WhiskeyEchoNovember

Another One Goes By

2009-11-14T17:06:00.000-08:00

A beautiful custom-made pine table...

made by Whitey.

End of Green Mountain Stage Race in Burlington, VT

Cindy and Joel's Wedding in Vermont

Reception in a barn.

Wedding morning jog

Some pics form the fall. Another season passing through...

Fitchpork and Friends

2009-07-27T07:42:00.000-07:00

Flaming Lips at the Pitchfork Music Festival

Silver Beach, St. Joseph, Michigan

Breeching Chinese girl

Get your hot steaming pizza delivered to you on the beach, you lazy ass.

Jeff and Nancy's Wedding, Michigan

Summa

2009-07-13T07:19:00.001-07:00

Summertime.

My first homegrown tomato baby.

Western MA

It's strawberry pickin' time in western MA

Post-ride in the Hook with C-Biscuit

and Whitey

Alas, the bottle has come between us...

Bones

Sister and pancakes.

"Soo foo" cats. This is how they roll.

Maifest with idiots

Time Traveler

2009-06-06T18:02:00.001-07:00

I have Facebook to thank for these. I reconnected with my old childhood BFF, Sarah and her little sister Susan. A few e-mail exchanges later, these wonderful photos resurfaced.

Memories for Matinees

2009-05-27T14:44:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day weekend in Seattle.

I asked myself repeatedly why I didn't spend more time here last fall. Seatts was just as beautiful as when I left in October. This time I got to check out a beautiful city park, Gasworks Park and also I got to revisit my mountain muse, Mt. Rainier. I got to run around Green Lake and hit up my peruvian/norweigian/slightly chinese sister Whitney for a homecooked meal too. All this with a nice young fellow from Massachusetts who kindly agreed to be my driver and drinking buddy.

Roquet, croquet, wicket...shit, let's just hit the darn things.

Stensrud has form.

"Oh my those margaritas just slide down so easily"

Lawn croquet gets serious.

(Whitney's mom blew us young, arrogant assholes out of the water)

Eggplant Parm on Whitney's deck.

Mt Rainier National Park

Damieno is fantasizing about winning a stage at Giro...

Mt Rainier from Paradise...damn she's purdy. I'm standing next to tree tops, thats how much schnee there was!

Sapperton

Callahan teaches me how to play bones in a caboose-turn-bar outside of Rainier.

Seattle Grey Hairs.

Seattle Art Museum Sculpture Garden

Sunday Morning Exploration

2009-05-17T18:10:00.000-07:00

The West Loop area is an interesting blend of factories, public housing and ever-creeping gentrification. I love this part of town and I've been casually exploring it on my bike. I spied this mill from the rooftop deck of the Bottom Lounge a few weeks ago and now I'm sort of fascinated by it. I love the cistern on top, the huge, weathered silos and the train tracks that flank the northern part of the complex. The ADM mill looms o'er this part of the city as a implacable reminder to the boutique-a-fying, chic neighborhoods of Chicago that industry is still a backbone of this town.

A spray-painted Blago in a jogging suit running under a viaduct. Awesome.

Wen on Deck

2009-05-05T11:36:00.000-07:00

Spring bring forth grand porch ideas. Unfortunately, it has also brought some rotten squirrels on to my deck, who have uprooted my potted plants. I had words with one of these rats with blow-dried tails over the weekend. He just looked at me is if to flip his middle claw at me from the tree branches. The war is on. And of course there are pics of me canoodling with Magpie, my cat.

Lobelia are gorgeous.

Potting flowers in old wood boxes found in the basement.

Test driving the new tent...

Long Live the Album

2009-04-18T05:53:00.001-07:00

Remember when you would buy cassette singles?

Dusting off dad's old vinyl Simon & Garfunkel albums and delicately removing them from the paper sleeve, gently placing it on the record player?

Go and support your local record store today.

My celebratory purchases: The Black Keys' Attack and Release and The Rubber Factory, Desolation Wilderness' White Light Strobing, Camera Obscura's My Maudlin Career and BSS Presents Kevin Drew's Spirit If...

******

My Bundle of Joy

2009-04-09T09:35:00.000-07:00

Today I picked up this rebuilt, vintage Schwinn from Boulevard Bikes in Logan Square. My little bundle of steel took her maiden voyage from Logan Square to Ukrainian Village this morning.

What a winning combo: Lula, bike shop and Logan Square Auditorium...all in one building!

