Jeanine purchased a new pair of point shoes for Maya to replace the set she has outgrown/worn out. Maya will enter the fall season studying dance four times a week in addition to playing soccer three times a week.
She was happy to give her new shoes a test drive on the kitchen floor and the family was happy to watch her.
Nicolai feared that he had lost all his photographs from his recent visit to Nicaragua while transferring files to an external hard disk drive. I was able to recover all the photos from his original media card and had a chance to experience his adventure virtually. Many of his shots were of the typical travel variety. He also took a great number of portraits of his friends, many of which were excellent. Today’s journal entry features three of Nicolai’s photos which fall into the artistic category. I am constantly amazed by his innate sense of composition, color, and balance. Click on each image for a higher-resolution version.
Before my return flight to Boston I had an opportunity to take another long walk (4 miles) with a colleague who had a particularly good eye for spotting tiny creatures.
Easily the most exciting insect pictures I have ever taken are of this epic battle between a Praying (Preying would be more appropriate) Mantis and a Yellow-jacket. The mantis appears to attract the bee by presenting its wings in a flower like configuration. As soon as the bee approaches the mantis snatches it with its barbed forearms and begins eating its head. The Yellow-jacket fights back and eventually frees itself. It is hard to tell from the angle of the photo but it appears to me that a portion of the mantis head is missing (click on the third photo and then click again). I am wondering if he is a survivor of a mating encounter in which his mate started to eat him. In laboratory settings, females routinely start eating their delirious partner’s head, presumably to ensure that the sex act is completed and to gain nourishment. Some scientists believe this behavior only occurs when the female is stressed and is not seen in the wild. Either way, I plan to suppress any romantic notions I may have when I reunite with Jeanine later this evening.
After concluding a day full of business meetings I found time for a six mile walk through Pasadena before dinner. It was very hot and I returned to my hotel dripping wet. I visited the Pasadena Memorial Park, City Hall for a second time, the Gamble House, the Rose Bowl Stadium, and Brookside Park. Many of the homes along Rosemont Avenue were spectacular, in distinct contrast to the homeless encampments just minutes away underneath the labyrinth of freeway overpasses.
The Gamble House is an outstanding example of American Arts and Crafts style architecture. The house and furnishings were designed by Charles and Henry Greene in 1908 for David and Mary Gamble of the Procter & Gamble Company. The house, a National Historic Landmark, is owned by the city. Regrettably, a dinner engagement did not leave me enough time to tour the home.
Brad Whitford, the actor who played the character of Josh Lyman in the West Wing, and his wife were on the same flight with me to Burbank, California today. Although we were seated near each other and stood side by side while waiting for our baggage, I decided not to invade his privacy by taking a photo or starting a conversation even though I really admire his work.
I will be spending the bulk of the week in Pasadena on iRobot business and took an opportunity as the sun was setting to photograph the Pasadena City Hall. This location is popular with wedding photographers and I encountered no less than four couples posing. I was careful not to interfere with their shots as I photographed the inner courtyard. I wish I could say the same for the “professional” photographers who had no hesitation moving into my sight lines.
We have thoroughly enjoyed having my nephew John live with us while he was completing a summer internship in Boston. One never knows in advance how a new member of the household will influence family dynamics. John not only fit in but he enhanced the quality of our summer. He was a thoughtful house guest who took every opportunity to engage with all of his cousins as well as both Jeanine and I (he frequently joined me for soccer practices). Jeanine loved having someone who did not take her cooking for granted and was thrilled with his reaction every time she prepared something new (which is basically every day). Later this week John will be returning home for a few days before his next term at Babson begins. We all went out for an Italian dinner to celebrate his visit with us and hope he will seek out another internship in Boston next summer.
Nicolai, Maya, and I spent a few hours at the Natick Mall this morning shooting video segments for a project Nico is working on for SideStix. The series will demonstrate basic forearm crutching techniques (walking, opening, and passing through a door, using an escalator, and negotiating a revolving door). Many things we take for granted are much more difficult when using crutches. In addition to teaching these basic techniques, Nico will mix in some humor and endorsements for SideStix. We managed to locate an exit-only door with no exterior means for opening it. We came up with a pretty funny sequence using this prop. Maya, our grip, also made several really good suggestions for vignettes to shoot and camera angles. Despite getting politely ejected from two malls (they don’t permit videotaping) we had a great time and enjoyed a celebratory lunch at Panera’s Bread after we got the last take. I will post the final videos when Nicolai has completed the editing work.
At the request of the manager of iRobot’s Digital Electrical Engineering group, I shot a series of individual headshots and this group photo. I was uncharacteristically unprepared having just come from a prior meeting. It took forever to dial in the flash exposure I wanted and then the batteries in two of three flash heads died mid-session. Fortunately, everyone was patient and we managed to get the set of desired images. In the future I must remember to always scout my location and establish my lighting before the subject(s) arrive.
Maya has been attending soccer camp this week with friends Sarrinagh and Fiona who joined her this evening to bake a soccer-themed cake to be consumed by the hoards tomorrow. From the sample I eventually obtained, I can attest that this was indeed a gold medal cake. Nala was a stand-in for Maya who did not want to be photographed. I suspect the girls employed some cake batter to solicit her noble, if incorrectly oriented, pose.
While I was in Alaska iRobot had hired two new General Managers and a recently promoted one, pictured here, announced he would be stepping down. His original plan was to move from France to the United States but his family situation prevented him from doing so and he will be returning to his homeland to continue as our head of international sales. Under his leadership, the Home Business unit exceeded $100M in quarterly gross sales for the first time ever and a small celebration was held in the office today to thank him for all his contributions.
Catching up at work has left me little time for photography. Maya was only moderately cooperative as I sought to take her picture this evening. She started out by making faces and then spinning away on her bar stool. Surprisingly I was not too unhappy with the resulting image and given no other options will share it for today’s post. Nicolai is busy working at Verrill Farm and Kyle continues to manage his business (mostly from the dining room). I have still not settled back into my normal sleep cycle and Jeanine seems only modestly more re-acclimated.
Although she was at camp for three weeks, Maya returned with a surprisingly small number of photos on the camera that I lent her. On the evening depicted in this photo (taken two weeks ago) she and her cabin mates requested permission to build an impromptu fire. Instructed not to burn down the cabin in the process the girls were allowed to build this small inferno and Maya had the good sense to photograph it for the enjoyment of her family.
This weekend I played in the New England Soccer Open (NESO) tournament with a team composed of players from Acton, Boxborough, and Concord. We placed 2nd in a field of 11 teams competing in 1 match yesterday and four today. The combination of heat, humidity, and the number of games made for a very exhausting experience. Still, it was fun playing with several new teammates and I made some nice contributions on the pitch.
Kyle celebrated his actual 20th birthday with his Aunt Susan and cousin Johnie while Jeanine and I were in Alaska, his brother was in Nicaragua, and Maya was at Farm & Wilderness camp in Vermont. This weekend we celebrated as a family and he is seen here tossing a salad prepared by his mother for the family dinner celebration. It seems like only yesterday that he was our little “Champino” the nick name we used for him as a toddler or “Gaga” the name he was called by Maya before she had all her speach skills worked out.