My Experiment

I have an experiment I want to try....

Basically what I am asking is that anyone that sees this blog post send me 1 photograph that means a lot to you/is your favorite photograph ever. But please pick only one.

Then I want you to send me this photograph at JasonSElrod@gmail.com.

Simply put, I want to see if I can take all these vast amount of moments in time and create some sort of visual story out of them all.

The rules are simple for the photograph... again, 1 per person (so tell more people about this, your friends and families, this way there are more to incorporate.) and the photo must be taken by you or someone you know (with their approval to use it). This way the photos are even more personal, because they relate to you more closely. Doesn't matter what is in the photograph... a person, a group of people, an animal, a scenery, etc.

If you are confused, ask me... but please send me something! and please please please, tell people about this... that way there is more to incorporate.

(I should add, they don't need to be current photos... maybe your favorite photo is an old family portrait from relatives from way back when!)

Thanks everyone... I'm just excited to play around with this idea. Keep my editing eye sharp...

The Beginnings of a Dream!

Here's an update on my progress here in the City of Angels!

Been here now over a week and am already doing well with learning the area. We've found a lot of the shopping centers, plus a lot of nice hang out spots! I'm doing well with driving around without the use of my GPS, though I still do use it when going to new addresses, but I'm learning the lay of the land and find it easier to navigate without computerized help!

Sarah and I are both still on the job hunt, but I caught a bit of a break the other day when I applied for an internship one morning and that afternoon they called me back! (This was all yesterday actually) They called to talk to me more and asked me to come in that afternoon to meet with them and possibly do some work. So I went in and they put me to work right away working in their editing bays. I'm officially an Editing Intern at Hu-Man Element Productions. It's a small, but busy, production company located in downtown Los Angeles. Their offices are in a building called Studio Center, and as I walked in my first day I found myself walking through numerous production companies and some areas were actual sets! (For movies or tv, I'm unsure... everyone was on break, but the sets were there!) Plus I walked past so many rooms where actors (no one famous...at least not famous yet!) were waiting for auditions.

It was really great, they have me helping with logging and organizing all their footage for a pilot episode of a series. I'm not at liberty to speak further as I'm not sure yet what I can or cannot publicly speak about.

The guys I met were a lot of fun and really good people, and I look forward to working there more! I'll be going in at least twice a week, but hopefully more if I can swing it. The only downside to all of this is that it's an UNPAID internship... which means I still need to find something else that pays so I can pay rent and bills... and buy food to survive. So I'll be applying to something for a part time job and when I'm not working there I'll be at the internship!

I don't know how long I'll be at Hu-Man Element, but hopefully I'll make a lot of good connections and it turn into paying work someday or at least lead to me meeting someone or finding something that is paying!

In the meantime I'll be doing whatever they ask and doing my best to prove my skill and commitment!

Not much else to talk about... Sarah and I have a few parties we are attending this weekend, which means opportunities to meet some people and make more friends! One party is just a social gathering the other is a Superbowl Party tomorrow for the big game! GO STEELERS!

I may be a Redskins fan, but of the two teams in the bowl I want the Black and Yellow to prevail! (Going to school in Pittsburgh really made me enjoy the city's teams!)

I'm not a Penguins fan though, nor a Pirates.... even though the Pirates games were cheap and pretty fun at times. I'm not really a big Steelers fan either, but I'll cheer for them whenever possible! And in this case (the Superbowl) I'll cheer my heart out!

Will keep you all up to date as new things happen!

Check in for Operation Chisel

Well it's been just over a month since I started... and there is a lot of good news with my progress.

Now I'm not 100% positive that this is correct... because it seems like a lot, but according to our new scale, I now weigh 182... whereas in the beginning of January I started off weighing 198. So according to the scale, I've lost 16 pounds! I feel like this is a lot, but I've dropped a belt size... in fact the jeans and belt I bought over christmas are too big now! I need to add a hole in my belt!

But the scale is correct in weighing my dumbbells... so I think it's accurate! HENCE I'VE LOST 16 POUNDS SO FAR!

Here are the rest of my stats according to that site I used (scientificpsychic.com/fitness)

According to all this info I am still slightly over weight...but I am very close to being NORMAL again! I think I undid a little bit of my plan over the last week and a half with the move out and poor eating habits and lack of exercise while sitting in the car for long hours... but I'm back on schedule now!

