Sunsets are why I love driving so much!

I’m certain this won’t bring you the serotonin rush that I got from watching the sunset…. but… I truly had regrets about not pulling over and shooting the other day’s sunset.  So, as soon as I saw this one, I knew I had to shoot it.  This time, there was also not a massive onslaught of angry multiple ton trucks speeding past, so… I didn’t have to risk my life.  California is so beautiful!  I hope this adds a little beauty to your day.

If you like it, leave a comment.  If you want a desktop wallpaper, also let me know what your resolution is, and I’ll post it to that size.  Meanwhile, you can see more of my photos (some sunsets in there) at the Couch Surfing Ori Photography Page.

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“So what is it exactly that you do?”

That is the question I get asked most often.  Not because it is standard, but because people look at my odd business card, and find out that I’ve been couchsurfing for over 3.5 years.  ”And you make money by couchsurfing?”

I have not really shared what exactly I do, until now! Read on! You may be surprised how I can help you, the people I have helped and how I have helped them, and WHY I am sharing this with you now! (In that order) Read the rest of this entry »

Elizabeth PW showing off her Pole Dancing Is My Yoga shirt

Elizabeth PW has gone from not owning a single graphic T-shirt, to frequently being asked where people can buy a “Pole Dancing Is My Yoga” shirt-- which she actually sells now.

While Elizabeth (now one of my most recent couches) is such a great person, that she would give you the shirt off her back, up until January, she didn’t have any (t)shirts. That’s when Elizabeth couchsurfed with me in Austin, Texas.  I was going to create a new image for her that matched her personality more than her corporate looking pics.  That’s when I realized she didn’t have any tees, so we only shot in t-shirts which I had.

Since then, she’s been happier, and says that even productivity has improved from wearing her shirts.  She also has more fun starting random conversations, or getting strange looks.  Since she likes the world (that I relate to so well) of the nerd, she has many nerdy t-shirts… such as my favorite, “There’s no place like 127.0.0.1 Read the rest of this entry »

Me with Adrianne Gonzalez and Kyler England of The Rescues - <3

Writing a book doesn’t have that much to do with writing a book.  It’s been more about organizing information, filtering through it, and learning about the publishing and self publishing industries.  So far, that’s the case.  I had a friend come into town, and she wanted to catch some live music on Friday.  I thought I’d be suave, and make happen what I had happen with my friend Joanna, while I was couchsurfing with John and Julia (whom I met at Burning Man)— we took out some ocean Kayaks, food, and booze, and saw Crosby Stills and Nash over at Humphreys.

Humphreys however had no one playing on Friday, which I found odd, ’cause they usually have quite the lineup .  I don’t mean to be spoiled… but watching a concert by Kayak is more fun than just going to a show.  I like things to be new and exciting, or at least unique. I don’t know any of the San Diego performance spaces, nor do I know who’s playing.  Sure… there’s Google for that, but Google can land you in an outletless coffee bar with no internet (such as Living Room in La Jolla). So, we just went for some good Mexican food.

The next night however I was as giddy as a little girl at a Justin Bieber concert!  I saw Kyler England post on Facebook that she’s recovering from a midnight milkshake, and that the band is on their way to San Diego for the last show of their tour

The band is “The Rescues”.  I’m a huge fan!  They are 4 members in size, and every single one of them Read the rest of this entry »

If you want a quick dose of happiness, rent a roach suit.  I rented a roach suit! Then I wore it to go to the grocery store, and showed up at a few friends’ offices. Here’s my story (Pictures at the bottom)

It was a great day indeed– I refused to go to sleep until I finished this custom Twitter Background for someone, and when I woke up, it was to an e-mail saying how much the work rocked.  Then I got to see my buddy Tex… Well, actually, it’s Dave Bredesen, but I always called him Tex ’cause when I met him, I was living in Florida, and he was living in Austin.

He did always tell me that I’d love Austin, and boy, was he right!  Actually, how we met is entertaining.  It was at Read the rest of this entry »

Is that not an awesome outfit for the airport?

(I’m writing this one on a plane- dumbass (me) didn’t check the flights, just clicked… and ended up getting a flight from the OC to Austin, by flying from California, to Atlanta, and THEN to Austin… nice one)
“Are you gonna make it out to our event?”
“I’m not sure…”
“Well, of course you’d be our VIP guest.”
“I’m pretty booked, and I’m not sure about flight funds right now. You guys need a photographer?”
“I don’t know… you’d have to talk to Larry about that.”

