boats

three amigos

art

It's interesting, after all those years of identifying myself as a woodworker/craftsperson, and these past few years as a photographer, my sketches and notes right now are going in a completely different direction. At least I'm "going" somewhere artistically. It feels like I'm finally doing something, or getting close.

"the gift of surrender"

violence in America

I was looking through some of my old sketches and notes Thursday evening, and I read the following journal entry from my early 80s trip to Japan: "befriended by group of J students...they suggested itineraries; we talked about American 'individualism' vs J 'conformity'; violence in America..."
Violence in America.
The news Friday morning was all about the theater shootings in Colorado.

bubbles self portraits

click on the photo for a larger image, and a bunch of silhouette self portraits in the bubbles...

reflections, shadows...

how can they see anything?

That's what I was thinking, watching an old western on our little black and white TV back in the early 50s. I was sitting alone in our living room, listening to the cloppity cloppity sounds of horses hooves, cowboys circling round and round a little house somewhere out in the old west. Almost pitch black, I could just make out some silhouettes of the riders charging by, their guns a blazing! How could they see anything?

dinner?

The Heron was just standing there, motionless, so still that I could get a decent photo with my little camera's zoom opened to it's max. I didn't see the two turtles until I uploaded the photos and started editing, and then I saw there were four of them, all lined up. Dinner?

car show

eat your vegetables

biking again

One problem with biking again, in this beautiful weather, my one hour ride turns into 2 and 3 hours. Thursday I drove to a park south of the W Seattle bridge on W Marginal Way, and I biked up and over the lower bridge towards downtown. I rode downtown along the waterfront and checked out the new Ferris wheel. Cool. It reminds me of the one in Santa Monica. Friday morning I rode from our house north along the Green River and joined the Duwamish trail in Georgetown. Rode over and under the 1st Ave S bridge and up to the park where I parked yesterday. On my return route I rode up and over the 1st Ave S bridge, and then down E Marginal Way along Boeing, etc, to the Green River. Good ride...

silence...quiet

silence...quiet

my mornings
with my fresh cup of coffee
doing my computer routine
before looking at the morning paper
no sound of the TV
cats resting after their breakfast
fireplace sounds
and the quiet tapping sound of these keyboard keys

ferris wheel

black eye

I had a fight with a cabinet in our utility room the other day. I lost.

the sound of jets overhead

Waiting in my car across from the bakery, it sounded like jets flying over, but the sound was getting louder, and I was thinking 'whoa, they're low!' Two old Asian women walked by on the sidewalk, headed towards the Food Bank at the church on the corner. Trailing behind them were two large suitcases with their rollers getting louder and louder as they passed me by.

bridge

cafe racer

I thought I recognized the place when I saw it on the news last month. Back in the 80s I had a painting studio just north of 45th in the U District, on Roosevelt. And my friend Jim Colbert had a studio up on Roosevelt just south of Ravenna Boulevard. I drove by the other day, and it's the Cate Racer, where they had those horrific murders on May 30th. Jim's old studio...

me

weather report

Driving Inday into work this morning was so nice! The timing was perfect, with the sun peeking over the hills to our East, and some very bright silver gold reflections coming off of some downtown highrises. Some of the drab industrial buildings on our route in had this warm copper color. Still cool in the morning. Invigorating. Yesterday it was these puffy white clouds, actually all different kinds of clouds with shades of whites and grays, with a blue sky. The weather report for tomorrow says more of the same, and I'm going on a morning hike with Andrea. Yes!

veins

chatter

I wonder if my internal dialogue increased when I stopped 'journaling' several years back...

films, reading...

I'm a romantic at heart I guess. I subscribe to Netflix online streaming and I've been watching mostly Asian films lately. Chinese and Korean are my favorites, and my last two indulgences were 'Snow Flower and the Secret Fan', and 'Maybe'. One way I judge how much I liked a film is how it stays with me, how enjoyable parts resurface in my thoughts in the days following my watching it.
Another indulgence I've been allowing myself lately is reading. I've found some gems in the daily 'freebies' offered by Amazon, the latest being 'In the Presence of My Enemies', written by the American missionary who was held captive by Muslim terrorists in the Philippines for 13 months. Yesterday I finished a 'Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea', a title I had on Hold with the Seattle Public Library. With a Kindle, you can check out and download digital copies from SPL.
Life is good.
ps - actually, my reading doesn't sound that romantic, does it? I read a book called 'Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West' awhile back, and that led me to do a search on spl.org.

new trails

I keep finding new areas and trails to walk. This morning, when I was headed towards the Kubota Gardens I think (I never know for sure where I'm going to walk sometimes...I just hop in the car and start driving)...I noticed a trail sign by the side of the road. The 'Chief Sealth Trail', up over the hill from here, on the other side of I-5. Very nice, a wide blacktop trail also used by bicycles. Meandering, rolling hills, following along a corridor of electric power towers. I ended up, or at least I stopped and turned around, down by the LRT tracks on MLK Way. A pleasant walk, where I could focus on my walking without being distracted by photo ops?, and I could enjoy the sound of the breeze in my ears.

 

the little white car towards the top center is my Cobalt

my April photos in 55 seconds

an experiment I tried with Windows Movie Maker today

piling

tin man

Forever

'Tatai' is 'father' in Cebuano. Tatai, Inday's father, didn't know very many words in English. When I sat down with him to ask for his daughter's hand in marriage, he said one word to me. Several times.
'FOREVER'

water patterns

I started driving to my favorite walking routes awhile back. It's more rewarding to start right by the river, or right at a trailhead.This morning I was thinking where will I go? Where will I walk? Will I walk, or will I take photos? I decided on some open water today instead of the river.

I was thinking that my photos had become predictable and boring lately. Then nature surprised me. A cold, gray morning...yes, it's still cold in June, and I saw these beautiful amazing shapes and patterns in the water…

maybe in other countries

I liked something Nathan said when I was driving him and a friend to school yesterday. They were talking about a flesh-eating disease or something, and his friend said 'that's no good'. Nathan said something like 'maybe in other countries, but not here. In America we solve our problems with freedom.'
Made me smile...