Ladd Photos

Yesterday Aliciana and I drive to San Luis Obispo for the day to do some errands. We also got a chance to visit my Brother Nick, his main squeeze Jessie, their puppy Zeus, my best friend Aaron, his new fiance Melinda, and Kali the cat. We had a great time catching up with everyone. We ended up going and having a good Chinese food dinner and then dessert at TCBY. Even though I couldn’t eat dessert because of my diet, I still had a great time hanging out and talking. We will have to definitely make a trip to SLO a common occasion, maybe even a monthly event if Aliciana isn’t too busy being a full time worker.

We ended up doing a lot on our short trip. Aliciana and I got to ride on the gondola in front of the Venetian Hotel for free. Thanks for hooking us up Courtney! It was a cool experience but there is no way it is worth $50. The ride was 10 minutes long and the gondolier sang us 2 songs. We even ended up getting the $15 photograph at the end for free because they forgot to take it at the beginning.

While we were in Las Vegas we also celebrated my mom’s 50th birthday. Congratulations for making it a half century mom! Overall it was a good trip, but it seemed short. Hopefully we can make it back to Las Vegas sometime in the next year. Aliciana started her new job last Monday, so we won’t be able to travel as much as we have been in the past.

Aliciana and I were in Sacramento and neighboring Davis to celebrate the marriage of Angela Lee and Durin Linderholm. It was a beautiful ceremony at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church in Davis. After the ceremony we headed off for the reception in Sacramento at the Sterling Hotel.

The reception was quite a festive event, as is to be expected. We had a delicious lunch and got to catch up with some old college friends. But, I think the most memorable image that will stick in my head is the giant smiles on both Angela and Durin’s faces. They were happier than I have ever seen them and I hope they have many more happy days to come.

Seeing what a wonderful day their wedding was makes me long for my own wedding even more.

Aliciana and I visited the California Living Museum (CALM) which is located out by Hart Park. Everyone knows that I love animals and Aliciana is quite fond of them as well, so, as you can imagine, we had a blast. It was a hot day and you can tell from the photos that the animals sure were feeling the heat. For the first time in my life I saw a squirrel laying down. He was just sprawled out on the ground… it was a weird sight to see.

We visited the Kern County Fair. My favorite part was the exotic animal petting zoo. I got to pet goats, a camel, some baby antelope, a deer, and Scottish Highland cattle. The baby furry cows were the best. They loved to be petted and were very soft. I have never seen such furry cows! We had a lot of fun but it really wore us out… 3.5 hours of walking will do that.

Today, on the way back from the mailbox, I had a run in with a local apartment complex dweller. Being only 9 inches long and crawling on the ground, I nearly stepped on him. I don’t know for sure what type of crustacean he was, being the first one that I have seen that wasn’t on a plate with a butter dipping sauce, but maybe my Dad can put his Biology degree to use and let me know.

After seeing him, I ran back to my apartment to grab my camera and then returned to the wild to capture my discovery on film. I moved him over from the sidewalk so I could get a better picture of him and he didn’t seem to like being picked up. He proceeded to square himself up to me and threaten me with his big red claws. I assumed he lived in the pond by the mailboxes and had gotten out for an afternoon stroll in the rain, so I let him be after snapping some shots.

Aliciana and I went to San Luis Obispo on Saturday morning to visit with my brother, Jessie, and my parents, who were also there visiting for a long weekend. We had a wonderful dinner Saturday night at 1865, which is a great steak house in SLO. We stayed the night, had breakfast on Sunday morning, and then drove back to Bakersfield. Here is some pictures from the hotel room, which I took while waiting to go to breakfast on Sunday morning.

We had another wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with the family. As always, the food and company were great. Almost the whole family was able to join us. We missed Doug and Grandpa who were both sick, Aunt Susie and Uncle Gary who had to work, and Aramie.

Aliciana got some beautiful flowers today from her Mom and Dad for her birthday. She wishes to thank them for everything. She loves you lots!

I just finished watching the series “Triumph of the Nerds” on DVD. While I have seen parts of the documentary over the years this is the first time I watched all three parts straight through. This series, which is about the invention of the personal computer, the formation of a fledgling computer industry, and the key players in the new age of information, is quite simply amazing. I cannot recommend this documentary enough!

Anyone who has ever wondered how the PC came into being, who invented the Graphical User Interface (hint: Xerox), how Apple and Microsoft got their start, or how IBM was beat by a bunch of teenage nerds should run out and rent this documentary. It was filmed in 1996 so it doesn’t cover the dot com implosion and doesn’t mention Linux. But from the Altair up until Windows 95 it is accurate, intriguing, interesting, and epic. The story is retold in the participant’s own words, including interviews with Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Paul Allen, and every other major player.

I can’t wait for Robert X. Cringely, the author of the series, to shoot another epic covering the rise and fall of the dot com. Maybe he will even cover the Linux Revolution, although that history is still in the process of being written. With almost 10 years passing since this series was filmed, there is a lot of new computer history to document, but “Triumph of the Nerds” will definitely give you a deep understanding of how the computer revolution was started, in an interesting and entertaining way.

Aliciana had her picture in the Bakersfield Californian, the local newspaper, last Saturday. The article was about our church’s preparation for the Hanging Of The Green event that was held last Sunday. She has only lived in Bakersfield for 5 months and she is already famous. 😉

Here is a scan of the newspaper picture:

So, yesterday I became a year older. Well, technically I became 1 day older but custom tells us we should only celebrate once a year, on the day we were born. But, as I grow older, the celebrating seems to become less important.

I don’t feel like I am 26 years old, it seems like I was just turning 20. Paradoxically, I proposed to Aliciana one year ago, on my 25th birthday, but that feels like it took place eons ago. It is funny how specific events feel like they happened long ago and abstract ideas feel like they happened yesterday. I guess it is much easier for the mind to recall abstract feelings than particular points in time. But, I digress.

I had a nice birthday dinner at a restaurant in town called Mexicali. They have beautiful Christmas decorations this time of year so it is always nice to get to eat amongst them. We then came back to the apartment for birthday chocolate and peanut butter brownies, which Aliciana baked for me, and watched a movie. A nice, relaxing, and calm birthday… just like old people are suppose to be. 😉

We have had our Christmas tree for nearly a week and I finally got around to taking some photos and uploading them to this site. It is our first Christmas tree because during all our years in college we were always traveling during Christmas. But, now that we are ‘working adults’, we have to stay put for Christmas.