I’ve had one of the most amazing weekends I’ve had in a long time. I kept busy most of the time, but every second was well worth it.

Let’s start on Friday. Granted, it wasn’t that eventful, but I spent a lot of time working on this wedding video. I had a little bit of me time too just curled up on the couch watching tv, something I never get to do anymore.

Well, at least not all the time.

I woke up early on Saturday and started again with the editing. In the afternoon, I had an engagement photo shoot at the Rancho Bernardo Winery. I had the pleasure of photographing my cousin, Tara, and her fiancé, Aleck, who by the way is a great guy. I had a blast spending time with both of them and I think we got some great shots:

Half way through the shoot, I was taking pictures of them on this old swing and this random cat shows up out of nowhere. He makes random appearances in most of the pictures.

All in all, it was a beautiful day and some good times. I even got to hang out with my brother a little bit, something I never get to do. I miss that guy.

Today was an awesome day as well. Again, morning editing followed by yet another photo shoot; this time, up at Windansea. Again, I lucked out with the weather…clouds were rolling in and out all day, but parted ways for our shoot. The tide was extraordinarily high today too, which was odd. As I sat there waiting for the girls to show up, I sat up on the cliff looking around trying to think of where we would shoot…and was astonished at how the beach didn’t even look familiar. Water covered parts of beach that were usually uncovered and open. Nature’s a curious thing.

Anyway, I had the pleasure of photographing two gorgeous girls, Heather and Marisa. I was excited for the shoot, because Heather and I had been trying to plan this shoot for a while…finally, it all worked out. Here are a few quick edits that I did tonight:

And then one with the lucky guy who got to take the pictures.

We had a great time shooting and are planning another one down the road. Definitely good times. I’ll post more pictures to my Picasa gallery as I edit them.

After I got home and showered the beach off of me, Brian, Flor, and I headed out to WalMart and got our Christmas tree. I know, it’s not even December yet, but we’re getting a head start I suppose. :) We also got all the trimmings and ornaments as well and had a great time decorating and singing along to Christmas music. I even tacked a piece of mistletoe above my door. I just need to get a girl to come over…that’s the tough part. It got me thinking of old days and Christmases gone by. We used to have good times decking the halls. Anyway, I’ll post some pictures later. I think I’m going to get going to bed. After a great weekend like this, who would want to go to work tomorrow?

Okay, so I might have shamelessly lured you in to reading this. This post isn’t about girls in underwear so much as it is with moonlighters. But for those of you that like that sort of thing, there will be a few girls in their unmentionables.

First, many of you know I work for The “W.” Our commercials are great, aren’t they? Even though I had nothing to do with them. Check out this winner from our current ad campaign: watch video

Bill, the protagonist, is a swell guy, ain’t he? Not only does he get to hang out with stodgy bankers all day, he also gets to hang out with girls in their underwear.

Sort of like me, I suppose. :)

Anyway, here are the girls. And the fruit. Make sure you get a good look at the purple grape guy: watch video

And you know, I just took another look at that video…I think the green grape guy is a surgeon on ER.

For those of you that like music, here’s another video. A talented bunch of fruit, they is.

So I’m in sort of a weird mood right now…i’ve been editing video for a while and needed a break, so I thought I would edit and post some more of my favorite commercials. Ah, the wonders of iMovie. :) Anyway, I have three to share…but I’m going to space them out a bit so be patient.

The first one, is for my dad. He really digs this commercial. And frankly so do I. How can you not love Jessica Simpson in Daisy Dukes?

And frankly, what the heck is 1080i anyway? And do you really care?

And if that doesn’t satisfy your Jessica Simpson craving, get your fix with The Boots video.

I’m a big fan of history, so as I was driving home tonight, I got to thinking where we got some of our street names. When I was in college, I lived in a place surrounded by authors. My grandparents reside in an area of trees. And now, I’m in scholarly company surrounded by Ivy league schools.

Journal of San Diego History

I’m a photographer. I work with a lot of beautiful, gorgeous women…models, if you will.

I have to tell you, I can only imagine that it’s difficult going through life being really, really ridiculously good looking. Then you have to deal with hair, makeup, hitting the gym, making sure you look good in a bikini.

And if that wasn’t enough to worrk about, check this article out:
Beauty queen puts down arms to save legs | Oddly Enough | Reuters.com

I am so pissed off, I am using a lot of self control to not use any inappropriate language.

