The Unauthorized Observer

Wrong Tool for the Job

2009-04-02T09:53:00.000-07:00

This postcard landed in my co-worker's mailbox this morning. Besides setting off a ribald session of gratuitous captioning, the main image of the wrench (tool) and too-small hex fastener (nut) raises questions about whether these people are qualified to tell us how to do anything at all.

Good Day for Music

2009-03-20T09:13:00.000-07:00

I was going to call this post "Catching Up," but when it auto-filled after "Ca," I decided to try a bit harder. There's been a lot going on lately, but it's been a challenge to keep on blogging.

Yesterday was indeed a good day for music in the Styffe household. As soon as I arrived home from work, I made sure John was cleaned up and dressed, had his trumpet so we could head over to the Fullerton Downtown Plaza for opening performance of the Ladera Vista Junior High Jazz Band. John has been playing trumpet for 2-1/2 years in the Fullerton Elementary School band and now at LV under the direction of Mr. Hastings. To be honest, the 5th and 6th grade concerts were kinda rough, and without a strong measure of parental pride, would have been difficult listening.

But these kids rocked last night! It is heartbreaking to think that school music programs like this throughout the state will be shut down due to the budget crisis.

The Ladera Vista Jazz Band

John (far right)

But wait, there's more!

Last night at our regular Thursday choir rehersal at church, we were continuing our work for the Easter cantata to be presented on Palm Sunday morning April 5. Our director Mitch Hanlon, asked daughter Emily to take a solo part. The first run-through left us all slack-jawed. Can't wait to hear it in further rehersals and performance.

In the Oh-by-the-way Department, we added to our growing collection of grandchildren last month on 2/10/09 when Melissa gave birth to Aurora Anne Schweitzer.

Aurora Anne with her Auntie Em

Off to a Bad Start

2009-02-04T14:58:00.000-08:00

So a month-and-a-half goes by without a post, what are you going to do…sue me? Truth is I've been seeing someone else, at least for the past day or so. Yesterday, I joined Facebook.

There, I said it.

I'd also like to say I'm very, very sorry.

It started innocently enough. I noticed that some friends of mine had a group on FB which posts some information which I could use to good advantage. Combined with a slow work day, one thing led to another, and before I know it, I'm friends with any number people that I don't normally communicate with. They are all fine, intellegent, (mostly) young people with much better social skills than I have. I don't think I'll be able to hang around to get used to throwing my every thought up on the wall, but I'll stick around for the group info and occasional nugget of real consequence.

One reason that I haven't posted here for a while is that I'd run out of any ideas of consequence.

Or so I thought.

Then I thought I'd suggest a more accurate branding of the concept to the people at Facebook.

Before

After

The Year in Review

2008-12-21T13:28:00.000-08:00

Last year around this time, a fellow blogger posted his 10-favorite images of 2007 and challenged others in Observation Car, a discussion list of railroad art and literature, to do the same. So I did, but have since grown tired of the crabby atmosphere which permeates much of the discussion on that list. But it was a good exercise and I noticed a rather disturing thread in my selection. Seven of the 10 images were made right here in Fullerton, and I thought, "I need to get out more often." I also challenged myself to get more work published.

I'm happy to say that I successfully met those challenges. Here are 10 of my favorites from this year. Well, the first six months of the year. It seems that images 1–9 were all made prior to June 30, 2008! There's a good reason for that…the house! Construction in earnest began June 3, and I pretty much shut down the creative photography efforts for the next five months, shooting only progress images of the house construction, family events and assignments at work. But looking back, I feel pretty good about the images I made from January to the end of June.

Full Eclipse of the Moon, February 20, 2008. It had rained all day, and I had little hope of seeing the moon or its eclipse through the clouds. However, the sky began to clear just as the moon was rising, and I managed to catch the passage of Metrolink 608 approaching the platform in Fullerton right at the beginning of the eclipse's totality.

This image got published alright. As a two page spread in Locomotive 2008! It was used to lead an article on BNSF merchandise trains that run over the San Jacinto Industrial Lead to March Field. Many of those ObsCar guys would write this image off as a "crappy weather" shot, but in my opinion, the early morning low clouds hovering over the University Park area of Riverside, California give this image of the MBARJAC1-23 an edge it wouldn't have otherwise on February 23, 2008

Shot through a chain link fence in crappy weather. Enough to make heads explode on that list. This image hasn't been published, but it did win a Bronze award in the photography contest sponsored by the Center for Railway Photography and Art which was themed "A Sense of Place." I think this image certainly communicates a sense of the place which is the Alondra Blvd. crossing of the BNSF in La Mirada, Calif., on March 1, 2008.

A fan trip on the Sierra Railroad, March 9, 2008, found the California foothills green and the weather more than pleasant. The last photo runby of the day found nearly everyone lined up on a grassy hillside. Looking for something different, I headed for a nearby almond orchard where the backlit blossoms and steam went "electric" for me.

This is another image used in the article published in Locomotive 2008. The MJACBAR1-21 eases around a curve and down the 2.2% grade as it exits Sycamore Canyon in Riverside, Calif., on March 21, 2008.

Union Pacific train MWCDA (West Colton to Dallas Merchandise) rolls along side the Salton Sea on the former Southern Pacific "Sunset Route" on March 28, 2008.

Metrolink trains rest at the San Bernardino station on a Saturday morning, April 12, 2008.

Santa Fe steam locomotive, 3751 pulls a special train along the Pacific Ocean, under the historic Highway 101 overpass in Del Mar, Calif., on June 1, 2008. This turned out to be the very first image I had published in Trains magazine.

Ryan Humphrey and his son Max enjoy the passing of a BNSF freight as it rolls through Fullerton, Calif., on June 27, 2008.

My wife Amy and I relax inside our newly remodeled home on December 19, 2008. I can start thinking about doing photography again!

Halloween, Etc.

2008-12-21T07:56:00.000-08:00

Editor's note: I wrote this post shortly after Halloween, but for some reason (which escapes me now), I didn't publish it. Hint: the "Etc." probably refers to my unfinished business, but again, for the life of me, I don't recall what that was. So four days before Christmas, here it is. I'll have a new post (or two) up soon.

It's not my favorite "holiday" to be sure, but with kids and grandkids about, ignoring Halloween completely is an unthinkable proposition. Fortunately, we were able to offload the task of handing out candy onto Emily (who was grounded due to some bad behavior last Halloween) and her friend Emily (who wasn't grounded) while John and his buddy Nick hit a few houses and called it a night. They did, however, put a fair amount of creative energy into their pumpkins, as can be seen in Amy's pictures.

Emily turned the lid into a jaunty beret.

John's barfing pumpkin reprised a holiday classic.

Of course the grandsons had a great time. I'll just steal a couple of images from Melissa's blog and put them up here. I'd have stayed home to give these kids some candy.

Jamie

Finn

Young@Heart

2008-11-17T09:00:00.000-08:00

I'm not much of a movie watcher. I should be, but I'm just not. When I do get off my butt and take Amy out to dinner and a movie, I nearly always enjoy myself, but going to the theatre was not something that I was encouraged or even allowed to do as a kid, and I never really developed the habit when I got older. Even the prospect of watching DVD's on our HDTV doesn't often excite me.

Last night, Amy borrowed a DVD from her sister Leslie and seemed determined that the whole family should sit down together at watch it. I'm glad we did. Young@Heart is a documentary style film about the Young@Heart Chorus a group that puts its own indelible stamp on popular music. Watching it last night, I found myself laughing at times through tears. Songs ranging from "Forever Young" to "I Want to be Sedated" take on a whole new layer of relevance through the ragged voices of these 80 and 90 year old folks.

