In The Kitchen

Prepared for life.  That is what I want my kids to be before they move out of the house.  Along with teaching them to be happy, to be fulfilled, to be kind and loving, to seek after life, we also want them to be self-sufficient.  With that last point in mind we have taught them to do their own laundry, to help out with daily chores around the house and also how to cook.  We don't want them leaving the house only knowing how to make a bowl of cereal (my specialty). 

With this in mind we are beginning to have them help out in the kitchen with meals.   A couple of nights ago my daughter was assigned to make dinner on her own.  It was a simple taco meal which my wife thought was a good entry level meal to start with.  She did great.  It didn't go without a few speed bumps but in the end it tasted good and filled our bellies.  The best part was the show she put on during her meal preparation.

I must admit, my kids will not leave my care without a sense of humor.  This they both have in healthy doses.  The show my daughter put on was not fully intentional but hilarious nonetheless.  I laughed as I watched her try to shake the refried beans out of the can, which if you've tried this you know it's not going to happen.  I told her she had to scoop them out first so she stuck a spoon in, loosened them up and then proceeded to shake the can again.  As you can see in the blurry (because I was laughing so hard I couldn't hold still) photo below the beans missed the pot.

One more lesson I must teach her is weapon selection because on this night she chose poorly.  With all the sharp knives available to brandish she chose the rubber coated can opener to protect her kingdom.  "This is my kitchen weapon and I'll use it on you if you try to come in!" she yells followed by a menacing cackle.

And although she'd barely talk to me last night because I won't let her, at 14, get gauges put in her ears I love her dearly and more than she'll ever know.

I Made These

If you don't believe that pulling out your camera can bring people together I want to offer proof that it does. Here is a 14 year old girl and her 10 year old brother. People, do you see that?!?! She's actually touching him!Proof! 

Yeah, this is the fruits of my loins (_whatever that means_) in a photo together where one isn't glaring at the other, putting up the bunny ears (and no I didn't Photoshop them out) or frowning at the shear displeasure of being on the same planet.

Haystack Rock

Got up early yesterday to head out to the coast to shoot some pictures.  I got this picture of Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach right before the sun came up.  It was an amazing morning.  Since it's towards the end of November I didn't expect a sunny day but that's what I got.  It was still cold but the sun made it all worth it.

Prints available @ www.brianbonhamphotography.com

Girly Girl

It feels like yesterday that I was changing diapers and getting up in the middle of the night to feed her. Now I hear her talking about what kind of car she wants when she can drive (it's a purple or blue VW Bug depending on which day it is for those curious) and what kind of career she wants to pursue (as of yesterday she wants to be a bass player in a band - she's taking lessons). Time flies, it really does. As much as I look forward to seeing the woman she becomes, I'll seriously miss the days of her being a little girl.


I was playing with my flash last night and thought the mirror would be a challenge.  Instead it was the photos she's got on her mirror that ended up being the biggest challenge.

The Boy

I took this last night while playing with my camera's remote flash function.  Until yesterday I didn't know it could do that.  I processed it in B/W because I could.

Photography

I'm not sure who still looks at this blog but it will be slim pickings on posts for some time.  The time I'd normally spend here has been devoted to two hobbies I can wrap my head and stomach around: photography and brewing.

My photo's are available in print at the following website - www.brianbonhamphotography.com

For the month of November all my prints are available at 25% off using the promotion code PRMMKG.

Portland Pano

On my way to shoot the Portland Marathon this past Sunday I stopped at one of my favorite places along the Eastbank Esplanade and took this panorama shot of Portland.

Hawai'i in September

Hawai'i has been awesome. Jim and Susan are great hosts and have been very good to us. I hope to return the favor to them someday.

Spending two weeks with Alex has been awesome. What a great kid. I couldn't be more proud to be his dad. I'm missing Kathi and Brianna terribly but know that what they are doing is worth the absence. My longing to see them exposes my love for the more and more.

During our time here in Hawai'i I've been stretching my wings as a photographer. I've been trying to move beyond the typical snapshot and have tried to capture images that display the beauty or uniqueness of this place. So far I've not found that to be an easy task. Here are some of the photos I have taken.

For more images please find me on Google+ where you can see my whole collection.

Goodbye for now

Today Alex and I took the girls to the airport. We said our goodbye's and now won't hear from them or see them for two weeks. I know that worry is a wasted thing but I can't help but to worry a little. Sending my ladies off to foreign lands that are out of my control for two weeks is tough. Maybe I'm a control freak or maybe I just love these ladies more than you can imagine. Either way, they're gone for now.

