this page intentionally left blank

I wonder if she was wearing one of those Strange Days recorders... unreal.

WALK ALL OVER YOU - Highway To Hell (1979) (Young, Young & Scott) Out of my way I'm running high Take your chance with me and I'll give it a try Ain't no woman in the world I know 'Cause I ain't looking for an overflow Oh baby I ain't got much Resistance to your touch Take off the high heels, let down your hair Paradise ain't far from there I wanna walk all over you I wanna walk all over you Do anything you want me to, baby I wanna walk all over you Reflections on the bedroom wall And girl you thought you'd seen it all We're rising, falling like the sea You're looking so good under me I'm gonna walk all over you I'm gonna walk all over you Do anything you want me to do to you I'm gonna walk all over you Moanin', groanin' stereo Said gimme the stage, I'm gonna steal the show Leave on the lace and turn off the light Tonight is gonna be the night I'm gonna walk all over you I'm gonna walk all over you Do anything you want me to I'm gonna walk all over you Ow. I'm gonna walk all over you

Blur. Mexico trip this weekend was replaced by Forth Worth trip and I still have time to spend in San Antonio on this project. I'd really like to just stay home and relax. Here are some critter pics I shot yesterday.

This week still breathes deep. If I were to slow simmer the last few days to a reduction, the result would be a bitter and unsettling sauce. Raymund and I drove over to San Tone on Sunday night. I am leading a project at a datacenter here and things are going very well... ahead of schedule by almost 3 weeks actually. The problem is that I'm really exhausted. I am not sleeping well in the hotel as I usually do, I am working my arse off for long hours each day, and I miss my wife. I back to wearing nice, business casual attire to the office here because I've grubbied up all my intended-to-be-grubbied-up clothes over the week of crawling around in cold ass raised flooring. I'm turning up a new OC3 this morning, so that gives me some desk time in a telnet session to suck down some coffee and get my bearings. Sam, Raymund, and I went to Mi Tierra last night for some gastronomical healing with a margarita chaser. I found out, to my surprise, that my hotel offers a happy hour at the hotel from 6 to 7 weekly for those staying on the "executive" floor (basically, the top floor that requires a card key to access in the elevator, but it's not all that). Since I was, I rolled in the "executive" lounge thinking I'd find domestic beer and convenience store wine. Umm... wow. There was a wide selection of beer and wine as well as your standard liquor choices with a buffet style food display. All free... yippie. So, I drank several cocktails before the Mexican extravaganza last night. I've been sticking close to the hotel other than that... a great sushi place the night before and local not-quite-fast-food dining establishments. I intended to hit the gym daily at the hotel, but I've come home spent and with not sleeping well, I just have no energy. I did take advantage of our average pool and pimp hot tub at the hotel after work yesterday. It's on my list again this afternoon. Speaking of yesterday, Raymund and I staged a bunch of work for the contractors to come in and complete before turning it back over to us, so we were able to leave a few minutes early. I had heard some time ago that San Antonio add a new Lorikeet facility to their zoo and always wanted to go, but have never had the opportunity. I raced to the hotel and threw my camera bag over my shoulder with the zoo on my radar. I didn't stay long. The heat was crippling and most of my favorite attractions (ie. big cats) were in their little shaded enclosures to beat the sun. I walked straight to the Lori Landing and spent a few minutes with the little birds... some of the most beautiful avian creatures I've ever seen. There were several species... including one that looked like it was ready for Halloween with orange and black feathers (but I didn't get a shot of that particularly shy flavor of these little feathered color swatches). The enclosure isn't really photographer friendly. The backgrounds are ugly and it's quite cluttered with undesirable props, but for the nature enthusiast, the visit is wonderful. The zoo provides a stand to purchase a small amount of "nectar" to feed the Loris. If you come in with some nectar, they whoop it up like howler monkeys at an orgy and flock to you. You will have 5 or 6 flavors of rainbow lorikeets on your arms, head... camera... etc. Anyhoo, I didn't feed. I left when people started showing up. I would love the opportunity sometime to get some portraits of these magnificent birds in a well composed natural jungle setting and not some manmade enclosure, but here are four examples of their color for now (below). EL and I were supposed to go to Mexico this weekend with Urs and Sandra, but we all mutually decided to cancel for various reasons. I was so ready to just spend the weekend at the house, but I got a call from a photo-friend in the Dallas/Fort Worth area that is putting together a big community shoot this weekend. Ugg. I hate missing out on these because usually people come in from out of town (out of state) and it's always a good time. I've decided to participate on Saturday and not Sunday. Since I've been to the venue before, I'll likely be selective in what I shoot and stick with trying to get just the shots I want. I was called by a recruiter yesterday and offered a job. I am not really in a position to entertain offers like that unless they are for a lot of money in the central Colorado area. Now that the bad blood has been weeded out of my organization and some restructuring has taken place, I'm quite happy. I really like my entire management chain and everyone I work with... my job has healed itself. I only wish we had an opening for me in our Colorado Springs office. I love it there. Well, I have a million things to do... sorry I've not written much recently. I'm still in the fast lane looking for a rest stop.

expect nothing by alice walker expect nothing. live frugally on surprise. become a stranger to need of pity or, if compassion be freely given out take only enough stop short of urge to plead then purge away the need. wish for nothing larger than your own small heart or greater than a star, tame wild disappointment with caress unmoved and cold make of it a parka for your soul. discover the reason why so tiny human midget exists at all so scared unwise but expect nothing. live frugally on surprise.

Excellent!

