Hello,
Yes! This thing still works. Now normally this would not work in China but thanks to the ol' remote desktop it thinks I'm over in California. That is definitely a hole in China's tight web of security.
I've decided the main reason why I like flying. it forces you to spend long hours of time with yourself. take-off, talking with the guy next to me that looks and sounds like one of the doctors from MASH, and settling myself into the nest of blanket, snacks, pillow, bottle of water, laptop, kindle, ipod, and more wires then are needed all takes about an hour. Then you have to come up with things to do for the next 13.
One netflix film killed off the partially charged laptop, a spacious but inconveniently placed seat on the plane canceled out the chance to really get into any of the six films but an attempt was made, and sleep always erases a few here and there.
But in the end I have time to think. and I think about how I need to make more time to think. lay on a blanket in a park and think, find someone with a giant trampoline and lay on it and think. for some reason i always picture clouds along with this thinking. and i see in my mind all the people i need to contact to say hi or the goals that need to be pursued - how am i going to make egyptian food for jamie? how do i get enough addresses to hand write letters to? why are the italian lessons going so slow? what would i write about on the old travel blog and there's only two people that read it anyway?
then, with enough hours come the answers. just use epicurious, buy the stuff and make it, people eat in egypt everyday, they must make something. i have a few addresses, that's all the start I need. it only goes slow when i don't listen to them. write something, i have never known what to write, ever. just start and try not to over think it.
(to ryan and jasmine)
your friend,
chad
Friday, March 12, 2010
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Happy Christmas!!
Hello,
I hope everyone had a happy Christmas!
The trip to the airport to come back to Las Vegas was interesting enough for me. With me refusing to take a 20 dollar bus ride (and cursing the no change given rule), freezing my face enough to slur my words, and finally being picked up by a bus that shouldn’t have stopped, paying the right price, and the bonus of having my pockets full of gummy bears and beef jerky (had to make change for the 20).
It has been another good Christmas with the Mom and brother. I am eternally grateful for the London Christmas with my Mom in 2002. I think it has set the right example of the meaning of Christmas in my mind at least. One of the best things was seeing my friends, with the wish that someday all of these people could live in one place again, and the reminder that it will probably never happen. It is always a battle for me of enjoying the seasons of having certain people in your life and then being able to let go when it is time to move on.
I’m looking forward to going back to the snowy Seattle. I’ve got a few ideas of sledding that I need to give a try. It looks like it might be rain for the moment, but I hope the snow makes another appearance. Although, 40 degrees does sound pretty good compared to the dang 20s it was when I left. But I do love the nonsound that the snow makes when it is falling, if that makes any sense at all.
My goal of meeting all of my neighbors has been extended one month. I’ll be getting my new professional mixer in the mail soon so I can properly deliver goods to all the organic, healthy eaters in the neighborhood. How could I tell them the cinnamon rolls came from a can, when I know some of them probably have not stepped foot into a Safeway for a few years on the chance they might buy something that isn’t pesticide free, free range, or grown by farmers that put their first names on the packaging. I can’t do that to them. So we wait for the copper Kitchen-Aid Professional 620 Mixer. I don’t know how big six quarts is but I’m guessing I can make a lot with it.
So, two goals/new things for January. 1. Bring proper goods to neighbors. 2. Start the Argentine Tango dance class with Jamie. I don’t feel like I’m going to far out on a limb to say I am not the best dancer. And so far, word on the street is that Tango isn’t the easiest thing to do. Also, I’m not exactly sure how many different kinds of Tango are out there. I am hoping Argentine is the most fun kind.
have a good day
your friend
chad.
I hope everyone had a happy Christmas!
The trip to the airport to come back to Las Vegas was interesting enough for me. With me refusing to take a 20 dollar bus ride (and cursing the no change given rule), freezing my face enough to slur my words, and finally being picked up by a bus that shouldn’t have stopped, paying the right price, and the bonus of having my pockets full of gummy bears and beef jerky (had to make change for the 20).
It has been another good Christmas with the Mom and brother. I am eternally grateful for the London Christmas with my Mom in 2002. I think it has set the right example of the meaning of Christmas in my mind at least. One of the best things was seeing my friends, with the wish that someday all of these people could live in one place again, and the reminder that it will probably never happen. It is always a battle for me of enjoying the seasons of having certain people in your life and then being able to let go when it is time to move on.
I’m looking forward to going back to the snowy Seattle. I’ve got a few ideas of sledding that I need to give a try. It looks like it might be rain for the moment, but I hope the snow makes another appearance. Although, 40 degrees does sound pretty good compared to the dang 20s it was when I left. But I do love the nonsound that the snow makes when it is falling, if that makes any sense at all.
My goal of meeting all of my neighbors has been extended one month. I’ll be getting my new professional mixer in the mail soon so I can properly deliver goods to all the organic, healthy eaters in the neighborhood. How could I tell them the cinnamon rolls came from a can, when I know some of them probably have not stepped foot into a Safeway for a few years on the chance they might buy something that isn’t pesticide free, free range, or grown by farmers that put their first names on the packaging. I can’t do that to them. So we wait for the copper Kitchen-Aid Professional 620 Mixer. I don’t know how big six quarts is but I’m guessing I can make a lot with it.
So, two goals/new things for January. 1. Bring proper goods to neighbors. 2. Start the Argentine Tango dance class with Jamie. I don’t feel like I’m going to far out on a limb to say I am not the best dancer. And so far, word on the street is that Tango isn’t the easiest thing to do. Also, I’m not exactly sure how many different kinds of Tango are out there. I am hoping Argentine is the most fun kind.
have a good day
your friend
chad.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
store bought cinnamon rolls
hello,
finally, one week later, the jet lag has been conquered. In a way it has been nice getting rid of the desire to go to bed at 4pm, but I think I will miss the feeling of wanting pasta first thing in the morning. although that might not have been so much of a jet lag issue, but more of a carbohydrate addiction issue.
now, the only flight plan for the rest of the year is going home for christmas. looking forward to family time and ryan's annual christmas gathering. not many other plans beyond that.
my goal for december is to meet all of my neighbors. its been four months now but i have either been away on a trip or preparing for the next one. i was hoping to make everyone cinnamon rolls with a new kitchen aide professional mixer but instead used the miles for my flight home for christmas. next up will be the mixer, but for now the neighbors will have to be ok with not perfect cinnamon rolls.
its time to dive into another winter round of making hot chocolates that will likely make me sick. the body can only take so much heavy whipping cream. it will pay off eventually and the reward of a perfect hot chocolate will be glorious.
italian dinner night with brian and allison! i'm going against everything in my body to not make pasta. going to try the risotto this time.
have a good day
your friend
chad
finally, one week later, the jet lag has been conquered. In a way it has been nice getting rid of the desire to go to bed at 4pm, but I think I will miss the feeling of wanting pasta first thing in the morning. although that might not have been so much of a jet lag issue, but more of a carbohydrate addiction issue.
now, the only flight plan for the rest of the year is going home for christmas. looking forward to family time and ryan's annual christmas gathering. not many other plans beyond that.
my goal for december is to meet all of my neighbors. its been four months now but i have either been away on a trip or preparing for the next one. i was hoping to make everyone cinnamon rolls with a new kitchen aide professional mixer but instead used the miles for my flight home for christmas. next up will be the mixer, but for now the neighbors will have to be ok with not perfect cinnamon rolls.
its time to dive into another winter round of making hot chocolates that will likely make me sick. the body can only take so much heavy whipping cream. it will pay off eventually and the reward of a perfect hot chocolate will be glorious.
italian dinner night with brian and allison! i'm going against everything in my body to not make pasta. going to try the risotto this time.
have a good day
your friend
chad
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
do not walk on the black marble
Ciao from italia!
its been good fun in the italia the last week. we just got back from going to Martina's graduation. I didn't really understand a whole lot of what was going on (not too keen on the law words), but apparently the thesis presentation was a success, so she is on to the graduate school part. last night was watching their salsa dancing class and some very very good bruschetta.
the places so far:
venezia: walk, walk, walk, walking. bridges and churches and squares. we found a great place for lunch that was right off the main street and not made or priced for the tourists. and the indiana jones church, which is no longer a library but is currently housing the ever touring da vinci machine exhibition-i saw it about three years ago with my mom somewhere else in italy. very nearly falling into a canal; if it wasn't for a small piece of rope attached to the side of a wall, it would have been all over, with camera number four gone in a year. lesson learned, do not walk on the black marble. it is slippery.
