Helping others and sometimes even yourself

For the past six or so years I have participated in the Susan G. Koman Race for the Cure. I participate in that event to honor my friend Judy, who fought a brave, but ultimately losing battle with the disease for over 10 years, for my friend Candy and others I know who are, happily, survivors of the disease, and in support of several friends that are currently in the battle.

Last year, for the first time, I participated in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. As odd as this is going to sound (and then again maybe not to those of you who know me well) I have never thought of myself as a cancer survivor. It was something I had, had surgery, got rid of and that was that. That is until the first day of the Relay for Life, where the opening lap is taken by participating cancer survivors. To take that walk with so many courageous people, with the other participants lining the course and applauding, was truly one of the most moving experiences of my life. I continue to wear my purple Survivors tee shirt with pride.

So now I have two events that mean so much to me, and there is just no way for me to choose between them, so, of course, that means I’ll be participating in both this year as well! And (here’s where you come in) I am hoping that you will support my participation in one or both, as many of you have so generously done in the past.

I am providing the links to my donation pages for both events. If you feel strongly about donating to one event more than the other, then by all means, please put your resources where your heart is. If, on the other hand, you appreciate the work of both of these wonderful organizations, a pledge to each event would be most appreciated.

To support my participation in the Susan G. Koman Race for the Cure on March 14, 2010 please visit my personal pledge page at

http://www.komenlacounty.org/race2010/dianeinla

To support my participation in the Relay for Life on May 22, 2010, please visit my personal pledge page at

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY10National?px=11369820&pg=personal&fr_id=20558

Thank you for supporting me, and for supporting these wonderful charities.

California Speedway October 2009

Yeah I know they changed the name to Auto Club Speedway but old habits die hard.

It dawned on me that I have way too many photos of cars and even of drivers and just how many photos of both can one person need? So I didn't take anywhere near as many photos at the track as usual.

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A week of vacation on two tanks of gas

Claudia came down a little early for our usual fall trip to the ranch and we were able to do a few other fun things besides the ranch.

First we went to see Disneyland all done up for Halloween - the Haunted Mansion's amazing
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Tuesday we went to the Autry Museum. I didn't take any photos but there was an exhibit of photographs of Grand Canyon that is just amazing.

Wednesday we headed up to the ranch taking a little detour to check out the Kern County Museum and specifically the Lopez Hill house. Its a great museum. The photos are all from the Iphone so not as great of quality.

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Finally it was up to the ranch for our usual great 4 days of riding. A couple of these photos are from 2008 or May and all were taken with the IPhone again.

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Red Bull Soap Box Derby

So it was the hottest day of the year and rather than stay in the house in the air conditioning I decided to head downtown to watch the Red Bull Soapbox Derby. It was packed - evidently free in today's economy is a big draw. I lasted for an hour before the heat got to me. Some of the photos were taken with my cell phone so not as good as the camera shots.

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Sightseeing in Montreal

Didn't have much time to go sightseeing in Montreal. Took some photos from/on the islands where the race circuit was located. Got of the Metro to go into Old town for dinner after the race (the dark photos) then came back to Old Town Monday morning. Almost walked right into a protest march by City workers in the same plaza where I had gone to dinner the night before. Most of the photos are from the Basilica of Notre Dame and the Chapel at the Basilica. The Chapel was amazing - all wood except for the large brass altarpiece shown in the photos.

http://picasaweb.google.com/dmckain/MontrealMostlyOldTown?feat=directlink

From the Nationwide races in Montreal

I have learned that my camera really doesn't like to take photos in the rain. It completely messes with the auto focus particularly in digital zoom. Seems like the auto focus was desperate to find something to focus on so it found the red and white stripes in the fence and blurred everything else. Of course the fact that I wasn't keeping everything dry probably didn't help either. The photos in the sunshine came out ok though! :D

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The New Yankee Stadium

Since American Airlines was going to make me route though New York to get to Montreal, and since the White Sox were going to be playing the Yankees, I decided to lay over one night in NYC to go check out the new Yankee Stadium. It pretty much rained the entire game, so I walked all over the place both to check it out and to stay dry. Couldn't get into Monument Park - since its basically in dead center field they close it during the game. But the new Yankee Museum is awesome. Love that they moved Thurman's locker over intact from the old stadium clubhouse.

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Daughtry at the Henry Fonda Music Box

Only so so in quality. I was up in the balcony which still wasn't that far from the stage but for some reason the ushers decided that my point and shoot Kodak was a "professional camera" so I was having to do stealth photos.

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Vacation Photos - including Alaska

The link on Vacations SHOULD take you to my public photo albums with a whole slew of vacation photos, not just this years. But just in case that isn't working correctly here's the links for this years trips.

California Poppy Preserve - Why AAANNNOOOLLDD wants to close this amazing place is beyond me.
http://picasaweb.google.com/dmckain/CaliforniaPoppyPreserve?feat=directlink

Washington Peninsula - Went for the 4th of July. Mostly took photos in and around the lighthouse but snapped a few of the fireworks too

http://picasaweb.google.com/dmckain/WashingtonPeninsulaJuly4?feat=directlink

In and around Chicago - Mostly went to Chicago to go to two baseball games and a Nascar race but did check out some of the local hot spots too
http://picasaweb.google.com/dmckain/ChicagoMostlyNavyPier?feat=directlink

Trip to Seattle and then on to Alaska

Drove up to and around Mt. Rainier - beautiful clear day. Any haziness is because a lot of the photos were taken through the car window.
http://picasaweb.google.com/dmckain/MtRainier?feat=directlink

Took a few photos from the airplane on the way to Alaska - we were chasing the sunset the whole flight.
http://picasaweb.google.com/dmckain/HeadingToAlaska?feat=directlink

Seward AK to the Kenai Fjords - Shots from glass topped train trip to Seward and a boat trip through the Kenai Fjords.
http://picasaweb.google.com/dmckain/KenaiFjords?feat=directlink

Denali National Park - Shots from the train going up to Denali and shots in the Denali National Park
http://picasaweb.google.com/dmckain/DenaliNationalPark?feat=directlink

Concerts

I have been to some great concerts so far this year, but several of them were in No Camera venues (House of Blues) or my seats weren't close enough to get great photos (Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood at the Hollywood Bowl). I do have some photos from two music fests that I've traveled for - WFMS Music Expo in Indianapolis and the Jazz Fest at Chateau Ste. Michelle in Seattle, WA

WFMS Music Expo - 2 days in April
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Jazzfest - only took a few photos - it was just too hot to run around and try to take photos
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