Orange you glad I...

Orange you glad I..., originally uploaded by billaday.

(insert your punchline here:)

Day 146

Mr. and Mrs.

Mr. and Mrs., originally uploaded by billaday.

So Heather and Andy finally got married. And I finally went to a wedding without a job: not the photographer, not the guitarist, just a guest. It was strange.

I only took 4 pictures of the actual ceremony. I was officially a guest and was determined to act as one. This was photo #4 of the wedding. The shutter speed was 1/15 sec. It gave me time to pan the camera as they walked quickly down the aisle and out the church. No photoshopping here. Good ol' fashioned hold the camera steady and follow the important people.

Oh yeah. Congratulations you two!

Day 145

musician.

musician., originally uploaded by billaday.

Greg is the keyboard player for The Francis Band. Equipped with his MacBook, a Korg synthesizer, and a delay pedal, he's the guy everyone makes fun of in the band, and he's also the guy that everyone is stoked on when we start playing. With Greg, we're like Angels & Airwaves, except for the popularity and the whiney voice.

Day 144

insect shadow

insect shadow, originally uploaded by billaday.

I opened up my front door this morning and found this bee hanging out on the door. He didn't move, so I grabbed my camera (which was fortunately in my pocket) and got about an inch away.

What I learned from this photo-a-day is that the first photo is either the best or worst. I took 25 pictures of this bee and this is the first one.

Day 143

railer

railer, originally uploaded by billaday.

There's a joke in this story... I promise.

We had an 8 hour RIF hearing. RIF = Reduction In Force = Layoff. A synonym for bummer is railer. So, to me, that's funny.

What's not funny is that our state (California) doesn't care much about education these days.

Day 142

Borax

Borax, originally uploaded by billaday.

This is that old hand soap that's bright pink and gritty. It's that stuff you can never get off your hands or get to be foamy. I can almost feel it right now. Yuk.

For whatever reason, this bag was right next to the fridge in the teacher's lounge.

Day 141

Spoke

Spoke, originally uploaded by billaday.

I did not have a colonoscopy today, but I picked up someone who did. The opposite of fun is colonoscopy.

Day 140

Reb

Reb, originally uploaded by billaday.

I'm a big fan of foosball. We play every Sunday and have helped coin several foos terms: the masterful, the mach 1, the Dartagnon, the Bobby Kovina, the flying tuna, and so on. This guy is a replacement--he's grey, so he fits on the blue or red team. Since he's rebellious, we call him Mr. Rebel... Johnny Rebel. He's the only professional athlete I know who doesn't wear the team's uniform.

Day 139

Vanishing overpass

Vanishing overpass, originally uploaded by billaday.

I didn't look at my camera when I snapped this shot (while driving on the overpass). I imagined what I thought it would look like... and I was right! I processed this photo with GAF500 film, so it's grainy.

Day 138

I didn't notice it sparkles until this

I didn't notice it sparkles until this, originally uploaded by billaday.

One of my favorite parts of my Photo-a-Day project is discovering the art in life. Sorry for the cheesiness (cheesyness?). I thought the engraving was plain old silver. Now I know it's shiny and sparkles.

Day 137

fancy car

fancy car, originally uploaded by billaday.

I really like my hybrid car... especially when gas is now $4.00/gallon. Ugh. I'd like to take this moment to personally thank (sarcasm here) our president for taking the gas price from 8 years ago and quadrupling it. When he took office, the national average was $1 a gallon. It should be a crime to spend more than $40 to fill up a hybrid. Blah blah, end the rant. I really just like the warm, glowing blue of my dashboard.

Day 136

flowers in the dark

flowers in the dark, originally uploaded by billaday.

This could be a girl version of those new, trendy shirts that look more like silkscreen mistakes than artistic shirts.

Day 135

keys

keys, originally uploaded by billaday.

Have I mentioned that I really like my laptop? Cuz I do. I need to watch out, and make sure my photo-a-day has more pictures of my wife than my computer. Because she IS more important.

Day 134

wash your hands?

wash your hands?, originally uploaded by billaday.

I thought the goal of washing your hands was to prevent you from getting sick.

This was at the Masonic Lodge; our school district had a hearing to decide if I (and 240 colleagues) could keep our teaching jobs next year. There were so many people they may be laying off, they had to rent out the Masonic Lodge. I didn't mind the super gross sink, because I thought it might be a clue that Benjamin Gates left for me.

Day 133

Trunk

Trunk, originally uploaded by billaday.

I have few regrets about not attaining rock star status. The main one is that I have to lug around and set up my own guitars. Sometimes, for really big shows, people do stuff for me. That's the life.

Day 132

Lego Planet

Lego Planet, originally uploaded by billaday.