milano: a communist union party rally and, later in the same square, TRL (mtv's total request live) Italia. the great duomo and some quick thinking to get onto the roof (you can't tell us its closed). the last supper; way bigger than i thought. and whoever thought it would be genius to put in a giant door into the last supper wall, didn't put a lot of thought into it. it really is unbelievable. The city is quite the land of fashion and i was finally able to buy the european jacket that i've had in my mind. next up a backpack (invicta to be specific for the italian fans), but it is a strange thing. every single person has one, but they are not sold anywhere. seriously, nowhere. looks like it will have to be www.ebay.it for me.
verona: be the first into the arena, don't trust the city maps, and buy the day passes for all the sights. juilette's balcony was actually kind of cool. for some reason nobody goes into any of the places, so it felt bad standing out on juilette's balcony while every else was trying to take a picture from the ground. they obviously did not purchase the day pass. the most impressive for me was the castle. i like to imagine the places i go as how they were when they were made. with things like the gladiator arena it takes more imagination on my part and is probably not very close to how things really were. but the castle made it easy to see things from long ago. something about walking the castle walls at night with all of the bow and arrow slots. the imagination didn't have to work very hard. we also tried climbing the hill to a castle that over looks the city. it was a good walk up, but by the time we got to the top we were engulfed in cloud, so not much to see.
it's great seeing Mattia's home and family and friends. they are all good people. the chocolate is perfect. i am determined to purchase a proper hot chocolate machine. i think that is the only way to go.
have a good day
your friend
chad
its been good fun in the italia the last week. we just got back from going to Martina's graduation. I didn't really understand a whole lot of what was going on (not too keen on the law words), but apparently the thesis presentation was a success, so she is on to the graduate school part. last night was watching their salsa dancing class and some very very good bruschetta.
the places so far:
venezia: walk, walk, walk, walking. bridges and churches and squares. we found a great place for lunch that was right off the main street and not made or priced for the tourists. and the indiana jones church, which is no longer a library but is currently housing the ever touring da vinci machine exhibition-i saw it about three years ago with my mom somewhere else in italy. very nearly falling into a canal; if it wasn't for a small piece of rope attached to the side of a wall, it would have been all over, with camera number four gone in a year. lesson learned, do not walk on the black marble. it is slippery.
milano: a communist union party rally and, later in the same square, TRL (mtv's total request live) Italia. the great duomo and some quick thinking to get onto the roof (you can't tell us its closed). the last supper; way bigger than i thought. and whoever thought it would be genius to put in a giant door into the last supper wall, didn't put a lot of thought into it. it really is unbelievable. The city is quite the land of fashion and i was finally able to buy the european jacket that i've had in my mind. next up a backpack (invicta to be specific for the italian fans), but it is a strange thing. every single person has one, but they are not sold anywhere. seriously, nowhere. looks like it will have to be www.ebay.it for me.
verona: be the first into the arena, don't trust the city maps, and buy the day passes for all the sights. juilette's balcony was actually kind of cool. for some reason nobody goes into any of the places, so it felt bad standing out on juilette's balcony while every else was trying to take a picture from the ground. they obviously did not purchase the day pass. the most impressive for me was the castle. i like to imagine the places i go as how they were when they were made. with things like the gladiator arena it takes more imagination on my part and is probably not very close to how things really were. but the castle made it easy to see things from long ago. something about walking the castle walls at night with all of the bow and arrow slots. the imagination didn't have to work very hard. we also tried climbing the hill to a castle that over looks the city. it was a good walk up, but by the time we got to the top we were engulfed in cloud, so not much to see.
it's great seeing Mattia's home and family and friends. they are all good people. the chocolate is perfect. i am determined to purchase a proper hot chocolate machine. i think that is the only way to go.have a good day
your friend
chad
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Ladas still exist?
Hello,
Man, with this hour change it gets dark way to fast. and it always makes you realize how many clocks you have. right now i'm running at about 40% changed to the correct time.
The work travels have been good. Guatemala was good, but not enough time in Antigua. I think I could eat that Limoncello icecream thing every night of life. I was most excited about Ecuador. I only went to Guayaquil this time. As a city, not so much going on. But the people were a it-would-have-been-creepy-if-it-had-been-somewhere-else kind of good. Nearly every single person I met, wanted to know what I was doing there, how long was I in town for (not just to ask a question, but they were trying to figure out their schedules to see we could hang out), did i speak spanish, what did i think of the place, when was i coming back again (again, to schedule time to hang out), and more and more questions. I could understand running into a slightly strange person every once in a while that would ask these kind of questions. But this was everybody. Hotel people, store people, icecream people, water people, juice people, other water people (by the afternoon i realized i don't think i could live on the equator every day of the year), the lady that made my lunch, the guy picking up the finished lunch tray. everyone i met really.
i always wanted to hire a cab for awhile and go to a few places, so it was fun to give that a try. the car was a barely staying together russian lada. the seat belt might as well been a rope tying me to the seat. but Felix seemed like a good guy so he drove me around all over the place, swung around to the hotel to pick up my bag and then off to the airport. all for ten bucks. the lada didn't go very fast and nearly every car was passing us wherever we went, but for ten bucks, well worth it.
so i'm taking a break from the work travels and going to italy on wednesday with jamie. no plans at all. just hanging out with Mattia and his family near Milan (although i think he has quite the itinerary planned). borrowing Brian and Alison's camera so i am praying the camera curse for this year does not continue. real hot chocolates, scooters and the greatest country in the world, here we come!
have a good day
your friend
chad
Man, with this hour change it gets dark way to fast. and it always makes you realize how many clocks you have. right now i'm running at about 40% changed to the correct time.
The work travels have been good. Guatemala was good, but not enough time in Antigua. I think I could eat that Limoncello icecream thing every night of life. I was most excited about Ecuador. I only went to Guayaquil this time. As a city, not so much going on. But the people were a it-would-have-been-creepy-if-it-had-been-somewhere-else kind of good. Nearly every single person I met, wanted to know what I was doing there, how long was I in town for (not just to ask a question, but they were trying to figure out their schedules to see we could hang out), did i speak spanish, what did i think of the place, when was i coming back again (again, to schedule time to hang out), and more and more questions. I could understand running into a slightly strange person every once in a while that would ask these kind of questions. But this was everybody. Hotel people, store people, icecream people, water people, juice people, other water people (by the afternoon i realized i don't think i could live on the equator every day of the year), the lady that made my lunch, the guy picking up the finished lunch tray. everyone i met really.
i always wanted to hire a cab for awhile and go to a few places, so it was fun to give that a try. the car was a barely staying together russian lada. the seat belt might as well been a rope tying me to the seat. but Felix seemed like a good guy so he drove me around all over the place, swung around to the hotel to pick up my bag and then off to the airport. all for ten bucks. the lada didn't go very fast and nearly every car was passing us wherever we went, but for ten bucks, well worth it.
so i'm taking a break from the work travels and going to italy on wednesday with jamie. no plans at all. just hanging out with Mattia and his family near Milan (although i think he has quite the itinerary planned). borrowing Brian and Alison's camera so i am praying the camera curse for this year does not continue. real hot chocolates, scooters and the greatest country in the world, here we come!
have a good day
your friend
chad
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
wheel of fortune winner
hello,
i nearly forgot how to log in on this thing! that's not a good sign. just constantly trying to battle balancing all of the times. friend time, work time, home time, jamie time, God time, sleep time, and all the other ones. sometimes it feels like i am doing all of these just right, and then other times it feels like i am not giving a single one of these justice. its weird, but staying awake longer doesn't make more time.
so i won't have any photos to add for a bit, since some guy thought it would be a good idea to break into my house and take my cameras, leave an envelope of cash (my hot chocolate fund), but empty out my jar of pennies. i take him for someone that would be on wheel of fortune. not nearly smart enough for jeopardy, but ends up with way more money than a jeopardy winner for just picking a few letters at random.
work has brought me to mexico again so i came down early and visited zacatecas. i have a list of cities on a post-it note on my computer of places that i have never heard of but have been recommended by some locals. next up taxco. the last trip was san miguel de allende which was pretty good but i didn't really have much interactions with people, except for old retired white guys from america. quite the opposite with zacatecas. it was only a few days but it felt good again to meet random people from all over, each on their different paths. and i felt ok with my path. apparently i didn't do any of the things i was supposed to do while i was there. did you go to the mines? no. did you go to the ruins? no. did you go to any of the mask museums? the what museums?
