Whhoooo!

Last afternoon, to continue my tradition about talking about the previous day, I headed down to the University District to get a new bicycle for all of these biking trips I go on on Saturdays. The shop is called "Recycled Cycles". They sell new, used, refurbished bikes, parts and accessories. They happened to have a sale going on... and I got this beautiful bike... it rides great!

I tried it out yesterday evening on the Sammamish trail in Bothell, and took my camera along and mostly just took pictures for my project. A good friend of mine came over a little later, and we enjoyed Monk together. Definitely a fun time, and a fun episode with only a few quirks. (My friend didn't understand Randy... Gaahhhh! Neither did I!)

Today, I got up for the bike ride, but I had to really pull myself out of bed. It was a demanding week with all the weird hours and extra work I did at school to try to get my camera/computer stuff to work. Turns out I still can't use Photoshop on my own laptop yet because it doesn't have enough RAM. (Just got some on newegg.com - that'll be here around Wednesday) It only has 2 or 3 hundred MB... That's why it goes slow sometimes! LOL

So the ride was amazing with my new wheels! I went so much faster! And didn't hold up the other guys half as much! Actually, we shaved 20-25 minutes off our 9 mile ride to Seward Park. A record time! All because I had a real road bike that didn't make my legs burn with every slight incline... :) So now I have two bikes that can be used for very different purposes. And I love it!

Fun, Fun, Fun!
Jp

Class N' Things

I don't mind being inspired every Thrusday night. Class is so darn fun!

Thursdays this quarter are all about discussing what photography is and thinking about our perspectives of the world and how we see. I left work early again in order to print (success!). Converting my raw photos Wednesday night worked! It's making sense now!

Last night we watched a short interview with Henri Cartier-Bresson, the very, very famous French photographer. He was very counter-cultural... he never accepted awards and scorned public attention. He thought that fame was for the actors and politicians - not for artist photographers. He believed in capturing the moment, so he went out where "moments" would happen. He was simple. He never thought of photography as his work, but as his "hard pleasure". Most students of photography start with his books. He lived to be 96 years old.

This is the documentary on Annie Leibovitz that I watched on the plane going to China in August. We watched the very same thing in class last night... and it was so cool to see it again after going through the first quarter of photography. She's amazing.

So as I walked out of the art building, I took more pictures...
(I'll never stop :)

Jp

Consternation

'
All I can say is "Why?!" Why on earth could talking about beliefs and wondering about justice be an acceptable cause for imprisonment?

Man, we really have it easy here. If the United States were to imprison everyone who criticised their government online, heck, they'd have to move the government to make room for the prison.

(Found through an organization that I support.)

Jp

To Add to All the Steps...

I just learned the process for releasing Work Instructions, which includes...

(glancing at notes)

too many different screens to use and important rules to remember.
Good thing I wrote it down!

If all the different steps I've been learning recently for computer functions were dance steps, I would be able to choreograph a whole show pretty soon. LOL

Jp

Joy!

'
Tom Beckett just made my day!

He's "delighted that [they] haven't been forgotten by the fans".

(Big Smile!)

Jp

My Head is Pretty Much Full

That's what happens when learning how to navigate and operate Photoshop for a couple hours straight. :) Especially when you're still not used to using a Mac... and after a busy day at work... and after trying to figure out what version of Photoshop to get... [student discount package of standard Photoshop and other programs for $200 - instead of the $1400 retail off the site! :0 ] ... and... you get the picture!

I had a great time in class, as always. We were learning functions tonight. I was frazzled before I began though, because I went in early to work on my RAW images, and found out that I need to do that at home. So tomorrow will be early to work instead of Jazzercise to help make up the 2 hours. But class just makes me happy! The teacher is hilarious and the students are great... and everybody loves to help everybody. And we're all in it together! Fun Fun Fun!

I hope I'll be able to remember everything...

Jp

Munday

Well, here we are again. My brother did not ship yet, because of a technicality that even his recruiter can't believe. You've got to love the military! So... another 2-3 weeks.

