This post is about using a lot of Google stuff. There are a lot of folks that are calling applications like Picasa and Chrome Cloud applications. I am using Chrome for the first time to write in my Blog. I also used Picasa on my computer to organize my images and upload them to web albums. I can embed Flash slide shows in my posts with out doing any programming. Check out the images from my trip to the Cadillac Ranch.
I am planning on upgrading my free Google storage account so that I can load all of my 21GB of images on Google servers. Thsi will be a backup and a way to publish my images when I want to on my Blog or other web sites.
I am visiting my sister and her family in Plainfield, New Jersey. This year the trees still had fall color in the remaining leaves. I took several pictures walking in the park. I asked Peter Vietze, my sister’s husband to take this picture of Sylvia and I.
I ran through the neighborhood twice during my visit. One morning the temperature was 50 degrees and in a few days it was 28 degrees. I enjoyed running through the streets looking at the bright red and yellow fall leaves on the trees.
I am working on another portrait of a woman. I am working on getting all of my work in the gallery
Today I went for a hike in California Woods Park. I wanted to get a chance to hike in a park with some trees and trails. Cincinnati has several nice parks so I want to see a few this weekend while I have the time.
So here I am standing by some giant ash trees. When I lived in LA as a boy the house that I grew up in had a big ash tree in the back yard. This is the first tree that I remember climbing and hugging. Today as I walked through this woods I saw so many ash trees and my mind was lush with the memories of how my brother and I could be on top of the work when we were in the South Central ghetto of LA when we were in our tree.
I take pictures like this by placing my camera on a timer. then I pick a spot on the ground or on an object to take the picture. I press he button and then run to a spot that I think 
is in focus and wait. I like taking pictures like this because they are fun and produce random results.
One of the random results that this type of photography produces is that I get to see what I look like. It is amazing how much attention I pay to what I think about how I look based on how I feel. When I check reality and see what I actually look I see what everone else sees and it is quite the surprise.
So on the inside I feel one way but on the outside I look totally different. I am very aware that my external appearance has a big impression on how people think about me, but I always get amazed with how different I look when I take random pictures of myself. Usually when someone else takes a picture of me it is at a special occasion and I am dressed up. When I take pictures of myself it is usually when I am working on the ranch or hiking by myself.
These self portraits taken with my camera are the ones that I treasure becsue they document what I look like. I hope that my children will be able to look at these images and my writings and get a better idea of what makes me tick.
Today after my UNIX training class I went for a walk with some classmates on a trail. I took this first picture from an old railroad bridge that crosses the Miami River. The sun was not in an optimal location for the picture but I took it anyway. I hope to return to this location one morning to take more pictures. The second picture is of the trail showing how the trees line up along the edges. The trail is a old railway right-of-way so it is flat and straight.
I like trails like this because they pass through parts of towns where you can see industrial sites as well as residential homes with ease. Sometimes I imagine that I am a train and I am rolling along pulling cars to my destination.
We arrived back in Houston last night at about 11 PM. Today we just relaxed by the pool and reflected on what a great trip we had. We just got back from seeing The Simpsons animated movie.
Zak and I spent most of the time in the pool playing basket ball. The pool had a basket ball and hoop so we invented a game that was fun and crazy. There were no fouls and we could splash water in the face of the shooter during a shot.