this camera. Street photography, portraits, urban type images. I don’t plan to use this for any work related material nor is it my main rig.

This review is to simply state that the short comings the reviewers are saying about the EP1 are rubbish. I guess it’s a good thing because when I went to the store, I was expecting some really awful sluggish focusing speeds with a horrible LCD.

To my surprise, none of that was true and I hope this helps people with their online purchase. Especially those that don’t have the benefit of trying it out beforehand.

Read More…

She went from being a bald-crazy-married-to-a-loser-barefoot girl back to a superstar. Bitch!

Download here or here

The day was beautiful as were the couple and company. Just a great day all together.

View the rest here

Enjoy!

Download here

Download here

Mark’s 29th Birthday Party + new kitchen renovations = picture story time:

So there wasn’t a real theme to the party other than the fact that we didn’t want to use plates. So Holly, myself, Mark, Jasmine and Clarione designed a “grab and go, or stay” menu.

Read More…

Minus the really bad CD cover, the album is great to relax and chill to. I’m picturing a cold day, me, a blanket and this cd is the background. If feeling emo with a groove was a genre, this would be it. Oh and add in a cup of coffee and I’m set.

Download here.

She also has a really amazing remake of I Want To Know What Love Is. Just try not to think of Nick Cannon during the song or it totally ruins it.

I love this woman

Lookin' fabulous

I do.

Catherine&Josh

Welcome!
Please wait while we contact the next available agent…
You are now speaking with Ingrid N.!
Ingrid N.: Hi! My name is Ingrid N.. How may I help you?
you : Yes, is there any way to check inventory for a local store?
Ingrid N.: It would be my pleasure to assist you with that.
Ingrid N.: May I ask where you are located and what item you prefer?
you : I’m looking for the new Sporty Bag Beaubourg, product ID: M97036 in San Diego, CA
Ingrid N.: I am happy to check for us.
you : thanks
Ingrid N.: This is a great new bag.
you : Yea it’s perfect and exactly what I’ve been looking for
Ingrid N.: Both our Fashion Valley and Horton Plaza boutiques have this in stock right now.
you : amazing! Thank you so much
Ingrid N.: If you are visiting today or tomorrow we can certainly put one aside for you.
you : I’m definitely going today. Can you put one on hold at the Fashion Valley location?
Ingrid N.: I would be happy to do so. May I have your name and phone number?
you : Michael, xxx-xxx-xxx
Ingrid N.: Thank you, I will place one aside for you.
Ingrid N.: Is there anything else I can assist you with today?
you : Nope, that’s all. Thanks so much. You were very helpful
Ingrid N.: My pleasure. Please have a lovely day.

So far it’s been dusty, very noisy and flat out cluttered. I feel so helpless with this lack of organization through out the house. Other than what’s to be expected, things are going well. Seems a little slow, but I guess I’m stuck with the crap week where everything is being demolished, plumbing and electrical is being added, support beams being put in and nothing really looks good lol.

Mark is taking week 2… the fun week. It’s ok though! I’ve mastered working from home with banging noise all around. It’s called noise cancellation bose headphones

So here’s a pictorial update on what’s going down…

Read More…

I have to say that the quality of this is fantastic. Prior to this, I made a book with iPhoto and this Blurb book is miles better in construction, quality, size, finish, etc.

Their program is simple to use and connects with your flickr directly. Depending on how many photos you have on flickr, you may be leaving your computer on all night to let it access/download all the files. You can also import images from your computer. Keep in mind, doing all this makes a file on your computer. This book ended up being about 1gb.

Turn around time was actually pretty quick considering they have to print and construct the book. I also did ground shipping and all in all, it was just a little over a week. I’m sure choosing a faster shipping guarantees the book to be delivered sooner.

This particular book isn’t for sale since I have a few images here without a model release form and at the end of the book is fun drunken images of my friends. I don’t think this would be an appropriate coffee table book to sell, but I’m definitely going to be making another that will be commercial ready for coffee tables around the world!

Specs: 12″ x 12″ Premium paper, image wrapped, 70 page contemporary photo book.

View more sample pages here

1. On boom through shoot above
2. Camera side left
3. Camera side right

and of course, I want in on the fun…

I haven’t blogged in a real long while so I’m trying to make up for it. Check out some of our most recent engagement photos taken around San Diego on the most gorgeous days ever! Nothing beats San Diego weather. The shots in the collage below are all taken with the amazing 85mm f/1.2L II. I’m really starting to adore the focal length. View them all here.

For all you strobists out there, eat your heart out…

We (5byseven.com) just picked one up and should receive it shortly. After two weekends of lugging around strobist gear, I think it’s time to do so in style. Check back for a review on how cool it is haha!

Photos on exhibit in the main lobby of the Cooper Design Space in downtown LA with tons of other photographers. Thanks to h2 for capturing this, her photos are featured there as well!

Just a few shots I’ve taken with my new lens. This thing is monstrous and I love every bit of it:

So I just picked up a Canon T1i as a backup camera for weddings and events. It’s also going to be used as my sister’s main camera, so only paying half for it to use at jobs is pretty sweet.

After reviews and forum discussions, a lot of people advised me to stick with similar camera interfaces – such as canon XXd’s or an older 5d. For me, the buttons of the T1i were learned in 5 seconds.

As a backup camera, I will be needing to adjust iso, exposure compensation and aperture. Anything beyond that and I’ve probably lost the shot. So the “stick with a similar interface” doesn’t apply to me.

Secondly, the body is small and lightweight. It’s actually a nice change of pace. I would 100% recommend this to any starting photographer or photo/hobby enthusiast.

I would also highly recommend it as a professional back up camera. Performance so far has been stellar in both speed and image quality. To put it simply, using the T1i doesn’t leave me feeling I wish I had my 5dmkII. This is by no means an easy feat so kudos to Canon. Though the 5dmkII is just absolutely brilliant in most aspects, the T1i does hold it’s own.

The screen on the T1i is out of this world, much like the 5dmkII. It’s a great feature to allow you to see if you’ve got a sharp image. HD capture is nice and so is CA (creative auto).

Check out some sample pics shot with a Sigma 24mm F1.8 macro:

Business, casual, walk in the park, summer kinda looks. Hat is from Urban Outfitters. Button up found at a thrift store. Dress shorts are from Heritage and the leather belt is a levis hand-me-down from my oh so cool dad:

Mark is wearing a hat from Target, a floral print button-up from h&m… we love the hint of color. He’s also wearing some jeans that I’ve had for years so the tears are 100% natural. They’re actually American Eagle jeans that I cut because I am no longer a fan of bootcut jeans. I hate that they hide your shoes. A total no for me. But yea, cut a little longer so you can roll them up for an even more custom look.

And then he’s also wearing slippers from Old Navy. Oh and there’s his Louis Vuitton belt, but we’re not counting that for this affordable look

Nothing we’re wearing is over 30 dollars (minus the LV belt). If it weren’t for my hat all items would actually be under 20.

Went hiking yesterday at Black Mountain Open Space Park in 85 degree weather so I didn’t want to lug around my dslr… this is where the DP2 excels. Didn’t feel pulled down by any weight at all. About a 2 hour hike up and down and the DP2 lasted the whole way.

I love the peacefulness that comes with hiking. I’m no expert hiker with hiking shoes and gear, but I do appreciate a nice – somewhat challenging – elevating destination with amazing views.

Sign:

Starting our hike on level ground:

The light was gorgeous, our hike stared around 5:40. Perfect light for me:

The green on this tree was really interesting for me, post process a little much, but that’s my style:

More gorgeous light infusing through nature:

View from atop:

Lastly, the end of the day drawing near:

Great place to go for beginners like myself. It did get kind of scary an hour into the hike because we weren’t sure if we were still on the loop trail. So instead of continuing (the sun was just starting to set and the gates closed soon) we backtracked the way we came. Definitely need some good shoes as the hills get pretty steep, but other than that… a nice walk.

Another good hike around the area is the Rancho Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve which is made up of mostly flat lands to which a 3 mile hike to a waterfall and 3 mile hike back makes for a great workout while enjoying the outdoors.

I 100% firmly believe these results (for me and my liking) would not have been achieved by any of the compact cameras I’ve owned taking in consideration color, dynamic range, low noise, quality of the image and I’ve owned many compacts including the G10 and LX3. Still fascinated with my Sigma DP2!!

Still workin’ on it but lovin’ swimming!! If you have a chance, take a swimming class and learn. It’s a huge learning curve but the pay off in the end is life changing. I promise! I started off here really slow because I took of from the middle of the pool and need to work on my arm movements, but overall, I’m pretty happy! (Exited cause I thought I looked like a hot mess in the water)

For those that don’t know photoshop all that well, here’s a tip for enhancing a photo in 2 steps, 3 when you include opening an image. See the effect below:

Original Image:

Final:

step 1: Open Image
step 2: Press command j (on a mac). This duplicates the layer
step 3: Turn the duplicated layer to “soft light”

From there you can save as, to keep the original file. Or you can simple right click the layer and flatten the image and proceed with a save.

I was once a kid with a red jacket trying to be Michael Jackson. He helped me realize a passion for dance I had burried in my soul. Back then, dance classes weren’t as attainable, affordable, or even as visible as it is today. So in essence, your performances and videos were my training.

The spark transcended through my high school and college years through theater and hip hop and those were indeed, some of the highlights of my past. I can’t imagine not expressing my emotions through dance when times were tough. It was an outlet that kept a lot of my friends away from who knows what. Dance was, and sometimes still is, who I was and am. I honestly don’t go a day without dancing. It happens in the morning when I brush my teeth. It happens in my chair when I hear a beat. It happens in my car when I’m driving and blasting that favorite jam of the moment.

So MJ, thank you for your brilliance as an entertainer and thank you for the inspiration for something I may never have known about if it wasn’t for you.

Videos in this .zip file include:

Beat it
Billie Jean
Bad
Smooth Criminal
Thriller

Again, this is optimized for iPhone playback. download here

A lot of times we see doubt as something negative. Doubting oneself is perceived as being not confident or with the inability to succeed because of a struggle with certainty.

I like to think of doubt as questioning. Without questioning life, uncertainty, therefor can’t exist. When in doubt, find the answer.

Doubt within relationships have had it’s own stigma between my circle of friends. The minute your hear your friend doubt a relationship, it’s so easy for us to say, “Oh well, then he/she isn’t the one.” We automatically think that if there’s any bit of uncertainty, it’s not the right choice.

I say, how do you know he is the one without doubt? Truly, no one is perfect so in essence, doubt should exist right? After all, when we do meet someone we deem perfect, we wonder it perfect even exists, or even if we deserve perfectness. Is this not doubt?

But then we can argue that without a doubt, Obama was the better choice over McCain so where does doubt play into that circumstance? But before doubt could even could exist in that scenario, perhaps the best of us looked at the two candidates and did our research. In this case, doubt would not play a role.