the world is full of museums and lots of things are ruined. but i did see a bit of a creepy french, cirque de' sole show at the cathedral kicking off some festival for something. nobody asks about that. or hiking up a hill when my body was in no mood to do so. up to the very top where oddly enough the wind smelled like alcohol, which was the very same reason why my body did not want to hike up the hill in the first place. and spent time with people. that's what i need to do more of (not so much the creepy french show, but the other things with people).
i'm happy to be going to antigua tomorrow. it grows on me more and more. the buses there make me smile. hey, i actually have a photo of one!:
That's were all the school buses go! (they can get more chromed out with flames)
have a good day
your friend
chad.
i nearly forgot how to log in on this thing! that's not a good sign. just constantly trying to battle balancing all of the times. friend time, work time, home time, jamie time, God time, sleep time, and all the other ones. sometimes it feels like i am doing all of these just right, and then other times it feels like i am not giving a single one of these justice. its weird, but staying awake longer doesn't make more time.
so i won't have any photos to add for a bit, since some guy thought it would be a good idea to break into my house and take my cameras, leave an envelope of cash (my hot chocolate fund), but empty out my jar of pennies. i take him for someone that would be on wheel of fortune. not nearly smart enough for jeopardy, but ends up with way more money than a jeopardy winner for just picking a few letters at random.
work has brought me to mexico again so i came down early and visited zacatecas. i have a list of cities on a post-it note on my computer of places that i have never heard of but have been recommended by some locals. next up taxco. the last trip was san miguel de allende which was pretty good but i didn't really have much interactions with people, except for old retired white guys from america. quite the opposite with zacatecas. it was only a few days but it felt good again to meet random people from all over, each on their different paths. and i felt ok with my path. apparently i didn't do any of the things i was supposed to do while i was there. did you go to the mines? no. did you go to the ruins? no. did you go to any of the mask museums? the what museums?
the world is full of museums and lots of things are ruined. but i did see a bit of a creepy french, cirque de' sole show at the cathedral kicking off some festival for something. nobody asks about that. or hiking up a hill when my body was in no mood to do so. up to the very top where oddly enough the wind smelled like alcohol, which was the very same reason why my body did not want to hike up the hill in the first place. and spent time with people. that's what i need to do more of (not so much the creepy french show, but the other things with people).
i'm happy to be going to antigua tomorrow. it grows on me more and more. the buses there make me smile. hey, i actually have a photo of one!:
That's were all the school buses go! (they can get more chromed out with flames)
have a good day
your friend
chad.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
air cakes and bicycles
hello,
it was decided that an adventure day was needed. i planned this one, but for some reason i feel like it has been my turn the last few adventure days in a row. definitely not a complaint; there is a lot to discover out there.
jamie met me at my apartment where we made sandwiches and prepared for the day. this is where jamie usually tries to guess what we are going to do (and where i plant extra preparations that have nothing to do with adventure day, like bringing along the seattle hike book. it helps add to the confusion of things).
we g0t a little lost in the first portion of the drive since i wasn't entirely familiar with the area. it was ok though because i made an adventure day soundtrack mix tape so at there was at least some good music. thank you KEXP. first stop was the fauntleroy ferry to vashon island.
one of the odd things about my job is that i go on work trips with japanese business men. the common thing for them is to give some kind of gift that usually comes in the form of a box (kind of see's candy shaped) and is usually filled with very mysterious desserts and/or crackers which have the physical consistency of something between a rice crispy and air. the fun trick of all this is getting that gift back in through american customs. "Do you have any food to declare?" ".....yes..." "And what is it?" "....japanese sponge cake....?" I have actually yet to guess right. Maybe it is because i always guess japanese sponge cake and have yet to actually receive it as a gift. But the customs officers don't seem to mind or care (or wonder why i am bringing back japanese pastries from a Guatemala flight).
i had just returned from guatemala/mexico with a fairly large box of something japanese. so while waiting for the ferry, we each had a mixed bag of some kind of crackers. my most interesting piece was kind of like a cheese puff. but instead of cheese, it was A1 steak sauce.
the ferry ride to vashon island was pretty short but long enough to freeze standing at the front of the boat. it is the best part of a boat ride.
vashon island is home to about 10,000 people with a lot more people and boats coming in at the summer months. with february not being a summer month, things were pretty low-key.
about halfway into the island there is a park and ride parking lot for the bus. across the street is a closed cafe and some trees, the forrest/park type. not far into the trees a small path that takes you to this:
a small bicycle in a tree. they say that years ago the bike was next to the tree and over the years it grew around it. Berkley Breathed used to live on Vashon Island and has a bike eating tree in his book, Red Ranger Came Calling. Now the bike is about 7 feet off of the ground. In 1994 it won a contest put on by Washington Mutual for the most unusual place in Washington/Oregon.
We went and had our sandwiches at a small harbor and watched state employees doing some kind of diving survey and picking strange sea creatures out of this weird kind of seaweed. apparently Vashon Island closes pretty early on a Saturday afternoon during the winter, so after lunch there was not anything else left open. and we headed back.
a pretty laid-back, 1994 award winning adventure day.
your friend,
chad.
it was decided that an adventure day was needed. i planned this one, but for some reason i feel like it has been my turn the last few adventure days in a row. definitely not a complaint; there is a lot to discover out there.
jamie met me at my apartment where we made sandwiches and prepared for the day. this is where jamie usually tries to guess what we are going to do (and where i plant extra preparations that have nothing to do with adventure day, like bringing along the seattle hike book. it helps add to the confusion of things).
we g0t a little lost in the first portion of the drive since i wasn't entirely familiar with the area. it was ok though because i made an adventure day soundtrack mix tape so at there was at least some good music. thank you KEXP. first stop was the fauntleroy ferry to vashon island.
one of the odd things about my job is that i go on work trips with japanese business men. the common thing for them is to give some kind of gift that usually comes in the form of a box (kind of see's candy shaped) and is usually filled with very mysterious desserts and/or crackers which have the physical consistency of something between a rice crispy and air. the fun trick of all this is getting that gift back in through american customs. "Do you have any food to declare?" ".....yes..." "And what is it?" "....japanese sponge cake....?" I have actually yet to guess right. Maybe it is because i always guess japanese sponge cake and have yet to actually receive it as a gift. But the customs officers don't seem to mind or care (or wonder why i am bringing back japanese pastries from a Guatemala flight).
i had just returned from guatemala/mexico with a fairly large box of something japanese. so while waiting for the ferry, we each had a mixed bag of some kind of crackers. my most interesting piece was kind of like a cheese puff. but instead of cheese, it was A1 steak sauce.the ferry ride to vashon island was pretty short but long enough to freeze standing at the front of the boat. it is the best part of a boat ride.
vashon island is home to about 10,000 people with a lot more people and boats coming in at the summer months. with february not being a summer month, things were pretty low-key.
about halfway into the island there is a park and ride parking lot for the bus. across the street is a closed cafe and some trees, the forrest/park type. not far into the trees a small path that takes you to this:
a small bicycle in a tree. they say that years ago the bike was next to the tree and over the years it grew around it. Berkley Breathed used to live on Vashon Island and has a bike eating tree in his book, Red Ranger Came Calling. Now the bike is about 7 feet off of the ground. In 1994 it won a contest put on by Washington Mutual for the most unusual place in Washington/Oregon.We went and had our sandwiches at a small harbor and watched state employees doing some kind of diving survey and picking strange sea creatures out of this weird kind of seaweed. apparently Vashon Island closes pretty early on a Saturday afternoon during the winter, so after lunch there was not anything else left open. and we headed back.
a pretty laid-back, 1994 award winning adventure day.
your friend,
chad.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
muscle groups
hello,
i've decided that for every random physical activity that one can possibly do, a completely different muscle group is used. muscles that will solely be used only for that activity and nothing else. for example, a pickup game of dodgeball at a community center will make the muscles surrounding your ribcage have that after a coughing sickness feeling (that it-hurts-to-laugh feeling).
since i haven't found the dodgeball machine at the gym yet, i don't know if there is any way to prepare for it. other than go every monday at 7pm.
This was the only picture where i wasn't blurry from all the dodging. i'm the one in the middle. apparently the guy next to me wasn't dodging at the moment either. we must have been doing well at the time.
have a good day
your friend
chad.
i've decided that for every random physical activity that one can possibly do, a completely different muscle group is used. muscles that will solely be used only for that activity and nothing else. for example, a pickup game of dodgeball at a community center will make the muscles surrounding your ribcage have that after a coughing sickness feeling (that it-hurts-to-laugh feeling).
since i haven't found the dodgeball machine at the gym yet, i don't know if there is any way to prepare for it. other than go every monday at 7pm.
