bonaventure

bonaventure, originally uploaded by billaday.

Here's downtown L.A. You can see the 110 freeway in the background.

Day 342

the city mouse

the city mouse, originally uploaded by billaday.

Here's a view of downtown L.A. and the 110 Freeway from 30 flights up. It's an 8 second exposure.

Day 341

Ben Folds

Ben folds, originally uploaded by billaday.

I saw Ben Folds tonight. He's one of the best musicians I've ever seen, especially when it comes to rock music. His rhythm and dynamics are amazing live. And those are the 2 most important parts of music performance.

Go see him next time, and you'll agree. Wow.

Day 340

Slimer

Slimer, originally uploaded by billaday.

This dab of bbq sauce reminds me of Slimer from Ghostbusters. Maybe it's just me...

Day 339

Everet and Bella

Everet and Bella, originally uploaded by billaday.

Another great moment at West Wing Night.

If you don't know about WWN, I can't tell you. Sorry. The first rule of WWN is you don't talk about WWN.

Day 338

the Google Phone

the Google Phone, originally uploaded by billaday.

I got a Google Phone for my birthday. It's really sweet.

The G1 has free apps; consequently, I have over 50 apps on my phone. One of my favorites is called "Zombie, Run!" It shows your (real-life) location and then adds (not real-life) zombies to the map. You run (in real life) and try to avoid the zombies on the map. The other night I was running, dodging, and jumping around my culdesac playing this game.

Day 337

hi ya

hi ya, originally uploaded by billaday.

You have to shout this photo title for it to work. Try it. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Day 336

red, red, all around, see the red things I have found

red, red, all around, see the red things I have found, originally uploaded by billaday.

So, if you've never geotagged a photo... it's awesome. Every single photo of my photo-a-day is on this map. I think it's a cool way to browse photos, and to remember where you've been.

I now use HoudahGeo, found at http://www.houdah.com/houdahGeo/ to add photos to a map before they get to (iPhoto or) Flickr. It is REALLY good, and is an awesome solution for geotagging. Photos are now on a map on Flickr and in iPhoto. It's really neat. Go buy HoudahGeo.

Day 335

skydive

skydive, originally uploaded by billaday.

Aaron and I went skydiving today. It was awesome, and not scary (even though I thought it would be).

Here's Aaron practicing they jump. There's a section of a fuselage in the background; we practiced on that. The trick is to keep your hips low, and your head and legs high.

Check out the video of me jumping here. It's cool.

Day 334

happy birthday to me

happy birthday to me, originally uploaded by billaday.

Yay! I'm 30.

Day 333

rectangular prism

rectangular prism, originally uploaded by billaday.

One of the great things about always having my camera with me is that I always have it with me. Here's a story about why that's good:

I have a really advanced student in my kinder class. I need to document what I am doing to differentiate his instruction. I asked him to draw a rectangular prism, and showed him a box of Mac & Cheese. This photo is what he did. Now, I have it on my computer, and I showed it to his dad, and another teacher.

Creative shot--not really. Important shot--definitely.

Day 332

my favorite sticker

my favorite sticker, originally uploaded by billaday.

As though having President-elect Obama was not great enough...

I am teaching at Azusa Pacific University. Today I got my ID card and, more importantly, my parking pass. I get to park in the faculty spot now. C'mon.

Day 331

Yes we can

Yes we can, originally uploaded by billaday.

I was afraid to get my hopes up for this election.

I could not be happier now.


Day 330

brick wall full screen

brick wall full screen, originally uploaded by billaday.

Our school district has not given us a contract for 2 years now. So, we marched on Washington... er, the district office. I accidentally went to the wrong park (that we marched from), so I got to walk around a lot. I found this wall, and this light attached to the wall.

Day 329

in case

in case, originally uploaded by billaday.

Since I got my new MacBook Pro and Apogee Duet, I've been writing a lot more music. The Duet is so clean sounding--I really like the (lack of) tone when I plug my guitar into GarageBand. So, here's a guitar. I started a new tune today, and used this Les Paul Studio to record it.

Day 328

NaNoWriMo begins

NaNoWriMo begins, originally uploaded by billaday.

NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, has begun. That means, for those spouses with spouses writing a novel this month, many words will be said in their homes.

My wife wrote a novel two Novembers ago, and she is writing another novel right now. For me, that means more time to photo-a-day, and more time to be a supportive friend.

Day 327

the man room (except for Tyler (who is terrible at bumper billiards))

the man room (except for Tyler (who is terrible at bumper billiards)), originally uploaded by billaday.

If you haven't played bumper billiards, do yourself a favor: find a good friend, find a good bumper billiard table, and play... preferably in a man room.