You can spend half a day going through all the online videos and web sites devoted to this marvelous group and film, but do yourself a favor and just rent it.

Get Your Kicks Here

2008-10-27T10:08:00.000-07:00

Elrond signing books

My friend Elrond Lawrence can certainly relate to the birthing process I've experienced this year. He wrote and photographed a book entitled Route 66 Railway which is the story of Route 66 and the Santa Fe Railway in the American Southwest. Just as our house project was wrapping up, he was seeing the first copies of his book. Having worked on a book myself in a previous life, I can completely relate to the elation and relief which he is feeling.

Sunday, El's in-laws hosted an autograph party at their beautiful hillside home in Redlands. His wife Laura and daughter Kathryn were on hand, having contributed to the book themselves. It was a lovely event and I couldn't be happier for them and their superb achievement.

Kathryn, Laura and Elrond

Grace and Insanity

2008-10-22T08:19:00.000-07:00

Finally!

We moved into our house last Saturday, October 18. Most people my age (at least the saner ones) hire professionals to do the packing, lifting, and hauling. Since I have been declared insane by any number of people, I've chosen (or been forced into) a different path. So armed with a rental truck and an army of friends and family (including both sons-in-law) we cleared out the apartment and most of the storage unit and filled the house with boxes and furniture that looks much too shabby for the walls that surround it. Reinforcements arrived around noon and the early birds headed off to salvage what was left of their weekend.
By sundown, I was whupped! I really am too old for this…

A friend from church brought dinner over to the house that evening. So there we were, gathered around the dinner table that we'd retrieved from storage, holding hands, ready to say grace and it hit me--we were home. An entirely overwhelming sense of gratitude swept over me with the effect that my prayer of thanksgiving sounded like the voice of an alien from my thick throat. But if I were asked to select the 10 best moments in my life, this would be near the top of the list.

I think my next move will be posthumous (just strap me to the appliance dolly and try not to scratch that corner in the hallway).

But wait, there's more. Sunday, October 19 was Amy's birthday. Her 50th. Wouldn't you think that by spending a quarter mil on her present that I'd done enough? Perhaps, but you forget…I'm insane. So two weeks ago when we were able to pin down the moving date, I started planning a surprise birthday party for her…at the house! A few hastily composed invitations passed out at church and a few emails to her co-workers did the trick. I made people fully aware of the situation, summed up with the statement, "It'll be chaos, but it'll be fun."

It was chaos. It was fun.

How often does something come off almost exactly the way it was envisioned? This sure did, thanks to a lot of help from Amy's sister Luanne, my Mom and lot of friends and family who brought refreshments and gifts. In all, about 70 people came! To be honest, I didn't expect half that many, but I was too busy to count the RSVPs. My top ten list of moments was now as crowded as the house.

We found out several things at that point.

1. The house can handle a party.

2. As good it looked up to that point, the house looked even better full of people.

3. I sometimes forget to take pictures at important events.

I suspect that many women would have been appalled at the prospect of having so many people over to the house with packing boxes all over the place and nothing but dirt in the yard.

But that's one of the things I love about Amy.

She is as insane as I am!

Amy's sister Leslie, Amy, my Mom, Amy's sister Luanne.

Amy and her Mom

Blowing out the candles

Success!

Insanity squared

John, Emily (are those my glasses?), Amy and I catch a breath after the party.

Thanks to Jacqueline Shirley who once worked at Hughes Aircraft with Amy and now works with me at Santa Ana College for the photographs.

The Kitchen

2008-10-15T07:35:00.000-07:00

Despite all appearances, Amy and I are both frugal folks. Yet given the opportunity to have, or create something nice for a reasonable price, we'll go for it.

While designing the kitchen for the remodeling project, we decided to make sure that the kitchen was a nice place to work and hang out, and so were a bit more extravagant here than normal. No, we didn't get carried away buying appliances, in fact the 7 year old oven was reused from our old kitchen, and thus dictated that all of our other kitchen appliances would be white. Our 10 year old refrigerator still doing its job in our temporary apartment will also lend its touch of familiarity to our new cooking space.

We went top drawer with the cabinets and countertops (Kraftmaid and Silestone respectively) and made a last minute change by replacing the vent hood over the cooktop with a microwave/vent hood for only an additional $100. We saved some valuable countertop real estate in the process.

Today, the appliances and plumbing fixtures should be installed and we'll cook our first meal there tonight or tomorrow, before we've moved in.

After that, I'm sure Amy and I will be arguing over who gets to do the cooking!

The Old Kitchen

The New Kitchen

Details, Details, Details

2008-10-14T08:35:00.000-07:00

We will be moving back into our house this coming Saturday! Seems like there are a million details left to handle, but some of them can wait until a lazy Saturday morning when we wake up in our new bedrooms, make coffee and breakfast, read the paper and pull out the to-do list. I actually look forward to working on the place at such a pace.

Meanwhile, the things that I was responsible to do are largely finished. That I survived the process of laying 1,000 sq. ft. of narrow plank laminate flooring is a testament to good knee pads, ibuprofen, … and family and friends who have been praying for us and our project! Most professional floor installers my age are retired, and in terms of my career as a floor layer, I am too, but I wouldn't trade the experience and satisfaction of having done it myself (with help of course) for anything.

I'm looking forward to hanging artwork on the walls, beginning the landscaping work, hosting back yard barbecues and living room Bible studies, and having the grandkids over to spend the night.

Finishing the Job

2008-10-02T09:35:00.000-07:00

Living Room, looking into the den/office

Our long ordeal/adventure is nearly done. There is still plenty of finishing work to complete. I seriously underestimated the amount of time necessary to lay down 1200 square feet of laminate flooring. I had planned to do the entire job in 3 days last weekend, but instead got a small hallway and the master bedroom (about 20% of the total) done. I've arranged for a 4 day weekend coming up and using our experience and hard-earned skills, hope to finish that job by the end of next Monday.

Bedroom with floor installed

We're still awaiting the installation of the kitchen countertops. Meanwhile the bathroom vanities will be installed tomorrow (Friday, 10/3) along with door hardware, etc. Exterior concrete work, installation of heating/air conditioning, stair handrails are also on the contractor's list.

Dawn, October 2, 2008

The hoped-for move in date is the weekend beginning Friday, 10/17…Amy's birthday is Sunday 10/19 and she says we'll wake up in the house that morning, if we have to use sleeping bags!

Almost Home

2008-09-21T03:39:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened since I last posted, this has been a very busy month. When we first drew up the contract for the house remodel project, we intentionally left a few things out in the event that some cost overruns might put the total project over our budget. So we left out the kitchen cabinets, interior painting and flooring. We figured if the money was still there when it came time to do these things, we'd hire someone, otherwise, we'd do it ourselves.

Having to pay four months of extra apartment rent at the beginning of the project due to the zoning delay along with losing $10,ooo to a crooked contractor last year before we fired him, it's been apparent for some time that the final month of the project would involve a lot of labor on my part. As it turns out, the project has gone very smoothly otherwise and those two items totaling $17,000 were virtually the only two unexpected expenses that we faced. In terms of actual construction, we've had only two change orders adding up to less than $2,000.

Tuesday, September 16, was the day interior painting was to begin, so I arranged for vacation time from my job for the remainder of the week. The job would involve spray painting 6,000 square feet of freshly textured drywall and 2,000 sq. ft. of ceilings in one day (spray painting ceilings is not a fun job). However the drywall texturing was delayed until Tuesday, meaning that painting couldn't start until Wednesday.

Does this bunny suit make me look fat?

