i like old elevators

i like old elevators, originally uploaded by benjaminhyun.

you know...the ones where you have to close the door yourself and pull a crank. wonderful

one of my life's greatest fears

empty spaces 1, originally uploaded by benjaminhyun.

I cried last night because I moved out of my house. I lived there for 12 years. During my time here:

- I met my friends
- I graduated high school
- I lived next door to my best friend for 12 years and started to feel like family
- Got drunk for the first time
- I failed to launch for a bit
- I held numerous wine nights.
- I stayed in one room - the one to the right because I wanted my room to be my "right-hand-man"
- I became known as part of the Walker Lane crew

I remember how bad we wanted this house. We used to go to my uncle's house - which was down the street - at least 3 times a week because on the way we can see this house up on that hill. It was so distant at that time - our offers weren't quite cutting it and the previous owners had no shortage of offers. We needed to save money, but man oh man we wanted that house so bad.

My parents and I used to drive up the street and point at it - my mom said as long as we did that and wanted it THAT bad we would get it.

And one day, somehow, we got it.

We were elated - we swore we would never move because it was perfect. Not too big, not too small - we could easily live there for the rest of our lives. To me, it was liberation. I lived closer to school, and now I could actually make friends with these other people because I was in their area both geographically and financially. I was no longer the kid from the other side of town.

That summer after moving in I had my first birthday party there and really spent time with my current group of friends. For the first time, I really felt like I belonged.

Every summer my house and Paul's house would be home base for all of our activities. It was just a given - we're meeting in between Paul and Ben's houses. I don't know how many times we intended to go out but ended up spending 5-6 hours just standing on the sidewalk outside listening to music, chasing each other down the street, and just cracking the most non-sense jokes. I remember Brian coming over with this guitar, lying down on the driveway with all our friends to stargaze, that rainy afternoon when Paul and I didn't have a ride anywhere so we tried to stay in and watch something totally girly like "Autumn in NY" (don't forget the whole cookie excitement).

I remember after Brian broke up with his gf, we drank away our sorrows in the backyard. Never forget.

Stupid meetings to discuss gossip with church friends, all the Walker Lane movies we shot, and nights when Paul and I snuck out because we felt rebellious.

Yes - my parents have moved into a bigger house but that house will never have the heart that the Walker house did.

I will never forget that place.

Today was frightening.

During my lunch hour, I decided that I really needed to kick my ass into gear and take some photos. Increasingly, I have become interested in landscape-type photography. Mountains, fields, grass, sand, etc. You get the idea.

With the recent rainfall in Southern California, I wanted to see if I can get above the clouds and shoot an ocean of it - much like the view of clouds you get when in an airplane. I'm fortunate that I work in Pasadena which is within a 5 minute drive from the base on Mt. Wilson.

I head up Angeles Crest Highway and, ding ding, the road is closed. Due to the recent fires many of the trees have been wiped out and now there is a high chance of mudslides. Dejected, I made a turn into Starlight Crest and went window shopping - looking at houses I hope to match in size one day.



Then I caught some views of the valleys that are right in the backyards of these houses - I felt like I saw hell on earth for a moment. The burnt trees, dirt, and the smell of smoke still lingering despite the rain - it was frightening and awe inspiring at the same time.



I know I'm about 1-2 months late - but I wish all you mountain dwellers the best. How terrible that fire must have been.

view from the top

view from the top, originally uploaded by benjaminhyun.

Haven't posted in a week - does that make me lazy?

I honestly don't know where I place blogging on my list of priorities so I don't know.

It's going to rain Mon-Weds. I usually love this, but what's going to suck is that I'm going to be restricted to indoors riding for the next 3 days. Sure I can watch TV and take a shower within 15 seconds of hopping off the saddle, but it's not the same. Can't dig into any hills or enjoy the breeze.

But what is life about to me these days? Making the best of it.

honeycomb

honeycomb, originally uploaded by benjaminhyun.

Found a small group of wasps trying to build a house on my balcony.

Evicted them with a broom stick, but saw them hanging out again shortly after.

Time to sick the goons on them.

crunch a munch

crunch a munch, originally uploaded by benjaminhyun.

Yup.

Crunch a Munch.

That's what I take photos of.

in ventura

debbie ventura, originally uploaded by benjaminhyun.

Maybe I don't get out enough, and that's why the percentage of photos and entries from Ventura is hitting an all-time high. But forgive me, I'm a working man and I am left with the small escape of reminiscing day to day about yesterdays.

Debbie and I decided to go to Ventura one morning - we had originally planned on driving to Malibu along the coast - possibly stopping by Neptune's Net and giving me an hour or two to work on accentuating my cycling jersey tan.

It had been a long time since we had a day to just relax and play things by ear. With both of our busy schedules, we're usually forced to rely on planning things days ahead or sitting in front of a TV waiting for the next work day to begin. It felt great. We woke up - we both felt like seeing the ocean, and then on a whim we decided to drive a little further than we were planning. See? Against plans. Got a little lost on the way, couldn't decide on what to eat immediately, and just stumbled into stupid shops as we walked along the boulevard. (Found a TREK-only dealer on the way back to the freeway, too).

It was great.