I WANT YOU! TO WANT ME!

I want you to want me.... I need you to need me....
I'd love you to love me.....
I'm begging you to beg me.....

Happy Friday!

I got these pictures in an email from one of my best friends. No idea who the baby is; I'm sure it's just one of those funny emails that makes the rounds from time to time. It had text with it, but I didn't copy it; you get the idea. Like Val, I'm not a huge fan of babies, however even I thought this series of pictures was adorable (mostly because of the big goofy dawg)! Have a great weekend everyone!

What is wrong with this picture?

It's the Pacific Northwest.....

It's September 27......

It's 82 degrees.

Anytime Ma Nature wants to kick in with the cold rain would be good! Until then, I hunker down in my centrally cooled home wearing flannel jammies and dream of last winter, one of the wettest on record.

An Exercise in Self-Loathing

Since mid-May of this year, I've been religiously working out at least 3 days a week for 30-45 minutes (equal cardio & weights), or doing yard work if I don't work out. I've been living on fruit, veggies, whole grains, yogurt, fat free frozen yogurt and cottage cheese. I started taking the appetite suppressant H57 Hoodia as well. So there I am, plugging away at the gym, a middle aged lady trying to keep my body from going south like the geese each winter, surrounded by spandex covered gym treats complaining about their "fat butts" and guys strutting and preening in front of the mirrors, and me silently cursing them all, "may the fleas of a thousand camels invade your armpits...."

Since scales are verboten in my house, I can only go by the way my clothes fit to know if I've shed any tonnage. To my delight, shirts that were once too tight now fit, and I also noticed more room in my pants & shorts. My t-shirts which once stopped at the top of my ass now hang down covering my ass, which ass my hubby tactlessly remarked one day "looked like [it] was smaller" (the look of horror on his face as he frantically tried to backpedal was priceless). Good news, yes?

So last week I decided to go get some clothes. I'm way too cheap to pay retail, so I go to my fave thrift shop, Value Village. I've gotten lots of great like-new stuff there. I go over to my size in the pants racks, and take a bunch into the dressing room, already thinking how stoked I'm going to be getting more clothes; maybe even a size down!!! However, to my utter astonishment, I couldn't get them past my knees. How can this be? I thought, when my old clothes, in that same size, are loose. I check the pants and they all have the correct size. OK, I go the next size up. I can't get those bastards on either!!!! So I have to go the next size up, and I'm completely mortified and embarrassed by this time, and those fit! I bought them b/c I desperately needed new pants, but why in the world do I have to buy 2 sizes higher when I've clearly lost weight? My already low self-esteem is in the gutter, and quite frankly, I've slacked off on going to the gym out of sheer frustration.

Can anyone out there explain to me what it is I'm doing wrong???? Are garments being outsourced to places like Macau and the Phillipines where everyone is teeny tiny? Is that why brands that once fit in one size only fit in larger sizes? The pants I buy are all brand name like you'd see in department stores. I give up! Screw it, pass the ice cream.

Help!

Can anyone tell me how I can use a photo, like this one, for my blog photo? I notice that a lot of you have photos, or change them frequently. Please let me know!

Chihuly Bridge of Glass

World renowned glass artist, Dale Chihuly, calls Puget Sound his home. Lucky for us!! Tacoma is in the process of revitalizing their downtown core with trendy restaurants and shops. The Bridge of Glass and Glass Museum were among the first new things to be built, in the past 5 years. The cone shaped building is the museum's hot shop, where advanced glass artists perform their art and where the public can watch. The two towers with the "blue bags" are on each side of the Bridge of Glass.
These next photos (above and below) are of art glass on the eastern side of the bridge, where the morning and early afternoon sun lights up the pieces. They are behind bullet proof glass and are highly alarmed.

These last three, below, are of the ceiling of the bridge. It's supposed to give the illusion of being underwater with all these colourful, exotic sea creatures floating above you. The wavy glass is a Chihuly signature, and once you see one, you can spot them anywhere. By the way, a Chihuly glass piece runs from the very high hundreds into the high thousands of dollars. Needless to say, living in earthquake country, I would never invest the money to own one. But they sure are pretty.

Awesome LOCI season opener!!

The resemblance is uncanny....

The photo of the dog was with a cute email about "why dogs bite people" and there were various pictures of dogs dressed up for Halloween. I couldn't help but think of Nick Beggs from Kajagoogoo, circa 1983, when I saw the doggie. Don't get me wrong, I used to have a HUGE crush on Nick back in the 80's...but the hairdo was always too way out even for me.

