One of the places we ended up at was the Venetian. I always thought it'd be funny to ride one of those gondolas by myself, with a single tear coming down my eye while the gondola man sang "That's Amore" or something. Well, maybe it's just funny only to me.

The sequel to 2 Girls 1 Cup.

We prepped that night to head out to dinner and then the last night of going out. The girls modified this lamp so that they could coordinate makeup application and showering.

Tu and Tramanh headed off L'Atelier de Robuchon while the rest of the group headed down to the restaurant in the Monte Carlo.

I went and ordered the salmon-wrapped salmon. Because I had to know. It turns out it's smoked salmon (the kind you eat on crackers and whatnot) wrapped on a pan-seared salmon. It was not bad, but service was middling and I was pretty disappointed with the place.

The girls prepped to head on out.

Tu prepped the pre-party shots using his former bartender skills.

Unsuspecting Erica is unsuspecting. Mike and Erica have been dating for years and in a few minutes, Mike would pop the proposal.

At the Christmas tree in the Bellagio.

Right after the proposal (no pics, because my camera was shooting video the whole time).

We headed off to XS Lounge in the Encore to celebrate after.

We picked up 2 bottles and a table and didn't leave the table area for most of the night.

Sistars.

Oh yeah, Tu and I noticed Wynonna Judd at a table and Tu wanted a pic with her. First Vegas celebrity citing.

The next morning, I was up first at 8:30 AM while everyone else was passed out, so I wandered the strip by myself in search of the first restaurant I ate at the first time I came to Vegas for Annie's wedding 2 years ago.

Filipino fast food is pretty good, actually. I don't know the next time I'll be back in Vegas, so it is pretty fitting that my last day in Vegas includes a meal that I had on my first time in Vegas since turning 21 so long ago.

After the group was up, we headed over to the Bellagio buffet for lunch. Unlimited meat is pretty fantastic.

After that, we killed time on the Strip while waiting for our flight that evening at 8. Everyone has a good time out here.

We had a flight delay waiting for our flight in the Vegas terminal that evening. As the plane finally touched down in Houston after 1 AM, I was similarly finishing up A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. The story ending had coincided with the trip ending.

The airport shuttle dropped us off at terminal E, but it was a ridiculously long trek to the end of terminal C.

I brought along A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius for the trip. I go through intense reading cycles in spurts. In junior high, I used to read literally one 200-page book a day for weeks. I was the guy who walked the halls reading books while walking to class, reading books on the bus, reading in the lunch lines (uncool guy, I know, I know). I had been starting and stopping this book for a while now and I was determined to finish it on the trip.

At the last minute, they upgraded me to first class- probably the last time I will ever be able to ride first class. My elite status expires in two months, and I don't think I will ever have to travel that much again to make it. We took a late afternoon flight out to Vegas so I figured I should take advantage of the unlimited drinks and had 4 glasses of wine on the flight. In the past, I've had wine that didn't just have nice legs, it even had cankles. But airplane wine- it has no legs at all- in fact specialists have determined that this airplane cabernet will probably be wheelchair bound for the rest of its life.

Food was excellent- even the salad. This was accompanied by corn chowder and chicken jambalaya. The flight attendant was one of the best waiters I've had- pleasant and always attentive to make sure my beverages didn't dip low.

I didn't even know they had a dessert course. The attendant said his feelings would be hurt if I didn't have another slice. Such a nice man.

Once in Vegas, we wasted absolutely no time in having a good time. We headed off for Prive in Planet Hollywood.

But first, a stop off at the Monte Carlo to git some monies

On the way down the Strip.

The walk from the Monte Carlo to Planet Hollywood is ridiculously far. I hate how it's so hard to walk around the Strip, what with the endless escalators and stairs crossing over the intersections.

Tramanh's cousin's boyfriend was a little worried about fitting into the group because everyone already knew each other from before and he didn't really know everyone. I always like to make newcomers welcome and in my alcohol-induced state, it became a prime directive for the night. Luckily, he's a pretty friendly guy and we cool now.

Prive is an underwhelming club with ridiculously-priced drinks, but we had a good time anyway.

The Landlords.

It's a pretty simple setup- basic lighting units run about a hundred a pop. Then you gotta fork out some money for umbrellas, light stands, and the backdrop stand and backdrop paper. That light unit that's on in the picture is a workbench lamp from Home Depot- runs about $6 and is lighting my Charlie Brown Christmas Tree that I've been putting up every Christmas for the past few years.

The backdrop unit arrived one day when no one was home, so the postman threw it over the landlords' fence into the dog poop mine field that is the backyard. Thanks, deliveryman.

First test shot with the 10 foot backdrop. It's depressingly small for nothing other than a single portrait from the knees up. I also miss the $20 wireless remote shutter that I had for my D70 (my D300 runs on a wired remote).

Not too shabby, huh? To get this kind of shot, have the brighter light source pointed behind you at the backdrop and a less strong light pointed at yourself.