That was the conversation on Skype with one of my awesome couches, Caleb Jennings.

The next day the phone rings, “You’re NOT going to believe this! I woke up at noon, and had a Skype from Larry, ‘Can Ori shoot our event? How much?’ – I hadn’t even talked to him”

I spoke to Larry, we ironed out the details, and it was on.

If that serendipity hadn’t been enough, check this out:
I was supposed to be at a 10 day silent meditation (Vipassana) center during these times. I got put on the waiting list because I waited too long. They called me up the day before, and said I can go… but I was already booked with projects.

My flight was Thursday at 6:30am. That means I need to be at the airport at 5:30am. It’s about a 20 minute drive (there’s no traffic in Austin at 5am), so we figured we’d leave at 5am.

I figured I’d stay up all night, and just sleep on the flight.

At 10pm (CST) on Wednesday, I tweeted that I needed a place to crash, and by 2am I got a text from Angel- compliments of Aron Bender. I now feel like Angel and I are old buddies, even though we barely spent time together. That’s one beautiful aspect of Couch Surfing by the way. (You can see our photo shoot at the bottom of this blog post)

4am… I’m starting to drift off, or display symptoms of what I like to call “Keyboard Head” (’cause you fall down, and your head hits the keyboard, leaving imprints of the keys in your forehead).

“I’ll just take a small nap. It will be fine, ’cause I set my alarm, and Craig set his alarm, and he’s responsible….”
“We’re not going to make it.”
“Huh?”
“It’s 6am.”

Oh crap… guess my alarm didn’t wake me after all. *sigh* Well, no reason to stress. It was $150 for a new ticket to California for the same day. Back to sleep.

Now, instead of arriving at noon, I would arrive at 7:30pm (PT). Angel was fine with that.

This gave me time to ride with Craig to his office, pick up a paycheck for some of the recent web and design projects I did for them, and even do a quick product shoot for them. No problem on making it to the airport on time at 2pm (as compared to 6am).

The Best Part

Angel came and got me. We’ve never met. How would she find me? The traditional approach “I’m wearing a brown and white striped shirt” didn’t seem like it would make it fast enough. Angel joked around that I should be doing jumping jacks between 7:45 and 7:55. I did, and she found me very easily!

I gotta tell you, that was semi embarassing. I was nervous about doing it, being concerned about “What would people think?” and “I’ll look like an asshole”- which are great reasons to do something! In fact, the jumping jacks warmed me up, as the outside air was getting frigid. Most importantly, Angel will never forget me, and I have a funny story now!

We made it home, ate some dinner, I got my ass kicked in Super Smash Bros on the Nintendo WII by her 12 year old, and then Angel and I just sat around until 2am (4am for me) exchanging travel and adventure stories. Angel has been around the world too.

The next day was amazing, and unexpected.

I had no car. Registration for the event begins at 4:30pm. I like being early, and scoping out the scene. The Hilton (where the event woas taking place), was out of the way for Angel, as her job (Massage therapist) is the other direction.

I had Angel drop me off at “The Corner Bakery” – a coffee shop/restaurant that was near her home. There would be internet there.

The weather was so nice out! Cloudless blue sky, a high 60′s, a cool breeze, and plenty of shade from Palm trees (the only downside, the breeze kept knocking small flowers from the trees, and into my hair).

The bench I was on had WiFi reaching it in full strength. I was Facebooking, when Adriana realized that I was in California. We connected, and she figured out that I was in the OC, a few minutes from her job. She was going to meet me for lunch… ‘cept that she already ate lunch, and I wasn’t hungry.

I had already moved inside The Corner Bakery, and gotten a coffee before Adriana showed up. That would be all that I ordered from there. I got a text from Angel (who was supposed to be working until 4pm), asking if I’d like to meet up for lunch at the beach.

How perfect?! I was thinking about what a shame it is that I’m in California, at the OC, and will not be hitting the beach. Here was my opportunity.

Angel showed up, and I introduced her to Adriana (who had to go back to work) — they’ve hung out since then (I would’ve gone with, but my phone broke later in the trip, and I could not call or text).

