Europe update...brief

Ok, so I´ve been told that I need to update this blog...since we´re leaving Barcelona this morning for France and we don´t know what our internet access will be like the rest of this trip I thought I´d quickly write something up before scarfing down my breakfast and making a run to the train. Man, sorry for the run on sentences but this is going to be a non edited write up.

So, Barcelona has been a blast...Lisa and I can´t believe that our stay here is already over! We saw tons of neat Modernisme architecture and went to the Salvador Dali museum, which apart from the crowds was an amazing place! Highly recommend it! We also saw the black virgin statue at Montserrat Monastery and hiked around the mountain yesterday. We did TONS of people watching from our balcany overlooking the main tourist street, the Rambla and got to recognize all the local characters, from the homeless who sleep on the benches at knight to all the different street peformers.

And that´s just a little of what we´ve been doing and seeing.

I´ll try to update with another blog if I can...pictures will have to wait until I get home...sorry jj!!

Now I have to run!!

I'm still around...

Ok, so I know I'm been super lame about updating this blog recently. I'm trying to get myself back in the swing of things so I changed the look a bit, and here are some pictures I can share from a trip out to Bainbridge Island on the ferry earlier this winter.

Seattle skyline at sunset.

Mt. Rainier with ferry at sunset.

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:

United we stand...maybe

I was catching up on my reading of the (Notes on) Politics, Theory & Photography blog where there was a link to this Harper's Magazine article. In this article it discusses the merits of a general strike in this country on Election Day, November 6th. The idea being that a general strike would then force the Bush government out. But the article is interesting to read because it is bold in it's description of our society's complete lack of interest in politics and how our country is being run and the decisions that are being made in our name. So read this article...good food for thought.

Summer in the Fall

So even though it's almost the end of October the weather has been pretty warm in a lot of the country...the east has been seeing temps in 70's (even though this is the time when they usually have their first frost if not first snow)...and now Seattle is having some of that warm weather. Today it's in the lower 70's and feels like summer even though the leaves are all changing. It's wonderful to be able to see bright orange and red leaves with the backdrop of a perfectly blue sky...not something we're used to here in Seattle. Of course the downside of all this warm weather here in the west can be seen if you check the news at all with images from the inferno that has enveloped southern California.

walk abouts

Because of the photography scavenger hunts that I've been on I'm carrying my camera around with me a lot more as I walk around town...and taking some random pictures...here are two that I took the other day on my way home after work.

Orange

The next installment of the photography scavenger hunt is up online at the aimless wanderings blog. So check it out for lots of orange fun!

JJ the camera-head

What a big eye you have...

True Blue

Wanting to do some sort of activity with friends who live in different parts of the country is difficult...however, JJ, Beks and I are attempting just that with a photography scavenger hunt! Our first assignment was to photography blue things. We've taken our pictures and today's the day for the Blue Reveal! Ahem, except the other two won't have time to post their pictures on their blogs until this evening, so I'm a bit early. oh well, enjoy!

So here's some blue trivia along with some blue pictures: Ever wonder why a bride needs "something blue"...well, apparently to the early Israelites, blue was a symbol for love fidelity and purity (which is why most old paintings of the Madonna show her wearing blue).

A bit of science, blue light has the shortest wavelength range.

Here's a brave model who agreed to let me photograph her for this mad scheme...thanks Jonah, you're gorgeous all in blue!

The blue color, Azure, is the national color of Italy (the color of the former royal family).

In the Hindu tradition, those who are divine are blue. As a example would be the god Krishna.

And one last blue tidbit..in Japanese blue is "aoi" means innocence and inexperience.

You gotta love stubbornness

She's my neighborhood hero too.

Mountain Day

It's that time again....when I am actually feel jealous for all those little kiddies who are students at Mount Holyoke College...the one day I wish I still went to school there...cause today is Mountain Day. The bell tolls, and the students at MHC are currently enjoying a beautiful surprise day off classes...meanwhile the rest of us still have to be at work out here in the real world. Man I miss that bubble sometimes...could use some milk and cookies too!