current delights, (in my room)

1. Passion, aggression, courage, fire, sacrifice, danger, blushing, and Christmas. In other words, the color red. I love the color red. ...and green, and brown, and blue. But red burns deep in my room.

2. Postcards and Letters. I read them over and over again. hold them in my hands, carry them in my book bag, hang them on the walls. I'm sad that letters have made the "list of things that were once common but not so much anymore."* Handwriting is so personal, and unfortunately, there are few friends whose penmanship I know well.

3. Clove candles.

4. Jazz music. I love playing it, and I love listening to it. Love love love Nat King Cole singing Nature Boy on Vinyl.

5. Audiobooks. I was first inspired to use audiobooks for my car, but since have used them as I edit photos. Most recently, Christopher Walkin reading Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven. Creeeepy B'Deepy.

6. Books. They sit on my shelves, arranged by color. I am currently reading: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, The Bell Jar, Out of the Silent Planet, Walking on Water (L'Engle). Dante's Divine Comedy, and New Moon. Yes New Moon. I'm trying to finish it before I go see it opening night at southcenter, where I will observe twilight fever.

7. Seraph wings that sit in the corner of my room.

8. Hanging out in my room. And I'm the most extraverted person I know. I was wary about returning to my parents home after living happily in different communities in seattle, but there are endearing moments here that are specific to my parents home. Today I sat in my bed and watched Finding Nemo with Finn on my lap and Hero at my side.

There are more that could make the list. Lions, cameras, lamps, instruments... but off to bed I go!

*Also on this list of less common things, (from a book called Obsolete): blind dates, mix tapes, getting lost, porn magazines, looking old, operators, camera film, hitchhiking, body hair, writing letters, basketball players in short shorts, privacy, cash, and, yes, books.

smile.

i love this kid sooo much. (and i love ol' star-eyes too.)

more from our adventure here.

hello beatles fans.

I want to invite any Beatles fans to a DUEL. or, a competition. Who can name the most Beatles tunes (from their studio albums) in nineteen minutes. With our heads together, Bonnie and I got 92 (out of 192,) and alone I just got 76. (I expect this number will increase in the near future after applying my mind to nothing else but Beatles tunes memorization.)

Here's the quiz.

happy halloween.

just a couple of kittens out on the town.

having fun with bon and cal!

ah.. vacation, i love it. the last few days have consisted of:

- drinking fort garry dark. yesh.

- playing fetch with bon and cal's cat.  yes, playing fetch. with a cat.  what's more is he enjoys getting wet, and when you're washing the dishes in the sink, he's gets all up in your bidness.*

- going for breakfast with Kirsten, where she gave us a 101 on Dante and his Divine Comedy.  Bon and I are planning to read it out loud.  I'm so glad that we have a sense of Dante and his story before we do.  I left saying to Bon, "you couldn't pay for that."

- Going to classes with Bonnie.  This I love, because it's what happened at capernwray:  If it is a good class, there's stimulating conversation afterwards, but if it's a bad class, then you've got a good rant in store for you.  Most interesting thus far: Canadian History, where, when Bon asked the prof if her "american friend" could sit in, his response was, "Sure, and I'll try to keep my anti-american sentiments to a minimum."  He was joking, ...I think. Lucky me, the topic was the war of 1812.**

- Having a clove with Heath.  

Heath: "Spiro, do you want a clove?" 

Me: "I don't have any."

Heath: "That's okay, I do."  

Me: "You know what? The the last time I had a clove was with you, at the wedding."  

Heath: "Oh, I don't mean to be a bad influence."  

Me: "Not at all." 

- taking photos of St. Margaret's church.  Don asked me to take some shots of the beautiful sanctuary for their website, which they hope to revamp.  when i asked don what he was looking for in the photos, he said, "oh, i'm hoping it will look a little like The Other Journal," as if he could drop that nonchalantly and I wouldn't notice. TOJ is a journal out of MHGS.   He was familiar with it because Kirsten had an article in TOJ not too long ago about Charles Williams.  Small world. 

