Road Trip 2012: Day 1 (16 July 2012)

The plan: Maj. C, Bunny (10m) and I drive across America (Silicon Valley to Cape Cod) in an the Volt, an electric car (with extended gas miles)

Route: Today was a short driving day: Mountain View, CA to Yosemite National Park (163m)

Accommodations: Yosemite Pines Campground, about 45 minutes away from the park.

Flying with Bunny

I used to fly a lot. Once a quarter-ish, I would get on a plane in Tokyo and fly to a city a day for two weeks in the United States.  Then I would do the same in Europe, then do that for a week in Asia.  Some days were great, as it was the ultimate tasting menu for the travel junky. I flew so much that a good percentage of the time, I was automatically upgraded when I showed up at the air port. I stayed in nice hotels and dined on someone else's tab.  I had frequent traveler status in Heathrow so a retina scan, not my passport, would let me in the country.

Sometimes it was not so great.  A bad day started in Edinburgh, then a flight to a lunch meeting in Copenhagen, and then I finished the day in London.  Another bad day started with waking up in Chicago, flying to a meeting in Atlanta, and then finishing the day in Boston.  There was a trip in in which my luggage was lost and never ended up catching up to me until I got home. 

The worst was when I was seated next to a crying baby.  I was convinced that as a single female passenger I was always placed next to a woman with a kid.  Crying, screaming, messy babies.  Yuck. Don't they know I have a presentation to finish? Can't that lady control that kid?  

Karma, of course, is a bitch with big teeth.

Golden ticket

So.  My sister in law is moving to Kazakhstan.  (I'll post more on that later.  But in the mean time, here is her blog.  I am so looking forward to reading about her adventures).  She just bought her ticket.  She's committed.  She's going.

I just bought our one-way ticket to fly out to CA.  We're now committed to our drive across the country. . .

There is that moment when you plunk down your money, you think, what have I done? Too late.  You've jumped.

Magic.

Photography for the sleep deprived

On the 21 June, I'm teaching a photography class at a breast feeding support group at Falmouth Hospital (a wonderful group by the way: it meets on Thursday mornings).  It will be a short and simple class on how to take cute photos of your baby.  While not everyone can take great photos, I think everyone can take good photos with a few simple techniques.

I thought I would write this entry as a way of getting organized but instead decided to write about what photography means in my life. (I'll write the easy photo tips for new moms on another day.)

I started taking photos in 2007, while in my former incarnation as Senior VP of Global Robber Baron, Inc.  I was working 80 to a 100 hours a week, living in hotels, and planes, and life seemed grey.  Nothing inspired me except work.

Meetings in London