Had a fun shoot with Jody this weekend. Fortunately, the artist-slash-recycler-slash-junkyard-owner next door was very cool, and allowed us to shoot in his recycling plant, for some great images.

There’s a tiny bit of flesh on this image, so I put it after the jump. Click for more.

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A friend is looking for some good people in Irvine, CA … if you’re a fit, email me ASAP at jason … at … thecalendarfactory.com and I’ll pass your info along:

The first position is a front office and marketing coordinator at a good base base + override on company business. After that need several sales people (Investment Counselors) unlimited commission income. Need tech person who can edit podcasts, do internet marketing , etc. and we also need a PR and marketing person later.

How odd is it that the one time in … hmmm … in forever that I shoot a rabbit and it ends up being the day before Easter. The Easter Bunny was caught red-handed (red-pawed?) at Crystal Cove:

Saturday was probably the most beautiful I have ever seen the SoCal coast. Not only was it about 75 degrees … but it was low-tide, leaving spectacular rock formations … and on top of that, it’s a big wildflower year, and they are out for a few weeks.

I didn’t know which direction to aim my camera first, it was really perfect. I think this is my favorite image of the day … it’s almost like little galaxies of flowers in a universe of plants … or something like that …

These pictures lose a lot at 500 pixels wide, but I think you can get the idea at least. If you have time this week, I encourage you to head down to the boardwalk at Crystal Cove (north of Laguna and south of Newport Beach in SoCal) and enjoy the sunset.

Last night I heard the Chairman Emeritus of First American Title Company speak (actually, it’s “The First American Companies” or something, but I think everyone knows them as a Title Co.).

He’s like 118 years old, but he was funny and interesting … and (not surprisingly somehow) a Kennedy.

It was in that cool First American building right off the 55 freeway in Santa Ana (California, for you non-local readers). There was tons of history and documents in the building. What surprised me was how much of an effect on that company has had on the history of this county. For being something we pretty much NEVER think about, the fact that we know the boundaries of our land (and someone guarantees that) is what makes real estate ownership possible, and that’s what makes our lifestyle and economy possible. It’s pretty amazing when you think about it all.

Last year I was fortunate enough to be talking with the VP of Honduras, and he was saying that one of their countries greatest challenges right now is establishing a clean title system.

It all gets back to what a fragile and complicated structure our society rests upon … without real estate rights, none of us would have homes that we didn’t have to fight for … and without all of these complicated systems and companies to hold it all together, it all would fall apart. Kind of makes me wonder what kind of things we could see during our lifetimes … the Great Depression II, the Black Plague II, none of these possibilities are as remote as we’d like to think, and society wouldn’t necessarily hold together too well during such a crisis.

(Hope you enjoyed today’s happy, peaceful thought.)

Probably the most looked at post I have here is this post covering how to use Photoshop to create effects like those featured in the movie 300. There’s been lots of talk on it, here and online on some Forums.

I just watched the movie again the other night, and I noticed that there is no one, single “300 effect” used throughout. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’ve read the blog and/or know me, you’ve probably seen enough pictures of my nephew Branson. Tough.

In honor of his one year birthday today, I’m posting a couple more. And then, after the bday party on Saturday, you’ll be subjected to even more. Deal with it. At least he’s cute.

Above you see Branson at day 5, and at 6 months. Next up: 1 year.

Yet another reason to love my neighbors this week is the freshly brewed, hand-delivered Turkish coffee of one of our “artists in residence” James. (Unfortunately, I don’t know James’ last name nor his website, but his art is fantastic. When I figure it out I’ll post a link). Anyway, who know that there was Rose Water (among other things) in Turkish coffee?

On the downside, you’re only supposed to drink a little 2oz cup of the stuff. But I only had a regular cup (not the one shown above), which James warned before filling: “Don’t drink the whole thing unless you’re really looking for a caffeine high.” I wasn’t, but I did. Now, either the world is really slow or I’m going really fast. Probably the latter.

Maybe that explains the 3 blog posts in one week.

I’m on the phone right now with the IRS, as it seems that I owe them some money. There’s this beautiful classical music playing in the background, which, as I identified it, caused me to practically fall on the floor laughing.

So, what music does the IRS — the world’s most notorious collection agency — play when they have you on hold? What else but … The Nutcracker.

Here’s one of my favorites from the wedding a couple of weeks ago:

In other news … BBQ season at the Lofts is now officially open. Thanks to Dr Jason for a great barbecue today. There were about 15-20 neighbors, bbq ribs and a ton of other foods, and perfect SoCal weather … just one more reason I’m still loving it here. And yes … to those who chided me for not updating enough, I’ll begin updating the blog a bit more regularly.

Just a new photo from the Jon Marie session from a few weeks back.