There's something that's always bugged me about this building--it's interesting to me, but I've never had a photo of it that's been interesting to me. So, while waiting at a stoplight, I took this shot... and I really like it.

Day 131

College St.

College St., originally uploaded by billaday.

Hey kids, turn right to get to college...

Day 130

brick

brick, originally uploaded by billaday.

This is actually the brand new Covina Performing Arts Center. They tried to make it look like the super old Covina Performing Arts Center. I drive by this after work often, and like the long shadow of the lamp. So I decided to shoot it today.

Day 129

to be two again

to be two again, originally uploaded by billaday.

Before dinner, we were playing in the backyard. They were loving the big, green backyard. Everet was chasing me in this picture--I zoomed in as I took it to add some motion to the background.

Day 128

Shadow of the Day

Shadow of the Day, originally uploaded by billaday.

This is one of those shots that ended up like I wanted (but didn't start out like I wanted). I knew there was lots of glare from the sun when I took it. I pulled out the texture in Photoshop and pretty much got what I saw (in my brain) when I walked over to take the picture. I'm sure there's a moral or lesson or something in this rambling. Or not.

Day 127

study.

study., originally uploaded by billaday.

I'm going back to school (again) for one last class. I have to also pass the CSET in math, which sounded like a great idea, but entails all math that I've ever taken for the last 20 years. So here's the giant study guide.

Day 126

rice picture

rice picture, originally uploaded by billaday.

I've decided that Pick Up Stix has some strange employees. On this trip/lunch/adventure, there was ANOTHER person there with an In-N-Out cup. Last time we were there, the manager was eating a Double Double, asking us why we don't like In-N-Out.

Day 125

Stand with the Avengers!

Stand with the Avengers!, originally uploaded by billaday.

Until this game, I did not know that Los Angeles had an arena football team. The game rocked! The announcer... hilarious. The field... hockey rink-sized. The score... we won with 81 points. For every kickoff, we all stood as the announcer shouted, "Stand with the Avengers!"

Day 124

Big Bear Star Trails

Big Bear Star Trails, originally uploaded by billaday.

I've been wanting to do another star trails photo for a while. I failed last night, so I did some homework. Here's what I did/learned:
• I took 33 photos
• total exposure time: 1 hour, 45 minutes
• each photo was about 3 minutes long
• f/3.5 (which was counter-intuitive, but that's what everyone else does. The stars are brighter with a wider aperture.)
• ISO 200 (that's the lowest my dSLR gets)
• manual focus (on the house at the bottom)
• Photoshop: changed layer properties to Lighten, aligned photos (barely at all), masked out top right corner (it was purplish)

This will officially be my earliest photo-a-day blog posting. It's 3:32 am. I had to wonderful idea to start at 1:00 am with this shot.

Day 123

Antennae

Antennae, originally uploaded by billaday.

Even the earth wants better cell phone coverage.

Day 122

goblet of light

goblet of light, originally uploaded by billaday.

The Big Bear cabin has so much character to it. Any guesses what this is?? (Is it obvious because I took it or obvious because it's obvious?)

Day 121

lit

lit, originally uploaded by billaday.

Turns out, it's cold in Big Bear. I made a fire (after a lot of effort). My original photo-a-day idea was a star trails picture, but there were no stars out on this overcast evening.

Day 120

Running Springs at sunset

Running Springs at sunset, originally uploaded by billaday.

on my way up to Big Bear for some songwriting, photography, and relaxation

Day 119

Stitch

Stitch, originally uploaded by billaday.

I like the design of the stitchwork on my shoe. It sorta vaguely reminds me of comets flying through the outer space that is my (fake) suede shoe.

Day 118

Aardvark's

Aardvark's, originally uploaded by billaday.

Didn't have a chance to walk in, but the outside of this place looks pretty rockin'. Thrift store? Vintage store? I dunno.

Day 117

Pixel Junk Monsters

Pixel Junk Monsters, originally uploaded by billaday.

I really like playing this game. My brother-in-law came over, and we played a while. The game was great, but this was the only photo I took (hence, the photo-a-day of this). Yup.

Day 116

Mixed Number shaving cream

Mixed Number shaving cream, originally uploaded by billaday.

This is us getting ready for Open House. It's a huge deal around here, so I had my students clean the desks... with shaving cream. Before they got to scrub their desk, they had to write a mixed number in the shaving cream. They liked it, I liked it. That's what we call a win-win situation.

Day 115

Trainchasing

Trainchasing, originally uploaded by billaday.

Geneva loved chasing the train. Back and forth, back and forth she ran. For those of you following my photo-a-day, this is Geneva's first feature. Dedicated to Natalie (for giving birth to her, and for being awesome).

Day 114

Ode to Ramen

Ode to Ramen, originally uploaded by billaday.