Kitchen cabinets were scheduled for installation on Thursday and Friday, so that area had to be painted on Wednesday as well. As the week progressed, we managed to keep everything on schedule and by the end of Friday, 80% of the interior painting was finished and the kitchen cabinets were in and looking good. This involved a lot of help! Amy held up her end painting and answering questions, my brother-in-law Tom laid ceramic tile floors in both bathrooms, rented a second spray unit and jumped into the painting panic. He, along with another fellow parishioner – Dirk McCuen – installed a whole kitchen full of Kraftmaid cabinets. My Dad, 81, painted his brains out and helped keep the place straightened out while boxes, ladders, brushes and paint buckets were flying about. Another friend from church, Carol Henke, lent her professional expertise helping Amy pick a gorgeous palette of colors, made excellent recommendations on paint brands and grades and with her husband Bill pitched in with the actual painting and brought us a meal. Amy's sisters Leslie and Luanne helped paint the upstairs on Saturday. Luanne also brought lunch over from Brea's Best Burgers and Pepe's on Thursday and Friday. David Curlee not only provided some much needed painting help, but loaned us some ladders and critical lighting equipment as well. Our pastor, Darrell McGowan took time out of a very busy week to pick up a brush and roller for the cause.

All told, it was perhaps the closest thing to an Amish barnraising that you'll see in Orange County, outside of a Habitat for Humanity project.

Late yesterday, I took on the task of installing a ceramic floor in the entry way. It was the first time that I had attempted such a thing on my own, and will perhaps be my last. Amy stood steadfastly by as I mixed thinset adhesive, cussed, groaned and finally completed the job at 9:00 p.m. with the help of the Curlee lighting system. To say that I was thoroughly "whupped" when I got back to the apartment would be an understatement. I ate some leftovers out of the fridge, took three ibuprofen along with a prescription pain reliever left over from a tooth extraction a couple months ago and was in bed by 10:00.

Why I'm wide awake at 4:00 a.m. the next morning, sleepless, and writing this, I can't explain.

After church today, Tom and I intend to grout the downstairs tile, and I may paint the door frames as well. I'll meet an installer at the house on Monday so he measure and template the countertops in the kitchen.

Otherwise, the pros take over again on Monday. The finish electrical will be installed Monday and Tuesday, the stucco color coat goes on Tuesday, interior doors, floor molding and door casings go in on Wednesday and Thursday before I start installing the floors on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

I may be ready for one more of those pills next Sunday night, but if we continue to stay on this schedule, we'll be moved back into the house three weeks from now.

Handcuffs All Around

2008-09-10T07:08:00.000-07:00

I returned home last night from seeing the Angels lose to the Yankees 7-1 (what a waste of 6 dozen baseballs that was) to find a letter from Countrywide Home Loans on my desk with a mild expletive scrawled across the top by Amy. It said that our data, along with that of two million other customers, had been stolen by one of the company's senior analysts. The stolen information includes our Social Security numbers, credit history, etc. The letter stated that the company was offering two years of free credit monitoring services. (Insert expletive here)!

Reading the LA Times this morning, the article about this incident stated that Rene Rebollo of Pasadena, Calif., has been fired, arrested (in that order?), pleaded not guilty and is free on bail pending trial Oct. 7. I hope that was worth it Rene.

Countrywide is one of the prime culprits in the whole subprime lending mess that has rattled our economy. I would have never intentionally done business with them, but when we refinanced our house for the remodeling project, the ink was barely dry on the papers we'd signed when we were informed that Countrywide had bought our loan.

Ironically, directly below the Countrywide story is an article concerning the intense security of KFC's efforts to protect the secret blend of 11 herbs and spices in Kentucky Fried Chicken. The yellowing sheet of paper handwritten by the Colonel himself" was placed in a lockbox that was handcuffed to security expert Bo Dietl, who climbed aboard an armored car that was whisked away with an escort from off-duty police officers."

Apparently, our financial secrets don't rate the same security measures as a fried chicken recipe.

By the way, the house is moving along great these days. We passed drywall and exterior lath inspections yesterday, they'll finish the roof and start the scratch coat stucco today, and I'll be installing ceramic tile floors in both bathrooms over the weekend.

New Photo Album

Less than five weeks until moving day!

Meanwhile…

2008-09-04T08:31:00.000-07:00

Obviously, the house project is the foremost thing on my mind these days. However, I have tried to put a "spacer" post in between each one about the house. With about six weeks to go before we move in to the "new" house, it will be difficult to maintain that rhythm, because finishing the project is going to the only thing on my mind in the foreseeable future.

But there are other things going on to be sure. Saturday, Amy and I were returning from a Santa Ana College art gallery opening, exiting the SR91 freeway at State College Blvd. She said "look at all those balls!" "Huh?" I said. "There's a whole bunch of Union 76 balls on top of that building, haven't you ever seen them?" Honestly, in the hundreds of times I've taken that off ramp, I've never looked 90º to the right, I've been more concerned about the cars stopped at the end of the ramp.

Donco & Sons, Inc.

So we drove over to have a look. Sure enough, in the extreme southeast corner of Fullerton, is Donco & Sons, Inc., a signage and lighting company that was apparently the keeper of the Union Oil Company's classic orange ball signs which were all removed a few years ago, when Conoco/Phillips/Union Oil were all merged into a single entity that is now about to get out of the retail gasoline business itself. I kinda wish old man Donco had sent one of his sons up on the roof to rotate some of the signs into a more photogenic pattern, but it's still pretty cool.

Then this morning, I'm driving to work, listening to the aftermath of Sarah Palin's VP acceptance speech, my blood beginning to boil, hearing a bunch of right wing pundits try to tell me that running a state for a year-and-a-half that has one fourth the population of Orange County, constitutes the necessary experience to take over the helm of our entire country, if indeed John McCain who'd be the oldest man ever elected to a first term in office would do what comes naturally to many men that age. And I'm sorry to bring this up, but when did teenage pregnancy become fashionable amongst the Christian right wing? I know we're supposed to leave Mrs. Palin's family out of this, but perhaps she should keep her family out of the limelight for a while. Perhaps she could use her shtick to audition for the reunion episode of the Northern Exposure TV show.

But I digress. Let's try that again.

Then this morning, I'm driving to work, turn the radio down and pass under a freight train slowing for a stop at Fullerton Jct. It's 6:15 am. I know that Metrolink train 701 (Riverside to Los Angeles) is due at 6:18 and that train 700 (Los Angeles to Riverside) is due at 6:19. Might be worth parking the car and taking the camera over to the platform. One of the aspects of digital photography that I've come to appreciate is its ability to work well in the low levels of pre-dawn and evening twilight. Things like street lights, locomotive number boards and signals stand out, and for the first time in my experience it's possible to capture the real feeling of those moments.

BNSF 7510 West and Metrolink train 701 pushing away from the station.

Metrolink 700 pulls into Fullerton.

Metrolink 700 crossing from Main 3 to Main 1 at Fullerton Jct.

Meanwhile, back at the house, they start doing the roof today, and the drywall starts tomorrow. I've updated the the Construction Slideshow with a new finale. There will be a lot happening real soon, and I'll try to keep you posted.

More Progress

2008-08-21T07:38:00.000-07:00

The project hit a bit of a snag recently, when the city's engineering department raised an issue with the prefabricated roof trusses that had been used. As I understand it, the trusses were manufactured to the version of the California State Uniform Building Code which took effect on January 1, 2008, while the city expected them to be built to the previously used code which was in effect when the project was designed and approved. This resulted in a three week delay while the project's engineer of record, the truss manufacturer's engineers and the city's engineers went back and forth just to be sure that the place wouldn't come down on our heads during the next great earthquake. The guy who was installing the air conditioning ductwork in the attic when a 5.4 maginitude quake struck on July 29, could have settled the matter by telling them what he told me, "It was quite a ride, but this place moved as a solid unit, no creaking, rattling…nothing!" That's good enough for me. The entire matter is close to resolution though. The project's engineer has certified that the truss calculations are good, and submitted a letter which has been forwarded to the city's engineering department. Perhaps simply sending an envelope full of $100 bills would have been more efficient!

