Merry Christmas from Bali and Austin
Over the last 7 years, I’ve turned the obligatory family photo at Christmas into a chance to wish everyone a happy holidays on my blog. (For an interesting look back, see: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 A, 2009 B.) However, for the first time in my 31 years, I was unable to spend Christmas with my family :(
Which made me kind of sad to think I wouldn’t be able to post a similar photo this year. And then I had an idea: take a screenshot from Skype—and voila, everyone in a single photo! Together even though we’re far apart. Nevermind that it’s December 26th in Bali—it’s still December 25th in Austin!
Skype family Christmas photo, take 1
But, as it turns out, Katie had an even better idea, to put us on fullscreen and have Dad hold the laptop while they took the classic shot of everyone in front of the tree, including Calvin the cat! I think it came out quite nicely. Happy Holidays!
Skype family Christmas photo, take 2
Boarding the Cap Cleveland
Since Monday was a holiday, we called our Philadelphia boat contact on Friday from DC. Was the Cap Cleveland still leaving on September 7th? Yes, he said, the boat was slated to arrive that morning and would depart that night. He said we should show up at 6pm, but of course call Tuesday morning to confirm.
So we enjoyed a lovely Labor Day weekend with my cousin Chris, his wife Fran, and their two children Emma and Luke in New Jersey (they live across the river from Philly). I met Emma just a few weeks after she was born, shortly before I moved to California (five years ago). Here I was once again intersecting with them at another major juncture in my life. It’s funny how that happens.
Emma and Justin on laptops
Tuesday morning I called to confirm the boat details, and spoke with someone who said we should show up “at lunch” instead. Ohhhk. Change of plans, but it actually worked out pretty well. I was able to get a much needed haircut at a local barber, then we packed our bags, sent Emma off to her afternoon preschool, and Fran drove us over to the Philadelphia marine terminal. Here’s a neat satellite image of the area with what might have been the Cap Cleveland being loaded with containers.
Satellite image of the Port of Philadelphia
We got to the gate a little before 1pm. Fran couldn’t take us any further, so we unloaded our things right there while the gate agent tried to figure out who we were and whether or not to let us through. There were big signs that read “No Photography at this Facility” so I didn’t take any photos (besides a clandestine one of the Cap Cleveland below). A US Customs and Border Patrol agent drove up and asked us a few questions, and then chatted with the gate agent. I’m not sure if he just happened to be driving by, or if he was dispatched specifically for us.
Cap Cleveland behind containers
Eventually a white school bus arrived and the gate agent said we were fine to pass through. We loaded our things onto the bus, and it headed for the boat. Speaking of “our things”, they’ve ballooned a bit since Austin. We left there with our two backpacks, plus two small bags full of books and one larger bag full of crocheting supplies (all three intended for the boat). Since arriving in New Jersey, we’ve added three boxes of food (one beer, one wine, and one goodies from Trader Joe’s), as well as a few more books and… a rented BGAN satellite “cable modem”. So if you’re reading this on Tuesday, then it works! Sadly I couldn’t get it working on the boat, and foolishly hadn’t made the time to test it on land—like the instructions said! Hopefully I can get it configured correctly when we stop in Savannah on Friday.
The bus dropped us off right at the edge of the port. The Cap Cleveland was too big to fully appreciate. All I could really comprehend was a red wall (the side of the boat) with a staircase leading up and to the right. We unloaded our stuff from the bus, and started bringing it up. Some of the crew members grabbed our boxes so we didn’t have to make multiple trips. We showed our “ticket” and passports to a man at the top of the staircase. He filled out some information in a log book, and we continued up more stairs where we ran into the captain and the 3rd officer. They introduced themselves as Alex and Jeoffrey, and then passed us off to the steward, Cyrille, who took us into the boat and up to our room on the D-deck (the 6th floor from the main deck).
Water ice with Emma
In New Jersey (or at least in Collingswood), they have a local specialty called “water ice”. I’m not exactly sure what constitutes water ice, but I would say that sherbet is a close approximation. We had some with Emma on Monday, Labor Day, the last day that their local pool was open for the season.
Justin, Emma, and Stephanie
To San Antonio and Beyond!
My parents took off from work on Monday to drive us to San Antonio so we could catch our train to New Orleans. On the way we stopped at my brother’s high school. He’s a history teacher (and the department head) at a brand new high school that one might mistake for a small college. They have a food lab, a sound studio, even a robotics lab. All the classrooms are organized into pods with glass walls looking out into a central “lounge” outfitted with armchairs and tables. It’s very cool, and my bro seems to be totally in his element.
After the tour we continued on our way to San Antonio. We didn’t have anything planned to do when we got there, so we went to the Rivercenter Mall and hung out for a bit, and then we walked along the River Walk to find a place for dinner. My parents still had the drive back to Austin ahead of them, so after dinner we said our final goodbyes in the parking garage, and then Stephanie and I walked off into the sunset.
It was around 7, and we still had 5 hours to kill before our train left, so we went back to the mall to catch Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. It was awesome. I would totally go see it again.