*which is ebonics for being in my face and annoying the bejeezus out of me. - Michael Scott

**that was, (for those of us who aren't history majors or a canadian,) the "second war of independence" against Britain, where they burned down the white house.

misson accomplished.

i am currently in the land of neil young. yes, it is very cold, but not that cold, and that's nice.

one mission i had was to get don betts to post the sermon from Bonnie's wedding. the sermon flowed from Song of Solomon. It was beautiful, personal, and rang very true to how I see these two.

I'm happy to say, mission accomplished. I am very happy.

The disciple has put his hand to the plow, and he has never looked back. And he never will. And his plow scours deep and clean. Caleb is the faithful one, the servant, the pilgrim. He has sought, and he has found his bride. “Rise up my love my fair one,” he says, “and come away,” and finally she has agreed. For this young disciple of Christ, "the winter has past, the rain is over and gone, and the voice of the turtle dove is heard in the land." He loves Bonnie as Christ has loved the church and gave himself up for her. His task is easy. This burden is light. At least for now. But being a partner of a mystic may not always be easy and may not always be light, for she has a different story to tell.

if you have time, hear the sermon here.

I'm going on an adventure!

see you in a few weeks! (unless you're in manitoba. then i'll see you in a few days.)

i posted more.

i posted more.

after watching jim and pam get married again...

i have come to the conclusion that oscar's dance is something between Madona's Vogue and Dr. Evil.

steven and aly.

from steven and aly:
"We still haven't seen them all - we're savoring a folder at a time. And we LOVE them. It is such a gift to not only have such vivid and full-of-life reminders of the day, but to get a chance to see it through the eyes of others. And you make it so beautiful. Like stunning, take your breath away, I can't believe that was us and we were there...I feel like you captured the best of us and our friends. You just seem to get every bit of beauty in your lens, while still just getting so much of the character of a person in a shot. It is so incredible. Some of them I don't even know how you took - when did you do that? And others I had no idea what you were seeing and it is just breathtaking. The ones of [us] in the window of the little cabin are my favorites...I can't believe you saw that in that little spot. ... thank you for the gift of your creativity, your art, your energy. You gave us a gift that will be important our whole lives, images of a day that will remind us of vows and a taste of heaven."

Seattle, WA

53°F

Current: Showers
Wind: E at 12 mph
Humidity: 100%

Wed

58° | 49°

Thu

62° | 56°

Fri

65° | 54°

Sat

59° | 50°

question.

what camp theme was in place that warranted this kind of costume get-up?

(please don't miss out on beardy in the back)

hero and baloo.

oh, those two little rascals. sometimes i call them "flotsam" and "jetsam" -- not because they act like evil disney eels from the little mermaid, but because they're always going around as a pair. though i will admit, one plays the doofus. baloo the three-year-old, (21 in dog years), is what i have called the perpetual puppy, or "PP" for short, due to a consumption of an ungodly amount of fireworks at an early age. The name gives humor to an otherwise unfortunate situation. "Hey, have you met my 'PP'?" ... chuckle. Hero (the 13-year-old) keeps trucking on, but everyone in the house seems to be well aware of her decline. I have yet to capture the "flotsam! jetsam!" moment on film. (or, compact flash card?) in any case, i'll have to get around to it soon. it's been quite a while since I had them both in a photograph.

man i'm gonna miss this dog.

Le soleil de Paris

yes, that is a signed lithograph by marc chagall on the wall. when i mentioned how AMAZING i thought this was to the B&B owner, her response was, "yes i know. don't steal it."

orcas island

i shot a wedding this weekend on orcas island, one of the san juan islands I had never been to. Because the last ferry was before the reception ended, the bride's family put me up in a sweet place called the outlook inn in eastsound.

i took this photo last night after the wedding. the moon was SO BRIGHT! (I'm not sure why blogger is making these photos pixelated... hmmmfff)

If you ever go, I suggest lunch at the doe bay cafe, pretty much my favorite cafe in the world. Afterwards I basked in the october sun reading about hermione, harry and ron at hogwarts, while sea lions caught some fish just yards away.

i also summited mount constitution (via car) -- here are some pics i took from the top.

mt. baker and bellingham