At work I started training more for my third job again... I've finally been given access to all the screens I need, so my head is pretty full. So along with the regular jobs of quality-checking documents and coordinating the handling of rejected hardware, I'm also going to be responsible for releasing documents such as hardware drawings in our system so they will be available for production. Phew!

Tomorrow I'm going into work early so I can leave early so I can work in Photoshop in the lab at school before class. I so need to buy it from the Bookstore! I hear there's a student discount...

Couldn't believe the weather! After our dusting of snow yesterday, the sky was crystal clear last night, so this morning it was 23 degrees when I went to Jazzercise. Brrrrrrrrr!

My eyes are shutting, so I think I'll call it a night.

Jp

Sunday (that's today)

I woke up without an alarm! Oh My! So far it's been a nice relaxing day.

Church was great and Mom came with me today! She usually goes somewhere else. We then brought Subway home for lunch, along with a few avocados. Mmmm! And we're having MORE SNOW! It's not on the roads yet, but for around here, this is way more than normal. It's 34 outside, so it probably won't stay long.

I think I'm going to go put my room back together.

[So he left a minute ago at 6:23 pm. I'm doing much better this time... everything was much quieter and calmer than last time. And it helped that we already went through a "last time". It wasn't a shock anymore... The couple extra weeks we had with him were certainly nice. I wish him strength, discipline and Godspeed as he goes on this mighty adventure. Blessings to you, my friend. (Posted at 6:24PM, PST)]

Jp

Saturday (that was yesterday).

So I actually slept in! That was fun! Biking was cancelled, but I wasn't going to go anyway, because of it being my Mom's birthday and a good day to go (horse) riding too.

I remember making myself breakfast, and wiping up the kitchen door from the condensation... I think I must have just messed around for a few hours before M and I left to go riding. We went to to post office and Fred Meyer's on the way and didn't get to Carnation until around 3 or so. My! It was biting cold outside! They were still eating their hay when we arrived, so we spent a little time scooping the poop from the field. (Hey! It's fun when there's two doing it! LOL) Besides a few fights with Roo, everything went swimmingly; and it was such lovely fun to get back in the saddle again. We deviated from our usual path a little, and that was the major cause of resistance from Mr. Stink-a-Roo. (Buck-a-Roo is his real name.)

When we got back to the house, we all went for a celebratory dinner to Fishbone, for our first time. Yummm! And they had beautiful paintings of freshwater fish too... my gosh! I love that place! I had a spicy shrimp fettuccine. During a chat that I was very late getting to, 9:15!, I watched Star Trek VI with my siblings, followed by a hysterical episode of "Scrubbs" and then two later episodes of "Fresh Prince" and two of "Home Improvement". I have to say, ST 6 is probably my favorite Star Trek movie... at least it makes the most sense. LOL! I do enjoy 4 and 2&3 as well. But I felt very distracted during chat... I only did it because my brother is leaving in... oh, would you look at the time... 3 hours... and I needed more time with him. :( Don't think I could ever have enough though... funny! I don't think I'd ever imagine myself saying that... especially if I was 14 and he was 10... :) lol :(

Jp

It was the worst of times, it was the best of times.

So, Zac's heading out for sure this Sunday night. At least this time I know I'm really going to be sad, so I think I might be able to prepare myself some... what. I'm dreading it.

But when I got home from work, my Canon G-10 had come in the mail! Whooohooo! My goodness! It's really nice! It's fast and beautiful and shoots in RAW!

So, I had to start working on my photography project this weekend, but I was a little unsure of my project. I was considering shooting pollution in the Duwamish River near downtown Seattle (since I've volunteered with People for Puget Sound), but I didn't know when or where to start. I did know that I needed a camera case, so I found a store in Kenmore in the Yellow Pages and headed out to get at least one thing accomplished today (besides the little vacuuming in my room)(it was too late to go horseback riding).

