Jan 29: Shelves!!!

After work today, I was determined to finally put up some shelves that my wonderful, lovely mom surprised me with for Christmas. I still have some work to do, the wall seems a little empty still, but it is a start, eh?

Jan 28: Office Trail

Craving daylight, I took a quick stroll around the creek behind my office this afternoon. Plus, I wanted to test out my new lens! I knew that the little patch of birch trees would be the perfect spot. I love how you can't even tell that there is a busy road just to the right of this area.

Technical note: I used the black & white settings on my d80 & didn't make any edits. I think I need to change my "about" section for this blog already... I seem to be using my d80 a lot!

Jan 27: State of the Union

ooo, look! Its the President... in my living room!

Jan 26: Tulips

It was so beautiful today. I repeat... it was sooooo beautiful today! I had the best drive home... the sun was gently setting, the temperature was brisk but comfortable & the radio was playing my favorite sounds (Black Eyed Peas in particular... I gotta feelin.... ooowweee...). I grabbed a bite to eat, took care of a few things, grabbed my D80, and headed out the door eager to try out my new gear.

Sadly, I missed the good light. Oh well, I went to a park in Woodinville anyway for about twenty minutes, but didn't have much luck. I still wanted to take some experimental frames, so I took this one of my lovely tulips. Pretty, yes?

Jan 25: Recoup

Well, shoot. Guess I wasn't fully recovered. Today ended up being another day of staying close to the comforts of home. Ugh. Oh well, I am thankful that I have sick leave, so that I can take time to recoup. I spent the morning resting, the afternoon & early evening editing pics & managed to update fantastico with my pics from Tacoma. I also found some Crystal Light with electolytes, and am well on my way to being really really hydrated.

Jan 24: I Make Robots Too

ahhh yeah. Just like this powerful rc truck, I was energized and ready to go today! I woke up nicely recovered from yesterday's funk & had a nice, relaxing day of RC speed trials, KFC grilled chicken ( & green beans!) and errands to Fred Meyer. The pic above is an ERevo RC truck. I am impressed with the modifications dma has been able to add to it; it is waaay beyond my brainpower, and he tricks this thing out with ease. Pretty cool.

p.s. I bought a new toy today! stay tuned ;)

Jan 23: The Day I Slept

yyyyuck. My trip to the conservatory was cut short yesterday thanks to a bit of good ol' food poisoning. good times. Anyway, I spent pretty much the whole day sleeping. I managed to snap this one picture of my blanket. Oh the things we do for art.

Jan 22: De Colores

Ugh. Winter. It has been so, so very very dreary. Winter. Early in the week I decided that a trip to the Volunteer Park Conservatory was definitely in order. Along with the butterfly house at the science center, this place is one of my favorite spots of tranquility. Thankfully, DMA was able to join me and experience all the lovely girly flowers. awwwwe.

(p.s. oh yeah, I forgot to mention that this one was taken with my D80. It was so pretty, I couldn't resist!)

Jan 21: Lil Pick Me Up

ooooh man.... today was a challenging day at work. Sometimes, just sometimes the daily stuff just wears me out. A few little tulips later & my spirits were lifted a lil bit. nice.

Aaaah, can't wait for spring!

Jan 20: IDK

After work, I headed straight up north. I had a nice little happy hour with my mom at LaHa (the BEST pico de gallo!) then headed over to my sister's house. Dave & Amy were visiting, so I was entertained watching Corbin & Little David play. I tried taking pictures of them, but dang it, they moved too fast! I settled for one of Corbin's toys. Sadly, though, I have no idea who this character is. I am getting old. damn.

Jan 19: Lazy Movie Night

The contents of the Netflix envelope is Julie and Julia, on Blu Ray. My first, official Blu Ray via Netflix. woohoo-hooo! viva la blue ray! (OH, and I left my camera in my car, so I took this pic with my sweet cell phone. Thankfully, it has a black & white option!)

Jan 18: Artism, part II

Monday was a lovely day... the sun came out for a visit, dampering the winter blahs a little bit. DMA and I trekked around Sandpoint for most of the afternoon. I was on the look out for interesting architectural elements (funky lamps, old brass fixtures, etc.) but since it used to be military barracks, the area was pretty bleak as far as ornamentation. It was still a cool atmosphere. The weather might have been like Spring, but the light sure wasn't! We headed back to the UW for some night shooting. I took the frame above (with my D 80.... again!) near the Physics/Astronomy building.

Jan 17: T-town

Sunday's adventure brought my good friend, dma, and I to Tacoma. I have never really walked around downtown Tacoma, and it was pretty cool. I haven't fully edited my pics from that day, but it looks like I should have a bunch of great ones... old architecture elements, pretty cool tagging, antique bridges, AND an exclusive, speedy photo shoot at the historic Rialto Theater.

(OH! And I almost forgot... I was so wrapped up in taking fun T-town shots that I forgot to use my Elph... the frame above is from my D80. It IS crooked, but I'll fix it!)

Jan 16: Off Broadway

On this night, dma and I were wandering around Capitol Hill. We passed by B & O Espresso and he commented that he used to hang out here back in highschool. I noticed a proposed land use sign on the building. I think they are planning on a six story building in its place? Figured it would be good to snap a quick reference frame.

Jan 15: Spicy

To celebrate the placement of their new sign, New Dan, John, Mike, Lan and I went to our favorite teriyaki spot in Bothell. The old sign was pretty cool; kind of retro-ish, lined by a bunch of small white lights. I actually had intended to get a frame of it at twilight sometime... shoot, I waited too long!

