lansing.

i've been home a couple of days. the first night of sleep i layed there and realized that it was the first time in exactly a month that i had slept in a bed rather than on a couch. it was quite enjoyable i must say! plus since i had been up since 430 am, i was exhausted, so that probably added to the sleeps goodness.

its been nice to be home. i was telling my friend carla who i ran into at starbucks today that being gone a month did help me appreciate lansing better, and obviously its great to see friends. a month doesn't seem that long, but a LOT can happen!!

so far my time home has consisted of lots of packing of lots of little things. i can't believe how easy it is to accumulate so much stuff. and i keep trying to get rid of more and more... its just so hard to part with some stuff! i've also caught up with close friends and tried to steel internet where i can, cause we do not have it at my old place any longer.

i'm currently enjoying some free internet at espresso royale in el waiting for jess to come meet me for dinner at the peanut barrel. should be a nice evening of patio eating.. though i just realized i forgot a jacket and it gets chilly in the evenings here... still on that 98 degree dallas high...

ok. more about the move later..

suspense.

(written offline while flying yesterday)

yes. i have left some of you in suspense. i'd like to say i have faithful readers, but how could that be possible when i am such an unfaithful blogger. but thanks to those of you who do check back time and again for a little window (or peep hole as it may seem) into my life.

a decision has been made. i have officially accepted the part-time position with splashlight studios in la. my first day is set for june 9, 2008. i like that date. not sure why. but i think it will hold some great significance in my life. so much to do, and once again, so little time to finalize all my plans.

my trip plans are in the works but i am still needing to contact a few friends who live throughout the country to try to stop and sleep at their places along the 2,208 mile drive from lansing to la! that is a big big number!! i am quite excited about the drive though. something i've never attempted before -- seems like such a thrill. i am sure some of it will be quite bland and boring, anyone wanting to make me a mix for the trip please feel free! i'd love to hear fun new music -- or great old school tunes.

i had a great stint in dallas and was torn to leave already. i'm a settler, i quickly fall into routine and comfort zones and want to just stay. another reason this move was so necessary so quickly! i am looking forward to my very short visit to michigan. many people are already missed in my life and i can't wait to just say hi and get a hug.

well i guess i'll say LA or BUST!

dallas happenings.

to start this blog out today. the decision process is still in the works. i'm probably not going to take the position in la with splashlight unless i definitely get some other opportunities at least in the "very probable" works. thanks to all who have been praying and all the great advice. but yes. ultimately this is my decision, and its a risky yet exciting one.

ok. on to much more fun stuff. dallas has been treating me well. i think the last "dallas" blog was the one about the new puppy. well he's been here a couple of weeks, and we love him dearly. though he wreaks much havoc at times. ha. no actually he's quite good. but there have been a few incidents where when left home for many hours alone, even while locked in the kitchen by a baby gate, he has somehow managed to release himself and take ownership of many items that do not and never will belong to him. such as newspapers, twine, shoes, and novels. yes. as the attached evidence proves, mr wylie miester shredded many a paper item last monday. the picture is what i walked into... much to my shock and awe!

other news. it has been insanely hot here. already. records for may. last sunday had a high of 98 degrees! yes, that was the temp, not the long forgotten boy band of the early 2000's. annyway, i definitely took advantage of the afternoon sun after going to church and sat at the pool with the aforementioned novel (pre-shredding) for a good 2.5 hoursish. it was great. perfectly relaxing!

many small meals out have been enjoyed, now granted i am pretty much on a tight budget, but mdk and i as well as some of her friends have been able to enjoy a few fun new places for good eats at reasonable prices! one thing i love about summer, or i guess the south, is being able to eat out doors. so anytime i go out, the patio is a must. mdk and i went to a great place just around the corner called the cosmic cafe. its all vegetarian, a little bit newagey i think, but the food was fantastic!! mine was served on a giant leaf!! it was picture worthy of course (as our most of my meals!)

anyway. tried out a second church today. loved it. the message was a bit scattered, but that could have just been a fluke, but the music was nice and i really enjoyed the ambiance and the people seemed really great. visit the churches website at: www.watermark.org.

