What a great day!

Two really good days in a row, imagine that.

Yesterday at work I had my project reviewed and actually got the word "exemplary." Wow, I hit a home run…It's about freakin' time! The project actually went together very well, much better than expected. It probably helps that it isn't more than a minute twenty seconds. I guess that I do take some consolation in that the only assistance I received was from my friend in another organization.

I went on a hike today with the Palm Springs Meetup group. What a great group of people. I missed Cathline, I really do like to share these outings with her. We went to Joshua Tree and hiked for about 2.5 hours. Of course a good portion of that time was spent standing while some of us (myself included) took photos.

Speaking of taking pics, I had a great time. I was actually seeing that which I wanted to shoot. The controls were working smoothly and the images were what I was hoping for and much more. There was a mill and some old, rusted-out cars that were wonderful to shoot. The combination of deteriorated rubber, rust and weathered wood was a pleasant surprise.

Follow that with a good lunch at a local Mexican restaurant, it was a pretty good day. Getting to know and talk to others with similar interests was really good. All in all, a pretty great day.

What a day...

My first 13-hour day of the year is done and I'm mentally preparing for another tomorrow. I'm glad this only happens a few times a year. Which is a far cry from when I started my career some 30 years ago.

The good news is, I've found direction and the project is just flowing like a river unobstructed. It's about freakin' time! Once I started and put on the headphones time just flew by. I really love it when projects go like this. In a way, it's almost spiritual, zen-like...

Now to get the approval of my boss. Not so easy a task sometimes. And with the deadline looming (less than a week) time for a project review may have to come over the weekend. The thing is, I can actually see finishing my project in two days, before the weekend. THAT would be cool, very cool indeed!

Have you ever had one of those days...

Well of course you have, we all have at one point or another. Mine just seems to have started about six months ago. I can't seem to design my way out of a wet paper bag.

It started with a website. With two weeks before a soft launch we were hit with "it's just not working for me, can we change it?" Here we are two months later and facing another soft launch within three weeks with a website I had absolutely no input on. From websites to print to video I am feeling like I'm in the middle of the Sahara without a drop of inspiration in sight.

So the age-old questions have come to life: "what do I do" and "where will do it?" With the employment market being what it is the latter doesn't really seem viable. With the addition of drama in my personal life, the immediate future looks even more interesting.

My one bright spot is my girlfriend.  I do find myself thinking of her quite often during the day and when I will be able to see her next. I do count her as truly one of my blessings.  Is it possible that all my creative energies are going to my relationship with this wonderful woman instead of my career? Hmmm... I guess I will have to ponder that thought.

And so it begins...

I've never thought of myself as a writer of any sort let alone a blogger, so here goes...

I am a webmaster by trade, starting off as a technical illustrator right out of high school. The positions I have held have taken me into graphic design in marketing and ad agencies here in SoCal then into web design. I still take pictures but now I work on data-driven websites and get to shoot and post produce digital video. I have to say, this is lots of fun too!

I got my first camera back in the 70s, a Pentax with a screw-on telephoto lens. I had a blast learning how to use it. I shot everything: family, friends, landscapes even squirrels. I found my love for sports photography around the mid-90s shooting roller and ice hockey. I have since taken up shooting bicycle racing and loving every minute.

I have had the pleasure of shooting with experienced photogs and learning as much as I possibly can. So far the most fun has been shooting a 24 hour mountain bike race in Canada. While on location I used equipment provided me. When I got home I went through the controls on my camera and immediately thought I just HAD to upgrade! ;-) I'm still saving for that "ultimate" camera...

Recently I have taken up "project 365." the challenge is to take and publish (upload in my case) an image a day for a year. For me, I am using just my iPhone for this project: no interchangeable lenses, minimal exposure controls. Then I publish my images to My Facebook page. So far, I have had many positive comments from my FB friends and family.

That's about it for now.