I read in the papers today that the son of a b—- that ran down that girl at SDSU the other day was finally caught. I’m sorry, but that is TOTALLY inexcusable. Yeah, an accident is an accident…which really shouldn’t have happened…but to just drive off and leave an innocent girl for dead is just beyond unforgivable. It blows my mind how someone could have done something like that.

When my dad told me earlier today that they had arrested that punk, I rejoiced in the fact that some sort of justice would be done and this dirtbag would pay the price. And then my heart dropped when I read this just a few minutes ago.

No justice of any kind could ever erase this or bring back the life of someone who obviously was taken way sooner than she should have been. Things like this remind me about how life sometimes isn’t fair.

My prayers go out to Whitney’s friends and family.

• SDSU student arrested in hit-run; victim dies

One of my past crushes, Jenna Fischer, appears on Letterman. And she’s in the mood for…tapioca.

I am at work today, once again rejoining the ranks of the useful. It’s been a rough week, being sick and all. The worst is over, but I’m still coughing like a fool. It’s more annoying than anything else.

Work is still work. Even after being gone for what feels like a week, it’s good to know that not much has changed. You know how I deal with change.

I’ve been evaluating some things regarding life and love and after many ponderings realize I don’t know what I’m thinking about. I know I want it. I think the main problem is that once you realize who and what you want, do you go the nice guy route and take no for an answer? Or do you fight for what you want? One of my favorite lyrics is penned by Bethany Dillon…

”Gaze into my eyes,
And let me know you’d fight
Thousands, for my love…”

I think that when you find that special someone, you are willing to go the distance. I know I’m prepared to. There are things I do for you that I wouldn’t necessarily do for other people. I am willing to fight for your love…but at what point am I fighting a hopeless battle?

Anyway, some random thoughts…

In other news, I spent most of the weekend recuperating and working. I had a great day off on Friday; with a morning photo shoot in Point Loma with one of my favorite models, Stevie. We shot our sports theme with a Chargers football jersey…which from what I hear, is very appropriate for this weekend since the Bolts kicked some tail (I missed the game, which is unfortunate). Even though the Chargers won, I definitely wasn’t on my game Friday morning…actually, both Stevie and I were sick. I had no lighting control and my reflector blew all over the place. I did get a few nice shots, though…

…but I am thinking about re-shooting this one, though. I’ll let you know what develops. Get it? That was a photography pun. I kill me.

Friday was wrapped up with lunch with Flor at the Olive Garden and dinner at Schmidt’s Gay’s pad.

The rest of the weekend was pretty inconsequential. And here I am back at work. I’ll write more later. I’m really looking forward to lunch.

So they sent me home early today. This flu is really getting to me…but hopefully it will clear up fast. I made another visit to the store (seems like Target and Walmart have seen me more in the last week than anyone else) and now I’m all medicated.

I have been going through the pics from last weekend and decided to post a few. Most are real winners, like the money shots of Meg…but most are just cute like this:

Then there are the ones of the wedding. I included some of Megan’s awesome shots in the gallery. You can’t tell them apart, but the ones that are AWESOME are hers. :)

Get more here. I may post more too.

Can you die from coughing? It sure feels like it sometimes. It’s been rough couple of days, folks. Let’s start with the fun stuff …

The last time you heard from me, I was sitting on the floor of Megan’s apartment blogging to you fine people and then we started the drive south. About an hour into the drive, Meg looks in her purse and realizes that she doesn’t have her wallet. So, we immediately make a U turn and head back to Sac. Turns out, her wallet was under the seat of her car. With wallet in hand, we jump on the freeway and head south again. I must say, we made some excellent time. Who knew that my little SUV could go 105? Anyway, after coasting at an abnormally high speed (we made it to Bakersfield in a little under four hours), we were in Los Angeles in no time. We utilized the time in traffic for trash talking, makeup, and applying fake eyelashes (the last two were all Megan). After a quick stop at Target for some essentials and cold medicine, we made it to the shoot on time. The photographer, Chris, was really nice guy. All three of us had a great time talking shop and photography and he snapped some great pictures of Megan as well. I ate some chips. Megan looked absolutely beautiful. After the shoot, I drove Meg to her hotel in Costa Mesa and then headed home. It was an absolutely exhausting day, but I wouldn’t change a second of it. Perhaps it was because I was in good company.

Well, perhaps I would have changed the part where Megan forgot her wallet. But even that was part of the adventure. Seems like the whole weekend was full of those.

