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. Nolen Elam ... that's my name! Thanks for visiting ... how's it goin'? Named for Nolen, my dad, I'm also known as "Ned," a childhood nickname still used by family and friends. Adele, my mom, chose my nickname to distinguish me from my dad. Although I prefer Nolen, I understand change is often difficult for most everyone, including myself, so I accept that people still call me Ned. I last updated this page Sunday, 7 March 2010. There is at least one other Nolen Elam out there that I know of -- my son Nolen Foster. His mom (my first wife) and I named him in honor of Nolen, my dad, and Foster, her dad. Here's a photo of Nolen and I on the field shortly after he graduated from high school ...
And here's another photo of Nolen, the younger ...
So what's goin' on? For those of you who may not already know me, I'm 50 years old, single, and reside in Costa Mesa, California. Here's a recent pic of me (Thanksgiving Day 2009) ...
I'm blessed to have been married twice, and ... well, yes ... divorced twice, too. Nolen, my son (and only child), is the fruit of my first marriage. Houston, Texas is my hometown. I grew up in Spring Branch with my brother Bob and our two sisters, Susan and Debbie. Our oldest brother Don, still lives in Houston. Susan lives in Austin with Charley, her husband of 36 years (they're just two doors down from Mom; their three sons, Ben, Chuck, and Jon, are all grown men now). Debbie's in Denver and Bob's in San Juan Capistrano with Deb (his wife of 25 years) and their three sons, Taylor, Chase, and Miles. Sometimes people ask me why I have a website -- good question! ;-) Mostly it's just a hobby, but, being the computer geek that I am, I actually use my site to share a little bit about myself, my life, and my interests with family and friends. Whatever the reason, here on my site you can find a little bit about who I am, and some of who and what are most important to me. Most of my life I've been drawn to graphic arts. Ever since I can remember I was drawing. Mechanical objects were my usual subjects, but sometimes I'd draw living creatures and scenes from nature. Today, my interest in photography is one way I express my passion for creating images. The following slideshow on Google's Picasa Web Albums contains a small collection of some of my favorite images ... With now over 30 years in my chosen field of work, I earn my living designing packaging and labeling for Baxter Healthcare Corporation in Irvine, California. I've worked for Baxter since 1990, but I started as a temporary drafter on a two-week assignment back in March 1985. Today we manufacture the INFUSOR and INTERMATE Systems, which are portable, disposable, elastomeric, IV (intravenous) infusion devices. My work is personally satisfying, knowing that the fruit of my labor directly improves the quality of life for people all over the world. Perhaps the single-most defining aspect of who I am as a man is the fact that I'm still "Dad" to Nolen, my 19-year-old son. After primarily living with his mom since she and I separated back in 1996 (including eight years out-of-state in Phoenix), Nolen finally came to live with me late September 2008. Two days after finishing high school in June 2009, he returned to Phoenix with his mom and step-dad and go to college there. Ever since I was a young boy I knew I'd be a dad someday. My own father passed on when I was nine, so naturally being a dad was what I most wanted to be. I remember wondering as a boy, "What will my wife be like?" and "What's it like being a dad?" Thankfully, my life dream of becoming a dad came true, but, along with that dream, I learned that my own desire and commitment weren't enough to make a marriage work. Suffice it to say, after twelve years, my first marriage abruptly ended. As a result, everything most important to me at that time in my life completely vanished -- my marriage, my family, my home. Although my first marriage and the home we shared are now just a faded memory, my son and I will always be a family ... here's another photo of Nolen and I taken at his graduation party 18 June 2009 ...
My other life dream was also formed during my childhood: the first time I saw someone standing on a surfboard riding a wave I knew that's what I wanted to do! Ever since that first vision began captivating my attention, surfing has continued to be my single greatest passion in life. For the past 12 years "The Point" at San Onofre State Beach is where I pursue my passion for surfing. Every opportunity I get I drive the 37 miles down to San O' for a surf! Here are a few photos of me at San O' ... in the first, I'm luggin' my 10'6" x 25" Mike Minchonton Custom Surfboard out for a surf at The Point (it weighs 35 pounds!) ...
In this next photo I'm riding a very typical wave at The Point ...
Here I am crankin' a bottom turn ...
And last ... the end of the day ... San O' Mano! ...
I first learned to surf in the murky, brown waters of the Gulf of Mexico off the beaches of Galveston and Surfside, Texas back in 1969 when I was nine. Later, after graduating from high school in May 1977, I loaded up my powder blue '73 Chevy Vega hatchback with all my surfboards, skateboards, and vinyl records, and moved to California! My plan was go to college, surf, and find the woman of my dreams! Thirty-two years later, I'm still here, still surfing, and still wondering if there's one woman whom I can love, honor, and cherish for the rest of our lives together on Earth! The following image is probably the best photo I have of me doing what I love to do most!
The image shown above was taken by professional photographer Matt Thomas way back in November 1992 at a break named "Killers" -- a big wave break on one of the Islas de Todos Santos (the Islands of Todos Santos, a group of small islands about eight miles offshore Ensenada, Mexico). In this photo I'm way out in front of a wave that is small for Killers; this was one of the few waves I rode that day -- an easy, makable wave I could see coming early enough to set up and get into without getting worked. The bigger set waves coming in that day were some of the largest I've ever paddled through -- maybe 16'-18'+ on the face (or 8'-10' backs). While the wave in this photo is actually small by Todos' standards (about eight feet), photographs of Killers breaking at heights up to 60 feet have been featured in much of the popular surf media today. Only three other known breaks on the West Coast rival Todos in size: Cortes Bank, Ghost Tree, and Mavericks. This next photo was also taken the same day as the image shown above. Matt Thomas, the photographer, used a telephoto lens to get these shots from about 200 yards away on the bluffs of the island overlooking the break at Killers ...
Here are a few links to some other webpages I created:
Click on any of the following links to visit some of the internet websites I use. If you do, and you're also a user of that site, then feel free to contact me there. Blogging... Photos ... Public profiles ... Social ... Video ... Thanks again for visiting! If you'd like to contact me, please feel free to use either of the following e-mail addresses ...
And here are some of my all-time favorite websites ...
And last, but not least, being the computer geek that I am, here are my feeds from Google Reader ...
... and Plaxo ... |
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