the pristine, uncrowded 605 freeway

the pristine, uncrowded 605 freeway, originally uploaded by billaday.

I've always enjoyed driving under this underpass on the 605 North, ever since the good ol' drives home from Bolsa Chica State Beach surf trips.

significant Photoshop notes: I created another layer for the graffiti overpass, and changed the layer blend mode to color dodge. That's why the colors up there pop (more than before, at least).

Day 59

Warrenuci

Warrenuci, originally uploaded by billaday.

We had amazing penne with a secret Italian family sauce from the Warrenuci's. My favorite part of the meal was dipping warm, toasted french bread into the thick, rich secret pasta sauce. So tasty.

Day 58(Year 2, don't forget!)

I Voted

I Voted, originally uploaded by billaday.

Today was the primary elections in America. I voted, and they gave me a sticker so that the world would know that I voted. I walked home and hung up my jacket, so nobody actually so that I voted, so the sticker was pointless... until this photo.

I tweaked it in Photoshop a bit. I blurred and vignetted the edges, and desaturated most of the background.

btw, I'm really glad they didn't jump on the Apple bandwagon and change the stickers to iVoted. That would've been lame.

Day 57

The Bee Song (Reflection)

The Bee Song (Reflection), originally uploaded by billaday.

Reflection, by Rising Decline (my old punk band)
Lyrics by Brent Kelley
Dedicated to Brent, and his new EP (available on iTunes (and engineered by me)).

Sitting below, I look to the right.
The bee grows tired, but continues to fight.
Held captive by the glass, in a room against his will.
The struggle goes on.

He longs to understand, to recognize,
To see the world through different eyes.
But try though he may, the freedom that he needs
Is just beyond his reach.

I think that maybe
You'd see me standing there
In a picture drawn to scale.
Unknown, I'm smiling as I fail, I fit in;
Concealing what's inside.

Feeling confused, he's feeling denied
with nothing to show for what he's tried.
With one ounce of strength, he clutches to the glass
and falls to the floor.

And that's where he'll stay,
his wings laying still,
until he awakes and regains his will.
His hopes alive again, he looks up above
And strives towards his goal.

I think that maybe
You'd see me standing there
In a picture drawn to scale.
Unknown, I'm smiling as I fail, I fit in;
Concealing what's inside.


Day 56

Super (veggie) Bowl

Super (veggie) Bowl, originally uploaded by billaday.

I've been playing guitar on Sunday nights for the past 11 years. Robert (our music boss guy) gave us the night off. So this was my first Super Bowl Party as an adult. There was a lot of tasty food to eat. Thanks Vito and Cathy. And thanks New York Giants.

Day 55

Hangin' at the playground

Hangin' at the playground, originally uploaded by billaday.

I was Super Uncle today. My wife is in Portland with her friend Natalie, so I spent today hanging out Natalie's kids and husband. We did a fantastic job--the kids are smarter, and were not injured.

Day 54

avoiding the crowd

avoiding the crowd, originally uploaded by billaday.

My buddy Tyler and I hung out around the Grand Californian Hotel before heading into Disneyland. They have sweet, uncrowded places to hang like this patio/porch/fireplace with killer views. btw, that's California Adventure.

Day 53

Zip it!

Zip it!, originally uploaded by billaday.

It was really cold this morning for me. My car said it was 45 degrees Fahrenheit. Brrr. Later, it warmed up to 70.

This shot's dedicated to my Uncle Brent and his family. They live in much colder weather in Washington, and they all take super cool photos of super cold stuff.

Day 52

Edge of the world

Edge of the world, originally uploaded by billaday.

Apparently, I was just a few feet away from driving off the edge of the earth. Columbus was right. So watch out the next time you pass through West Covina. I don't think I'll go back now.

Day 51

High key post

High key post, originally uploaded by billaday.

Read the fine print:
WARNING
Maximum penalty for theft or misuse
or postal property $1,000 fine and 3
years of imprisonment.