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World poster
Afterwards, as we were walking out of the empty mall onto a dark street with our packs strapped to our backs, I got that first inkling of what it must feel like to be a vagabond. We no longer had an apartment or a car, or my parent’s house and their car. We had finally shed all the insulating layers of comfort and familiarity. I was wondering when things would stop feeling like a vacation. Now it was just the two of us. On an unfamiliar street. With only our packs. On foot.
Amtrak posters by Michael Schwab
The one thing we did have was a plan. We were taking Amtrak’s Sunset Limited to New Orleans, a 16 hour trip that would arrive early in the afternoon the next day. After a day and a half in the Big Easy, we’d take the Amtrak Crescent all the way to DC, a 26 hour trek, arriving Friday morning. We’d spend Friday and Saturday exploring DC, before catching a train on Sunday to Philadelphia. There we’d be staying with my cousin and his family until we board the Cap Cleveland on Tuesday, September 7th.
Map of our route from Austin to Philadelphia
My first time in Los Angeles
Sunday morning, we packed up the rental car, crossed the threshold for the last time, took a deep breath, and slid the key under the door. We were on the road at 11, heading towards Los Angeles to meet up with Stephanie’s Uncle Peter and his partner Steve.
I-5 was not new ground for us, so we motored through it, getting to their place in “the Valley” by 5:30. I’d only been as far south as Santa Clarita before, so Peter and Steve took us on a personal driving tour of LA, covering NoHo, Universal Studios, the Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood Boulevard, Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Sunset Boulevard, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, and UCLA.
They were getting ready to take Sunset all the way to the beach, but after touring around for nearly an hour and a half, we were getting hungry, so we went back to their place for dinner. Stephanie and Peter caught each other up on various bits of family news, and Steve wowed us with tales of their favorite places around the world (they’re accomplished travelers). We didn’t get to bed until midnight.
Peter and Steve visited us in San Francisco back in April
We slipped out around 9 on Monday morning to meet up with some friends at Leona and Phil’s new loft downtown. Marcia was in town, working on the photography for her upcoming book, as was another Glitter Pony-alum, Chris Salvano and his girlfriend Ashley, both recent graduates of UCLA’s Library Science program, so they joined in the fun as well. As a bonus, the loft had direct roof access, so we threw together a little picnic-brunch up there with a stunning view of the downtown LA skyline.
Los Angeles skyline
Around noon everyone had things to go do so we said our goodbyes and hit the road again, heading west on I-10 towards Phoenix (and eventually Tucson).
A birthday barbecue in Santa Rosa
The last weekend that Stephanie’s mom was in town also coincided with Eva’s birthday, so we spent the day up in Santa Rosa, enjoying the warm weather with friends and family.
Patrice showing the kids how to pop a cork
Eva and Dacian blowing out the last candle
Tout le monde (left to right: Justin, Stephanie, Cristian, Julie, Mo the dog, Patrice, Nailah, Davahni, Christiane, Eva, Dacian, JB)
Best outtake ever, as I race to save the camera from the dogs
Fête des Mères
Stephanie’s Mom happened to be visiting us during Mother’s Day in France (La Fête des Mères), so we celebrated with a lovely brunch at Olea, just around the corner from our apartment.
Justin, Stephanie, and Chris at Olea
The 2009 Photo Book
It’s one thing to put together a photo book.
This shot was inspired by How to Photograph a Design Poster
It’s a whole ‘nother thing to rewrite the program that builds the book to increase the margins and add a gutter, to go through a year’s worth of photos (over 6,000) and narrow them down to about 100, to crop and resize each and every one, to lay out the book so that the pictures on the left relate to the pictures on the right, to add 80 captions in English that are descriptive, yet flow, and then do the same thing over again in French, to summon any remaining creativity to come up with a cover that uniquely identifies the year, and to get this all done in time to get the book printed, shipped, and mailed out to family here and in France in time for Christmas. Well, almost in time.
Sample layout with photos from Weed and Hoover Dam
It might sound like I’m complaining, but really I love it. I love the challenge of a project that absorbs me for more than a few days. That involves building a tool and then using it. That is both analytical and visual.
We started putting these together in 2007 because coincidentally, that year was the first time I traveled to France with Stephanie (not to mention the first time she’d been back in almost 3 years), and it was also the year we went to Buffalo to celebrate my Grandfather’s 90th birthday. We don’t see our family as often as we’d like, specifically our grandparents, so we envisioned this as a way to share ourselves with them that did not require a computer or the internet.
Between then and now however, the inevitable happened. In 2008 one of Stephanie’s Grandmothers passed away, and just this year, I lost my Grandfather. We’re getting our photo books back. I hadn’t really quite anticipated that part. At least not so soon. Both Stephanie and I now have a single surviving grandparent, our maternal Grandmothers.
Between then and now, another change happened. In 2007, our siblings were just our younger siblings, and we didn’t really think a book of photos of us would really mean all that much to them. But now Stephanie’s niece is two and a half, my brother is married, and just like with our Grandparents, we don’t see them as often as we’d like. So the photo book becomes a little piece of ourselves we can leave behind. Something they can easily pull off the shelf when someone we’ve never met asks about us and say, “Yep, that’s my crazy brother” or “Eh oui, ça c’est ma soeur”. At least that’s my fantasy.
A quick peek inside
Update: my photo-book code is available on GitHub.
