Changes

Though not much has been going on here, on my blog, lots has been going on in my life. I've experienced some pretty significant changes in the past couple of weeks and I'm in a completely different place in my life.

I graduated college about ten days ago which was a huge accomplishment for me; looking back at my choices at various forks in the road makes me glad that I stuck it out and finished right on schedule! It was great to complete my goals and I know that it meant a lot to my family; which is one of the most important points for me.

I live in Downtown Los Angeles now! I moved into a loft with a couple of friends, on the first of this month, and here I am a week later; still trying to adjust and get settled in. Yesterday was my first day feeling like a local; my roommate Chris and I rode our bikes down to skid row to visit my grandmother (Gwams) who works at the Catholic Worker soup-kitchen; it was cool to see her in her element in the hectic grind that drives that area.

From there Chris and I rode up to the LA county library, signed up as members, and gave ourselves a self-guided tour of the place. It was HUGE! They had several floors, fantastic architecture, tons of historic documents displayed as art and they even had a Yousuf Karsh exhibit! We came back home after that, so that I could get ready for a shoot and when that was through a few of us went kite-flying on our roof; it was awesome!

Later on in the day my good friend Adam and I walked through the fashion district, the garment district, on down to Santee Alley; it was hectic and fascinating and it was cool to see where all the materials, bits and pieces come from that drive such a huge industry.

The night ended by signing up at our local video store, Old Bank DVD, which had a great selection, good prices and a rad vibe! From there we headed back home to watch a movie and unwind.

All in all, it was a fantastic day, it's been a fantastic couple weeks of transition and I have so much more to look forward to!

Factual Facts

FACT:

The bicycle film festival will be in town this weekend and I'm super pumped about it. This will be my second year going so I've only had one year of experiencing it, but I can wholeheartedly say that I really enjoyed the experience. I like bicycles (a lot) and I like artistic imagery (a lot) so it's only natural that the merging of the two would be an awesomely amazing experience for me. You should go! check out this site and make some time to experience this event.

...FACT!


In other news (and this pertains to the tittle of the posting a lot more)...

On a whim last night, a few friends and I agreed it would be clever and silly to start a fact-posting blog and so we did!

Check it out at http://www.factualfacts.tumblr.com/

Really quick....

I haven't blogged in a while so I thought I'd try to quickly blast out an update.

I'm about to graduate college in TEN days! I'm super excited that I stuck it out and finished school; I'm really happy about completing one of my biggest goals to date.

I'm moving to Downtown Los Angeles in TWELVE days! I found a loft in the exact building that I have been wanting to live in and I'm going to be sharing it with two really rad dudes. Also I will be living directly above my good friend Adam!

I've recently gained some much needed clarity on my life! I was fortunate enough to get to spend some quality time mapping out some scenarios of what moves I could make, just after graduation, and how they might play out; I did some serious thinking and wrote out a short (yet effective) list of goals and I really gained some momentum in a definitive direction.

I am really looking forward to the future; the immediate weeks that follow, as well as the years to come.

I'm really stoked on life right now!

Figuring Life Out

I'm officially twenty-one days away from being a college graduate and I'm finding my mind wandering all over the place. Doubts, hopes, insecurities, dreams, wants, and desires all make up the whirlwind of emotion that I'm feeling. There's no set course of action, which is both liberating and disorienting. I'm maintaining the belief that I'm going to land on my feet and that I'll be fine, I just really have no idea what I'm going to be doing three weeks from today.

These images have little to do with the major context of this post, except for they were shot while hanging out with some people who I love and in a building which I'm considering moving into, in Downtown Los Angeles.

Fantastic Weekend

This past week and weekend flew by in a big hurry but, nonetheless, it was quite memorable! I spent a couple of days up in Santa Barbara, as usual, riding bikes, going to classes, hanging out with good people, and I even managed to win (by default) the wednesday day night SB Fixed race; this week was cyclocross style, except we all ran our track bikes and road bikes!

I ended my week with an amazing super-secret group portrait session that I can't talk about or show until the beginning of September. Friday night I was in the company of good people, both at a family birthday party and at the movies; I went and saw Funny People which I thought was really good. Saturday hate late beginnings but was pretty cool overall; I was hired to shoot a private party by the boss of a couple friends of mine.

The house where the party took place was honestly the most beautiful homes I've ever been in or have even seen, for that matter; it was assembled from used materials from old barns and the home sits on a 300-acre avocado ranch in North Goleta. Beyond the home, itself, were the people and the event; everyone was awesome to be around and work with and I walked away from the day feeling really good about the job.

Sunday was the Main Event for me though. As I wrote about before, Kinfolk Bicycles and Smoke & Mirrors teamed up to organize an amazing ride and after-party, whose proceeds go directly to the Pavlove Foundation, an organization that contributes to the Los Angeles Childrens Hospital; specificaly to fund relief and research to pediatric cancer.

I arranged to pick my good friend Adam up before the ride and head out to the Orange 20, the bike shop where the ride was set to begin, early to replace some parts on his bike and get it up to speed. We got all of the work done in good time and when the riders all started showing up we picked out a few familiar faces before setting out for the ride. The ride was RAD! We made planned stops all over LA, where this rap crew The Headhunters performed live on the back of a flatbed truck.

The ride ended at the location of the after party and party we did. Unfortunately I wound up in a bummer of a bike crash, but I was fortunate enough to walk away from it with no broken bones and the ability to fix what was damaged on the bike I was riding; it didn't stop me or anybody else from having an amazing night!

More images from the Catch Me If You Can ride can be viewed here on Flickr

Hanging with the FAM

I just threw together a tile of some photos which I snapped at a family outing, this past sunday. We visited the Gardens of the World park, in Thousand Oaks, for the occasion of my grandma (gwams) visiting us. I haven't seen her nearly enough, since I've been back home and it was great to get to spend a little bit of time with her; it always is!

Bicycles: The Best Invention Ever!

I am falling in love with bicycles all over again!I have been riding my bike 1000% more since I kicked my cold and I'm loving every second of it. I've been feeling like I can't quite get enough and the more I ride the better I feel. I wish I always felt like this about cycling; I'm never not into it but sometimes I weight the cons to certain rides and right now I'm all about it, no matter what. I think it's the production of dopamine and endorphins that's doing it to me, or maybe it's the social aspect of it all. I've been participating in group rides and races with the likes of SBFixed and the Thousand Oaks Chain Gang and it's been a blast; mashing around on bikes, hanging out with rad people, and just getting out there.

So........... Would you like to get together and ride bicycles?