i usually don’t like most photos taken of me and i usually don’t have photos taken of me, but here’s a rare one that i actually like.

i told myself that once i quit my job that i would make sure that i would go biking more often now that i have the time. i haven’t gone biking yet once, so i decided to go for a little ride today.

the heat beat down on me, but it was nice to get out of the apartment and be part of the real world. i’m trying really hard to be part of the real world every day. we’ll see if i can keep it up or not.

i originally planned an ambitious 22 mile ride going through coyote creek park and around the lake, but 2 miles into the ride, it was all that i could do not to turn back and call it a day.

so i modified my original plans and decided to bike to the park and then instead of biking into it, i’d just make a big loop back home. i originally scouted out a few pearl tea places that i could stop by on my 22 mile ride, but none of them were on the way back home. i had also planned on stopping by one of the random mexican places that must serve excellent food, but they, too, were not on the way back.

my bike ride was cut short quite a bit and i only did about 9 miles today. i was out for a little less than an hour and my average speed was 11mph. i think that i usually strive for no less than 10mph, so i guess all this time off from biking hasn’t hurt me too bad…of course, i was biking flat surfaces all day so i guess that isn’t too difficult of a pace to keep up.

that’s right, i was a designated girl for the vball tournament over the weekend. diana told me that she absolutely must have a picture of me in my girly wear.

people kept telling me that i should take my shirt off and just wear the top, but there is no way that i am going to have bikini tan lines. my farmer’s tan is bad enough. =P

it seems like the days have been packed lately. i’m not sure how it is that it has happened this way, but it seems like ever since i quit, my days have become more busy, not less busy. that being said, it seems that i’ve been away from the computer more as well.

this weekend was a pretty busy weekend. on saturday, jen, ivy, eric, and i went on a photo shoot for their engagement photos. we went to villa montalvo and hakone gardens. it was a decent shoot, i still have to look through all of the pictures.

sunday was a big day of volleyball fun and bbq’ing. we were matched up with a partner and each team of two coupled with another team of two to make a team of four. we kept rotating teams throughout the day and the team that had the highest number of points won wins the tournament. my team came in second.

this tournament didn’t have enough women in it so some of the guys had to play as girls. i was one of the teams where we had to play as a girl. to designate that we were playing as a girl, we had to wear bikini tops. i’m sure i have a picture of that somewhere…

it was a great weekend and i don’t know how it could have been any better.

i know this is probably about a month late, but i went wine tasting in sonoma a little while ago and took a few pictures with the throwaway camera. maybe that’s why i didn’t want to post the link to the images…i’m not really THAT ashamed of the throwaway camera. =P

i went to check out channel 104.9’s day on the meadow concert. it was pretty cool. though i don’t usually listen to channel 104.9, i liked a lot of the bands there. my friend christi’s brother was in one of the bands (bento that played there, so it was cool to check them out.

i have heard of a few songs by bowling for soup, but to see them perform was simply amazing. they were a wildly entertaining band and probably was the best performance of the day. i have definitely become a fan.

i took pictures with the canon 24-70/2.8 and my tamron 70-300/4-5.6. the difference in quality between the two lenses is astonishing. i really do need to get some pro level glass for my telephoto range.

this week was the first week of my freedom. no work to go to, nothing to do. it was great. i’ve been feeling rather tired lately and it’s been quite a relief that i’m able to lazy about and do nothing. the goal for today was to unload my car from weekend’s festivities. i only half finished that goal.

i guess i should back up and talk about the rather eventful last couple of days. friday was my last day at work. it was liberating to leave. there were a few sad goodbyes, but i was surprised that i didn’t get a call from the COO. i had thought that we had a better relationship than that, but it seems that that was not the case.

it’s strange how the days seem to pass by ever so slowly. i’ve been watching a lot of tv and have been about as lazy as i ever have been. it is truly fabulous. i think that i will start looking for work next week. it’s been nice to relax, but i can’t live like this forever…i may enjoy it too much and then i really will need to find a sugar momma.

life has been grand, though. i’ve been doing little things here and there that i’ve always wanted to do and i’m just about getting ready to start some mini-trips. i think that i’m going to go camping sometime, as soon as i figure out when i can make it. i want to go biking as well. i wonder if i can get anyone to come on out for that.

wednesdays were supposed to be spent playing volleyball in the park in fremont and thursdays are supposed to be spent playing volleyball in the park somewhere else. i tweaked my ankle a little bit so i’m not going to go play volleyball until tonight.

but freedom. wow. how liberating it feels.

on july 4th a bunch of us went to the beach in santa cruz to have a big bbq. i would guess about 30 or so came in all and a good time was had by all.

paul, greg, cheryl, leeya, john, and mike all went to the beach at 6:30AM to stake out a campground. i arrived at around 7:15AM with jen and we set up the volleyball nets and a tent and went back to sleep for a few hours.

people started to trickle in and we started to make food and just enjoy the beach. i was a little nervous about mixing groups as usual, but i think that it turned out alright.

in the evening we started up the bonfire and john had made a great call by suggesting the use of the match light charcoal to start the bonfire. we had a roaring fire and it was pretty good. it lasted a good two hours. with the bonfire roaring, we also got to watch the most amazing display of fireworks, ever!

people brought in all sorts of fireworks and i have never been so close to so much action. it was simply amazing. i wish i had brought my tripod, it would have been amazing to take pictures of that night.

all in all, i think everyone had a blast. it took two hours to fight through traffic to get home and i nearly fell asleep on the drive, but it was worth it. i had a blast.

happy birthday, geoff! i think he’s in LA right now, but here’s wishing many happy thoughts to you, yo!