Anyway, today I decided to stay home from work since I’m not really feeling any better. I had a brief shopping excursion this morning looking all over town for a Chargers jersey for my shoot this Friday. I finally found one. Other then that, I have been frantically working on finishing this video. I’ve made some progress. This cough is driving me crazy, though. And it bugs me when I try to sing in the car and I sound like Kermit the Frog.

Well, enough procrastinating. Back to work I go. I hope you all had a great hump day.

Good morning. It’s definitely another glorious day in good ole Sac-town. It’s almost 9am and we are getting ready to leave in a bit for Costa Mesa. Meg is in the shower and I’m getting all packed up, so I thought I’d write a little…

Last night was one of the worst sleeps I have ever had. I don’t know how, but somehow I managed to get sick. I noticed last night that my throat was starting to hurt. Then progressively, my body started aching and then my nose went all crazy. I have my low-talking sexy phlegm thing happening…and while I don’t think Barry White has anything to worry about, I feel all smooth and bassy.

So yesterday was pretty low key. That’s what I adore about Megan, after all…it can be low key with her. We woke up fairly early and headed to Best Buy to purchase some photographic nick-nacks. Then, we headed to downtown to an art supply store that was closed. We cried, but then consoled each other. After discovering the art store was closed, we ran various other errands, which included a stop to the non-pet-friendly CostCo and then to ULTA, some chick makeup shop. I don’t think it was really fair that we spent more time there than at Best Buy, but who am I to complain about double standards?

So we went back, put on some Gilmore Girls, and then fell asleep. Lame, I know. But we were tired since I kept Megan up past 12 again. I am mean. After a short 15 minute nap, we headed out to take some pictures of a hot chick, one of Megan’s best friends. I held the reflector…and did a darn good job, if I do say so myself. The lighting was perfectly gorgeous and I think Meg got some great shots.

After the shoot, we grabbed some dinner at the Olive Garden and talked about life and photography. It was so late, they sat us at this ridiculously huge table in the corner. So naturally, we sat on opposite sides and shouted across to each other.

At this point, I was feeling pretty bad. We headed home and started doing a little rearranging with the furniture. Meg started cleaning a bit and I sacked out on the floor, Gilmore Girls playing in the background. Can you believe I fell asleep before she did? We both socked out a little after midnight after the Gilmore DVD ran out of episodes.

Anyway, that brings us to now. We have a long, fun road trip ahead of us so I’m going to cut this off. See you later.

So we got back a little while ago from the wedding…well, a little more than a while ago…and now I am performing the daunting task of taking off all the pictures we shot and reviewing them. I am on some sort of a post-wedding high because for some reason, I don’t want to go to sleep. My body is telling me that I’m tired, but I’m just not convincing myself. Megan, on the other hand, has already sacked out (since sleeping is what she does best). But I am determined to stay up and at least get the pics on the computer.

The wedding tonight was so much fun! I tell you, weddings never get old. I’ve been to so many of these things and it never gets redundant listening to the same songs, watching people do the same dances and rituals. It’s amazing to be able to share the day with people and their familes…to watch everyone celebrate the joyous occasion. It’s strange how you can go into a situation not even knowing anyone and by the end of the night feel like you know everyone. Good times, indeed.

We started shooting at the bride’s house around four this afternoon. Let me tell you, I’ve done a few weddings and know what goes on with the girls getting ready…but this time I got to experience it first hand and while tonight wasn’t terrible, there was still a share of drama. :) After pics at the bride’s place, we carpooled over to this gorgeous church in downtown Sac. It was a Catholic wedding and the church was beautiful. We did a few pictures with the bride and bridesmaids and I *tried* to get some with the guys…but the lighting just wasn’t cutting it. (You know, with the whole keeping the bride and groom apart from each other) After the photos and a beautiful mass, we went over to another small reception hall. The group was small and the room intimate, candles and red roses adorned the tables. The food was a Mexican buffet and the people were nice and friendly. The DJ was animated and entertaining. Everyone had a good time. Megan caught the bouquet. I danced with Heidi. It was a good time.