Tomorrow Alex and I will travel to Hawaii for almost two weeks. We are going to paradise to see our sis and bro-in-law in one of the most beautiful places in the world. This will help with my worry for the girls. I'm bringing our snorkel gear and my camera so there will be plenty to take my mind off things. I love my ladies and would trade a trip to Hawaii for the two weeks with them any day.

Portland's Odd

One of the popular phrases on this city is "Keep Portland Weird". Well, it does a good job of that.

Here's a few odd shots from our walk this past weekend.

This is one of a number of manikin's positioned on the building we parked next to. Why are they there? I don't know... it's just Portland.


I think every city has one of these guys. But do they have one that does contact juggling?


This is from my sons favorite booth at Saturday Market. I think it's called Spoonman. Everything in the booth is made from everyday utensils.

Portland Rewind

I love Portland. Seriously, it is a city that never gets boring.

Sunday we decided to take one of our favorite walks. We start out by OMSI and walk North along the Eastside Promanade and cross the river on the Steel Bridge. Then we meander through Saturday Market and then walk the waterfront heading South. We then cross the river back to OMSI on the Hawthorne Bridge. It is a good walk in so many ways.

This time I had my camera with me so I grabbed some photos along the way. I'll share more later but for now I want to share these two. When I looked through all the photos these two just seemed to belong to a different generation. So I did a little tweaking to give them that old feel.

I call this group The Vagabond Players. I know they have their own name but I like mine better.

I love the contrast in size between the boat on the left and the powerhouse of the boat on the right.

Big Trucks and Guns

Today was a fun filled day!

We started by meeting my sister and her kids in Beaverton for Big Truck Day at Conestoga. Besides the constant honking of the horns and the waits in line to sit in a truck for three seconds it was a good morning activity for us. The kids loved the trucks. Alex's favorite were the limousines.

We had to cut out early because we had a previous engagement to take our friend Megan shooting. So we packed up the arsenal, met up with Megan and headed out to the Tillamook Forest for some target practice. There we blew some holes in some cans and bottles we found laying around until Ranger Roger came and told us that it was a misdemeanor to shoot anything but paper targets. We explained that we were only shooting what we found laying around and he didn't care. Since our time was running short anyway due to a work schedule we decided to pack it in. We were good citizens and got a garbage bag from Ranger Roger and packed out someone else's garbage. I love the spot we found so we'll return another day with some paper targets.

Here's some pics of the day,

Alex adding to the horn noise of the day. Who can blame him. How many times have you tried to get a trucker to honk his horn.

Natalie being kind to her brothers by just pretending to pull the horn.

Aidan standing in the hornless fork truck brought by Parr Lumber.

Nathaniel curled up in the wheel of the big Monster Truck.

King Alex chillin' in the back of his Hummer Limo!

Jen found a friend to get a picture with.

Megan cracking off a shot with the Sig Sauer P230.

Yeah, best not mess with us.

Amos Lee

All my life I feel like I've been drawn to good stories and good story tellers. My taste in stories is very eclectic. In books I've loved anything from true life stories of amazing people to what I refer to as mind-candy fiction stories. Music has a different kind of story. It's not always told A to B and isn't always contained in one song. Sometimes you've got to sit and listen to the whole album to get the complete story.

I've always considered myself a rocker. I love hard rock, metal, and anything where the guitars scream louder than the vocalist. But deep down I love music that tells a story. As a kid our family would travel in our van for vacations and on the road AM radio dominated. I remember songs from people like Johnny Cash, Harry Chapin, Roger Whitaker and the like. Their songs always told a story. Stories have meaning thus the songs have meaning. Meaning bring longevity. There are singers and bands who we call "one hit wonders" and their songs have a flash but then fade. Singers and bands who tell stories have a staying power that lasts generations.

Lately I've been reaching out to hear more stories in music and have come across some amazing talent. As I said before the stories are not always told in a clear way during the song but sometimes come through in the album as a whole. Adele does this and does this well. She was in town last night and I would have loved to see her. Tonight I get to see a storyteller of the modern generation. Amos Lee a young man with an old soul. My friend Stephen told me about him one day and since then I've not stopped listening to him. The concert is outdoors and the weather will be amazing.

Here is a beautiful and honest song with a very cool video to go along with it. Listen, watch and enjoy Amos Lee's Flower.

Look Who's 70

I know it's not polite to reveal a woman's age but my mom should be proud to be 70. Look how good she looks. Right?!? I know.

Some clowning around during picture time.

Some loving on the grandkids.

Love you mom!

Great Photo Video

For all you photographers out there, you'll love this one.

Leave Me from Ryan Dunlap on Vimeo.

NASCAR!