With that issue out of the way now, insulation, roofing, drywalling and stuccoing can commence. The kitchen cabinets are on hand, volunteers have been lined up to help with the painting, the floor material has been purchased and things are ready to move at a brisk pace shortly.

The Latest Slideshow

Engineer Bill

2008-08-20T19:58:00.000-07:00

Bill Stulla passed away on Tuesday, August 12, 2008 at the age of 97. He was better known as "Engineer Bill" to kids who grew up in the Los Angeles area during the 50s and early 60s. He hosted an afternoon cartoon show on KHJ channel 9 seated with two young guests behind an American Flyer train layout. This Los Angeles Times obit tells the story quite well.

This video recalls the experience of watching the show precisely.

My appearance on the Engineer Bill show, 1959.

I watched this show religiously…until I was on it. The train layout that was so impressive on TV didn't even measure up to the one I had in my bedroom. I had asked for a refrigerator car in my letter, but instead was sent a Maine Central boxcar that was lettered on only one side. When we played Red Light, Green Light I kicked that little girl's butt, yet they gave her the same prizes that I had "won" moments earlier. Didn't seem fair to me. After being on the show, I never watched it again.

Forgive me Bill.

They sure don't make kids' shows like that anymore.

Gratuitous Grandson & Train Photography

2008-07-29T09:25:00.000-07:00

These are eventful days around the Styffe household with house construction, weddings, birthdays, etc. The temptation, of course is just keep throwing up pictures of the construction, since that project has most of our attention these days. But I can resist temptation. Usually.

Still, life goes on. Quite nicely. We had a lovely dinner with friends, the Strapacs and Lustigs, hosted by Ted and Liz Benson in Newport Beach recently. It had been a number of years since the two older Styffe daughters had been with the young Benson ladies. Having bonded at an early age over their fathers' unusual shared avocation, they have each blossomed into lovely young women. Dads and Moms couldn't be prouder.

A week later came grandson Finn's first birthday and the ceremonial smooshing of the birthday cake. Finn did not disappoint in this endeavor. More Photos

Finally, just to keep myself centered, I brought my camera trackside this past weekend even though nothing particularly unusual was going on. But as often happens under such circumstances a nice image resulted, this one of commuters going off to work early on a Monday morning. More Photos

By the way, the house is still coming along well. The outside lath is nearly complete, the rough plumbing and electrical are signed off, and the drywall will start going up soon.

Even from our lofty perch these days, things are looking up.

Extreme Makeover -- Sane Edition!

2008-07-11T15:17:00.000-07:00

With the upstairs portion of the house in place, Amy and I can really envision how it's going to look. Needless to say, we are stoked!

Considering how badly this project started, things are now progressing at an amazing pace these days. As I write this, Mario and his framing crew are nearly finished with that phase of the construction. A framing inspection has been requested for this coming Monday or Tuesday. The rough electrical is well along, and the plumbers will be out to get started this Monday too.

Talking with our contractor this morning, I got news that the project won't be done in early November like I had expected. He's aiming for a final inspection at the end of August! That's going to mean some hustle and heavy lifting on my part, since the kitchen cabinet work and interior painting were left out of the contract and are my responsibility.

The TV show referenced in the title of this post features insane people building insane projects at an insane pace! If we'd the good fortune to experience a tragedy so profound as to qualify for one of those TV home makeovers, they have made it twice this big in the course of one week's time. No thanks.

So "Move That Bus!"

New Slide Show and New Photo Album

The Wedding

2008-06-29T14:43:00.000-07:00

The moment one sees his baby girl in the cradle, a dad is aware that the essence of that relationship will be short lived. The fact that this is as it should be makes the whole scenario not all that painful.

From the moment that we met Ben, it seemed apparent that this event would unfold in its good time. So happily Ben joined our family just as Jenn joined his and the world keeps on turning just as it should.

I am not a wedding photographer, I don't even play one on TV, so these photos are just a few images that I took while being the father of the bride. We hired my friend Damion to do the essential and creative photography of the event.

Normally, I don't do weddings, which is also as it should be.

Progress in Plywood

2008-06-25T22:47:00.000-07:00

Now that the project is moving along nicely, I look forward to making the right turn from Raymond Ave. onto Grove Place and driving directly toward the house. It's beginning to look dramatically different on a daily basis.

The framers have been busy this week and have finished the basic ground floor framing and have now started on the second floor. Two walls of the boy's bedroom went up today.

It seemed like a good time to update the slide show and close the "Demolition" phase. I've also put up a photo album of the project.

Can't wait for tomorrow's trip down Grove.

Sunday Detour

2008-06-23T23:19:00.000-07:00

It didn't take long for my friend Ted Benson to convince me to join him for a Sunday drive to see Amtrak's Coast Starlight detouring over the Tehachapi Mountains while the Union Pacific did some bridge work in Santa Barbara on June 22.

Ted and I have had many memorable railroad photography trips together, but opportunities to do so in recent years have been elusive. Hundred degree temperatures and $4.75 gasoline weren't even going to get in the way this time. Naturally, we connected somewhat by accident early evening near Tunnel 2 while setting up to shoot the same train. After the day's light ran out, we rolled over to Antonio's in Tehachapi for a great meal and Cadillac margeritas and a chance to compare the joys of grandfatherhood.

The former Southern Pacific (now Union Pacific) route through the Tehachapis is one of this world's greatest places to photograph trains. Much of the line is accessible with a little effort, and the line's frequent change of direction makes it possible to get suitable lighting nearly any time of the day.

However there has not been passenger service on the route since Amtrak took over the nation's passenger service in 1971. Since then there have been only a handful of opportunities to see or ride a passenger train on the route. This day was extra special since there would be a train running in each direction. Although it wasn't the highest priority, I did quietly hope to get both trains passing each other, and that opportunity presented itself at Caliente.

I was one sunburnt, worn out, old man when I drove up to the apartment at 8:45 Sunday evening. But the time, gas money and skin cells were well-spent.

View the photographs.

Growing Up…or Not

2008-06-20T12:16:00.000-07:00

Inevitably, time marches on and we witnessed two events which underscored that fact.

The boy started kindergarten at Raymond School just a block down the street from our house just a couple of months before Amy and I were married in 2001. It's the only school he's ever attended, but last Thursday we attended his promotion where he was ceremonially flung into the wide world of junior high school.

Speaking of junior high school, the girl finished her two years at Ladera Vista Junior High with a graduation ceremony held outdoors on a sweltering June morning last Friday. She sang in the school's advanced choir for one last time during the ceremony.

Of course this meant that we had to subject ourselves to modern graduation behavior. At one time these were dignified ceremonies, the band played Pomp and Circumstance while the graduates processed to their seats. Everyone applauded after all of the graduates had received their diplomas.

Now days, each student has his/her own cheering section which erupts into a mighty roar when their child's niece/nephew/cousin/whatever has their name announced. This loud cheerleading woman's overexposed back grabbed my camera's autofocus sensor as I was attempting to record Emily's return to her seat.

I resisted the urge to ask the woman if she wanted a print.

Assess This!

2008-06-07T13:32:00.000-07:00

Finally, exactly four months past the original date to start demolition/construction, our builder was finally able to pick up the building permits last Tuesday and things have been moving along smartly ever since. In order to support a second floor, about ten large openings have been made in the concrete slab at key points to make pads to support the additional structure. Our contractor, RVM Construction, plans to be pouring concrete this coming Wednesday. After that, the roof will come off, the walls will be stripped to the studs, or replaced entirely in rebuilding process.

