Recently I started working out again and found an app for my iphone that tracks your speed and distance of your walk if you walk outside. Coupled with my heart rate monitor its the perfect tracking method to keep me motivated on my walks. I’ve got a goal to lose as much weight as I can by May of 2010 for my trip to Egypt and Germany.

RunKeeper Screen Shot

Map provided by the RunKeeper App

http://www.runkeeper.com/

I’ve been spending a lot of time shooting my newest purchase from Comic Con. He’s definitely brought a lot of fun into my photography.

Baxter had a dream about flying through Lindt White Chocolate candies. They are undoubtedly his favorite. The set up for this shot can be viewed here: www.flickr.com/photos/creativesoup/3825612408/

Finally, it has came and went. The much awaited Comic Con 2009. I only had a ticket for Sunday this year, but I made the best of it. Woke up early, road the trolley to the convention center and walked through the doors at 9:30a.

Some of the highlights for me:

-Everyone and their mother seemed to have signs offering free hugs. What is it with these people? Do they not get love at home?

Free Hugs at Comic Con 2009

-Stumbling across Adam West (Batman) in an obscure little booth signing autographs. He joked with me about my camera lens getting too close to his old man nose. But as you can see, I was going for the wide shot.

Adam West, Batman at Comic Con 2009

-My recent obsession with the Yotsuba&! toy, Danboard was satiated when I found the last Danboard for sale on the floor. Of course he went home with me.

Danboard from Yotsuba&! bought at Comic Con 2009

-And of course, I can’t complete a list of highlights without including an honorable mention for my ever-present buddy in crime, Jeff. He gets high praise for just showing up this morning. And an even bigger IOU for putting up with my exhaustive toy search all day long. Thanks Jeff! You’re awesome.

Jeff & Jessy eating lunch at Comic Con 2009

Click here to view my photos of the Academy

So I finally got to go to the California Academy of Sciences last weekend. It was a lot of fun. We drove up from San Diego up the 5 and stayed at a friends place. We went on a Saturday when it wasn’t too busy, but when I arrived I was told that the Planetarium was sold out for the day. big bummer. I was really looking forward to that most of all.

My evaluation of the place. The building is wonderful and just great in its design. The exhibits were nicely done. The rain forest was an unexpected surprise for someone who enjoys photography like I do. Lots of cool flowers and butterflies to capture there.

Steinhart Aquarium left me torn. I think the exhibits were some of the best I’ve seen in all the aquariums I’ve gone to. They have great aquascape and plenty of exhibits for you to see. A nice selection of fish, though there was nothing breathtaking like the huge fat morish idols of the Long Beach Aquarium. The coral selection however was dismal. There was this amazing “reef caves” exhibit (the picture in the album with the black wall and circular tank viewing window) that could have been amazing. There were a million and two places for suncorals, dendros, scleronepthias galore…but they just left it empty and you stared at nothing but an empty overhang of rock. In the reef exhibit there were a few softies and some other LPS, but nothing looked flurishing. It looks like there could also be some more light added to the tank.

I can’t wait to see what the place looks like in 5 years if they really get some reefers in there to stock the tanks and care for them. This place will be a million times better than the Long Beach Aquarium which happens to be one of my favs.

Reference to California Academy of Sciences

http://www.my1uplife.com/2008/10/california-academy-of-sciences-steinhart-aquarium

After a long period of down time and a long absence on my part, the site is moved to a new server and I’m moving to an new apartment! Lots of updates coming soon. So hang in there and you won’t be disappointed.

Click for Borrego Springs Photo Album.

This weekend I went out to Borrego Springs desert on a camping trip with SDPhotoForums.com. I drove up with my friend Jeff Friday after work and got there about 6pm. The sun had already set and it was pitch black out there. Luckily my friend Marshall had already pitched the tent for me so we didn’t have to fumble around in the dark. On Saturday morning we woke up to a great breakfast of eggs, hash browns, and croisants. In the late afternoon we took a hike through the mountain to see some more of the scenery. It was a really nice weekend and I hope to get out to the desert to camp again soon.

Click here to view my photos from Greece

I got to spend a summer in Greece in 2002. I was still shooting in film then, and my friend was nice enough to scan some of my favorites into digital format for me. These pictures were taken with a Canon Rebel 35mm. I traveled around the country for 4 weeks, enjoying the sites. I was acutally robbed when I was there. It happened at a hotel on the beachs of Mykonos. I was sleeping in my room with a friend and someone climbed up to our second story balcony, came in the patio doors, and grabbed my wallet out from my bag next to my bed. It is presumed that they sprayed some kind of sleeping drugs or something in the room, because there were 7 rooms in a row hit from that hotel and no one woke up. I had only gone to bed at 4am and we woke at 7a to see my credit cards, license, and other personal items from my wallet thrown down the street. It seems the purpetrator was only after cash, thank goodness.

The rest of the country was very beautiful and hopefully you’ll enjoy some of my favorite snapshots of my trip.