Angel took me to her favorite beach. We had the most amazing Ahi-Tuna Sandwiches with a Wasabi Mayo sauce, and Pineaple. The view was spectacular, and I spent most of lunch doing the consulting thing, telling her the steps she can use to get many more clients,as well as raise her price.

We then went down the stairs to the beach. The tide was low, and we were walking (barefoot) along the rocks and the sand, checking out crabs, shells, and tidal pools. I even got to play with a sea snaemone (which was kind of creepy– little bugger latches on to your fingers, and tries to eat you).

Angel wanted to show me her other favorite beach, and we drove there… but I wa sgetting antsy about the time.

It was almost 4pm, and I wanted to be punctual.

We got to the Hilton.

“Do you have to go right now, or can you stick around a few minutes?” I wanted to introduce her to some of my other couches who were there– Craig Allen, Caleb Jennings, and Jason Moffatt. I called Craig, and they were at a restaurant near by called 118 Degrees.

118 is a raw food restaurant that’s upscale, and wonderful. When we arrived, our Clan (people attending the Longevity Conference) had taken up a majority of the restaurant.

The food was delightful, and very healthy. I (and most people) had ordered a coconut. The Miso soup was the best I’ve ver had. The various drinks were delicious, and the conversation was a trip. I even videotaped a light-sabre (app) battle between Steve Pavlina and Caleb Jennings, as one was on an iPhone, and one was on an a Droid.

I made sure to get a photo of Craig, Caleb, and Angel — 3 of my couches from across the country (Orange County, Las Vegas, and Austin), in one place. The energy was great- we rearranged the restaurant, and even invited people from other tables to come join us. That was because we’re talking about Twitter technologies, web trends, and marketing, while someone 2 tables away was reading a book on using twitter.

“Come, join us, I have 11,000 followers.”

I was bummed, ’cause Angel couldn’t stay– but she had already gotten a new client because of joining me…. Craig… who reported that his massage on Sunday was absolutely amazing.

The even was packed! I believe there were 500 people in attendance, and many crew. Even the internet broadcast was sold out at 500 seats. Apparently, many people care about living a long time, and David Wolfe is the industry leader.

I put my bags up in Caleb and Adam’s room. I met Adam for the 1st time at 118 Degrees, but he was one of the few people I hung out with this weekend, and before lunch was up, he had already invited me to couchsurf in Vegas. We may be doing a roadtrip to Sedona, AZ.

We checked out Larry’s room, the presidential suite. Don’t you think that it looks like Craig is peeing on the door? (he’s not)

Hanging out is fun, but I take my work seriously… so, surprisingly, I did not make a scene, wear my furry hat, or tell too many jokes (In fact, as we said our goodbye, Larry said “It sucks! We didn’t get to spend more than 2 minutes, and you didn’t get to make me laugh once!” — which is not true, ’cause I did make him laugh once, to get a nice smile from him and his stunningly hot girlfriend, Oksana, as I took their photo).

Small note- Caleb went to his first Burning Man, as did Larry and Oksana, and that’s where I met Larry and Oksana…. That’s how they knew my photography skills are so great, and that my humor so corny, witty, and mildly entertaining.

I was in professional mode. I skipped some meals, I skipped going to Au Lac (which is this amazing Vietnamese / Raw restaurant, where the head chef, Chef Ito, has taken a vow of silence, and has not spoken in 10 years. He would rather communicate what he communicates with words, with his amazing foods) multiple times, while all my friends did go.

I can not emphasize enough the importance of going to events…. they are a great way to learn what’s going on in a particular industry, but more importantly, a great way to meet like-minded individuals that can become friends, or business associates. I did not get to network too much this time, as I was way more concerned about doing a kick-ass job.

How kick-ass of a job did I do? More than 4,000 photos! Sure… some of them are blurry (I did not use a flash 98% of the time), and some are of repetitive content, but the event organizers were certainly thrilled! I got all the speakers, all the exhibitors, all the logos, all the standing ovations, all the hugs, the pushups, the book signings, the tastings, the lines out the door for the tonic bar, the folks at the tonic bar making their tonics, the production crew, the giveaways, and of course, people mingling. I was not afraid to cut through the crowd to get the shot I needed. I used my collection of lenses to get closeups when needed, and a wide-fisheye view to show what a sold-out room standing ovation looks like (Larry’s comment when seeing that photo, “Holy crap dude, it looks like there’s 5,000 people here!”– isn’t that the point? ).

