1.  I feel like with my aim to be “professional” my blog has taken a turn from it’s original intent: to be a creative outlet outside of “work”, while keeping folks posted on what I was working on.

2. It’s fun to show photos, but I always appreciate getting to know the folks behind the lens.  I used to post more photos of Espen and other daily occurrences, and anticipate that this will progress once again.  My overall goal is to not make this the “Joel Bock” show, but to give some foundation for readers to understand my perspective and approach to what I photograph.

3.  As it’s easier to look at a photo rather than read everything the blogger has written (I confess, I am just as guilty of this as the next reader!), I want to speak things that are important to me via my images, thus alleviating that task to a degree.

Which brings us back to this photo.  My friends and family are important to me.  They make me laugh, think more intentionally about how I live my life, and are an immense support and encouragement.  I love how this photo captures my gratitude for all that.  And thanks, Russ, for working on the house with me – don’t forget to send me the invoice!

This just in: Google Voice!!!  I just set it up and am rolling.  But what is it you ask?  Google Voice lets you take all your numbers and send them to whatever dedicated line(s) your heart desires.  So, you can have your work phone, your home phone, and whatever else all be forwarded to a mobile!  You can also see all of your voice mails online, as well as have a written out version that Google does automatically.  It’s sweet!  And the best part is, now I have a link under the Contact page on this blog for folks to connect with me directly over the phone.  That’s crazy, you say, how does that work?!  Well, if you go to the Contact page just click Call Me, and then enter your name and number, and click the “keep private” box if you want the number hidden, then Google rings your phone number (which you entered), you answer the call, then Google calls my phone and I pick up, and presto! we’re talking.  Just like that!  Too good to be true?!  Try it out!  Go to my contact page now and give me a ring, I’d love to hear from you!  Then go check it out and get your own number.  And if you’d like to see a quick video of what it does, click here.

When I stepped outside today I was met with a mild humidity, covered by soft gray clouds.  The earth was vibrant with the color and contrast left by the recent thunderstorms, where all things seems to reveal their true shades.  University building stones popped with saturated texture, whereas before they had been bland shades of red and gray.  It was the general feel of the moment that caught me.  It took me back to days when I would step out of our apartment during our first year of marriage while living on the Oregon coast.  It’s hard to describe the experience unless you’ve breathed it continually for a year, so I would liken it (in my own experience) to sitting in an outdoor spa on a cool night.  It is not overbearing, but is the perfect compliment to what the situation calls for.  It is balanced.  Is it the cool night that is needed, or the hot spa?  I don’t know, but the two together are very soothing and peaceful, just as the feel of this morning.  It was while gathering in these surroundings that I noticed the abundance of dew converging upon the blooms and blades.  This photo sums up well the state of being I experienced earlier today.  I am grateful for the rain, for these moments.  For the balance of life when living feels full and cluttered.  The sense of depth after the rain brings new perspective on the ordinary, shows the gradation that had been unnoticed.

Continuing on the journey, we decided to take a hike along the Appalachian Trail in the Delaware Water Gap.  Although it was very cold, it was nice to get out and hike.  It’s a spot we’ve been to before, where I’ve done some fly fishing with a good friend.  The trip mainly consisted of a fairly short hike, in which my dad and I took many pictures and then hustled to catch up with the others, then to turn around and head back to the car due to the cold.

Here is a great shot of where a lot of my photographic inspiration came from as I grew up (above).  We were mainly taking pictures of a small fall in the rocks, which had icicles hanging on the under side of a huge boulder.

As there was a very observant comment in the previous post about the absence of my face from the photos, I have included this shot to affirm that I was indeed present and enjoying the company.

After a good day of hiking it’s best finished off with doing some hammering.  We all sat around very amused, every once in a while dozing off into the cracks of the couch.

The other big trip we made was into NY.  We decided to go up the Rockafeller building for the view, as it was the same price as the Empire State building, but from the Rock you could see and take pictures of the Empire, as well as have a much better view of Central Park.  At the base where the famous ice skating rink used in o-so-many movies is located, we ran into some good friends from Idaho.  Now we’ve experienced it all, having ran into someone we know in the city of millions of people.  Crazy.

The elevator that takes you up the Rock goes dark when it starts up, then these really cool lights shoot up the elevator rails above you through the transparent ceiling, and images and words are displayed in a laser-light show tradition.  It was very entertaining, and Espen smiled the whole way up.

