Taylor Update

Hello my friends and family ~

A lot has been happening out here on the beautiful West Coast. Temperatures are finally reaching towards summer normalcy, and the fog that envelops the city throughout the end of June has finally began to subside a little. Fog is quite an interesting aspect of the city, but in some respects a little difficult to get used to. They call it the "4:00 fog" as you can set your watch on a late June afternoon as a blanket of fog usually pours over the hillsides and into certain neighborhoods of San Francisco. Needless to say, summer quickly becomes autumn and a sweatshirt is a good way to keep warm. If you are high enough on some of the outlying hills in the city as the fog rolls in, you get the perception that you are in an airplane flying high above; the only signs of a city are antennas and tall buildings poking above the fog line.

So to give everyone a little update on where I am and what I have been up to, here is a hopefully recurring post of Taylor Tidbits.

First of all, quite possibly the biggest news of recent months is that in one week, I will become a published author. My book, "Images of America: Walworth County Fair" will be in bookstores and at your favorite online bookstores (Amazon.com and Borders.com) later this week. The book uses a variety of historical images and photographs that have not been seen before by the public and text to give people an understanding of the history of the fair since the 1850s, when it was created. Many people envision the fair as the place it is today, attractions, animal judging and tasty fair food; however, the fair's distant past is filled with strange sideshows, fires that tore through historic buildings, a racetrack that was one of the fastest in the world. Fairgoers paced the grounds in elegant clothing, shielding the sun from their faces with umbrellas in a Victorian style many don't quite picture for the city of Elkhorn.

I am going to be on a mini-book tour starting the second to last weekend in August to promote the book and will be making stops at the fairgrounds during Labor Day week for appearances and book signing. Needless to say, this has been an exciting time for me and I sure hope to reconnect with old friends and family to chat and maybe get a tasty beer. I hope to say that this will be a greater foray into the world of writing for me as I look to my next author projects.

I have a few writings under my belt that I am working on as well as looking to apply to grad school. I also haven't taken a hiatus on the acting front. My previous posts here described the experience on the set of "XXX: State of the Union," which shot on the USS Hornet stationed at the Alameda Naval Air Station outside of Oakland.

I also was a featured extra in a new History Channel Series, "Man, Moment, Machine" which starts on August 10. The show will be hosted by Hunter Ellis and takes a moment in history and a man who helped turn the history of a particular event. The initial series premiere which was shot over a year ago, showed us as sailors on a submarine that was virtually sunk on the bottom of the ocean, until a famous man devised an invention to rescue the crew from under the water! If all goes well, that should be the first episode of the series, however, since I don't work at the History Channel - I wont be able to know for sure. However, I was also able to act in three additional episodes which should air throughout August and into October.

I will be also moving into the city on August 1, and am excited about finally living in San Francisco and experiencing all the city has to offer. After my move, I will be flying home on August 19 and staying in Wisconsin until September 6, which should fully offer me a chance to catch up with everybody.

I will let you all know my little mini-tour when it gets finalized, but since it is a regional history publication, I am doing all that I can with the publisher to stir up talk about the book and make it as successful as it deserves to be!

Locations to view the book online;

Arcadia Publishing;
http://www.arcadiapublishing.com

Search by Pipes as last name and you will find the listing.

Amazon.com;
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0738534455/qid=1122317153/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-9779094-6188820?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

I should also be visiting the fair from August 31 - September 5. Times are being finalized along with the tour but check out their website;

www.walworthcountyfair.com

Look for these updates to regularly continue and thanks for reading!

Cheers!

Taylor