tiny little hand

I've always been pro-choice, but this photo in yesterday's Times blew me away...

Fast Track in the Philippines

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYXtzswp_kE

A good video about promoting tourism in the Philippines, with a focus on Cebu.

from the Seattle Times' Jerry Brewer:

Wonderful feature story in today's Sports section:


http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/jerrybrewer/2014158064_brewer08.html

man lightning tree...
from yesterday's walk

Errands

I had some "errands" to do around Southcenter yesterday, so my walk was more of an urban walk.
I remember once telling 4 year old Andrea "we need to go do some errands", and she got so excited because she thought we were going to visit Erin, her cousin.
Disappointment.

one of my favorite signs

Super Bowl commercials

My favorite commercial from the Super Bowl was a toss-up between the hard of hearing old folks Chevy commercial and the VW Darth Vader one below:

Art Project, powered by Google

Art Project, powered by Google
"Explore museums from around the world, discover and view hundreds of artworks at incredible zoom levels, and even create and share your own collection of masterpieces."

walking in the dark

underpass in the early morning dark



One of the reasons that I like walking in the early morning dark is that my other senses are heightened. I hear more sounds for example. The crowing roosters on my street are louder, the rain on the leaves, distant traffic (less on a Sunday morning), my foot steps on the pavement... The Visuals are still there, especially the yellows and reds of street lights, and the shadows and lines, but I feel more aware of everything.
Also, I took off my glasses at one point. It's interesting how they get less rain on them when the rains are heavier. This morning was a drizzle, and even with baseball cap, I ended up looking through a maze of itty-bitty raindrops on my lenses.

" 'What is Internet anyway?' asks Gumbel."

Leonard Pitts Jr. / Syndicated columnist -
Change at breakneck speed: not a clue where we're going
Fundamental changes are occurring at unprecedented speed and you and I have not a clue where we're going, what we're going to be when we get there, nor even much time to wonder, writes Leonard Pitts Jr. We are too busy bailing water from the sinking boats of former lives and professions.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2014134320_pitts06.html

drawing

I subscribe to an online version of the Page-a-Day calendar. I chose "Zen" this year, and today's entry, by Howard Ikemoto, was:

"When my daughter was about seven years old, she asked me one day what I did at work. I told her I worked at the college-that my job was to teach people how to draw. She stared back at me, incredulous, and said,
'You mean they forget?' "

Howard Ikemoto

the "Lifer"

I changed my Facebook photo today, to a painting I started one day when I was in Vietnam. I was going to call it "The Lifer", and I was painting with acrylics. If you enlarge the image a little, you can see all of these little multi-colored dots. They're little rat prints. Knowing how fast acrylics dry, those little farts must have continued my painting right after I put it up on my shelf. When I got it down several days later to paint, I realized that the painting was done.

Cedar River Trail in Renton

I had some things to do in Renton this morning, and I've been thinking about exploring some walking routes over there ever since my visit to their library (with the river going right under the building). Although many stretches of the river paths have been blocked because of the high water levels, it was a great walk. I was reminded of my walks in small Japanese towns, many of which had meandering rivers and multiple bridges. It was also very quiet. Very few people out and about, just like in small town Japan...


The library is the large gray structure over the river in the bottom right corner, and I walked only as far as the yellow colored Perimeter Rd halfway up the map. It looks like I could have walked up by the Boeing Plant on Lk Washington if I kept going. Soon...
I took some photos, which I will edit later.

from today's "Sideline Chatter", by the Seattle Times Dwight Perry:

Basketball star Diana Taurasi, to AP, declaring her innocence after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs in Turkey: "Only thing that I'm guilty of is taking too many jump shots."

Twins catcher Joe Mauer, a blue-chip quarterback prospect in high school, isn't second-guessing his decision to play pro baseball. "Not after seeing the hits Aaron Rodgers and Jay Cutler are taking," he told the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

Comedy writer Jerry Perisho, on Farmers Insurance paying $700 million for naming rights to a proposed football stadium in downtown Los Angeles: "Meanwhile, the deductible on that fender-bender in downtown L.A. just went up to $10,000."