I’m jumping around of course.

The days were long. began from 7:30-8:30am. I did not photograph that. I slept. I was pretty tired, as the doors opened at 9am, and the lectures went on until 10:30-11pm. People stayed for the whole thing.

Day number one, one of the first things that were lectured about was the importance of grounding. The short version is that shoes are the most lethal invention that humans have made. Basically, as humans, we’ve done everything we can to block ourselves from the Earth’s energy, which regulates a lot of our biology. We insulate ourselves from the ground by wearing rubber soled shoes most of the day and night. We have windows to block us from the good radiation from the sun (UVB, which helps the skin create Vitamin D), but does not prevent UVA, which causes cancer. Funny enough, until recently, that’s what sunscreen did… block out healthy radiation, but let in the bad stuff. So, by grounding yourself (walking barefoot, amongst other things), you are shielding yourself from solar and electronic radiation. They actually took some blood samples from these 4 ladies, and showed how blood clumps together when it is not grounded… but when you are grounded, blood flows better. They had scientific charts showing all sorts of other things that happen when you are grounded. Let’s say it this way— I want to be grounded! Of course, they sold grounding kits- bed sheets that are interwoven with silver fabric… wristbands… stomach bands… a ground pad for your feet. Many different products that you can use to ground yourself.

There were many speakers who spoke on many topics. Vitamins, Minerals, Probiotics and fermented foods, mushrooms for immunity boosts, the digestive brain vs the cerebral brain, and much more….

Since I was there shooting, I didn’t get to mingle as much as I normally do at events, but I’m cool with that. I feel great about a job well done. The event organizers love the photos, and I do feel a sense of purpose at a job well done.

— writing from the ground now –

Since my phone broke, I couldn’t text people, or call people. I didn’t even have everyone’s numbers! Since I introduced Craig and Angel, I was able to contact her through Craig’s phone on occasion. We decided that after Monday’s Elixir Masters class, I’d get a ride, and we’d do a shoot Monday morning, and then she’d take me to the airport.

The ride I got was from Carlo. Who’s Carlo? He’s my new buddy. We met recently through Facebook / Twitter– he had found me through the LiveOffGroupon contest… he made an entry, saw mine, and was sure I’d win (as was I). We chatted about it a bit, but I can not emphasize how much easier it is to get to know someone in person than over Twitter. Use social media to open doors, but then talk to people on the phone, or meet up with them.

It was really neat… we had a lot in common, and he’s just an interesting fellow. The funny thing was that he’s got this beard, and this long dreaded hair… and he felt a bit odd, as his normally odd looks blended right in at the conference.

If I hadn’t said it– this was the best looking crowd I’ve ever seen at any event… and I attend any events. I suppose it’s ’cause they all do what the speakers say, take good supplements, take a barefoot walk, exercise, watch what they eat…. and of course, now, ground themselves.

Being there certainly inspired me to eat healthier, and exercise some. But it also inspired me to focus on my goals… which are not so much business as they are travel and adventure. I thrive on consulting. I am wired for it. But, exploring new places, doing death-defying things, having new experiences… that’s what really lights me up…. so… I’m looking for travel opportunities that will inspire me. Since I realized that, there’s already talks of me going to document someone’s humanitarian efforts in Uganda. More on that when I know more.

The Elixir Masters workshop was mindblowing. It’s amazing how many herbs people can fit into a smoothie… and they know exactly what each does… you had to see all the things that these people have cured with just a good diet, and herbal drinks. This guy Truth Calkins was constantly citing Doctors, and research, and studies… He owns http://www.erewhonmarket.com/ – where they make these drinks and foods all the time, and of course the supplements and herbs that people need to make this stuff at home. I spoke to Truth, asked how he got started, and it was an amazing story. This wasn’t just a smoothie maker… this was a guy that nearly killed himself (literally) with junk food.

His parents were health nuts, and as a child he wasn’t allowed to eat processed foods (smart!). He later made up for that, by piling it on…. he got fat, ran low on energy, and suffered from depression, candida, and all sorts of other things…. he was just waiting to die– actually trying to do it by overeating the worst kind of food. He had also burnt out from being an actor and a graphic designer…. and then realized it was all in the knowledge….

