Celebrity Stalking and Photography

Yesterday I became a celebrity stalker. I got on the shuttle to go home after work, and when the aisle started to fill up I noticed a guy whose helmet was hitting the ceiling. So I'm looking at him and I'm like, 'that guy looks alot like Captain Awesome' on the tv show Chuck that I watch. So I'm looking at him but trying not to look like a moron and I notice the guy behind him. Now I'm positive because he looks just like Morgan from the same show. Now what would the chances be of both of them being lookalikes? So I had already decided that I would ride the bus all the way to the end of the line and then take it back to my stop because it was jammed full and I was in the back. I certainly wasn't going to yell out my stop and then try to push past all the people in the aisle. So as I'm riding I'm thinking to myself I should ask these guys for a picture so I can show my uncle who got me hooked on the show. So even though it's about the least likely thing i would ever do, I ask them for a photo after we got off the bus. So I am officially a celebrity stalker now. So here it is, me with Joshua Gomez (Morgan) and Ryan McPartlin (Captain Awesome). Both really nice guys by the way.

I've also been messing around quite a bit lately with my photography. I'm thinking maybe I should get serious and take a couple of classes and see if it's something I could get good at. So today during my self imposed one day fast from facebook (which I check so compulsively I started to think I may be mentally ill!), I started to add some of my photos to my flickr account. So if you're bored to tears you can check out my photostream at www.flickr.com/littleczr/ and let me know what you think. Some of the photos will be ones I have posted on facebook, here or on my photo blog but there should also be many that I haven't posted anywhere else. There's not a whole lot there yet as I've reached the monthly upload limit on my free account, but on Thursday I think I'll be upgrading to a pro account which will give me unlimited uploads. This way I'll be able to archive alot more of my photos from now and some of my favorites from the past.

That's about it for now. 43 days...

Photo Blog

So for those of you that don't know, which should be most of you, I started a daily photo blog a couple of months ago. I was keeping it quiet so there was no pressure. Taking a picture every day meant they wouldn't all be art! The daily thing didn't quite work out, as taking photos is highly dependent on my mood, but I have been posting over there the last few days. Now I'm looking for honest feedback and constructive criticism on the pics I post over there, so lay it on me. I think that this is obviously a better way to learn, so I'm putting myself out there.

I'll be trying in the next few months to get comfortable taking pictures of people so that I don't freak out and go postal at the wedding! Don't worry, it probably won't happen, you should still come! Sorry Em! But seriously that's the main thing I struggle with. My shyness doesn't go away cause there's a camera in front of my face. So I'll be working on it. 

Anyway that was an unbelievably drawn out way of asking you to check out my photo blog if you're bored and to beg for comments, good and bad. I have to learn somehow.

http://sjsdailyphotos.blogspot.com

It's also listed in my profile. Thanks guys. I'll still be posting randomness about my life in Tahoe here. 

Also, once I get home I'll be harassing people to let me take pictures of them. So get yourselves prepared, cause I'm coming for you. Of course if you'd like to volunteer that would work too. I'll be home at the end of April. Thanks.

Miracle March

Woke up to two fresh feet this morning! So apparently we are going to have a "miracle march." At the base of the mountain there was about three and a half feet. Most of the day was spent shoveling. Fortunately we were pretty slow today so we had a chance to just chill and shovel at a fairly leisurely pace. So we had a whole bunch of fun too!

I'm off Thursday and Friday so I plan to get some real riding in. I think tomorrow I'll go up to the top and get in some good runs!

And after a storm that dumped that much snow all night, the sky was impossibly blue as usual this morning! The pictures never do it justice! You can see just a little bit of the lake in this first one.

Oh yeah and I thought my little camera was broken again this morning. This thing doesn't hold up too well to cold I suppose. Seems to be fine now but if it keeps screwing up I'll have that excuse to get another one!

This Is More Like It

So after two days of rain, we got snow all day today and it's still coming down! I woke up to about 4 inches , which was about 6-7 up at the base level. We probably got another 4 inches or so throughout the day and the forecast is for 8-12 more overnight! So I'm happy but a little torn between wanting a better season and just wanting the season to end! I really wasn't gonna feel too bad if they had to end the season early because of bad weather and slow business! So I guess htis is what I get. I'm cool with it though. We definitely needed it. And now some random photos for those of you that don't have facebook and may not have seen them.

Random self portrait inspired by workplace boredom.

The walk home today. I decided to take a picture of myself which is a really bizarre thing I've been doing lately. The best thing about this photo is the snowflake that was captured right as it passed my nose, making it look like snot was running from my right nostril! I actually thought it was until I came home and uploaded the pics... I totally did a snot check!

The coolest part of my job. This is a short hike from the Enchanted Forest where the kids learn to ski. So technically it is not part of my job at all but something that I do when I'm bored at my job! But either way it's a pretty cool pic!

And last, the most embarrassing part of my job. Every Thursday we have to switch out the old port a potty for a "fresh" one. So we have to tie the old one to the back of the snowmobile and drag it across the resort and then drag the new one back. As you can imagine this gets more than a few chuckles, smirks and a fair amount of finger pointing from people to whom this just beats all! Now, if you remember, Christmas and New Years 'conveniently' fell on a Thursday so in honor of the birth of Christ and the ringing in of yet another year, I dragged a crapper! How many people do you think can say that?!?!? 

Rainy Days and Mondays

My apologies to the Carpenters for the blatant title rip off!!

So there hasn't been much going on here in 'lovely' South Lake Tahoe. I think we're moving into that ugly shoulder season where things are just wet and muddy. It started raining yesterday at about noon and kept it up all day today! So much for my streak of never working on a rainy day. I'm glad today was my day off though because it was pouring! The only bad thing about it was that I was stuck inside all day. 

Last night when I went to bed I was a little stoked because I figured the rain would have slowed or stopped today and maybe I could wander around and take some rainy day photos. But when I got up this morning it was pretty obvious that wasn't going to be possible. It was raining way to hard and I was afraid I might ruin my gear (which would probably tick Emily right off as I would then have to shoot her wedding with a disposable camera! lol).

 So today was a lazy sit around the house day. Pretty soon those days will be much quieter. My brazilian roommate is leaving on Friday! I hate to sound excited about that, but I will not mind seeing this one go. We get along ok, but I have never met anyone louder or more crude, which may come as a shock to my family who say the same about me! lol. So yeah, not to be rude but I am counting the hours until Friday and hope that the story doesn't change this time like it has half a dozen other times. I also managed to pick up two more brazilian roommates for a couple of days. They are only temporary as their lease ran out at the end of Feb and they leave on the 3rd of March and they just needed a place to crash. But they are actually sharing my room which is a switch after all this time of being by myself. You can imagine my surprise when I came home from work on Saturday and found the other two beds in my room made up! 

So that's about it. Not a very exciting month. The ski school is still struggling with less people coming and the lack of snow. The weather is just not cooperating this year. Every other resort is getting snow, just not us! I really could be a jinx! I feel a little like Jonah, maybe if they threw me overboard the weather would clear up! 

I am pretty much ready to go home. Sadly enough I have been counting the days for the last week. I really like it here, but I can't seem to establish connections like I have back home. Either I'm not trying or it's just not working for me. I dunno. But I miss my home! lol. So, 49 more days...