There is nothing like being ill prepared. Oye. I am in the middle of quite a large project that requires some work in an out of town datacenter. I'm sort of flying in circles waiting for the weather to clear to land right now as I showed up with a colleague and we did all there was to be done before running out of gear required for the evolution that was supposed to be on site. It's a lot like watching water boil in my book. So, I checked into a hotel here (San Antonio) last night so I could be at the datacenter bright and early at the ass crack of dawn with belles on (insert additional cliché descriptors as necessary). I had selected the hotel for the amenities, but was suckered into a marketecture tiger trap when they advertised Internet access and each room having a nice desk with a dataport. Umm. Yeah. Dataport on the phone for dialout. SuX0r. However, it only took a moment of my frustration to sniff for SSID's and find about 8 unencrypted access points. ‘Nuff said. This morning was a tough sell for my body. I didn't sleep well after I played insomniac surfing until about 2:00 aye emm. Click. Click. Infomercial. Click. Finally I was tired of not being tired when I knew I was tired... if you get my drift... so I bought a Pay Per View movie in the hotel room. No, not pr0n. It was "Man on Fire" ala Denzel Washington. Sweet flic. I totally liked it. Best line of the movie... "Creasy's art is death. He's about to paint his masterpiece." The coffee at the hotel restaurant sucked in a big way. I stopped at Chez Satan on the way to the office because they only have Styrofoam cups here and I despise drinking coffee out of a Styrofoam cup. It is borderline OCD. I can't shake it. It's like going to a diner and having a stack of condiments in the center of the table... conveniently blocking any social convo that might take place over snack time. Anyhoo, I need to get back to work. More later.

Hmmm... $8000.00 worth of environmental seals seem to work, no? Never tempt fate. This guy is farkin nutz.

My birthday was fabulous. EL had planned this big Hawaiian Luau surprise thing for months and invited oodles of people. There was lots of food and drink and good times were had by all. What a surprise! I couldn't have asked for a better birthday. There were a few of my good buds from out of town that couldn't make it, but RealLife™ gets in the way and I understand. Big thanks to all that attended and helped my my b-day top notch! On another note, I still haven't had time to process any more shots from my Colorado trip. I did take 8 vertical shots (on a non-pano head mind you) from the top of Pike's Peak (14,110 ft) and did a stitch. I had to do it manually and it was so wasteful. The resulting image (after cropping and shaving off artifacts of my crappy stitching) is about 39.5 megapixels... resized here obviously: I need to do laundry. I am on the road soon.

If you read this article, you will go jog this aternoon. I stepped on a gecko this morning accidentally and I think I broke its back. It was a shitty way to start my day. I love those little critters. I'm so sorry little fella. I scooped him up and put him on a big leaf in the yard where he scurried off only using his front legs because the back ones were presumably nonfunctional. This is going to bother me all day. I know. I'm weird. I need more coffee. Lots more. I don't feel 33. Nature is amazing, so the gecko will probably make it ok... just look at this thriving tree growing out of a sheer rock face... a survivor like my gecko buddy.

Golf anyone? "More than 1.2 billion years of geologic time are represented by the spectacular red-rock formations found within Roxborough State Park, which is located southwest of Denver. Ecologically, the park is highly diverse as a result of its location in a transition zone between the plains and the mountains. The area's geological structure has resulted in microclimates that have produced seven distinct plant communities in a unique mixture of prairie and mountain species. As a result, Roxborough is home to abundant wildlife, including black bear, mountain lion and elk. The park is known for its spectacular sightseeing, tranquil surroundings, fascinating trails and Visitor Center. This park offers hiking, cross-country skiing and excellent educational programs on Colorado history, geology and wildlife watching. Roxborough is a day-use park only and does not offer camping. Pets are not allowed at Roxborough."

Friday started at DIA. Yeah, there was some morning stuff, but really it is a blur now. Jason and his crew from Los Angeles were headed for a Colorado Rockies game while EL and I did the family thing with my Aunt and Uncle. Saturday morning was spent toodling around Roxborough State Park. Sweet. The evening was DCI world finals. Phantom Regiment was my favorite horn display for overall power, but the Blue Devil's were flashier. The best overall story was put on by the Santa Clara Vanguard, but overall, the Cavaliers were the most amazing. Total domination on the field. Wow. Sunday morning we were off for a giant breakfast at Mountain Shadows and meeting up with EL's cousin Julianne. We did the Pike's Peak ascent and mixed a little light headedness with our amazing view before hitting up the summit oxygen bar over some java at 14,110 feet. The decent was interrupted by a really cool cloud on a collision course with the sheer face of an adjacent cliff. We stopped and watched as the cloud enveloped us. Schweet. We were greeted with a fresh, home baked apple pie when we checked into Spring Cottage... what a fabulous B&B. Everything about it was perfect. Well, they only had dialup Internet access, but that wasn't really a vacation priority, so that doesn't count.

Jason on the summit of Pike's Peak (14,110 ft)

That night began with a wine tasting and Mona Lisa Fondue and continues into a rendezvous with 15C and various stops about town... Jack Quinn's, Phantom Canyon, etc. EL partied until after 4:00 aye emm and met us back at the B&B. All and all, it was a full day. The rest of the trip was a fusion of nothing but excellent food, drink, and scenery. We had to eat at Mataam Fez and Montigue's at least once. We visited The Broadmoor and the Golden Bee, Glen Eyrie Castle and Queen's Canyon, the Starr Kemp sculptures (can't describe just how cool these amazing works of art are), Seven Falls, and more... really just too much to remember in a list. My favorite remains Gold Camp Road. We visited that several times this trip. I love that place. When I get around to developing my photos of the trip, several were taken along that small path. We visited a lot of places that I don't have names for... Crystal Canyon and some of the trails we went on... not sure, but they were all gorgeous. The air was so crisp and clean and the weather was amazing despite the on-again/off-again rain. We only went as far west as Woodland Park this trip, but I'd like to see deeper into the Rockies. Colorado is truly a wonderful state.