"Hi momma, I'm ready!"

The rigorous inspection process begins...

I almost did a Facebook spoof and tried to make this look like a profile of a pregnant person, but I thought better...

Getting comfy

Ok, maybe I'm taking this a little far.

Resurrection Sunday

2009-04-06T06:09:00.000-07:00

Another refurbishing project, this time I found some $10 old wooden chairs at a Howard Brown resale shop in Oak Park. I spent Sunday sanding them down and restaining them.

These beat up chairs had paint all over them. I think the smaller ones had been previously painted and then stripped. I'm curious how old these are or in whose homes these have been. This is the "Before" shot.

Again, I listened to Neko Case while doing this. In Middle Cyclone, she collected six unwanted, free pianos from Craigslist to record "Don't Forget Me" I dunno, something in her music makes you want to restore furniture.

Left stained. Right sanded.

Bandanas and ripped up jeans (not pictured)

The "After" shot.

They are still a little creaky, but usable and maybe just a little better lookin'

Restoration Chicago

2009-04-02T17:55:00.000-07:00

Bringing back an old chair to glory on a Tuesday night while drinking wine.

A new seat for Maggie and Ollie to tear up.

The SXSW Gravy Train

2009-03-24T17:24:00.000-07:00

I made the journey to the rock music mecca, SXSW down in Austin, TX this past week. Whitney and I partied until "4 4 4" straight days. (until 4am for four days is what's that's supposed to mean) First meals at 6pm, booze all day, Texan sun keeping us warm. There was nothing restful at all about this, but I think it was like my adult Spring Break. Instead of beach, rock bands. In place of college boys, we had crushes on drummers and bassists.

Scotty and Seth Avett play a very short, unsatisfying set at Stubb's

Elvis Perkins

Mesmerized by Mr Perkins.

Perusing the vintage shops on South Congress

Spacegirl and tortilla chip are paralyzed by dippin' sauce choices at Guero's

Yard Dog BBQ

Fresh salsa para ti

Dan Auerbach is on the prowl at the Mean Eyed Cat

Two very non-VIPs at a VIP party

This was about two seconds before we saw Patrick Pestorius ride by on a bike.

My favorite shows of the week:

The Annuals

Camera Obscura

The Heartless Bastards

Blind Pilot

Black Joe Lewis and the Honey Bears

Okkervil River

Dan Auerbach

The Jayhawks

Janelle Monae

Blitzen Trapper

Delta Spirit

Exquisite City

2009-03-01T17:08:00.000-08:00

I trekked downtown on this snowy Sunday to check out an exhibit, call the Exquisite City (http://www.exquisitecity.com/). This was an entire exhibit dedicated to interpretations of Chicago and city life in general, done entirely in cardboard. There were some of my heroes who submitted their work, including songstress Neko Case and gig poster artist extraordinaire, Jay Ryan. Seeing this diorramas reminded me of the cardboard tiki hut I made for my cats to hang out in. Great whimsical fun. My favorites included Neko Case's burning house, an exact replica of my favorite bar, the Hideout, and watercolor paintings by local artist/ornithologist Diana Sudyka.

Lakeview H.S. students submitted this cool building

Neko's contribution

Through a little peep hole in a cardboard highrise. These sketches look like the one's used to identify a criminal, based on the victims memory. Creepy.

Neko is in a mood to burn buildings.

The "smoke" and flames made of cotton and cellophane actually rose up and filled a big part of the ceiling in this exhibit.

Indeed.

I love subways

Storm Blows East

2009-02-22T21:26:00.000-08:00

The Mac has a weekend glow.

"And I've been quickly ushered in

To a world that I confess I do not know

But I still dream of running careless through the snow

An' through the howlin' winds that blow,

Across the ancient distant flow,

It fill our bodies up like water till we know. "

-Blitzen Trapper

Good Morning, Chicago

2009-02-15T09:21:00.000-08:00

I took my camera along with me on a Sunday morning jog through Ukrainian Village and Wicker Park. My path: South on Damen to Grand. West on Grand to Western, then north on Western. I turned east on to North until the North/Damen/Milwaukee intersection, then turned back south onto Damen, walked through Wicker Park and then headed home south on Damen to Huron. Lots of barking dogs, sleepy-eyed Chicagoans walking out to get their coffee, but pleasantly few honking horns or talking people.

The Empty Bottle

On the wall outside of the Empty Bottle

I love the record store. In your face, iTunes.