Ok, so I’m completely confusing myself lol. Maybe I should have just stuck to talking about doubt within personal relationships.

My point though is that doubt, at many times, is perceived as something negative. For awhile, I believed that to be true. But had I never doubted my relationships or questioned friendships, I would not have who I have today. Doubt provides second chances and I’m a firm believer in just that. A chance to be better.

A chance to be doubted, only to prove otherwise, to confirm the reality of the situation. Instead of Just Do It, Just Doubt It. lol

Wow, this was a complete, write what I’m feeling, kinda moment. Apologies left and right.

Pay no attention to April’s shoes, or lack there of lol. Fixing that in the final version!

view larger version

For their artistic sets, see here and here.

Some cool stuff. Peep it here.

On a cloudy day. WOW.

The perks of working in fashion commerce is getting to see things before they go on sale on our site. Like this amazingly huge Adidas brown leather bag. I swear I could fit my house in here. It’s totally cute, but also has that metro vibe so it’s not so gay for a guy. Most importantly it’s something I’d love to use when I don’t want to carry around my LV bags.

It kind of reminds me of Mary Cherry from Popular. She use to pull the most random shit out of her bag, like hot sauce lol. I wouldn’t put a bottle of hot sauce in my icare, but this bag. Oh yes.

No need to review. It’s awesome. Get it now if you are an iPhone user and photographer. No brainer and you can get it for $27.99 shipped from Griffin’s website. The end.’

More from PGN Dance Co.

View the rest here

I traded in my Panasonic TZ5 for the TS1. Originally I bought the TZ5 as my “party cam” to go along with my Sigma DP2 (compact travel cam) and Canon 5dmkII (money maker cam). Though the TZ5 is a gem of a camera, I felt like I needed something a little more chic and pocketable. This is where the TS1 comes in.

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These speakers are pretty bad ass. The sound quality is really really great. Almost comparable to that of my mom’s bose dock. What really interested me in purchasing these speakers was the form, color and look. It goes really well with my contemporary/moderns interior aesthetics so it’s definitely a keeper.

In some reviews, the cons listed was that this isn’t portable. For one, I don’t see how that could be a con as it’s not marketed as a portable speaker set, hence the chargeable battery that doesn’t exist. Duh right? Instead they should have listed it’s portability as a pro because I really do feel it’s portable. It’s lightweight and the form factor lends itself to fitting in a carry on. I could totally see myself taking this on a trip to some place like Vegas where we’d need some jams for pre-party festivities. I mean, who doesn’t get ready in Vegas by blasting music, taking a few shots and dancing with friends in the hotel room? Read More…

Did a combo with the metallic gold and added the gun metal color for the bottom piece… and vice versa. I’m using the majority metallic gold piece and given the other combo to the hubby. I think he’ll be stoked. I sure am!

Quick links: Part I | Low light performance

I wanted to do a second review of the Sigma DP2, post field work, and since today was so gorgeous, I decided to take a ride on my bike around Lake Miramar for lunch and snap away. All images are clickable to 100% original files (the quality is out of this world). The only photoshop work done to these images are for resizing blog purposes and a bit of sharpening after the resize. The originals have absolutely no photoshop applied. All images were shot in raw, aperture priority mode and developed in Sigma DPP.

Also note that these images are after the latest firmware update and I can honestly say, autofocus really has improved.

So because I didn’t have a model with me, my bike became my muse. I’m sure I looked a little crazy in my normal clothes, in the middle of a reservation, taking pictures of a bike lol… but whatever. That kinda stuff doesn’t bother me all that much anymore.

So here’s my bike. At 100%, you can really see the amazing depth this camera captures:
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I like Safari. I like that it’s fast with little bullshit. One thing I miss when using Safari is all my cool little add ons for firefox. Like Firebug! The best add on for any web designer or curious blogger. I also missed being able to stumble. StumbleUpon for me at work, is like the ultimate creative block antidote. Not only does it take my mind of the road block, but there’s also the possibility of being inspired through some amazing designs, photographs and sites I may happen to stumble upon.

So with a little digging, I found a java script code that acts as a bookmark so that when you click on it, it gives you a Stumble Upon toolbar. It’s not hideous either. It’s pretty stealth and mac-like and I’m all about the mac-like of anything. Call me a fan boy, but they sure know their minimalism.

So anyway, make a new bookmark in Safari (I happen to set mine in the bookmarks bar so it’s easily accessible). Name the bookmark “StumbleUpon” or whatever you like and link it to:

javascript:(function(){location.href=’http://www.stumbleupon.com/toolbar/#url=’ + encodeURIComponent(window.location.href);})()

Open a new tab, click that link and you’ll see a toolbar on top where you can log in. Pretty awesome stuff. And to make things easier for you, go ahead and click and drag on the link below and put it in your bookmarks bar. Enjoy!:

StumbleUpon

Here’s how it looks:

Lovin’ the new iPhone 3G S. So much that I can’t put this piece of shit down. It’s so damn fast. I feel so disconnected with the world because in the last few days I’ve been glued to it’s screen. Ahhhh! And I’m lovin’ BeeJiveIM with push. Freakin’ fantastic.

I also bought the incase slider, both Gunmetal and Metallic Gold. Waiting for the gold to come so I can do some switcharoos. And I found a sweet car charger by Griffin (Power Jolt Reserve) that doubles as both a car charger and battery on the go:

Gonna recommend this app for all you type heads and designers: TypeDrawing

click here for larger version

with 5byseven. Channeling some Terry Richardson + lomo in these edits. Nice job group 1. Look forward to shooting group 2.

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I find it to be stylish, old school and cool.

I’ve seen these all over flickr and also on a few blogs and never got around to doing it… until today. I didn’t realize how awful I laid my stuff out until I downloaded the images onto my mac, but shit… I ain’t laying that shit out again and retaking the image. Plus, the contractors doing our master bath will wonder WTF I’m doing lol!!

Somewhat from left to right:

Louis Vuitton Beaubourg bag
13″ Macbook Pro (4gb ram)
Cheap sun glasses
Panasonic TZ5 (party camera, on sale at Frys for $200!)
Louis Vuitton Brazza wallet
Louis Vuitton coin purse (hangs inside the Beaubourg)
Calumet CF card reader
WD 250gb portable hard drive
Sigma DP2
iPhone 3G
Bose noise canceling headphones (sometimes essential in the office)
Purell hand sanitizer
Keys and LA fitness pass
Portable Energizer iPhone/iPod charger (takes AA batteries)
Matches from Butter restaurant
Black book for quick notes, ideas, grocery lists, etc.
Altoids
Small screw driver set
Dinky little tripod

and yes, it totally all fits!

I can’t imagine how it would feel to win it from your team. This is straight up guts.

Louis Vuitton Damier Canvas 13 inch laptop case. And my heart melts…

Mark and I are looking for roommates and we thought we’d ask around the network of friends before we post something on Craigslist. Most of you know the area we live in, but email me if you don’t know. Here’s a quick break down of the home:

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So I just installed 3.0 on the iPhone 3g (google for the BitTorrent) and the iPhone is definitely much snappier. Getting into mail has zero lag. Typing is also speedy, so fast that I actually have to type slower than usual. And did the camera really get better or am I trippin?! Check out a sample here.

Crazy. Another cool ass feature that would have helped me a year ago when I lost my iPhone is the Find my iPhone feature available to mobile me customers. I was contemplating whether or not to stick with my me account since it’s 100 bucks a year, but with this feature, I’m definitely renewing. See the magic for yourself here:

No effen’ way!

I can’t sleep because I’m waiting on a load of laundry to finish and this paper cut on my thumb still hurts. I totally couldn’t peel shrimp (scrimps) today because of this damn cut. Why do they hurt so dang much?!

If you a winka not a talka
(G’s up, G’s up)
If you a winka not a talka
(Throw it up, throw it up)

When you see me winkin’ at the camera (well… more like a half blink cause I’m faded), I’m havin’ a good time. Beware of the crazy on the left. She’s armed, dangerous and carries around a book and torch.

Someone by me a 13 inch macbook pro. This thing is sweet and straight up eats my hp mini netbook.

Sorry to have wasted your time on this completely useless post, but at least I think the dryer buzzed. Gonna ring Dorota and have her fold it.

41 years and strong. My idols. My inspiration. My all.

Thanks to Ziggy for emailing me this! Check out this hunk. Filipino-Italian actor, model, racer, student of musical theater and Zac Efron lookalike. Also a lover of Louis Vuitton. Wow. Hope he makes it in this industry to represent us Pinoys.

Love the whole musical thing! OMG. This is totally my teeny bopper moment.

And he totally makes the Filipino accent sound adorable. Not an east feat by any means!

I find this totally usable. I actually don’t even mind this kind of noise. It has that film grain quality to it and actually looks quite good when converted to black and white. I never went above iso 400 on my G10 or LX3.

full size sample

Yall must be likin’ that Sigma DP2 as much as me!

Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: Hillcrest (gayville)
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
3739 6th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103
(619) 692-4189
Mon-Sun. 6:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m.

So Mark, Holly and myself went to check out happy hour here yesterday from 6pm-7pm and was not disappointed. Because it was happy hour, we (they) ordered some really crazy shit. The theme of this place is kinda like small À la carte type appetizers on barbecue sticks. Some things you order to share and for your favorites, you make sure to order one for yourself Price ranges from 2-7 dollars per dish with about each dish serving a tasting to 4 people.

First up was chicken skin. Haha, yea… Read More…

Quick links: Part II | Low light performance

If you aren’t a camera geek, I suggest you just look at the pictures and skip all the text. It will be a boring ass read for you.

This thing is BAD ASS but give it to someone who doesn’t know the quality it produces and first thought is, “This is wack.” On the contrary, give it to someone who has seen sample images and their thought is, “GIMMEE!!!!”

With all that’s said and done, there is one thing certain about this camera. The images it can produce in the right hands, rivals those of entry level DSLRs with good glass.

Before reading this, I suggest you use google for those reviews that tell you this camera is slow in functioning, has an awful LCD screen, etc., etc., because I won’t get into that jibberish. This isn’t really a review as I’m sure I’ll jump all over the place.

Quite frankly, those reviews are CRAP anyway and only made me wait longer till I actually jumped the gun with this. I only wish I had it last week for my trip to NYC.

The only disclaimer about this camera that I will point out is that, this isn’t the point and shoot turned dslr for the average consumer. Not by any means and I don’t think it was intended that way. This is strictly for that photographer/enthusiast that values quality over quantity and ease. Cause I’ll tell you now… Pimpin’ ain’t easy.

UPDATE: This also isn’t the kind of camera you can take to the clubs and use the flash. There is no AF assist light to help you focus so you’d probably end up with all blurry images. Looks like I’ll have to invest in a club camera… I’m thinking the Panasonic ZS3

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Saw this amazing photo blog template and I just had to use it. For a selection of work, please check out Picture This.

