Friday Randomness - Street Art Photography

     So... it's friday... a bit late in the day but... just wanted to say hello and share a random photo I shot last week in Downtown Ventura, CA.

     It's so nice to sometimes just walk around a neighborhood friendly feeling area and see what interesting signs, people, dogs, cats, flowers, birds, weirdos you can find.  I LOVE to people watch but taking a random photo of a complete stranger is a bit... strange.  So when I don't have familiar faces to photograph, I see what cool street art is around that catches my eye. I'll have to check out this place one Sunday afternoon for bottomless mimosas, and who doesn't love a good Sunday Brunch??

    Hope everyone has a FUN filled and SAFE weekend!!

Friday Randomness - The Spark

I've recently been spending more time with Shiny Happy People holding hands. 

Not really, but when trying to think of a synonym for *POSITIVE* that song came to mind. Thank you, R.E.M.


I'm cautiously walking down a path of re-INVENTing, re-NEWing, re-BUILDing, re-ESTABLISHing, re-LEARNing, the list goes on. Which makes me think of positive words, leading to positive actions - Invent. New. Build. Establish. Learn, re-peat.  Re-i g n i t i n g a spark of motivation can seem daunting. It is.  Because that small step of motivation implies you will eventually take a GIANT LEAP (Thank you, Neil - Yes, we were on a first name basis). Action. Will. Take. Place. Which is EXCITING and THRILLING and AMAZING and SCARY all at the same time!

What will you do with that SMALL STEP?? I'll tell you what I've told myself before. Many, many times - First comes the spark, the motivation, the inspiration, the I-CAN-DO-IT attitude - and-that's-GREAT - but it's only HALF the battle. That's what I call The Civil War. The war of escaping your negative rut. Your Biggest Fan. Your Worst Enemy. Your psychological and emotional Negative SELF.  Once you win THAT war, the war that seemed impossible to win, the war that felt like the Greatest War of All - you SUCCEED. *Smile* Won that war?? AWESOME. Now get ready to JUMP into The World War Of Your Life - the war to KEEP your positive outlook ALIVE. The war to keep motivation and inspiration THRIVING GROWING MOVING ACHIEVING FAILING LEARNING APPRECIATING in an active constant forward motion. - You need to keep the RIGHT. MENTAL. ATTITUDE. You thought defeating your NEGATIVE SELF was hard? Get ready. The war to STAY POSITIVE is a 
 T R I L L I O N times harder because it's an everyday c o n t i n u o u s BATTLE that never really ends and is never completely won. 

A Traditional Pakistani Wedding

Being a part of a traditional Pakistani wedding was magical....

The wedding itself was very formal, but the families were extremely warm and inviting - made me want to be Pakistani for a day (people think I am anyways -- or Indian, or Armenian, Egyptian {no one believes my background is Mexican} - but I digress).  And even though there was no dancing, it was one of the sweetest and most memorable weddings I've experienced!

Many Thanks to Donna Cheung for having me come along and help photograph this unique wedding!!

Happy Monday!!

Monika & Ashir

Hi Everyone!! Here are a few photos I took while back of a beautifully sweet & lovely couple!  Monika & Ashir took their vows in London, and had a super fun filled Wedding Celebration at Liberty House in New Jersey overlooking NYC.