I keep a blog at http://blog.zerodean.com

Oh yeah -- I have a blogger account. ;-)

Well, I keep a real blog over here at: http://blog.zerodean.com

Come on over. :)

Utah trip - overview

Ok, I fully intended to keep a travel log during my travels, but that proved a bit more challenging than I anticipated (but at least I kept a half-decent photo log).

I accidentally posted this early, but what the heck... here it is, though I might edit and add to it a bit...

Here's the trip overview...

Saturday, May 16th
Drove from San Diego to Las Vegas
Arrived at hotel ~7pm
Got picked up by good friends (John & Sarah) for dinner & drinks.
Arrived back at hotel ~11:30pm
Brother arrives from airport (hotel shuttle) at ~12:30am
Talk & sleep.

Sunday, May 17th
Breakfast at the hotel
Depart hotel for Moab ~9:30am
Make way from Las Vegas to Moab
Arrive at Moab in evening. Nice little town.
Stay at Canyonlands Camp Site (in Moab) or as we like to call it, "Cacoon Alley", due to all the spider cacoons.
Setup tents in the dark. Mine proves to be a challenge as it's my first time setting it up...and it has an unconventional construction.
We walk around Moab doing some night photography.
Back to tents & sleep.

Monday, May 18th
Awaken. Shower at the campground facilities.
Find camp site just out of town, pitch tents.
Back in Moab, stop by Moab Cyclery to get my bike tuned, while my brother picks up a sweet Cannondale.
Drive to Klondike Bluffs for some riding.
Drop my point & shoot (now dead) camera while attempting to have our photo taken together.
Forget my shirt at beginning of ride, requires 7 minutes of backtracking back to car for retrieval otherwise, I would've fried.
Proceed on ride.
Interesting beginning, then lots of slickrock (which isn't that much of a thrill to ride on, in my opinion), then more open road desert-y riding...
Nearly become separated from bike during a hazardous descent. I felt like a ball in a pinball machine bouncing off of rocks in the road. No idea how I stayed upright.
Brother catches some serious air on a deliberate jump.
Brother's rear tire begins to deflate.
Inflated tire. Ride until it deflates.
Repeat.
Enter some sweet singletrack. Great riding, but hard on the tires. Brother's tire finally refuses to take air.
We attempt to replace the tube. This goes badly. Something isn't right. We figure it out, but during the "not right" part, we punctured the replacement tube. I pull out my spare tube, but the valve stem will not fit his tire.
Next, we call on our tire patching skills and patch replacement tube.
Ride back to parking lot. We lived to tell about it.
Drop rental bike off in Moab.
Head to Arches National Park for photos until sundown.
Arrive back at our campsite near the river.
Eat. Sleep.
Awaken to wind gusts from hell nearly launching my tent into the river. 2-3 hours of hell while I try to ride it out. Finally I remove the fly from my tent, which reduces wind resistance and noise by about 80%. Wish I thought of that earlier. Finally some sleep.

Tuesday, May 19th
My bro and I head back into Moab and sneak showers at the Canyonlands campground facilities.
Check the weather report and it appears Moab is the only "safe & sunny zone" for miles, so we decide to stay in the area another day rather than head into cloudy & stormy areas.
We drive to the entrance of Canyonlands National Park, but it starts to rain and storms are moving in. The weather reports lied.
We decide to split, riding the front line of the storm front between thunder & dust storms.
We spend the entire day unintentionally driving all the way to Bryce Canyon... driving through Capitol Reef Park and seeing many amazing sites along the scenic route. Attempted to find campgrounds or hotels along the way, but all full.
Nice dinner at a restaurant at the edge of the Capitol Reef Park.
More driving.
Arrive at a KOA camp ground at midnight and setup camp. No idea we are only 10 miles from Bryce Canyon.
Sleep.
Night time bathroom break. Exit tent. Enter tent.
Discover sillouette of spider on my tent door. Flashlight indicates it it on the outside of my door (good!). Flashlight indicates it is also a black widow (not good!). Some finger flicking and a tent pole hammer send her to spider heaven, but she haunts me in my dreams that night.

Wednesday, May 20th
Awaken.
Shower at the facilities.
Breakfast.
Meet some nice fellow campers who give us a hot tip on a nice and cheap Bryce Canyon campground.
We find the campground and setup camp there.
Spend day traveling around Bryce Canyon.
Cook dinner on rocks back and campground.
Local store does not have the ingredients to make S'mores (seriously! No graham crackers or marshmallow holder thingies!), so we enjoy ice-cream sandwiches instead.

Thursday, May 21st
Awaken.
Shower at the facilities.
Breakfast.
Drive to (and through) Zion National Park.
First attempt at mountain climb. Fail due to my fear of heights.
Fearing local weather reports (and an advisory) we decide to stay at a hotel in Zion. With a pool!
We wholeheartedly enjoy the pool.
Mexican restaurant for dinner.
Some internet and some 70's Planet of the Apes back at the hotel.
Sleep.