Several readers have noted the lack of updates to The Movie: Demolition after its original posting. Frankly, for the past few months there was nothing to add. In the meantime, I've reconsidered the method of presentation, and decided to replace it with The Slide Show: Demolition a Flash slide show with much better resolution. This will be easier to update as well. As the project proceeds, I'll post slide shows on the framing, stuccoing, window washing, etc.

The other day, I received a joke email about property taxes. The most noteworthy aspect for me was the remarkable resemblance of the fourth image (as seen by your appraiser) to the current condition of our house.

Full-Contact Foaming

2008-06-03T05:30:00.000-07:00

Most people are aware that railfans are commonly referred to as "foamers." It's considered a pejorative term to describe someone who gets so excited about seeing a train that they foam at the mouth. I'll never refer to myself as a foamer, but when pressed on the matter, I might own up to the possibility of being one. I prefer "railroad photographer."

But last Sunday, I was a foamer. Santa Fe 3751, a steam locomotive built in 1927 (the same year my parents were born) was used to pull an excursion train from Los Angeles to San Diego and back. I carefully calculated the number of times I could catch up with, and photograph, the train. By the time train passed my camera at Torrey Pines, I had managed to catch it in 5 different locations.

This required a small amount of NASCAR-like activity on my part.

However, contemplating the return journey of the train, I decided to return to "railroad photographer" mode. Consequently, I carefully looked around the Torrey Pines Bridge and settled on a position that seemed to offer the most promise in terms of composition, light angle and historical interest. As news of the train's delayed departure from San Diego reached me, I began to worry that the light would deteriorate completely, no matter what its angle. I also began to question my sanity for waiting so long for a single image.

Finally, I heard of its departure at 6:05, and figured it would take 45 minutes for the train to reach my location. Just as I could see the train's headlight in the distance, the sun broke through the gathering clouds. The historic bridge and the locomotive's smokebox "went electric."

I'm glad I waited. But six hours for one photograph? I guess I'm still a foamer.

Images from the entire day

Start of Construction, Take 2

2008-05-27T09:03:00.001-07:00

We finally had our hearing with the Fullerton Planning Commission on May 14. After a brief discussion including an objection raised by a "neighbor" around the corner, eight houses away, who didn't want to see a 2nd story structure from his house (he won't unless he uses a ladder), the commission voted 5-0 to approve our request for a zoning variance. After a 10-day (city business days) window to allow formal appeals of the decision to be filed, we should finally be able to pick up the building permits on June 3 -- exactly 4 months after the original date for the start of work.

Due to a lack of venue during our homeless period, the family gathered in a park near our house last Sunday to celebrate my birthday. For those of you who may not have been paying real close attention, the age counter in my profile updated automatically on May 19. It was unusually hot for mid-May in these parts that weekend, but we still managed to have a good time. My parents, wife, kids and grandkids were all there along with Melissa's homemade key lime pie. It was a simple, pleasant time and I took photos.

Rooting for Laundry

2008-05-08T10:41:00.000-07:00

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld once observed that with the way professional athletes change teams at will, rooting for our favorite team with its constantly changing cast of characters essentially amounts to the fact that we're just "rooting for laundry," i.e. the guys wearing our team's jersey.

Why do we root for some teams and not for others? Geographic proximity is the most common reason. I was born, raised and continue to live near Los Angeles, so I follow the Angels (of Anaheim -- don't get me started on that issue), the Dodgers (to a slightly lesser extent), the Lakers, and the Anaheim Ducks. Had the LA Clippers done the logical thing and relocated to the newly built Pond in Anaheim during the 1990s, I might have been sucked into the black pit of despair that is the lot of being a Clippers fan.

Note the lack of football teams on my list. In 1996, the NFL saw fit to allow both local pro football teams to depart, the Raiders back to Oakland where they belonged and the Rams to anywhere else where they, too, belonged. I'll start following real football (soccer) before I ever give a rat's ass about an NFL team again. From my high school days as a 155 lb., 3rd string linebacker, American football has proven itself to be a sport that I can live without. Even our local university, Cal State Fullerton, quit fielding a football team in 1993 and now sells "Titan Football: undefeated since 1993" T-shirts in the bookstore. Meanwhile the university's baseball teams are nationally-ranked every year and average a national championship every decade. Even the Titan basketball team made the NCAA tournament this past season.

Incidentally, I'm getting interested in NBA basketball (notably the Lakers) again after taking a few years off from the NBA culture. But I've followed the career of Kobe Bryant since he was drafted as a 17-year- old out of high school. At times, it has been obvious that his talent as a player far outstripped his ability be a good teammate or to make good decisions off the court. However, he does seem to be getting it this year, as he has elevated the level of his own game as well as the entire team's. In my opinion he is truly deserving of the league's MVP award and I've enjoyed watching his talent as he has matured and I'll continue to root for him, particularly on his journey through life.

Occasionally, other events have forced me to re-examine those loyalties as well. I was a die-hard Dodger fan growing up. When Rupert Murdock's Fox Corp. bought the Dodgers and replaced Orel Hershciser and Mike Piazza with Kevin Brown and Gary Sheffield I found it impossible to care about the team any longer. Since I had recently moved to Fullerton, just next door to Anaheim, it seemed like a good time to transfer my primary allegiance. Living just a 10-15 minute drive from Angel Stadium helps a lot, and as long as they don't sign Barry Bonds or Manny Ramirez as their DH (even though they seem to need one) I'll keep rooting for them, in spite of the fact that a sorting mistake with some of my red Angels gear could turn all of my laundry pink!

On Hanging in There

2008-04-26T10:11:00.000-07:00

I've been doing a lot of thinking these past few days about the notion of optimism and yesterday's post may have betrayed my natural inclinations on the subject.

So it was good therapy yesterday to follow up on a tip that I caught reading Sports Illustrated in the waiting room of my doctor's office. When I got back to the house, I retrieved a bookstore gift card from last Christmas and purchased The 33-Year-Old Rookie. By the end of the afternoon, I'd finished it.

If the films Bull Durham or The Rookie resonated with you at all, I'd recommend this story without hesitation. Chris Coste (pronounced "Coast") spent 11 years in baseball's minor leagues. Normally a player who hasn't made the major leagues after 5 or 6 years in the minors starts looking at other career paths.

There are several refreshing aspects to this book. One is that Chris wrote it without the help of a ghostwriter. He also clearly appreciates how fortunate he is to play baseball for a living. He has faith in his ability, but he seems to do so without ego. And while baseball locker rooms and dugouts are certainly not repositories of good taste and polite conversation, Chris does a good job of keeping the vulgarities to a minimum without excessively sanitizing the atmosphere. I'm encouraging my 11-year-old son to read it.

And even though Chris doesn't play for the Angels, or even the Dodgers, I'll be rooting for him.

Hoping Against Hope

2008-04-25T06:32:00.000-07:00

This "demotivational poster" from one of my favorite web sites pretty much describes the frame of mind that I'm trying to fend off for the moment.

Last Wednesday evening, Amy and I (along with my Father who came along to lend moral support) showed up to the City of Fullerton's Planning Commission meeting ready to clear the final hurdle to get our remodel project off the ground. The Planning Department's staff report recommended in favor of granting our request, so things were looking good.

Okay, we showed up…too bad the commissioners didn't. Well, 3 of the 7 did, but four were needed for the necessary quorum to have a public meeting. So our item is continued to the next regularly-scheduled meeting on May 14, when the Amerige Court project, a 9-story monstrosity to be built immediately behind the site of my former studio in downtown Fullerton, will also be before the commission. That is sure to bring an angry mob of citizens to the council chambers to witness our little mini-drama.