One of the great things about the observation deck is that they have 2 inch plexiglass around the whole area.  This is great when you’re concerned about a rambunctious 2 year old.  They proved more than useful, as the moment we stepped outside he started running around and ran face first into the glass, giving him his best bruise yet!  It really surprised him, but it was great to know they were there as the edge dropped off about a foot past where he had been running full steam!

Upon touchdown we found it necessary to instill within ourselves a sense of food.  We hiked around to the nearest stands and experienced the NY street vendors.

From there we went to time square, where we enjoyed a very friendly horse, and the stimulation of marketing on steroids to the 10th degree.  It’s really hard to grasp the atmosphere until you visit it, and it’s worth visiting to see what they hype is about, and whether you feel it’s truly worth it or not.  After all, this whole area (NY city) is considered by many to be the “heart” of America, so it’s worth taking a trip to see where the blood is being pumped from and decide whether it’s your blood type or not.  Below you can see Espen in his new hat that his grandpa (and life long Yankee fan) bought.  He kept looking at himself in the reflections of the buildings because he somehow knew that wearing it backwards made him cool or something.

We finished off the trip with a walk through Central Park.  We saw some open green areas, got some ice cream, watched some youth climbing around the structures of arches and stairs, and enjoyed a couple of trips to the bathroom when the little one was blowing the whistle.  All in all it was a great trip, and a good balance of touring and resting.  I regret forgetting my circular polarizer at home for our trip to the top of the Rock, but I am grateful for the chance to be with family and explore a bit.

Hey friends, I just received word from my good friend that the Washington congressman and another congressman visited Gaza yesterday, not officially under the Obama administration, but went nevertheless to see the situation for themselves.  Here’s a snipet from the article:

“It’s hard for anyone in our country to imagine how it must feel to have a sick child who needs urgent care or is receiving chemotherapy or dialysis, then be forced to take a needlessly lengthy route, walk rather than drive, and wait in lines as long as two hours simply to get to the hospital.  As a health care professional myself, I found this profoundly troubling, no, actually it’s beyond that, it is outrageous,” said Baird.

For the rest of the article, go to:

http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/wa03_baird/morenews1/GazaTrip.shtml

We just watched the movie “Who Killed the Electric Car” and it raised many questions about how people make choices…in my opinion.  You should definitely watch it if you haven’t seen it, because for being a fairly “Green” person myself, I had NO IDEA that these fully electic cars were on the road and available to some folks.  But the most striking thing was one of the facts they raised.  I can’t remember the exact year, but whatever year there was a tax break for Hybrids of $4,000 (and many of us were excited that our government was sooo good about helping out with environmentally friendly vehicles, rewarding those who wanted to change things for the better), that same year owners of Humvees were able to receive a tax break of $100,000!!!  That’s CRAZY! That means you can write off your entire vehicle in the first year!  Not sure if the movie was just blowing things out of proportion?  Google it and research it for yourself.  It was based off a 1970 law that waived taxes for vehicles over 6,000 pounds (because they figured no one in their right mind would ever own a personal vehicle weighing over that amount of weight!), and it was aimed at helping farmers to not have to pay taxes on vehicles crucial to their sustanance from working.  But go ahead, take a moment to Google it.  Don’t take my word or the movie’s.  Google “hummer tax break” and you will get more than enough links to take a look at.  Sorry I don’t have a photo to go along side it, but I’ll try and post something at a later point that will hopefully relate in some shape or form.

*BLOG AMENDMENT*
Thanks to a good friend for relaying some very useful information that sheds some more light on the above subject:

“There used to be a tax law that allowed any vehicle over 6,000 GVW used by a business 100% and bought new in any specific year to deduct up to about $100,000.  But it’s like any other business asset.  You get a one-time depreciation deduction  in the year purchased for a maximum of the cost of the vehicle.  I don’t know what  a hummer costs and it may be $100,000.  If it is, you can deduct it but you have to use it 100% in a business.   Not too many people are driving their hummers 100% for a business these days.  Other vehicles are less expensive but they also could be deducted if they are over 6,000 GVW and used 100% in  a business.
The law actually got changed a couple years ago to limit the deduction in the first year to $25,000 unless the vehicle weighs more than 14,000 pounds, like a bus or huge van.”

Due to the fact that this movie came out in 2006, I think the $100,000 tax break was before things changed in the law.  I just wanted to make sure and update this with more data that was true, for all of you out there who like to here it like it is.  Thanks for the update!