An awesome thrift store on Western Ave: Stop! Look!

Hello Seattle.

One of my favorite watering holes. They have a tastey West African Nut Stew and lovely anti-Bush propaganda all over the walls.

Sweet Home

February 13th, 1979

2009-02-12T20:35:00.000-08:00

Other February thirteeners: Mena Suvari, Mike Krzyzewski, Peter Gabriel, Feist, Henry Rollins, Jerry Springer, Stockard Channing, Freedom Williams of C&C Music Factory, Lord Randolph Churchill (Father of Winsty)

The Great Outdoors

2009-02-09T21:30:00.001-08:00

I've gotten in the habit of throwing costume parties. I just can't seem to get enough of it. So for my thirtieth, I decided to do a "Great Outdoors" themed party. There were many scouts, hikers, and I rented a full bear costume which ended up being a big hit. Here are some of the photos I deem acceptable to share. I felt very loved as my sister came from Germany, Whitney from Seattle, Amanda from L.A. for this silly little event. Even Momma and Poppa came in costume!

Party prep

Ingold with headlamp-enhanced bear eyes.

Roadkill and Bear

If you don't like cupcakes, we have a problem

A warm February night called for a bonfire!

Standing near the keg

Ollie tried to get in on the fun

Whitney gets some lap time

Chicago cupcake...amazing what OCD and a pair of tweezers results in

Yes folks, we're gettin late into the evening here...

I turn thirty.

Alight the Snow

2009-01-17T20:22:00.001-08:00

After scoring some sweet high-end, spankin' new snowshoes for a low-end rental price, Mason and I went to the NW 'burbs to try out this strange and unfamiliar snow sport. This was my first foray outdoors after a load of snow was dumped on us and a frighteningly cold, cold snap had lifted.

Felt silly and clumsy and rather pointless at first.

and after jiving about the stupidity of the sport,

it got a little more and more fun, until...

disco.

We quenched our thirsts afterwards in the city at Simon's after getting denied by the long lines at Hopleaf. There I discovered DeKoninck Belgian Ale. That is one delicious beverage.

Look At You

2008-12-30T19:16:00.001-08:00

Having been a bit sullen after coming back from NZ, my friend reminded me how much I love Chicago and while I knew it, I could not actually seem to feel it. I rounded out the year with one of my 2008 obsessions - My Morning Jacket at the Chicago Theater. This was a happy reminder of why Chicago is great, even in the drab, dark, cold winter. This old historic theater, lead singer Jim James expressing his love for Perfect Strangers and Barack Obama.

This song, "Look At You" by MMJ must be meant for our Mister President-Elect:

Look at you
Such a fine citizen!
Look at you
Such a glowing example of peace and glory...

Let me follow you.
We believe in your power to lead without fear.
Not about, in some tower, but here-right down here-... with us in this world.
Look at you everywhere at once.

Ah yes...to be in the arms of my city

****

The Slow Transformation into Mother

2008-12-26T21:37:00.000-08:00

I always find it funny and slightly irksome whenever I'm looking through my parent's old photo albums and there is a random picture inserted into the pages that is completely out of chronological order. In the middle of my high school graduation photos there is a black and white photo of my older sister in diapers. I always suspected my mother was behind this. On some level, I'm right here committing the same crime. That and I just can't let go of my recent past. Nostalgia literally means pain from homesickness which is sort of ironic. I'm pining for my travels. Anyhoo, more images from my travels have fallen into my lap and what are they meant for other than to share.

One of many long hours spent on the coach in China. Good company to my right, conscience directly behind me.

Nepal

Audrey, a slippy "glass-ee-er" and an ice axe.

A wibbly wobbly bridge and I look like I'm totally out to lunch.

Best Albums of 2008

2008-12-20T18:35:00.000-08:00

Because the "editor" of another blog I occasionally contribute to left my list out, I'm slapping mine down here and waving it in all your faces (all two of you faithful whiskey followers, one of which is myself) because I want someone out there to be able to read it, since I toiled and agonized over it. I recall waking up at 2am because I thought of something I just had to say about one of the albums. Crazy? Probably.

My Favorite Albums of 2008:

10. Re-release of Exile in Guyville, Liz Phair.

I dismissed this album as a teenager and in dredging it up from the past in this anniversary year I realized that this was a time capsule of songs that only now are age-appropriate. Phair’s biting, unapologetic lyrics scream and claw for attention, respect and affection in a sausage-dominated world.

