"Changing the future one mind at a time"

That's the slogan for the University of Southern California (USC)

I know that because we just got back from a tour of the campus. (I still find it hard to believe that Matt is old enough to start thinking about college!)



The university was established in 1880 and today hosts 35,000 students.Even though the campus is in the heart of Los Angeles, it is beautiful!



We of course had to tour the theatre technology department, since that will probably be Matt's major....



Here are a few facts for you:

Freshman Class, Fall 2009
Applicants: 35,753
Admits: 8,724
Average GPA: 4.05
Tuition: $40,000 yr.

(Cripes, huh?)


I have to show you something else that was going on during our visit:



Any guesses as to what's going on?

Well, lemme tell ya.

That silver wrapped statue is "Tommy Trojan" the school's mascot. This week he is wrapped up and is being guarded night and day by the Trojan Knights. (This week is the BIG cross-town rivalry football game and they are trying to prevent a sneak attack by the enemy!)



They have a bell to ring if they need assistance. And they have a webcam helping to keep watch over the statue and campus. Click HERE if you are interested.

"College is like a fountain of knowledge and the students are there to drink."

Storm watch!

Well, it happened.


It finally rained yesterday.  And thus ended San Diego's streak of 164 consecutive days without measurable precipitation –this was a tie for the fourth-longest rain free spell in San Diego's history.


Whew.




(Can you see how dead, brown and thirsty our hillsides are?)





When the downpour was over, everything and everyone ran outside to look things over.

(We get about 9 inches of rain a year, so every little drop is important!)











If those of you who live in places with REAL WEATHER promise not to laugh so hard that you hurt yourself, I'll give you a few quotes from our weathermen:
“Things are changing quite rapidly from high and dry to cool and wet,”

" The system doesn’t have a lot of moisture to it, but conditions should be right to produce between a tenth and a quarter-inch of rain west of the mountains. The foothills could get about a third of an inch."  (EEK!)

"Temperatures will plunge around the county today, according to the weather service. The inland valleys may not hit 60 degrees today."

Pathetic, aren't we?




And wouldn't you know it, just before sunset we spotted this:





"Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. " John Ruskin 

Photo Expo

Lisa and I spent a really fun day at Photo Expo West.

Let me stop for a moment here and offer you a word of encouragement:

I'd like to encourage you, if you have the opportunity, to attend a conference/expo on whever is your passion!

(It doesn't have to be photography, but just get out and GO!)

There were classes and demonstrations...

Strange new products:

(No they are not selling human hands. That is a hand support to help properly hold your video camera for hours at a time...)

How about a table top tripod beanbag?

Or maybe you need a new green screen?

How about jewelry, camera cases or a cute outfit?

Or maybe a new lens?

The best part, I think, were the classes. Honestly I will JUMP on the chance to learn new things!

We took some classes on Flash Portraiture, Photo shop and Landscape Photography to name a few.....

And the second best part of the day was the free giveaways and the free advice!

Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere. ~Chinese Proverb

All the world is a laboratory to the inquiring mind. ~Martin H. Fischer

Good Manners

Bet you are wondering what that photo has to do with good manners....

Right?

Well, that was the theme of my church's "Edge Night"

(Remember that's our fun, Friday night party, bring-a-friend-to-church event for 5th and 6th graders?)

So we started off the evening with some BAD mannered games....

That was the pumpkin seed spitting contest......

I promise the games were more dignified after that....

Then we had a skit by the teachers - first a family dinner with BAD MANNERS

Then the kids discussed what the bad manners were and then the skit was repeated with good manners.

(A few of my favorite bad manners were when the 'teenager' texted during the family prayer,

and when the teenager sneezed across the whole table and the dad 'high-fived' her with "Good One")

The kids REALLY enjoyed the skit and were absolutely enthralled with the performance..and you know, they picked out EVERY one of the bad manners.

So they do KNOW what to do....sometimes they just don't DO them......

During snack time, we taught table manners and how to properly eat a nice warm bowl of chicken soup!

For the craft project (remember that's my department?)

We built little mangers from wood.

And then painted them...

Each child went home with their manger, a baggie of straw and a little poem: Jesus' birthday's coming soon And soft beds babies need, So let us fill the little cribs- A straw for each good deed. We're so glad that Jesus came On earth to be our brother. Let us show it now with love and good manners toward each other.

Happy Thanksgiving

A Thanksgiving Day Prayer By Scott Wesemann Lord, so often times, as any other day When we sit down to our meal and pray We hurry along and make fast the blessing Thanks, amen. Now please pass the dressing We're slaves to the excess and overload We must rush our prayer before the food gets cold But Lord, I'd like to take a few minutes more To really give thanks for what I'm thankful for For my family, my health, a nice soft bed My friends, my freedom, a roof over my head I'm thankful right now to be surrounded by those Whose lives touch me more than they'll ever know Thankful Lord, that You've blessed me beyond measure Thankful that in my heart lives life's greatest treasure That You, dear Jesus, reside in that place And I'm ever so grateful for Your unending grace So please, heavenly Father, bless this food You've provided And bless each and every person invited Amen Thessalonians 5:18 - "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God." Psalms 50:14 - "Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most high" Psalms 92:1- "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High" Psalm 107:1- "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever." Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours!

Give Thanks

This is the time of year that we think about what we are thankful for, isn't it? My church group likes to thank our local elementary school teachers. (Aren't we all thankful for all teachers?) And since us Lutherans are well known pot luck lovers.... We scheduled an autumn Soup Luncheon for the teachers and staff. We brought in 7 crockpots of soup, warm rolls and a special take home gift of pumpkin bread. We set everything up in their staff lunch room so they could eat it on their own schedule. I brought along my camera so you could come along too - you'll have to decide what kind of soup you want: Italian Sausage Tortellini? Chicken Noodle Soup? Apple curry squash soup? Taco Soup? Broccoli Cheese? Or maybe Corn Chowder? What will it be??? You're UNdeniably Lutheran When... ....potluck dinners are your favorite indoor sport. ....you carry silverware in your pocket to church just in case there's a potluck. ....all of your casserole dishes have your name on the bottom. ....you can't have a meeting without having a meal. ....you make your hot dishes with cream of mushroom soup and your salads with Jell-O. ....you believe can't get into heaven without a casserole

The 2 + 4 + 2 Family

What do you get if you add 2 parents + 4 kids + 2 dogs? An adorable family! We had so much fun at our portrait session at Old Poway Park. The two doggies (Wolfy and Waffles) were just as adorable! And we couldn't resist a quick photo near the train at the end of our session. "The family is one of nature's masterpieces."-- George Santayana

More signs of Autumn

A recent photo challenge suggested we do some 'leaf peeping.' There are just a few trees in my neighborhood that dress up colorfully for autumn, so I had to head over to the park. (Yes - the same place we were crunching leaves last week..HERE.) When I noticed some water drops on some of the leaves, I switched from my EF 24-70 lens to my Macro. YAY! Oooh...and here's an ACTION shot: And lastly a quick switch to my EF 100-400L lens for some BOKEH! (Remember that? If not, click HERE) "Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower." ~Albert Camus