This was the only picture where i wasn't blurry from all the dodging. i'm the one in the middle. apparently the guy next to me wasn't dodging at the moment either. we must have been doing well at the time.
have a good day
your friend
chad.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
11 pounds
hello,
everyday more and more christmas appears. the top of the space needle is a christmas tree and one of the three t.v. towers in queen anne is a giant lit up tree at night (i always wonder why only one of the three?). the bellevue buildings (and cranes) are christmas themed. and the christmas music has arrived on the radio. its a beautiful thing.
thanksgiving was a great traditional meal with all the usuals. it was a nice, slightly later than expected meal (does any one else think their red turkey-is-done popper is defective?) with jamie and mattia. we finished it with pandoro (probably the best christmas cake of time) and some super mario brothers 3, which is not as easy as i remember it being.
for friday we dropped jamie off at work and mattia and i went to the macy's santa parade:
after some shopping for mattia's italian friends and family, i picked up something that will bring me months of happiness. a five kilogram (11 pound) giant container of Nutella. as we were walking it back to the car through pike place market, i could only hear partial conversations. "oh my gosh, that is the biggest container of...", "man, look at that giant..." "nutella is my fav.." and in a way i felt like an extremely large breasted woman. all of the glances and second glances and double takes were all looking at my body and what was in my hands. they weren't seeing me as a person.
since it was an amazingly clear day, mattia and i went up to the space needle where the lighting was perfect and we could see all the mountains. these cold crisp days are good to get as much vitamin d as possible before the clouds roll in.
everyday more and more christmas appears. the top of the space needle is a christmas tree and one of the three t.v. towers in queen anne is a giant lit up tree at night (i always wonder why only one of the three?). the bellevue buildings (and cranes) are christmas themed. and the christmas music has arrived on the radio. its a beautiful thing.
thanksgiving was a great traditional meal with all the usuals. it was a nice, slightly later than expected meal (does any one else think their red turkey-is-done popper is defective?) with jamie and mattia. we finished it with pandoro (probably the best christmas cake of time) and some super mario brothers 3, which is not as easy as i remember it being.
for friday we dropped jamie off at work and mattia and i went to the macy's santa parade:
after some shopping for mattia's italian friends and family, i picked up something that will bring me months of happiness. a five kilogram (11 pound) giant container of Nutella. as we were walking it back to the car through pike place market, i could only hear partial conversations. "oh my gosh, that is the biggest container of...", "man, look at that giant..." "nutella is my fav.." and in a way i felt like an extremely large breasted woman. all of the glances and second glances and double takes were all looking at my body and what was in my hands. they weren't seeing me as a person.
since it was an amazingly clear day, mattia and i went up to the space needle where the lighting was perfect and we could see all the mountains. these cold crisp days are good to get as much vitamin d as possible before the clouds roll in.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
perhaps
hello,
the new computer has arrived! this is relevant to me for a few reasons:
1. i am no longer location limited to an electrical outlet (my battery power life was approximately 12 minutes if i did nothing on the computer, about 3 minutes if i decided to actually use it).
2. i now have the space to fully explore music and store all of my photos. the 30 or so cds that have been on hold at the amazing seattle library are now on their way.
3. it takes about a minute to start up and have already checked my email. this compares to about 8 minutes to my old one. a 7 minute difference really isn't that much, but was a pretty good deterrent since i could always find something else to do instead of waiting for everything to load up.
this may be relevant to the two readers that are left that still check this web log:
1. perhaps there will be more posts.
i say perhaps because i don't know really if there will be more posts or not. i think of this as an extra for my life. if i have to choose between experiencing something new or writing about a previous experience, i'll go with the first one. so we'll see.
the new computer has arrived! this is relevant to me for a few reasons:
1. i am no longer location limited to an electrical outlet (my battery power life was approximately 12 minutes if i did nothing on the computer, about 3 minutes if i decided to actually use it).
2. i now have the space to fully explore music and store all of my photos. the 30 or so cds that have been on hold at the amazing seattle library are now on their way.
3. it takes about a minute to start up and have already checked my email. this compares to about 8 minutes to my old one. a 7 minute difference really isn't that much, but was a pretty good deterrent since i could always find something else to do instead of waiting for everything to load up.
this may be relevant to the two readers that are left that still check this web log:
1. perhaps there will be more posts.
i say perhaps because i don't know really if there will be more posts or not. i think of this as an extra for my life. if i have to choose between experiencing something new or writing about a previous experience, i'll go with the first one. so we'll see.
jamie picking out her pumpkin at the pumpkin patch.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
hermit octupi
my brother and his girlfriend staci came by for the second annual hang out during st. patrick's day (the last one we went to dublin for a very cool but very cold, guiness filled experience).now, if you look close enough at the buildings in this picture~~^
you'll see one black building thats taller than all the rest of them (if you follow my brother's head straight up. he's the one in the middle). that's the one that i signed up my brother and myself to climb on the morning after st. patrick's day. there were two categories: the take your time, and the timed race. why would anyone take their time climbing 1,300 stairs? after about the 30th flight, i looked back and thought that my brother was going to die. i gave him a good three days (all of them work days for him) to train and prepare for it, so expectations where a bit unknown. and the team we were signed up for had a group of guys that are climbing the tallest mountain peaks in the world (and just returned from kilimanjaro? could be way off, but one of those). he came through strong though in 16 minutes. nice job.
we got this seattle pass were we did everything that i've always wanted to do in seattle but never did. it was definitely worth it. one of the coolest things i have ever seen:
i have no idea why but i could look at these guys for a long long time. little cows. little cows that look like pandas. a few of my friends have not been impressed by this and i feel like i'm taking crazy pills.so after the seattle sites, we though a quick trip to canada was in order. pretty much consisted of random places, strange people, and me making a fool of myself. along the way we spent a night in port angeles, which for its impressive location of right at the base of the olympics and on the water, is a town with not much to do. we thought before dinner we would do some bowling and apparently we were the only ones that had that idea:
i think it was the only time in my life where we were the only people in a bowling alley. the only other person there was the bartender. i just don't see how a bowling alley in port angeles could be profitable.in victoria we did a lot of hanging out. with the butchart gardens, where my brother had the great idea of buying and planting giant maple trees in las vegas. until he found out that you couldn't take those seeds back to the u.s. probably the thing that we shouldn't have done was the underwater observatory right in the victoria harbor area. my uneducated guess of octopi is that they live the hermit life. so when the sign says "no divers show/feeding today", it should really say "you won't be seeing an octopus today". we didn't see one. but we did go to the creepy wax museum! i would agree with my friend ryan, it might not have been the wisest choice of location for the torture scenes. right next to the disney and kid scenes. a little further down the walkway we saw a child still traumatized by the display of torture. he didn't want to walk past christopher columbus. although, maybe the more fitting place for him would be in the torture room.
it was really good to see the family and i'm liking the travel somewhere on st. patrick's day tradition. staci says the next place has to be warm (after ireland and canada she is ready for a hotter location), but for some reason i equate adventure to cold. i'll have to work on that...after i go to antarctica.
have a good day
your friend
chad.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
that cold february trip
hello,
this one should have been up awhile ago:
north dakota (early/mid feb.) -
is pretty dang cold.
my disclaimer is that i fully realize this is not going to sound very cool or fun, but it was. there is no other explanation. traveling with my married friends ryan and amy, we set on a mission to experience the least visited state (maybe alaska is less, but north dakota must be high up there) in its truest form, in the dead of winter. thankfully we missed the freakishly cold -35 degrees cold spell by one week.