Truth read everything he could… over and over… he cut out his sugars, he ate fermented foods…. let’s say it this way, he’s now 40, and I bet he gets carded for alcohol.

After the Elixir Masters, Carlo dropped me off at Angels. Seth was there, Angel was there, her kids were there….. we had dinner, and then just sat around chatting. I made Seth (Angel’s boyfriend) a website, and demonstrated how easy a WordPress site is to control. It already looks better- he took to it like a fish to water.

The next morning we did our shoot… in a very little bit of time.

I’ve been really productive about catching up on work. Perhaps that healthy food has me thinking more clearly?

—

Crap…. forgot to hit Publish… ’cause I wanted to add the gallery… lots of separate projects, aka.. distractions.  So, here’s the gallery– and I’ve lost a few pounds already by just eating healthy again, jogging a tiny bit, and I feel great.  When I did my 30 day raw, I also made sure to get a full night’s sleep each night (Which is generally not the norm for me).

[View with PicLens]

12►

This is Aron Bender. He’s the one who within 4 hours of seeing my tweet has found me an awesome couch for tonight (who’s not pissed that I had to change my schedule already by 7 hours).

I am moved every time I watch this one.

What better way to break in a new office on the 22nd floor downtown than to bring up some babes on a skateboard and whip out the Starwars costumes?

After enough Margaritas I started hoolahooping in the middle of a bar.  In case you’re thinking that it’s unprofessional to go out for Margaritas the day before the project is due, know that my client insisted on it, and bought the first few rounds.  Got the project done, and on time.  Worked till the very last minute… got it to FedEx with a whole 3 minutes left!  Hooray teamwork!

So, I’m shooting photos at SXSW, and have a schedule. I noticed I was on fumes… for a while…. and the engine sounded different even! I was trying to find a gas station downtown with the last of my fumes (Oh yeah… traffic made for really long fume-consuming drive), ‘cept there was  no gas station!

My hero to the rescue... with a bundt cake

I get antsy if I can’t make it on time (early) to anything I need to shoot.  I decided to F**k it, I’ll get gas somehow later. Park now, figure out car later.

I sat down, shot photos of the panel, and sent out this tweet “Oh yeah! My car’s on fumes. Will trade 1L of Tito’s Vodka + portrait to the person who can bring a good size gas canister w/ gas. Dm me”

I had to shoot until 6.  I got to my car at 6:20, and had Kathryn already parked near mine, gas container at her feet, and a home made bundt cake wrapped in shiny aluminum.  I guess you can insert a knight in shining armor joke here, right?

I had multiple people offer to rescue me.  The funny thing is that Kathryn was in the audience when I was lecturing at Social Business Boot Camp the other week, in Dallas.  She had engaged me on twitter to get my thoughts on her 1st blog post- go check it out, and comment your thoughts about how shy people can engage.  I left a long comment, or two… and then gave her a few things to change on her site to make it more personable (permalinks, gravatar, admin nick, etc).

The interesting thing is that she claims to be shy.  We never actually spoke at my lecture.  The only reason we spoke was on twitter, when she tweeted me.

Now, if her day had gone as planned, she’d already been parked, and would not’ve left the garage to go get me gas.

I just think it’s awesome that through social media, you can solve problems such as being out of gas… in a fun and creative manner.

Today at SXSW’s Booze-bloggers panel presentation, Elizabeth Bellanti was talking about what a cult following they have, and how Tito’s Vodka has grown because of people talking about it…   I told the story of how I discovered Tito’s Vodka, and she told the panel that I was highly responsible for their social media success.  *blush*

Hide the children and the faint of stomach! It’s hideous! This must be what elephant man went through

Click on image to see it in its full horrific splendor!

I’m generally not a fan of holidays, except for Halloween, ’cause everone dresses up.  Valentine’s Day is the most opressive holiday of the year.  As a single person, you are reminded by everyone and everything that you are in fact alone… you do not have someone to spend all your money on getting them chocolate and a teddy bear.  You are lonely, and there’s probably something wrong with you. I call this holiday “Singles Awareness Day” (SAD).

If you do have a significant other, than you’re supposed to go spend all the money on getting them chocolate and flowers and a teddy bear.