Egypt

Watching the events unfold in Egypt, I was thinking back to the Tienamen Square protests in 89. I will never forget watching the video of the man standing in front of the tanks. This photo is from this morning's Times:

bundled up like the Michelin Man

I feel so rich today. If I never fulfill my dream of living in Cebu, at least part-time, I can still be happy. Being so close to the Green River, and my walks... my walks can be a joyous experience, like this morning. It was a cold 36 degrees, but it was so beautiful, with the bright sun and it's early morning angles of light...golden colors, blue sky, all kinds of birds... There was this very large Heron watching me as I walked past, his head turning like an owl, ready to take off as soon as I slowed my pace, or if I pulled out my camera.
I was bundled up like the Michelin Man, and

I was reminded of a little girl I saw walking to school once many years ago. Her mother had bundled her up so much that she could hardly walk. At one point, she stopped and took off one of her gloves. She stiffly bent down at her waist, and with her right arm stretched out, patted her hand in a little rain puddle on the sidewalk. And she brought her wet hand up and patted her face. The memory still makes me smile...

looking across the river, from the shade of the Community Center, the bluff had a warm golden color...

a foggy morning, one day last week...

back to Lincoln Park...

I couldn't help myself. I drove back over to Lincoln Park yesterday morning, after I took Nate to school. Only 18 minutes going, and 15 coming back to the house later. The park, and Puget Sound is very different from my river trail walks...






mossy trees reaching out...

Lincoln Park

Super walk this morning with brother John (sounds like a Monk). We went to Lincoln Park in West Seattle, and we did a loop from the parking lot in the lower right hand corner of this photo, into the park going NW over to a path looking down on the water from above, and then down to the water and walked back along the beach to the ferry terminal and our car.
I'll be going back often I think. It's worth the 20-25? minute drive from my house, and I will take photos for sure...

Ultima Residences Fuente Tower 3

photo album from a "Cebu Investments" post on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/settings/?tab=privacy&ref=mb#!/album.php?aid=2008593&id=1001810272

I'll be uploading some of our own photos soon...

from this morning's walk...

brown river




one eye tree

looking up through the tree branches

Take the brown colors of the Green River right now, add in a cold, crisp, sunny morning and some white clouds...

Sinulog 2011

Some day, I want to be there for the Sinulog festival, and I plan to take a thousand photos!! There were some wet days at this year's Sinulog. This photo is one of my favorites, by Leylander. I first saw the photo in one of the forums I follow:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1293081&page=29
His blog
http://mycebuphotoblog.wordpress.com/ is one of the top blogs about Cebu...

I wish I was a poet.
Extraordinary walk this morning. My eyes popped open at 2am, and instead of rolling over and getting frustrated about my lack of sleep, I got up and began my day.
I got out for my walk around 430, and although it's dark, it's magical. The river color is a dark silver, with a touch of blue and it's moving very fast with all the 'pineapple express' flooding. I can't capture it with my camera, but I might plug in a few shots and video anyway.
I did decide that I'm going to get some reflective tape and create a one-of-a-kind vest/bandolier thing, to add to my flashlight ensemble. My daughter who loves me gave me a short lecture yesterday when we were walking one of my routes later in the morning. She said "you walk along here in the dark?"

Hero Pilot Pulls Out the Stops to Help Grandpa Reach Funeral: 2011's Most Heartwarming Travel Story?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20110116/us_time/httpnewsfeedtimecom20110113pilotwhocaresthemostheartwarmingairlinestoryof2011xidrssfullnationyahoo

so I decided to grow a beard...

Nate was looking at some old photos of me a few weeks ago, a few from when I was in the Army, and some from my "Artist" days, and he said both times "Is that you?!" So I decided to grow a beard.
I decided to try making a video, and I shot a progression of beard shots over a period of 8 days or so. If I chose to prolong this experiment, and if there was a little more pepper in my salt and pepper facial hair, it might even look good. But off it's coming... soon!
After I opened the Windows Movie Maker program, I decided to plug in some other stuff... I was watching the Seahawks game, and realized that this might be more fun. The Bears have an 18 point lead right now. This video stuff is sort of fun. A whole different process for sure, but I can see myself trying to do some more sometime...

I was walking a path north of here this morning that I haven't walked in awhile, along the river by some of the Boeing buildings, and surprise! They're doing some thinning out...






Some ugly ass old trees to be sure, but I've always (sort of) liked the patterns, textures and colors...

Soos Creek Trail

I still have to figure out some things with my Lumix. I did a few videos, and followed those with some regular still shots. The camera settings were off somehow then, but I'll upload a few of the shots here anyway. It was a beautiful walk, rain and all, because I walked a stretch of the Soos Creek Trail in Kent that I hadn't tried before. A wonderful, marshy area, with a curvy, winding pathway, almost a roadway, that goes on forever... Very nice, and I will definitely return on a nice sunny day.