Here’s a quick peek at our newly installed hardwood floors. The whole top floor was done and looks quite amazing. No more awful, heat absorbing, carpet!

I am so excited to test this thing out. Was browsing around flickr and the results of some of the images this beast puts out are kind of amazing. This is crazy good. The depth, color and character this thing produces is just mighty. So damn amazing from a compact digital camera.

Because damn… I know he’s young and all, but he went from lookin’ like a fucked up, faced punched in doll… to a lil’ hottie

1. “Admit It” (Esmee Denters, Toby Gad)— 3:41
2. “Victim” (Esmee Denters, Ryan Tedder) — 3:36
3. “Outta Here” (Jason Perry, Esther Dean, J. Timberlake, Polow da Don) — 3:21
4. “Love Dealer” (Esmee Denters, Justin Timberlake, Tor Erik Hermansen, Mikkel S. Eriksen)— 3:45
5. “Gravity” (E. Denters, J. Timberlake, Hannon Lane) — 5:48
6. “What If” (Esmee Denters, Robin Lynch, Niklas Olovson)— 3:41
7. “Memories Turn To Dust” (Esmee Denters, Mike Elizondo, C. Kreviazuk)— 3:57
8. “Getting Over You” (Esmee Denters, Robbie Nevil) — 3:21
9. “Just Can’t Have It” (J. Austin, Tor Erik Hermansen, Mikkel S. Eriksen, Espen Lind & A. Bjorklund)— 3:59
10. “The First Thing” (Esmee Denters, Mark Taylor, Paul Barry & N. Scarlett) — 3:12
11. “Casanova” (featuring Justin Timberlake) (E Denters, Justin Timberlake, N. Hills, Marcella Aracia) — 4:28
12. “Bigger Than The World” (Timberlake, Rob Knox, Robin Tadross, Mike Elizondo, J. Fauntleroy) — 4:53

Bonus tracks

13. “Sad Symphony” [Dutch bonus track] (Esmee Denters, Justin Timberlake, C. Nelson) — 4:39

Download here. Enjoy!

Download here. Enjoy! I love this show!!

Yea right… you bible thumpers wish. But I am for some reason head over heels for Blake Lively, aka Serena Vanderwoodsen. I don’t know what it is but if I was into chics… she’d be my number 1 at the moment. Dorota is pretty hot too! jk. Eww, what am I saying? It’s all about Nate Archibald♥ Dan Humphry♥♥ and Chuck Bass♥♥♥

Got around to installing Ubuntu Netbook Remix (UNR, a Linux-based OS for netbooks) for my HP Mini 1030nr. It’s so fantastic. It’s fast, no bullshit, not loaded with crap applications and takes up little space.

Did I mention that installing it was simple? Totally simple. The hardest part was getting the .img file onto a USB stick to be able to boot up on the mini. It’s not just dropping the file onto the USB stick. There are several ways to do it and google can help with that. Since I’m on a mac, I used terminal to mount the file onto a 1GB usb stick (took about 10 minutes, simple steps but you have to wait for it to get done). I then popped that bad boy onto the mini and booted up. From there, the process took about 15 or so minutes. So fast!

I’ve had the HP mini with Ubuntu Netbook Remix installed for a few days and I’m still all about it haha. At first, I was thrilled with the snappy performance that I didn’t mind the so-so graphics and interface… it was kinda web 2.0 but not the good kind.

I realized though that you can switch the ugly UI to a desktop version and up the graphics performance to have the UI look and feel more mac-like by single clicks in the appearance section. It’s lovely and totally smooth. Performance slows down a TINY bit, but not really noticeable.

There’s also stuff you can do to have it look almost identical to mac os x but I think I’m cool with how it is now. I don’t know much about Linux and don’t want to break anything.

I will say though, that this OS is so much like mac in the sense that I don’t really realize I’m on a different OS… where as when I was on Windows XP, I wanted to throw the piece of shit out the window after 5 minutes. It was awful, ugly and sluggish compared to how it runs now.

Anyway, check out a video of UNR on the HP mini 1030nr. I highly, highly recommend installing this in your netbook, assuming it’s compatible:

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Designers and lovers:

WTF right? Ok here’s the thing. I love it when friends talk about cool new gadgets and toys… but I also hate it because that thing inside me says, “OMG I need one.”

Thanks to shant, I coerced my better half (and I really do mean better) to buying me the HP mini 1030nr netbook instead of the Sigma DP2 for my birthday. Better for him since it was half the price and I got a $50 gift card from my awesome co-workers which was just icing on the gadget goodness. So in the end, there wasn’t much coercion to be done.

Anyway, I love it. It’s great to keep in my LV tote at all times. The biggest thing that sucks is that it runs on the piece of shit OS, Windows XP. Ugh, my fingers are mad even typing windows. It brings me back to those days when I was 15 and spent half my day trouble shooting, taking off viruses and trying to make shit run more smoothly. Not cute.

Besides that, it’s great lol. I’m upgrading it to 2GBs of ram for only 25 bucks from Frys. I’m also looking into actually hackintoshing it and putting in mac OS X. The process doesn’t look as easy as other netbooks so I’m still debating. I also have a local computer guy who might be willing to do it so we’ll see. I’m waiting on an estimate to see if it’s worth it.

Keep reading for a short list of pros and cons and more images: Read More…

JP Mallo
hi bed or low bed?
Migs Vuitton
low to the ground?
JP Mallo
yea
Migs Vuitton
totally low
JP Mallo
im thinking of getting a new bed
Migs Vuitton
low is the new high
JP Mallo
low huh
yea
i figured i want something the dogs can jump on
Migs Vuitton
low beds are so super chic and adult
Migs Vuitton
high beds were cool when we were 6
JP Mallo
they WERE!!!
Migs Vuitton
like amazingly cool lol
JP Mallo
ok. SOLD

High beds were totally awesome back then. They were fun to climb up onto and a good way to hide all your shit from your parents! But as an adult… I’m thinking lower the better. When you’re drunk and sleeping, you don’t have to worry about falling off your bed. Just slide on down.

This weekend was devoted to renovations, patience and growing up. Probably the three things I need to work on most lol. Renovations take patience… which I don’t have when it comes to things like this… And growing up, because it’s hard.

As always, gotta have my starbucks. Nothing like an ice cold cup of coffee to start the weekend.

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Great post by Perez:

“Nicole Lamarche, Miss California 2003 and now an ordained minister at Cotuit Federated Church in Cotuit, Mass, is speaking out.

She says:

“As a pastor and a former Miss California, I am often asked to interpret what the Word of God has to say on a particular subject. I am quite confident that God prefers that we human beings stick to speaking for ourselves. And yet there are occasions when God’s Word is used as a weapon, and I feel compelled to speak.

In the past few days, much has been made of the words of Miss California USA, Carrie Prejean. She stated that marriage is between a man and a woman. I write not in response to her opinion, but rather about her comments that followed: that the Bible condones her words. She said, ‘It’s not about being politically correct, it’s about being biblically correct.’ While this sentiment is shared by many who seek to condemn gay people and gay marriage, citing pieces of the Bible to further one’s own prejudice fails to meet the Bible on its own terms.

Most people seeking to condemn gay people point to the Book of Leviticus, where we read that men lying with men is an abomination. However, we rarely hear of other verses found in the book of Leviticus that are equally challenging. For example, Leviticus also tells us that eating shrimp and lobster is an abomination. And that a person should not wear material woven of two kinds of material—an impossible mandate for a pageant contestant!

In Paul’s letter to the community in Corinth we read, ‘For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church….’ And yet these words have not prevented Christian denominations from ordaining women, such as myself. Sadly, the Bible has been used to further prejudice throughout history. We have used it to permit ourselves to enslave people; to conquer and kill; and to denigrate the earth.

The truth is that it is difficult to know for sure the intentions of the biblical authors, but we do know something about God. Those of us who know God through Jesus of Nazareth know that he went to great lengths to express God’s love to people who were labeled as outcasts. He spent time with children, prostitutes, and lepers, all of whom were labeled as outside of the grasp of the Holy. As we continue to seek God’s vision for us as a nation grounded in a love for justice, I pray that we might move closer to the cause of grace.”

Via Perez

She use to be so pretty and now she looks like a washed out porn star. Could be bad images but fuck… Let’s see how she looks tonight on the Making the Band finale! Holla!

via lookbook.nu

Premise… talking about kids names and what would be cool:

Migs Vuitton
Silver
Holly
I like Grey as a name, that would be fresh
Migs Vuitton
ooooh i love Von or Vaughn. I’m calling my kid Patron Silver
Holly
Have twins – Patron Silver and Jack Andcoke
Migs Vuitton
AndCoke OMGLOLOL
Holly
lol that looks like a cool name as oneword… Andcoke
Migs Vuitton
and if they’re retarded, it’s Popov and Whiskey

Better in HD, 1000 frames a second:

I-Movix SprintCam v3 NAB 2009 showreel from David Coiffier on Vimeo.

Socoa Damier Sunglasses:

Going to start recapping every weekend of mine just for remembrance purposes…

First… Cargo’s day at the beach. La Jolla Shores San Diego:

Tried to make her pose on the ledge… the wind took her ear lol:

Sun bathing on the grass before heading home:

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TGIF!!!

Cavit? Ghetto bird for “Can I have it?”

Offering all of the features that Panasonic’s multiple award winning TZ range of cameras is renowned for – including a remarkable 12x optical zoom in a compact, stylish body and 25mm ultra wide angle lens – the TZ7 goes one step further to offer AVCHD Lite*1 motion picture recording, making the TZ7 a truly versatile proposition.

via dpreview

Basically, a compact camera with a 25mm-300mm range (crazy!) and records AVCHD video, which is basically HD video at half the size. AVCHD is what HD camcorders use and allows for HD footage to be captured in less space. Downside is, it’s harder to edit the video clips, but eh… I’m not much of an editor. You can however, continue to shoot in motion image HD (which most do now) but it will of course be a larger file size.

I also want the new Sigma DP2 (even more):

This is, in a nutshell, a compact digital camera with a fixed focal length with the same sized sensor as a dslr. What does that mean? Basically, the quality of your photos will be dslr-like in a little tiny ass body. The fixed focal length of the DP2 is close to 40mm, perfect for portraits and street photography on the go. This is gonna be a gem!! I’d totally sell my G10 for this thing.

You can see the craziness in quality from their sample gallery here.

The ZS3 is available now overseas (as the TZ7) and is expected in us stores sometime in April, which leaves a couple weeks. Sigma has not yet announced when it’s DP2 will be out.

The right side of this backyard shed was a patio/storage room… that is before we got all Hulk on it with sledge hammers. We almost went all the way with the demo, except there was just so much to throw away and tile to break down that we had some professionals come in with their dump trucks to finish the job.

At first they quoted us $2,500 to demolish the room. We go to working and from where we left off, it was only an $829 dollar job. Not bad for a couple gay guys! LOL.