decisions.

i've talked with many of you today. and others this will be the first you hear of this. but i was offered a part-time position with splashlight studios in LA today. some of you are just about to jump for joy. as i am, yet at the same time... read that again - part-time - hmm. the problem here is LA is no place to live on little money. it is not cheap. and gas is over 4 dollars a gallon etc etc. the opportunity is amazing, and i'm still thinking about it before i make a decision. hence...

decisions.

a huge part of me just wants to be in la. around amazing people. both in the industry and out. and la would do that for me. but i also know that i need to be responsible and be making enough money to survive. so. when does success start? tell me if you know.

time to sleep on it. pray about it, and be ready to make a decision tomorrow or friday. so please pray with me :)

dallas.

well well, look who has seriously slacked off!

i've been in dallas almost a week. actually doesnt seem that long, which is good i guess. haven't been doing a whole lot other than helping melissa get settled in her new apartment and getting good contacts and meeting scheduled.

i worked for dan ham (www.danhamphotography.com) for a few hours weds morning. he's a really great guy and i'm excited to work for him more. i'm scheduled to work for him mon/tues all day this week. we spent weds morning just getting to know each other as well as him familiarizing me with his workflow process.

i also am excited about a few meetings i have set for the middle of next week. i'm meeting with D magazine (www.dmagazine.com) to show them my book and hope that they will want to hire me for freelance photo work! i set up another meeting with another local photographers rep to talk about possible freelance digital tech and assisting. he's are great still life photographer (www.mannyrodriguez.net). so things really look up here in dallas.

i'm sure everyone wants to know whats up with the LA job i interviewed for last week. well so far nothing. i did finally get a hold of them by phone thursday afternoon and they said they were still in the decision making process and that they had started calling my references (which i knew because my references told me), but these are good signs. i'm still not positive that i even WANT that job, i mean yeah i do, but it all depends on timing and salary (mostly salary!).

yesterday melissa and i drove to one of the outlying towns to visit the animal control shelter to look at a puppy that she was interested in. she's been looking for a dog for the past couple of months so this was no flippant thing. when we got there, he was so cute and perfect. as soon as we took him out to yard to walk him he was so happy and melissa sat down in the grass and he ran right over and sat in her lap. well needless to say, she took him home. he is a doll, perfect, no barking, he slept in the kitchen all night without a peep!! we named him wiley! (he was found in a small town called wiley texas, so its fitting, plus he looks like a wiley!)

today mdk and i are headed to a few antique and or second hand stores etc.

exploration. day four and five

apologies for the lack of entries the past two days. its not that i haven't had anything to write about, more haven't had the time.

friday. had a nice leisurely morning. was up at about 945, and just hung around and drank coffee and chatted with friends online and at the house.

amy and i had planned to do something relaxing that day. the weather was beautiful and we took a drive down to echo park to this great diner called //the bright side//. great food and a fun vintage ambiance. amy and i both got breakfast burritos with avocado. i love fresh avocado, the coffee was far from diner coffee. a good experience.

we then drove further down sunset into silverlake. amy had an article to write so she set up her macbook at intelligentsia (which incidentally are all over chicago, but this is one of the first in the la area!) while amy worked, i took a walk around the area through some fun unique shops, several were "renewable" selling only recycled and reused items. in all my shopping in la, no purchases were made....smart as i'm still waiting to hear about the job.

i made my way back to intelligentsia and grabbed an ice coffee and some local newspapers and just relaxed on the patio. the decor at the cafe was so fun, the floor was an amazing blue and white pattern. something i would personally search out to use as a background for my photos, slightly reminiscent to the background i used with the silverware.

amy had to work that afternoon from 4-7 so i bummed around old town pasadena for a bit and just relaxed on the porch. we went to a bbq at one of her friends house and then downtown to help celebrate her friend grants birthday. met some fun people as well as another photographer and an art director for a eyewear company. i also met some people who had a friend who used to work at the studio i interviewed at, so i was able to hear what they knew about the place as well as they all knew both of the people i interviewed with there.

it was a late night.

