Category: pictures

for the birds

I’m a pretty big fan of buying organic. I do it whenever practicable, not out of any real commitment to keeping impurities and chemicals out of my body, but because I figure it’s a painless way to at least reduce the contaminants in my blood stream, and, you know, feel like a good person.

Lately, however, I’m starting to think that pesticides are the way to go. First it was the worms in the corn, then the spiders (and their eggs!) on the kale, and tonight, well…let’s just say I don’t eat butterfly.

Chrysalis in the Rabe

catching up

*sigh*

I’d been without power for about 20 hours, but my upstairs neighbors, who had power in some rooms, were kind enough to run me an extension cord so I could power those things which I deemed to be most important. That, of course, meant my computer (except this morning when it meant my coffee grinder), and I was nearly finished with a longish post when suddenly my lights turned on and the computer turned off. So, of course, I lost the post. But the power seems to now be restored to the entire house, and I think they’re done messing with the fuse box, so with any luck I will be able to make it through this post without losing it. I don’t have the energy/patience to recreate it in its entirety, though, so you’re going to get the abridged version.

I’ve posted pictures of my family decorating my grandmother’s Christmas tree, and some older pictures of one of my cats.

I had an excellent Christmas. I hope you did, too. My immediate family tried some new approaches this year, designed to minimize consumerism and maximize recipient satisfaction, which worked out well. My best gift was that my mother cleaned and repaired my favorite winter coat, which was in need of both. Well, that and the iPod Nano I got from my aunt, who wasn’t bound by the same restrictions as the immediate family. Really, though, I genuinely wanted everything I got, which is a great feeling, and there’s been none of that post-Christmas “Crap, what do I do with this?” dread. Also, I asked for mechanical pencil lead and earplugs, both of which I ran out of a couple of weeks before Christmas. Waiting for them made me enjoy receiving them so much that they might also be near the top of the list of favorite gifts. Perhaps instant gratification really isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Moving on….

On Friday I went with Biff and some others to see chesterattic play the Abbey Bar at ABC, which was a good time. Matt, one of the Abbey bartenders, should be visited often and tipped well.

I should probably disclose that chesterattic’s drummer is of my circle of friends, but the music, which they describe as “NuJazz”, was really good, and I don’t think I’m being biased. I feel like I’ve been listening to a lot of jazz lately, but it’s really just been two events at McDaniel and Friday night. But that’s three more jazz events than normal, and it’s kind of growing on me. That doesn’t mean that I can begin to describe chesterattic in any meaningful way, so if you’re curious you should just check them out for yourself.

In addition to hearing the band, I met Fred Otteson, who plays bass for the group (and is the father of drummer and friend Erik Otteson) and writes a Dillsburg blog for PennLive. It’s not entirely Dillsburg, but it is Dillsburg-centric, and is miraculously interesting, given its focus.

I also ran into several friends who I haven’t seen in years, and had a chance to do a little bit of catching up with them. That was better than any music could ever be.

…

I think there was even more in the original post, but I don’t remember what it was, and I’m sure you’ve heard enough. Oh! I just remembered. Just this: the new year is one of the few holidays I really feel motivated to celebrate, but I don’t think I have ever, in my life, or at least not since earliest adolescence, had a really good New Year’s Eve, or at least not one worthy of the year I hope to have. What’s up with that?

Pictures galore

Okay! I’ve reorganized all the pictures (sans those from yesterday and today) and uploaded them.

Seattle
Washington State
Oregon/Northern Cali
Bay Area
Winchester House
Nevada
SoCal
Tijuana
Arizona

I’ve been doing a little bit of writing while on the road but none of it is really ready to be posted. Next on my list of things to do is create a central page for all the pictures and words, but it’ll be a couple of days. Maybe even after I get home.

I’m writing right now from a little coffeehouse in Oklahoma City called Uncommon Grounds. I like this city, but it might just be that I like the coffeehouse. Battery dying, must go…

Moore & more from the road

First the boring stuff:

Article from The Daily Star encouraging a national dialogue before we create any new departments or cabinet posts or take any other related action. Nothing blazingly new, but makes some interesting points. I take it forgranted that we should have this kind of dialogue, but it’s become obvious that not the entire population feels the same way. I’m glad this author is calling for one in a largely non-partisan way. Thanks again to Kristin Dailey for the link.

‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ has been banned in Kuwait. This isn’t too suprising considering the film’s slant, but is yet another illustration of the danger of that angle. A working relationship with the Middle East is important and perpetuating the idea that involvement with Arab governments is tantamount to condoning terrorism will get us nowhere in the long run, even if it gets Bush out of office in November.

But on to the fun stuff!

I’m writing from the floor of the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Literally, from the floor. LinuxWorld is happening here and while Kevin geeks out at a PGP key signing event, I’m using the free wireless to upload some pictures. The battery on my laptop was dead, though, so I had to find an outlet. This puts me in a hallway, back against the wall, watching the Linuxites as they trickle to their Birds of a Feather meetings. Fascinating, truly.