Ok enough of the boring stuff. Now comes the really fun, gay, non-sledge hammering stuff. What are we gonna do with that space? First thing that pops in my mind for that section is a Cabana, the kind like at The Wynn, lol.

For real though, how hot would it be to have a Cabana area in your backyard? I’m thinking these wood panel floor tile we found for the ground, some chase lounges with matching chairs… the modern wicker look. Throw in a hookah and some table areas for food and drink. Finally add in some nice drapes to give it that flow and resort feel. Of course we gotta have the firepit close by.

A Cabana would be sic right? Well, that’s if there’s a pool to go with it! Heck yes I said pool. Holla!! Summer parties 2010 is where it’s at. Get ready… Haha. In all realness, this is the ultimate goal. A nice backyard area (cabana style), a simple pool for laps and leisure, and a small getaway right at the tip of our home. The fabulous-ness comes with the company.

Where you at HGTV?!

Calorie count is the key to success.

With the summer coming along, I’m starting up my eat-right-diet again, hoping to sustain it through the year. A couple of years ago, I was at my biggest. A whopping 160 pounds for my small ass frame.

160?!? That’s overweight? No. But I wasn’t feeling good either physically or mentally. I hated getting up in the morning, I didn’t have any energy nor the motivation for life. I was a walking FML ball.

I’m not gonna lie, it was hard starting the whole calorie counting system + exercise and activity. But that’s the hardest part of it. I swear. Luckily, I had planned a Hawaii trip and had 2.5 months to shape up. I wasn’t look to be buff, or even cut… I was just looking to feel good and fit. After all, I didn’t want to mope around the beautiful island feeling sorry for myself.

Scientifically speaking, a person has to burn 3,500 calories to lose ONE pound. Of course it varies depending on metabolism and the way your body is built… but that’s what it is in theory.

You might be thinking, DAMN… how can I burn that many calories working out? First of all, you don’t burn ALL of those calories by working out… you also have to change the way you live… and by live, I mean eat. It’s a simple equation.

Our body alone, to survive, burns about 2,000 – 2,500 calories per day. So let’s say you calorie count your meals and you have a daily calorie consumption of 2,000. Hey, you’re breaking even. You aren’t gaining nor losing any weight. Now add an activity in there and say you burn 500 calories. You keep this up for a week and that’s you’re pound right there.

A pound a week might not sound like much, but it’s a very healthy way to lose weight. And how does 52 pounds in a year sound? Or even just 20-30 pounds in 6 months? Sounds fucking awesome to me.

I lost about 2 pounds a week calorie counting and doing something active everyday. I ate roughly 1,500 – 2,000 calories a day and burned about 500 of that through exercise and activity. Find something fun to do that burns calories like tennis, biking, walk around town, swimming, etc. Don’t burn yourself out physically and mentally by dragging yourself to the gym everyday. Clean the house, your car, do something productive that also burns calories.

I’m tellin you, this helped me a lot. I hated my life… moreso than I do now lol, but losing that weight gave me a liberating feeling. It’s always good to accomplish something you didn’t think you could. I KNOW YOU CAN. Positive vibes your way. Let’s do this! or as Diddy would say, LOCK IN!!

Anyway, here is a pic of me at 160 pounds vs. 140 pounds.

Summer is almost here, so put down that bag of cheetos, get off your couch and do something!!

Can we say ANTM?

Also awarded an Emmy for this performance! Miss Janet is also in this video, but I can’t compare her to anyone. She’s in a league of her own. Not particularly with this performance, I think Paula beat her on this one. But in general, there is only one Miss Nasty.

It’s like Christmas:

Edit, Wallpaper time (click for 1920×1200):

I love Chris Pine and am so excited to see him in Star Trek:

And for giggles:

1. Just Getting Started
2. Imma Put It On Her (Feat. Yung Joc & P. Diddy)
3. Shawty Wats Up (Feat. T-Pain)
4. Think Of Me
5. Stadium Music
6. Bipolar
7. Perfectly Blind
8. So Good
9. Girlfriend
10. Baby Maker
11. Then There’s You
12. Need That (Feat. Jermaine Dupri)
13. Reminds Me Of You
14. Your Heels
15. Truth Is A Lie

Download link 1 | link 2

We made Pad Thai Saturday night. It came out 90% right. Not bad for our first time. Spicy 7:

Accompanied by Shrimp Tom Kah. So delicious:

Started some origami for our tree:

Not quite done, but coming out well. Need some cherry blossoms for the tree branches:

Resurrected my Giant Halfway bike. Will be taking this bad boy out more often:

Went for a late afternoon bike ride in Little Italy/Downtown. Needed some me time:

Good weekend – minus work and bitch fits. But I’m focusing on the good. So there is the good.

Cavit?

Over the weekend, I saw that bitch on Barefoot Contessa make a deliciously simple lookin’ chicken salad sandwich. Seriously, she made it look scrumptious. So tonight, I wanted to do a chicken salad sandwich because it looked that good.

Mark suggested doing a twist to it. “What if we add curry?”

First thought was, “NO! Barefoot didn’t do it with curry so I don’t want to!”

A few seconds after my mini bitch fit, I thought “damn… that’s a delicious ass idea.” I know right? It was so easy. The longest part to this recipe is boiling the chicken in seasoned water. You know, salt, pepper, oregano, some basil and a couple chicken bouillon cubes. That Barefoot Contessa lady baked her chicken, but since we’re doing a curry twist, we might as well do it our own way now! There’s no turnin’ back.

So after that’s done, you chop up the chicken in bite sized pieced and add in some low fat mayo, chopped celery, onions, raisins and bell peppers (yes, bell peppers is key H2… sorry) and vwala. Pop it in the fridge for about 30 minutes and you’ll have such a refreshing and delicious sandwich. Oh and we also used really good toasted garlic bread and had a pickle on stand by.

This shit was fucking good!!!

see on flickr

Everyone has a finger
But they can’t point me to the light
It can’t be that hard to find
After all we’re so bright

I don’t know if tomorrow has a day
I don’t know if the rays will shine my way again
All I know is that I’m standing in a place where
My future is like the skies of L.A.
Skies of L.A.

- Celine Dion – Skies of L.A.

So hot for this not so hot Monday. Sad Face.

Wow. I just watched The Painted Veil. Talk about amazing movies you didn’t know were amazing. Edward Norton and Naomi Watts are absolutely breathtaking in this film. I saw this on HBO on Demand and decided to check it out because of Edward. So glad that I did.

These characters manage to make you despise them at moments but ultimately, by the end, you really feel for them. I can’t recommend it enough. If you get a chance, check it out. The scenery is, because it takes place in China, absolutely perfect for cinematography.

If you watch it, let me know what you think!

Ok, so I said it cost about 37 bucks for all these ingredients, but that’s also because I bought excess of a lot of the ingredients to use with other recipes… at any rate, I loved every single bite lol.

Ingredients include:

- Chips
- Lean Ground Sirloin
- Onions
- Jalepenos
- Tomatoes
- Light Sour Cream
- Guacamole
- Cheese Dip
- Melted cheddar cheese
- Cumin, salt, fresh ground pepper, creole and spice
- Chipotle cube

Enjoy!

If you want delicious food in a delicious neighborhood, go to Parkhouse Eatery in Hillcrest. It’s so good and their mimosas are perfect. I had the eggs benedict a few weeks ago and that shit melted in my mouth.

Mark and I went and we had a table in less than a minute. Others with parties of 4 or more had an unfortunate wait time of about 45 minutes. So if you are totally hungry and need to eat right away, this isn’t the spot. But if you go early enough, as in before your stomach starts to growl… then I highly recommend this place.

There is also some boobage action going on with the female model. Get it boy. Get it. Back to work.

Oh hell yes I did. I ended up selling my beloved Macbook Pro. Good thing is, Mark needed a laptop for work, thus he became the happy buyer, along with a dashing 23in Cinema Display. So you know what this means right? That shit is still within my reach! LOL. But for real, that machine was and is still a work horse. The only thing is, it started to lag big time with my Canon 5dmkII files and I hate lag. That rainbow ball of death is one thing that I will never have patience for.

Anyway, this 3.06 GHz 24in iMac is a beast. I loaded CS4 and Lightroom 2 and WOW. No lag. None. I can work at peace again. It’s even faster than the fucking MacPro I have at work. Crazy right?! I don’t know why, but that thing can be a piece of shit sometimes lol. I think it’s because it’s pissed off that there is only 4GB of ram and it’s like, “Bitch please.”

Apple has the option of putting in 8GB of ram into their new iMacs, but they stupid with tryin’ to charge an extra G for that. I’m gonna just have to wait till cheaper 3rd party ram comes out. This thing is gonna FLY with 8GB of ram. And damn, moving computer files over is like moving for real. Throwin’ out shit you’ve been holding on to but is really just unnecessary (porn) or reminiscing about old photos and thinking, “Damn I look tore up,” or even stressing out hoping you get everything important. I’m even drinking wine while packing! It’s so the same lol. This new home should last me a few years.

So the other day I went to a Jesse McCartney concert with Noogs and Mark… yea bitch, I said JMac, and this chic Anjulie Boom opened up for him (see myspace.com/anjulie).

She was dope! She reminded me of a non cracked out version of Amy Winehouse and she sang really well live. She looks like she has some 80’s whateva vibe about her too which I love. You should check her out. We got her contact info for possibly working with her in the future… but it was more drunk talk than anything. I mean, we’d love to work with her, but I think we were spilling out marketing mumbo jumbo. But hey, if you’re reading this because I tagged your name… holla atcha boy. I’d love to shoot you.

Went out to Mission Trails in San Diego to test out a new lens. We’re doing a Spring Fashion Shoot here for work (djpremium.com) and it was beautiful out. This 12mm is really fantastic for landscapes. Here are some test shots:

Have some big shoots coming up!

Updated our growing gear and added a Sigma 24mm f1.8 Macro EX DG. This lens is amazing. Though the AF is a bit slow and noisy, the lens itself is sharp. So sharp it’s almost comparable to the Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro. Here are some sample images! Oh, also just ordered a Boda Dry Lens Bag for shooting on the go. Check it out here and a video here.

Here are the samples for the new Sigma 24mm f1.8 Macro!

Yes, it’s growing and it’s totally and absolutely out of control. Someone stop me.

Canon 5dmkII w/ BG-E6 – but only one battery, doh’!
Canon 24-105mm f4L
Canon 16-35mm f2.8L (sold to matt!)
Canon 85mm f1.8 (selling this one)
Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro (sharpest lens ever)
Sigma 50mm f1.4
Sigma 12-24mm f4.5
Sigma 24mm f1.8 Macro
580EX Speedlight
Rayflash Ringlight
Set of three 750 strobes with backdrops and stands

I want a Lumiquest Softbox III and a Boda Dry Lens Bag. Ahhhhhh.