So here we go for another month!! It's going well so far....

Living Just North of The City of Angels

The title says it all... we're here!

Sorry it's been so long since I posted... the all moving in over the weekend thing was really hectic. But we did it and are now 100% settled in... What's the next step you ask? Learn the area and find a job!

Easier said then done... at least on the job front. I'm already getting a good feel for this town... and honestly, I absolutely love it. Burbank is the perfect mix of everything I want. It's a good mix of suburban and city. It's close enough to the city and freeways, that I can get anywhere I want in Los Angeles quickly (unless traffic strikes!) but it's just far enough away that it is its on little city. It has shopping very close by, a beautiful downtown shopping/walking area... free parking everywhere, bus stops, rail stations, the airport... it's very self sustaining and very friendly. There a parks everywhere and since it's sunny and warm here a lot, it's really perfect.

Sarah and I really like our apartment too... it's not too big, but not too small either. It's very homey now too after we decorated and unpacked everything!

Not too much else to report in terms of the living situation... Sarah has a job interview today, so let's hope it goes well for her! I have a meeting with a contact through a friend of my Dad's, but it could still prove to be very helpful in being pointed in the right direction for work!

A few stories about how experiences moving into the area though... just for the sake of having something to give you all to talk about! I told you in the last post about the fruit that was taken from us as we crossed into California at one of their inspection stations... so I won't go into that. But then there was another story.... it was Friday, the day we arrived to move in. The truck was to be delivered and dropped off that afternoon... then I get a call, "You're truck has been quarantined!" It was a long fiasco that resulted in me having to call the State Agriculture Department, who then told me I could still get my truck, but after I moved in I would have to call the local inspection office and they would come out and inspect some of the things we had in our truck...so I call them after we move in and we talked about a few of their "concern items" and then they decided we were ok and there was no need for an inspector to come out. SOOO, in the end it was a lot of headache for nothing!

The reason for their concern though was over Gypsy Moths. I got a huge lesson about these as I talked to everyone from the Agriculture Departments.... They are Moths that are not native to America... but they now live in a lot of eastern states. The states have been quarantined for these pests... so states that don't have them have inspections for incoming materials, both commercial and residential. The don't want it spreading... I understand all of this, but it was still a big headache that I feel could've been better handled between the trucking company and the state.

But alas, that is all I have! If you want to see photos of our place, you can see them on Sarah's Facebook (you must be friends with her to see them) or you can contact one of us and we'd be happy to show you them! (Or if you have Skype, perhaps we could give you a virtual tour like we did for our parents!)

Until my next post, enjoy the snow East Coast! SUCKERS!

So ends one journey, to begin another!

Got off to a good start this morning! We took off leaving from Flagstaff and drove straight up to the Grand Canyon. We spent a good 2 hours there looking around, walking the ridge, and then ate lunch at a picnic area there.

Afterwards we jumped back onto the road and drove straight to Victorville, CA! We crossed over into the state and the new time zone and got to enjoy nothing but desert! Yay!
It was funny though, as we crossed into California we had to stop at an inspection station, where it turned out we were illegally smuggling fruit!! GASP!
Yes, they confiscated our grapes and oranges we had in our cooler for the trip out. I'm not really sure as to why.... my top guess? The guard was hungry.

Anyway, after realizing we were transporting illegal fruit we drove through the desert and witnessed a beautiful sunset! The mountains were literally purple! The song now makes sense to me!!

Well here are some photos... because I'm so tired I'm not going to post videos. I'll save some for later.

This was the view from our hotel in Flagstaff.

Me packing up the car to get back on the road!

Amazing views on the road to the Grand Canyon!

The Grandest of all the Canyons ever!

These benches made me so happy!

Us at the Grand Canyon. (we got so many of us from different angles... I like this one!)

Sarah taking in the views.

More beautiful Canyon!

I decided to make a jump for the other side....

Saw this Elk as we were leaving! It was so weird to see, it was so close!

The South Entrance Gate to the park!

Sarah ran into an old friend in the woods!

Then Smokey decided to tell us about the Fire Danger Level! Whew! I was happy to hear the good news about it being low that day!

We arrive to our new home state!