In the words of Lloyd Bridges in the film Airplane, "I picked a bad week to stop sniffing glue!"

John's Fundraising Hair Raiser

2008-04-14T05:32:00.000-07:00

The boy did something remarkable this past Sunday. He's been growing his hair for the past two years. Perhaps the notion entered his head when his sister donated her long brown hair to Locks of Love with several of her sixth grade friends. He's two years younger and now it became his time and for the past couple months he's been looking forward to the day when his hair reached the necessary 10" in length for it to qualify as a donation.

Before going to church, his Mom put it up into 24 ponytails and he went to church like that. The kids in the youth group were having a fundraiser immediately after the service to to raise donations for the Fullerton CROP Walk coming up on April 27. John managed to make his donation do double duty. He sold opportunities to cut off a ponytail for a suggested $1.00 donation, although the total reached $103 after all 24 were snipped off. A No. 2 buzz completed the job immediately after lunch.

Photographs of the Walk

Progress of Sorts

2008-04-03T19:03:00.000-07:00

After a series of setbacks, we got our first sign of things headed in the right direction today. There were notices posted in the front and postcards in our (and our neighbors') mailboxes giving official notice of the hearing of our case before the Planning Commission.

I can't imagine that anyone would show up and actually object to our improving our house, not to mention the neighborhood.

"A request for a Variance to construct a 723 sq ft habitable addition (1st floor 195 sq. ft.; 2nd floor 533 sq. ft.) including two (2) new bedrooms on a triangularly shaped lot approximately 3,175 sq. ft. in area. The project proposes to provide approximately 746 sq. ft. of open space (a 25% reduction of the required 1,000 sq. ft.) and have a floor area ratio of .54 (an 8% increase of the maximum floor area ratio of .50) on property located at 700 N Hall, at the eastern side of the intersection of Grove Place and Hall Avenue, abutting the Fullerton Creek Channel."

Reenacting the Last Supper

2008-03-31T05:35:00.000-07:00

When the associate pastor of my church asked if I'd be willing to participate in the Maundy Thursday service, I said "sure!" (why not?). Well had I known that it meant memorizing a full page monologue and playing the part of Judas Iscariot in a reenactment of Leonardo da Vinci's mural painting of the Last Supper, I might have given the matter a little more thought.

I gotta say, playing that role was creepy! Even though theologians agree with the text of my monologue to suggest that Judas did not intend that his act result in the events which soon unfolded, he remains our culture's ultimate villain. As for the problem with the memorization, since my pose had me leaning my elbow on the table (bad manners!) I managed to tape my script down flat and sneak a peak at it a couple of times during the performance.

We Judases are nothing if not sneaky!

What's Not Happening

2008-03-24T17:45:00.000-07:00

"So what's been happening with the house project," people ask. In short, NOTHING! Only a couple of days before the building permits were supposed to be ready, the City of Fullerton's Planning Department raised an issue that should have been raised during the first plan check last November.

It seems that the house design was over the size limit imposed by the small size of the property by 124 square feet. We were told that we could handle this with a Minor Site Plan adjustment, so we turned in our application for such and settled in for a one-month wait until the Planning Department staff meeting on March 20. When we showed up for the meeting, the staff seemed unaware of status of our project and consequently we were not on the agenda. We later learned that they had decided that a full zoning variance would be required and that the city's Planning Commission would next meet on April 23!

So here we sit.

My Nephew Nathan

2008-03-19T11:06:00.000-07:00

Nathan (my brother Glenn's son) is in his last year of high school and has been quietly turning himself into an excellent photographer. Considering the fact that I was a few years removed from high school, before I began taking photography seriously, I'm afraid that my days as the best photographer in our family may be numbered.

Witness the fact that this image is Kodak's "Picture of the Day" in New York's Times Square today. It's a clever shot to be sure, but I'm even more impressed with his whole body of work . His family is quite proud of him, and justifiably so. Me? I am too, but I'm keeping an eye on him just the same.

It reminds me of the old joke: "How many photographers does it take to change a light bulb? One. And 24 more to say 'I could have done that.'"

Photograph by Nathan Styffe

Staying Young, Gracefully

2008-03-16T21:59:00.000-07:00

We had a family birthday party for my daughter Jennifer last Saturday morning. She has loved my Mother's blueberry pancakes since she was a wee child and consequently, we tend to have her birthday celebrations in the morning.

As things were wrapping up, both my Mom and Dad had things that they wished to show me on their computers. Yes, computers…plural. They have adapted themselves to the digital age so enthusiastically, that sharing one computer just didn't work. It finally occurred to me that I should photograph this scene and share a bit of their story. Their full stories take up about 600 pages worth of autobiographies which they have both created for their family and friends.

Last year, they both turned 80 and next year they will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. Although they have both "retired" from their life-long professions, Dad as a printer, Mom as a school teacher, they both continue to be amazingly active. Last year they went to Thailand and Rwanda to help in missionary efforts and continue to serve the Lord and their fellow travelers through their church and other organizations.

So here is that photograph taken on Saturday, March 15, 2008 in the study of their home. The paper sign stuck on the wall over their desks reads "A Creative Mess is Better than Tidy Idleness."

I would be inclined to agree.

Catching Up

2008-03-14T16:47:00.000-07:00

Working on the blog has taken a back seat recently to a number of things, mainly the home remodeling project which has gotten stalled by the City of Fullerton's bureaucracy, AKA the city's planning department. But more about that later…maybe.

On February 20, we were treated to a full eclipse of the moon. The moon is one of my favorite photographic subjects and this event allows moon photography at it's most spectacular.

The eclipse was scheduled to begin at 5:45 pm local time and achive totality at 7:01. The area had been under cloud cover the entire day and I thought there would be only a slim chance of observing the event. Around 6:10, I was ready to give up and head for home. As I was driving along Walnut Ave. in Fullerton, I saw the illuminated outline of some clouds in the rear view mirror. I stopped the car, got my gear out and soon the moon rose out of the cloud bank to the east. The rest of the sky was clearing.

For nearly an hour, I watched the shadowed portion of the moon increase as it rose in the sky. Metrolink commuter trains came and went as I composed and re-composed to accomodate the changing relationship of signal bridge and moon.

At 7:01, Metrolink 688 rolled by on it's way to a 7:04 stop. The red ghost of the moon stood out in the sky with the near 1 second exposure .

And in case you're wondering, I didn't use Photoshop to enlarge or reposition the moon.

The Lumber Starts to Fly

2008-02-05T23:09:00.000-08:00

The last few weeks have been consumed by the task of dividing our worldly possessions into two parts: Those that will fit into our apartment and those that we can live without for six months. Of course, once they were sorted out, they had to be moved to the apartment or storage unit and I'm thankful for the relatives and friends that helped us accomplish that. Now that were done with that a reasonable facsimile of a normal life beckons.

Super Bowl Sunday was spent cleaning out one more closet in the house and finding room for those items in the storage space. After the last items were loaded into the back of my car, I spent some time alone in the place that has been home since 1993. The floors were dirty. Once when Amy was trying to put a shine in the kitchen floor she complained that she felt like she was polishing a turd. The formerly white carpets which seemed like a good idea 15 years ago were now multiple shades of brown and gray. I wasn't kind to the place in my bachelor days and by the time Amy came into my life things were already out of hand. Finally, after some difficult financial times we are in a position to fix it and start over.

I've been taking a picture of the place every day I stop by after work. I'm assembling them into a Quick Time Movie that will show the progress to anyone interested. I'll add an image to it every time something changes. After it gets too long, I'll start another.

Meanwhile, I'll shut up about this and get back to photography and other pursuits.