I've seen NASCAR on TV for years and have always wanted to see it live. This past Sunday I got that opportunity. Our company sponsored a car in the Pro-Series this year so when NASCAR came to Portland I got to go. Alex and I had pit passes so we got an up close and personal look at the cars, pits and people that make these races happen.

The sights, sounds and smells were all that I expected them to be. Even though this series is kind of the minor leagues of NASCAR it was still impressive. This also provided a great venue for some picture taking. Here's a few of my favorites.

Here's Alex in front of the track at our seats.

This is one of my favorite shots I've taken of all time!

One of the NASCAR ladies. All of the ladies holding the umbrellas for the drivers to keep them out of the sun were dressed in a 50's bombshell style. I think the tattoos just added to their cuteness.

Here is our car! We got the hood for this race.

Andrew Ranger is the driver of the 35 car. He had the lead for a while at the end of the race but blew his engine with a few short laps to go.

It was a beautiful summer day at the track.

Motivation

I have a little section next to my desk at work filled with reminders of what's important and why I sit here for 10 hours a day.

There are pictures of my kids.

Our engagement photo.

A picture of me and Kathi on a dock.

A family photo that is a bit out dated.

A Beaker finger puppet from my sistet.

A love note from my son.

A bobble-head frog from my daughter.

A hulu girl from Hawaii.

A picture of me and Kat Von D.

And a pirate.

Close for One Year

Friday my sister and her family arrived into town for a year's stay while her husband serves in Iraq. It is a happy and sad occasion at the same time. We are happy to have them close for a while but sad that it's at the expense of being without Jonathan for that time.

Yesterday we spent the day with them down at my mom and dads and had a great time. Here's the day in pictures.








Jonathan will be in town for two weeks so we'll try to pack in with him what we can. Guns, whiskey and motorcycles top the list of our shared interests so we'll see what kind of trouble we can get into.

Traffic Games

Imagine that your driving behind someone who thinks that 45 is okay in a 55 zone. What's your response? Frustration? Probably. I know it is for me.

I'm a talker while I drive, even when I'm alone. I talk to other drivers, sometimes I'm thanking them or complimenting their good driving but most often I'm cursing their entire existence. Many days I question the State's decision to give some people the license to drive.

I know I'm not alone in this and that is why I now share with you my new driving game. My working title is "Which Way Are You Turning? 'Cause I'm Going The Other Way! Traffic Game" My title needs a little work.

This is how the game works. When your driving behind the "45 in the 55" person and you feel the frustration building, you follow until you get to the next traffic exchange. Once they let you know which way their going you go a different way. For example, if you come to a four way stop and they choose to go straight then you either turn right or left. Simple as that. Game on. The rules are simple and the results vary. Score is kept in your head and the other person never even knows they were playing your game.

Scoring varies. You can dock points from the other driver if they don't signal their turn intentions ahead of time or if they even bother at all. Remember, they drive 45 in a 55 so moving their hand to the turn signal to engage it might waste too much energy. After all, energy savings is their goal I assume since 55 might eat up too much gas. Back to the game... Making the move to go another way is a victory point in the game. You get out from behind the annoyance and carry on your speed limit way. "But Brian, this puts me off my course and will take longer for me to get to my destination" I knew you'd say this. It's okay. The bonus points for this move is the new scenery you experience and the challenge of getting back on course or finding a new route. You can add bonus points for how few turns it takes you to get back to where you were going or based upon whether or not this is a road you've been on before or not.

I can see by the look on your face that you don't like my game. Too bad. Maybe you just don't fully understand it. Try it one day, maybe you'll change your mind. If you don't then you'll continue to drive behind the annoying guy who knows your behind him cursing his name and irritated. I will continue my game, lower my stress level, learn new routes and streets and free myself from the 45 in the 55 driver who thinks that the world is theirs to annoy.

Ignored

Owen is ignoring me.


Look at me dog! LOOK.AT.ME!!!

Beach Day

This past Thursday I took the day off to spend it at the beach with the kids and my brothers family. We had a great time together. Sadly Kathi had to work that day so she missed out on the rare sunshine at the coast.

We spent the day in Lincoln City next to the D river which is proclaimed to be the shortest river in the world. Rocks were piled in the river, stones were skipped in the surf, waves were jumped and kite fliers were poked fun at. A full day if I say so myself.

Here are some photographic highlights of the day.

All you need at the beach is a good bucket. And apparently sunscreen which I painfully found out later.

Alex loves the sand. (please know that he had plenty of sunscreen on and his skin is still this pale)

Kev bombing the kids picture.

"Mom, where's your feet?"

Toothless and happy!

Another use for a sundress.

Jump!

The group helping rid the shores of the rock.

Skev!

Skipping rocks in the surf!

Great to see you Bonham's!