I may not post tomorrow, because after we move in we won't have good internet until the AT&T guy comes on Saturday! So we'll update everyone as soon as we can!

Thanks for following along so far... keep checking to see how we fare in Los Angeles!!

Sarah and I both had a really fun trip... but are also very ready to get to our apartment and move in!

So much to see, so little time!

Today we did a good bit of picture taking... so please enjoy all the photos!
We spent most of the time today driving through New Mexico, with a small stop in Albuquerque. We stopped there for three reasons... 1. To stop by the post office to take care of some last minute things for the apartment; 2. To find a starbucks to get internet, since the hotel room last night stopped working! We needed to find an address for a hotel in Flagstaff!; 3. To get Sarah a charger for her camera.... all of these things were completed! So we got her camera working and she instantly began snapping photos.... and we got a lot!

I should point out we entered Albuquerque listening to the song "Albuquerque" by Weird Al Yankovic. I'm sure Sarah loved it... http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8293203147995019225

After that we drove forward into Arizona, we stopped to see the Petrified Forest National Park... we saw the opening gate and then drove through to the visitor center and wanted to drive through the park... but you had to pay to drive through it! We both looked at each other and said "This isn't worth it." so we turned around and got back on the road!

We were really in awe of the beautiful scenery today! Everywhere we looked we saw beautiful red cliffs or snowy mountains or wide open plains. It was truly breathtaking!

After driving for another 100 miles or so we stopped to see a Meteor Crater in Arizona, just east of Flagstaff. Again we had to pay to see this... but this one we both wanted to see, so it was worth it! Beautiful!!

My only beef with our trip today is the national parks charging for admission! The Meteor Crater was a National Landmark.... I understand the need to get money to preserve the sites, fine... but make the damn Government do that! Not the people who want to come see it but are traveling on a budget! If the Government can bail out stupid companies that deserved to crash and burn due to their own stupidity and negligence, they sure as hell should be able to fund the preservation of their own lands, parks, and landmarks!

Whew that felt good to say!

Pretty easy drive today.... stopped here in Flagstaff, AZ for the night. Tomorrow not much planned except for our one big stop... which was our first planned stopped from the moment we knew we were driving... The Grand Canyon! After that we drive straight through to California, the Pacific Time Zone, and we'll stop right outside of Los Angeles! (We're finally seeing signs on the highway pointing us to Los Angeles, it made us excited to know we're getting so close!)

Thanks to everyone for following along so far and for all the comments (both here and on facebook), text messages, phones call, and e-mails! It's nice to know so many people are following along with us as we make this journey!
Keep following as we still have 2 more days to go... plus all the posts we'll be doing as we establish ourselves in LA and put up photos of our apartment and lives!

Enjoy these photos and videos! Will update again tomorrow.


The seemingly endless miles of highway ahead of us.

Some of the hills and red soil/clay around us!

The Phillips 66 Casion! Phillips 66 is a chain of gas stations all along Historic Route 66... cheap gas and literally at every stop. They had a casino at one though! It's also fun because of Sarah's last name... duh.

Me doing my driving thing. This was her I'm glad you got me the charger for the camera picture.

Us on the side of the road in New Mexico! Just beautiful behind us... the pictures don't do any of these sceneries justice!

Some of the mountains we could see in the distance! (I think they were the south tail end of the Rocky Mountains)

This is what was on the left side of the highway in New Mexico...

And this was on the right... literally at the same time. It was weird to see dry desert on one side, and snowy hills/mountains on the other.

Crossing over into Arizona!

Us outside of the Petrified Forest National Park! Sarah is sitting on a petrified stump!

Me and Sarah's car whom she likes to call my his name... Preston!

Us on the top ridge of the Meteor Crater in Arizona.

Sarah with miles of land behind her! You could see really far from the top of the crater ridge!

Me with a chunk of the Meteor... this is called a Meteorite!

Sarah just heard the news!

She's also learning about the heavens above!

God Bless America! and NASA!

Look at this thing! (this may or may not have been a fake background set up that was in the museum for people to take photos to make it appear they are inside the crater. You decide.)

A nice shot of the crater. It is 2 miles around, 4,000 feet across, and I forget how deep...so much for listening to the facts in the museum!

Us and the crater again, this is us on an overlook a little lower into the crater.

I found a space pod!

