Photo of the Week (June 29, 2008)

Greetings from Newport Beach, California, USA!
Photo taken on Thursday, June 26, 2008.

Can you tell that I really like the Microsoft Outlook computer program? This is the third time in the last four weekly emails that I have mentioned it. One of Outlook’s features is a calendar where I diligently keep track of what I do. My entries includes mundane trips to the post office and bank mixed in with more interesting outings to the Orange County Fair and job interviews. Additionally I’ve set up reminders for birthdays, wedding anniversaries and other significant events.

This may sound obsessive compulsive but I even write in “Did Nothing/Went Nowhere” if I stayed home to show that I did not forget to enter what I did that day. When writing these emails, I look at the Outlook calendar to refresh my memory. This week I have three days – Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday – marked with “Did Nothing/Went Nowhere”.

Fortunately the other four days had some noteworthy stuff. Highlights include lunch at a sushi restaurant on Sunday and beach volleyball as usual on Monday. Friday I went with a roommate and his friends to see “Wall-E”, the latest in a very successful line of computer-animated movies by Pixar Studios. I enjoyed this movie a lot and recommend it to everyone.

And Thursday? This week’s photo shows what I did on that day. My membership in the Newport Beach chapter of the Junior Chamber organization also covers activities with the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce. That group offered a complimentary two-hour yacht cruise of Newport Harbor. Sunny skies, warm winds and FOOD! I’m there!!! I invited a friend to join me. She was actually hesitant to go but ultimately went with me. She was in her first trimester and realized that she would not be able to do this later in her pregnancy or after she has her baby. Thinking that, she could not pass up on this opportunity.

In American business summer technically begins with the Memorial Day holiday, the last Monday of May, but the official start of the season in the Northern Hemisphere was last Saturday, June 21. I look at this week’s photo and a steady stream of words swirl in my mind – carefree, timeless, wild, fleeting. In other words – SUMMER! Three months of days like this is plenty of temptation to pull me away from the computer instead of looking for a job or updating my Outlook calendar. Frankly if every day is as picture perfect as this, I’m not fighting temptation.

Angelo

Photo of the Week (June 22, 2008)

Greetings from Newport Beach, California, USA!
Photo taken on Thursday, June 19, 2008.

In five weeks, I went from 0 jobs to 1 job to 2 jobs to 1 job to 0 jobs again. Yet somehow I was always able to fine the time to take at least a few photos. Now I have tons of free time once again and I almost forgot to take any pictures this week. In fact I took just two snapshots and one was blurry, making the other one the photo of the week by default. The shot is of a roommate’s wine case and, well, it’s dusty. I could have used the free time to clean the house – vacuum, dust, etc. – but I didn’t. But overall my home is remarkably “clean-ish” considering that I am one of three men sharing a condo.

In other news mid-June is an eventful time for my family. In addition to Father’s Day last Sunday, I have my dad’s birthday on Thursday the 19th and my parents’ wedding anniversary on Saturday the 21st. While I don’t really need to do anything for the latter, former is another story. Yet my dad’s birthday slipped my mind. In fact I recently installed the latest version of Microsoft Outlook onto my computer. It includes a calendar that I had already set up to remind me of birthdays, anniversaries and other “big days”. You see how effective that was.

My mom called to ask if I did anything for the occasion. I said that earlier in the day I mailed a birthday card to him. I said that I also called him but no one answered the phone nor did I leave a message as it would be too impersonal. That was a lie. Luckily my dad had gone golfing with friends that afternoon so the missed call alibi worked. I eventually did talk with my dad and immediately afterwards went out to buy and mail the birthday card.

Yes, I am a bad son. As I have written before, confession is good for the soul. Yet confessions are not apologies and I make no apologies for forgetting dad’s birthday nor not cleaning. Let he or she who has never been in a similar situation cast the first stone. Go ahead. I can take it. Just give me a few minutes to put on the hockey goalie suit before you start casting those stones. Always wear protection. Hey, sex ed class was good for something after all.

Angelo

Photo of the Week (June 15, 2008)

Greetings from Irvine, California, USA!
Photo taken on Tuesday, June 10, 2008.

This was the final week working on the special projects for my friend’s business. As the case is usually, regardless of all the work that you already put in, the last week is always the busiest. I would have stayed late to make sure that I got everything completed but I had one of those weeks when every evening was booked.

I know a group that plays beach volleyball every Monday evening through the summer months of June, July & August. I missed the first one last week but went this time around. Despite my love for the sport, this was only the second time this year that I had played but I look forward to making it a weekly ritual again.

Tuesday evening I was at the University of California, Irvine campus. The School of Social Sciences, where I got my undergraduate degree in Economics, held an event that included a tour of an under-construction building. This week’s photo shows a warning sign, “Stripping in Progress” and several poles in the background. Construction workers removed or “stripped” the wooden molds used in shaping the concrete walls and floors/ceilings. The poles support the ceilings while the cement continues to harden enough to support itself. Sorry, no scantly clad dancers or dollar bills involved.

Wednesday was a dinner for another group and Thursday was a double whammy. First was a networking event at an employment agency with which I have worked previously. That was followed by a meeting with a philanthropic group to discuss the ChildSpree community project. Friday was another pair of events. I went to the restaurant Javier’s where a friend was having a dinner to celebrate her birthday. I was there only for the pre-meal happy hour but didn’t even have a drink before I headed back to the beach for more volleyball with another group.

The weekend was spent at my parents’ house. My parents left for a trip to Las Vegas on Thursday evening, back on Sunday, just in time for Father’s Day. After a week like this, I did nothing but lounge. Wouldn’t you?