March 2009: Pretec creator of the highest capacity CompactFlash card in the world (100GB) and the fastest CF card in the world (433X), continues today its record breaking history in the field of speed and capacity by unveiling the extraordinary 666X CF card, the world’s fastest CF card.

Four times faster than a typical CF card, Pretec 666X CF’s dazzling 100MB/s speed is the largest speed boost in CF history. 666X CF card is the newest member of Pretec’s family of innovative flash memory cards, consistently first to market in high speed and capacity products; 233X and 333X CF cards were introduced by Pretec at Taipei in 2007, 64GB CF card started shipping in Sept. 2008, and 433X CF card were launched at Birmingham UK in Feb. 2009. -dpreview

Ok, who really needs a 64GB CF card? Who would rely on a 64GB CF card to put all their images in from a shoot or vacation? For real? 64GB of images?! That’s kinda ridiculous and it’s even more ridiculous that I want one (lol!) sans the 666x write speed. That fucking number keeps following me. Argh.

Like for real. Rob Lowe, 100%, should have been Zac Efron’s counterpart in the upcoming movie 17 Again. They have the same lips, nose and eyes. WTF?! I hate pretty people. Matthew Perry looks like a dead beat now that I don’t even want to post an image because he’ll make my blog ugly.

FAIL!

Love Sex Magic. Download the promo cd here

Some quotes I’d like to share:

1. I love you not because I need you, I need you because I love you. - anonymous
2. An archeologist is the best husband any woman can have; the older she gets, the more interested he is in her. - Agatha Christie
3. You’re sexy. Wanna hump? - anonymous
4.But most of all, if Harvey had not been taken from us 30 years ago, I think he’d want me to say to all of the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight who have been told that they are less than by their churches, by the government or by their families, that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights federally, across this great nation of ours. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you, God, for giving us Harvey Milk.
- Dustin Lance Black
5. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. - Albert Einstein
6. So you’re not my type. I think I like that idea. Because my type usually breaks my heart.
- The Hopeless Romantic
7. Now, like, I’m President. It would be pretty hard for some drug guy to come into the White House and start offering it up, you know? … I bet if they did, I hope I would say, ‘Hey, get lost. We don’t want any of that.
- George Bush, talking about drug abuse to a group of students
8. Every artist was first an amateur. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
9. I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because some people out there in our nation don’t have maps and I believe that our education like such as in South Africa and the Iraq and everywhere like such as and I believe that they should our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S. or should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries so we will be able to build up our future for us.
- Miss Teen USA 2007 South Carolina answers a question
10. Only a fool tests the depth of the water with both feet. - African proverb
11. Silence is one of the hardest arguments to refute. - Josh Billings
12. Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. - Plato
13. Ahhh… I see the fuck-up fairy has visited us again… - Personal work experience
14. Welcome to Nobody Cares, population 6.5 Billion - anonymous
15. I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ. - Mohandas Gandhi

So I know that I said that Beaubourg tote would be my last Louis piece for awhile… but… I totally lied (thank you tax return!). I had to get this wallet since it’s been sold out for the longest time everywhere! It just so happens that the Louis Vuitton store in Fashion Valley had one in stock so it was a must get, otherwise I’d be waiting another 6 months for this wallet.

I wanted a large wallet. The monogram print wallet I have is nice, but I think it’s time for an upgrade. I’ll probably hold onto that one for a more low key look I guess. Anyway, this Brazza wallet is perfect. Not too big and not too small and my iPhone fits perfectly in the coin pouch. Yes! Crazy right?

I haven’t transfered all my wallet goodness into yet but I did take a few snap shots to share. FOR REAL, this is the last LV piece I’m buying till at least 6 months!

Here’s an image of Emma drunk… not totally wasted but ya know, feelin’ good and lookin’ pretty good.

and then in a split second… this bitch look like she’s on crack and just got done doing a line:

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Found her on youtube and I’m an instant fan. And I love the fact that one of her favorite pop songs of all time is “Torn”

Recap: CEO, CFO, Dir. of HR have been here pretty much all week. Meetings here, meetings there. Presentations, taco day, Wii tennis vs. the CEO and work, work and more work.

End Recap. So I had a product photoshoot today at work (with Emma/Ryan/Julez) and we shot off (but on) location in our warehouse. We basically did a quick session from about 2:45 to 5:45 or so. We got some sic ass shit outta random crap in the warehouse. Reminded me of the time we did a shoot at my house with a 60 dollar thrift store budget (holla!).

Anyway, during that time I had a missed called from my brother on my work phone with no message and about 6 missed calls from my brother and sister on my cell.

Immediately I thought, “shit, it’s an emergency.” Then I thought, “Fucking shit! It’s raining out.”

When it rains in California, it’s good because we need the water… bad because people can’t fucking drive in rain here. Well… it’s not that they “can’t” drive in rain. It’s more like they’re too stupid to realize it’s common sense to drive more cautiously when the fucking road is wet. Anyway, THANK THE HEAVENS the missed calls had nothing to do with any sort of accident or bodily harm but I must admit that I was in shock for those first few rings when I was returning some calls. I excepted the worse and had this crazy feeling, like OH MY GOD.

It was a bit of an emergency, but it dealt more along the lines of a project we had did a few months back and a client was requesting some images to be taken off the internet. Rightfully so… we had agreed not to post them but I think my brother just completely forgot. Honest, but dumb mistake on his part.

At any rate, I’m home. Tired. Hungry. Bored because a friend flaked. So I’m here alone, listening to the raindrops and thinking about what I should eat. First reaction was ramen since it’s raining but then I saw some spam chillin’ in the cabinet. That might be good with rice and eggs. Or I can get fancy and go to the store to pick up some lean ground beef to make garlic roasted cheese turkey burgers on lettuce. Stomach is saying TURKEY BURGER… body is saying FUCK YOU JUST HEAT UP SOME WATER AND COOK THAT RAMEN IN 3 MINUTES. BITCH.

Life has been so weird lately. A roller coaster of ups and downs flying in every which way in such a short amount of time. I can’t seem to grasp the good and hold onto it.

I was on the pier when I saw a pattern of light in the ocean glimmer. At first the strong highlights hurt my eyes but after a few seconds of starring, my sight started to adjust.

What I saw was the most beautiful sparkle.

I got to thinking about all the similes like, "Don’t judge a book by it’s cover" or "Beauty lies within," and you know what… I truly believe in that.

There’s so much more to life than what you see on the outside and that’s a lot of what photography is about. Taking in what you see… what other people see with their naked eye… and connecting yourself with what you can enable yourself to see.

And in this instance, I took that harsh light and turned it into something that to me, is beautiful. That’s not to say I didn’t adjust my settings by taking the image out of focus to create bokeh, or compensated some exposure to get rid of highlights… but that’s also what life is about for me. Adjusting, learning, and trying to live better.

I soooooo cannot sleep right now. I’ve twittered a million times, posted an image on flickr and surfed around lookbook.nu for awhile. I’d really just like to sleep.

I’m posting again today because I’ve neglected this part of my internet life due to another internet love: flickr

Anyway, I just got my Beaubourg Tote by Louis Vuitton. I’ve been a fan of their monogram collection for awhile but the damier is slowly creeping up. This is currently #__ (who cares right!) of my LV pieces. It also might be my favorite piece thus far because it’s one of those every day totes for men or women. Sadly this is one of the last pieces I’ll be buying for a real long time.

The lovely thing about this Beaubourg Tote is that it also doubles as a laptop carrier. I already own a piece for that, but in the event I wanted to travel light, this is the perfect bag. For my everyday use, the Beaubourg is carrying my Canon G10, 250GB WD portable/slim hard drive, keys, LV coin pouch (attaches to the side), Nintendo DS Lite, iPhone, Kodak Zi6 HD video recorder, sun glasses, chap stick, a few files and other misc items.

Can’t say enough good things about this bag. It’s a little stiff at the moment, but Louis Vuitton is known for getting better by the age… so this Beaubourg bag is definitely going to be a keeper!

Inside the meatball we have: Breadcrumbs, 2 eggs beaten, diced pepperoncini’s (make sure to dry with cloth), parmesan cheese, onions, garlic, lean ground beef, creole seasoning and hot pepper flakes.

SO GOOD and easy. Just keep adding in breadcrumbs till the consistency isn’t too moist (but not too dry) and dice everything up so it doesn’t fall off when you pan fry. I usually use olive oil but it doesn’t matter. Basically fry them till the outside is nice and brown and the remainder will cook with your spaghetti.

I usually cook a few all the way through just to eat alone… especially when the cheese melts in your mouth with that tiny zest of pepperoncini!!!

Take a look at the final outcome:

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For awhile now I’ve been twittering about a fucking Toilet Seat Pisser at work. Some bitch keeps taking a leak and doesn’t seem to care that they leave remnants of their disease filled piss on the seat. Note: this is a unisex bathroom with one toilet and no urinal.

Does this really bother me since I stand to piss? YES. I have to pick the seat up so if there is piss on the seat then it bothers me. Sometimes I even have to take a shit so YES it bothers me.

So I got to thinking about all the bathroom dilemmas we’ve had at work. There’s the exploding shitter whose shit seems to hit all sides of the bowl and loves to leave it there. There is also that shitter who pushes WAY TO HARD and leaves the bathroom all muggy and gross. There is also that cunt who sprays the air freshener like 7 times to mask out the ass… but it just turns into a really potent sea breeze smell with a hint of ass and because it’s so potent, it’s actually worse because it hurts your nostrils. And then there’s the person who doesn’t flush.

Anyway, 6 or so months ago, someone puts up a sign above the toilet. That shit said “Please put the toilet seat back down after use”

Ok first of all, I get it if it were a women’s bathroom and a guy needed to go so bad he “borrowed” it. But this shit is a unisex place of pissin’ and pooin’

You want to talk about equality, then you bitches betta learn to put the seat down and touch it like the rest of us. Because if we men have to touch it to put it up, then you bes touch it to put it down and if takes a gay man to be just as much of a diva… then this gay man is me cause I ain’t down with that double standard crap.

SO ANYWAY… my point is, this note probably pissed off the Toilet Seat Pisser. He probably thought, “If I gotta put this shit up and down every time I piss, then I want do it at all. I’ll piss as is.”

UGH. So now we both lose. Boys and girls. Piss and poo. It’s all over the place.

If I was straight and married to a woman, I would have a urinal installed in our master bath. That way she wouldn’t be so fucking irritated with a toilet seat being up. So when they redesign our office… I hope to god we have either mens and womens bathrooms… or at least a urinal for men who pee without fuss.

End rant. Long day.

I totally won!

Quick review of this cool gadget. If you’re looking for some scientific bullshit analysis of the light output, don’t bother reading on. The only thing I will say is that so far, there seems to be a loss of one stop in your flash unit with this on.

I’m currently shooting with a canon 5dmkII and 24-105mm f4L.

