perfect symmetry

I was reading a french photo blog one day, Zoum Zoum, and the blogger had images by Julien Benhamou up. Julien's symmetry portfolio is all about exploring the "perfection" of a symmetrical body or face. Since Craig and I needed a bit of a destresser at the end of this intense work week we decided to try and copy Julien's idea. So we went down to our imac, took some head shots and then Craig did some flipping and flopping in photoshop to create new versions or our faces with perfect symmetry. So, can you tell which image below is the real me?

SIFF: movie #1

I have a bit of catching up to do on this blog...but until I can organize some pictures from my last mini vacation here's the first installment of my Seattle International Film Festival movie reviews.


My first film was Island Etude, a movie from Taiwan. It's about a young man named Ming who goes on a bike ride around the outside of the island, along coastal roads. The movie follows Ming on his journey, introducing us to all the interesting characters he meets along the way as well as showing us all the strange random sites that pop up on pilgrimages like this: my favorite being four dogs each on their own skateboards. The director, Chen Huai-En, made this movie after meeting a young man very similar to Ming who was riding around the island by himself. Some of the stories and characters in the film are based on stories this real life Ming recounted and some are made up. The most interesting part was that the person playing Ming in the movie isn't a real actor and on top of that he's deaf...which adds a completely different dimension to the movie. I'll admit that the film was a bit long and slow in some parts, but overall it was what it was, a trek, a pilgrimage dealing with physical endurance and being alone with yourself...while having to suddenly deal with the random characters that pop into your world. Plus I now want to visit Taiwan :)

while in NYC....

...I'll be posting some blog entries on the joint blog with Janet and Bekah, Aimless Wanderings.

We'll be posting pictures too...so check it out! And thank you Bekah for letting JJ and I take over your laptop to play on the internet and upload our pictures so that we can make these blog entries possible. You're the best! (and I love your keyboard...it's so fun to type on!)

p.s. Leah & Dan, if you guys are reading this I will be in touch soon about trying to see you guys, even if just briefly. Still not sure of what the schedule is like for next week, but will try to figure that all out soon! I can't wait to see you guys again and meet Rascal!

Vacation!

Just thought I'd write a brief blog to say that I'll be going on vacation for two weeks in NYC. I'll try my best to write while I'm over there (JJ, Beks...maybe some joint blogging?). At the very least I'll be be back in a couple of weeks with pictures and hopefully some interesting stories.

Birthday Bonanza

I celebrated my birthday recently with a happy hour/ice hockey game party and have some pictures to share from the event. I'm just amazed that we didn't get kicked out of the cocktail lounge between everyone dumping out their party bags all over the place and the scavenger hunt that was set up with birds scattered throughout the premises and toys flying every which way. It was a mad house...just the way I like it! These pictures are dedicated to Janet. Wish you could have been there my friend but we'll have fun for your bday with Beks in New York very very soon!

Yay jello cocktails

All decked out.

The Ingy gang!

Jonah, party planner extraordinaire!

Don't know what to say about this...there are just no words ;)

Dream Home

Angry Little Girls!

phones for the homeless

Google announced that they will be handing out free cell phones and free voicemail to all the homeless in San Francisco, working with shelters and homeless outreach programs to distribute the phones. I think this is a fabulous idea and I'm interested to see how it works out. The one thing that was really clear to me when I was volunteering with homeless women was that a big part of their situation was the isolation that being homeless creates. No phone is a big issue in keeping people from being hired for jobs as well as being able to open a bank account (the other issue is no mailing address). And while naturally there will be those people who would use the phones for illegal activity such as running drugs, etc. there will still be others who will truly benefit from this.

What most people don't realize is that a lot of the homeless out there would much rather pick up there lives and get a job, find a stable place to live and be off the streets. It's when they are given the tools they need to break down the walls of isolation that the lack of money creates in this society that these people are then able to lift themselves up. Simple things like clean clothes, showers, free medical attention, computer and internet access, help with writing a resume and yes, phones...a means of communication with the rest of this fast paced society that is more interested in making sure that they take care of themselves. Who cares about anyone else, right? Me, me, me. The matra of our consumer driven society.

Duh

At least someone is saying something against the treatment of Palestine by Israel on a global level. It would be nice to have some action as well rather than just talk.

I'm still here!

It feels like forever since I last posted...sorry! But I'm back and I've got a couple of days worth of pics to share from last night and last weekend. I'll start with last night...went out with my friend Sarah who is visiting Seattle and caught the lunar eclipse from gasworks park. I didn't get any good pictures of the moon, but I had some fun with the skyline:




Next I've got pics from snowshoeing on monday...that was a ton of fun! I went with my coworker, Craig, and his dog...my godpup...Guinness. We managed to make it out of the mountains alive without getting eaten up by any avalanches...so that was a good thing. We also didn't get eaten up by any sasquatches, but mainly cause we had Guinney with us who scared the sasquatch away by barking his head off at one point. And man was there a lot of snow up in the mountains! For those who are curious we were in the Cascades attempting to climb up to Lake Annette...but we didn't make it...making your own trail in the mountains on snow shoes is a lot more tiring than normal hiking, let me tell you!

Such a handsome pup!

Here be old avalanche debris

That's right, there was so much snow the road signs were covered up.

And now my last batch of pics...just a few more I promise. I went out to Port Angeles and Sequim with my good friend Lisa and her parents for a tour of some wine tastings. I think my favorite winery was Lost Mountain...it's hidden away up in the foothills of the Olympic Mountains so you can sip wine outside on their deck while surrounded by moss covered trees and slight views of the mountains through the branches. We also had some fun walking around the beach in Sequim and then had dinner at the Three Crabs Restaurant which reminded me of my grandmother because i think the last time I ate there was with her..which was a bittersweet memory...I'll start you off with a silly pic from the ferry ride over to the Olympic peninsula: