365 Days: Day 4

An airplane takes off from San Diego's Lindbergh Field.

365 Days: Day 4

Palm trees at Fashion Valley Mall.

365 Days: Day 3

A sunset over San Diego Bay. I loved how the sun lit up these clouds. Very beautiful.

365 Days: Day 3

A sailboat glides across San Diego Bay on a beautiful evening.

365 Days: Day 2

On my way home, the moon rose over the Sonoran desert. It was very beautiful. This is a picture of the rising moon, which I'm surprised turned out so well.

365 Days: Day 2

The sun was setting in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, and I liked how the sun lit up this ocotillo. I also liked the shadows the setting sun cast across the ground.

365 Days: Day 1

This photo was the day's runner up. It was taken in Hillcrest.

365 Days: Day 1

I've decided to start a 365-day photo project. This is a picture of downtown San Diego. It was taken from Balboa park, overlooking Interstate 5.

Weekend trip to Anza

Today was spent in the desert. This slide show is from today's trip. If you can't see this slide show for some reason, click here. Also, remember it looks better full screen.

Here are my tweets from today's trip:

• Mockernut enters Cleveland National Forest.

• Mockernut speeds through the Sonoran Desert on his way to Anza.

• Mockernut wishes his Honda Civic was an off-road desert vehicle.

• Mockernut loves the desert: the smell, the light and shadows, and the flora and fauna. Could live here. Actually, S.D. is basically a desert.

• Mockernut can't believe it is raining. I don't remember this in the forecast.

• Mockernut loves how SoCal has microclimates. Pouring rain in El Cajon. Clear and dry in San Diego.

Changing Atlanta

When I visited Atlanta this year in many ways it wasn't the same city I lived in seven years ago. I am always shocked at how fast it can change, especially during what has been called a real estate depression.

Of course there are so many more changes in Atlanta that I didn't photograph. One of those changes is the closing of a Cuban restaurant I liked in Virginia-Highland. I think it was called Mambo, but today it is an art gallery. I also didn't photograph any of the new condos or other developments along Spring Street.

I did want to show at least one before and after photo of the Midtown skyline, but then I realized I didn't have the before photos on a CD. So, I decided to just feature the after photos.

This is the last, long-promised Atlanta slide show. Atlanta week on Mockernut turned into Atlanta Month. Expect more photos from Southern California, but you'll see no more Atlanta photos. At least you won't until I visit again, which won't be for a long time. Maybe I should go up to Laguna Beach next week and take photos. I love that place.




In case anyone is interested, here are the links to all my Atlanta vacation posts:

• Tornado damage
• Atlanta public art
• The 'mos know how to make it Hotlanta
• Atlanta Week begins on Mockernut
• Atlanta weekend

San Diego Pride 2008

Apparently, I'll fly thousands of miles to attend Atlanta's Pride parade. However, I won't roll out of bed to see San Diego's, which passed within one block of my apartment. Who has a parade on a Saturday morning? You can't even sleep off your Friday night hangover. I jest.

I slept through the parade and then had to get out of Hillcrest and away from all the happy homos. The neighborhood had a party and carnival atmosphere, which I didn't want to deal with this weekend. So I went to the beach.

From what I read, the parade's theme very much centered around marriage and family, which isn't a surprise considering the Supreme Court's ruling and Prop. 8 being on the ballot. Thankfully, polling data combined with conventional wisdom suggests Prop. 8 is headed for defeat, but it ain't over until the votes are counted.

To be honest, one Pride parade is like any other Pride parade. I went to Atlanta's this year, so I got my fill of parades until next summer. As a result of all this, you won't get pictures. Maybe next year.

Tornado damage

On Saturday, March 15, a tornado cut through Atlanta, causing extensive damage downtown and in some of the city's other neighborhoods. Almost four months after the storm, I thought the damage would have been fixed, especially in the city's downtown high-rises. I was surprised to see broken windows and other evidence of the storm during my July 4 visit.

These are pictures of the damage from that storm. I was going to do another slide show, but it didn't seem worth it for just a few photos. You also may be interested in looking at the photos my friend Michael took of that March storm after it swept through his East Atlanta neighborhood.

The last slide show from my Atlanta vacation will be coming shortly. It will be photos dedicated to the changing city. Every time I visit Atlanta something has changed, and I've always been surprised at how fast the city can build skyscrapers and condo towers. In many ways, Atlanta isn't the same city I lived in 8 years ago.

The Westin Hotel's broken windows.

Part of the wall is missing behind a clock and the Philips Arena sign. This is one side of a downtown parking garage, which occupies a block across from CNN Center.

Broken windows are visible in the Omni Hotel. Also, the storm blew over one of Centennial Olympic Park's decorative lights, bottom right.

Broken windows in a downtown skyscraper, which I've nicknamed the Envelope Building.

