jg gave me a sigma 10-20 lens for my birthday. it reminds me of the time he gave me an imac for my birthday. he insisted on setting it up for me. when i finally got to use it, the log in screen said: welcome jg.
anyway, we took the lens out for a spin yesterday on saddle rock. we hiked as fast as we could so we wouldn't run out of light.
the 10mm does amazing things in a tight space. i never thought i could get so much of saddle rock in one picture. by the same token, it warps everything that's not dead center on the image.
i apologize in advance for this next shot. it's a bit uncouth but it gives you an idea of how i get up and down the rock. i hate that i have to use every limb i have while jg just walks like he's using stairs.
actually, this is the second time we've tested this lens. we used it for a couple of landscape shots on our hike to gibraltar dam this past saturday. i'll show them when i post about that trip.
jg has always preferred biking alone, mostly because no one he knows can keep up with him on the trail. jasper the intern happens to be training for a mountain bike race in oregon. he told me that he could get to the top of romero canyon in 54 minutes. knowing that jg's best time is about 70, i thought i'd set him up for a smack down.
03 july 2010 at 4:10 pm
i did not know that jasper is cal poly wheelman until he showed up at the trail head. the full body spandex was a bit overwhelming.
jg already lagging at the starting line
off they went
they disappeared in less than a minute. i went about my usual business of hiking and film wasting.
nope
that car was parked at the trail head. i did not see a border collie or any other dog during my entire hike.
turn around point
that was the only bit of blue sky i saw on the entire hike. i sat on a rock there for about ten minutes before hiking back down. i took loads of pictures of the local flora.
california buckwheat
caterpillar phacelia
heart-leaved or climbing penstemon
(scarlet honeysuckle is a misnomer)
aren't you impressed with the correct identification of the flowers? that's because i just re-borrowed a stack of field guides from the library. this one is my most favorite:
by nancy dale & california native plant society
chalk live-forever
purple sage
yellow star thistle
farewell-to-spring
white sage
golden yarrow
lance-leaved dudleya
i could hear these two bomb around the corner well before i saw them. i was pleased to see that they hadn't fallen off the mountain. jg was elated to report that he got to the top in 60 minutes and 29 seconds. jasper sort of yawned.
jasper: hm, my average speed is only 13.2 mph.
game over
the intern will be at the races in a few days. i asked if he's familiar with the race course. "no. i guess i should look it up."
that's the best birthday present i received this year. it's the third installation of the schmee's getting old series by julia. see if you can guess what the animal is.
schmee loves julia
i like that it's not just any marmot. it gives me the idea of asking julia for animals totally out of their environment, like a turtle in the high sierras or a whale in the woods.
that's the msr hyperflow water filter. i got it using a gift certificate from my ma in law. the instructional videos are rather misleading; it's actually a pretty complicated little device. not to mention phallic.
i call this next item a birthday present when it really is not. i managed to lose my phone's usb cord and wall plug a few weeks back. when i learned that rick upgraded to the 4g, i asked if i could have his old cord+plug. he said sure. look what i got in the mail the next day.
7/2 two hour cruise on a 58 ft yatch with jg's office
regretfully, the sail was just for looks. we were cruising by motor the entire time. slowly, too. i felt so queasy i couldn't eat a thing. i kept hoping someone would shout "tack!" i think i prefer racing.
teenage skipper and schmee on the santa barbara channel
dylan the clown
i took this next shot of dylan when i first met him back in january. we were playing cranium and i believe he was impersonating marilyn monroe.
who would ever guess he could be so metro?
immediately after the cruise, jg and i went to meet mae for dinner. she and her family were on their way to san diego. they stopped by sb for the night.
desserts after dinner at longboard's grill
mae was my college classmate. we've known each other for about 15 years but this is the first time i met her husband and children. the girls are terrific little people.
the compass on stearns wharf
feeding time for moby
7/4 bbq dinner at scott's
i had been nagging scott to host a bbq ever since i met him. he finally did it for the fourth of july.
the animals at casa scott
i desaturated the image by accident and decided to go with the effect. i like how the colors stay true for both sandbag the cat and emma the ultra marathon mascot.
7/9 a piece of sushi that's very happy to see jg
7/11 attending my colleague sandy's birthday party in solvang
regretfully, i forgot to bring the canon xti with me to the party. that's the only decent shot i got with my lousy phone camera. also regretfully, scott invited us to another bbq dinner but it was on the same day as sandy's party.
7/17 tile shopping as a hobby
7/17 jg learning to work the msr hyperflow...
...so he could put it to use on a back country biking and running trip with scott and gilcrest. that excursion is a post unto itself. i have a back log of activities which i want to blog about. i hope to catch up in august.
last but not least:
7/19 a belated birthday present from st george, utah
