Black Hole Sun

I took this picture in London's Hyde Park in the summer of 2014.

Chris Cornell, iconic singer of the band Soundgarden, who helped define the 90s grunge sound and was still successful to this day, killed himself last week.

David Foster Wallace compared suicide to jumping out of a burning building, and went on to say the annoying thing is when someone jumps out of an actual burning building everyone else can see the flames and say oh yes, that at least makes sense. That the fire is inside your head and invisible to everyone but you doesn't make it any less painful, or any less real. So when I hear about a tragic suicide I don't blame, I don't try to understand. My heart aches and I say it's a damn shame we couldn't put out that fire in time.

If you ever feel like you're trapped on the top floor with your back to the window and the heat of the flames against your face, hold out as long as you can, alert the rescue crews. Know where the nearest emergency exit is and test your fire extinguishers regularly.

Jeeping it up in Utah

If you take a road trip through Utah and stick to the highways you're missing out. In fact, the fewer paved roads the better. With a 4x4 you can go places like Cottonwood Canyon Road, clearly marked high ground clearance vehicles only, not that everyone listens. You could conceivably do this in a regular car, but a Jeep makes it easier, more comfortable. Same with the unpaved BLM roads, totally doable in any car, but a rough dirt road like this, to a Jeep, is like any road. You can drive normally on unusual roads. You can ride in comfort and confidence. And there isn't a bit of pavement in this entire photo sequence.

Entering Cottonwood Canyon Road from the south, a sign alerts you to the fact that you're exiting the pavement of Highway 89 and entering an unimproved road into a greatly improved adventure.

Elsewhere in Escalante, a Jeep gets you the last mile to the trailhead of Peek-a-boo and Spooky slot canyons.

Who needs an RV? We made our own! Sort of. This configuration is just for moving campsites, not recommended for highway use.

Settled into the campground, our little Jeep looks right at home.

Goodnight, campers.

Practice Makes Perfect, Sometimes Happy Accidents

You can take a very methodical approach to improving your photography. For example, try this two step exercise in photographical hobbying technique:

Step 1: Memorize, learn, and experiment with the following rules:

• Utilize the Rule of Thirds
• Give your pictures a near, middle, and far
• Balance the elements of your composition
• Focus on your subject
• Use symmetry and leading lines
• Fill the frame

Step 2: Repeat Step 1, but with the word "Don't" in front of each rule.

That Looks Like a Lot

We messed up our first farm-to-table order so this week I'll be responding to all social invitations with, "Great! I'll bring kale."

Commute in Full Color

The commute between Palo Alto and San Francisco is helped by the fact that both ends are at a major train station, a ten minute walk from home, two blocks from the office. Wake up at seven, on the train by seven-ten, get a seat with a table. Coffee and laptop warm and ready, the peninsula glides by, quiet and smooth.

Forty-five minutes later we pull into the San Francisco station.

From there it's a short light rail ride to the office. By eight in the morning I'm either sitting at my desk or a coffee shop. If I wrote a sci-fi future, we would all commute this way.

Commute in Blue

Wheels screaming against the rails, caffeine buzzing through our veins.
Pulling left, right, forward, back.
Lean in all you straphangers, feel the power hurling us into the city.
Electric anticipation of another day at the office.
Read a book, surf the web, stand clear of the doors.

Meanwhile at Bette's in Berkeley

There's an hour wait for brunch and nobody seems to mind.