Photo Mania!

I still have a ton of photos to post. I've been trying to hold off posting them all at once, but it's been difficult because I'm getting impatient! I just want to post them now when I've got the chance, but I don't want to bombard everyone either. As long as I can control myself, there will be photo posts for at least the next 2 days.

Today I'm posting photos of the sky and sunset from last Tuesday evening (in two separate posts because there are so many). The thunderstorms in the area made the clouds pretty remarkable. I was on my way to my internship class when I noticed the sky, so of course I stopped to take some photos and took my camera with me so I could more photos when I got to Grossmont College where the class was held:)

First the cloudy sky at home in Bonita:









More photos in the next post.

Grossmont Skies

These are pictures I took once I got to the Grossmont College campus for my internship class.

Night Photo Experimentation

So I finally figured out how to create a makeshift tripod with my parents ladder and a towel (to adjust the angle). I took a lot of shots of the moon and clouds the other night, but I realized after the fact (of course!) that the wind was moving the clouds quite a bit. That meant all of my photos basically turned out blurry.

I wanted to cry afterwards because you just don't get many nights like this, but I did learn. I may just have to play around more with the aperture rather than doing 10 to 30 second exposures.

Anyway, here are some of the best results of the experiment, though they are still either fuzzy or pretty dark. For those of you who might be curious, these are color pictures (not black and white).

Chillin' With the Kitties...

Here are some photos of the cats that I've taken in the backyard this last week.

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Sophie on my mom's lap. The Hawaiian print on my mom's pants is quite fitting as Sophie is originally from Maui:)

Sophie ready to make a run from the camera

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Cherie hanging out on the patio by the pool

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Ron in one of his favorite places: the bench!

I'm It Again:)

Stacy tagged me to answer these questions. Books are a big part of my life, so I'm happy to answer:)

I'm not sure the answers will be all that profound and at the moment, one book has kind of taken over my thoughts, so it's a bit repetitive as well. I'll be posting some pictures later tonight and over the next couple of days....

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1). One book that changed by life

The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson
I read it in college at the recommendation of my freshman writing teacher. It was for a term paper, but he suggested it because it was personally relevant and an issue I was starting to think a lot about: passing. I'm biracial (half black and half white), but I pretty much look white. It has made for both interesting experiences as well as identity issues throughout my life. As I've gotten older, I realize it has affected me in ways I didn't always realize. I could go on about it, but I'd probably be here all night!

2) One book I've read more than once

I've read many books more than once! I'm not sure where to start. The one that comes to mind right now is Shiloh Walker's Her Best Friend's Lover.


3) One book I would want on a deserted island

Um, well that's tough. I am horrible at making decisions:/ I think I'd probably go with Kelley and choose one of the Harry Potter books, but I sure hope I could take book 7 so I'd have the end to re-read. If not that one, then definitely Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It's my favorite book of the series so far.

4) One book that made me laugh

The first one that comes to mind is Sexylips66 by Dakota Cassidy. Those crazy emails are insanely hilarious! The book really involves the whole range of emotions though. This was a sort of tough question as I generally don't read romantic or other types of comedies. I'm not sure why. I think I just tend to go for the more heart-wrenching emotional type books. Of course, I got that too with this book!

5) One book that made me cry

Well, I tend not to read books that make me cry, but The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man made me cry at times.

6) One book I wish I had written

The only one I can think of is the GRE Math Subject Test Prep book. There is only one and it bites the big one. When I mentioned to my dad while I was studying for the test that it was really not helpful (before I started grad school), he told me to write a better one LOL!

7) One book I wish had never been written

I pretty much agree with Stacy and Kelley's answers on this. I'm against censorship, and I believe that people should be able to decide on issues for themselves (even though I don't always agree with the ideas presented). It makes me really angry any time I hear about places banning books.

8) One book I am currently reading

I haven't had much time to read lately. I'm in the middle of re-reading The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. I haven't read it since college and so far it's been a little bit like reading a book I haven't read before. After reading almost the first half, there are quite a few things that happen in the beginning that I didn't remember.

9) One book I have been meaning to read

There are a lot of books that fit this topic as well! In addition to The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, I'm really looking forward to Hunting the Hunter by Shiloh Walker and Taking the Cake by Kate Davies. Hopefully I'll have some free time after I get settled in to teaching after the first few weeks of classes.

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Since it's been ages since I've blogged, I'm not sure who will stumble upon this, so I won't tag anyone specifically. Any of you reading this who haven't responded and want to do so, consider yourself tagged:)

Forgive Me...

I've been so busy this last week with my research project that I haven't had a chance to blog. I've taken a ton of photos that I need to wade through so I'll be posting some (hopefully) soon. I even experimented a bit tonight with a makeshift tripod taking pictures of the moon and the clouds.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Get Your Kicks On Route 66!

For those of you who visit my blog regularly, you may remember that I have been working on a Route 66 photo tribute. I just moved from my apartment in Claremont which was located just off Route 66 (aka Foothill Blvd) here in California. Between moving and seeing the movie Cars, I got all sentimental and decided to take some photos of the various signs I thought were cool along Route 66. I hope you all enjoy the photos:)

Somewhat off topic, does anyone else get all weepy and sentimental about moving or is it just me? Sometimes I wonder because I never moved as a child, but I've moved 4 times since college now! And I've always been pretty sentimental, but moving just makes me nostalgic and a bit sad.

Anyway, the pictures are in the two posts below. I had quite a few so I split them up. Also, pardon my night shots. Lighting is my biggest challenge, so some of them may not be too great.

Tribute to Route 66

Along the road there are Historic Route 66 signs. These first two pictures are of a sign near my old apartment. The weird thing is I never realized it was there until just a few weeks ago LOL!

Here is another sign a bit farther west along Route 66. The pictures aren't that great since it was a very bright (and HOT!) day.

Close up of sign above...

I thought this coffee cup sign was really cute! It was hard to get a decent shot without getting run over, though.

This is the sign that caused all the uproar I posted about a while back. It's a gas station and I thought the sign was kinda cool.

In-N-Out is a great hamburger place. I love it!

Wolfe's Market is right next to the Claremont Colleges and is a popular place to go for sandwiches and such.

More pictures in the post below!

Tribute to Route 66...Continued

Joey's BBQ is just down the street from my old apartment and has *great food*

Photos of the sign at night...

Here is the sign at the entrance to the Vons Shopping Center. The sign is broken so the middle light doesn't light up.

Sign over the gas station section of Vons

I thought the gas pumps were really cool, so I took some pictures! It was a bit hard since it is pretty busy with cars coming and going. Pardon any glare!

McDonald's Classic...There was another sign, but the Route 66 part of it didn't light up so it didn't turn out quite right :(