I’ve been tagged by fellow photographer John Riedy. According to blog etiquette, being tagged obligates me to list 8 things most people may not know about me, so here goes:

1. I have two tattoos. On my right arm, I have a 1950’s style pin-up of a red-head slinging an old Graflex camera. On my left arm, I have a big Eiffel Tower. The pin-up reflects a certain nostalgia I have for the era around the 1940’s and 1950’s even though I wasn’t born until much later. It symbolizes my desire to make photography my life. The Eiffel Tower is my nod to Paris, a place I love.

2. My favorite movie is called “RED” from the trilogy of french language films: Blue, White, and Red. Or, in Francaise, “ROUGE,” directed by the brilliant Krzysztof Kieslowski. Irene Jacob isn’t the only reaon the film is so beautiful to me. It’s a quiet movie by and large and the pay off is so worth it when it’s over. I see something new in it everytime I watch it.

3. At one point I considered dedicating myself to painting. I thought I might even make a living at it someday. Then I figured out that cameras create images much faster….ending my painting carreer before it began. I still love the smell of oil paints and the sound of bristles on canvas.

4. I have a major weakness for the single serving pieces of white cake from Vons. They’re maybe $2.99 each and I have the hardest time passing them up when I’m supposed to be shopping for healthier fare. For a sugar crash of epic proportions, Vons white cake works for me everytime.

5. I love In-N-Out burger, but my favorite thing there is actaully the “Grilled Cheese, Animal Style” which is basically a cheesburger sans burger. For some reason, they always take longer for them to make, even though there’s no meat there. It satisfies my burger appetite somehow without making it a bad day for Bessie the cow.

6. Fellow photographer John Riedy says I look like the dentist elf from Rudolph the Rednose Riendeer and the Island of Lost Toys. That’s probably why Mindy Sonshine shot my wedding.

7. One day, in 1992, I got in my car and drove around the country. I stopped in Athens, GA and stayed there for almost four years exactly. The music scene was great and I learned a lot of REM songs on my guitar, but eventually the humidity and lack of good Mexican food got to me. I came home to San Diego in 1996.

8. My favorite number is nine. On my birth certificate it says I was born at 9:09 pm. It also says I was 5lbs, 4oz (5+4=9.) Oh, and I was 18 inches long (1+8=9 again.) If you add up the date I was born; 6+5+1969, it equals 36 (3+6 = 9 again.) It gets crazier. If you assign the appropriate number to each letter in the alphabet and add up the letters in my full name, it’s 36 all over again. Another 9. Yup, I used to have lots of spare time to add these things up before I became a parent…..9 years ago.

Paris is one of my favorite places on Earth. It’s hard for me to believe that it’s almost been a year since Kristie and I were there for our honeymoon. The idea of sitting at a sidewalk cafe, enjoying a cafe creme while watching Paris go about it’s business makes me homesick to go back. Paris is more to me than a collection of museums, cathedrals and other landmarks. There’s a sort of ‘connected’ feeling I get there, surrounded by history in a place where people have lived for more than 17 centuries. My favorite spot is actually just 60 miles or so south of Paris: Chartres Cathedral. The stone labyrinth on the floor and the stained glass there are awe inspiring in a very humbling kind of way. The few times I’ve been there, it’s always felt like a homecoming.

One of my favorite snapshots came from holding my camera straight out through the fence at the top the Le Tour Eiffel. Ever wonder what the view looks like from 1,100 feet?

I brought one camera and one lens so we could travel light. You can see a bunch of my snapshots here!