Moonlit drive

Tonight I wanted to get out of San Diego and drive to some place warm. A desert drive solved both problems. Anza-Borrego at night is magical, and the desert air smelled fantastic. It was warm and dry. We saw a few rabbits, birds, a kangaroo rat and a tarantula. The desert floor was alive with the sounds of insects and other creatures. The moon lit up the landscape, and the shadows on the mountains were beautiful. It was so bright you almost didn't need a flashlight (which I wouldn't recommend with all the poisonous critters that crawl around at night). I wish I could have gotten pictures, but it was too dark. Speaking of pics, I'll get another Atlanta slide show up this week, I promise.

Atlanta public art

Finally, here is the next long promised slide show in my Atlanta series. This photo collection is about the city's public art. I'll admit that some of these photos may not depict true public art, but I don't care. I decided to throw them in anyway.

This is only the public art that I walked by during my July 4 vacation to Georgia. I didn't go out of my way to find public art in Atlanta, so this is far from a comprehensive look at what you can find in the city.

My next slide show will be coming on Friday. It will be about the tornado damage in downtown, which still has yet to be totally fixed.

Also, in case you are curious, I removed the picture of me at the Pride festival. I felt very uncomfortable with it on my blog.

Atlanta Week

I promised Atlanta Week slide shows, but I've only done two. I promise the others are coming. I will do my best to have one ready for Wednesday. Last week was busy and I had no time to rest after the trip to Atlanta. The weekend was spent sleeping and catching up on rest. Of course there has been laundry to do, a house to clean, and a checking account to balance. My sister wanted help on her new Web site and blog. And then of course, we're into another week of work.

Until I get a slide show up, enjoy this YouTube video. It was made by Dario, who performed at Pride in Atlanta. He said he wanted to use three couples to show the different forms human love can take and show how each choice is equally legitimate and beautiful. He said he received death threats over this video. To me it is just a nice song that shouldn't be controversial at all.

The 'mos know how to make it Hotlanta

As promised, here is installment 2 of Atlanta Week. During the pride parade it poured, so I wasn't able to get pictures of everything. I couldn't snap any photos of Dykes on Bikes because of the rain. I was annoyed. As a result of the rain, some pics are less than good. These aren't the only pride pics you'll see this month. I'll also add photos from San Diego Pride, which goes right by my apartment. Tomorrow is installment 3 of my Atlanta series: The city's public art. If you have problems viewing this slide show, remember the instructions in yesterday's post.

Atlanta Week begins on Mockernut

My vacation to Atlanta resulted in tons of photos. I've decided to do several themed slide shows. Here is my first, which is general photos from several neighborhoods I visited this last weekend. Over the next week, I'll add slide shows about Pride, public artwork and the constantly changing city.

This slide show is very large, so you may want to go through the pictures slowly. If, for some reason, you get a black screen and nothing happens, just hit the reload button on your browser. If you can't see the pictures above then click here.

Atlanta weekend

From an e-mail I sent a friend recapping my weekend. I thought I'd also post it here.

The flights to and from Atlanta sucked. Both were packed. I flew to Atlanta next to a woman with body odor, and on the way back, I sat next to a woman with a toddler on her lap. As much as I'd like to, I can't blame AirTran for either of those problems.

Atlanta's fireworks in Centennial Olympic Park were amazing. It was an amazing experience to be standing downtown on a beautiful night surrounded by 200,000 people with Queen's "We Will Rock You" blaring while fireworks were being shot off the ground and buildings surrounding me. Add to that the echoes of the explosions on the downtown skyscrapers and the cheering, screaming crowd. However, when I went back to my hotel I watched the end of Boston's display. It was better.

Pride was Pride. Instead of marching up Peachtree, they marched down Peachtree. They were kicked out of Piedmont Park, so everything was held at the Civic Center. And it rained, again. What is Pride without rain? Four of the last five years have featured drenching rain.

I took tons of pictures. I'm planning several Atlanta slideshows for my blog. I'm so happy to be back in San Diego. I will always love Atlanta, but I really don't miss it. My city is better. Read the blog this week, starting tomorrow. This will be "Atlanta Week" on Mockernut, and you'll see tons of photos.

Hard at work

These pictures were taken at the San Diego Fair, where I worked for my company. I think they turned out pretty well, so I'm uploading them to my blog. For larger photos, just click on each picture.

Photo taken with RockIt, a very funny robot who was wandering around the fair. RockIt told one guy standing at our exhibit (who personally I thought was kinda cute) that he was proof some guys shouldn't wear short pants and that he had knobby knees. The poor guy looked stunned. He didn't know what to say or do.

Playing with a Frisbee while working.

How Californians view America

more graph humor and song chart memes



The sad thing about this is that it is kinda true. I totally agree with the "Loud and Obnoxious New Yorkers."