A couple of coworkers live pretty close to me and since we have a relatively long drive into work (about an hour), we've been talking about carpooling.  However, everybody's schedule was kinda unstable so we weren't able to put it into effect until now.  We just started our carpooling a few weeks ago and it's worked out pretty nicely.  Finally we're one of those cars cruising down the carpool lane in the mornings!  There's 4 of us in the carpool, and with us carpooling 4 days out of the week and switching drivers every week, that means each of us only has to drive 1 week out of the month.  Yay to being green and saving some driving time!

My photo class started at the end of August and so far I've really liked it.  It's a black & white elementary photography class which includes lab.  So we've learned how to create a photogram, how to take pictures using a pinhole camera and are now in the process of developing our films and then enlarging the prints.  Compared to dealing with numbers everyday at work, the photo class provides a recreational and creative outlet.  And it's just really satisfying to create something creative and tangible. 

Photogram:  Starry jar

Photogram:  Cap and Tassles

Mayday's "Forgetting Lyrics" - 五月天 "忘詞"

Victor Wong "The Things Those Girls Taught Me" - 品冠 "那些女孩教我的事"

Claire Guo "The Next Sunrise" - 郭靜 "下一個天亮"

Today started out as a normal day -- went to work and immediately immersed myself in the month-end closing.  Mid-morning though, I felt a little swaying in my seat and when I looked up, it seems as if the whole building was shaking.  That's when I realized it was an earthquake.  Almost everyone in our department stood in their doorways-- that's supposedly the place to be, besides being underneath a desk.  Since we're relatively far away from the epicenter (Chino), the quake didn't last long -- less than 30 seconds I'd say.  So we didn't have the hysteria that the news reported of people evacuating in downtown or some of the stampedes that followed.  I don't even think anybody from our building rushed outside. 

That had us all thinking though.  Seismotologists keep predicting that a "Big One" will eventually hit LA.  Today's quake of 5.4 is supposed to be a piece of cake compared to the "Big One."  I guess we all gotta be mentally prepared for it though -- what stuff we should have with us in case it happens, things to backup in case it gets destroyed (photos, files, etc), etc.  Not to mention being without phone contact.  Today's quake already overwhelmed the existing phone network that calls couldn't get through, what'll happen when the "Big One" detroys the phone networks???

It's always the wake up calls from nature that brings us to think about what really matters most, doesn't it?