Be Afraid

Happy Halloween. Get scared but not too scared. Have fun. And if I come trick-or-treating at your house, please don't give me any candy. Just admire my costume and send me home.


(Scary guest photographer John Sandel says, "ooga-booga marriage.")

Silliness

I promised silliness today because, I mean, yesterday I was so serious. I'm sure we'll get back to that but you just can't be that way every day. (Okay, fine, if you must, but I can't.) 

I suppose I could have saved this for Zen Monday. Goodness knows I'm running out of those.

Zen Monday: #200

Zen Monday #200! I can hardly believe it.

Zen Monday is the day you write about the photo and I don't. And today is special.

Because prizes!

The winner will receive a Lowepro EXS 160 Photo/Video bag (navy blue) and adjustable camera strap. The runner-up will receive a lovely City of Pasadena square chrome key chain.

Anyone can win and there are no criteria. You can comment as many times as you like. I think you can vote as many times as you like, too, though I'm not sure how the polling thing works. I'll put that up tonight.

Because of how the poll thingy is set up, we'll have to whittle it down to a few candidates and enter their names for voting. By the end of today we ought to have some front-runners. If you have opinions about who they should be, please say so. Let your voice be heard, otherwise I'll pick the finalists myself.

Tomorrow you will get to vote for your favorite comment today, and it can be your favorite for any reason whatsoever. I can't think of any rules, really, except have fun.

Thank you for visiting Pasadena Daily Photo. I'm always so glad when you do.

Zen Monday: #198

It's Zen Memorial Monday, so I'm not going to say anything about the photo. I'll leave that up to you.

It strikes me that in a couple of weeks, together we will have achieved our 200th Zen Monday. There will be prizes. More about that next week. For now, please say your piece/peas/peace in the comments.

Eye Care for Humans

I know. I am just that brave.

I don't usually blog about national chain businesses, but I had such a nice experience at LensCrafters yesterday--yes, the one in the Paseo Colorado--plus I took this bizarre, yet strangely attractive photo of a photo of myself, so I thought I'd post about the experience.

When I arrived, only one employee was on the premises and I was the only customer. The guy answered my questions and directed me to what I needed. When another employee showed up (returning from a quick break) she took over and waited on me hand and foot, showing me frames, answering questions, etc.

By the time I'd selected my finalists the store had filled with customers and the other employees had returned from lunch. My technician, Mary, was waiting on several people at once but I never felt neglected. Mary was efficient. And funny! We made eye jokes. I wish I could remember them. Any of them. You'll just have to trust me; eyes are hilarious.

It turns out the guy who greeted me when I first came in was the eye doctor. He was covering the store while the employees had stepped away. I am so impressed that he did that.

This is completely opposite to my recent experience at another Pasadena business. I prefer not to write negative reviews; I'd rather not give a bad businesses any coverage whatsoever. But it was such a relief to receive great customer service at LensCrafters that I left there practically euphoric.

Plus they gave me $150 off my total because I "donated" a pair of old glasses. Yeesh.

Speaking of bizarre, yet strangely attractive. Either that or oddly euphoric. Badly pixelated? Widely misunderstood? Unfortunately dressed! We can go on.

Merriment

That's me in the foyer of Pasadena City Hall, reflected in an ornament on the city's official Christmas tree.

John and I have each other, our home, work we love and a host of friends and neighbors we're grateful for. Boz is healing. All is well.

Happy holidays to you from the entire staff at Pasadena Daily Photo (me)!

Self Portrait

It's my birthday, so a little self-reflection is in order.

This isn't a "big one," though they do tend to get bigger as they go. But it's as good a time as any to check in with myself and see how I'm doing:

Never as well as I mean to.
Always better than I could be doing, I suppose.

If I compare my real self to my ideal self, I'll never be satisfied, so I'd best leave that alone. I try not to compare myself to other people because someone, somewhere, said that wasn't nice. But in my not-so-nice/a.k.a. normal human moments I know I do better than some people. I do worse than others.

Maybe comparisons aren't a good idea. Maybe they're irrelevant.

The question is, am I happy? The answer is, yes. Grateful? Yes, yes, yes.

Speaking of which, John turned me on to this song.

I know you guys and you're all going to say lovely things (okay, most a few of you are going to say lovely things) and wish me a happy birthday. Thank you! Please tell us, also, how you reflect on yourself, when you self-reflect.

Moi Aussi

I usually do my posts in the early evening, then set the timer on this here Blogger thingy to post at a minute after midnight. (Don't ask me why I set it for a minute after; I don't have an answer.)

I've spent a good deal of time researching a post and I've come to realize I don't have time to finish it tonight. So I'm forced to post something completely frivolous that has no educational value whatsoever. You will not be enlightened here on the blog today. I'm terribly sorry. I hope you'll at least be entertained.

Here's a self-portrait I took in the main floor hallway of the Westin Pasadena when I met friends for drinks at Ventanas, the lobby bar. It's a nice bar.

There--that was enlightening, right?

Bacon and Cheese

Margaret sent up the challenge: "Bring me bacon," she said, "straight from the pig."

Couldn't be easier. I applied logic and reasoned, "why, The Huntington has one of the most extensive collections of Bacon material in the world."

I figured I'd go photograph some of their Bacon. We Huntington members can drop by and do that any time we please.

Unless the Bacon is not on display. See, when the Bacon is curing, only specialists, called "curators," get to see it.

So I called. I wanted to be sure there was some Bacon in the current exhibits. It would save me a trip if there weren't. I'd just, oh, I don't know, maybe surf the web for my Bacon.

The switchboard operator didn't know if there was any Bacon on display, so she transferred me to the library. The person who answered was "only a security guard" who didn't know if there was Bacon in the library (you'd think she'd smell it), and though she couldn't transfer me she did give me a name. I called the switchboard again. The switchboard forwarded me to the person the security guard had recommended, who didn't know if there was Bacon displayed anywhere at the Huntington. She gave a snort and transferred me to someone who would know, yet didn't, and he transferred me to another department, where I got voice mail.

I wonder why they don't have a list, or a database, where employees can look up "What's Currently On Display at the Huntington." I've heard tell knowledge is power.

Anyway, I thought they should display some Bacon, seeing as they have such an extensive collection. So John and I drove down there to donate some. The Huntington thrives on donations.

I wanted a picture of the Huntington's Bacon, but it worked out okay. I've always been a bit of a ham. "Straight from the pig," Margaret said. Can you find the pig in this photo?

Proud Again

Proud the voting went well - imperfect, but well. Proud so many people got out and voted. Proud of Senator McCain's gracious speech - last night he sounded like the McCain I remember. Proud we made history by electing the first African American president. Proud we elected the right president for our times.

Proud to be an American.