Now, on to the parenthesis in the title. Tyler is a great guy, but he's not a great bumper billiard table player. In fact, he's terrible at playing, especially against me. Fortunate for me, my first time playing was easy (because I was playing against Tyler) and fun.

Day 326

translucent

translucent, originally uploaded by billaday.

Oh, Nalgene, how I love thee.

One of my most famous photo-a-day objects is the Nalgene bottle. It keeps me hydrated, and is more fashionable to carry than a man purse. Here it is, in the sunlight, doing what translucent colored bottles do.

Day 325

Welcome to Glendora, circa 2008

Welcome to Glendora, circa 2008, originally uploaded by billaday.

Pick a theme, and stick with it Glendora. They're trying to be a cutting edge-type cool downtown some times. Other times, they're trying to be a quaint, little town (as shown here). Hence, the faux polaroid treatment.

Day 324

C is for...

C is for..., originally uploaded by billaday.

Even though we've had the Honda Civic Hybrid for over a year, I still think it's the coolest car ever.

Day 323

tweed

tweed, originally uploaded by billaday.

I like this guitar case. It was one of the first real cases I bought. Sure, a guitar case has nothing to do with the sound of the guitar it holds, but I still like it.

Day 322

foosnation

foosnation, originally uploaded by billaday.

Foosball is wonderful. It is all that is right in the world.

Not only am I the president of the IFC*, but I'm also a client.

Day 321
*IFC: International Foosball Commission

Rubik's

Rubik's, originally uploaded by billaday.

For years, I've always driven by this building as I went from the 5 to the 57. I even tried to find a cool angle on the side of the road once to photograph it. Alas, it was not meant to be. So, today, as traffic slowed, I grabbed my camera from the center console, aimed it toward the Discovery Science Center Cube-type building, and took this picture. With a quick crop and some color adjustment, I'm stoked on the photo. This building must be 4 stories tall. It's pretty sweet.

Day 320

Duet

Duet, originally uploaded by billaday.

Here's my new favorite piece of sound equipment: Apogee Duet. You can plug anything musical straight into it (electric guitar, vocal mic, etc), and it works seamlessly with Garageband and Logic. And it sounds amazing. I plugged my guitar straight in (I didn't even plug in my fancy, awesome sounding amp (or effects)), and my guitar sounded soooo good in Garageband.

So here's part 2 of this photo description-thing. I discovered the Apogee Duet while reading an article about Coldplay's producer. This guy recorded with the Duet, and was stoked with the result. I found 300 amazing reviews online... and they are all true. This hardware rocks. I think my next album will be recorded on this.

Day 319

the MacBook Pro has arrived

the MacBook Pro has arrived, originally uploaded by billaday.

The much-awaited date has finally arrived. I have a MacBook Pro! I love it.

So, until I migrate all my photos and apps, the photo-a-day will continue... slowly. (The last time I switched computers, I didn't bother to keep anything. I wanna do it right now.) While you eagerly await more of my photos, take a trip down memory lane and see some places I've been.

Day 318

day at the office

day at the office, originally uploaded by billaday.

Simple: yes. Interesting (to me): yes.

For whatever reason, I always like the look of birds hanging out on stuff--wires, poles, whatever. Perched birds haven't been a photo-a-day before, so here ya go.

Day 317

Easter Island storm troopers

Easter Island storm troopers, originally uploaded by billaday.

If Star Wars took place a millennia ago, I believe that the Easter Islands would have been named the Storm Trooper Islands... and that they would have looked like this

Day 316

a new perspective on blue

a new perspective on blue, originally uploaded by billaday.

Whatever could it be?

ok, ok. It's a blue bench. The picture is upside down, too.

Sorry for ruining that guessing game for the not-too-abstract photo. Yeah.

Day 315

precision

precision, originally uploaded by billaday.

My Fender P Bass. The P stands for precision. It's hard to get a better bass tone than this. You plug it in, it sounds great. Incidentally, that's one reason playing the bass is so great.

Day 314

My Lady

My Lady, originally uploaded by billaday.

Sari and Andy got married. Good times for all.

Day 313

rehearse

rehearse, originally uploaded by billaday.

Andy and Sari getting ready for their wedding. Here they are--practicing kneeling in front of the altar. They are doing a very nice job.

Day 312

duck and cover

duck and cover, originally uploaded by billaday.

This overhang/roof thing is crooked. I suggest not sleeping under it.

Day 311

Slow construction zone

Slow construction zone, originally uploaded by billaday.

There must be 5 different construction zones between me and work. This is the construction closest to work. There were 8 guys on the job, and 2 guys actually working.

Day 310

palm rows

palm rows, originally uploaded by billaday.

Many exciting things happened today, but none of them are related to this photo. This was my favorite shot of the day, but there isn't an exciting story... I was driving, hit a red light, and liked the way these palm trees looked with the sun behind them.

