The other day I parked my car. Out my front window I saw a woman standing on the sidewalk staring in the shadowy area underneath some trees growing between a fence and the sidewalk. She seemed to be anticipating something or at least her posture suggested it. Her arms were slightly raised in front of her and slowly gesturing, acting out whatever she was thinking of doing next. When my eyes had adjusted I noticed what looked like a black duffel bag in the shadows of the trees several feet from the sidewalk. There was a crow standing beside it eyeing the woman. She made a "shooing" motion and the crow hopped back a few steps. She faltered for a moment there unsure of what to do next.

I opened my door and started to get out to help assuming that she was trying to get her bag and was scared of the crow. But as I watched she stepped off the sidewalk and walked to the bag. The crow stood in place, its head cocking every which way to see what was happening. Just as the woman's hand grabbed the handle of the bag and began to lift it, the crow made a mad dash for the woman and her bag. It alarmed me a little. With a swift jump it leapt into an open flap on the side of the bag I hadn't noticed.

Now I could see. There were vented areas on the top of the duffel. It wasn't a bag, it was a cloth folding animal carrier. The woman slowly put the bag back down and scooped the bird out. With a one handed swooping motion she made him scurry back a few steps. She zipped up the bag, stood up covering her face with her hand and hurriedly walked backed to the sidewalk and away.

The bird hopped toward her a few steps and then watched her leave. He stood there quietly for a moment not responding to any of the other crows in the area. His stillness made him stand out from their constant movement. Then with a burst he flew off.

I wondered, still sitting there in my car, if he was off to a new life or to find the lady that had set him free.

Not that the story has anything to do with the picture... : ) It just was an interesting scene I was there to witness. I wondered how many little dramas go on in a city like Los Angeles in a day. It also made me think of every "pet" I had let go. I was that kind of child, bringing home hurt animals, to my mother's horror, and trying to nurse it back to health. I empathized with that woman, for that letting go is a torn experience... It meant you successfully helped another animal which was rare, but more than likely you had become attached to it as well.

Blur (my employer) sure knows how to throw an Aquabash (thats what they called the party). We had our Siggraph party and it went well. Siggraph is a computer graphics conference where we all put on our geek hats (some of us can't seem go anywhere without them) and talk about animation and computers. It is common practice for companies to throw parties in order to schmooze.

They hired lots of dancing ladies and Crystal Method to add the spice. All in All it was fun. They were nice to do it for us. They try really hard to make us all the cool kids in the computer graphics community. I myself will resist cool to the bitter end, or at least thats what I am told. : )

Life has been a little rough these days, and yet rewarding.

Doing animation... and I think any art for that matter, requires a leap a faith. It never feels, starting it, that it is ever going to get done. I think animation has one of the longest leaps of any art form. It takes a lot of build up before you start seeing any fruition. There are longer I am sure, but animation also has so many puzzle pieces that have to fall in place and starting it usually requires throwing them into the air and watching them fall. I am a supervisor(one of three)on an in house short that Blur is doing and right now all the puzzle pieces have been thrown into the air, reached their height and have begun to fall. All eyes are on the table waiting for the first piece to land.

This picture brought a smile to my face, seeming oddly two-fold appropriate. Photography is something that relaxes me and brings me back to my roots. It has a much shorter (at least most of the time) leap of faith... that is usually the struggle to get up earlier enough or late enough to be at the right place at the right time for the shot. All that coupled with a recent visit to the doctor where my blood pressure was high and better diet was suggested, makes me smile at the broccoli-esqe tree in the photograph.

I am not sure I can do this.

It will be cold, I know.

The pavement has gathered dew, and although the air is warm, the pavement... will be cold. My barefoot hovers above a yellow dash in the middle of the road. Its the first step of a journey that will take all night. Without my boots, the cuffs of my pants will get wet dragging behind my heals. It's going to be cold.

Put your foot down.

It's the step I will remember. It's going to be important.. It's going to be cold.

Yes, but it's going to be real ...and so are you.

I will do it tomorrow night, its time to get up for work.

I find it interesting that so much of my life revolves around light. This site is full of pictures capturing it. My job at work is to create stories and images out of little squares of colored light.

One of my photography teachers, when I was in school, taught the science behind light as part of his courses. He was a big inspiration to me, more for his passion for it than anything else. He really made you understand the complex nature and harmony that enters your lens.

Ansel Adams used his experience in music in working on his photographs. He saw scales in his pictures, as in his music. It is hard not to think of that when I am at work adjusting colors to be just right. People often say that images aren't as powerful as music... but I think when you tune them, those frequencies of light, they sing.