Moving

2008-01-14T05:18:00.000-08:00

We'll be moving over the next few weeks. This past weekend, Amy and I found a suitable apartment to live in during the home remodeling which could begin on February 4, provided the permit process goes smoothly. Our temporary digs will be located five blocks west of downtown Fullerton, meaning that we'll be able to walk to church, the train depot and the library.

It also means that the Unauthorized Observer will have tunnel vision for a few weeks, while we get ourselves situated.

Mama don't take my chromosomes away*

2008-01-08T12:47:00.000-08:00

*As someone claims to have misheard Paul Simon's lyrics in his song "Kodachrome."

The Death of Digital The Future of Film

For some shooters, it's that personal…using language borrowed from the gun lobby, one will say, "I'll give up my (insert favorite film here) when someone pries my cold dead fingers from around it." Actually, I prefer "When Ektachrome is outlawed, only outlaws will have Ektachrome." But I think you get the idea. Not every photographer has jumped onto the digital bandwagon as readily as I have.

I labored happily in old-school black and white photography for over 30 years. I loved the process of developing my film, filing the negatives (well, not really), putting one in the enlarger, making test prints and two hours later coming up with a print that did what I wanted it to do. Then it was washed, dried, mounted, spotted, matted and hopefully sold to an appreciative client. I loved all of it. I just couldn't keep doing it.

Having worked in the graphic arts industry scanning film into digital separations, I had a front row seat to see the progress that digital photography was making vs. professional film photography. For the longest time, it was no contest, but gradually, we'd see digitally generated images that were getting better and better.

In 2004, I found myself out of the printing business and self-(un)employed as a photographer and graphic designer. My studio partner loaned me his Canon D60 one day and I was blown away by the results. Soon thereafter, I bought a 10D and paid for it with the first job I used it for. Furthermore, as a graphic designer, I appreciated the fact that I wasn't going to have to scan any film (or pay to have it done). Image quality? Even using a $150,000 drum scanner like I'd used previously, a 35mm slide would be hard pressed to match the image quality from that now-obsolete camera.

This created a dilemma for my personal photography. It seemed like I had three options.

Continue to use black & white film, even though I no longer had a darkroom.
Make black & white images from my digital equipment.
Make a clean and colorful break.

The first wasn't an option. It may be one someday, but I rather doubt it. I've had so much success scanning my old black and white negatives and printing them digitally, that I'm satisfied that I don't think I'll ever go back to the darkroom.

The second bothers me. It just doesn't feel right. So except for certain commercial applications, I won't be doing this. Often I look for ways to incorporate my old monochrome style into my chosen new medium, but I've always considered photography to be at its best when done in a straightforward way, and simply ripping the color out of an image doesn't seem straightforward to me at all.

Number three was the sharp left turn to the path I now travel. Actually, at the time of the switch, I was itching to do more color work anyway. After three years, I have few regrets. Well occasionally, I'll look at one of my old prints, or more likely, a friend's new silver print and feel a wistful tug. But generally, I just try to move forward and do the best I can with what's in hand.

Having said that, I'd like to clear something up. For my brothers and sisters who still use film and enjoy doing so, you have my best wishes. I don't consider you a Luddite, or technophobe or backwards in any way. I have no need to convert you to my way of doing things, or even convince you that my way is better.

The year 2008 will be one of learning how to handle disagreements.

The Weather

2008-01-05T17:26:00.001-08:00

Storm damage in Fullerton

We were all on "Storm Panic 2008" here in Southern California this weekend. A genuinely nasty storm swept down the coast and hammered the northern and central portions of the state with 100 mph winds, driving rain and heavy snow in the Sierra. But like anything (or anybody) that comes our way, it mellowed out considerably once it arrived. Last night there was some wind and some rain, but nothing of Biblical proportions. As you can see from this photo of my knucklehead neighbor's "compound" across the street, we lost a few palm fronds, but were otherwise unscathed.

Perhaps it was in 1982 that SoCal weather became a joke when KNBC hired stand-up comic, Fritz Coleman as an on-camera weather personality. Or it might have been 10 years earlier when KABC hired Dr. George Fishbeck to do the weather segments. Dr. George, as he was affectionately called, had a "face made for radio," classic funny nose & glasses, bow tie, wild gesticulations and a schtick that everyone loved. In his defense, he was a genuine meteorologist and introduced the term "marine layer" into the southland vocabulary. But he raised the ante in this town and forevermore, the citizens demanded that the weather be entertaining.

Now, we get our weather from Jackie Johnson who is entertaining only in a salacious sort of way. As one local blogger said, "Do you ever get the feeling that Jackie Johnson is just going to stop mid-sentence and say, 'Hey! My eyes are up here!'" Often while the news is on, I'll hear Amy say from the other room, "What's Jackie wearing?" Usually, all I can say is, "you'll just have to come see."

To be honest, the weather here rarely matters. By everyone else's standards, it's nearly always comfortable. Unless it involves fire.

First Night

2008-01-01T10:24:00.000-08:00

Last night, the city of Fullerton put on its 17th annual First Night in Fullerton event. I attended the first one which occurred only two weeks before I moved to the city in January of 1992. The entire downtown area is closed to vehicular traffic and a number of entertainment venues are set up throughout the area. Our church is located in the downtown area and always donates the use of the fellowship hall to host one of the performing acts and also sells food from the kitchen to help raise money for the hot meals which are served to the hungry every Wednesday evening from that same kitchen.

This time, Amy and I got wind that our daughter Emily was headed for the karaoke stage around the corner on Harbor Blvd. Emily takes after her Mother in that she doesn't mind grabbing a microphone and singing in front of an audience.

Until now, I've seen this happen in church or in one of her school concerts which are both venues guaranteed to have a sympathetic audience. Not that this girl needs one as things turn out. Several of the preceding acts consisted of 2 or 3 of her petrified schoolmates or older, highly lubricated divas from one of the bars along the street. Emily had them cue up Avril Lavigne's "Skater Boy," took her turn solo and just owned the place for the next three minutes.

Reminded me of Belinda Carlisle if you ask me.

For most of the others attending the event, the evening's highlight was the fireworks show scheduled for the stroke of midnight. Since Southern California was experiencing a "wind event" (in the current parlance of weather service), the fireworks show was somewhat subdued. The big aerial items stayed in the can this year and we all settled for some smaller, noisier ones. Still, there's something about big noisy fireworks that makes for a good way to bring in the new year. And during the last seven times, it's been nice to lean over and give Amy her first kiss of the new year.

This morning, the winds continue. Downtown Fullerton, the scene of last night's festivities is a deserted ghost town. The town plaza's main stage where rockabilly / country artist James Intveld held forth just a few hours earlier still has a few lights on, but now the only sounds come from the winds howling through the palm trees.

From me and my family to you and yours, I wish you a "RAEY WEN YPPAH"

My Name

2007-12-29T09:02:00.000-08:00

It's only taken me 50 years or so to come to terms with it. When someone sees it, they don't know how to pronounce it, and when someone hears it, they don't know how to spell it. When I'm asked how it's pronounced, the smartass in me often is tempted to say "just the way it sounds." and occasionally, I've yielded to that dark side of my personality and actually done so.

For the record it's pronounced Stié-fee. At least on the west coast. Back in Worchester, Massachusetts, it's "Stíff-ee." I owe my grandfather a debt of gratitude for letting the pronunciation evolve when he moved to California around 1917 or so. In Sweden, where the family's roots are, I understand it's "Steef." Teriffic! My name caused me enough grief on the playground as it was!

I've googled my name a number of times. I've discovered that there is a well-known jazz saxophone player in Canada named Roy Styffe and a bassist in the Olso Philharmonic with the name of Dan Styffe. I have no idea how either pronounces it.

