Handsome Dog Posing

And why not a few photos of Jackson to round out the end of the year? It's tough to get a good picture of Jackson as he's so dark, but it was fun to try out the new zoom lens I got for Christmas.

Merry Christmas Eve

Hope everyone had a nice Christmas Eve (if you celebrate Christmas) and a nice holiday evening if not.

Happy Holidays, part 1

Seattle's getting its holiday spirit on, waterfront style.

Boathouse Sunset

Winter Sunset in Seattle, looking at the marina outside Agua Verde.

Ah, so peaceful.

Sputnik?

It's been pretty sunny down here at SLAC, and I am now definitely +10 on many core computing.

In the Circuits

Also over Thanksgiving, Alex got to play with assembling this computer. It was pretty cool. And I kind of want it. :)

White Flower Fashion

Okay, so I skipped last week because I was having Thanksgiving fun. One of the things I got to do over the break was play with a bunch of lenses though! It was pretty cool to see what a 50mm 1:1.8 lens is like, as well as this 105mm macro and the 70-200mm zoom (all the high quality versions, too).
(oops - was a 50mm 1:1.4 lens, not the 1.8).

Storm Cloud / Bright Sun

Looking out from the top of my building at work, toward Portage Bay and (below) towards Wallingford. This huge storm cloud rolled in earlier today, but the sun was still shining brightly before it quite arrived.

Multitudes of berries

This makes me think of winter and holly berries, not fall, but it can't be that late in the year yet, right?

Astronomy Department

Galaxies stars and
Asteroids studied inside.
Astronomers home.

# happy haiku thursday :)

City Lights

The sun is leaving the sky much earlier now. Instead of 10pm sunsets, we're swiftly working our way towards the 4pm sunset of mid-winter. Everyone has to turn on their lights in the evening and people are chased inside by rain - definitely time to break out the hot spiced wine.

Oh, and this time (actually a week or so ago) I remembered my little tripod.

Trees in a Row

I like the arch of the trees, echoed from one to the next.

The Dog Speaks

Jackson the dog says
Come follow me to the lake
You should let me swim.

# happy haiku thursday!

Bird in a Tree

Oh, man, I am stressed lately. I need to chill.

Radiant Fall

Well, it seems I am 'falling' behind (hur-hur) in my posting. However, I have lots of pretty fall trees around Green Lake to take pictures of, so beware - trees in bright colors coming up!

I like this pastoral view of the boat rental dock at Green Lake. The boats are gone, but the people are still walking around the lake. One of them grumped at me today - to which I will have to practice saying "Get a grip, old man", so that I don't get grumpy myself. (I saw a woman on a bike say this to a man once, who grumped at her for biking through a crosswalk while he was walking in it -- it was pretty safe, she was far away from him. The exchange was tremendously enlightening to me.)

Fall Pumpkin

A carved pumpkin sits outside a small store in Fremont. Chairs beckon.
> sit in chair
You sit in the chair, relaxing comfortably. After a few moments contemplating the view, you get up.
> look at the pumpkin
The pumpkin has a cat's face carved into its side. It is really quite nice.
> enter store
You are eaten by a grue.

A Squirrel Story

I've been slacking, so here is a whole illustrated story. Plus, it involves cute animals.

I was out walking this morning and what did I spy with my little eye (and camera)? Why, it was a squirrel!



I thought I might get a closer look and ...



I haven't mentioned yet that I was walking with my dog. He was quite fascinated with the squirrel, of course, and the two of them engaged in quite the entranced staring competition.



Eventually though, the squirrel had enough of us and went up the tree.



As soon as he thought we weren't looking anymore though, he was right back down the bottom of the tree on the ground. The number of squirrels around Green Lake is amazing at the moment. They're all storing up for winter, I suppose.

Just the camera at hand

Just an iphone photo, because I've been busy. But the fall is continuing to be pretty, and I've had a few occasions where I was kind of kicking myself because of not having a better camera on-hand.

Another example:

Rain on the Windshield

Taken near noon. Yeah.

Kayaks

Kayak, smooth water,
Bright happy colors, smile now:
Rain? Some other day.

# happy haiku thursday

Rainy Day Search

Today we got a good taste of the winter rains to come. I got soaked when I went to lunch, only 2 blocks away.

So, I went looking for a rainy day photo, coming up with this ..




But I also came across this (the headquarters of the Agua Verde Paddle Club) which just seems vaguely reminiscent of the Carribean to me. It made me feel a lot warmer inside, and now the sun has come back out for a bit outside, too.

Flowers with Pot

Hmm. Perhaps I shall go and try to find pretty trees to take pictures of, since fall is working hard lately.

P-Patch

A not-so hidden garden in the city, bursting with green things and colorful accessories.

Fall Leaves in Sun

Not what I was thinking I was going to put up today, but the weather this last week has been amazingly sunny, the leaves are all working hard on turning colors, and the two make a beautiful combination. Other parts of the country get much better fall color shows than Seattle (our leaves tend to change bit by bit, skipping a big dramatic burst of color), but this year seems to be a pretty good one.

Far Away and Long Ago at a Waterfall

.. a princess bought all the fun items she wanted from the REI store.
It's a fairy tale because that would make her penniless in real life. :)

(waterfall outside the REI store).

In the Shadow of the Needle

Life in Seattle is pretty good.

Friday Beer Time

Oh yeah, it's Friday O'Clock. And it's sunny out!

Lavendar for Sale

Nice smells are really important.

Pike Place Flowers

Some flowers to brighten up the day around here. It's certainly the onset of PNW fall - cold and gray!

Burst of Light

Caught this from the top of the Space Needle, it was pretty incredible. Can you imagine being in that spot of light on the ground? Probably wouldn't even realize what it looked like from the outside.

Downtown view, flipside

A view of downtown, from the other side than I usually see.

In the neighborhood

Green Lake Bar and Grill, just round the corner from the new place. Pretty relaxing place to grab a bite to eat and a beer. I'm kind of curious about that picnic option too.

Picnic by the Lake

Must try to be more on time.

Now and Later / Fun with Wind

So much potential here if you can see it- there's not much wind, but there might be later, there's no one out on the lake, but there will be, and there's no one out on the boats, but I could be. The leaves are just starting to turn which means some of this potential is about to end, but the trees will be beautiful while it's passing, and it'll be back next year.

And - boats!!

Deep Dark Calm

Evening Jog

Go at the Right Time

It was just a fantastic day to visit the Space Needle, and just the right time of day too. Please excuse any blurriness though - I did manage to forget my mini tripod (can't get everything right).

Bumbershoot!

Been so busy, so haven't had time to take any photos or play any guitar. Kind of feeling the lack. However, I did get to go to a music festival over the weekend.



Nice - light-up hula hoops.



The main stage finale!