At any rate… this thing is bad ass! The fact that I could achieve this type of lighting pretty much anywhere I go is awesome. It’s portability is one of the main reasons I decided to go with it. There are no cables, batteries, electronics of any sort. Just snap and play. That’s the best thing about this ray flash ring light.


I’ve tested it a bit outdoors as well and it’s provided me some really nice fill light. The colors are fantastically natural and the output does not feel harsh at all. Also, my friend was standing a few feet away from me and from where I was the flash lit her really well while still maintaining the beautiful orange light that was hitting her from the setting sun.

I haven’t had a chance yet to post all images, but if you’re interested, please visit my flickr page for updates on this amazing little unit. Highly recommended!!

Befriend me on flickr.

ExpoImaging Ray Flash:

This is why I love United States of Tara. Plus I’m a huge fan of Toni Collette.

Geeks like me. My personal favorite, though I use canon:

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Easier read than done right? In most cases, yes.

It’s hard to be happy sometimes. Especially when you feel down and out. Here’s 10 things that made, or make me happy. Things that you might not have known… so like the whole family, friends, bf’s gf’s won’t apply to this list because it’s a given.

Feel free to contribute, maybe I could tackle a few more happy habits.

1. When I was a kid I collected stuffed animals. Sounds somewhat normal right? But what if I told you that I kept them perfectly snugged in my pillow with each stuffed animal tucked away in it’s own space. Almost like a pillow case of stuffed toys jam-packed like sardines.

I never understood the reasoning behind it, but it comforted me. It could have been because I’m gay // who knows. The important thing was that it made me happy.

2. I find connecting with people makes me happy. If I were to say that I’m not really socially outgoing, it might not sound right because I’m a party kinda guy… but truth be told, I’m actually really shy and get overly anxious in social settings.

That’s my biggest flaw. Comfortability upon first impression and we all know how important first impressions are. I don’t know. I’m socially scared to be honest. I contribute this social inability to my upbringing of hiding who I was for so long.

I shouldn’t say “hiding”… more like not really understanding why I was different and for a long time, I tucked away all those questions I had. I never once was conflicted as to whether or not I was gay. I knew I was different but I realized that I was gay after high school because it became more apparent with the different outlets and knowledge that was out there in the world. Late bloomer I guess.

Anyway – So basically, for a majority of my life, I tried to be someone I was not. Straight. And now it’s biting me in the ass because sometimes I feel like I have to be what you want me to be and I can’t do that so I sit their with nothing to say…. until of course I have a drink and I become less shy about being me.

At any rate, that’s why connections make me happy. I don’t have to try to be someone I’m not. Connections off bat, allow me to be… well… me.

3. Holding the door open for people. I love it when people are genuinely happy when I open the door for them. Makes me happy.

4. Scarves. I absolutely adore scarves and I have a problem of buying every single scarf that I like. I have a ton of them. Most I don’t even use, unless you count trying them on in the store. You can say that I have an addiction for scarves because they make me happy.

5. I’m a material girl. There I said it. UGH. I never thought I would be, but alas, I’ve fallen in love with the Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Diesel’s of the world… fashion in general… but also gadgets, cameras, computers of sorts. I love toys for big boys like big screen plasmas, 30″ apple displays, imacs, ipods, iphones, i-anything.

I use to pride myself in being all thrift. Everything I got was from thrift stores and I loved it… I still do. But I’m also a material girl now. It’s bad. But I can’t deny that new nice things make me happy.

6. Design. Good design makes me happy period(.)

7. Eating outside in the patio of a restaurant in summer with good company and a beer or cocktail. It’s so Sex and the City right? Totally Carry Bradshaw. Not only does the scenario make me happy, but the drinks add a little kick too.

8. That little red dot with a number. All you mac users know this red dot. It’s that notification red dot we all love. Whether it be for an IM, Text, Email, Update, etc. Even though most of the notifications I get are from work emails, they still make me happy.

9. Rainy day schedules. They were the shit back then in elementary school. I guess because it threw off the daily routine of school, it made me happy.

10. Coffee. Coffee makes me happy. It turns a bad morning into a bearable one and a good morning into a fantastic start. It’s what I turned to in college before and sometimes after classes to keep me going. It’s the most unhealthy, but happiest breakfast I could ask for.

11. I know I said 10 things, but this doesn’t fall into the jurisdiction of my list but it has to be said. Photography. I know it’s obvious, but it’s a part of my life that I am 100% certain about. If there is one thing in my life that I know I will do forever, it’s photography. It makes and will always make me happy.

I know in the beginning, I said sometimes it’s hard to be happy. But I’m taking that back. This list could keep on going. I guess I just realized that it’s hard to force yourself to be happy, but it’s easy TO BE HAPPY because it’s all around. Happiness shouldn’t be analyzed or criticized.

You just gotta let it happen and not think about trying to be happy. Make sense?

So here’s the thing. It’s another new year, but is it really gonna be a new year? Like will this year be any newer than 2008? I feel like I could just grab a previous new years journal post stored somewhere deep in my computer and re post it.

I wanna be this, that; I wanna do more with my life, get in better shape than ever before. I wanna travel, meet people, try new things. I wanna live free, without worries and without strife, yada yada yada.

Dammit, I really want this to be a New year for me though lol.

And that’s all I’m going to say. No need for resolutions of sorts. Just change.

And not even necessarily change for the better, though welcome. But change for the sake of contrast would be nice too.

Just like you said it would be. Life goes easy on me. Most of the time.

Ok so I finally watched Milk last night. I know, it took a minute for me… We tried going several times with failed attempts due to a pre-dinner which ended with a bar tab and so forth, but alas, we finally went.

And let me tell you, I wish this movie came out (pun intended) prior to that horrendous Prop 8 passing. It was perfect for the moment, perfect for a Gay American like myself, perfect for any American for that matter.

Yes, guys kiss in the movie… yes Sean Penn makes out with James Franco and yes, it’s gay gay gay at times. But at the same time, it’s so much more. It’s history as it repeats itself and it’s invigorating and it shows the actual struggle that went on for our rights and directly mimics the struggle we’re currently going through now.

Yea, it might seem like all is fine in your world because you know some happy gay guy or couple, but deep down, there are still hundreds of barriers to face and walls to climb.

Harvey Milk is our Martin Luther King Jr.

Now before you go thinking that this is an absurd simile, stop and do some research. Yes ok, maybe the magnitude is different because let’s face it, blacks had gone through hundreds of years of oppression, but is it really all that much different? Is one hate different than the other?

Gay people couldn’t hold hands back then without facing death or jail. Shit, we still can’t do that now in most places without feeling ostracized and ridiculed.

The only difference in racial prejudice and homosexual prejudice is that you can’t hide the color of your skin. I’m going to put it out there and say that if homosexuality was marked by say, pink lips, who knows if I’d be alive today.

The fact is, we hide it. We hide it everyday in some point or another. I don’t kiss Mark goodbye outside our home as we leave on our Vespas. I do it before we go out in the garage. We hide it and that’s how we got away with it in the past.

That’s the difference. You can’t hide your skin color, but you can hide your sexual preference and that’s why we’ve flown under the radar. But we’re here. We’re everywhere and we are a part of life, just like you are asian, black, white, indian, mexican, etc. There is no changing of my preference nor was there an influence.

It’s who we are. So if you’re reading this and you’re not out, I urge you to be.

Because truth is knowledge.

And that’s what Milk is about. Being heard and being you.

And so far my favorite:

Urban City
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More from Mark:

He’s decided to start selling his paintings. Wish him luck!

When I saw this through my view finder, I automatically thought of Final Fantasy. It just looked so dreamy to me and felt like at any second, some creature was going to walk about behind the shrub. WTF right? I guess this new camera is making me feel giddy about photography again. I’ve been caught up so much in doing events and studio work that I forgot how freakin’ fun it is shooting for yourself.

Looking through the view finder for your eyes and not the eyes of a client. This is the first time in YEARS I went out and shot for myself. As in like, I did it for fun and as a hobby. I can’t remember the last time I went out to shoot without any objective, clients, or pay. It was kinda… amazing.

The flash was a little too hot on my face. I suppose I could have lowered the power a little more but to be honest, I wasn’t focusing on lighting on this. I’m going to be doing more self portraits in the future. Not because I’m vain and like touching up my own face lol, but because it’s how I started out in photography when I didn’t have subjects. It was me and the camera. Exploring not only light, but also expression and composition.

These last few months have been tiring. That’s the best way I could put it I guess. I’m just tired… of it all. Tired, unmotivated and in need of some me time. Everyone needs me time right? Just to recharge and reflect on what just happened.

So this is me saying to myself,

“Self, relax. Take some time and just relax. No more being frustrated, irritated or pessimistic. Time to be yourself again because it’s not good for self to hate self”

So there. I said it. I’m tired.

Two things. 1. My backyard flooded. Good news is, it stopped raining so all will be good for our holiday party which will be mostly outdoors. 2. Cargo. Just because she’s all cute and stuff. She jumped into my clean laundry and fell asleep. She loves our new clothes scent. I think it comforts her. Took me a minute or two to find her though!

Ok, so I just bought myself a Nintendo DS Lite last Friday and I can tell you now, this thing is the fountain of youth. I’m pretty sure that over the weekend, I’ve managed to age backwards.

I found myself waking up at 7am on both Saturday AND Sunday to play video games. The difference was that I didn’t have to get out of bed, turn the TV on and grab the controller. No, instead, I woke up, turned to my newly charged DS Lite and played straight from my bed. Before I knew it, it was already 10 muthafuckingAM. Was this how 3 hours felt as a kid?

Weapon of choice? Final Fantasy IV, the remake for DS. For those FF geeks out there, to put into perspective the amount of playing time I’ve invested over the weekend… I am now in the underworld reunited with an all grown up Rydia.

/geek

This game console is so much better suited for me than PSP. I ended up giving that shit to my nephew. Ok, the PSP graphics are so much better, but the double screen for the DS Lite is perfect for Final Fantasy and it’s just so much more fun! It’s straight up Nintendo again!

And guess what else? My super sic co-worker noogs just bought one too! Aww snaps.

This is by far THE BEST gay movie I’ve seen. It’s not at the least bit flamboyant which is why I respect the film so much. The story is heart warming and the acting is nothing short of excellent. Yes, Brokeback Mountain wasn’t flamboyant either, but I find Shelter to be more closer to home and not on some isolated mountain with cowboys. Sounds like another gay film I’ve seen.

Now, the film is nothing short of eye candy, but isn’t that the main ingredient to romantic movies, gay or straight? I mean, I probably would not have gave it a chance had the leads looked tore up, but would you have watched the Titanic if Leonardo was some fat hairy guy named Gilbert? Don’t even think about it, I know you wouldn’t have!

Anyway, I think Shelter represents gay people like myself who aren’t the diva type. I think more films and gay characters like this need to be out there in mainstream media. Yea, the flamboyant gay makes for good television (who didn’t love Will and Grace?), but they’re not in anyway the majority of the population.

