J. Jason Lazarus Blog

The last two weeks have been hectic as all hell - as I will attempt to recall all the happenings of the last two weeks here and now:

Pre-graduation week for Deanna and I were pretty hectic, especially with my contract coming to an end, her finishing up her classes and family members flocking toward Fairbanks for the prestigious event. Especially the day of graduation as well as the day before, the stress levels as plans began to fall into place and schedules filled up, we both really were at each other’s throats part of the time I think. Nothing causes stress more than having 8-10 members of your immediate family around you for a good portion of two days.

And yet, we survived.
Deanna got great grades, managed her last semester as an undergrad with a 3.5, managed to sit through an agonizingly long ceremony and managed to survive the barage of camera picture taking.
And let me note, if you ever take a photography class, become interested in photography, or manage to teach and earn a degree in photography - NEVER TELL YOUR FAMILY. They will suddenly expect you to be mister photographer for everything and look at you disappointingly when you tell them you ran out of film because they wanted you to take all the pictures they wanted with YOUR camera and YOUR film. Yes, never, never tell your family you like photography in any fashion and NEVER, never show up to any family outing with anything more advanced than a simple disposable camera. You will become the photographier that the whole family forgot to hire. Oh yes, you will.

With that said, you can imagine, three cameras around my neck, one breaking in the middle of family pictures and me realizing that short of my brother-in-law, I’m the only person that even considered a camera. *shakes head*

With that week done, we headed down south for our week-o-camping-n’-hiking.

I’ve now come to the conclusion that Mother Nature has firmly planted a “Don’t Tread on Me” sign directly in front of me. Someone up there does not want me to hike around God’s green earth. Although i’ll admit that a few of you can attest to the fact that I don’t do a huge amount of planning before I dive into a hike (especially that hike near the railroad, Ashlee), I have gotten better. Maps are purchased, information is scoured for and suggestions are taken. Still, no dice.
Our first hike near Seward at Moose Pass was ruined first because of heavy logging in the area which made our path disappear. When it reappeared, it was laden with bear tracks. Remembering that my dad almost got mauled by a bear the previous month, I declined from causing my family any more grief and turned around. Second Hike, along the Russian River was foiled by rain. Third attempt was foiled by us coming to Homer too early in the summer for regular ferries to Seldovia. Fourth attempt, near the Kenai River Canyon, actually did well - short of the fact that my new camera seems to have had a “glitch” and failed to take 20 or so of the 90+ photos taken with one of my three cameras. Fifth attempt was foiled by, even though it being 65-70 degrees in Anchorage and Wasilla, there still being 6 inches to two feet of snow in Hatchers Pass. What. The. Hell. Somebody doesn’t like me.

On the positive side of things, we did get Indian Food in Anchorage, we did have absolutely wonderful Italian Food in both Seward and Homer and had some great shopping opportunities in Seward. If in Homer, try Fat Olive, it’s a AMAZING Italian place. Best in the state. I also got Homer Brewing Company beer, of which I still have not opened. Deanna and I had two very romantic walks on the beach in Homer - actually, three, one of which we saw a sea otter less than 30 feet out in the water. We saw tons of moose, caribou and Dall Sheep, as per usual. We even went to Talkeetna, my first time in almost ten years of living in Alaska. Got to try a brew there made ONLY for the West Rib Cafe by Glacier Brewhouse - a 9.2er. Very nice. Talkeetna is… interesting. Got one of the most unabstructed views of Denali ever on the way out to it. Speaking of beers… went to a specialty store in Anchorage and picked up a 11.0% German Beer named “Eku” - had to get it after I read the back…
“..a world classic” - Michael Jackson
Not that I’m a huge fan of him or anything - I just had to see what he’d think a good beer tasted like. Pretty much tasted like poo. More descriptive? A horridly moldy, fruity, intoxicating beer. Yes, Fruity. Very… fruity. like moldy strawberries. Don’t know if that’s really telling anything about what kinds of things Mr. Jackson likes…
Anyways… After the trip, got back here and started getting ready for my class and started looking for a small parttime job during the summer to pass the time and provide a bit more money for us. And to cure bordom - something that I’m already feeling the effects of. Anyways, pictures to hopefully come soon, having issues with my digital.

The long week is over. I’m back from all the places that I went - including Anchorage, Seward, Homer, Kenai, Soldotna, Hatcher’s Pass, Russian River, Moose Pass and Talkeetna. Had to buy a new camera body as we drove into Anchorage because the electronics in my Maxxum 70 crapped out for an unforseen reason - thankfully, because Minolta is out of the camera biz, the bodies are selling for pennies on the dollar - managed to pick up a $150 Maxxum 50 for $62. Other than that, must find a way to carry three cameras more efficently - it sucks. Optimistically, I’ve taken about 7-10 rolls of film on this trip. Anyways, more of a update when I can actually think more.