9. We Brave Bee Stings and All, Thao Nguyen and the Get Down Stay Down.

Little. Yellow. Edie Brickell-like. Better.

8. Keep reading.

7. Midnight Organ Fight, Frightened Rabbit.

In May, these guys upstaged headliners Oxford Collapse at the Empty Bottle as the opening act. The crowd cleared to an embarrassingly near empty before Oxford Collapse came on. In subsequent shows the billing got reversed. Talk about an ego check. All night long lead singer Scott Hutchison’s flannel clung uncomfortably to his drenched bod and I could see a long string of saliva connecting his lips to the mike from my distant position by the bar. You may call it a disgusting overrun of bodily fluids. I call it passion.

6. The Stand-Ins, Okkervil River

5. Keep reading…

4. Re-Arrange Us, Mates of State

3. You & Me, The Walkmen.

2. Oracular Spectacular, MGMT (Digital release in 2007 *)

This album made too big a splash this year to be left off any list. Time is one giant continuum anyway and years are just arbitrary markers invented by humans in order for civilization to function, right? So please don’t burn me on a technicality. This album plain rocked and I will forever associate it with the summer of 2008

1. Visiter, the Dodos.

The Dodos had me at “Fools” and by the time I got to “the Season” it was downright abusive. In trying to get our arms around a band we often draw comparisons as a way to somehow get a handle of the music. Anchor it to something familiar and we suddenly know what to do with it. I haven’t been able to do that with the Dodos. I simply can’t tie them down and tame them. They are unnerving when they scream, refreshing for their ingenuity, and irresistibly rhythmic. Over and over I have found myself drawn to this album when I can’t find a taste for anything else in my music collection. That wily index finger always loops its way back to Visiter on my iPod. This one was a cupcake.

* I would also try to sneak in Rogue Wave’s 2007 Asleep at Heaven’s Gate and Animal Collective’s Strawberry Jam for the same reason as my MGMT pick, but I won’t push it. It takes the general public and myself a little while to warm up to and possibly go ape-shit over an album. By the time festival season hits often it’s the previous year’s albums that become the anthems for this summer. So I find it hard to completely fail to mention some of the best music I heard this year purely for the fact that the official release date was in the previous calendar year. It’s an interesting lag time phenomenon. Maybe that lag time shortens the more guru your indie rock status becomes. As a rockologist you will have such refined and discriminating taste that you will identify a great album upon first listen! So I concede that I’m a novice and my list, well frankly, is a little retarded. With that in mind, please feel free to guess which yearling phantom albums made numbers 5 and 8.

Bad Santa

2008-12-13T22:03:00.001-08:00

Second City hosted their annual benefit, "Letters to Santa" to fulfill the Christmas wishes of some Chicago families. Little did those families probably know, but the benefit was 24 straight hours of filthy talkin' improv artists. Though they were hilarious, thankfully the crass, improvisational comedy was punctuated by lovely performances by a determined but hoarse Nina Nastasia and my golden rock god, Jeff Tweedy.

Well, Ok. Nina told nasty, nasty sex and butt stories in between songs too...

This was at about 2 am on Tuesday night. I heard that things got really wild around 5am. Think whatever you like.

Tweedy called this a "lap dance" performance, where you could bid to have him serenade a song of your chosing, right up in your grill. No one was immune to the filthiness. Pictured here, Tweedy is slavishly or whorishly selling himself for the living room performances, where he will play 30 songs in your home. (all for charity, of course) And let me tell ya, Tweedy is one HIGH CLASS somethin' with the amount of money that was being thrown around. Note the red lighting, that was intentional.

Tourist in my own town

2008-12-07T21:21:00.000-08:00

Though my overseas travels may be done, I still am afflicted with the traveler's bug. And by that I mean the snap-happy stuff, not involuntary bowel-cleansing. I am Asian afterall. It wouldn't be normal if I didn't have a camera hanging from my neck, right? So as I drove through the snowy streets of Chicago today, I vowed to treat the city like I am an extended tourist. I'm going to try and not use my daily buzzing about the city as a means to get from point A to point B, but rather try and look for both it's obvious beauty and it's hidden gems. Hopefully life's other distractions won't make me veer off this project.

