Friends of Father

Our second stop: Humboldt. Arcata, CA to be exact. The home of Humoldt State University. It’s some beautiful country. A magic wonderland. Not sure what I’d do to make money, but I could live there. Make it work. The drive in was pretty unreal. Avenue of the Giants makes your mouth drop. Definitely a must see. I almost broke John’s camera. Taking a picture, backing up to get it composed just so, then BAM! Tumbled head-over-heels thanks to a giant death-boulder that had crept up directly behind me. Sucks no one saw it. All I heard was, “My camera!!!!”, as I sat suspended mid-air for a moment, staring at my feet framed by giant redwoods. I was able to do a little hoola-hoop move to save the camera. A gymnast would’ve been proud.

Then it was back in the SUV, back on the road. We stayed at a friend of a friend’s. I’m consistently amazed by the generosity of others on this journey. We’ve been very lucky. Our dinner was paid for by our host. Some mouth watering pesto, feta, spinach, and sun-dried tomato pizza and Sierra Nevada at a local pizza joint. Bed came soon after. We were all pretty exhausted. We were also excited to get on to our next stop: Crater Lake, OR. Excited we should be.

The first stop on our west coast road trip: San Francisco. We arrived at our old friend Tyler’s around 10pm, four hours later than expected. Our first rental SUV had died about ten minutes after setting off towards the 5. That’s right, we didn’t even make it onto the highway. A two hour layover followed at a beautiful park in Santa Clarita overlooking a SoCal wildfire. After a 90 minute soccer session, Dennis’s parents brought us hamburgers. The new rental arrived shortly after. Tyler’s a Coast Guard warrior from the ATL. He and Dennis, a Navy warrior himself, volleyed military abbreviations and acronyms for a few hours. Tyler and his wife were great hosts. Franklin only bit one foot. It was a good night capped off with some delicious bay area pizza.

The next morning we woke early, crossed the Bay Bridge and the adventure was underway. Chinatown, Little Italy, the Wharf. It was gorgeous. Not a cloud in the sky all day. Perfect walking temps, just cool enough. Brad and Alyssa met us for dinner at Alioto’s (not sure of the spelling of this place and don’t really care enough to google it. It was an overpriced, tourist spot, I think. at least my meal tasted like it. I’m sure the city can do better.) We had booked two rooms at the Sheraton at Fisherman’s Wharf. Nice place. Overpriced lattes. Seven dollars for a double? No thanks. I walked the few blocks separating the hotel and the nearest Peet’s. Smart move.

The Flip is now charged, finally. Today it’s the Haight, Coit Tower, then the 101 north towards Humboldt. It’s hard to think about moving back east when the west coast is so damn beautiful and inspiring. Lots of photos and video to come.

San Francisco > Humboldt > Crater Lake > Astoria > Seattle.

We’re hitting the road. Los Angeles to San Francisco. San Francisco to Humboldt. Humboldt to Crater Lake. Crater Lake to Astoria. Astoria to Seattle. Here’s to an adventure along the west coast.

I’d left Atlanta at 8:30am, landed in Los Angeles at 12:30pm, and arrived at the Tanner’s by 2:30pm for Todd’s bomb ribs. The BBQ turned into a ShakeItPhoto party. I don’t have an iPhone, so I watched. Lots of laughs and full stomachs. I was delirious when we left: sleep deprived and full of meat & Taurino.

Music: Wilco – SummerTeeth in remembrance of Jay Bennett who passed this Memorial Day weekend.

I’m ready for a return trip to the city up north. I think I lived in San Francisco in a past life or perhaps had some life altering moment happen there. I’ve never felt so connected to a place, like when you drive past the first home you can remember as a kid. A flood of emotion gathers right below your diaphragm. It’s on my UnrealAmazing list. Everywhere you look there’s something worth seeing. And the sea lions. And sourdough bread. Yum.

Two days before my trip home I picked up a Flip UltraHD camera. After sifting through the 90-plus minutes of video captured, the above is the result. It likes a lot of light. Low light shots were usable with a little color tweaking in After Effects. Happy about the purchase. Go Flip. High five.

It’s been a fantastic week. LA to Dallas to Atlanta to Greenville, SC back to Atlanta back to Dallas back to LA to Anaheim back to LA. I saw my cousin, more like a sister, married to a really good man. I saw mothers, brothers, aunts, uncles, grandmothers, grandfathers, and friends. It was much-needed. It had been 21 months since I’d moved across the country with my wife-to-be. It had been 21 months since I’d seen my family. I couldn’t have planned a better trip home. The weather was perfect, even the rain. The plants were green; everything was in bloom. Honeysuckles. Their smell takes me back to summers spent at my aunt’s house. My mother’s twin. One of three sets on my mother’s side, the other two belonging to her sisters. Maybe this is why we’re all so close.

I returned to Los Angeles exhausted and a little homesick. It wasn’t for long. Good friends were celebrating Memorial Day with a magnificent bbq: delicious ribs, chicken, sausages, cookies, and cupcakes. A gathering that ended with everyone shaking their iPhones, capturing perfect moment after perfect moment. It’s nice to have a family when you’re removed from your family. It’s really what makes LA for me.

The above pictures are from the Angels / White Sox game last night in Anaheim. Three rows from the field. Loads of fun and the whole night was less than $20.

I just found this photo while organizing one of my drives. I’m trying to archive old stuff on hard drives I’ll store in a cabinet. When I need something off one of them I’ll slide it in the computer, remove the files and replace it in the cabinet. The photo reminded me of my trip to the Bay Area last year with my wife and our friend Kyle to visit Brad. A wonderful trip. I can’t wait to go back. It also reminds me that I’m leaving tomorrow morning for my first trip back to Atlanta since moving to Los Angeles 20 months ago. I’m really excited to see everyone. My mother’s twin sister’s oldest daughter is to be married on Saturday, so good times should be had. Traveling gets me excited like not much else. My stomach feels light until I arrive and then I wish hard that every second would last two until it’s time to head home. And then you return home and it’s back to your daily routine. Fortunately I’m really enjoying my new routine. So while I can’t wait to arrive in Atlanta, I am also excited to return to Los Angeles. To find out where I’m going.

I’ve been walking a lot. During the day when I grow anxious, I walk through my neighborhood. And I think. I began writing a series of shorts, so during these walks I imagine characters. What they do. Where they’ve been. I decided to do character studies as graphical explorations. A way to have fun and create freely. I’ll publish these as the characters continue to grow and evolve. This is the beginning of the first: TheBoxer.

I was laid off last week. What better way to get over it than by creating a new blog? Expect a creative flushing of pent up excitement, fear and wonder. Everyday I learn something new. Everyday I should create something new.