When I got to the I-405 N on-ramp, it was backed up, so I went the back way to Bothell to get on SR-522... but once I got to the bridge to get into Bothell, it was backed up there too. So I decided to turn off right there at the Bothell Landing on the Sammamish River Trail and just walk to Kenmore (2.5 miles). The sun was going down, so I had some beautiful opportunities to take pictures on the way...(since I brought my camera to fit in the case)... and while shooting, I decided to switch my project to the Sammamish Trail, probably focusing on the bridges over the river. This is the north route of the Burke-Gilman Trail that I have mentioned before... I love this place! Perfect for photographing and close to home! By the time I was done at the store, it was pretty darn dark outside, so I hopped on a bus that I used to ride my Junior year of college, and made my way back to Bothell without stumbling around on a dark, deserted paved path in the pitch black of 7 pm. It was a fun, adventurous trip!

[Just finished watching Monk... better than last week! Unfortunately, we saw some really Dorky Disher again... but I enjoyed the episode a lot. Monk forgot to wash his hands! But I don't like how they get my hopes up for a possible returning character (wishful thinking, I know), and then dash it to pieces at the end. Oh well! It was lovable and believable this time! Touching really...]

Jp

Discoveries

Last night, after a long day of work, and a quick dinner, my brother and I headed to downtown Bellevue for the Lincoln Square Cinema... it was my first time there, but my bro is a regular... I was very impressed. It's two stories up in a very fancy mall; the main lobby is circular, with all the theater doors in a ring surrounding it. We were only a little early, but the vast expanse of dark, leather-like seats was completely empty when we walked in. We went high up in the middle. I think there was one movie in the previews that looked interesting, but otherwise... ? I think I'll have to miss out on the opportunities.

My goodness, Defiance was good! And not because of the satisfying ingredient of dead Nazis and guns... as I've heard some bloggers require for good movies - :) No, it was just excellent... it's so hard to describe... they made it feel real - but believably real. What a story they had to tell! My goodness! 1,200 people surviving for years in the forest while actively being hunted by German soldiers... What the heck?! I don't have any idea about the level of historical accuracy, but if what they portrayed was mostly true, about being bombed and attacked, these people were amazing! They laid down suppressive fire like they were an organized army! They fought hard against so many things: hunger, bitter cold, Germans, boredom, fatigue... etc. Oh, and Daniel Craig was good too. Holy cow! As my brother said, "That's the best ten bucks I've spent in a long time."

Today (skipping ahead) I had a five-hour training class at work called "Insights" Training. I answered a few questions about how I normally react to things on a form a few weeks ago, and then this company generated a summary, speaking about my behavior and how I relate to others. I was surprised that a lot of it sounded about right. They have a color system, and I am a "Blue" analytical person, while the rest of my group is pretty much the "Yellow" extroverted people. I'm not sure if I would classify myself as strongly as they did, but I suppose that while I'm at work, and while I'm not with close friends, I tend to be pretty introverted. I like to be reserved until I've come to know you... (I suppose)... because once I've made a friend, I am pretty intensely loyal to them... why am I thinking of Betty? LOL! I'm trying to not be too introverted though, ever since I realized I was so very much so in Community College. I like to take risks and try new things and travel... oh, my! do I!

And then tonight in photography class, we talked forever about toning and bleaching film prints... which was only very slightly interesting, because I am going to do only digital now (because this will also be new - fine printing digital images). We then watched a film by a fabulously simple, fun-loving and famous photographer, Keith Carter. He loved just making pictures! He loved pretty much everyone he met! He went to "graduate school" by taking a three week trip to New York when he was in his 20's, and spending all of the time in the MoMA, looking at famous photographer's works. He once heard a playwright speak about belonging to a place, and letting that influence your art. My! I am inspired!

On to tomorrow!
Jp

Day by Day

(one of my favorite hymns... sigh)

Yesterday, once done with work, I enjoyed another lovely dinner at home. But after that, I spent the evening - and late into the night - in the library, because 24 came on... uggg. My sister and I spent a bit of time watching some old Muppet Shows on YouTube, 3 and a half of them, I think. Very silly and random, just like us! I then spent some time on my website, and then got my pictures together for class. But then, as I was checking Yahoo, I came across pictures from the inauguration preparation and spent way too much time looking through them! Let's just say I was very tired this morning, and nearly fell asleep at the stoplight by the UW :)

I have become addicted to the internet lately... it's pretty, um, addictive. Tomorrow I'm going to try to back off a little bit... Lord, help me! I think it's all Facebook's fault.

