Greetings to all and to all a happy new year. As I type this, it is already 2004. I best be getting on with writing my 2003 recap before I forget what I did last year.

As mentioned in my 2002 recap, in January I traveled with Jordan's whole family to Cape Town, South Africa. The occasion, the wedding of one of Jordan's cousins. For two weeks we explored everything from political prison islands to the wine country to game safari, with everything in between. It was a great adventure! I had always dreamed of safari, and it was even more exciting than I had anticipated.

In addition to shooting many great photos, we also enjoyed filming the trip with Jordan's digital video camera. We edited together an african safari DVD, just like the ones we created from China and Japan. I have a lot of fun editing little documentaries with our vacation footage. If you would like a copy, let me know and I will send one to you. I promise that it isn't boring.

After the trip to Africa, Jordan and I felt a little exhausted from all the international travel we had done. We decided to ease off on the passport stamping in 2003, which also seemed like an appropriate decision given the american security crisis (or is it an illness?)

But I did have a couple noteworthy domestic adventures. In April I attended and photographed the wedding of my dear friends Allen and Amy. I have a new respect for the work required to do quality wedding photography. I doubt I'll make a career out of it, but luckily this experience afforded me the opportunity to be close with the bride and groom on their special day.

Shortly thereafter, Jordan and I flew to San Francisco for the wedding of our friends Cathy and Russell. Jordan was one of the bridesmaids. I was the documentary photographer. A good time was had by all.

Lately we have been hungry for international travel again, which we will satisfy with a two week trip to Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. We plan to explore Mayan ruins, learn about Mexican culture, and do some snorkeling in the Caribbean. We leave soon and it is all I can think about! Be on the lookout on my photography website for images from that trip.

My career marches on at Amazon.com. When I returned from my sabbatical last November, tried to not let my job get under my skin. I don't think I succeeded, which is both good and bad. Good: I realize now that it I can't excel at something unless I am totally engaged in it. By plugging back into Amazon I wrote some great software this year. Bad: I worked too hard and let the stress get to me a few times. I also tracked my own sense of success with Amazon's, and while the company did very well, most of the projects I worked on had irksome problems. Thus I am left unsatisfied. I seek new challenges, some big problem to solve, something to express which has not yet been expressed.

Jordan fares well, also still working at Amazon. She is now in charge of a high percentage of website traffic, from business to technology. Despite this success, at times she feels similarly to me: wondering, what comes next? Sometimes we ask each other what we are supposed to be when we grow up. Then some wise soul tells us that we shouldn't be worried about growing up. True enough, but proverbs do not a career make. Well, we have each other, which counts for a lot. We are helping each other figure it out.

It has been an eventful winter season so far. In November Mom packed up all the warm clothes she owned and came up to Seattle for Thanksgiving with Jordan's family in Anacortes. Accompanying her was her loving partner Terry, who I had the pleasure to meet and get to know. Which is good, because guess what: they're getting married! I am so happy for Mom and Terry and I can't wait for the wedding (rumored to be in France, 2005).

Here in the deep of winter, many storms have blown through the Pacific Northwest, bringing lots of cold weather and snow. One of the outcomes has been some of those crisp days when you can feel your skin, and when you gaze at the snow-capped mountains both to the east and the west of you, you can't help but feel lucky, simply lucky. I treasure those moments. The skiing has been great, too.

As for the rest: I've been enjoying my new digital camera, photographing my friends at local rock concerts, and writing software for the Mac. It stirs the creative juices, all in different ways.

On the balance, 2003 was a good year for me. There was great dischord, and I find myself with having more questions than answers. Hopefully 2004 will result in some answers, or at least fewer new questions. But I'm optimistic. Why be anything other than optimistic?

Green Hills of Africa
Ernest Hemingway

Bobos in Paradise
David Brooks

Cerebus
Dave Sim

Fast Food Nation
Eric Schlosser

Harry Potter 5
JK Rowling

Vagabonding
Rolf Potts

Monk and the Riddle
Randy Komisar

Invisible Computer
Donald Norman

Life of Pi
Yann Martel

The Shins

Superchunk

Outkast

My Morning Jacket

Deerhoof

Neko Case

White Stripes

Pixies

They Might Be Giants

Eels

Wilco

Lifesavas