Why not just do nice stuff for your significant other any random time of the year…. to be nice, or because you like them?  I’ve made the following image- feel free to share it with your friends-  it conveys the message

Hope you have a great day, regardless of whether you have someone to spend it with or not.

The Couchsurfing Radio Host- Couch Surfing Ori

What did I do in Dallas?

Billboard climbing

Art fair

warehouse party

consulting

met new people

got a speaking and mc gigs for next month

played poker (learned to play poker actually)

There was more… and that’s why you need to listen to Episode 7.  You can hear what the listeners who got their consulting thought, and check out a funny conversation with Jason Moffatt.  That reminds me– this is the first episode to have the word “shit” in it.  I was wondering how long the G rating would last

Check out the Couchcast

Download the episode for home/car/plane/etc.. listening.

I guess I'm also an interior designer

When a good friend came home from a great time in Vegas, to the negative energy of a breakup, he got in a funk.  I came up with an idea!  Let’s rearrange the place, and change the energy!

I wasn’t asking, and my energy caught on quickly. Within minutes we had a plan:

The master bedroom would be the new office.

The old office would now be my room.

The room that was mine will now get the kingsize bed from the master bedroom.

We quickly disassembled the large furniture, moving it, and quickly the plan took shape.  The entire energy of the house was changing!

When the girl came home in the morning to get more of her stuff Read the rest of this entry »

Notice a difference between these photos?

“Ori is the first photographer to get pictures of me that actually look like me. #onereasonheisawesome” Elizabeth Potts Weinstein wrote this after seeing the first photo I sent her from our weekend’s shoot.

I had promised her that I would give her a different look.  Maybe I’m a photo elitist, but I thought her old photos were pretty generic, and certainly did not capture her personality.

The outfits were corporate (turns out she didn’t even own a tshirt, and hasn’t worn one in about 10 years), the smiles seemed fake.  These photos did not say to me “I am adventurous, like to enjoy life, and even used to go spelunking!”

When I found out that EPW didn’t even own a tshirt, I immediately made sure that all our shots were in tshirts…. which led to an interesting phenomenon… Elizabeth actually had an awkward moment… she has not worn a tshirt in so long, that it felt alien to her.  She even looked different.

Once we got past outfits, I rummaged through my stuff… what would be different than corporate looking pics?  How about swords, helmets, skateboards, vodka, and wearing silly hats?  Oh yeah, let’s not forget Ziplining.  Read the rest of this entry »

Cahir, Lots of sheet music, and a voltran-lookings-sword

I will still carry more than I want.  But I want to rent out my place.  Last time I tried to rent it out, I met Angela, who is the deepest relationship I’ve had in my life (so far)…. but that’s another story.

To rent it out, I need to empty it.  By most people’s standards, that means packing and storing everything.  I’m sick of stuff… It kind of weighs me down.  I can’t leave permanently, ’cause there’s the stuff there… well.. I’m not going to rant about it, as I already did that.

Here’s a video that Read the rest of this entry »

Eric and Nelle

The other day I posted about my visit to Eric Farewell’s place, and I said that I’d post some pictures, so … here they are.  The funny thing is that one of the reasons we met was because Eric liked my camera.  This time, he liked my new camera as well, but I had a hard-on for this lens he had: 35mm 1.4.  It’s very crisp, and lets you blur out the background pretty well also.  And.. it’s also the lens all of these are shot with: Read the rest of this entry »

So THAT'S where my flip-flops went!

I woke up at 6am today.  Bamba was on the bed… he’s figured out how to jump. Bowser was trying to climb up… he hasn’t figured out that you can get on the bed with a running start.  He was chewing on something….. I had a feeling it was something he shouldn’t be chewing on.  Closer inspection reveals…. something he shouldn’t be chewing on, but I wasn’t sure what! 

This was some fabric… leather… with many cross stitches and a portion of a strap.  Mom later says “I think I figured out what it was he was chewing on…. your shoe!”  Yup… it was my flip-flop.  I had finally gotten used to wearing flip-flops around.  So… what to do?  A photo shoot, of course! 

