“A hat is a flag, a shield, a bit of armor, and the badge of femininity. A hat is the difference between wearing clothes and wearing a costume; it’s the difference between being dressed and being dressed up; it’s the difference between looking adequate and looking your best. A hat is to be stylish in, to glow under, to flirt beneath, to make all others seem jealous over, and to make all men feel masculine about. A piece of magic is a hat.”

- Martha Sliter

Our little fur ball loves being in the annual holiday card, so the above was our pic for this year (in all likely hood, we’re aware that she probably has no real concept of the holidays nor holiday greeting cards, but we like to think she likes it).

Happy Holidays to you and yours, and here’s to lots of treats in the new year to come!

Up until last year, our new Thanksgiving tradition had been to spend the holiday in Big Sur.  We’d rent a car (see photo above) and drive Highway One all the way up to the Post Ranch Inn, one our favorite places in the world.

There’s nothing like getting out on the open road, and I think Kim and I are at our best when we’re driving somewhere, searching for a little adventure.  One of the truly great things about living in Southern California is that there are so many amazing destinations just a few hours drive away, and the landscapes along the way are often breathtaking to say the least (again, see above).   For example, the drive to Big Sur not only takes us along the incredibly scenic Pacific Coast Highway, but we pass through the rolling hills of wine country as well as the flat lands of the many strawberry farms.  It’s really something else, and even if it was possible to fly there, I would still prefer to drive.

This year, we’ll be staying in LA though, hosting our second-annual vegan feast on turkey day.  We’re very excited to have some of our favorite people over to enjoy the holiday and Kim’s great cooking, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that a part of me misses the ol’ road trip north.  Hopefully, we’ll get up there again soon enough, holiday or not.

Several years ago, I had the privilege of directing two of the funniest women I know in a sketch show that had a short run at IO West.  It was appropriately titled “KimLizzie” and starred the two ladies above – my wife Kim and our good friend Elizabeth McNaughton.  We used this pic for the poster, and as the mustaches should clearly indicate, it was a wonderfully ridiculous show.

It was on this great big boulder over looking Alton Lake that I took a knee and proposed to Kim almost seven years ago to the day.  I was so poor working as a set production assistant at the time that I couldn’t even afford a ring, so I asked for her hand in marriage using the diamond necklace passed down from my great Aunt Agnes.  Fortunately, material nonsense like that doesn’t matter to Kim, and she said YES!

Earlier in the evening, before I popped the big question, I knew the stars were aligning for me to take the plunge when Kim somehow caught a gigantic smallmouth bass, larger than any I’ve ever seen netted up at Sawbill.  If you asked Kim today how big the fish was, she would probably hold her hands out like she is in the above pic, which I took a few years ago when we paid a visit back to our special boulder.

This was the other set up for our King Ten photo session, out by the shitty pool of our old apartment.  While this pic never saw the light of day, I almost prefer it to the shot the team ended up using.  I love that it feels like an incredibly candid moment of a group of close friends at some summer party.

It’s almost like a still from St. Elmo’s Fire.  Josh would be the Emilio Estevez character of this Brat Pack.  Sarah’s the wild Demi Moore.  Jon, the bartender-turned-senator’s-assistant Judd Nelson.  Irene, a brunette and innocent Mare Winningham.  I guess Holmes would be the rebellious Rob Lowe, and even though she’s not a big fan of her, I think Kim has to be Ally Sheedy.  And to round out the cast, Hill & Jason would be two versions of everyone’s favorite cynical, chain-smoking writer – Andrew McCarthy.  Can’t you just feel the bizarre love triangle brewing?

I think I just heard the team collectively say, ewwwww…

Taking an improv team’s portrait is no easy task.  It’s kind of like taking a picture of a band – a really large band.  Sure, you can line ‘em all up in front of a brick wall or have the gang circle around the camera and stare down into the lens, but we’ve all seen that shot too many times.  So when IO West’s King Ten approached me about taking their pic several years ago, I was admittedly a little apprehensive.  However, being married to one of its members, I was also happy to volunteer my services.

The above pic was one of two different scenarios that Justin & I shot with the team, and in the end, this is the one they ended up using for their posters and postcards.  Ironically, even though four of its members are no longer performing on the team, King Ten is still using this photo to publicize their weekly show (10pm on Wednesdays @ IO West), which definitley makes me smile.

I can’t remember much about this shot, except that it was taken on B&W film many years ago now.  I do love that look in her eye…

For day 2 we took a drive up to Connemara via the breathtaking route along Sky Road.  The above pic is my “Where’s Waldo/Kim?” shot of the trip.