Bird Poop and other Omens

2008-11-26T13:40:00.000-08:00

I gave myself one shot at doing Tongariro Alpine Crossing. I stumbled off a bus in Turangi at 2am, hopped on another one at 7am to the drop off point for the hike. The weather here is so unpredictable and on the crossing it can be so horrendous such that the park will not allow people to attempt it. For the past three days they have not allowed anyone up the mountain, so I knew the day I was scheduled to come here might be a longshot. A bird pooped on me, all over my jacket, daypack and waiststrap the morning of the hike. The sun was shining. This was yet another stunning, 20 km day hike through a volcanic park, said to be NZ's best day hike. I don't disagree.

Sweaty, windy, cold.

Red Crater, or chocolate fudge spewing over red velvet cake?

Emerald Lakes

Kyle, a former Wolverine and marching band member. I met him on the Milford Track and rather randomly ran into him at the top of the crossing.

Time to go home now.

Kaikoura Coastal Track

2008-11-24T11:40:00.000-08:00

Three days, 40 km, cottages and farmhouses all to myself. I walked through private farms, scattering sheep and welcomed to the farms with fresh squeezed lemonade.

The Staging Post, the start of the Kaikoura Coastal Track

Hawkswood Farm stagecoaches

Hawkswood Farm

Ngaroma Farm loft.

This was the view from my bedroom window. No big deal.

Pit stop at Circle Shelter, for some hot coffee.

The Lookout

It took me about 40 tries to get this picure.
This is what three days of being completely by yourself results in.

One last stop at Tongariro National Park for the Tongariro Crossing. It's going to be like the Amazing Race to get there, do the crossing, and hop on the plane to come home.

Driving on the Left Side

2008-11-20T13:42:00.000-08:00

Jose and I rented a luxury Nissan Sunny and drove up the west coast of the South Island making pit stops everywhere because there are spectacular sites everywhere on this island. This place is just packed with so many cool things to do, it's killing me that I only can hit a few. There is never enough time in this world.

Lake Wanaka

Running amock with cramp-ons. Franz Josef Glacier

Blue ice is one of the coolest things on earth.

Our tiny but powerful tour guide hacking away relentlessly at the ice to pave a walkway for us.

Truman Beach sandstone and a Shawn Johnson wannabe.

In China these little guys are called "Mien Bao Tze" or "Loaf of Bread Car"

Tramp (Kiwi for backpacking) #2, Abel Tasman National Park

Pristine beaches! Secluded. No people except for these two idiots.

Waiting for the water taxi to take us back to civilization.

The Milford Track, South Island, NZ

2008-11-12T23:11:00.001-08:00

Jose and I hit the Milford Track, one of New Zealand's "Great Walks", a lovely 4 day hike through the Fiordlands National Park. This track meanders through scenic valleys, spectacular lookouts, waterfalls and culminates in the entrance to Milford Sound. We hoofed 33 miles, hauling our own food and water. This was absolutely beautiful.

Queenstown, South Island

Cooking up grub in the hostel

Milford Track

Day 2 to Mintaro Hut

Long smiles make short miles

MacKinnon Pass

The requisite pondering photo

Endpoint of the Milford Track at Sandfly Point

Celebrating with tastey Monteith's beer

Milford Sound

President Palin...

2008-11-04T01:06:00.000-08:00

..and other things that didn't happen.

Not wanting to withstand a brutal layover situation (I was originally scheduled to have mindnumbing 12-14 hour layovers in Delhi and Bangkok enroute to Auckland), at the last minute I canceled flights and opted to go to Singapore and hang out with Cindy on her home turf. So instead of gouging my eyes out in airports, I endured a harsh three days of sleeping in, swimming in a pool and eating savory and cheap Singapore cuisine. Known endearingly as "Asia Light" to Westerners, Singapore seems to blend the comforts of western life (sit down toilets, clean and organized city life) with the best of the East (food and travel). I fill with blind, raging jealousy when I see how Cindy visits some exotic, pristine locations (Lumboc, Bali, Vietnam, etc etc etc) y'know, just for a weekend getaway.

No warm spots in the pool at Hotel Wangster

The aftermath. You can't see Yuan who is lying on the floor in a blissful food coma.

Heaven? No, it's hawker stand.

Professor Wang, National University, Singapore

Pokhara and Bakhtapur

2008-11-04T00:45:00.000-08:00

After the trek we spent a day in Pokhara, the launching town for many Annapurna treks. We then flew via, yes, Yeti Airlines back to Kathmandu where we got a stunning view of the Himalayas. In Kathmandu we visited a beautiful neighboring area called Bakhtapur.

