the assignment ::	The assignment was to find the location of "Lizard's Mouth," a mysterious and little-known natural rock formation somewhere in the Santa Barbara hills. In class we were given vague directions by our teacher, Kip Fulbeck. The point of the assignment was not simply to go find it and discuss it with the class; the point was to find it in a unique way, some way that was special or singular to you.
the plan ::	I figured that the first element of my mapping project would be to use my digital camera to document EVERYTHING we did on the trip. Those who know me would not be suprised by this at all, as if you look at my main page I take lots and lots of pictures. My final plan came to me as I was thinking about how to take the pictures while driving. I would bring my friends along with me! From there, it all fell into place. My projet would not be about finding the rock, it would be obout my friends and I working together to find a new place. I decided that my girlfriend, Christina, would be the nagavator. I would give her my directions, and she would decided where we went. My friend Vicki would be our photographer, choosing what is important, and generally documenting our twists and turns. My friend Julia (Jules) would be our cartographer, writing down our directions and general actions taken. I would simply be the driver, I would have NO say in where we went, what was written down, or what was taken pictures of. My part would be the passive observer, following instructions and watching how my friends worked out the way to the rock. Just to make things fun, we also decided to do "Chinese Fire Drills" every time we got to a stop sign.
the players ::	:: Christina Wilburn Alias C-tina alias 'the girlfriend' alias our navagator I chose Christina as our nagavagator because she is notoriously horrible with any and all directions. She could get lost a block away from her apartment. Seriously. I knew she would make the ideal choice because it would ensure a long and very fun trip. :: Vicki Fama Alias Vicster alias 'tot' alias our photographer Vicki was my choice for photographer because she has the oddest sense of humor of anyone I know. She also was a pretty decent photographer, and I knew she would be able to get some great shots to document the journey. :: Julia Hajdu Alias Jules alias 'trouble' alias our cartographer Jules was my logical choice for our cartographer. Known for her meticulous notes in class, she made the ideal choice to transcribe our directions as we journeyed towards the fabled rock. :: Cristina Smoot Alias Smoot alias 'the hawaiian' alias our dedicated homework minion Smoot came along for the ride. Origionally swamped with homework, and trying to figure out how to balance all of it, she opted to... not do it and come with us instead. Luckily, she brought her physics homework so she could pretend to be productive as we wound our way up to the rock.
the journey ::	It all began on Saturday, April 4th 2002. We started from my apartment on Cordoba, all piling into my red Honda Civic... [continue] Note: Click on pictures in following pages for a MUCH larger version)