Tonight in class we're working with "Adobe Bridge" and the teachers are viewing our photos.

I am rather proud to be an American today... regardless of politics (which I dislike). I'll have to see a re-run of the swearing in or read the speech online.

Jp

Day of Rest

Today was good. I woke up with an alarm to go to church, but I took too much time washing my hair and finding out I got my period to go... so I happened upon my sister listening to a previous sermon that has been podcast (all of them are) and I listened as well. Didn't do much today, but I did end up getting many of the pictures for my shooting assignment this week. I'm supposed to come to class on Tuesday with 24 pictures of a color I was assigned: orange. I was surprised how many colors of that I could find in the house... crayons, pencils and oranges are obvious, but what about my ceramic clownfish? or my stuffed crab? or the ten or so paperbacks with orange bindings? It was a fun assignment.

But something did happen a little later after a pizza lunch with the family. Becky came over and we played a lot of good Skip-Bo and then watched four episodes of Remember WENN... Hilary's Agent through Pratfall... As we both had some scholastic endeavors to pursue, she went home and I bought my camera on Amazon and then read in my textbook. Then with the conclusion of the Pittsburgh Steeler's victory, we put in our movie from Netflix and watched "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?". Loved it! It even generated a meaningful and interesting conversation afterwards between my sister, my parents and myself. I like it when we have good conversations.

My brother just came up here a second ago and I showed him the book I found at B&N yesterday at the University Village when I was waiting for people to show up for lunch at World Wraps... a competent illustrated history of the U. S. Marine Corps. It was rather inexpensive for it's 1 & 1/2 inch binding and square foot dimensions. Very colorful and informative to say the least! So I lent it to my brother and he was pleased.

Another week...
Jp

Untitled

Well, you know you're living in a great place if you don't mind being stuck in traffic to enjoy the scenery... While driving home across the SR-520 bridge from another 18 mile bike ride (exactly like last week) I savored the view of the sun setting behind me on an extraordinarily, uncommonly sunny day. Lake Washington was a light turquoise-blue and it was ultra-reflective with the lack of wind. I could see all the mountains encircling me... the cascades to the north and east and Rainier to the south, jutting into the cloudless sky. My gosh, I love it here.

The bike ride was easier this week, but I fear it was only because I figured out that my seat needed to be raised about six inches to make it easier on my knees. Gosh! My knees were the only things that suffered from the last ride! I was surprised I wasn't all sore... I still have no idea. Maybe it was me being uncommonly faithful to go to Jazzercise since the new year (knock on wood). Friday was difficult to get myself in gear.

I'm still lagging behind everyone on the bike ride. We had six riders this week, as opposed to last week's four. Jeremy and Brian think I ought to get a real street bike - the one I have is a hybrid, with a skinny traction tire (mountain bike's have wide traction tires and street bikes, of course, have skinny bare tires.) - and they think that's what's mainly slowing me down.

Unfortunately, my digital camera (panasonic lumix) only shoots in JPEG, which is not very good for printing high quality pictures (because it throws out data from the image when it gets saved every time - don't ask me! I'm still confused about that! I just learned this in Tuesday's class.) So, my teacher recommends getting a Canon G-10 (point and shoot), since I'm not really interested in getting into SLR's yet ($,$$$+ time in learning the blasted thing). However, the G10 is top of the line point and shoot, so it's around 400 smackers online. ($500 retail!) Ouch!

I'm pretty sure I'm going to do the camera, but I'm not sure about when/if I can do a bike.

Gosh! I'm loving my class! We watched a movie called "The True Meaning of Pictures - Shelby Lee Adams". It raised very interesting questions about what photographers are doing when they claim to be photojournalists or doing documentary work about a people (the Appalachians, in Adams's case) and make buckets of money off of the pictures as he did. Several distinguished people in the field were offended by his methods... although they sounded very legit to me. It generated lots of fun discussion.

Friday I saw my long, lost friend again! And we went to the zoo for a couple hours.

I'm tired of talking on here now. Now to talk/type more to my WENN friends... never tired of that! :) It's just extremely hard to blog and chat at the same time.

