While Rand was once again showing off his public speaking skills (and meting out crazy doses of charm) I decided to roam around the city a bit. The only problem? Everything in L.A. is miles from everything else, nothing is within walking distance, and I didn’t feel like driving. Los Angeles is a terribly walking city, but we were fortunately rather close to Venice Beach, which made for a semi-interesting walk.

1. Surf/Swim sign

I wanted to walk up to it and scream, "Don't tell me what to do!" But I wasn't with anyone I could embarrass.

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-I didn’t realize you could just walk into a drugstore and find them next to the panty shields.

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Taken at Rite-Aid, Portland, OR.

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Forgive me if this post isn’t funny.

I swear, it isn’t my fault. I’ve been trying to shed a couple pounds before being squeezing myself into cocktail dress after cocktail dress (for wedding season is among us) and the first casualty of my reduced caloric intake in my sense of humor. There’s a joke here, something about how that’s why all the girls on Friends were both skinny and unfunny, but I can’t pull it together. If I had a donut, I probably could.

Also, did you notice that Jennifer Aniston makes really bad movie choices? It’s like she’s trying to fail.

Did I mention I’m phoning it in today, too? I’m phoning it in today. Forgive me. Tonight I will eat two pints of gelato, ensuring that tomorrow’s post will be riotous, and also that I won’t fit into anything I own. This is the sacrifice I am willing to make for my blog.

For today, you’ll have to settle for 10 photos from our last trip to Portland (and surrounding wine country).

1. Clyde Common Restaurant, Portland.

They serve popcorn. POPCORN. At a restaurant. Never have I heard of anything so magical.

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Pride was a few weeks ago in Seattle, and while we really haven’t had much of a summer (as we’d been promised) it didn’t stop folks from stripping down, dancing in the streets, and being freely and gloriously exactly who they are. Rand and I popped down to see the parade and enjoy the festivities, and while I could spend hours trying to describe the inclusive, loving feeling that was hovering around Seattle Center on that day, I think photos probably do a better a job. Here are my top ten pictures from Seattle’s 2010 Gay Pride festival and parade.

1. A rainbow flag flies atop the Space Needle (for the first time, ever).

I love you, Seattle, like no other.

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2. The t-shirt my hubby wore to pride.

Respect, yo.

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If there’s one thing I understand, it’s being in a funk.

Recently, several of my friends have found themselves in funks, for varying and legitimate reasons. And consequently, it put me in a bit of a funk (did you know that funks are contagious? Bet they didn’t teach you that in sex ed. Stupid middle school health teacher).

One of my friends is moving to Baltimore for graduate school (I’m resisting the temptation to watch The Wire, which I’ve never seen, because I know that after doing so I will want to lock her in my bathroom for fear that something bad will happen to her). I hate it when people leave Seattle. It’s silly – I’m hardly ever in this town, but I strive to keep a high concentration of people I love in just a few places. I like to tuck them safely away, and then, like so many other things in my life, I start to take them for granted.

Until one day, they tell me they’re leaving.

And suddenly I think of all the hours spent in front of my computer instead of in their company (ahem). I think about the birthdays I missed, the parties at which I didn’t show up, the phone calls I forgot to return.

And I feel like a heel. Hence, the funk.

It seems that the times I see a person the most are just when they’re about to leave town. Suddenly I rush to make up for lost time, to squeeze every ounce of life out of our interactions. (more…)

A few months back, my car was threatening to be difficult. It hadn’t really acted up, but the “check engine” light kept going off, and it struck me that I wish everything in life were kind enough to inform you of its impending break down.

In a panic, I brought my car into a repair shop. I have no idea what they did, or what was wrong with my vehicle in the first place. They ended up charging me $300, and I am okay with that being the price of my ignorance. It also required me to get home from Fremont without a car. Since I figured I’d be doing a lot of walking and taking multiple buses (some of which had me sitting next to nose-picking guy – we’ll later explore why this always happens) I decided to take my point-and-click with me.

Now, I rarely have my point-and-click on me. I generally travel with my huge Canon EOS, which I barely know how to use (also, for the record, I don’t know what EOS stands for. Please don’t tell me. I like mystery). Its size often causes me to leave it at home (make up your own joke). This time, though, I thought ahead, had my tiny camera on hand, and took photos of my walk through Fremont …

What's interesting isn't so much the mural itself, but that it's painted on the side of my friend's store, and I've never noticed it before.

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I’ve noted before on the blog how strange my upbringing in Florida strikes me sometimes. Compared to Seattle, it is a radically different place: flatter, more conservative, and somehow weirder.

I remember being devastated when we moved away in the middle of my freshman year of high school (this will remain a sore spot in family history for decades, but that’s another story). And while I wish that certain things had played out differently (because walking into a cafeteria as a freshman in the middle of the school year and knowing no one is absolutely terrifying) I am very, very happy that I no longer live in Florida. Not because I don’t love it or the people, but because so much of the stuff I see when I travel down there is so ridiculously jacked up, that I have to take photos.

And that’s just time consuming.

Behold some of the crazier sh*t the hubby and I saw on our last trip.

1. Tea baggers, Ft. Lauderdale, Fl.

I wish we had photo-bombed them with a sign that says, "Honk if you're scared of black people."

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This week’s blogger, Andre Gunther, is an expert in a field of which I know very little, but am still ridiculous passionate about: photography. And he’s been gracious enough to share some of his know-how.  Read on for his tips on how to frame that perfect shot, hold your viewers’ attention, and maybe even capture that elusive snapshot of Bigfoot when the opportunity presents itself (and I am always assuming it will).

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Learn how you can take better pictures with these easy-to-follow tips.

Creating great pictures is extremely rewarding.

Maybe you want to captivate your viewers and earn their admiration, or maybe you just want to preserve your family memories. Whatever your goal may be, with a little motivation, you can improve your photography skills tremendously.

1. Get Up, Go Out, and Take Photos

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If you can only remember one thing from this list, remember this:

Get out there, get moving, and get busy!

The more you shoot, the more you will learn. Try out new ideas and challenge your old ones. Nobody has to see the photos that do not turn out so great. In his book, Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell theorizes that the only real difference (between being great at something and being only average at it) is practice. Talent often is nothing more than practice and tenacity.

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1. Tom’s Restaurant (facade for Seinfeld restaurant sequences), Morningside Heights, NYC
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   Also immortalized in a Susan Vega song that I have always hated and now have stuck in my head. Crap.

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2. Hanging out with Rand’s grandparents, Bryant Park.
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   We all need not look at the camera for it to be an awesome photo.

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Act I: Times Square!

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Act II: I think our hotel is this way!

This photo is as blurry as my recollection of these events.

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Act III: No, wait! I mean this way!

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Act IV: You aren’t taking photos of this, are you?

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FIN.