Show Time

Today was the annual Orange Plaza Car Show. My parents entered their '32 Ford (pictured above), and a couple of my friends came down to check out the show. My oldest friend Mark came down from Glendale in his '64 Lincoln Continental, and a bit later, we met up with my local friend Faryal. I hadn't seen Mark in about 5 years, so it was good to see him after such a long time. He had to leave a bit early, so afterward I had lunch and a nice conversation with Faryal. She's a cool chick. ;)

After the show, my parents and I went to Felix Cafe, the Cuban restaurant in the Plaza. This place is a local favorite, and for good reason. We then took a cruise around Old Towne Orange in the '32, checking out the beautiful Craftsman, Victorian and Spanish style homes. It was a relaxing day of cool cars, good friends and classic Orange.











Mi amiga Faryal.


Mark and his '64 Continental.


Discussing restoration possibilities.





Decisions, decisions.

Until next time, a wise Chinese proverb:

Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.

The Cracks Are Healing

Well, it's just one crack, but it's getting better. I went to the orthopedist for a follow-up this afternoon, and he believes the cracked bone in my arm has healed. However, because of the still-limited motion of my elbow, he believes it may have been partially and briefly dislocated, not just broken. So, he told me to start stretching it, using only the muscles of my right arm. I have another appointment in one month to check on the healing process.

The good news is that the bone has healed, and that my arm feels just a little better each day. Also, I no longer have to use this thing:



Because of my appointment, and the fact that I have a bit of a cold, I decided to take a sick day at work and get some other things done. I've had a bank account at B of A in Hacienda Heights that I haven't used for years, so I thought it would be a good idea to use the time to finally close it. And since I was in Hacienda Heights, I decided to do something I hadn't done before- visit an old teacher of mine.

About a year ago, I found my old elementary school online, and discovered that my fifth grade teacher, Miss Alderete, was now school principal. I was suprised at that, and I was really curious to see how what she was like now and how she was. She was a good teacher- tough but fair. She was also very nice under the tough facade, and she obviously cared about kids.

Prior to having her as a teacher, I had a traumatic experience in fourth grade with a truly mean teacher, Miss Woolett. She was nasty, and only with the boys in class. Of course, boys usually are more mischievous and disruptive, but I was a fairly quiet, good kid. I had never gotten in trouble with any teacher before, but this witch made me feel like I was a terrible kid. She did stuff she would never get away with nowadays- if you were a boy, she would flick you in the back of the head for talking, or twist your cheek, or pinch your arm. She'd make us write a hundred sentences almost daily, "I will not talk". She'd make us pick up trash on our recess breaks, sending the girls out after us to make sure we were doing it. She would "lose" your homework somehow, saying you never turned it in, and would make you do it over. She made me hate school, which I never did before. Only later, as an adult, did I put some pieces of the puzzle together and realize that she was a male-hating, butch-dyke lesbian. You don't know that kind of stuff when you're a kid. Actually, if California Senator Sheila Kuehl gets her way, that is going to change. More on that at the end of this post.

Anyway, after that bad experience, I was ready for a new teacher for fifth grade. I didn't care who it was, as long as it wasn't Miss Alderete, who's reputation for being mean preceded her. When I went with my mom to find out who my teacher would be, I was distraught to learn my greatest fear had come true. I couldn't take another year with a mean teacher. Mom told me to give Alderete a chance, and if it didn't work, I'd go to another teacher. Well, Miss Alderete turned out to be one of my favorite teachers, which brings me to today.

I stopped by my old school, Grazide Elementary, and went to the office. It all started coming back to me, and it looked largely the same as it had when I went there. I went to the office and asked if Miss Alderete was available, and when she came out to see me, I was taken aback. Of course, I had expected her to look older- I had her as a teacher twenty-five years ago! She did look older, but more startling was her weight gain. She was about 5'1", 105 lbs. when I had her, and now she's probably 145. She also has shorter, brownish-blonde hair, where she had longer, almost black hair before. Only her eyes looked the same. Like me with her, she didn't recognize me right away. But, she invited me into her office, and started to remember me and my classmates. She talked to me for an hour! I had only hoped for 5 minutes with her, but she loves to talk and was so happy to see a former student.