Matt, Migs, Apes:

The above photo was taken with the 5D mkII with a 16-35mm f2.8 lens. This thing is bad.ass.

This hobby of mine is fucking expensive. I’m eying the new 5D mkII. My bestbuy card is currently at a 0 balance awaiting 18 months of glorious no interest. Now only if they would stock this bad boy. It seems nearly impossible to get.

I did hear about some bad copies being distributed with some sort of black dots appearing in images, so I guess it’s good I wait a little. But those that know me understand that, waiting sometimes isn’t in an option. Not for this brat.

Download here. It’s kinda hot. I can’t tell if it’s a track for himself or one he’s producing… I’m leaning towards a track he is producing/writing for another artist. Listen closely and he says “boy” a few times.

Though I’d like it to be real; that he’s singing to me, it’s most likely a demo he’s doing for a female artist. Damnit! Hot non the less! Thanks for the head up H2.

And just because:

Next up, on “The Nalco” lol:

Could video editing be in my future? Probably not. I have no clue what I’m doing but I’ve been testing out the Kodak zi6. Used iMovie ‘08 for this. Tried Final Cut Pro but closed it as soon as it launched.

I’m crazy. I know. Stop. Don’t even say anything. Video after the jump (I’ve always wanted to say that):

Especially with a gold backpack. Unless of course that shit has speakers.
For some weird reason, UPS decided to drop my package off at 10pm. It was a shady drop too. Some dude literally jumped out of his cargo van, dropped off my package, and left. All this at 10pm. WTH right? Whatever, I’m totally stoked with my new toy or bag?

I guess I’m either going to look pretty damn cool with this thing on while riding my Vespa… or look like a total douche bag, no pun intended. I don’t care though. I love it!

I use to think that I loved winter as much as I do summer. The cold winter mornings and nights cuddled up and snug in bed is something I look forward to as the season approaches.

My love of scarves becomes an obsession.

And I get to shake off all the dust from my pea coats that have been shoved in the corner of my closets. Yes, plural.

But it’s December 1st and I’m already missing the summer sun. Usually, I miss it by the end of winter, so missing it when winter hasn’t even officially begun makes me wonder.

Yea, the air is nice and crisp and yea, I woke up today feeling all cozy, but there’s just something about me that’s changed. Something about my lifestyle.

I’m a summer guy now.

Even while putting up Christmas lights in our backyard, I was thinking, “This is gonna look so nice on summer nights.” I remember last year, come beginning of November, Nsync’s Christmas CD was already playing in my car. This year, I’m cruising down with, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It),” which holds a melody that is perfection when it comes to summer jams.

I guess I don’t have to love both equally. And because I don’t love both equally, that doesn’t mean I have to hate the other. When it comes to seasons, it’s ok that I like one more than the other. It’s not like I’m cheating on my seasons.

I had a studio shoot today and I decided last minute to shoot a look outside. I’m so glad I did because they turned out to be my favorite from today! Check it out:

Testing this blog post from firefox’s ScribeFire… oh and Happy Thanksgiving from me and Cargo
Technorati Tags: cargo

I also heard they have good polish sausages on the second floor.

You know you want it:

The Debut.

So I shot a Debutante this passed weekend with my bro and Jen. The shooting was alright, nothing too exciting or nerve racking. Come to think of it, the whole process went smoothly, or as smoothly you can go with Filipinos.

Anyway, aside from thinking it was ridiculous spending over 10 grand on an 18th birthday party (save that shit!), I got to thinking about what it was like back then when I just entered college.

I was invincible.

I didn’t have a care in the world. Even the fact that I got kicked out of San Diego State from academic probation didn’t phase me. Yes, I was fucking kicked out. Failed letter and all. The boot. Whatever you wanna call it. I re-applied the following semester, after a long and winded semester at Southwestern College. I basically raised my GPA by taking 6 classes and getting straight A’s.

Then there was the time when I punched a window and nearly amputated my right arm. WTF would I do without a right arm? I’d probably have a buff ass left arm but damn, I can’t imagine not having two arms. How would I double fist it at a club?

I’m nearing 28 now. Not so invincible right? I’d like to think I’m a lot smarter than I was back then, especially in terms of right choices… but I’m not so sure that’s the case. Because I am older, the decisions I make seem more mature, but does that mean they’re any smarter?

Spending 1,500 dollars on a Louis Vuitton bag while drunk (as hot as it is), is probably just as bad as the time I jumped into a wall on purpose and made a huge hole in my bestfriend’s house.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m no longer invincible. Age is no longer an excuse for my dumb ass decisions. I can’t look back 10 years from now and say, “Oh shit, I did that because I was 27.”

I think I’ve done enough stupid shit in the past that I should be paving ways instead of following foot prints. I shouldn’t need to make mistakes in order to learn from them in this chapter of my life. It’s not like I have a kid and I need to lose him/her to realize I need to stay attentive 24/7. Awful example.

But yea. This chapter of my life is about making something of myself. And with all the wrong decisions I’ve made in the past, I should be able to weed through that and move forward.

Maybe a debut isn’t all that bad after all? Nah. Put that shit in a savings account, non accessible, till you’re 30.

Not as crazy as usual, but still needed!

Don’t let her innocence fool you. Turn your back and she zooms away. Start folding clothes and she’ll throw her piggy at you. Walk fast and she’s jump on your heels. Drop your food and she’s like a Mexican at a Walmart sales bin. OK, that last sentence was racist, but she is of descent and I guess it cancels it out right? Like when I make fun of Filipinos?

Totally the same thing.

download

Read More…

“Don’t let your Harvey Milk’s legacy finance your oppression”

We launched our Holiday Campaign for work yesterday and the shots turned out extra fabulous with some photoshop work. At first, there was some skepticism about how the final product would look because it really didn’t look all that exciting pre-photoshop, but I must say… it turned out fantastic.

I saw these images on the net from last weeks protest in San Diego with 25,000 supporters. I still haven’t seen an aerial shot of the human rainbow.

Check out the images…

Follow me.

I have never finished an entire chapstick. It’s probably because I’ve lost at least 20 of them.

First they were chapped, now they’re burnt. I hope a third think don’t happen to theemmmmmm

aka – Hey let’s fuck up peoples lives at the expense of our employees!

http://coloradoindependen…family-announcing-layoffs

More layoffs at Focus on the Family

Ministry spent more than $500,000 to pass California’s Prop. 8 gay marriage ban

UPDATE: Focus on the Family announced this afternoon that 202 jobs will be cut companywide, bringing the total number of employees to around 950.

Focus on the Family is poised to announce major layoffs to its Colorado Springs-based ministry and media empire today. The cutbacks come just weeks after the group pumped more than half a million dollars into the successful effort to pass a gay-marriage ban in California.

Read More…

Retail version! I love it:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/szg45o

This shit was hard first time around the course, second time went smooth sailing from the adrenaline. Team Pud Mies:

Seriously, this is one of the MUST HAVE FREE applications for mac. Forget stickies. This is the app it should have been and more. You can actually draw on your post-its, write notes and set alarms. Since I have a tablet, I’m gonna find this extremely useful at jotting down notes and to-dos on the fly. Yes. Check out a screen cap:

Download here

This Saturday, November 15th, there will be nationwide rallies against Proposition 8. In every Major U.S city, rallies will be held, and combined, these rallies will be one of the biggest organized simultaneous rallies in the U.S. One of those will be here in San Diego.

For other areas in CA please visit:
http://jointheimpact.wetpaint.com/page/California

Throughout the nation:
http://jointheimpact.wetpaint.com/?t=anon

There is a rally in EVERY state.

Remember that this is a peaceful march and rally. We are at the County Administration building for San Diego because that is where marriage licenses are issued. We have a mayor and city council who have consistently supported marriage equality and we are grateful to them for that. We are also not targeting any religious or ethnic group. Our opposition wants our movement to appear divisive. We are going to reclaim and reframe the discussion. We are about gaining equal rights for all and ending bigotry and discrimination. This is a cause every proud American can support!

There are 2 coordinated events happening in San Diego. The first one is a march which starts at 10:30 at 6th & Upas in Balboa Park. The march will go through downtown and will end at the rally site at the County Administration Building.

At 1pm there will be a huge rally at the County Admin Building. It’s located at 1600 N. Harbor Drive right near the Star of India on the bay. This is going to be a huge event and we expect well over 30,000 people and we expect national media attention. We encourage everyone to come out and protest Prop 8 and stand up for equal rights for everyone.

Please make a big effort to reach outside of our community for support. Invite your family, tell your co-workers, knock on your neighbor’s door, make calls and send texts. If individual rights can be taken away by a simple majority vote, what is next? We must unite and fight for our rights. Please note, however, that this will be a positive and peaceful protest.

Please repost and help spread the word.

Thank you all that have been supportive through this tough time!

Needed some fresh air today:

Download David Archuleta’s self titled album here! I have mine on Pre-order off iTunes which includes 3 bonus tracks. This is the retail version without tags.

We shot Arlyn, Kat and Tiffany as a continuation for their “Danity Kane goes Asian project.” I’m looking forward to doing the group shoot with all 8 of them at the studio! Should be killer. Here are some images from today’s shoot:

For the record, the bathroom at work is disgusting. It’s been “remodeled” once but really… it’s more like it was just cleaned up really well.

Anyway, I can handle shit stains on the bottom of the bowl (god bless your soul) but what I don’t understand is when that shit, literally, is on the side of the damn bowl.

Can shit be explosive? Has your shit ever been so EXPLOSIVE that it hit all areas of the damn toilet bowl? Cause that’s just disgusting. You need to either a) get your asshole checked or b) change your diet. That ain’t right.

Omega Turf to the rescue:

Without the snow on the ground…

I look about how I feel. Cold.

First and foremost, I’d like to thank my family, friends and co-workers for supporting me and millions of other Americans. If I take anything from this, it is that those that are most important to me back up my rights. So THANK YOU.

I do want to express my feelings and what I’ve gone through in the last few weeks of my life.

It’s been a turning point for me to say the least. The strong and insurmountable support I’ve gotten from you had me in tears last night seeing the Yes on Prop 8 prevail. Not so much tears in that so many people are still hateful towards Gay people, but tears because you and your support have showed me hope.

During the entire 27 years of my life, I’ve never once been the victim of real life discrimination. Well, maybe I shouldn’t say never, but it wasn’t really laid out in front of me… and if I was, it was masked out really well. Well enough for me to not realize it existed in my world.

Rallying in my neighborhood was an eye opening experience for me. I’ve never been called “Faggot” before and in the first 30 minutes of standing on the corner proudly and peacefully with my “No on Prop 8″ sign, I, along with my friends – gay and straight – were called faggots. Minivans with kids yelling out “Yes!” and other obscenities is not the way of God. Instilling hatred in your kids is not the way of the future.

I know ignorance exists, I just didn’t realize it was so close to home.