-15 was plenty for me, and if it keeps getting colder, you can't even ice skate on frozen ponds. after a great day at the mall of america and a night of watching a fightless nhl hockey game (yes, slightly disappointed) in minnesota, we tested our own hockey stop skills in the park pond recommended by the sellers of the cheapest possible ice hockey skates at dick's athletics. my vote goes to ryan on the best hockey stop.
the real fun of north dokota started with an overnight in fargo. going to say that there isn't much there.
the next day was shiverfest 2007 in devil's lake north dakota. along the way we mistakenly stopped at the second tallest structure in the world. it looked pretty tall but is sadly three feet shorter than the tallest structure in the world, which happens to be located about ten minutes drive away. after the proper visit of the worlds tallest structure (a t.v. tower in the middle of nowhere), we made it to devil's lake only to find out that shiverfest 2007 is more of a loosely connected gathering of mid-winter events rather than an organized town community event. there really wasn't any place to go.
our answer was to take the rental car for a spin on what, from our sound judgment (being from Las Vegas), looked to be a solid devil's lake. we got the car into some pretty good spins with the parking brake. it turns out amy has a fear of walking on frozen water. she's a trooper. i'm pretty sure her fear didn't expect spinning rental cars on frozen water. so maybe it overwhelmed the fear and made it possible. that's my guess.
the best part was driving all the way across the lake in our rental car with california plates, stopping at a fishing shack, and asking the two north dakotan men where shiverfest 2007 was. "Well...you have to get back onto the road... And then go around that way. I think you'll see the snowmobile event there."
the rest of the trip continued with meeting the most random cool people, like the kite guy. some guy that makes huge (massively huge) kites and takes them to events all over the country. he let us help him put all the kites away for the day so we got to spend a lot of time with this guy that is following his passion, however strange it may be.
or going to more weird places, like the worlds largest buffalo. it was metal.
definitely the right kind of trip. lots of talking, lots of doing and not doing. and seeing the other parts of life. trips with ryan and amy are always the best.
this one should have been up awhile ago:
north dakota (early/mid feb.) -
is pretty dang cold.
my disclaimer is that i fully realize this is not going to sound very cool or fun, but it was. there is no other explanation. traveling with my married friends ryan and amy, we set on a mission to experience the least visited state (maybe alaska is less, but north dakota must be high up there) in its truest form, in the dead of winter. thankfully we missed the freakishly cold -35 degrees cold spell by one week.
-15 was plenty for me, and if it keeps getting colder, you can't even ice skate on frozen ponds. after a great day at the mall of america and a night of watching a fightless nhl hockey game (yes, slightly disappointed) in minnesota, we tested our own hockey stop skills in the park pond recommended by the sellers of the cheapest possible ice hockey skates at dick's athletics. my vote goes to ryan on the best hockey stop.the real fun of north dokota started with an overnight in fargo. going to say that there isn't much there.
the next day was shiverfest 2007 in devil's lake north dakota. along the way we mistakenly stopped at the second tallest structure in the world. it looked pretty tall but is sadly three feet shorter than the tallest structure in the world, which happens to be located about ten minutes drive away. after the proper visit of the worlds tallest structure (a t.v. tower in the middle of nowhere), we made it to devil's lake only to find out that shiverfest 2007 is more of a loosely connected gathering of mid-winter events rather than an organized town community event. there really wasn't any place to go.
our answer was to take the rental car for a spin on what, from our sound judgment (being from Las Vegas), looked to be a solid devil's lake. we got the car into some pretty good spins with the parking brake. it turns out amy has a fear of walking on frozen water. she's a trooper. i'm pretty sure her fear didn't expect spinning rental cars on frozen water. so maybe it overwhelmed the fear and made it possible. that's my guess.the best part was driving all the way across the lake in our rental car with california plates, stopping at a fishing shack, and asking the two north dakotan men where shiverfest 2007 was. "Well...you have to get back onto the road... And then go around that way. I think you'll see the snowmobile event there."
the rest of the trip continued with meeting the most random cool people, like the kite guy. some guy that makes huge (massively huge) kites and takes them to events all over the country. he let us help him put all the kites away for the day so we got to spend a lot of time with this guy that is following his passion, however strange it may be.
or going to more weird places, like the worlds largest buffalo. it was metal.
definitely the right kind of trip. lots of talking, lots of doing and not doing. and seeing the other parts of life. trips with ryan and amy are always the best.
Monday, March 12, 2007
adventure day II
hello,
adventure day - one day a weekend (very similar to seattle saturday from when i first moved here) where adventure is the theme, or at least one of the themes. sunday was adventure day II.
i didn't have my camera for adventure day I, but to sum it up: a flower show at the bellevue botanical gardens; a quick visit to the park right next door to the bellevue botanical gardens; jamba juice, where we both ordered a small and jamie got a medium while i got a small and for some reason felt left out; a park on mercer island where i read on the small patch of swimming beach. way too cold for people swimming, but this tiny dog was determined to guard the beach from slightly confused ducks; and a walk down some of the i-90 floating bridge. a definite park theme with this adventure day.
with the camera ready, adventure day II was set to go:
driving to a secret destination (not that secret for the thousands of cars that pass it every day) south of seattle, we came across shipwreck beads, the worlds largest bead emporium. i replaced the word emporium with their use of the word "store" since i thought emporium was a better description, especially if it was a "worlds largest." one great big building with many many beads. i kept trying to look at all the employees and even the people shopping to see if they had bead necklaces on, but most of them didn't (i saw two with them on, about 15 with nothing). i guess people are doing different things with beads these days other than wearing them. Yep there it is, the world's largest bead emporium.
after a bit more driving, we arrived at the secret destination: four giant metal cows! They were right off of the freeway and made of giant oil cans. not sure if they are painted or just naturally rusted. The mother/calf one was a bit confusing since the mother cow had horns. After a little bit of research, apparently there are many breeds of female cows that have horns. The city of Austin public library says that the Danish Red, the White Park and the Texas Longhorn all have female cows with horns. It must be one of those then.
For the return trip we stopped by the Spar cafe and restaurant in Olympia, the Washington State capital. Olympia is a much cooler place than Carson City, Nevada (apologies to the 17 non-governmental residents of Carson City, Nevada). It has that cool small town downtown feel to it. Kind of like a surviving Fargo, North Dakota.
After a miscommunication with the waitress, we received our spicy macaroni and cheese $5.00 blue plate special (which was definitely not our spicy macaroni and cheese pizza $5.00 chef's special). We wondered how they were going to do a macaroni and cheese pizza, since putting pasta on top of pizza is not a usual practice. And the answer is that they can't.
The final stop was the world famous Bob's Java Jive. I guess back in the day, Bob had two chimpanzees named "Java" and "Jive" that would bang on bongos while they would play the guitar and sing. That would have been awesome to see. This place is not the easiest to find since it is nearly under two freeways. Its been in a lot of movies that were filmed in Tacoma: Three Fugitives, I Love You to Death, Ten Things I Hate About You, and Say Anything.
I don't remember any of those (ten things vaguely, but I don't remember this place in it).
So there it is. Adventure Day II.
And a side note. My friend is embarking on an amazing multi-year world trip (she doesn't actually know when she is coming back). Have fun Megan! We will definitely miss you.
I don't know who the guy in the back is.
adventure day - one day a weekend (very similar to seattle saturday from when i first moved here) where adventure is the theme, or at least one of the themes. sunday was adventure day II.
i didn't have my camera for adventure day I, but to sum it up: a flower show at the bellevue botanical gardens; a quick visit to the park right next door to the bellevue botanical gardens; jamba juice, where we both ordered a small and jamie got a medium while i got a small and for some reason felt left out; a park on mercer island where i read on the small patch of swimming beach. way too cold for people swimming, but this tiny dog was determined to guard the beach from slightly confused ducks; and a walk down some of the i-90 floating bridge. a definite park theme with this adventure day.
with the camera ready, adventure day II was set to go:
driving to a secret destination (not that secret for the thousands of cars that pass it every day) south of seattle, we came across shipwreck beads, the worlds largest bead emporium. i replaced the word emporium with their use of the word "store" since i thought emporium was a better description, especially if it was a "worlds largest." one great big building with many many beads. i kept trying to look at all the employees and even the people shopping to see if they had bead necklaces on, but most of them didn't (i saw two with them on, about 15 with nothing). i guess people are doing different things with beads these days other than wearing them. Yep there it is, the world's largest bead emporium.
after a bit more driving, we arrived at the secret destination: four giant metal cows! They were right off of the freeway and made of giant oil cans. not sure if they are painted or just naturally rusted. The mother/calf one was a bit confusing since the mother cow had horns. After a little bit of research, apparently there are many breeds of female cows that have horns. The city of Austin public library says that the Danish Red, the White Park and the Texas Longhorn all have female cows with horns. It must be one of those then.
For the return trip we stopped by the Spar cafe and restaurant in Olympia, the Washington State capital. Olympia is a much cooler place than Carson City, Nevada (apologies to the 17 non-governmental residents of Carson City, Nevada). It has that cool small town downtown feel to it. Kind of like a surviving Fargo, North Dakota.After a miscommunication with the waitress, we received our spicy macaroni and cheese $5.00 blue plate special (which was definitely not our spicy macaroni and cheese pizza $5.00 chef's special). We wondered how they were going to do a macaroni and cheese pizza, since putting pasta on top of pizza is not a usual practice. And the answer is that they can't.