Angelo

Say Cheese! (June 11, 2008)

Greetings from Newport Beach, California, USA!
Photo taken on Sunday, March 23, 2008.

I know. I am several weeks behind in my emails. After clearing my last backlog, I immediately got behind all over again but vow to catch up by month’s end. You gotta have goals, right?

My opening line, “Say cheese!” is the theme for this year’s Orange County Fair. For those of you who have not gotten my emails since the very beginning, my first photo of the week was taken at this annual event. I will be going to it again and already have in mind to use a fair photo with the weekly email marking my first anniversary. I will have gone full circle.

The theme is very fitting as I submitted a couple of pictures into the fair’s photography competition. Earlier this week a letter came telling me that one photo passed the qualifying round. Now I need to provide a framed print for the final judging and display during the fair. WOOHOO!

Which photo made the cut? Not the one attached to this email. This photo was taken way back on Easter Sunday and captures elements synonymous with Southern California life – a surfer emerging from the ocean, other surfers bobbing in the water, a setting sun being reflected off a wave receding from the beach. Classic. Iconic. But not the one that I submitted into the contest.

Why did I not include it with this email? I wanted to give you a new picture instead of repeating one. That is right. It is a previous photo of the week. Which one? I will give you each one guess and say if you are right. If wrong, you will have to go to the fair and look for it in the photo gallery. Hopefully next to a blue ribbon. Yes, I am being a tease.

Angelo

Photo of the Week (June 8, 2008)

Greetings from Santa Ana, California, USA!
Photo taken on Tuesday, June 3, 2008.

How can I not start with this week’s photo? This puppy is a female golden retriever with the Hawaiian name of Kala. She practically blends into the pile of stuffed animals and chew toys in the photo. Few things are as peaceful as a sleeping puppy but looks are deceiving. Kala chews and gnaws at everything (she has even broken skin on my arm - nothing serious) and needs to be potty trained (she left a few “surprises” around the office).

As I have mentioned previously, I am temporarily working for a friend. He runs his own business and brings his dogs into the office. He already has a male weinaramer named Bismarck and another female golden retriever named Tessa (short for Contessa). The latter dog is almost 10 years old and has hip dysplasia, a form of arthritis commonly found in canines, especially larger breeds. Because of her age and physical condition, Tessa is not expected to live much longer. To ease the coming loss, my friend decided to get Kala as a new companion for Bismarck as well as the rest of the family.

In other news, last weekend I saw my parents who gave me a birthday present – cash. I get the same thing for Christmas too. In fact last year in late April when visiting my parents for the weekend, I mentioned saving up for a new laptop computer and they asked how much it would cost. Right before leaving to go home, I got an early birthday present – a check with an amount large enough to buy the computer (and a printer too).

This year the money was a smaller but traditional amount. Since my current job is only temporary, I could save the cash for an emergency but, come on, it’s birthday money. I gotta spend it on something fun or at least slightly unnecessary. After a bit of thought, I bought the current version of Microsoft Outlook. I had an older edition of the software that came with my last computer but it had compatibility problems with the Microsoft Vista operation system on my newer laptop.

I lived without the program for a year and missed it the entire time. The experience was like breaking a bone in your arm. You still have the arm but it is entirely unusable. Now all my limbs are working again and I feel complete computer-wise. But getting a puppy too would be nice.

Angelo

Photo of the Week (June 1, 2008)

Greetings from Glendora, California, USA!
Photo taken on Saturday, May 31, 2008.

Memorial Day was on Monday. When you are not working, every day is a “holiday” or “day off”. I’ve barely worked two weeks and having a three-day weekend felt too soon. So despite the recent work and subsequent cash flow, I intentionally kept the holiday uneventful, which spilled into the remains of the workweek. Tuesday was the last day of my two-week job at the Orange County Register newspaper and I went back working full time at my friend’s office after that.

Friday was the eve of my birthday and I hosted a pizza & poker party. I would never turn away a present but instead of gifts this time, I asked guests for $10 donations towards a community project called ChildSpree, which I will write about in the future. About two dozen people came and I collected over $250 as some guests donated more. Additionally we had a Texas Hold-em Poker Tournament. Buy-in was $10 and 16 people played. I competed and advanced to the final round with the second-most chips of the remaining 6 players. The $160 of prize money was split for the top three spots and I finished 4th. Interestingly the winner was the player who entered the final round with the fewest chips.

I did not have the party on Saturday, my actual birthday, because a friend was having his annual crawfish boil that day which I would have skipped out on my own party to attend. For the uninitiated, crawfish are best described as miniature lobsters. This week’s photo shows my friend pouring onto a table a freshly boiled batch of steaming sausage, garlic, corn and crawfish, of course. The shot makes my hungry for more but sadly this was the last boil. For several years, my friend has hinted to moving to Texas and he looks close to actually doing it as his invitation clearly stated that this was his FINAL crawfish boil.

At the boil, I was pleasantly surprised by a birthday cake of delicious chocolate. It was brought by another friend who joined me in going to the movies to watch the latest Indiana Jones movie later that day. “Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls” was enjoyable but I rank it third out of the four movies in the series, better that “Temple of Doom” but not up to par with “Last Crusade” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. I have a tough time deciding which of these last two is better. It’s too close to call. While I was happy to see another Indiana Jones movie, this will likely be the last one and I wish it ended on a better note. Better to stop now than have Harrison Ford in a wheelchair fighting Cold War-era Russians in “Indiana Jones and the Secrets of the Kremlin”. I shudder at the thought.

Angelo