Anyway, I don’t have all the pictures ready to go, but since I don’t know how long I’ll get to sit here (or how long my legs will tolerate it), I’m uploading what I do have ready now. It’s a bit of Seattle, but mostly scenery as we travelled through Washington State. We took a ferry from Edmonds to Kingston, then followed 101 west and south to Oregon. I’ll have Oregon and California pictures up sometime in the near future.

http://www.sunsetchaser.net/pictures/wash20040730/

Enjoy!

Blogging from Seattle

Seattle, Day 1

Above is a link to the pictures I took yesterday.  If you click on a picture you’ll find exciting descriptions providing a depth not present in the brief captions.   Below, you’ll find discussion of things I didn’t take pictures of.  Whee!

I arrived in Seattle at 2:30 AM Monday night/Tuesday morning, so sleeping was top on my list of things to do.  Tuesday, morning, though, Kevin and I started off with a 1 PM breakfast at Piroshki On Broadway, a very cute Russian bakery/restaurant.  I had never heard of piroshkies, but loved the warm and savory beef & cheese pastry served by a thick Slavic woman with a thick Russian accent.  From there we made a requisite stop at Starbucks and sat outside until scared off by the stench of other patrons and local street-dwellers.

Later in the day we headed down to Pioneer Square to take the Underground Tour Kevin had heard about.  For $10 each we spent 90 minutes learning about the history of Seattle and walking through the underground sidewalks and buildings buried when they redistributed the cliffs to level the land in the late 19th century.  Our tour guide, Gael (pronounced Gayle), was sharp and funny (though trying much too hard) and clearly enjoyed her job.  While my preference is to see that kind of thing without the non-stop narration of a guide, it was a good time, and educational too.

When we parked to take the tour, I noticed that we were right in front of a place called Cow Chip Cookies.  Maria James had recommended Cow Chips to me, but I’d never have remembered to seek them out had Kevin not parked where he did.  I’m glad she’d mentioned them, though, and that we happened upon the small store, as they were as delectable as promised.  Along with eating warm, soft, chocolatey cookies, we also learned from the woman behind the counter that they don’t have Tootsie Rolls in Australia.

It had been overcast during my entire previous visit to Seattle back in May, so although I’d heard people talk about Mt Rainier I had no firsthand proof of its existence and, to be quite honest, was beginning to believe that it was just a giant myth designed to separate the posers from the true Seattlites.  Since the weather on this visit has been beautiful, though a bit hazy, it seemed time to dispel my misconceptions, so we headed south on I-5 to get a bit closer.  It turns out that this mountain does exist and is as impressive as it is purported to be.  Even now, in late July, its peak is shrouded in snow, hovering so far above the horizon it could easily be mistaken for clouds.

After driving through Seattle’s rush hour we were getting hungry, so we headed back to Capitol Hill to the Wing Dome.  Kevin loves the wings there, believing them to be the best anywhere, so I was excited.  Unfortunately, I was disappointed.  The owner apparently conducted focus groups to create her recipe prior to introducing Seattlites to the idea of hot wings in 1994.  The focus group, though, must have had flawed taste as the result, while good, resembles traditional buffalo wings only in that it is chicken wings covered with sauce.  The sauce tastes nothing like our East Coast wings and, frankly, would not be capable of sating my cravings.  The blue cheese provided was sub-par as well, as if they’d simply taken grocery store salad dressing and poured into a small plastic cup.  Kokomos is still the best.

To finish off a very full day, we then walked to Kincora to meet Lydi.  A laid back “Irish pub” place with a neighborhood feel, but overwhelmingly loud and swelteringly hot.  After a few drinks, we relocated to Bad Juju where they had a fish tank in the wall…fifteen feet up.  Vastly different from Kincora, Bad Juju was of the dark and deliberately cool atmosphere.  Had it been crowded I imagine the patrons would have been annoyingly trendy for my taste, but as we were nearly the only ones there I enjoyed it.

I’ll be in Seattle until Friday morning, at which time Kevin and I will hit the road for the following two weeks.  I hope to be blogging throughout, so stay tuned!

Easton Museum of Pez Dispensers

sunset chaser :: Easton Museum of Pez Dispensers

Jared came down from Massachusetts yesterday and today we drove 2 hours to Easton, PA to visit the Easton Museum of Pez Dispensers.

You see, Jared collects Pez dispensers. I briefly dabbled in it without getting obsessed, so he knew I’d be a good person to visit the museum with. Plus, I’m probably closer to it geographically than anyone else he knows. But anyway, when he suggested it, I figured, why the hell not?

It was a lot of fun. If you ever happen to be in Easton (yeah, right), I recommend it. The museum is basically one big room with 1500 dispensers displayed in a variety of ways. A lot of the dispensers have been re-painted or otherwise altered to create what they call “Fantasy Pez”. These are less authentic, of course, but it was fun to see what some people did with them.

I won’t waste a lot of time describing the museum as I took nearly a hundred pictures, most of which are posted in the gallery for your enjoyment, but it was clear that the proprieters love what they do and had a blast putting together all the displays. Because of that care, and the energy of the museum, I had a blast.