The final stop was the world famous Bob's Java Jive. I guess back in the day, Bob had two chimpanzees named "Java" and "Jive" that would bang on bongos while they would play the guitar and sing. That would have been awesome to see. This place is not the easiest to find since it is nearly under two freeways. Its been in a lot of movies that were filmed in Tacoma: Three Fugitives, I Love You to Death, Ten Things I Hate About You, and Say Anything.I don't remember any of those (ten things vaguely, but I don't remember this place in it).
So there it is. Adventure Day II.
And a side note. My friend is embarking on an amazing multi-year world trip (she doesn't actually know when she is coming back). Have fun Megan! We will definitely miss you.
I don't know who the guy in the back is.Friday, March 02, 2007
Spring!
hello,
first post of the year and its already march! which also happens to be the month that spring starts. seattle usually doesn't realize this for another two months, but what is more important is that the sun does realize it. yesterday i was talking to someone about watching the sunset from my last place i lived, and how it was at 9:00pm. i just can't even imagine that at the moment, but am greatly looking forward to those days. the apartment wrapping should be finished by that time as well (yep, still under construction), and the sunset views are from my bedroom window.
currently i am looking for employment. it must be (in order of importance):
a place i am passionate about working at
in a field i am passionate about pursuing (i must want to own my own business within the field)
with a position i am passionate about filling
and they must offer a bus pass. i miss reading on the bus.
other than that, nothing else matters.
i read my 2nd-half-of-the trip journal a few nights ago and it was a good shaking of my life. it almost doesn't feel like i wrote it, except there are a lot of memories that are sparked by every entry. there are a lot of opportunities for living to be had.
have a good day
your friend
chad.
first post of the year and its already march! which also happens to be the month that spring starts. seattle usually doesn't realize this for another two months, but what is more important is that the sun does realize it. yesterday i was talking to someone about watching the sunset from my last place i lived, and how it was at 9:00pm. i just can't even imagine that at the moment, but am greatly looking forward to those days. the apartment wrapping should be finished by that time as well (yep, still under construction), and the sunset views are from my bedroom window.
currently i am looking for employment. it must be (in order of importance):
a place i am passionate about working at
in a field i am passionate about pursuing (i must want to own my own business within the field)
with a position i am passionate about filling
and they must offer a bus pass. i miss reading on the bus.
other than that, nothing else matters.
i read my 2nd-half-of-the trip journal a few nights ago and it was a good shaking of my life. it almost doesn't feel like i wrote it, except there are a lot of memories that are sparked by every entry. there are a lot of opportunities for living to be had.
have a good day
your friend
chad.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
home in seattle
hello,
i've finally got a moment to give a few words. there is a little monthly calendar that i got from work, and it has been getting full. after my australia trip, i've decided to actually start living in seattle instead of seeing where things would take me. its great to be open to change, but when you have been in a place for a year and can't really call it home, something is wrong.
so, my home in seattle:
the place is still looking very empty but it doesn't bother me at all. having an empty living room with a tv for movie nights, a bean bag chair, a dining table without any chairs, and a makeshift work station (to be by the windows to steal internet from the cafe across the street) is a daily reminder of living within my means. i come home, walk inside and say "crap, i don't have much". i'm not trying to fill it with things just because there is space.
on sunday i joined an italian speaking group that meets two times a month. the first meeting was on monday and it was amazing! i have been missing my italian speaking fix. the first thing i did afterwards was put a long list of italian movies on my netflix queue. out of the 6 people there i was the worst speaker but no worries, i'm not trying to win the best-italian-speaker-in-seattle award. the good news was that i understood every single word spoken, and i wasn't translating in my head, i was understanding as it came. the i-need-to-work-on-it news was that my speaking was horrible. verb tenses, vocab, all the filler words, they all disappeared. we'll be working on that.
i have a hanging pot on my balcony now. the great part is that the real construction is going to start on my apartment complex on monday. i didn't really understand the message they posted and i'm not sure what they are going to do exactly, but my guess is that the entire building will be covered in scaffolding. i think that is going to be fun, like living in a giant pillow fort. maybe my hanging plant might not be so happy about it. i'll miss the view from the windows though. i gather its going to take a few months. if thats true, more time at the coffee shops! oh, i hope it doesn't effect the internet connection. i'm holding out as long as possible on that.
i will be attempting to make my own pasta. i now have a rolling pin. i'm not sure what else i need. but a figured a rolling pin was necessary.
the trip to australia was great! i've got pictures to post from it, so i'll wait on the longer explanation. no complaints, but it was more work than play. casey and i used every free moment as best as possible, but it mostly was jam packed with work things. still no complaints. some highlights: getting scraped by a kangaroo (how often does that happen?) who was way taller than i initially thought; climbing trees in an australian gum tree forrest; wake boarding on a man-made, pull-line wake boarding park (much easier to get up and going, incredibly difficult to make the turns without dislocating your shoulders, elbows, wrists, back, and ankles); mixing with the belligerent locals at a pub in alice on a sunday afternoon; scuba diving and petting a nemo fish on the great barrier reef (the cute dive instructor had me sold on the dive the moment we stepped on the boat, dang her sneaky sales tactics); riding a camel! - big fan of camels but would have liked to see what his top speed was. we were going kind of slow. i guess when its listed out like that, there definitely aren't any complaints (it was still exhausting though).
i have worked one year at my office, which means i now make a much less embarrassing salary. i feel like things are more in line with the work i produce. also i moved into a shared office with my groups manager. she is only in two days a week, so its just me the other three. i really like working with her so all the days should be great.
kickball is still sweet. the last game we played was the most fun of this season. our team was really interacting and the other team was rad, so the whole game was fun. there isn't a winter kickball season, but the other team invited us to some winter for-fun pickup games. absolutely, i'm up for that. theres something about playing outside in the winter and getting the cold hands and runny nose. its a good part of life.
invite a friend to dinner night has been going really well. i couldn't find an available friend for last weeks meal, mostly because of my more full schedule. the challenge has been the vegetarian meals but everyone seems to enjoy the picnic style seating on our living room floor.
bring cinammon rolls to a neighbor night has been a bit tougher. theres a very small window of time to deliver baked goods to a stranger, and thats assuming that they are home (my guess is from 7:45pm to 8:35pm is the best time). not going to give up on this one though. i think it will get easy as we come into fall/winter; i'm hoping more people will be home in the evenings.
personally, things are so much better. i feel more whole now. i got a book about abandonment that actually christiana recommended. and although it was a bit hard to read, there was one sentence that was exactly what i needed. part of me does want her to feel like she has missed out (its a bit immature, but still, somewhere in my head, that thought does exist). and the book says that a certian type of anger is good and: the best revenge is success. which i think is great because its helping me get back to focusing on life and living the best i can. eventually that need for revenge will fade away and in its place will be a full exciting life. i'm already feeling different over the last month with more thoughts on possibilities of life than on the all consuming thought of how i was hurt. i wish her her own success, and in the meantime i will live my life to the fullest i possibly can.
so happy overcast seattle day! theres a fall, crisp feeling to the air and i'm getting excited about all of the trees changing colors. the hooded sweatshirt is back out but not quite the wool socks. maybe next month.
chad.
i've finally got a moment to give a few words. there is a little monthly calendar that i got from work, and it has been getting full. after my australia trip, i've decided to actually start living in seattle instead of seeing where things would take me. its great to be open to change, but when you have been in a place for a year and can't really call it home, something is wrong.
so, my home in seattle:
the place is still looking very empty but it doesn't bother me at all. having an empty living room with a tv for movie nights, a bean bag chair, a dining table without any chairs, and a makeshift work station (to be by the windows to steal internet from the cafe across the street) is a daily reminder of living within my means. i come home, walk inside and say "crap, i don't have much". i'm not trying to fill it with things just because there is space.
on sunday i joined an italian speaking group that meets two times a month. the first meeting was on monday and it was amazing! i have been missing my italian speaking fix. the first thing i did afterwards was put a long list of italian movies on my netflix queue. out of the 6 people there i was the worst speaker but no worries, i'm not trying to win the best-italian-speaker-in-seattle award. the good news was that i understood every single word spoken, and i wasn't translating in my head, i was understanding as it came. the i-need-to-work-on-it news was that my speaking was horrible. verb tenses, vocab, all the filler words, they all disappeared. we'll be working on that.
