I just talked to my friend P. He's really cool. Here's a link to his Journal. He's an avid trail rider and he can do things on a bike that scare the crap atta me. Long ago we stayed up all night at R.'s place playing a Starwars game. I actually fell asleep, but when I woke up in the morning, he was still playing. That was a riot!

I'd better go to bed now. Physiotherapy tomorrow morning.

G'nite.

It's Thursday night and I just rode my bike up to SFU. SFU isn't very far from my apartment, but it's up at the top of a big mountain, so it's one hell of a hill climb on a bike. When I got to the top I was all sweaty, then when I rode back down I was freezing cold because I was going super fast. It started to rain on the way back, so I got soaked as well.

I know it sounds like it's not much fun, but I really like it. It's keeping me in good health and I prefer biking outside over working out in the gym.

I helped my best friend L. finish her house painting today. All the tricky little areas were finished (she got up at 6:00am this morning and did the little areas) so it didn't take us long to do the big areas this time.

I should get caught up on some things tonight. I have tons of photos that need to be retouched in photoshop still. This whole business of photography seems to equate to 10% shooting to 90% working on the processing part. I've kinda let the processing part pile up a little lately.

Have a good night.

Ciao!

Today I helped my best friend L. paint her house. I got paint all over me, but it was fun. There's even paint in my hair.

I'm going back tomorrow to paint some more. We still have to put the second coat on. I took some pictures while I was there. I propped the camera up on a table while I was painting and just used the remote controller to snap some random shots.

Luckily the weather wasn't too hot today, it was perfect for painting. I should be in bed now, I've got to try to go to the gym tomorrow morning before I get back to the painting.

Ciao!

"Where have I been?!" You might be thinking.

I've been a very busy boy lately. I can barely keep up with my regular activities. I've been mostly working on photography projects and now I'm repairing another computer for my good friend R. (The one with the Blues band).

I've also been trying to get more exercise, which I have been managing to do lately. I've been doing a lot of bike riding and a little working out as well. I prefer the bike riding, I really dislike the gym.

R. was very happy with his graduation photos and so was his family. That made me very happy. Making people happy is the best feeling in the world, so I love it. If I make someone happy, I feel great.

My newphew R.'s birthday is on the 12th of June, so some friends and I got together and bought some really nice binoculars for him. When we bought the binoculars, we were also given a great big black and yellow striped golf umbrella. It looks like a big hornet, or something a hornet would use. Since it's a golf umbrella, we came up with a name for it and presented my nephew with the "The Tiger Woods 'Hornet'". You had to be there.

I made a funny video the other day of my cat Sarah stealing a cookie. I added music and some special effects and it came out really funny. It's a really big file size, but I'm going to try to find a way to post it here so you all can download it. I'll work on it. The cookie video was my first attempt with this new video editing software I have. I'll do some more soon and post links to them, or make them available on CD. It sould be fun.

Ok, I'm off to bed. More to come.

G'nite.

Today was a wonderful day indeed!

Today my good friend R. (The blues musician) graduated from SFU (Simon Fraser University) with his Bachelor of Arts Degree/History Major. He actually graduated in December last year, but his convocation ceremony was today.

I was his official grad photographer.

Today I was reminded why it's important to be prepared, because if anything can go wrong, it will--and at the worst possible moment. I managed to slide into a nice, high spot to take photos of the grads coming down the stairs at SFU, just prior to when they take their seats at the beginning of the ceremonys. It was tricky, because there were many other eager photographers running around trying to find jus thte right spot. Mine was prime property at the time, up high and near the center and I was staying there no matter what.

So I shot off a few test shots (I was shooting film today mostly, with a 70-200 f2.8L Canon zoom lens) and double checked my exposure settings. Everything was functioning as it is supposed to. Then it happed. The battery in my film camera died. Instantly. Disaster, because my shutter was now stuck in the open position. I nearly freaked, but I knew I'd brought aother battery along in my equipment back. The problem was, my equipment bag was about 200 meters away with my friend R.'s sister. She was watching it for me from the seats back in the ceremony hall.

I had to think fast! Do I run back and quickly swap the battery? No, that would have been impossible with all the hundres of people moving about in every direction. So here I was standing there in a prime spot, with $4000.00 worth of camera gear in my hands that had been rendered completely useless by the failure of a $12.00 battery. And when I looked up, R. was just coming down the stairs. Luckily, I had my digital camera hanging around my neck. I ended up using that instead. It worked and the pictures were pretty good--acceptable enough for that particular shot anyway.

Then I rushed back to my equipment bag and changed the battery in the film camera. Fwew! Back in business! The new battery was nice and fresh and it gave me no trouble so it was all smooth sailing after that.

As the ceremonies proceded, I found another good location to shoot from near the front. I was waiting for my friend R. to walk onto the stage and accept his graduation certificate and my camera was in the ready position to capture the moment. Then a gentleman approached me and asked me if I would take some photos of his son for him. He didn't have a camera and so I agreed to do it for him, and he gave me his mailing address.

Then another man approached me and he was more desparate than the other man. He wanted photos of his son as well, but his own camera was broken. I agreed to do it for him. After I'd taken a few pictures of his son, I turned to him to get his contact information and he was crying. This nearly broke my heart because I wasn't expecting it. I somtimes forget how proud parents are of their kids when they succeed like this. I would be proud too.

I got a few more photos of my friend R. at the campus, and then we headed over to a nice, nearby park for a picnic dinner. We went to Burnaby Mountain Park. It's a beautiful park high up on a mountain overlooking Vancouver and the Pacific Ocean. My friend R.'s dad came all the way from Winnipeg Manitoba. He made some really great lasagna the night before and we had that. It was excellent! I'm not supposed to eat cheese, but I coudn't resist. It was yummy.

After dinner we played Bachi Ball and took some more photos of the family. I think everyone had a great time.

Tomorrow I'm going to take the film to the processing lab. I hope it comes out nicely. I'm also going for breakfast at IHOP with my best friend L. We both love IHOP.

So that was my day.

Gnite.

Yesterday (Sunday) I had a photo assignment in Vancouver. After the assigment, the client and I were driving by the train station. We pulled over to the side of the road and suddenly a huge fight broke out! It was two girls who were probably only about 16 to 18 years old. It got pretty ugly because they were pulling each others hair, kicking, punching, scratching and everything. They'd stop for a minute or two then they would start up again. I went into the train station and told the security officer there what was happening and I think he called the police. When I went back outside, the fight seemed to have ended. The whole thing was pretty freaky. It left my client and myself both thinking "Hmm. There goes the neighborhood."

The weather has been quite warm here lately, but cloudy. It's June now, so it sould get really hot outside soon. I love those sunny summer days, especially going to the beach at night. It's warm enough to walk around in a t-shirt and shorts. I'm eager to shoot some portrait shots on the beach just minutes after sunset. That's when the light is magical. I hope my lovely friend J.S. from Ontario makes it out here this summer.

I was checking out this really funny website last week called thinkgeek.com. They sell all kinds of interesting geek toys. I think I want everything (I'm a bit of a geek, in case you havent' noticed.) that they have. They even have caffeinated soap! I wonder what it would be like getting a caffeine blast from your morning shower?

There's a wishlist on the website, so I'm going to register ;-).

Off to bed now. G'nite.