1-1+1 = me

It's been a while since I last wrote. I've been very busy and such. The end of 2007 had me working day and night at my job. I think I worked right up to a couple of days before Christmas and then hopped in the car for the drive to Los Angeles.

I packed the following:

• 2 weeks of clothes (for a 4-5 week trip)
• workout stuff (clothes, water bottles, mountain bike)
• tire cables and snow shovel (just in case I run into snow in mountain passes)
• ac/dc inverter (to give me a household outlet in the car)
• basic tools (hammer, wrenches, duct tape, etc.)
• basic survival stuff (aforementioned shovel, matches/lighter/firestarter, 1-week worth of food, 2 gallons H2O, etc.)
  

Things I forgot:

• bike shoes (but I bought a pair at an after-Christmas sale)
• to take some veggies out of the fridge... it'll be compost by the time I return.
• dress shoes

Since I have been here, I've spent time with my mom just doing... well, random things. It's nice to hang out for a bit. I also have spent time with my dad and his family. I was pleasantly surprised to see my sister Michelle. She's growing up and a thoughtful young woman now (14 going on 15 years old). I like her sarcasm and silliness. I also like that she's articulate and opinionated about some things. I look forward to spending more time with her this trip.

For Christmas, I received a new camera. It's a compact 7MP 'prosumer' style camera. The only thing that I've snapped so far is the new ceramic Japanese cooking pot that I bought. I am hoping to experiment with nabemono recipes this winter. I used to have a pot like this but it broke. I really like the colors and flower pattern on the lid (see image above... oh, and the dog is not to scale).

My hope is to take pictures of favorite spots around southern CA and have them in my desktop slideshow. Places and times and experiences of general good feeling. I think I spend very little time reflecting and even re-embracing the good times in my life. It's often easier to remember the bad times and regrets. Time to re-balance my life by choosing to live more in the good times... past, present and future.

Time to add some more positive to me.