Yuan buying brass goblets and plates to serve dahl bat.

Durbar Square, Bakhtapur

Abominable name, indeed.

Phewa Lake, Pokhara

Machapuchhre (6993m = 23,076 ft) and Annapurna III (7555m which is 24,931 feet, folks) off in the distance.

Annapurna Part II

2008-11-03T21:13:00.000-08:00

Blogger not allowing me to move the pics...this is the us celebrating the end of our trek with Fanta.

Stone walls in Gandruk

Our trek coincided with Deepavali, a major Hindu holiday, so locals were in good spirits and often dancing and singing and adorning themselves and animals in flowers.

Breakfast of Champions: Hot porridge, boiled eggs and piping hot coffee for b-fast before a long day's hike.

Interesting purplish legumes in Baranthi

Tatopani

Annapurna Region, Nepal

2008-10-31T08:16:00.000-07:00

Namaste from Nepal. I just completed a 5 day hike through a portion of the Annapurna region of Nepal. This is a condensed region that holds many of the world's highest peaks, looming high over 8000 meters. I came out here with a close, old friend Cindy and her older brother Yuan to get some good views of these majestic mountains and get a taste of Nepalese culture.

Lunch with my friend Gabriele who lives in Kathmandu. Gabriele works as an advisor for social policy in developing countries for UNICEF. She is the mother of one my very close friends, Gracia.

Kids playing on homemade swingset made of bamboo outside of Pokhara

Monkey Temple in Kathmandu

Monkey Temple, Kathmandu

Dal bhat and curry, staples on the Annapurna Trek

Waking up at 4 am for a painful uphill hike to Poon Hil...

for panorama views of the Annapurnas

Warming up with Everest beer, a snoozing pooch and more ex-pats, including a nice young fellow, Steven that joined us for a portion of the trek

The whole gang of ITrekNepal including our guides Dipesh and Beer, and our ridiculously strong and swift porters.

Next stop is a last minute change of plans...heading to Singapore for some much needed R & R time at Cindy's home.

Read: "Lamb" by Christopher Moore. Sarcastic and surprisingly educational. One half of "Nine Stories" by JD Salinger before I idiotically left it on an airplane

Reading: "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer, can't put it down.

The Motherland

2008-10-22T22:00:00.000-07:00

Eating our way through China - A THIRTY course meal in Chengdu

Beautiful travertine pools in Jiu Tzai Guo Park

The stern military men, ever-present in China

The fastest train on earth, the Maglev, topping out at a breezy 431km/hr from Shanghai Pudong Airport to the city center.

Mom glowing even on a dreary day

Misty morning on Mt Emei.

Locals going about their daily lives.

Me and big sis Amy in Zhang Jia Jie Park

Zhang Jia Jie Park

No time to spew out witty banter because the cost of internet is killer. 2 RMB/min, which is about 25 cents a minute.

Next up: Annapurna Region of Nepal

Holding Pattern

2008-10-18T06:58:00.000-07:00

I'm in Chengdu, China right now on a computer with only Chinese characters, so I'm not really able to download any pictures at the moment. I did see some ridiculously cute baby giant pandas today, so go ahead and picture that. When I am able to locate a western computer, I'll try again...

Light a Candle for St. Christopher

2008-10-06T22:24:00.000-07:00

St Christopher holds patronage of things related to travel and travelers.

According to Wikipedia these things include protection "...against lightning; against pestilence; archers; bachelors; boatmen; bookbinders; epilepsy; floods; fruit dealers; fullers; gardeners; for a holy death; mariners; market carriers; motorists and drivers; sailors; storms; surfers; toothache; and transportation workers" Well thank goodness, now all I have to watch out for are the rapists, the cheap streetfood we often pay dearly for, pickpockets and little sneaky, annoying children.

My living-out-of-a-bag story proceeds to Chapter Two this week.

First up, Shanghai.

Two Minute Warning

2008-10-05T11:21:00.000-07:00

This was my two-minute offense, frantically scrambling and trying to squeeze everything in the waning minutes of my time in Seattle. More precisely, this is how it went down:

Friday - getting marked for life! Calexico at the Moore

Saturday - a hike in Rainier National Park

Sunday - My Morning Jacket at McCaw Hall. This is the best show I've ever been to and writing a review was agonizing.