And it is quite possible that I'm related to the two characters which appear on this vintage postcard which I own. On a trip through Nevada in the 1930s, my grandfather stopped at their motel/gas station in Lovelock and it was determined that they had simply kept the Swedish pronunciation and our branch of the family had kept the spelling and let the phonetics fall where they may.

When I was a kid, I envied the Wilsons, Carters, Smiths and anyone else with a more generic name. I dreaded the first day of school, when I'd hear it mangled by the teacher. Now, I appreciate its uniqueness and I've made my peace with it.

I'm just glad I didn't grow up in Lovelock, Nevada!

Did you hear the one about…

2007-12-28T10:41:00.000-08:00

A priest, a rabbi and a lawyer walk into a bar and the bartender says, "What is this, some kind of joke?"

The art of joke telling may be dead. One more victim of the internet. I used to belong to a network of friends who'd call someone at nearly any hour to tell the latest. Now the jokes just show up in my inbox looking something like "FW: fw: FW: Too Funny" and with a bunch of >>>>> in front of each line. Occasionally, it is too funny, sometimes it's not. Often, it's a visual thing, so there is no way to share it, but to forward it onward, some horribly photoshopped image of the president in a compromising position or something.

I thought of this recently when I received one of my all time favorite jokes in my inbox. I'd told it a hundred times, so there was no point in hitting the Forward button with it. Still, I laughed at it once more, and I appreciated the gesture.

But before you go to that New Year's party, scroll through your saved messages, find a joke that suits you and your expected audience and practice telling it a few times while driving alone (it's okay, people will think you're on your cell phone) and enjoy being the life of the party.

Yet it's a good thing that we can use that portion of our brains formerly used for storing jokes to remember all our passwords!

Roadside Attractions

2007-12-27T07:31:00.000-08:00

As a photographer and graphic designer, it makes sense that I'd want to design and publish a book of my photographs.

And I have…sort of. You can see for yourself if you come over to the house and take a look at the one sitting on my coffee table…or visit my Mom and Dad in Anaheim Hills and check out the one on their coffee table. My Dad's is nicer, and a bit different than mine. Those are the only two copies in print, each one painstakingly printed out on my Epson 2200 printer on acid-free paper. It measures 12" x 12", has 96 pages with 81 photographs, all but thirteen are black and white. If nothing else, I'd like to make four more copies, one for each of my children.

Of course, I'd like to print a lot more than that and sell every last one of them. And then print some more and sell those too. Perhaps Oprah might discover it and it would go to the top of the NY Times Bestseller list. Sure. However, the technology and thus the economies of book publishing are changing dramatically. Currently, there are several service providers such as Blurb and Pikto which will print and bind a photography book along the lines of Roadside Attractions for $75 (Blurb) to $260 (Pikto). The quality of the Blurb books are suspect and with Pikto, I'd be limited to 80 pages. Both services would allow me to market the book in their online "bookstore." With Burb for instance, I could designate a $100 selling price. You'd order the book, they'd print it, send you the book and send me the $25 difference between the printing price and selling price. I honestly can't think of more than a handful of people who'd pay that much for such a book, even if the quality was truly outstanding.

I've also obtained quotes from a broker for having the book printed in the Far East. I could get 1,000 copies printed for $12,000 or so. I'm pretty sure that I could sell 300 or 400 of them over the course of a year and break even with a $50 cover price. Then I'd still have 500 copies sitting in my garage along side the 200 or so copies of Wheels Rolling--West that I have now.

Another possibility would be find a local printer who is using the same digital press technology being marketed by the online book printers and having a reasonable number of books printed and bound under my supervision. But that will have to wait until the house gets done.

Worst Idea…Ever

2007-12-27T00:01:00.000-08:00

A story featuring this item ran on page 4 of the Home section in today's LA Times with the title "Wacky ideas, from dance poles to thrones." It contained this image and description of the "TwoDaLoo."

Wacky? I know wacky. I love wacky. This, sir, is not wacky. This is just wrong. Very, very wrong.

In fact, forget you even saw this and move along.

The Christmas Egg Scam

2007-12-25T19:27:00.000-08:00

I should preface this to say that we had a lovely Christmas Eve service at church last night. A ladies quartet which included my wife Amy and her sister Luanne sounded like a choir of Angels in "The Star Carol" and the service ended with everyone joining hands around the candlelit sanctuary singing "Silent Night."

The actual Christmas festivities in our household came and went pretty quickly this morning. John, who had been up since 3:30am staring at the Christmas tree, tried to rouse us at 6:00 and was told to wait another hour. After that, it was a half-hour of flying shreds of gift wrap, shrieks of delight and the realization that we had only two eggs in the refrigerator.

Meanwhile, I received a heads-up that there was a train in Riverside headed my way with a pair of those new Kansas City Southern "Southern Belle" SD70ACe's in the consist.

Knowing the local supermarkets were closed, I volunteered, "Honey, I'll go find some eggs, but it may take a while."

Don't tell Amy, but a dozen eggs were found at the Walgreens two blocks away…on the way home from Fullerton Jct.

Merry Christmas.

A Christmas Eve Story

2007-12-24T06:23:00.000-08:00

It was exactly two years ago that I went down the local train station to watch the Southwest Chief roll into town. The weather was similar to today's here in SoCal, clear, pleasant, dry … nice, but hardly conducive to generating holiday anticipation. However the sound of the Chief approaching this station could do that. There are four grade crossings spaced out along the the mile to the east: Placentia Ave., State College Blvd., Acacia Ave., and Raymond Ave. The distant notes from the Amtrak K5LA horn that floated across the east side of the city made a pleasant introduction to the train's arrival.

Since it was Christmas Eve, I imagined that some of the people gathered on the platform were there to meet family and friends arriving on the train. That's always a nice thing to watch. For me, trips to the depot have been about people watching as much as train watching. As it turned out the woman standing closest to the tracks was one of those people. She was there to greet her daughter and infant grandson who she was about to see for the first time.

Considering the fact that I had seen my grandson for the first time the previous June, I had a pretty good feeling for what this would be like. I hung

around and observed the moment.

This Christmas, I wish for you a moment as delightful as this.

Let's get this show on the road!

2007-12-23T21:47:00.000-08:00

It's the day before Christmas Eve. It's the day that I start getting revved up for the holiday. The day that I realize I'm running out of time to get an early start on my shopping.

It is also the cusp of a year that should be trying. Amy and I are well into the process of starting a whole house remodel. Essentially we will be jacking up the doorknob of our little place and attaching a new house to it. Sometime, six months following the start of construction, we'll have a new place to live. That project will certainly provide some of the material for this exercise. So far the plans are finished and survived the city's plan check with the need for some minor changes. We've selected a contractor, and once we've hammered out the agreement and found temporary living quarters, we'll put the hammer down (so to speak).

While I don't intend to turn this into a family photo album, I thought I'd throw in this image from last Sunday's trip to the "Photos with Santa" shop that my friend Ben Stuart is running this season.

First up were the grandkids, Jamie and Finn. Finn was no problem, he just snuggled up on Santa's lap and some good pictures were captured immediately. Next, Jamie was asked to join his brother. He was asked again. And again. And again after that. By this point Mom (my daughter Melissa) had put on her frownie face and started speaking in a voice that began raising dark memories from my nearly forgotten past. In their formative years, both Melissa and Jennie learned early on that if they could crack Dad up, they were pretty much off the hook. It's a tradition that seems to have been passed along to the next generation. This is the last shot that I got off before I collapsed in laughter. Mom, who deserves such a son, thought it was pretty funny too. Jamie, having made his point, climbed up on Santa's lap and Ben fired off some good shots. But I like this one better.