Until later,

Jp

Yesterday and Today

Yesterday I was seriously still sad by the evening, partly because I was frustrated at work with the lack of scanning capability and lack of access for certain things I needed. But I had arranged on Sunday night to meet my friend again, since our time had been cut short. I went over for dinner and a movie - "School Ties" 1992 - it was really good! - and several games. Just getting out of the house and seeing my friend calmed me down immediately.

Today, work was a little better, possibly because I'm feeling better, but mostly because I didn't feel hamstrung anymore. Also, I'm having my first Photography class tonight (right now we're on break... We're in the computer lab!) And we're learning all about colors. RGB's and CMYK's! Lectures and drawing the color circle... what fun! It's good to see everyone from last quarter again.

Jp

Yesterday Morning

Before I was suddenly crushed with the reality of my brother leaving, I had a lovely day. I spent it all with my very good friend who has to leave on Thursday to go back to school (in Florida, of all places). We went to her church together, and then changed and spent the rest of the day hiking all around Discovery Park in Seattle. I had never hiked the trails before, and my! it is lovely. We deviated from the main loop trail to the south beach trail and walked along the point of the peninsula. We took nearly three hours in the afternoon hiking around. It was pretty tiring walk, and we were very glad of my canteen and the map I had picked up before.

Discovery Park used to be the home of Fort Lawton, a turn of the century fort. And there are still active military grounds on the peninsula... a military housing area and a current reserve unit. Those places were, of course, off limits.

As of right now, I'm feeling a little sad still, but I wouldn't call it depressed. I'm also still slightly angry at something, but I don't know what. Thank the Lord for his love for us! What a comfort he is.

Jp

The Color Blue Sounds Like:

Me... I'm sad, but very proud.

When Zac left... God! Here come the tears again.

I wish I could be going too.

I never wanted to experience this, which millions of families have done before me.

When the recruiter pulled away out of the driveway with him in the car, I watched from the extra bedroom. I quietly sang "When Johnny Comes..." And now I feel absolutely terrible.

It's not really that I'm worried about his safety... yet. It's just that he's gone. He's not going to live with us anymore. He's gone.

My brother is doing what I only dreamed about for at least ten years of my life.

He's going to be a Leatherneck.

Lord God, I'm proud of him.

And tomorrow, I have to go to work, do a workout, and lead a very normal life without him. I wish depression or sadness, or whatever you want to call it didn't make you so darned lazy and disinterested in life.

Semper Fi,
Jp

Lovely View of the Lake

A couple days ago, a friend of mine from Husky Band invited me and a couple of his friends via Facebook to go for a bike ride today, starting at the University and going 9 miles down Lake Washington to Seward Park and back. It has been a long time since I've been biking, but I've wanted to get back into it... so I was quite surprised and pleased that it worked out the way it did.


I got literally winded after the 2nd hill - gasping for air and such -, but we stopped for a moment at the top so I could get my breath back and we continued on. Most of the terrain on the ride was even, so I made it alright. And that's where it was really nice! Even though today was windy and cloudy and pretty chilly, it was just wonderful riding along the lake. I had never been on this route before, so I was surprised that we were so close to the water.

I've done the north route (from Woodinville to Seattle) on the Burke-Gilman Trail, but only a few times can you see the lake. Except for that one short part in Kenmore where there are these beautiful views of Mount Rainier (on clear days). But it's very different from the south route that we did today... the north route is never on streets (it's a maybe 12 foot wide paved path)... the south route is completely on the streets. First time biking with cars! Wouldn't want to do that alone much!

Gosh, what fun! The whole trip took two and a half hours. After we were done I went and got myself half of a QFC sandwich (the kind I adore... sourdough, turkey, swiss, 4 kinds of veggies and avocado and humus), and when I got home I ate it and then took a long, relaxing shower. I know my seat and my legs are going to feel horrible tomorrow... oh well!

Jp

Pictures and Things

I don't know if people will be able to see this if they're not on facebook, but here's an album of pictures from fall and winter that I just created.

