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Here are some pictures from the VERY short trip to Peoria in August of 2009. My Aunt’s Janet and Minne were visiting my Mom so I managed to find a reasonable airfare out of Vegas and got home from Friday to Sunday. We went to the Peoria Zoo (as you can see). I also got to see my friends Ginger, Ami, and Todd (all separately). Aunt Janet made a superb lemon meringue pie; Aunt Minnie a pumpkin pie and my favorite dish, macaroni salad, to which I added the requisite baked beans.

It was short, but packed with good memories. The full photo album is here.

-Eric Small, nostalgic for more pie

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Just a mini note on a favorite — http://www.tiesto.com/

Anyone want to go see him in Vegas for Memorial Day? :-)

Dance, dance, dancer, Eric Small

* WPG2 CANNOT LOCATE GALLERY2 ITEM ID 4470 * As planned, my friend Brad and I made the trip to Catalina Island (Avalon). We arrived on the 8:50 express ferry and immediately set out on a walk through town, to the Casino, then up into the hills. I don’t know how many times we remarked how it felt so European, so very very far away from the rat race of Los Angeles. As we walked, and then grabbed a nice lunch on the boardwalk at Catalina Cantina, the sun worked its way out and with it the temperature moderated to a perfect ocean-side warmth.

* WPG2 CANNOT LOCATE GALLERY2 ITEM ID 4482 * We next proceeded to get a couple of bikes and a permit to go into the interior and started on our way up into the hills again. Brad is a daily bicyclist in the city, so he managed up (in high gear of course) without ever breaking a sweat. I think I was pushing the bike before we rounded the first hill LOL! I’m out of shape for sure. But he was patient and we both were persistent and eventually we did finally make it to the top. Two+ hours later! And yes, I am hurting today.

* WPG2 CANNOT LOCATE GALLERY2 ITEM ID 4474 * The clouds rolled in just as we reached the top so we turned around for the much quicker ride back down. The buffalo will have to wait for next time! We rounded out the day walking and talking and waiting for the ferry back at 6:45pm. It was an exhausting, beautiful, and memorable day. You all should go if you get the chance. It reminded me a lot of Como, Italy but a lot closer.

All the pictures can be found here.

Still exhausted but still happy, Eric Small

It’s Saturday evening around 7pm and and I’m super excited that tomorrow I’ll be going out to Catalina Island for the first time (I’m just assuming there will be more times to come). I’ll be going with my new friend Brad, whom I’ll be picking up at 7am (ouch!) at his place in Santa Monica. From there, it’s off to San Pedro for breakfast and the ferry to the island.

Catalina Island, from Wikimedia Commons

I’m hoping we can rent some bikes. And I hope there’s some good food to be had. We’re there until the ferry back in the evening at 6:45pm. The weather should be fantastic. Avalon (the town on the island) is currently forecasted at the mid 60s and sunny.

Super excited for the Island Adventure, Eric Small

The ongoing series of photo archive commentary

* WPG2 CANNOT LOCATE GALLERY2 ITEM ID 3591 * A beautiful moment in Florence. Florence was the quickest part of the 2007-2008 trip through Italy and up to the Sweden Ice Hotel, with only an afternoon and overnight before moving on again to Rome. Kim knows her stuff as far as Italy goes. I only wish I was better at remembering all the places we went. To be honest, I mostly remember bunches of cathedrals shown to me in a blur, but lots of happy discussions and moments just being with my best friend Kim again. The moments that seem to be sticking include enjoying the espressos, doing some shoe and boot shopping, lots of moments at the Ice Hotel itself, lots and lots of walking…actually…I guess there’s still lots of moments to remember. I even remember the awe I felt in this particular plaza in Florence, for the cathedral here was a gorgeous white against the silver sky.

- Taking in some memories of Italy, Eric Small

P.S. If I had to guess, I’d say Duomo ;-)

Work sometimes has some good perks. Among the most recent was the opportunity to attend the facebook f8 developers conference in San Francisco. It involved two extremely early mornings (at least for me) but I actually learned a lot (a rarity for a conference) and had fun meeting people and watching my boss give a presentation. Unfortunately I didn’t get to take much “me” time because of the shortness of the trip, but all in all it was good.

- Workin’ and a Travellin’, Eric Small

The ongoing series of photo archive commentary

* WPG2 CANNOT LOCATE GALLERY2 ITEM ID 1592 * Back around Labor Day of 1999 was my vacation up and down the coast of California. I was in my late 20s then. The trip involved a couple days in Los Angeles at the beginning and end of the trip. And in that short time I managed to find myself at a number of parties, some in the hills, some just around town, including this pool party at some house of a guy I’d never met, in a neighborhood I’d never been to, and with a friend I’d only met in the most casual of ways back home some years before. I remember the pool was huge and the guys were all crazy hot. And I recall thinking how wonderful LA was. So wonderful that I decided in some small way that I was going to move here.

And in time I did.

Of course, that was then. These days I don’t even know about pool parties, and I barely even go out. No one I met at that party could I even say I see out casually these days. LA has grown on me and worn on me too. But no matter what, I do think I had some good life experiences here. But I feel the call of NYC. Partially for the same false reasons I felt the call to LA, though this time I know it. Regardless, the time is nearing I think.

I’m just wondering when.

- Yours, both sleepy and nostalgic, Eric Small

The ongoing series of photo archive commentary

* WPG2 CANNOT LOCATE GALLERY2 ITEM ID 3583 * On my most recent world exploring trip this winter, the pinnacle of which was 3 nights at the Ice Hotel in Sweden, I made a few stops with my best friend forever Kim in Italy. Keep in mind, it was winter, so what you’ll see here is a rather dreary scene. But even so, I think Florence, of all the cities I went to on the trip, was probably the most “old Europe” of all of them. We walked and walked and walked. And walked some more. But I think I enjoyed every moment of it. It was the first time Kim and I got to spend some quality time and settle into the vacation. See, she lives and works in Milan, so it wasn’t a get-away yet for her. But in Florence, she could relax.

This picture is just a general riverfront scene. The town was quiet for the most part, except for the Christmas shopping…always the shopping in Florence I suppose, whatever the time of year.

- World Traveler extraordinaire, Eric Small

The ongoing series of photo archive commentary

* WPG2 CANNOT LOCATE GALLERY2 ITEM ID 408 * When I decided to move to Los Angeles I decided the way to go was by car. I wanted to see the country! So I got myself a Jeep and found a buddy that wanted to see the country too. Here is a photo of Bill and me just moments from the start of the trip. That was 7 years ago, almost to the day. This was the starting point of our journey west — my Mom’s apartment building. We went from here to Kansas City in what was one of the longest days of the drive. We were exhausted! But the trip is one of my life highlights for sure and the days (and years) to follow were great.

It’s hard to believe it was really 7 years ago.

- Nostalgic and contemplative for the night, Eric Small

You can find our video from New Year’s night on YouTube