Yes, we have a law that you can go to jail for 3 years for misusing this. Yeah.

Day 50

A plethora of frogs

A plethora of frogs, originally uploaded by billaday.

On Monday mornings, we pick new jobs in my classroom. While 20 second graders were busy thinking about whether to be door holder or backpack monitor, I noticed four frogs perfectly lined up in my hand. I snapped a super quick shot.

Day 49

Fade in

Fade in, originally uploaded by billaday.

I usually play bass at the 9:30 mass, but I realized at 9:28 that nobody was doing sound. Turns out, Robert (the music boss man) left a message for me letting me know that Anthony was snowboarding in Mammoth and not running sound. My bad.

Now for the great news. I got this cool shot (added some grain), and the mix was pretty good.

Day 48

a wet, rocky median

a wet, rocky median, originally uploaded by billaday.

I snapped this quick shot at a stop light. I like the atmosphere, so I made this the photo-a-day. I finessed this one second exposure in Photoshop, adding selective lighting, sharpening, vignetting, and blurring. It's not perfect, but it has the feel I was going for.

Day 47

X marks the strike

X marks the strike, originally uploaded by billaday.

At The Block in Orange, again with my buddy Brent. I've still never bowled here, but the building just looks so cool at night (and dusk, too).

I spent a while subtly bringing out the column detail above the X, but I think it's took subtle. I guess we'll see. Either way, this is the first photo in a while I've been stoked to edit. When you take one picture every day, inspiration isn't always there. Today it was (in the post processing).

Day 46

Hello TiVo guy

Hello TiVo guy, originally uploaded by billaday.

TiVo is wonderful. Go get one. And don't get some junky-cable-company-wannabe-DVR, you have to get TiVo. It's like saying you have a MacBook when you have an offbrand (dell, Fisher Price) laptop. Don't do it. But do get a TiVo. Now. Go. Oh yeah... I like the depth of field in this shot. Fancy/dorky photographers just write DoF, fyi.

Day 45

Looking through the wine glass

Looking through the wine glass, originally uploaded by billaday.

The upside down reflections in the wine caught my eye. As is often the case with me, I took many shots, and chose the first one.

I'm working through some video tutorials in Photoshop, to try to keep up/improve my Photoshop chops. I picked out the blues and the wine, threw those on separate layers (selective color), then used the channel mixer to convert the photo to black and white. Finally, I added a lens blur mask to (fake) widen the aperture. Yeah.

btw, here's the same kitchen, different glass.

Dedicated to distantblue. He left a comment before I could even add a description, and always has great insight. So check out his stuff.

Day 44

This is my 8 year old bass case

This is my 8 year old bass case, originally uploaded by billaday.

I started putting stickers on this case 8 years ago now. Most are falling off now, but I don't feel punk rock enough to go out, get more stickers, and cover up the case again. At one point, I had played with (or recorded (or been in)) every band on this case.

Day 43

Moonday

Moonday, originally uploaded by billaday.

In America, we named Monday after the moon. We also named this stuff after Monday (please use the accent of Bubba from Forrest Gump):
Black Monday
Blue Monday
Clean Monday
Ash Monday
Cyber Monday
Easter Monday
First Monday
Handsel Monday
Miracle Monday
Plough Monday
Wet Monday
Whit Monday
Big Monday
Weather Market Monday
Monday Club
Monday demonstrations
Monday Night Football
Monday Night Wars
Monday Night Raw

Day 42

tetanus

tetanus, originally uploaded by billaday.

Don't let this lamppost cut you. You could die, or need to get a painful shot. btw, this screw is part of the same post. Maybe I should stop parking under this lamp every Sunday.

Day 41

a plane wall

a plane wall, originally uploaded by billaday.

I didn't mean to trick anybody with the thumbnail. This is painted on the wall, but the propellor is real/3D. This is officially the coolest alley I've found in life (so far). Check out the downtown Monrovia set here.

Day 40