Monday - Lost my hearing at Cold War Kids at the Showbox

Tuesday- Dinner with Whitney at Latona Pub, a cozy local place in Green Lake.

Wednesday - a leetle red wine and dessert in Montlake with my doctor friend.

Thursday - Career Day! I visited Whitney and her graphics department at the Seattle Times and then also an awesome tour of D & L Screenprinting in Ballard, a studio mostly for show posters.

Friday - Saying goodbyes at work followed by a last minute costume party with clever and witty friends. The theme? Come as your favorite thing about Seattle. Attendees included the Space Needle, A Subaru, A lawn-mowing goat from Queen Anne, A map of Seattle frighteningly similar to uterus/fallopian tubes/ovaries, and a passive aggressive Seattle-ite. Brilliant.

We finished it all off at the Little Red Hen for some down home country music and dancin'

Saturday - In true turd form, I almost missed my flight back to Chicago in the morning because I was very "tired"

There is simply not enough time in this world.

Glass Feet

2008-09-28T10:37:00.000-07:00

Fire watchers in the 1950's lived like hermits in the Cascades and they lived in one-room lookouts on places like this, Tolmie Peak in Mt Rainier National Park. Famous writers such as Jack Kerouac and Gary Snyder did some time here, where they were also able to write in complete solitude. Glass-footed lightning stools were small footstools that the firewatchers would stand on during storms. If their lookouts were struck, they would likely fry and their only saving grace might be to stand on the stool. I wish I had something like that at work.

I am absolutely mesmerized by Mt Rainier. She's visible from Seattle on clear days, and will catch me off-guard, suddenly coming into view while driving along a road. She soars high and majestic above the skyline. Sounds silly, but it kind of makes my day when I can see Rainier on an ordinary work day. So it only seemed fitting that my last weekend in Seattle was a Rainier close-up, a lovely jaunt up to Tolmie Peak in Mt Rainier National Park. I was accompanied by Tweedledee and Tweedledum, two silly work friends Paul and Lincoln.

I spoke to a ranger who was going to spend the night at the lookout and I was envious of him being able to see the mountain at night and watched the sunrise. The weather was crisp and clear which I'm sure would make for excellent mountain viewing.

"As the light increased I discovered around me an ocean of mist, which by chance reached up exactly to the base of the tower, and shut out every vestige of the earth, while I was left floating on this fragment of the wreck of a world, on my carved plank, in cloudland...All around beneath me was spread for a hundred miles on every side, as far as the eye could reach, an undulating country of clouds, answering in the varied swell of its surface to the terrestrial world it veiled. It was such a country as we might see in dreams, with all the delights of paradise."

-Henry David Thoreau

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood...

2008-09-21T18:45:00.000-07:00

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as long as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

-Robert Frost

The sun is setting on my time in Seattle. I have a hair under two weeks to go but it was my last weekend with my Norweigian seester, Whitney and so I'm feeling it. She hosted her annual Croquet party, but mother nature would have it otherwise. Summer has left and the rain has come, en force. So reluctantly the good people of the party put down the mallets and piled into the kitchen and drank margaritas while sampling Seattle, Chicago and Chili dogs.

The end of my Seattle stay is giving me a sense of urgency. I'm cramming together 5 shows in two weeks. It kicked off with my boys, Okkervil River at the Showbox Theater. Okkervil River may be the consummate rock band. Lead singer Will Sheff is an artist who has been able to harness a talent and bring it into full realization under the right set of circumstances. I am haunted, inexplicably drawn to them, over and over again.

The Showbox in Seattle is like the big brother to Chicago's historic Green Mill - Art Deco on a grander scale.

a fuzzy Will Sheff of Okkervil River

The mexican tatoo and hot dog graphics, the many talents of Whitney

No Country for Small Purses

2008-09-14T20:56:00.000-07:00

My rooms Whitney has a term "small purse people". These are women who have itty bitty hand held purses. She does not understand them, does not understand how women value purses as an accessory. On a broader level, one may infer from this a specific type of lifestyle one chooses. While I do own a few small delightful purses, hopefully I don't fall into this dubious category of friends. That said, we headed out to Orcas Island (of the San Juan Islands) for a hike up Mt Constitution and some camping. Small purses were no where to be found, but our campground was littered with douchebags and VW Vanagons which added some unwelcomed and awesome spice, respectively.

Islands in Puget Sound or tops of baseballs caps?