One more Keyboard Cat appearance before 2009 ends.

Jeannie wanted to do a coupla studio shots a while back and asked her cousin Jeannie, Tan, and Carter to come over so she could practice makeup on Jeannie and I'd just shoot family portraits. Tan's distracting Carter while Jeannie gets ready.

For the black backdrop, I bought a king-size black bed sheet from Walmart for about $15 and it drapes nicely (but isn't long enough for a full shot). Black non-reflective cloth works best so you don't get stray light reflection from the backdrop.

And yes, I know, I need a hair light so their hair doesn't blend in with the background. I don't have any more money to get a hair light though.

The family + Jeannie

Jeannie's makeup box.

Also, Sandra came over one day for Jeannie to work on too. Sandra brought me a fondant cake she made. It was pretty fancy.

The problem with constant light units is that they get really hot after a while. I'm an idiot and accidentally exploded my light unit during one of my last photoshoots.

Jeannie

Jeannie + Sandra

Jeannie wanted to practice on LinLin too, so here's that shot.

Anyways, back to Carter.

And there you have it. Hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas! One of these days, I'll have my Beijing trip and Road Trip adventures up.

Shooting kids this young is tough- they don't stand very still for long. Out of 300 or so photos, I handed over some 50 photos to her to choose which one she liked best. These are some of the better ones.

This one of Vincent and Sofia is pretty cute.

Sofia's buddies hanging out on her chair.

The family in their blue period.

Fave shot from the shoot.

Hanging out with all her buddies.

Everyone has a good time!

Fave shot out of the bunch

This year, she outdid herself (as usual) with an entire dessert table. Of course, she doesn't let us eat at this table anymore ever since it got a scratch in it a few years ago. We were relegated to kitchen shenanigans.

Just one of the numerous desserts she had baked for the party. All pretty delicious.

Tramanh, Tu, and I arrived on time. Tramanh helped while Tu and I stood around being useless.

Melissa furiously prepped the remaining entrees for the party with a few helpers who came on time.

We even had a fancy caviar plate this year. Recession what?

These meatballs are always delicious.

On-time arrivals get a head start.

Escargot in mushroom caps. Eric would selectively decapitate these appetizers, leaving nothing but the fungal carcass.

Drink for a job well done.

Thomas served as a catalyst to a ridiculous night. Or maybe Tu was, as Thomas chose him as default drinking partner for the night.

Round kitchen discussion.

Girl shot.

Being indignant.

Guy shot.

Finally, it is T-Time. Melissa points out her NO BEVERAGES IN THE LIVING ROOM policy.

Though she gave an exemption this year.

Secret Santa Gift exchange time.

I had Yen. I was a little sad she didn't notice all the little cat and panda stickers on the front. She opened it from the bottom instead. What a waste.

And, as part of our too-long running joke, an Ed Hardy scarf. Douchelicious.

Donny's gift made the evening.

That is right, his and hers Snuggies.

Now, in Leopard Print

Roz's Secret Santa adds onto the ridiculousness with a UT snuggie.

A similarly bearded asian man holds a mug of my secret santa gift. I feel like my home brew will result only in diarrhea.

Tu walked around for quite a while holding this pasta spoon.

Readers, I have spared you from seeing the rest of the photos from that night. Let us merely remember it as a wholesome, uneventful evening.

We started out at the Bayou Gardens, but they were closing, and a woman working there came out and yelled at us about no photography. Quite unnecessary.

It's okay though, I was not a fan in the least bit about the lighting- it was harsh and creating blown highlights in the photos.

I've always wanted to shoot at the train tracks near our house, so Tu pointed us out the way. Rain had just fallen the day before, and, though it was in the middle of fall, mosquitoes were swarming about the place. I didn't think to bring any Off, so we spent most of the shoot slapping mosquitoes between shots. I think I had five bites on each leg alone.

Fave shot from this set. Also the most difficult to shoot while stabilizing yourself on a train ladder from the other side.

Behind the scenes, prepping for the next outfit change

Annie

Tu, from set locator to future set supervisor

Uno enjoys going to grandma's house. Greatly.

Pepper does too.

But Uno moreso.

Maybe a little too much.

Uno takes a break from being all HUH HUH HUUUUUH.

Ok, back to work. Making up for lost crazyface time.

He always wants to jump the seat, as if it makes him just that much closer to grandma's house.

Uno looking like a goomba.

Pepper is not amused.

Pepper seems anxious.

Sometimes, at grandma's house, Pepper will do a frogger and go under the couch.

Grandma's house is not always fun for her

So of course, random ring flash time.

Pepper and Uno got to eat the spoon.

Well, not the spoon, but the food on the spoon...

Well, they actually didn't know how to eat it...

And Pepper ended up breaking the spoon. FAIL.

But the rice krispies were pretty awesome.

Also, here is a random family photo later that night of some of their siblings/cousins. I really need to learn lighting better.