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Afterthoughts : This Past Month
The turnaround in my life might be called complete. In June, before I got my car, was the lowest point. TheGirl left me (briefly), I was without a car, nor with prospects, stuck in two stupid jobs, and I was in the dumps. Today, only a couple of months later, I'm driving a new car. I got a promotion at work, and more hours at my other job. And lastly, I still have the woman I Love. And my art is going to be on display at one of my jobs. It is amazing how things can turn around on a dime. I'm on a good streak now, after having to deal with a very long bad streak.
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Aug 3, Is the tenth anniversary of this website/homepage. That day ten years ago I decided that I needed to create a website about myself. I'm not sure why, except that at the time websites/homepages were all the rage. I had had a site on Geocities, but I really wanted to do something of significance (if that makes sense). I knew what I wanted my site to be, and went about creating it. Knowing that it would never be finished, I built and built more pages showcasing my interests, my opinions, and my photos. Thanks to a tiny old Canon ELPH I was able to populate this site with something more than words. That was important, because previous attempts were only made up of words, since I didn't have a digital camera. It was that first digital camera that really was the force that lead to the creative want to grow this site. I'm not sure anyone reads this newsletter, but I'm not writing it for anyone but me.
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Typical tourist photo of Solvang
Aug 6, TheGirl and I took our second trip to Solvang, a quick trip to eat some aebleskivers and walk around. Most of our trip was spent on little side trips to a waterfall and to Pea Soup Anderson's. On our way back we stopped by Santa Barbara, and landed smack in the middle of Old Spanish days.
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Aug 12, As I was leaving work, I was asked to sit and read so that a cameraman could film my co-worker and me for some "B roll" for a story on Good Morning America. The cameraman shot us for a few minutes. And then we were done. The video above features yours truly. Look for me at around 45 seconds into the story.
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Drinks at Downtown Disney
Aug 13, TheGirl and I ended up heading to Downtown Disney to hang out, if you will. We walked around, had a drink, and then decided we needed to get some food. I had been hankering for Hometown buffet for the longest time. Thankfully there was one located less than two miles away from Disneyland. We drove over there and ate like pigs. I tried a little bit of everything. Since we were so close to Knott's, I decided to head over there for some yummy biscuits from the chicken to go location. The wait isn't near as long as the wait at the Knott's chicken dinner restaurant right next door. We ended the day tired but satisfied that we had a fun-filled day.
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2,400 miles in 46 days
Aug 15, While driving back from having lunch with TheGirl my new car hit 2,400 miles driven. It took me 46 days to drive that distance. An average of just over 52 miles a day. That's not a lot on the face of it. I probably drove that much in my old car. Certainly driving hasn't been this much of a pleasure in a long time. Having been carless for three months has made me appreciate every single mile I've driven.
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driving to Las Vegas
Aug 19, Drove to Las Vegas by myself in order to spend the weekend with TheGirl. She had some personal matters to attend to in Vegas, and she asked me to go with her. But duty called, and I had to make the trip after work. I don't think I've ever driven that far by myself before. Either way, it was quite a nice drive, if not a little frustrating at the beginning because of all the rush hour traffic all the way up to the 15. Once I drove past the Cajon pass it was clear sailing into Vegas. My little car did well up the highway.
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Coke machine heaven
Aug 20, As stated above, went to Las Vegas to help TheGirl out with some stuff. She took me to The Strip, and The World of Coke. She knows I LOVE Coke. They have a machine that mixes flavors in crazy combinations. I ended up having a huge barrel of cherry/vanilla Coke. Man, that was good! The rest of the day was spent going to Red Rock, the Disney outlet store, and finally The Strip. I didn't get to see much of the Strip, because TheGirl hates casinos. I wanted to check all of them out, but I guess I'll have to wait for that chance in the future. Still, I got to see a few things. I hadn't been to Vegas in something like 25 years, at least. It is definitely an orgy for the eyes. The whole place is made to excite the senses. I liked that, if only because it's so overwhelming to my senses.
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Fantasia at the Hollywood Bowl
Aug 21, As if driving to Vegas on Friday evening, then spending all day sightseeing, and then driving back on Sunday wasn't enough fun, TheGirl and I had tickets to the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday evening. We drove back home. I went home, dropped off all my stuff and then got ready for the bowl. TheGirl got us tickets to Fantasia at the bowl. Needless to say we were exhausted by the end of the day. The show was cool. TheGirl has never seen Fantasia, but being a Disney fan like me she bought us the tickets. I told her we can watch the movie some time soon. The music was cool, and I got to see two sequences that have only been presented to the public a few times. All in all it was a great night.
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"Just" Engaged
Aug 22, As if Vegas, and the Hollywood bowl wasn't enough, TheGirl and I wound up crazy great weekend by going to Disneyland! Vegas was a last minute thing, but Disneyland and the bowl were planned weeks ago. So we couldn't very well change out plans just because we were a little tired from the day before. Disneyland with TheGirl is so much fun. Having gone to Disneyland alone for so many years it's wonderful to share my Disneyland with TheGirl. Her Father worked for the company, but she is surprised at all the things I know about the park. Like were all the best food is, and the most secluded bathrooms are. We played a little trick on the Disney folks by getting the button pictured above. Disneyland gives buttons away for different occasions, such as first time visit, or birthdays. TheGirl wanted the "Just Engaged" button this time, since last time we got the "Honorary Disneyland Citizen" button. Well, the girl that helped us went above and beyond. She told us that the buttons were no longer made, but that she found two in a little bag in the back. So they are now collector's items. We wore the buttons the rest of the day, and a dozen people congratulated us on our "engagement." It was awesome!
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super yummy bread pudding
Aug 27, Obviously not happy going to Disneyland earlier in the week, TheGirl and I went to Downtown Disney after checking out the Sawdust art festival in Laguna Beach. I couldn't decided what to eat, but after making the decision to eat at The Rainforest Cafe, and finding that the wait was two hours, I decided to try The Storytellers cafe in the Grand Californian hotel. We had at buffet, and ate like dogs. But we saved a little room for the recommended bread pudding made out of croissants. The dessert was heaven. The meal cost me a pretty penny, but it was worth it.
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exhibit poster
Aug 29, It's really happening. My photos will soon be on display at the Glendale public library. Here is the poster that's gonna announce my exhibit. I have to figure out how to make a few bucks out of this. For now, I'll just enjoy the fact that people will be checking out my work.
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