i have a hanging pot on my balcony now. the great part is that the real construction is going to start on my apartment complex on monday. i didn't really understand the message they posted and i'm not sure what they are going to do exactly, but my guess is that the entire building will be covered in scaffolding. i think that is going to be fun, like living in a giant pillow fort. maybe my hanging plant might not be so happy about it. i'll miss the view from the windows though. i gather its going to take a few months. if thats true, more time at the coffee shops! oh, i hope it doesn't effect the internet connection. i'm holding out as long as possible on that.
i will be attempting to make my own pasta. i now have a rolling pin. i'm not sure what else i need. but a figured a rolling pin was necessary.
the trip to australia was great! i've got pictures to post from it, so i'll wait on the longer explanation. no complaints, but it was more work than play. casey and i used every free moment as best as possible, but it mostly was jam packed with work things. still no complaints. some highlights: getting scraped by a kangaroo (how often does that happen?) who was way taller than i initially thought; climbing trees in an australian gum tree forrest; wake boarding on a man-made, pull-line wake boarding park (much easier to get up and going, incredibly difficult to make the turns without dislocating your shoulders, elbows, wrists, back, and ankles); mixing with the belligerent locals at a pub in alice on a sunday afternoon; scuba diving and petting a nemo fish on the great barrier reef (the cute dive instructor had me sold on the dive the moment we stepped on the boat, dang her sneaky sales tactics); riding a camel! - big fan of camels but would have liked to see what his top speed was. we were going kind of slow. i guess when its listed out like that, there definitely aren't any complaints (it was still exhausting though).
i have worked one year at my office, which means i now make a much less embarrassing salary. i feel like things are more in line with the work i produce. also i moved into a shared office with my groups manager. she is only in two days a week, so its just me the other three. i really like working with her so all the days should be great.
kickball is still sweet. the last game we played was the most fun of this season. our team was really interacting and the other team was rad, so the whole game was fun. there isn't a winter kickball season, but the other team invited us to some winter for-fun pickup games. absolutely, i'm up for that. theres something about playing outside in the winter and getting the cold hands and runny nose. its a good part of life.
invite a friend to dinner night has been going really well. i couldn't find an available friend for last weeks meal, mostly because of my more full schedule. the challenge has been the vegetarian meals but everyone seems to enjoy the picnic style seating on our living room floor.
bring cinammon rolls to a neighbor night has been a bit tougher. theres a very small window of time to deliver baked goods to a stranger, and thats assuming that they are home (my guess is from 7:45pm to 8:35pm is the best time). not going to give up on this one though. i think it will get easy as we come into fall/winter; i'm hoping more people will be home in the evenings.
personally, things are so much better. i feel more whole now. i got a book about abandonment that actually christiana recommended. and although it was a bit hard to read, there was one sentence that was exactly what i needed. part of me does want her to feel like she has missed out (its a bit immature, but still, somewhere in my head, that thought does exist). and the book says that a certian type of anger is good and: the best revenge is success. which i think is great because its helping me get back to focusing on life and living the best i can. eventually that need for revenge will fade away and in its place will be a full exciting life. i'm already feeling different over the last month with more thoughts on possibilities of life than on the all consuming thought of how i was hurt. i wish her her own success, and in the meantime i will live my life to the fullest i possibly can.
so happy overcast seattle day! theres a fall, crisp feeling to the air and i'm getting excited about all of the trees changing colors. the hooded sweatshirt is back out but not quite the wool socks. maybe next month.
chad.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
1.64
the new place is awesome! i spent the last hour at the coffee shop across the street. they had an alternative folk singing guy (there will be live free music every friday and saturday). i was starting to fall asleep in my chair from not getting enough sleep last night. i think i'm a pretty slow mover. i took one full day. its crazy to think that less than a year ago i moved up here with one car load of belongings. now i've got quite a few more (although, the car loads were not as tightly packed).
i really can't convey how much i am liking my new place. i had to move out of the last house on monday, and was able to move into this one on friday. that meant one week of being homeless. i almost wish i had more time. everyone at work was so incredibly nice to bring me home for the night. my apologies go out to jamie for breaking her air mattress (all i did was push the tab like it told me to). some highlights of the week: wonderfully prepared lunches for work, my first thin-tire-bike ride, a treatment massage (for my shoulders and neck, apparently i have a freakishly tight neck), but the best part was being able to hang out with people every day of the week. i would like to do more of that.
my current projects:
finish unpacking and sorting all of my crap
find where in the apartment i can consistantly get free internet
set up a local phone line for the apartment (right now, yonina, my roommate, is the only one with a local number, which means anyone that uses the apartment call box, will be calling her)
fill the living room with things. sitting things, specifically
the coffee place across the street has a great atmosphere. i will be a regular there by the years end (both to fulfill my new years resolution, and because i like it). a short hot-chocolate (with whipped cream) costs 1.64. thats a fair price for becoming a regular. they have a lot of board-games too, so maybe some game nights are in order.
have a good day,
your friend
chad.
i really can't convey how much i am liking my new place. i had to move out of the last house on monday, and was able to move into this one on friday. that meant one week of being homeless. i almost wish i had more time. everyone at work was so incredibly nice to bring me home for the night. my apologies go out to jamie for breaking her air mattress (all i did was push the tab like it told me to). some highlights of the week: wonderfully prepared lunches for work, my first thin-tire-bike ride, a treatment massage (for my shoulders and neck, apparently i have a freakishly tight neck), but the best part was being able to hang out with people every day of the week. i would like to do more of that.
my current projects:
finish unpacking and sorting all of my crap
find where in the apartment i can consistantly get free internet
set up a local phone line for the apartment (right now, yonina, my roommate, is the only one with a local number, which means anyone that uses the apartment call box, will be calling her)
fill the living room with things. sitting things, specifically
the coffee place across the street has a great atmosphere. i will be a regular there by the years end (both to fulfill my new years resolution, and because i like it). a short hot-chocolate (with whipped cream) costs 1.64. thats a fair price for becoming a regular. they have a lot of board-games too, so maybe some game nights are in order.
have a good day,
your friend
chad.
Monday, July 24, 2006
cupcakes and bugs
good moment of the day: eating the new raspberry cupcake at the cupcake royale.
not so good moment of the day: seattle is finally hot with the rest of the country. the last couple of nights i have slept with the windows open. and have been completely eaten alive by a variety of bugs. current bug bites: back of shoulder, behind the elbow, on my third rib, and the same toe on both feet (the one next to the pinky toe, and one of them is all swollen). i would like to take all of my skin off.
chad.
not so good moment of the day: seattle is finally hot with the rest of the country. the last couple of nights i have slept with the windows open. and have been completely eaten alive by a variety of bugs. current bug bites: back of shoulder, behind the elbow, on my third rib, and the same toe on both feet (the one next to the pinky toe, and one of them is all swollen). i would like to take all of my skin off.
chad.
Saturday, July 22, 2006
best thing i have done in seattle
hello,
a lot of things have changed in the last two months. i'm not with christina anymore. things just didn't work out. she is an amazing person and, one day, some guy is going to be one of the luckiest to end up with her. unfortunately its not going to be me. after a good bout of depression things are starting to move forward again. my friends have been the lifesaver and i am incredibly luck to have them.
i think the timing of everything has been good for me. my lease is up at the end of this month so i'll be having a fresh start in a new place. carie bought a house with her boyfriend and moved out a couple weeks ago, emily moved into her own place closer to the city last week. now its just yonina and me, and we don't really have anything at all so the house is pretty empty. we'll be finding a place hopefully this weekend that is closer to a city center. i'd really like to walk to a grocery store; thats my only rule for finding the right place. then it will be off to the garage sales and thrift stores to get things to sit on. the ol' brick and wood maguivered shelving unit always looked good to me.
my work will be sending me to australia in about three weeks. i'll definitely be posting some pictures. its going to be a completely different trip. reasons why:
* - i won't have giardia (the sickness i picked up in fiji, that i had the last time i was in australia). i plan on seeing much more than the hostel bathrooms
* - we will actually be staying in nice places, that will be feeding us good cooked food.