Rummaging through storage closets at my job is really fun, especially when you find one of these. No, no, not the manual, although I did find that online. I managed to find a old Yashica-D Twin Lens Reflex Camera and asked if I could use it for the summer. Of coarse no one had a problem with this and so I’ve been determined to use this all summer long. Yesterday I bought some 120 film with it (a brick of 10 rolls) and I plan to even click off a whole roll before I leave in an effort to develop a roll before I even leave for down south. Might be perfect for graduation!
I also splurged yesterday on more than just film. I got a Tamron 28-300mm Lens for my Minolta Maxxum-70. Managed to pick it up for only $200 and with me going on this trip and starting my class soon, I feel it nessessary for me to have more gear than my students have. Or at least have new shinys to show off the first day!
So with our loosely shaped plans I’m hoping to manage to get down to Hatcher’s Pass on one nice looking day during this week, possibly go on a boat tour near Seward, go to Seldovia and pick up a few brews in Homer. I got a tip from one of my students that there’s a nice spooky building near my inlaws which I’ll definately have to check out. Might actually try to convince Deanna to go to Whitter and actually go into the Buckner Building, though, honestly I doubt that’s possible - the hell I’m going in it alone though!
Hope all is well with the rest of you. Good to see you today Kriss! Ashlee, hope the baby is doing better!

You should take my class. It will be fun, I swear. Even audit it if you don’t think I’ll give you a fair grade cause I know you

Yeah, so after about 21 hours of play I managed to get to one of the most revered and memorable scenes in gaming history - Aeris’ Death. I find it hard to believe that after now almost 25 hours worth of play that I’m still interested in such an old game - although I’ve been playing even older games in recent months, I haven’t nearly had the problems with those games that I have with this one. For one, those were played on their original systems and, well, after 25 hours of play and having to patch the game half a dozen times with differing voodoo-esque methods, I’ve come to the conclusion that they didn’t design this 1997 game for Windows XP. huh, who would’ve thunk. The bitch is crashy as all hell during some key parts but I’ve managed to apparently get past most of the most-well-known crashes so I’m optimistic. Already on disc 2 of 3 and looking forward to what looks like another 40+ hours of gaming. Yeah, I’m a big fat nerd.
Been reading quite a bit of my Steinbeck, though not nearly as much as I wish - I’m only about a quarter of the way through but at least that’s something.
I’ve been walking a lot lately - with gas prices as they are and with the combination of that and living downtown now, it’s reasonable to, say, walk to a coffeeshop or a store. Granted, before ACRC and CHH were pretty close to campus, but who the hell wants to climb back up that huge hill after a cup o’ joe? Last week I walked right around 3 miles just to get out on my Friday off. Went to the new Brewsters and had lunch during that walk - really great place. The new place is SO much better than the other location - and it’s nice that you’ve got a choice of locations to go to now. Speaking of Food, found out after living in Fairbanks for almost 10 years that, to my astonishment, Pizza 4 Less actually does serve Indian Food. For those not local, P4L is a locally-owned pizza joint that, I believe, is owned by Indians (sub-continent Indian, not American). Yes, Indians…serving…pizza… although their pizza is alright at times their Indian Food is devine if you can get past the fact that some of the ingredients they use are also used in their pizzas. Absolutely great food - takes a while to prepare but without a *real* Indian restuarant in Fairbanks, this’ll do fine.
Speaking of Indian, next week we’ll be in Anchorage and we can get REAL indian food! Yee Haw. We’ve decided, due to money issues and um… bear issues… to stay on mainland Alaska rather than going to Kodiak. Yet another change but I think it’s probably best not to go to an island where there’s more bears than people especially after my dad miraculously survived a charging from a Grizzly. Yes, a Grizzly charged him and thankfully he got a round off - didn’t hit it but at least spooked it enough for it to reguard the young around it rather than the man with the boom-stick. Yes, so, no worry-worting my parents with us going to Kodiak. We’ll just go to the Salty Dog in Homer and get slouched. That’ll be better.
In all honesty, we are planning to go down to the Kenai, possibly take a Kenai Fjords tour, hike around Kenai or Skilak Lake and bring home large amounts of growlers from Homer Brewing Company. You’ve gotta respect a company that sells you half gallon beer jugs - unfortunately lacking the stereotypical “XXX” on the side. Now, if only I knew someone who played banjo…
So Deanna finishes her finals Wednesday and then her folks will be up starting that night for the grad ceremony on Sunday. Like I said before, my DS will be my bestest friend for the ceremony.
Well, that’s it for now.. I think. I work early days this week, getting off at 2pm today and Thursday and taking off Wednesday and Friday… then I’m off contract and leaving for South Central on Monday mornin!