Friday, May 22nd
Drive through Zion thinking we are leaving the area and heading towards Vegas. Many photos.
2nd attempt at climbing previous mountain. Get probably 5 minutes from the top and it starts to rain. I suggest a rapid descent to avoid getting trapped on the mountain. We make it to the bottom alive.
Exit park only to realize 14 miles up the road that we are going the wrong way! We turn around and head all the way back through the park to exit on the following side!
Now heading towards Vegas, we stop by the Valley of Fire state park in Nevada.
First real injury during trip comes in the last 10 minutes when I trip on some sharp rocks while running up a hill. I acquire a nice abrasion on my shin.
Depart Valley of Fire.
Stop at gas station where my brother picks up "Freedom is never Free" and a "Montana" caps (2 for $12).
Head towards and drop off brother at Vegas airport.
Proceed to make the 5 hour drive from Las Vegas back to San Diego.

Saturday, May 23rd
Discover that the action helmet-cam footage I shot during out mountain bike escapade didn't actually record. No footage at all. Big disappointment!

Utah Trip - the figures

7 days travelled
1945.2 miles covered
2 hotels
1 great night with friends in Vegas
4 camp sites
1 black widow
1 amazing mountain bike jump
1 popped mnt bike tire in Moab
1 leaky replacement mnt bike tire
1 mnt tire repair kit
4 national parks
1 Valley of Fire
1 significant scar
5 lbs of weight lost
1 trip to a Mega Walmart
Several gallons of water consumed
Ample amounts of sunscreen
1 camera broken
1 laptop died
Several tanks of gas
1 glorious hotel pool surrounded by the mnts of Zion

#102 Good times

After a nice little 5 hour drive through the barren wastelands (ok, it actually isn't that bad...some of it is quite beautiful) between San Diego and Sin City, I arrived in Vegas in good spirits.

The hotel was exceptionally easy to find, the staff courteous, and the room spacious and clean. Quite pleased with all of that (thank you hotels.com).

Shortly after arrival, was picked up by my good friend John (who I used to work with on the east coast) and his new wife (who I have never met) and we went out for a nice meal and drinks in the city.

It was a great great with good food, drinks, and conversation.

Now sitting back in the hotel room. Brother just called from the airport moments ago and is taking a shuttle over any minute (hotel is conveniently only 2 miles from the airport).

Looking forward to another reunion (2 in one night!). :)

#101 Departure day...

I haven't even left the comforts of my own apartment yet (for a 6 day camping adventure in Utah), but I've already had to be resourceful this morning. My face smells like a freshly shaved pair of ladies legs (kinda feels that way, too. I can't complain!).

Ah yes, as I ran out of mine, the ex-girlfriend's shaving cream was more than up to the task of assisting me in getting a nice close shave this morning.

I've also taken my last hot shower for a good, hmmm...12 or so hours...at least until I am sitting comfortably in my Vegas hotel room waiting patiently for my little brother to arrive at the airport at midnight.

Still have a fair bit to to this morning... mainly transfer the piles of stuff from my living room in a neat and orderly fashion into my 4Runner. And then some last minute shopping for some ice and other stuff.

In limbo.

Yeah, so after months of thinking about it, and despite a substantial number of "common-sense" reasons against it, I quit my job as a senior artist at a well-known "many-artists-would-probably-give-a-big-toe-to-work-for" gaming company 3 weeks ago.

This was done despite the fact I told myself many times that it wouldn't be wise to leave a job without having another lined up. I'd say:

"You know, you'd be an idiot to leave this job, in this job market, without having another job lined up", to which the response would always be:
"Ummm, yeah, hello me! I know! And by the way, you're repeating yourself again."

So yeah, I left fully aware of the fact that the job market is may be total crap present some challenges right now. But "Every exit is an entrance to somewhere else" as they say, and opportunity abounds. So you never know.

But here's the clincher (is it really a clincher, I don't know, but it sounds good), I also left totally knowing that because the project I'd been working on since September '07 (Read Dead Redemption) has yet to be released, I am unable to show any of the work I've done in nearly 2 years. Which presents another challenge, as it means my portfolio is essentially 2 years out-of-date.

So knowing all of this, I still left. So it wasn't a decision made lightly. But I'm almost over it. ;) So moving on...

For the past three weeks I've basically been putting in regular work hours to get the various CG skills I've had atrophy on me over the last year or so back into shape.

Portfolio polishing is also a part of that process, but most of what I've been doing is learning (input), which hasn't resulted in much productivity (output) just yet. Or at least nothing I feel is worth showing. Heck, even some (most?) of the stuff I am showing I no longer feel is worth having up!

(Especially when I take a look around at some of the inspiring works being produced by the CG community!)