A women yelled out “What about our children?!?!” implying that Gay marriages will impact their lives negatively. I’m sick and tired of parents using their children and blaming other people for their inability to raise their child.

Being gay is not and will never be a choice. I grew up like any other kid. I played outside till the sun went down. I had two best friends that loved sports and loved being boys. We built sand rocks in the playground and threw them at other kids. We loved legos, Transformers, Thunder Cats, Street Fighter and the list goes on. We were kind of menaces since we broke windows and threw tomatoes at cars (sorry mom!). I was even around my brother and his friends a lot of the time. Break dancing, fighting and partying.

Was I any different from them? Yes and no. But when is being different bad? The difference was, even though I liked all those boy type stuff… and even though I played just like every other boy, I also had my own collection of stuffed animals that I would organize along side my bed every night because it was comforting to me.

I didn’t learn that through television, or through another person. I didn’t LEARN or CHOOSE to care about my stuffed teddy bear “Dandy”. It was just how I felt. It was ME.

Kids aren’t taught about drugs in school, yet some still choose to abuse. It’s up to parents to teach their kids what is right and wrong. So when these supporters blame Gay people for what their children will be taught, it’s a cop out because they don’t want to deal with it. They don’t want to have to deal with another “Birds and the bees” story. They don’t want to sit their child down when he or she asks, “Why are those two guys/girls holding hands?” But just because they are too lazy to parent their child, DOES NOT GIVE THEM THE RIGHT TO BLAME GAY PEOPLE.

The very thought that Americans won’t vote for Obama simply because he’s half black are the same thoughts that lead to wars and are the same thoughts that lead to Proposition 8 passing. They are the thoughts that ignite hate, fear, discrimination and ignorance. These thoughts are thoughts of people who lead their lives thinking they’re good people not realizing their mentality is no better than those of world wars or those that took my rights away.

Obama said it right. With respect to Americans, he said that though in his belief, a man and woman should marry, that does not mean he doesn’t understand that Americans, regardless of sexuality, should have EQUAL RIGHTS.

I believe in evolution. I believe in it through scientific fact, but my mom and grandmother raised me up in Church. I believe that they have the right to trust in their faith. It’s what keeps them going and keeps them hoping. Through them, I have found God. I don’t go to church, but I do have faith. God = faith and hope in all things good.

So with Prop 8 passing, it’s easy for me to lose faith in God; the same way it’s easy for yes supporters to blame gay people for their kids’ future. But I’m not going for the easy way out. I can still believe in God, in faith and in hope because I know people like you are out there.

“I take heart knowing that in the past, the popular vote would’ve kept schools segregated and interracial marriages illegal.” It’s time for the Supreme Court to do the right thing. It’s still not over.

So this was my long winded thank you. Thank you, seriously for everything. You’ve become my hope.

I am ecstatic right now! This is some of the best news I’ve heard in awhile. Doesn’t look so good for Prop 8, but President Obama is damn good news.

Vote NO on Prop 8

I just had one of the most interesting conversations with a friend. He was messing around with me about him voting Yes on 8 and you know, naturally I started to get upset and heated but I wanted to know his logic.

Of course he had no logic since he was just fucking with me but I did say, “Had you really voted yes on 8, I can’t say that I would have looked at our friendship the same.” To be quite frank, our friendship would probably turn to mere acquaintances had he really voted yes on 8.

“You would really let politics get in the way of your friendships?” he asked. Ok, way to make my already irate day, turn to disgust. First of all, this Proposition is clearly not just about politics.

I can handle and respect people’s judgement on candidacy, policies and agendas but trying to take away or prohibit a right all Americans have for ONE group of people is nothing short of discrimination. This is more than “politics”

This is where a line between Church and State is clearly… not there. How is this Proposition, which is mostly endorsed and backed by religious conservatives, considered out right “just politics?”

It’s not.

I rallied yesterday and the biggest argument from people who support YES were that “we were sinners.” Look at the Presidential campaigns now. So many lies and racism going on. Sin? You were shouting at us with so much hate and you have the audacity to preach to me that I’m a sinner? Really? Oh wait, but your God probably thinks it’s ok for you to yell and harass people and call them names. Your God likes that you’re a bigot. You’re God allows kids to yell out their mini vans hateful words. Cool man. Good for you. And good for your church.

My question is, why are they trying to place… let me rephrase that, SHOVE their beliefs down other people’s throats? It’s not fair and it’s not the way of America. People didn’t come here to get their rights taken away. They came here for freedom.

Obama said it right. Though in his belief, a man and woman should marry, that does not mean he doesn’t understand that Americans, regardless of sexuality, should have EQUAL RIGHTS. It’s clean cut man. It’s clear cut.

I believe in evolution. I believe in it through scientific fact. But I would never, never in my life vote on something like banning church practices in CA. For the record, even though I believe in evolution, I also believe that a God does exist.

My mom and grandmother raised me up in Church. I believe that they have the right to trust in their faith. It’s what keeps them going and keeps them hoping. Who am I to say that should be banned? Who am I to say, just because I myself don’t pray, that they are not allowed to?

Who are you to say I should not have the same rights as you?

If this prop passes, millions of Americans who opposed this ban will feel the worse they’ve felt in years; perhaps their life. I personally will feel discriminated against and saddened tremendously.

If this prop fails, it’s supporters will forget this happened in 2 months and carry on with their lives. Let us carry on with ours.

VOTE NO on PROP 8

We carved pumpkins last night and Mark and I decided to go political with it:

How lame is it that this excites me as much as Janet going on tour excites me? Reminds of of those Nsync and Britney days. Only I’m like 10 years older.

Then again, their music is beyond their years and David’s tracks also fall under Adult Contemporary and not just Pop and Jmac is borderline JT/Neyo.

So there.

They’re still EXPLOITING children. Parents outraged by using their kids without permission for their commercials. Read the article here.

Shameful.

Stand up for equality. Get bumper stickers, post signs. Visit a No on Prop 8 campaign and pick up these items for free.

This is NOT a religious issue. It’s an issue about civil rights. There is no such thing as separate but equal. How stupid does that sound?

This is about going backwards in time where discrimination plagued America.

This is about telling those people who still use the “N” word, the people who still call gay americans faggots, the people who believe their belief is better than yours, the people who think taking american’s rights away is the word of God, the people who think marriage is theirs to own… that there are alternatives to respecting belief systems.

I’m not fighting for my right to marry under your church. I’m fighting for my rights as an American to be able to love and be socially accepted.

Voting yes on Prop 8 teaches kids to discriminate.
Voting yes on Prop 8 introduces a new form of hate in their lives.
Voting yes on Prop 8 leads to hate crimes.
Voting yes on Prop 8 is not the way of Americans.

Voting no on Prop 8 teaches kids about equality
Voting no on Prop 8 teaches kids to not judge a book by it’s cover.
Voting no on Prop 8 tells them equality matters
Voting no on Prop 8 means that regardless of your religion, you truly believe that people should have the same rights. Law abiding Americans should be socially equal regardless of their sexuality, color, race or nationality.

If you have dual monitors at home like me, you’ll appreciate this Zefron doubleness.

Example:

I decided to be Troy Bolton for Halloween lol. I don’t even have plans but the wig was only 12 bucks and I have a red jersey and basketball so I figured, what the hey!

Zac Efroncutan:

Note to self. Never grow out your hair. Emo hair is meant for hot white people.

Time to hit the gym religiously.

Just saw High School Musical 3 last night and it was soooooo fun. I admit, my gay ass almost cried a few times. But as cheesy as it was, it was just PERFECT. I couldn’t help but smile and giggle when Zefrons beautiful face first graced the big screen in sweat and all the tweens (and possibly some prepubescent… gasp!! girls) squealed. How could you not at such a horny age? LOL, ok that was way inappropriate and gross, but I totally squealed and wished the whole time I was pookie hudgens.

Donates $100k to ‘No’ campaign!!!!!!

No on Prop 8
October 24, 2008

Apple is publicly opposing Proposition 8 and making a donation of $100,000 to the No on 8 campaign. Apple was among the first California companies to offer equal rights and benefits to our employees’ same-sex partners, and we strongly believe that a person’s fundamental rights — including the right to marry — should not be affected by their sexual orientation. Apple views this as a civil rights issue, rather than just a political issue, and is therefore speaking out publicly against Proposition 8.

See google blog here

However, while there are many objections to this proposition — further government encroachment on personal lives, ambiguously written text — it is the chilling and discriminatory effect of the proposition on many of our employees that brings Google to publicly oppose Proposition 8. While we respect the strongly-held beliefs that people have on both sides of this argument, we see this fundamentally as an issue of equality. We hope that California voters will vote no on Proposition 8 — we should not eliminate anyone’s fundamental rights, whatever their sexuality, to marry the person they love.

Google co-founders Brian and Page personally donate to “NO” on Prop 8.

Silicon Valley hasn’t been a prominent player in the pitched fundraising battle over whether to ban same-sex marriage in California — until now.

Google co-founder and president Sergey Brin this week donated $100,000 to the No on 8 campaign, while co-founder Larry Page added a $40,000 donation, a Mercury News analysis of state campaign finance records show. With the contribution, Brin matches talk show host Ellen DeGeneres for the largest individual donation during the campaign’s final weeks to oppose a proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

The six-figure donations by DeGeneres and Brin were among a group of large donations from celebrities and other prominent figures that recently have flowed
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into Equality California, the lead organization battling Prop. 8. Marin County resident and “Indiana Jones” filmmaker George Lucas gave $50,000, while Lucasfilm donated an additional $50,000, both this week.

Actor T.R. Knight of “Grey’s Anatomy” gave two $50,000 donations, while Monica Rosenthal, an actress in the comedy series “Everybody Loves Raymond” and the wife of series writer and executive producer Phil Rosenthal, gave $25,000.

Those large donations are among $9.2 million in large donations received by Equality California ( www.noonprop8.com ) since Oct. 6, when the dueling Prop. 8 campaigns last filed their extensive fundraising reports, according to records filed with the California Secretary of State.

THERE IS STILL HOPE. AS MUCH HATE AS THEY HAVE TO LIE TO THEIR KIDS AND NEIGHBORS AND CHURCHES, I HOPE REAL FAITH AND TRUE EQUALITY COME THROUGH. THERE IS NO SEPARATE BUT EQUAL. LOVE IS LOVE. WHAT DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND ABOUT THAT?

Stand UP against discrimination and vote NO on Proposition 8.

I miss this bitch. We plan to move back to downtown next year. It’s our goal.

This video is a smash.

Mom: Have you talked to your brother lately? Is he ok?
Sister: I think so, I talked to him online the other day. He seems fine.
Mom: Oh really? He e-mailed me and said he’s chilling.
Sister: Uhh… yah, he’s “chilling” you know, relaxing?
Mom: Oh you mean he’s not sick? He’s not cold?

http://www.mymomisafob.com/