Some New Work

In the midst of the holidays my work on the web site has again become sporadic. But I was able to finish this piece over Thanksgiving, and have a couple more pieces almost complete. Hopefully I can finish those and start doing the bulk of the web site redesign then. More to come.

Thanksgiving with a Shaver

Well I have now experienced my first Hammer Thanksgiving (my in-laws). We had a great time up at Shaver Lake in a rented cabin (about an hour Northeast of Fresno). All nine of us had a great Thanksgiving dinner and enjoyed our beautiful surroundings amidst the trees ... and football.

We found a sequoia grove about 20 miles from the cabin and got some great photos in the 30-degree weather. We also had lots of down time to relax and do whatever we wished around the cabin. So I was able to work on some art pieces I have been wanting to do. I might get them up on the site soon depending on if I get anymore time this weekend to finish them. Overall it was a nice relaxing weekend, with plenty of time to recharge before the Christmas season.

Here are the rest of the photos from the weekend: http://www.dubland.net/gallery/shaver11-06

Banff Pictures Finally Up

Greetings on this weekend before Thanksgiving. With things slowing down a bit Heidi was able to finally put up our pictures from Banff. It was quite a scenic trip, as you'll see. I am hoping to go back and clean up a couple of pictures this coming week for the new site redesign.

I also hope to have a bunch of new photos to play with after Thanksgiving. Heidi and I are going up to Shaver Lake, near Fresno, with her family. Should be a nice relaxing time, with plenty of picture taking time. In the meantime, enjoy the photos from Banff:

http://www.dubland.net/gallery/banff06

Prestigious Weekend

This weekend Heidi and I saw The Prestige, which was a great movie. I highly recommend it, a great suspense movie. For those of you not familiar with it, the story revolves around two competing magicians at the turn of the century who become obsessed with being better than their rival.

The director, Christopher Nolan (Memento, Batman Begins) said, in an article from Entertainment Weekly, that this movie would be the closest thing he would do as far making a movie about filmmaking. It definitely resonated with that thought. These two showmen tried to come up with the ultimate trick or illusion that would one-up their rival, as well as make the crowds flock to them. In the midst of their obsession they began to meld their personal life with their professional ambitions and illusions, to the point there was no distinction.

With all that being said, the movie got me thinking again of a question I have been asking myself since college. What are my motives for doing what I do? Am I obsessed with the accolades of my viewing puplic? Am I doing this as a means to express what is truly going on inside of me?

Back in college I had a bit of an existential crisis. I was hyper involved in my class film and art projects, as well as all the other college activities. I kept doing more and more until I hit burn-out. In that burn-out, I started to really look at my motivation for what I did, and found I wasn't happy with what I saw. I found myself receiving my emotional and spiritual sustenance from my work and the attention I got from that work.

At the same time I had an internship at Paramount Studios with grand aspirations of entering the film industry. As I was sifting through this personal crisis I found most of the people there were just like me, or even worse. This made me even more disillusioned. How could I go into an industry that is predominately about living for the attention of others? How could I find anyone here in this work environment that could help me through these big questions I was grappling with, when most of them are clawing their way to the spotlight to fill their own personal hole.

Slowly I began to realize if I truly wanted to deal with this, I am in the wrong place. This was emphasized even more when I read an article on a prominent movie director who was asked about his personal life (I am chosing not name his name because I can't recall the specifics of the article), about dealing with his personal wounds/demons. He more or less said he chose not to deal with those wounds because they were his driving force to create his works. Reading this made me think of all the tragic film, literary and historical characters. I wondered how a storyteller himself couldn't see the folly in his decision. It also made me wonder, "Do I have to be plagued with personal tragedy to make truly great art?" So I chose not to pursue a job in Hollywood.

Now after several years of pondering this question from time to time, I still can't quite fully wrap my head around it. I have learned to find sustenance outside of what I do, that I am more than purely my job title. But I still strive to become a better artist. The romantic part of me wants to believe you can truly excel in your craft without selling your soul. However, I continue to realize that I still need to guard myself from losing prespective of what is truly important.

Work in Progress

As you can tell I am working on the style sheets to customize the blog. Unfortunately I have been a bit busy so work on the this is going to be a bit sporadic for the time being. So bear with me.

All Things Begin Anew

Greetings all, I am finally updating my blog and moving it to Blogspot, since it will be easier to maintain, and link with my fellow bloggers. More to come in the near future.

Changes Coming

I know I know these posts are getting fewer and fewer.

Well life has a little bit of kilter with all the changes in life. Heidi and I have been busy settling into newlywed life and make my condo feel like our home. I also recently lost my Grandmother about 3 weeks ago.

That on top of all the usual summer events and travel has given me little time to work on the site and my other work. But I promise changes will be coming soon to the site. One big change will be a section that Heidi will have for her own personal stuff. And also means to purchase some of my photos/art off the web site.

