WOAH, 3-oh!
Yes, I am 30 today. I'm pretty happy about it. I am really looking forward to getting this decade started because a few years ago, a manghahula told me that my real life will start when I am 30. So, eversince 1999, I have not looked at each birthday as me "getting old." I saw it more so as me "getting closer to my real life!" What does this mean? This means that I will start living the purpose of my life, something that I have been searching, praying and working for.

Right now, I am doing photography and will hopefully make a living doing so in the near future. I also believe that I will get married (not nec. soon) in my 30s, have kids, a house and all that jazz. I hope to make enough money with my businesses while having happy employees with good benefits and great morale. I want to live comfortably so I can have my future family and donate money to the charities I care about. I also want to help my parents have a fun and happy retirement while I give back to my community.

My 20s had a lot of struggle and soul-searching and though I am sure the future will still have more struggle, I will be happy that I have moved onto the future I want to have. My recent, temporary move to LA is the beginning of this new life and the timing is great. I am glad that this is all happening around the time of my birthday. I see this milestone as an opportunity for me to look forward at the possibilities, and not look back with disappointment or regret at the years gone by. I still think I have many more things to accomplish!

MY FIRST MONDAY
Last Monday, I met up with the photographer and was given the house/studio tour. There was no shoot scheduled for the day so I helped frame some Employee of the Month headshots for a corporate client.

My orientation and my assistance only took 2 hours of my day, so I explored Los Feliz, Little Armenia, Thai Town (which is within Little Armenia), Hollywood and By the Grove. I took a few snapshoots of the "scenic" billboards and store fronts as I drove by. I also shopped/job shopped By the Grove.

SOUL FOOD
As I was driving, I realized that I reached the part of Hollywood Blvd that was very familiar to me and Frankie. A few years ago, he and I walked 20-30 minutes from the Kodak center to Roscoe's - at night! We made the pit stop on the way back to the Bay Area 'cause he was feening fried chicken and waffles. The guy at the Swatch store told us it was not that far - fuckin' liar! There are some shady blocks of Hollywood Blvd - particularly east of Vine - that Frankie and I thought we would never make it to Roscoe's! The funnist thing was that he and I were determined to get there because we didn't want to turn back. We were on a mission!

When we got there, a bunch of people were waiting outside and we were so happy to be there. We enjoyed our dinner and took a cab back to the Kodak Center. The cabbie thought we were crazy walking that far. It made him laugh at us tourists but it was all good.

TRAINING DAYS
This morning was the end of my training days. For the past two days,I worked with the photographer and the current apprentice. She showed me the ropes and oriented me to studio setup and break downs. She's really cool and we got along well right away. I was glad she was helped train me this week.

This morning, we assisted on an editorial photoshoot for a business magazine. The subjects were two top-notch managers of a business. A story is going to be written about them. My boss created on-location shots at a theater in downtown LA. He used the architecture of the upstairs lobby as his setting. For the second shot, he used the LA skiyline as the background. It worked well because these managers are LA based and so the context was very appropriate.

Yesterday, I went on a semi-celebrity portrait shoot at Cedar Sinai. To make it fun for my blog readers (for the few I have due to my hiatus), I am going to have you guess who they were! Here are some clues:

1. One person is the wife of a very talented African-American actor.
2. The other person is the widow of a well-known African-American legal professional.

They are going to be featured in an upcoming issue of the hospital's magazine. These two women were very nice and cordial. My boss got a lead from each of them because his work and his fast shooting impressed them so much! It sounds like they each want to set up something in the near future, which means, I will most likely be the assistant on the shoot. I say "most likely" because I am the weekday apprentice. If the shoot is on the weekend, the other apprentice will work with my boss on these shoots.

SMALL WORLD
I ran into a couple of familiar faces at the Calument on Highland Avenue and Santa Monica Blvd.

Ricardo (aka Apex) and Robyn - a fellow photographer/good acquaintance - were there shopping for supplies. Ricardo and Robyn are a cool couple from SF. Ricardo looked over at me and we were both saying, "Hey!" Ricardo asked, "San Francisco?" (as in "Aren't you from SF?) and I was like, "I know you!" I re-introduced myself and at the same time I remembered his name.

Robyn was on her cell so I didn't get a chance to talk to her. I chatted with Ricardo for awhile. My boss was getting supplies so we didn't talk long. I did find out that they were in town because Robyn had a shoot with The WB. She does editorial work (magazine shoots) and I know she has been busy these days! I hope to be busy like her next year! *cross fingers*

So, these were the highlights of my 4 days! Be kind and leave a comment so I know my readers are starting to read my blog again! Thanks and peace, y'all. =)