Diving for Dave

Last night, we thoroughly enjoyed the Dave Matthews Band show from the sixth row (Trav's 10th Dave show, my 8th) at the horrible Usana Amphitheater. Two girls in front of us were dancing and having fun and one of them became increasingly drunk. She left for beer six or seven times and was just a tiny little skinny thing, so you can imagine the effects. Toward the end of the show, one of their buddies showed up and all three of them began carelessly passing around a joint and they then became increasingly high. Dave and the guys then bust out an 18-minute version of "Two Step," my all time favorite DMB song, live or otherwise, and at the end of the song, Dave throws his guitar pick out to the audience. Drunk/high girls don't even notice and it lands at their feet. I see that no one is going for it, so I dive head first over the immoveable row in front of me and lose my shoe temporarily. Trav sees that I can't quite reach the pick, so like what every wonderful husband would do to help, he puts his hands on my butt and shoves me over the chairs. I then grab the pick and wrestle to stand back up over the row of chairs and then proceed to scream and yell and carry on, proudly holding the heavily worn pick high over my head to show the world. Some guy immediately offered me cash right then and there for it, starting at $50 and finally ending on $250 when I shouted "No! It's not for sale!" in his face. The drunk/high girls, five minutes later, finally realizing something happened with a guitar pick on their row and one of them turns around, sees that I have the pick, yells "THAT'S AWESOME!!" gives me a high five and asks to kiss the pick. I oblige, knowing that if she had been paying attention, I wouldn't have this sweet Dave Matthews guitar pick that he played all of the Salt Lake 8/30/2006 show with. I rock.

Behold, the pick:

Big Hugs!

I came home today from a long day at work and was delighted to find a postcard in the mail from an old Yellowstone friend who I haven't seen in years. So today, I'm doing something a little different. I'm writing a small letter on my blog because I know the recipient is reading...

Miss Barbara! BIG HUGS from Ogden Ogden! Thank you for the postcard and for thinking of Travis and me on your vacation (which sounds (and looks) just wonderful!). What beautiful surroundings. Someday, I promise we'll visit you! I'd tell you about what's going on in my life but since you read my blog, you know most of it! We've been traveling and kayaking quite a bit, going to concerts (do you ever listen to Dave Matthews anymore?), hosting backyard BBQs and just plain having fun. My photography is doing well, with lots of great new things on the horizon (that I don't want to talk about on the internet just yet). Our families are great, we are great. Life is good! I hope all is going well for you and your loved ones. You know, Autumn is just around the corner and with the cooler temperatures, the colored leaves, the pumpkins... I always wish you and Kelly were here again so we could trek to the bird refuge for a safari, eat yummy Farr's Ice Cream and laugh all night. It's been so long since we've all been together. Here's wishing you a lovely rest-of-summer and a colorful and memorable Fall. I miss you! E-mail me when you get a chance and let me know your address. I've got some YNP pictures I'd love to send you.

A tribute to our crazy fun times...

Look Sharp

We just returned from our trip to the crystal blue waters of Lake Tahoe, where we kayaked for days, hiked for miles and laughed for hours. It was a wonderful vacation in such a beautiful area. I tried out my new Pentax K100D and boy, is it sharp!
I was standing under this group of trees next to our tent at the Emerald Bay boat camp when this massive pinecone came ricocheting off the branches above, followed by the skittering of this squirrel.


Shasta daisies in front of Vikingsholm in Emerald Bay


Shasta daisy close-up

Doozy

Lake Mary, Big Cottonwood Canyon

This summer has been a doozy, with two wild and crazy events: first, I got a new job. In two days, I'll be leaving my old job of eight years to work as Howie Garber's office manager. He's an award-winning, world class wildlife, landscape and adventure sports photographer and just a real nice guy. I've been working both jobs for about five weeks now and my brain is toast. Just...two...more...days... Second, remember "never say never?" Yeah, well, I said I'd never buy a DSLR and guess what. I did. I've got a shiny new Pentax K100D with built in image stabilization! It's awesome! I hate carrying my tripod on hikes and backpacking trips and it's damn near impossible to use a tripod on a kayak, so this is working out well! "Much to learn, I have," as Yoda would say, but I will. I will. Any tips or tricks are certainly welcomed!

I hope your summer has been wonderfully fun and full of great photo opportunities.

Stop by my new website. It's lovely, if I do say so myself.