* - we'll be going on some pretty sweet tours; with kangaroos, penguins, koalas, camels and a bunch of other things
* - i don't have to pay for anything
* - i actual get paid to go
not bad. not bad. also, i'll be going with casey, who started work the same day i did. we are freakishly similar. they call us chasey at work, as we both usually end up with the others papers/files/phone calls because people get confused. i'm really looking forward to the trip.
i joined a kickball league with some friends from my community group. its coming to the last game of the season, and we really need a win to get into the tournament. its amazing seeing grown adults playing kickball. our team brings capri-suns, orange slices, and goldfish to the games. our team name is 'lord of the pants'. the first game we played, i had a short stint of being first base. there was a moment of hesitation on my part that ended with me throwing the ball as hard as i could to get someone out (in this case a girl). the problem was, she was only about three and half feet away from me...and was running straight towards me. the ball hit her incredibly hard in the chest and rebounded into her face. i got the out but she (and her team) was not very happy. my team now calls this pulling "a chad". and i got player of the week last week for the league. here is the write up from the website:
POTW: Chad Watson
Lord of the Pants
With is signature move of always throwing the hat off before making the catch, Chad Watson was huge in the field on defense and never made an out at the plate in the Lord of the Pants win on Tueaday night. Chad received several calls from the crowd to throw off his hat AND his pants, but Chad is too classy for that. Way to be Chad....way to be....
playing kickball has been the best thing i have done in seattle. this season is over soon, but we'll be playing at the greenlake one for the fall season.
thanks for listening, have to eat breakfast and go to the horse races for tildy's birthday party!
have a good day
your friend
chad
a lot of things have changed in the last two months. i'm not with christina anymore. things just didn't work out. she is an amazing person and, one day, some guy is going to be one of the luckiest to end up with her. unfortunately its not going to be me. after a good bout of depression things are starting to move forward again. my friends have been the lifesaver and i am incredibly luck to have them.
i think the timing of everything has been good for me. my lease is up at the end of this month so i'll be having a fresh start in a new place. carie bought a house with her boyfriend and moved out a couple weeks ago, emily moved into her own place closer to the city last week. now its just yonina and me, and we don't really have anything at all so the house is pretty empty. we'll be finding a place hopefully this weekend that is closer to a city center. i'd really like to walk to a grocery store; thats my only rule for finding the right place. then it will be off to the garage sales and thrift stores to get things to sit on. the ol' brick and wood maguivered shelving unit always looked good to me.
my work will be sending me to australia in about three weeks. i'll definitely be posting some pictures. its going to be a completely different trip. reasons why:
* - i won't have giardia (the sickness i picked up in fiji, that i had the last time i was in australia). i plan on seeing much more than the hostel bathrooms
* - we will actually be staying in nice places, that will be feeding us good cooked food.
* - we'll be going on some pretty sweet tours; with kangaroos, penguins, koalas, camels and a bunch of other things
* - i don't have to pay for anything
* - i actual get paid to go
not bad. not bad. also, i'll be going with casey, who started work the same day i did. we are freakishly similar. they call us chasey at work, as we both usually end up with the others papers/files/phone calls because people get confused. i'm really looking forward to the trip.
i joined a kickball league with some friends from my community group. its coming to the last game of the season, and we really need a win to get into the tournament. its amazing seeing grown adults playing kickball. our team brings capri-suns, orange slices, and goldfish to the games. our team name is 'lord of the pants'. the first game we played, i had a short stint of being first base. there was a moment of hesitation on my part that ended with me throwing the ball as hard as i could to get someone out (in this case a girl). the problem was, she was only about three and half feet away from me...and was running straight towards me. the ball hit her incredibly hard in the chest and rebounded into her face. i got the out but she (and her team) was not very happy. my team now calls this pulling "a chad". and i got player of the week last week for the league. here is the write up from the website:
POTW: Chad Watson
Lord of the Pants
With is signature move of always throwing the hat off before making the catch, Chad Watson was huge in the field on defense and never made an out at the plate in the Lord of the Pants win on Tueaday night. Chad received several calls from the crowd to throw off his hat AND his pants, but Chad is too classy for that. Way to be Chad....way to be....
playing kickball has been the best thing i have done in seattle. this season is over soon, but we'll be playing at the greenlake one for the fall season.
thanks for listening, have to eat breakfast and go to the horse races for tildy's birthday party!
have a good day
your friend
chad
Saturday, May 13, 2006
the window
i have finally reigned victorious over my window.before all of us moved in, the house was painted by a crazy man living next door (who later stabbed someone with a sword on the street outside our house. he has since moved out). he wasn't sane and he certainly wasn't a very good painter. many of our windows are painted shut and while i'm ok with some of our house windows not being able to open at least since its not too hot yet, i'm not ok with my windows not being able to open.
i was able to open the window looking out to the front from the start, but the side window has proved to be quite the project. today it is finally open. after days of hammering the paint covered seams and being told some of the windows just wouldn't open (implying that my window was one of them), i now have a wonderful crisp breeze blowing through my room. i was focused so much on getting the paint off of the inside that i forgot to check if the crazy fool painted the outside also, which of course he did. so, its happy days ahead as it gets warmer during the summer.
Monday, November 14, 2005
hot chocolates
ciao a tutti,
shoot, i can see how the years go by so fast for grown-ups. time is flying. i hope everyone is getting ready for sweaters and hot chocolates and all the good that winter has (christmas is a big one for me). its raining in seattle, and don't think it will be stopping until march or later. i don't know really, i've never done a winter in seattle before. i like it.
work has really stepped it up. i am working pretty much on my own now with real client after real client. they really put a lot of trust into me and the knowledge that i have to offer, but i feel alright with that. i just make sure that i'm putting people in good hotels and on great tours. the quicker i get with things, the more clients i get so its been amazingly busy. i'm so lucky to have a great job where i'm challenged every day and am able to learn new things constantly.
my seattle saturdays have been going really well! seattle has so much to offer and i picked up even more brochures of things to do in and around seattle. this weekend i went to visit some relatives (my grandma's brother and his wife) near bellingham, which is a city right near canada. they live in a nice house right on a lake. they fed me great food and we had some good conversations. other seattle saturdays (and sundays) since the last post: the emerald downs horse racing (such awesome cheap fun!); going to a bluegrass concert!; the downtown seattle library (a modern architectural accomplishment, although i thought it was a bit too much like a museum. i prefer the old english reading room type of library); a tour by my friend byron of the downtown pier area (with a visit to the ye olde couriosity shoppe and a sushi dinner).
my last seattle saturday was a california saturday. i had to do some financial stuff and see the people in my fraternity because i would like to be more involved with them. but mostly i was going down there to see a girl. she is amazing. her name is christina and she is finishing her last year of university. things are going great and she's probably going to take a year off after she finishes school and live in seattle with her friend. i'm just really happy.
so i hope everyone is doing alright. i'll be coming home to las vegas for christmas and in a couple months i'm going to go to ireland and scotland with my brother. some time they'll send me to australia to check things out down there. that would be sweet; to get paid to travel. of course it would be a different kind of travel, but still...
have a good day,
your friend
chad.
shoot, i can see how the years go by so fast for grown-ups. time is flying. i hope everyone is getting ready for sweaters and hot chocolates and all the good that winter has (christmas is a big one for me). its raining in seattle, and don't think it will be stopping until march or later. i don't know really, i've never done a winter in seattle before. i like it.
work has really stepped it up. i am working pretty much on my own now with real client after real client. they really put a lot of trust into me and the knowledge that i have to offer, but i feel alright with that. i just make sure that i'm putting people in good hotels and on great tours. the quicker i get with things, the more clients i get so its been amazingly busy. i'm so lucky to have a great job where i'm challenged every day and am able to learn new things constantly.
my seattle saturdays have been going really well! seattle has so much to offer and i picked up even more brochures of things to do in and around seattle. this weekend i went to visit some relatives (my grandma's brother and his wife) near bellingham, which is a city right near canada. they live in a nice house right on a lake. they fed me great food and we had some good conversations. other seattle saturdays (and sundays) since the last post: the emerald downs horse racing (such awesome cheap fun!); going to a bluegrass concert!; the downtown seattle library (a modern architectural accomplishment, although i thought it was a bit too much like a museum. i prefer the old english reading room type of library); a tour by my friend byron of the downtown pier area (with a visit to the ye olde couriosity shoppe and a sushi dinner).
my last seattle saturday was a california saturday. i had to do some financial stuff and see the people in my fraternity because i would like to be more involved with them. but mostly i was going down there to see a girl. she is amazing. her name is christina and she is finishing her last year of university. things are going great and she's probably going to take a year off after she finishes school and live in seattle with her friend. i'm just really happy.
so i hope everyone is doing alright. i'll be coming home to las vegas for christmas and in a couple months i'm going to go to ireland and scotland with my brother. some time they'll send me to australia to check things out down there. that would be sweet; to get paid to travel. of course it would be a different kind of travel, but still...
have a good day,
your friend
chad.
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