Exciting changes to come.

-dub

Returning to Normal Life

Well We're back from the honeymoon, actually been back for awhile just been busy trying to unpack and get back into the swing of things. Here are some photos to get a glimpse of our honeymoon in Banff. We got some snow while we were on a glacier. More to come in the near future, I hope.

T Minus 3 Days

Only 3 days left of bachelorhood. I am bummed that I haven't had time to update the site, but once I get back I will post pics from Banff. And start looking to modify the site to make it easier for people to buy pics. But now I am focusing on getting married.

Getting Closer

Greetings all,

Wedding and work stuff pretty much consume my attentions now that we are 6 weeks away. Have a look at the site i made for the wedding.

http://www.calebandheidi.com

Save the Date

Greetings all,

Well Heidi and I have set the date for our wedding. It's going to be May 6th. I hope to get a web site up soon with all the necessary info, and of course all the pictures. In the meantime enjoy our engagement photos.

Everything is Different Now

We have a new writer here at Dubland. The following entry will explain it all....

And the answer is ... YES! Caleb proposed, Heidi accepted ... and now they're getting married! Want a little background? A few pictures? And an insight into future plans? Well, keep reading ...

Around the beginning of May, Caleb realized he couldn't live another DAY without asking Heidi out, and so he did. And she said yes. And things have moved forward ever since. They saw movies, went on long walks, hiked Mt. Whitney (tallest mountain in the continental U.S.), spent evenings at Disneyland, ate meals out, ate meals in, watched Lost every Wednesday night, went to baseball games and even a couple concerts, always having a good time.

As Spring bloomed into Summer, and Summer turned to Fall, and then Fall chilled into Winter, it was clear to them both that things would only get better, stronger, deeper. Love was growing like a weed after last year's rains. Every day was better than the last, and suspicions quickly grew in them both that this might be ... It. The One. The big question could quite possibly be answered.

Well, it turns out they were right. It didn't take long before Caleb realized he'd need Heidi forever, and she could no longer imagine a life without him. So, instead of a dream winter wedding, Heidi got the best holiday present there is, and the most beautiful ring a woman could want.

On New Year's Eve, though the day dawned cold and rainy, Caleb was determined to go through with his plans to "steal away" for some quality alone time with Heidi. Unbeknownst to Heidi he picked up the finished ring that very morning. He then packed a picnic lunch, complete with Trader Joe's sandwiches and Martinelli's sparkling cider. The original plan was to go on a hike, but the rain was coming down in buckets, so they rerouted to the beach. Around 1:00 it was time to eat, and they found a nice dry spot under a bridge, with a perfect view of the waves crashing against the shore. After the meal, the rain finally let up a bit, so they decided to take a walk along the completely deserted beach (one advantage to all the adverse weather ... it kept everyone else away!).






As they walked along the beach Caleb began to share about what an amazing year its been, and how much his love had grown, and how attached he'd become to Heidi. Then he stopped, and they faced each other. And he said simply, "I have a gift for you, sort of left over from Christmas. Do you want it now?" Heidi looked at him a little suspiciously and said, "Of course I want it now." And then he pulled a small wrapped box out of his jacket pocket. Heidi, not being able to control her anticipation and excitement, began jumping up and down, some might even call it "bouncing." She unwrapped the box and opened it ... only to find a smaller box inside. As she pulled that one out, Caleb suddenly dropped to one knee ... and before she had a chance to open it and see what was inside, she looked at him looking up at her, and he simply said, "Will you marry me?" The word "absolutely" was out of her mouth before he finished his sentence, and she leaned down and kissed him. Only then did he say to her, "Well, open the box." While he was still on his knees, she opened the box to find the most beautiful ring in the world, ready and waiting for her finger.

She put it on, and there was much rejoicing, some more bouncing, and admittedly, a little kissing. They spent another hour or so walking along the beach, talking and catching up on all the things Caleb had kept secret for the past month as he'd been planning this very moment. And then ... they were joined by Caleb's brothers and sister-in-law, and the five of them spent another hour or so chatting and talking ... and there was more rejoicing and bouncing.






About 4:30 they headed back to the house, where there was supposed to be a small party for Caleb's grandmother. But much to Heidi's surprise, there was a party for them! Her whole family was there, his whole family was there, as were a bunch of friends. In the end there were about 25 people eating dinner there that night, celebrating their engagement and looking forward to the New Year. It was a perfect night.

The last guests finally left around 10:30, at which time Caleb and Heidi promptly fell asleep watching a movie. It was the end of a perfect day, a day that will be remembered with much rejoicing, and maybe even a little bouncing.

The New Year

After a very hectic holidays I am getting back to the grind. Here's a peak at some work I am doing right now.