Day 309

So you want to be in a movie?

So you want to be in a movie?, originally uploaded by billaday.

The AMC Glendora movie theater opens this week. Isabelle works in the shopping center, so we got to see Hancock at their soft opening. If you haven't had the chance, go there now... and use the hand dryer. Or if you can't go to the actual theater, watch the video here. It's awesome.

Oh yeah, the photo title. The sign is for condiments. I thought the sign was for people who wanted to be extras in the movies. I'd like to stand in the background of a movie.

Day 308

goodbye old friend

goodbye old friend, originally uploaded by billaday.

Soon, I will have a new MacBook Pro. This is the side of my older PowerBook. I wanted to remember what it looked like. (Teardrop.) Goodbye old friend. We had a good run. But it's time I move on to a laptop that's better.

Day 307

ah, the third birthday

ah, the third birthday, originally uploaded by billaday.

Here's Everet's third birthday party. After a long day of playing on the bouncy slide and opening presents, Everet took a moment to enjoy a sucker in the fall afternoon.

Day 306

Trash at the park

Trash at the park, originally uploaded by billaday.

Here's my favorite picture from a photowalk at Lacy Park in Pasadena. I like the repetition here. There were 8 trash cans in a row. Ironically, there weren't really any trash cans anywhere else.

Day 305

GPS PhotoFinder

GPS PhotoFinder, originally uploaded by billaday.

This is the ATP PhotoFinder. Its goal is to geotag (add to a map) photos. You plug your memory card into this, then into your computer. It works decently (40% success rate) with my Canon SD870IS, and has not worked so far (ever) with my Nikon D70s. So far, I'm bummed that it doesn't work very well. I'll keep you updated.

Software-wise, I bought the Ovolab Geophoto. I wanted to geotag my iPhoto library. This is lame. Don't buy it (until they make it way better).

Day 304

scaled perspective

scaled perspective, originally uploaded by billaday.

I had to buy ink for my classroom printer. Walking toward the store, I happened upon this gem. With a graphic like this, the angle from above seemed the most powerful option.

Day 303

don't ask, don't tile

don't ask, don't tile, originally uploaded by billaday.

I dig the reflection of the tile inside the tile. It looks sweet from far away, but I've never been able to capture how it looks in person. The closer crop (shown here) gives the best impression of the bathroom. Anyway...

Day 302

I hate sunrises

I hate sunrises, originally uploaded by billaday.

I took this photo before leaving for work. I'm sad that the sun was already this high in the sky at 7ish in the morning. I take minor solace in the fact that the backlight on this tree was sweet.

Day 301

Little conga boy

Little conga boy, originally uploaded by billaday.

The lesser known Christmas Carol... pa rum pa pum pum.

Day 300

birthday cupcakes

birthday cupcakes, originally uploaded by billaday.

It was my mom's birthday. Instead of a cake, we got her cupcakes from Violet's. My favorite is The Elvis: banana bread cupcake with peanut butter frosting. Yum.

Day 299

Don't Cry

Don't Cry, originally uploaded by billaday.

Today I dreamed,
Of friends I had before.
And I wonder why
The ones who care don't call anymore.
My feelings hurt,
But you know I overcome the pain.
And I'm stronger now,
There can't be a fire unless there's a flame.

Don't cry.
You're not alone.

Day 298

a friendly reminder

a friendly reminder, originally uploaded by billaday.

Somebody please remind me to pick up some more ink. I need more for my classroom printer.

While we're on the subject, why does ink cost so much? Is it made out of gold? If so, why is black ink black, and not gold? Yeah, that is true. You think about that one.

Day 297

Rounding third

Rounding third, originally uploaded by billaday.

Moments before scoring, Jed Lowrie rounds third as the Red Sox tragically defeat the Angels 4-1.

This was the first playoff game I've seen before. There's so much energy in the stadium. It's way cooler than regular season games. Way cooler.

Day 296

the Francis acoustic

the Francis acoustic, originally uploaded by billaday.

Shameless plug. The first draft of The Francis Band website is now live:
www.thefrancisband.com

Instead of spending tons of time on it, and then realizing that someone in the band doesn't like it, I'm putting up a draft of the site. That way, I can get feedback from the guys in the band, and tweak it. That way, everyone is happy.

This shot of Francis will be on the site. So lemme know what needs to change to make the site better.

Day 295

chair lunch dinner

chair lunch dinner, originally uploaded by billaday.

What is this thing called? The bottom of the chair knobby thing that keeps it from moving? I forget.

I used this shot of the gutter as a texture over the chair leg.

Day 294

axe

axe, originally uploaded by billaday.

We hit Round Table Pizza for lunch. We actually ate at the round table. It made the food taste better. This axe was hung above us. Kinda creepy, unless it's just a decoration.

Day 293