saturday.

planned as beach day. with some more shopping intertwined. amy, tyler and i went down to hollywood to amoeba records, probably the largest music store i've ever been too, and perused their large selection of used cds and dvds as well as new. afterwards we continued southwest to a cafe on beverly blvd for lunch/brunch and then to roberston blvd (again). amy nor tyler had been down there and there is a great store there right now that is a "warehouse sale" for kitson. amy was the only one to find something of worth for her, the rest of the store was pretty picked over. we walked down robertson, past "the ivy", this is the restaurant i had seen the multitudes of paparazzi a few days before. the men with cameras were few today, but as we walked by a small group of them they perked up. i knew what was going on, it was rather funny actually, just as we get past them amy says "ha, they thought you were someone!!" so that was my moment in stardom -- though they must've quickly figured out i'm just a guy from michigan as they didn't snap or follow :)

((this was probably the most beautiful day out of the trip))


back in the car and we finally get down to venice beach. definitely a sight to be seen. so many people from so many different backgrounds. street vendors galore. graffiti artists, skateboarders, rollerbladers and crazzy ladies on bikes. also this was my first time seeing real life surfing in action. we didn't really spend much time there. probably 45 min with walking around etc. we had plans to head to the valley to amy's cousins to help watch their kids -- yeah sounds boring but it was soo much fun. amy has family who live in calabasas, which is part of what is commonly known as "the valley". you have never seen such large homes, except on television. the first place we went to pick the kids up, a relative of amy's cousin, the place was HUGE. i wish i could describe it better, but you would just have to see it. but looking out the back window you could see the ocean over the mountains... amazing. we took the kids to an italian restaurant where we had some amazing pizza and good times. afterwards we went bowling... you never would have known that three late twenty-somethings would have such a good time with 3 children 7, 8 and 9! a nice end to a great day.

i'm at lax now. waiting for my plane to dallas. a few more days before i work for dan ham, the dallas photographer. i'm hoping to hear news on splashlight tomorrow, if not they said i could feel free to contact them for an update, which i will do.

ok. that was an UPDATE!

pch. day three.

day three. much more relaxed. the interview done and out of the way, i decided i really wanted to go drive the pch (pacific coast highway), or hwy one. i drove down to santa monica and took the pch all the way to malibu where i stopped at this shopping area and had a late breakfast at a place call marmalades that a friend had recommended. funny experience. so i sat down at a table in the middle. now normally when i eat alone, i'd rather sit at a small table against a wall or by the window but none were available so i settled for a four person table in the middle. i had been driving for over an hour since i came down from pasadena so i ordered coffee and then ordered my breakfast - scrambled eggs mixed with bacon and avacado and cheese and potatoes with grilled veggies in them and rye toast - and then headed off to use the restroom. as i returned from my trip to the lavatory, my table is all clean and new silverware being sat down (by the same guy who brought me my coffee not 3 minutes earlier) and a group of three people just about to be sat there... i said "i was sitting here with my coffee and just got up to use the restroom.." they all scrambled around, but of course i too had to feel the awkwardness just the same. but it was ok and the food was amazing (overpriced, but hey its malibu).

after my drive up to malibu instead of cutting back east to pasadena i went back to santa monica and into west hollywood/beverly hills area again to robertson ave where a lot of good shopping happens (no purchasing for me mind you). i really just wanted to window shop, and see this area known as the new hot spot, so as i drive in, there are fancy cars everywhere and people on the streets, and you guessed it, paparazzi everywhere! and i don't even know who they were all crazzy about. but i took pictures of THEM, cause they were much more interesting to me then whomever they were interested in! i'm glad i had that experience, it was surreal.

had dinner at the house in pasadena with amy and her friends, sat on the porch in the beautiful crisp evening and then went into pasadena for ice cream and a free screening of iron man. i'll leave my review of the movie out. but i'm glad it was free.

today (since i waited to post) is looking to be a very chill day. probably just hang out here in pasadena, have lunch and relax. amy's friend has a birthday party in highland park tonight we are gonna go to, and then tomorrow is beach day and dinner with her family in malibu.