So much road... LA HERE WE COME!

This was the name of a town... and I'll tell you the story I told Sarah for how this town got it's name (see below picture)

It was the Wild West. Outlaws ran rapid... the threat of Indian attacks was constant... and there exsisted one town that stood in the middle of this untamed land! One day with the town in desperate need of justice and rescue, two gunslingers came into town and cleaned up the streets. One took care of the outlaws and declared himself Sheriff... the other took care of the Indian attackers and also claimed himself Sheriff. The two now had one problem... each other. This is where the story becomes the infamous story of the towns name... It was a town run by two guys, each owning one gun... hence the town was ruled by two guns constantly pointed at one another.

Pretty epic, huh?

This was as we were stopped on the side of the road in New Mexico getting a photo!

The 3 State Marathon!

Today was another big day of being on the road... obviously. We started off by waking up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We on the road around 9-9:30 and headed straight to Oklahoma City! We got there in about 2 hours (just under that actually) and we parked and walked over to the Oklahoma City Memorial for the bombing back in the 90s. (See photos below)
Then we made our way over to a little restaurant called Cattlemen's! We heard about this through the show Man Vs. Food... we saw the host east the Presidential Steak (a T-Bone Steak that was loved by President Bush) But it was literally the best steak I've EVER eaten... soooooo good. (Check out the video at the bottom) As we left, we had the best waiter ever... we asked him if we could buy a novelty cup from their store, he said he'd be happy to put it on our bill and bring it to us at the table. We wanted one of the glass boot cups... but he liked us so much he brought us 2 glasses but charged us for one! It was great!!

After that... not much to report. About 500 miles later we landed here in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. A lot of driving... it was beaufitul to watch the sunset over the plains of New Mexico! Look for it in one of the photos. As we got near Santa Rosa though, the gas light came on... and we still had like 23 miles to go.... with NO gas stations between us and our exit. There were exits, but they just led to other endless roads stretching into the distance. Luckily we made it, but we were dangerously close to being completely on E...thank goodness we got to the exit, but I literally think we were on fumes. (I didn't tell Sarah this, because I didn't want to worry her... but I was breaking a slight sweat)

We saw a bunch of hitchhikers today, one cowboy (might've been a cowgirl) and a lot of beautiful landscapes!

One quick story... we're driving through Texas and I love the landscape, so I pull over and get out the tripod and we were going to get a photo of the two of us with the landscape behind us! We set up and the camera is counting down and then it shuts off! The battery died! I told Sarah she should've charged it the night before... but noooo. So then we get in the car, defeated, and I try to tell the story to our video camera...but then my card for the video recorder is full! BLAST!
The story has a sad ending though...because it turns out I broke Sarah's new camera that her parents bought her for christmas! This makes it unchargable.... but we're going to stop somewhere and get an external charger for it... and when we get to LA I'm going to send it out to get fixed... I'm sorry Sarah!!!

I wanted to say that from yesterday and the day before, we didn't get the photo of the signs into Missouri and Oklahoma because Missouri didn't have one as we crossed the bridge into St. Louis and Oklahoma came up on us too fast to get a picture (I didn't realize how close we were, but it was night and probably would've been a bad photo anyway)

I've been trying to upload videos...but our connection isn't great, so I can't do many. I'll do them as I can!

Enjoy these photos for now! That's it for tonight....

Me at the Oklahoma Memorial


Sarah at the Oklahoma Memorial


The reflecting pool at the site of the bombing, with the survivor tree in the distance. The tree stands now, dedicated to those who survived and to the power of the nation to stand together. The tree was there when the bombing happened and survived the explosion itself...


The seats are arranged to represent those killed in the blast. There are 9 rows, for the 9 floors of the building. Each seat has a name on it, for the person who died on that floor. The big seats represent adults, the small ones represent children.

The full memorial. It was very nice.

Cattlemen's! Yum! Thanks Man Vs. Food!

A Little blurry, but that's us with our Presidential Steaks!

The crossover into Texas! (We tried to get the cross to New Mexico, but Sarah's camera was dead and it was too dark to see on my camera. The sun was setting and there was a huge glare.)

Some of the beautiful Texas view!

The sunset in New Mexico (Sarah got her camera to take one last photo... barely got it off!)

Sarah enjoying Cattlemen's!