Mt. Baker

Proper hydration technique

Views from atop Mt Constitution

Attending church on a Sunday morning

Cascade Falls

Give it up for spontaneity - getting under the falls

Steam rising from the intern's body

Enumclaw. Puyallup. Tulalip. Geoducks. Suburus.

This place is growing on me

Weekend Warrior

2008-09-07T23:02:00.000-07:00

Squeezing out the last bit of summer

M3 Summit

This was a rare sighting of the evasive Alaskan Murphy and my precious time with her had to be shared. Fortunately it was good company and many drinks and laughs were had.

Scenes from a Saturday in Seattle

Breakfast at Easy Street Records...

...both a record store and diner. BRILLIANT!

Seattle Art Museum, Olympic Sculpture Park

Hiking with the Eastside kids to Goat Lake, WA

Tossed in the back of the truck, Charlie and I are designated steerage.

5 mile hike to Goat Lake, WA in the North Cascades region

A PA, 2 MDs, an MA and an RD

Pooped

Boston Revisited

2008-09-01T23:18:00.000-07:00

Dan and Cindy's Wedding

If someone bet me when I moved away from Boston in 2005 that in three years a beautiful park would lie above a submerged highway where people can enter and exit the North End without fear, and the Celtics would be the NBA Champs in a place called the Garden, I would have called you plain crazy. But alas, dreams do come true, and glory has been restored to this crotchety old town. I couldn't recall street names and the Boston accent sounded again strange to me. These changes in me and the city were a reminder of how time moves on. Reuniting with my old buddies for Cindy and Dan's wedding, however, proved to me that some things thankfully stay the same.

The idiots reunite for a weekend of debauchery

Give me a blonde wig and call me a material girl

Solo on Mount Si

2008-08-24T23:00:00.000-07:00

A local favorite hike, Mount Si

4 miles to summit

Thank goodness for the ol' timer button

Looking out over Snoqualmie Valley

Watchin' the storm clouds roll in

I think I see my dad

Left Arm Photography, Inc.

My ass hurts already and it's only been a few hours since I got home.

Tommorrow is going to suck.

Some Racing Some Stopping

2008-08-17T00:54:00.000-07:00

Northern peninsula, Washington State

(and some musical references for the astute reader)

Easy Morning Rebel

Early morning start on a ferry, a Seattle experience

Lost Coastlines

Ozette Trail

Cheaper Than Therapy

Lolling about on the coast, searching for the perfect pebble

Dark Leaves Form a Thread

A peculiar trail of faces cut into leaves discovered along the Ozette Trail. More to come...

Please Visit Your National Parks

Cape Flattery, the northwesternmost point in the contiguous US

The musical references:

The title of the post Some Racing Some Stopping is from a great album from a C-U band, the Headlights

"Easy Morning Rebel" is from My Morning Jacket It Still Moves

"Lost Coastlines" is from Okkervil River, The Stand-Ins

"Cheaper Than Therapy" is from Rogue Wave, Asleep at Heaven's Gate

"Dark Leaves Form a Thread" is by Destroyer, Trouble in Dreams

Please Visit Your National Parks is from Oxford Collapse

The Charm Offensive

2008-08-11T17:46:00.000-07:00

Big and Tall

Lifeguards on Green Lake

Sonic Boom Records, Seattle

I work across the street from this

Grande Drip with Room

2008-08-09T10:54:00.000-07:00

The lady behind the counter at Starbucks replied, "I'm sorry what did you say?" when I asked for a small black coffee. I learned from the man behind me in line that I should have said, "A grande drip with room, please". It ain't no cup o' joe here in Seattle. I haven't had time for the sites, but here' s what I've got so far...

My Digs! Casa de Stensrud overlooking Green Lake

The 29th Olympiad. Opening ceremony at Stensrud Stadium

Delegates from Cuba, Nauru, the Marshall Islands and the Chinese Greece descend upon Beijing

Goodbye Chicago

2008-08-08T00:16:00.000-07:00

This is really only a temporary goodbye. I spent my last weekend in Chicago at Lollapalooza with great bands and indispensible friends.

I got to apply the bear hug to one of my favorite singers, Will Sheff of Okkervil River.

And then off I went to Seattle...

Gearing Up

2008-07-22T22:46:00.000-07:00

I just have to take my board certification exam, move out of my apartment, go crazy at Lollapalooza, then I'm off to Seattle for two months followed by a brief tour of China, Nepal and New Zealand.