I was also suprised to learn that she never married and never had any kids, which she says disappoints her a little. But, as she said, she has thousands of kids in a way, and she seems happy. It was really nice to see her, and I'm glad I stopped by to visit. I wish her well.

An interesting side note- Grazide is now seventy percent Asian, about 25% hispanic, and 5% caucasian. When I went there, the numbers were just about the opposite for whites and Asians, about the same for hispanics. They don't call it Hong Kong Heights for nothing!

Oh, and I got my hair cut today, too. The End.


This Week's Sign of the Apocalypse:

A bill requiring California public school textbooks to specifically identify contributions by gays in history is being considered by the Senate. Is this what public schools are for? Do we need to politicize the classroom and sexualize our kids? Are kids in school to learn reading, writing, history, math and "alternative lifestyles"? The leftist agenda continues to infiltrate every possible government/public establishment it can, and it's shameful. There are major, detrimental changes taking place right under our noses, and they are going to have a negative effect on future generations if common sense continues to be brushed aside. Just my opinion.

Nikon D70

Firstly- my apologies if the page loaded slowly. This entry is chock full of photos, as I'm paying tribute to my camera. I've had my Nikon D70 for a little more than a year now, so I thought I'd share some of the many photos I've taken with it.

My D70 by far the best camera I've owned. Not that I've owned many; I still have my first "real" camera, a Canon AE-1. It's a film SLR (single lens reflex), and still works well. Actually, it's the second AE-1 I've had. I bought the first one at a pawn shop when I was about 20, and it was stolen in Spain 9 years later. While in Spain, I bought the another from a used camera shop. I still used it until I bought the D70; I haven't used it once since.

I held out a long time before buying a digital camera. When I finally got one, it was a little Nikon Coolpix, which I loved for its convenience and small size. It was just a little snapshot camera, but it served its purpose well, and suddenly film seemed like a hassle. After after about 3 years with the Coolpix, I began yearning for a "real" camera again- one with the quality and features of an SLR, and the convenience of a digital.

As a photographer, I was unconvinced of the quality of digital photos for many years. I had been using a good digital camera for at work for almost 5 years, yet film still provided superior results. I decided to be patient, as I didn't want to sacrifice quality for convenience (that's probably why I'm still holding out on buying an iPod- MP3s still sound inferior to me). As digital technology progressed and I was finally satisfied that digital photos could match the quality of conventional photos, I started to think about buying a serious camera.

My friend Cory had purchased a D70 while in Japan, and raved about it. I could see the dramatic improvement in his photos, and decided to look into it. I had been pleased with other Nikon digital cameras at work and at home, and I was used to Nikon controls and functions. After some fairly intensive research, the D70 became the natural and obvious choice.

On March 12, 2005, I purchased the camera at Samy's (a camera store I highly recommend), just in time for my trip to Mexico. In fact, I bought the camera only hours before my flight, and I was really glad I did. Once I got to Guanajuato and started shooting, I knew I'd made the right choice. The quality, funcionality and ease of use, along with my surroundings, inspired me to take photos I'd wanted to take for years. I made good use of my new camera during my 9 days in Mexico, and in the year since then as well.

In truth, I've really only scratched the surface in terms of what the camera can do. I tend to shoot in a "photojournalistic" style- straightfoward shots of my surroundings. If and when I ever get to more creative or conceptual work, I'm sure I'll be pleased with the results as well.

Now to the photos. Here's a sampling of photos I've taken with my D70 over the last year- some are "pre-blog", though some of you may have seen the Mexico photos before. The rest are pics I haven't posted before, for the most part. It was hard to pick such a small number of pics from the thousands I've taken- there are so many more I wish I could share. Anyway, thanks for reading, and happy scrolling.

March, 2005


















April, 2005




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June, 2005


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September, 2005


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November, 2005




December, 2005


January, 2006


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April, 2006