December is a time of reflection.  As I look back at the year that's now in the past I think about how quickly the year flew by, until December.  Most of the year was uneventful.  However, December was truly a month of change and transition.  I can say that December was the most interesting and the longest month of 2010 for me.

Time to eat

December 8th was my job's annual luncheon.  The first one I attended a couple of years ago I got a nice fat $100 gift card for BestBuy.  It was good because it allowed me to buy a Blu-ray player.  Before the luncheon I accompanied my friend/co-worker Holly to the California Science Center to take some pictures for a class.

Wayne's favorite room at Oviatt

December 13th I went and visited my friend and old boss Wayne at the Oviatt Library.  Perhaps the last time I step on my old campus, because he was the last tie I had to that place.  Visiting him was the only reason I continued going to CSUN.  On this day Wayne wanted to walk around the campus and revisit some of his favorite spots.  Sorta like a farewell tour of the buildings.  In the picture above Wayne is standing outside of a room in the Oviatt library that holds a lot of significance for him.  I won't go into the details as to why this particular Graduate study room means so much to him.  Suffice to say, this was his first stop on the grand tour.

Because of Christmas falling on a Friday/Saturday this year I have had a lot of days off from work.  The week of the 20th I only worked two days.  We ended up doing a casual Christmas with the family.  Nothing too involved these days since my cousin's kids are young.  In short, my aunt and I went over for dinner and came back home rather early.  Which was fine by me because I was stuffed with food.  I shouldn't eat so much.
Christmas Eve eve my buddy and I went to a place called Umami Burger in Hollywood.  Here's a review I wrote for it on Yelp.

My buddy and I decided to try Umami burger after having a discussion a few weeks ago about how we need to try some of the new burger joints in town.  I ordered the SoCal burger without tomato and some tempura onion rings.  The burger was tasty, but I can't say that I was overwhelmed.  The flavor was a mix I'm not sure how to put into words.  I guess I expected more of a "meaty" taste, but it bordered more on the salty than meaty.  That's not to say it taste like a salt lick, or anything like that.  It's subtle, which I liked.  The burger was wonderfully juicy.  I ordered it medium-well because sometimes these new burger joints will under cook the burger, which is almost as bad as the ones that overcook them.  And yet the burger was still juicy.  I liked the tempura onion rings more than I liked the burger, but only slightly.  Served with a super sweet ketchup, the rings are find without it.  I commented that the ketchup seemed too sweet, more akin to Hunts than Heinz.  I rather like the more vinegary taste of Heinz, so having a super sweet ketchup wasn't my cup of tea.  Next time I will probably bring my own ketchup & mix it in with theirs.  Or just forgo their ketchup.  All in all I would go back for another meal, but I'm not going to rush out.  My buddy said it best, "I might come back in a year or so."  It's good to try, and the neighborhood is cool to walk around.  Oh, and the Mexican Coke was good, but I wish it had been colder.  We wondered how hard it was to chill a Coke.  I mean come on... whatever happened to ice? Still, I'll probably be back.  But Umami burger didn't beat out some of my favorite burgers in town.  Pie n' Burger still remains tops, but Umami is a unique burger that should be tried.

Dec 27th, I opened a new checking account.  Now I mention this because it's part of how terrible things are now.  Chase, the bank I am using right now as I write this, is going to start charging me for my formally free checking account starting in February.  I can't imagine why I would want to stay with them if they are going to charge me $120 a year for the privilege of using their bank.  No thank you.  So I opened a new account at a different back, one that promises not to take away their free checking accounts.  If they do, I'll bail on them too.

On Dec 30th the last rolls of Kodachrome were being developed somewhere in Kansas.  When I found out a few months ago that by the end of this year there would no longer be a lab on Earth that would develop Kodachrome I told myself that I had to shoot my last rolls of the film.  Film that I had stored in my freezer for at least ten years (probably more).  I thawed out a roll and put it in my old SLR.  Sadly the date has come and I didn't get my film out in time.  I only shot half a roll, and even that was a stretch.  So that's it, the photos I took will never be developed.  It just wasn't meant to be.  Digital photography has taken over.  The ease of use, the ability to manipulate, and the instant gratification, is what drew me to digital a decade ago.  I still shoot film, but it's a small percentage of the amount I shoot.  I shoot about 20,000 photos a year.  I think of that amount I have developed a dozen rolls in two years time.  So yeah, I hate seeing Kodachrome go, but I'll attempt to duplicate the look of the film on photoshop.  Even if I don't master it, it will be fun trying.  Good-bye Kodachrome.

As I look back at 2010 I have to say that the first half of this year was pretty uneventful.  I can't think of one significant thing that happened other than me not going back to school after suffering through that horrible semester at the beginning of the year.  I don't regret many things, but starting that process of getting my masters in library science will definitely go down as one of the biggest regrets of my life.  I should have followed my gut feelings with that one, because even before I started I wondered if library science was really my cup of tea.  It seemed like a good career choice at the time.  However, I couldn't shake the idea that I was better off when I didn't get into the UNT program the first time around.  Stupid me appealed and got in only because they made the class larger.  I wasn't as excited as everyone was for me.  Again, the point of all this is that I should have counted my blessings and just walked away.  Instead I went to school, piled on more debt, and then learned that I hated library science.  I should have gone out for my MFA instead.  I can still do that, but it will have to wait until I'm not so deeply in debt.

How many of your friends on Facebook have a bunch of pictures of their cat(s)? That should be an automatic warning to you that your friend has no life.  You should seek help for your friend because posting 20 pictures a day of their cat is a sure sign that all is lost.  Stop the process before it starts.  Ask your friend to lunch, instead of just "liking" their newest wall post.  Find out the last time they got out of the house.  Find out if they are in their PJs on their day off from work.  The answers to these questions can help you gauge how far gone your friend is.  If they have gone into the realm of "Cat lady" then it's too late.  However, if your friend doesn't have more than one cat there is still hope for recovery.

If your life revolves around your multiple cats then it's time to look in the mirror and step back from the "no life" edge.  Seek help.  Go out and get a friend.  Read the newspaper and get some interests.  Get a life that doesn't revolve around your cats, for your own good.  Because the path you choose right now can affect your life in the future.  Collecting cats is a sure sign that down the line your house will be known as "That crazy cat person's" house, with all the negative connotations that involves.  I get it, cats are nice.  They are my favorite as well because they are pets that don't ask you for constant attention, unlike dogs.  Dogs are too much work, and even a couple of cats aren't as much problem as one dog.  Nevertheless, to choose having a cat shelter in your home is only going to lead to more problems.  People aren't great, and I can understand wanting to keep the interaction with others at a minimum.  But replacing human interaction with interaction with a cat, or many cats, isn't the same.  It's a sure sign of madness, and will ultimately lead to your life spiraling down to an unholy abyss where no one can reach out and give you a hand.

My iPhone project continues, with more pictures taken with my iPhone and filtered though a photo app named ToyCamera.  These pictures aren't intended to tell a story, just to be a showcase for this particular app and my photography using that app.  Enjoy the December pictures, which include pictures taken with my new iPhone.