Jan 14: Vino Joe

I think I left my camera at work! oh no! Luckily, my D80 & bff the 50mm were ready to help. I took this one using the in-camera black & white feature, not making any edits. I had intended on taking my camera with me gene juarez today and capturing a frame of a close up of scissors or something... but maybe next time?

Jan 13: The Before Pic

No, this is not my audition photo for Hoarders ;)

This is the "before" shote of my future at-home studio.

aaaaah, someday... someday.

(p.s. Stay tuned for the "after" shot!)

Jan 12: Breburn

My plans for Tuesday evening were cancelled... again. Ugh.

Luckily, a few text messages to dma and I had an excellent back-up plan: a trip to the very fancy new Bravern in downtown Bellevue. It is such a gorgeous place, complete with all the lavish things lavish people need, including boutique cupcakes. I am a big cupcake fan; I have even stood in line in New York for cupcakes at the Magnolia Bakery. My little Trophy box was the subject of quite a few pics on this shoot, and even served as a tripod for some water scenes. This pic was taken across the street from the Bravern at the Bellevue transit center. lavish.

Jan 11: Not Passive Aggressive

I try my best to remember to bring some kind of a bag with me when I head to the grocery store, and have quite a collection scattered around my house & car ;) I just grab any ol bag. I don't know why, but my local Alby's cashiers don't really like my random collection. One cashier in particular seemed super annoyed super, so, being somewhat inclined to th passive aggressive side, I *always* make sure to bring a random bag when I go to this particular Albertsons. HA!

On this particular Monday, as I was making a quick yogurt run to the Bothell Alby's, I grabbed what I thought was a random bag out of my back seat, secretly looking forward to the annoyed look on the cashier's face with my random bag. Imagine my surprise when, gasp, it turned out to be a stupid Albertson's bag. Guess I won't be annoying any cashiers today. sigh.

Jan 10: Go Eagles!

On Sunday, dma and I headed up north to check out eagle territory. This is supposed to be prime eagle season along the Skagit... welllll.. we were lucky to see a few soaring over Highway 20, but once we got to the river we only found one lonely eatle. It was pretty far away & even my teleconverted frames turned out waaaaay too fuzzy ;) on top of that... I left my SD card for my Elph in my laptop. grrrr. The frame for today is from my Nikon D80, using a 70-300mm lens.

Jan 9: For Winnie

This afternoon, I drove up to A-town to celebrate the life of a wonderful lady. Winnie was the choir director at my church while I was growing up and I was graced with the opportunity to work with her during my high school years, when I played my flute with the choir. She was always so happy to see me, and made me feel so welcome. Winnie also introduced me to the music of Taize; music that I find wonderfully calming and helps me feel centered.

Thank you dear sweet Winnie.

To sing is to pray twice.

Jan 8: Rrrrainy

Rainy, rainy day. I took this pic while stopped on the freeway. I turned off my wiper blades to let the rain collect then rested my camera on my steering wheel as I creeped down 405. Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy, too, but Sunday promises clouds. Yay!

Jan 7: Artism

i don't think i was supposed to be in here.

ooops ;)

Jan 6: Seattle Series

Today's photo was taken in the King Street Station while my dear friend and I kicked off the Seattle Series 2010. Its always nice to be a side-kick on the Seattle Series, and today was no exception. The weather was great: crisp, clear and wonderfully brisk. We covered a lot of ground.... Pioneer Square, downtown, Westlake, the market, a bit of waterfront & back again. Not too shabby.

Jan 5: Dark Ages

oh.my.gosh.

Today, my office spent some time in the Dark Ages... our internet was down all morning! Thankfully, it was a day when I didn't have a price announcement or a press release to post. To complicate matters, our IT guy was out today. I had to actually *fax* something to Dallas.

oh. my. gosh.

Jan 4: Back on Track

I am embarrassed to note that these are not new shoes.

Armed with my old school nano and faithful heart rate monitor, I ventured over to the gym at my apartment today for some, uh, quality time with the treadmill. Thankfully, there weren't many people there, which was kind of surprising since it that time of the year again. I am definitely not complaining though.

Jan 3: Wanderings

I am guessing that "wanderings" will be recurring blog title. I love wandering. No, I loave it. Hmmm, maybe I should have named this blog "Wanderings, the 2010 edition?"

This day had its ups and downs. Lost my contact (why, oh, why do I lack such grace), encountered too many snowy roads and ended up at an unusally bleak Rattlesnake Lake. The evening picked up, though, with a nice trip to Coulon to check out the last little bit of holiday lights.

I chose a pic from Rattlesnake Lake to show how low the lake is right now. I am pretty darn sure I will be back there again this year, so it will be nice to have this image to compare it to, no? I also love the grooves and textures of the once vibrant trees.

Jan 2: New Shelves!

Today was a day of organization. Gotta start the new year off right... right?

I worked on my "office" and made a nice dent in the last of my boxes (sadly, I still have MORE unpacking). By early evening I found myself at Lowe's with my mom, shopping for shelves. We rounded out the evening with the usual mom stuff... dinner at the Spagetti Factory (I heart creamy pesto!), and a lengthy treasure hunt through the nearest Ross.

I haven't even attempted to hang the shelves yet; hahaha they are still in my car as I am typing this. oh dear.

Jan 1: New Year's Day

I still can't believe how fast 2009 flew by. I mean really.

After unthinking dinner, dma and I found ourselves cruising around looking for someplace to photograph. We ended up in a familiar haunt, the Kirkland waterfront.

I took this photo because I love Caffe Ladro: I've had some memorable cups of coffe in various ladro spots. I also liked the cool round window on the ladro building AND I couldn't resist a frame with cool motion blur action opportunities.

I have mixed feelings for 2010, for the next decade, actually. Ok, ok, one thing at a time, eh?