Today at work I started training for the Document Control position, since our current person is moving on to go back to school in a totally unrelated field. So that makes three departments I work in now, with my regular responsibilities in the Data Center and my position as the MRB coordinator. Wild times!

Jp

Don't Quite Know How to React

I found Kevin O'Rourke, Mary Stout, Tom Beckett, Matthew Bennett, Margaret Hall and Amanda Naughton on Facebook today. All have been invited into the WENN group, and the first two listed have joined it already.

Um, HOLY COW!

I like facebook.

Jp

Curious?

Ever wanted to know what a couple blocks north of Isabella St. looked like in October 1939?

Yeah, me too!

So, I found this today...
Lord God, I am enjoying researching for writing history.

LOL!

Jp

Forgetful

I never remember how much first workouts hurt until it's too late! I was thinking how long it has been since I went last, and I think it must have been before Thanksgiving. My goodness! Even last night I had trouble with my lower back, legs, shoulders, arms... etc. Ouch! I feel like I'm falling apart! LOL! Right now it's basically just my shoulders and lower legs that are screaming. But oooohh! it feels good!

I felt like going back to sleep when I woke up at six this morning, but I got up instead. Gee, I'm proud of myself for getting up two days in a row and getting to places on time! (knock on wood)

Jp

And Here I Am Again

My last day of vacation was slow, but rather nice. Unbelievably, I got up at 10:30 in the morning after staying up record late after chat, and was able to go to church again, which was very nice. I've never felt the Lord telling me to go to church so clearly before - he woke me up in time - and I was refreshed in hearing the truth of God's word and Becky and I ran into each other as well!

The day was spent with family, celebrating my brother-in-law's birthday. Mom prepared a wonderful Carne Asada lunch, which was extraordinarily tasty, and then we sat down in the living room and talked and watched the Philadelphia Eagles game (which we muted - I enjoy not hearing the blather that the announcers blather on about). Later on in the day I finished working on the moose puzzle that I bought last week and had started Saturday night (hence, the staying up "record late" for a Sat. night - I stayed up a couple hours after I hung up chat... yikes!) and also read "Hank the Cowdog". What a hoot! Every dog owner should read it.

And so, here I am, starting another year...

I went to sleep at an early 11:30 or so, and this morning, got up at 5 for my first Jazzercise class in over a month. I was pretty red in the face by the time it ended. But working out felt really good again. I didn't mind waking up early today, but I probably will tomorrow, since the novelty will have worn off. LOL

Oh, and we got three inches of snow last night. LOL
But it's only 37 degrees out, and raining, so it's almost gone.

Wild weather in Washington!

Jp

More Days

New Year's Eve, I slept in and spent most of the day doing things around the house - feeling useful. I started the laundry, did the dishes, and the like. Now that it's Friday, I'm having trouble remembering... Oh, yeah... I read "Danny, Champion of the World", and a chapter of "Goodbye Darkness" and "This is London". Around 8:50 I got on chat for my first holiday chat... and my sister joined me. I had a great time, and watched the Space Needle light up, as is my unofficial tradition.

New Year's Day I slept in way late, but in the evening I went out with another friend that I have not seen in a really long time, and we talked for a long while and then saw "Bolt". Both of us had seen it once before, but we loved it so much, we had to see it again.

Today I slept in again. My goodness! I have to be back at work in TWO days! Getting up on Monday will be a real shock. Today I began the day by thinking about my history projects, which I have neglected because of my website - gee! just so much to keep me busy! - and then I went and got new tires for my car. That may sound random, but now my mind is at ease about it. The car now drives sturdier and straighter when I take my hands off the wheel. I then proceeded to clean my car up, because it was filthy from the sand they put on the roads around here. For dinner tonight Mom prepared some seafood that we got for Christmas - shrimp and baby lobster! I think I really like lobster! :) Meggan and I watched "The Hoax" on Netflix to see JBL - it was a strange movie! - when Dad and Mom went to visit my Grandma in Monroe for a little while. They've since returned and right now, we're watching "The Nativity". It's pretty good; they are doing a couple interesting and semi-believable things with the story. I'm surprised, because I generally dislike Bible movies. The book is just SO much better.

Jp