Jeremy celebrated his 30th birthday party with friends aplenty in his San Francisco apartment. The homemade chili and lasagna were quite good and very filling. Joyce, David, and Hunter from The Bakery Box provided the rich chocolate cake, and Heidi mesmerized us with her stunning recital of Liszt’s Tarantula.

Apologies on not posting for the few several weeks. I was in New Mexico a couple of weeks ago; last week, Rae and I shot two weddings back to back (Friday and Saturday). The next day, I attended a funeral — two weddings and a funeral!

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It’s been ages since I last saw Suzannah in person. I think the last time was 7 years ago! Though the years have gone by, we’ve remained close friends. We greatly enjoyed her hospitality during our three days in hot and humid New Mexico.

On Saturday, Suzannah took us to the Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque. I was surprised to see us driving through a tract housing development on our way to the monument. Despite the wide-open Southwest atmosphere, Albuquerque is very similar to the Bay Area in the way housing is being developed. With Indian reservations on one side and the river and mountains on the other sides, there’s only one or two directions the city is growing. Luxury homes are going for $100-170K; that’s sticker shock for those living in the Bay Area!

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We had two presentations for the July 2004 COBA meeting. Mark Jaremko and Stan Jirman spoke about their photographic experiences on opposite sides of the globe, the Antarctic for Stan and the Arctic for Mark. Winnipeg at -11 degrees Celcius is nothing compared to the -40 degrees in the Arctic, said Mark (the hotel staff thought he was crazy for going out to photograph the city at night)! The duo discussed issues surrounding batteries (Lithium Ion batteries are better than NiMH ones. Use hand warmers to keep the batteries nice and toasty), clothing (wear glove liners underneath mittens that can detach around the fingers), and condensation. Many of their tips apply not just in the Arctic or Antarctic cold, but on backpacking trips. Regarding the globes, I’ve experienced this first-hand; it’s very hard to press your camera’s buttons when your hand is encased in fleece!

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I just finished a delightful dinner with Michael T. Jones and the creators of the Gigapxl Project, Graham Flint and Catherine Aves. As I drove into the Cattlemen’s restaurant parking lot, I noticed a Toyota Sienna with the license plate, “Gigapxl.” Yup, I came to the right place. I would have taken a photo right then and there, but didn’t because a cop was parked a few feet away from me! I certainly didn’t want to raise his blood pressure whipping out my camera like that!

The van is a sight to see. Graham made some custom modifications to it and built a specially designed carrier for the camera, tripod, and accessories. Looking at the photos below, you can be sure that I won’t be taking this camera out on my next backpacking trip!

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