And now, here I am with the pics. Oh, I forgot to tell about our morning adventure…

So I kept Megan awake until like midnight exactly, because she always goes to sleep early. A strange one, she is. Anyway, so I kept her talking until midnight and we both crashed. We woke up and she cooked Snickers waffles. I’m sure you all know how much I love waffles. :) After breakfast, we got ready and ended up going on the most random drive ever…but ended up in Jackson and Sutter Creek. I have to say that Sacramento and the surrounding towns and cities are so gorgeous this time of year. Everyone in San Diego complains about the weather sometimes and how it’s always perfect. It’s true that we don’t have seasons…and even though the weather is always sunny and gorgeous down south, it’s nice to have the remnants of seasons once in a while. But up here, the air is nice and cool and the trees are absolutely gorgeous with red and gold leaves falling to the ground. Anyway, that’s just a note of observation I made. :) Moving on, we ended up at a cemetery where miners were buried and we walked around and snapped photos of the church and areas around. However, we both came to the conclusion that although the idea of a photo expedition is fun, it just doesn’t beat people photography. It’s so much more interesting to be taking pictures of people than inanimate objects. We were wishing for a model, but it just wasn’t so. But I think we both got some interesting pics of our adventure.

Oh, and then we had lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Rancho Cordova. Waffles and spaghetti in one day. I don’t know if I can truly convey the excitement.

Well, I think I’m going to wrap this up and hurry up with the pictures so I can be a good roommate and turn out the light. Meg is already asleep, being the loser that she is (just kidding) so I am going to be thoughtful. Anyway, good night.

Well, I made it safely to Sac-Town. The drive up was actually quite nice. I made good time and only got stuck in traffic in a few places. But the drive up was actually enjoyable as I indulged in some good tunes, singing, and some random conversations with my dad. Definitely good times.

The weather is a little cooler up here and the trees are a picture-esque golden and red. The epitome of fall. I think we are going to attempt a little photo excursion at some point this weekend. We have the time.

After a mad dash to the mall for some eats (for Meg, not me since I was full from my Carl’s Jr. burger from earlier in the day), we came back and hung for a little bit before our adventure to WalMart. Let me say it was quite the adventure. If you aren’t sure what to do on a Friday night in Sac, WalMart is the place to be.

We were thinking about going out to meet some of Megan’s friends from work, but both of us were tired and I have a bit of a headache. So we decided to spend the night in with a little CSI and junk food.

Well, Meg’s in the shower now and I thought I would update on all the fun stuff. There isn’t a lot to report as of yet. But it should be a good, relaxing weekend. More later.

Oh, and here’s a random thought…so Meg’s little place is REALLY cute…a small, Meg-sized studio apartment. It’s decked out all girly (meaning, it actually has colors and stuff that match). But I really dig it. Most of the new furnishings are from IKEA, which made me wonder why there aren’t any IKEA’s in Kingsburg. I mean, it is a Swedish village, isn’t it? I drove through Kingsburg today and while they don’t have an IKEA’s, they do have a Sonic, which I contemplated on stopping at since the Sonic people like to entice us down south with their funny commercials, yet they don’t want to open a restaurant in San Diego. Unfair, I tell you.

Okay. We will probably watch more CSI before hitting the hay. It’s not even 9:30, so the night is young. I plan on keeping Meg awake as long as possible since she usually doses off around now. I know, I’m an evil friend. :)

We are on the downward spiral now. November 1, and we will start seeing visions of turkeys, Christmas trees, and other holiday hoopla. Oh how I love this time of year.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It’s only the day after Halloween, for goodness sake. Now, I have never really cared for Halloween. I think the last time I dressed up for the occasion was back in elementary school sometime. That was also the last time I peddled for candy, partied hearty, or did anything remotely close to celebrating the day. I’m not really anti-Halloween…it’s just that the festivities never really tickled me fancy. While others enjoy the ghouls, ghosts, and gore, I enjoy other things. For instance, the trashy costumes.

I’m a guy, what can I say?

But it seems costumes are becoming progressively more risqué year after year. And while I don’t particularly mind, some are in an uproar about it.

The bottom-line is that Halloween used to typically be for us kids. But these days, the holiday is bringing out the kid in us adults. And the problem for some is that the costume peeps are gearing their sexy costumes for adults, not kids.

Anywho, what do you think about the changing trend in Halloween costumes? You know my take… :)

Check out this article from CBS news. See, I get my news from sources other than Maxim. (Katie Couric featured this story last night…and being that it had to do with girls and sexy costumes, you can understand why it got my attention.)

• Bloggers Eye Skimpy Halloween Garb:Are Racy Costumes A Mark Of Confidence Or Demeaning? Bloggers Weigh In