So one of the things I've had to do is re-familiarize myself with 3D Studio Max (from now on, just "Max"). Which should be entirely unnecessary (as I used it professionally for years)... but when I started my previous job, I learned a new piece of software (Maya) and then proceeded to use it exclusively for almost 2 years (at the expense of my efficiency in Max).

And while Max and Maya essentially do the same thing(s), they do them in slightly different ways. Just enough, that for whatever reason, my Maya habits have imprinted over my Max skills.

I could go on about hotkeys and navigational issues, but seriously, that's dull. I'll just cut to the chase and say that the differences between the programs and the way I learned them has thrown me for a bit of a loop.

It's like coming home and finding that the layout of your apartment has not only been "mirrored", but someone has replaced everything in it (such as your stereo, clock radio, and remote control) with something else that does the exact same things as the old thing used to, but does them in a different way.

So that's been fun. And what's funny is, I really don't know which software the next company I will may go to will use...but since I know both, I feel I should be fully prepared to use either as it opens up more opportunities.

I just hope I don't forget anything while I'm jaunting about in Utah.

Utah!?

Yes, I'm heading to Utah.

My little brother, who, like other family members I see way too infrequently, and I are heading to Utah for a photo/camping adventure for 6 days.

Six days of hopping around the national and state parks of Utah. And certainly some mountain biking in Moab (First sentence on that page, "Welcome to the home of the greatest mountain biking on the planet"). Oooooh yessss!

Should be a heck of an experience. One I am totally looking forward to for so many reasons. I have been to Utah before, even camped in Arches National Park, and visited Bryce Canyon and Zion. But I was really only passing through on my way to California (and hauling a trailer), so it was rushed. This time will be different.

I also hope to document the trip via this blog here, but it depends on laptop power and cellphone reception. We'll see. It'll be a test of sorts, as I have other potential possibilities floating around in my head right now.

But that's a week from now. I've got other entries to write before then.

Post #1. I wonder how many blogs start with...

Ok, this first entry is probably going to totally suck, because I haven't really kept a blog before. Not like this. (But I have written a thing or two before, so don't be too nervous).

Am I sucking yet? Too early to tell?

Well, if I am, just realize that I'll probably get better at blogging with experience... so if you're reading this entry on a day other than the one I'm writing it on, and you see more entries below (or above, or however that works), you can skip ahead to find out.

Go ahead, I'll wait. Besides, I'm kind of stuck here. You're the one from the future.

Alright, did you skip ahead to a future post that I haven't written (as of this writing) yet? Yeah? Was it good?

You're not going to tell me? Silent type? Ok, that's fine.

So anyway, I'm sitting here in my apartment in Vista, California writing my first blog entry while also thawing chicken in my sink as my perspiration soaked gym clothes slowly dry on my body (having just come back from the gym).

Not only is that a beautiful run-on sentence (hey, it's my blog, I can do what I want). It's also kind of gross. So I have to do something about that. Be right back...

[10 minutes later]

Ok, I'm showered and Mr. George Foreman is now on chicken grillin' duty.

So why start a blog now?

Well, I can touch type like a maniac and I like to write. (Oh believe me, you'll see).

But a better answer is probably because now seems like a good time to start bloggin'.

Which begs the question "why now?". Ok, maybe it doesn't "beg the question" (I don't even know what that means exactly... shouldn't it be "begs for"? Whatever. You know what I mean).

To which the answer is, twitter made me do it.

I joined twitter recently to see what all the fuss was about. I didn't quite understand what it was about or why it was getting so much press, but I figured there had to be something to it. So I joined.

First I started following a few interesting people and shortly after, I started sending my own twitter updates. And even without an audience, there is something rather catchy about "micro-blogging".

Twitter was the gateway drug to Blogger.

But seriously, I wouldn't be sitting here in my maroon office chair, in front of 1 of 6 LCD screens (6!? Yeah, yeah, I'll get to that eventually) typing my first blog entry if I didn't have anything to express.

The fact is, I am at a crossroads in life...and I am self-aware enough to know it. And if I was to start a bloggin', then now seems like as good a time as any.

So even if this first post sucks (and I cannot promise you it won't, even after endless edits!), things should eventually get interesting as I really don't have the faintest idea what's going to happen next or where I'll end up (or what I'll end up doing).

So many possibilities. It boggles the mind (another expression I never use. In fact, what the hell is "boggling". Miriam Webster says "to start with fright or amazement : be overwhelmed". Ok, yeah, that feeling.)

But it's exciting, too. And even more so now that I've been recently introduced to Littlewood's Law.

Who am I writing for? Who's my audience?

I'm writing for me. My audience? Are you kidding? I don't have an audience. :)

Ok, George (Foreman) is telling me to stick a fork in it, my chicken's done.

So in future entries I'll recount the tales that got me to where I presently am. Maybe it'll make some sense in the telling. Or not! ;)