I went to the dentist; he numbed up the left side of my face. Then, he warned me not to eat anything chewy because I might bite my tongue (since I couldn't feel it). So, I went to Vons and got a Green Machine from Naked Juice and a bowl of Top Ramen. I did not bite my tongue.

Day 113

Three choices

Three choices, originally uploaded by billaday.

When life gives you lemons, cranberries, and grapefruit, pour yourself a half-empty glass of juice. To be literal, your choices on this machine are:
1) Slow
2) Wait
3) Stop

Day 112

Attack of the Giant Honeybees!

Attack of the Giant Honeybees!, originally uploaded by billaday.

A six foot bee attacked me. Except for the six foot part. This bee actually just flew right up to my car window. I was really excited to take the picture. Mark the drummer decided it would be funny to scare away the bee, so I couldn't take more photos. So this shot is undedicated to Mark.

Day 111

the bird

the bird, originally uploaded by billaday.

I'm not sure what this painter was thinking, but I personally interpret this as...

This red bird could never find true love. Try as he may, his dreams for true love world were for naught. As he became a more desperate bird, this forlorn creature slowly turned to the dark side. In this image, we see the destitute red bird just after meeting a potential mate. Once in love herself, she did not reciprocate his love. So he ripped out her (still beating) heart, and posed for the artist to carve and paint him.

But that's just me...

Day 110

Netflix, let me count the ways I love you...

Netflix, let me count the ways I love you..., originally uploaded by billaday.

Movies are great. I love Netflix. I don't really like Blockbuster, so this is even better (the sticking-it-to-the-man-ness). So today, I thought I'd show Netflix some love. That blue border means that I'm cool and have a blu-ray disc. Just kidding about that last part--I'm not cool. But I have been a Netflix member since 1999. That's gotta count for something.

Day 109

tilt head back, check for breathing

tilt head back, check for breathing, originally uploaded by billaday.

So now, if you collapse and stop breathing, I know what to do to save you... 30 compressions and 2 breaths. And, if your heart stops breathing, I also know what to do... call 911.

Day 108

plants and the sunset

plants and the sunset, originally uploaded by billaday.

My mom noticed that the sunlight was hitting this plant bush thing beautifully. I liked the colors of the leaves, and the translucency. I took a handful of shots, and went with this one cuz the background contrasted nicely. Dedicated to my mom.

Day 107

The Incredible Hulk was here

The Incredible Hulk was here, originally uploaded by billaday.

Had I been there two minutes earlier, today's photo-a-day would have been the Incredible Hulk. So close, and yet, so far (fetched). btw, this is not color corrected or anything.

Day 106

half empty, half full, half empty, half full

half empty, half full, half empty, half full, originally uploaded by billaday.

time to bus the table, I guess.

Day 105

Easter

Easter, originally uploaded by billaday.

Happy Easter!

Day 104

First person

First person, originally uploaded by billaday.

If you've ever wondered what it's like to play music professionally, this is your (big) chance. So, for those guitar heroes, air guitarists, or creative-type artsy people, make this really big, take out your air-guitar/guitar-hero-controller/friend's-old-acoustic/Photoshopped-picture-of-you-"playing"-guitar guitar, and rock out with me.

Oh yeah, this was from Easter Vigil... the really long, 3 hour Easter Catholic Mass. They start off dramatically (in a good way) with the lights off, so I had to play with a little light.

Day 103

Gentlemen

Gentlemen, originally uploaded by billaday.

I read this carefully before walking in... it says "Gentlemen". It was just me, so I had to wait outside until another dude needed to pee. I think just one person should be allowed in the bathroom at a time. It should be "Gentleman", or just "Man." I could do that.

Day 102

Two of these...

Two of these..., originally uploaded by billaday.

This was one of those days when it was 10pm and I still didn't have a good photo-a-day. So I looked around, waiting for something in my home to catch my eye. Nothing did. Finally, I strolled into the bathroom, and noticed the shadow on my vitamin C case.

Day 101

Springtime in California

Springtime in California, originally uploaded by billaday.

This view's a reason I still live in California, even though I can't afford a house. Photo-a-Day 100! Woo hoo!

Day 100

My wife, the Quilter

My wife, the Quilter, originally uploaded by billaday.

It's almost Spring Break time for the wife, and that can mean only one thing... lots of fabric all around. She has super good taste in picking out quilt-type stuff, and she's 28 years old. I used to thing only smelly, old people quilted--now I think young, hot nice-smelling people do. Either way, here are six swatches from her quilt, and the cutting board thing.

Day 99

Luck o' the Irish (Slinky)

Luck o' the Irish (Slinky), originally uploaded by billaday.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! This is an Irish slinky.

Day 98

Baptism

Baptism, originally uploaded by billaday.

Landon was baptized today. Welcome to the club, little guy.

Day 97