Meet my parents’ new puppies (now a few months old), Bowser (the white one), and Bamba (the black one):  Read the rest of this entry »

Phil & Kathy

It’s strange when someone you know dies. My grandfather died when I was young.  My grandmother died when I was younger- I don’t really remember her.  I’ve seen various people die on tv and movies… but I have yet to have someone that I’ve couchsurfed with die… until 2 days ago.  Couch #9 passed away. It -like most things – made me think.  The people we interact with have their own lives, but we can impact those lives.  Sometimes a smile at a stranger is enough– or a dirty look.  I tweeted this quote by Brandi Snyder the other day:

“To the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world.”

Read the rest of this entry »

This normal for Burning Man

Everyone always asks me about Burning Man.  It’s a whole other world.  Here’s a glimpse into a normal moment at Burning Man.  You wake up (if you’ve gone to sleep), you wonder where the giant cannon that was next to your tent has gone.  There’s the usual people biking by in their costumes, the music coming from all directions as mutant vehicles drive by, and then you see a bunch of people from camp walking hurriedly to the next camp.  Something is up! You investigate.

Our camp was “Lego Land” – titled so because we had a house that looked like it was made of Legos, and a whole bunch of “life-size” Legos for people to come and build with (they took days and day to build!) – and it had an awesome location: 9  o’clock and Esplanade (right on the playa). I walked past the Lego house (which I was camped directly behind), and voila… there’s the cannon! With a big group of people smiling from ear to ear.  Oh yes, this was going to be good.  I forgot that I was tired and had just woken up. Cannon, Flame Thrower, Smiles…. Read the rest of this entry »

Why would I put a question mark as the picture to represent adventures, people, and photography?  I am announcing that I have just launched the Photography Page of my website!  In this section, I have over 1,000 photos (there will be many more added), and I couldn’t decide on what one image would represent all that.

In the last 3 years of couch surfing, I’ve photographed models, babies, animals, landscapes, parades, emotional moments (like when I bought Riplee & Brandee’s wedding, and they were crying), sports, and of course, my various adventures (such as rock climbing, hanging with the vigilantes, or training with cage fighters).

So… drumroll please:  I am pleased to announce that I have just set up the Photography Page of my website! The URL is http://www.CouchSurfingOri.com/Photography (or you can just click on it from the menu at the top of my blog).  Currently, I just put it up so you can see it.  I will work on sorting it into individual albums, and updating it (currently, it’s mostly 2007/2008 stuff).

Enjoy the images, tell a friend, tell me if you have anything that you really liked, and stay tuned for more exciting updates!

All sorts of Ballon Boy Tats are out there

With Balloon Boy getting so much media attention, you knew it wouldn’t be long till you saw him all over people’s bodies! Here are the most popular designs that I’ve been able to find in my travels.

Leave a comment- which ones’ your favorite? Got a good caption for any of ‘em? Read the rest of this entry »

Some people know me “oh so well!” Big shout out to Holly for sending me an email that had my name all over it (well.. only in the To line… but it was clearly targeted at me):  Rare Magazine Presents Dos Equis Rare Academy” -

Get Your Masters in Interesting

The world’s premiere institution for the education and dissemination
of the study of being interesting, the Most Interesting Academy, will
for the first time in its long and storied history, open its doors to
you. This is your chance to acquire awe-inspiring skills and eclectic
knowledge.
 Read the rest of this entry »

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Bull Poker at its best

I admit, this started out as a conversation where Katherine Hoppe (My incredible host in Coos Bay, Oregon) said to her friend Julie Miller (My incredible host in Bandon, Oregon) over dinner (I had Elk Burger… a mini-adventure, trying something new), “So… what kind of an idiot would get involved in this thing called Bull Poker?”  and she described it a little….. So, I raise my hand, and say “Gosh! That sounds like fun!”  Yet, when I decided to do it, I thought it’d be a great adventure…. something rare enough, to where I never hear of  it… a rush that’s cheaper than flying to Spain, and a new experience to share with you, dear reader.  I assure you that this was one of those things that I didn’t tell Mom & Dad until after I lived through it. Read the rest of this entry »

The Junk King himself

When I was a child, I collected junk.  Lots of electronics, lots of glass items, lots of metal things.  I was the only 5 year old on the block with his own soldering iron.  I, unlike Vince, did not spend 20 years making a palatial structure made solely of junk.  While I took many photos, this video captures the experience much better, as you get to see how it’s all put together, and walk through the Cathedral of Junk. Read the rest of this entry »