To brighten your Monday...Ultra-Cuteness

Whoops! Now how'd he get in here? haha

Vancouver, Pt. 2

My last day in Vancouver was the best. The weather was amazing, and I went to North Vancouver to see the Capilano Suspension Bridge and to go up Grouse Mtn. I absolutely love the totem poles up here. I shot some great pics of the ones in Stanley Park but it was such a grey day that I didn't bother to post them. These poles are at Capilano. Canadians refer to their native peoples as First Nations.
Here's the bridge, looking back the way I came. The bridge does sway but it's really wide and sturdy. I wasn't near as afraid as I thought I'd be!
I thought this sign was cute. The west coast is home to the giant banana slug. I've seen them about 6" long and they fairly thick around, and yellow/brown colour. They thrive in the rainforests, redwood and evergreen forests and are revered. The Lake Quinault Lodge even sells stuffed toy banana slugs (I have one and he's really cute).
Treetops Adventure is on the other side of the suspension bridge, and are more suspension bridges that are about 100' off the forest floor.
Looking down at the Capilano Gorge from the suspension bridge.
Bridge as seen from the deck outside the gift shop.
Wood carving at the top of Grouse Mountain.
It was a hazy day, but you can still see Mt. Baker in Washington State, rising above the clouds. I assumed I'd see Baker, but I didn't expect it to be so big and so close (probably 90 miles south).
This picturesque scene was on one of the hiking trails on the top of Grouse Mtn.
Goat Mountain, as seen from the hiking trail.
The two rock formations are The Lions, for which Lions Gate Bridge was named.
Although I wish this plant had more flowers on it, this was the effect I was going for with the flower in the foreground, but Capilano Lake all the way at the bottom of the mountain, out of focus.
Here's one of the skyrides that brings you up to the top. It's a way cool ride, not near long enough for me. I made sure to be among the first on, both ways, in order to secure a killer seat and view.
Here's what Grouse Mtn looks like from Stanley Park, back downtown.
This picture is all cockeyed b/c I was shooting from my car window, while waiting in line to cross back into the USA. This is Peace Arch Park, which straddles the border. The top says, "Brethern Dwelling Together in Unity". I can't remember what the other side (US) says.

Vancouver, Pt. 1

This is the steam clock in Gastown. The steam whistles sound at each 15 minute interval, with longer "tunes" on the hour and half hour.
This was the view from my hotel window. I was on the 4th floor of the Westin Bayshore Resort. All those buildings facing me are condos.
Downtown as seen from Stanley Park. The "sails" on the left are located at Canada Place, which was built for the 1986 Expo. The building with the round top that sort of looks like the Space Needle is Harbour Center and the 360 observatory is really cool and you take an exterior elevator up to the top. The city is expanding & putting up new skyscrapers all over town. There's even a crane in this photo. Vancouver is hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics, so I guess they are sprucing up the city.
Aquabus is the little pedestrian ferry that you take over to Granville Island. All the tour books highly discourage driving to Granville, and once I was over there, I could see why. I'm glad I took Aquabus!!
View of North Vancouver as seen from the observation deck at Harbour Centre. That's Grouse Mountain across the water from downtown.
Coal Harbour and Grouse Mtn in the background. The Westin was right on the Harbour. There's a seawall/prominade all along the water, so I walked that as much as possible when I was coming and going to the maintown area.
The Lions Gate Bridge connects downtown with North Vancouver, and is located in the northwest corner of Stanley Park. The bridge is named after twin peak rock formations called The Lions. Photos of The Lions will be in the next post.

It's true. Sad, but true.

This letter to the editor appearing in today's edition of The News Tribune and I agree with it 100%. It was written by a Ms. Margot LeRoy in Gig Harbor:


TheNewsTribune.comSection: Letters
< Back to Regular Story Page
U.S. seems to have learned little from that tragic day

MARGOT LEROY; Gig Harbor

I am not trying to be insensitive or uncaring. But it is well past time for Americans to move beyond the events 9/11 and begin to focus on the future of this nation.

What happened was horrible, but indiscriminate carnage occurs every day in the Sudan, Iraq and many other places in our world. Innocent civilians are routinely killed; innocent children and the elderly are harmed in random violence. Our preoccupation with our tragedy, as if it were a singular event, does little to solve the enormous problems facing the world.

This constant reliving of our tragic event and the incessant drumbeat that implies that we, as Americans, suffered more than others in our world, is both egocentric and very, very foolish. We need to get past 9/11 and learn to respect those who must live with violence and tragedy every day.

I, too, was changed by that horrible day. I learned to look at the courage displayed by those whose lives are at constant risk. I learned that revenge is a useless tool in problem solving. I learned that truth is a commodity that must never be taken for granted. I learned, as my father told me, talking about his experiences during World War II, “Doing something has value; talking about it does not.”

Ceremony after ceremony, news show after news show, politicians ad nauseum. It doesn’t make me proud; it makes me realize how little we learned that sad day.

Our den

The beads seen in the door were given to me for my 10th birthday in 1974. Any of my old friends and family who read this will remember seeing them. When I got into punk rock in high school, I insisted that the "hippie beads" be removed, but fortunately, my parents held onto them. They've graced a doorway of every apartment and home I've had since 1988. Got the tie dye tapestry at a Dead show. I collect license plates, as you can see.
Couldn't figure out how to rotate this picture but you get the gist. There's little Pepper peeking into the den from the hall. My dad built me that bookshelf specifically to hold my record albums and I treasure this bookshelf more than anything.
The "I want to believe" poster came with the X-Files Fan Club materials, which we joined just so we could get the poster. And yes, that's a map of the Ponderosa from "Bonanza" next to the IWTB poster....I scored that bad boy at the actual Ponderosa Ranch in Incline Village, Nevada, near Lake Tahoe. The ranch has since closed, but it was where a lot of Bonanza was filmed. They even had the Cartwright's house set up for tours. It was so cool! My dad and I visited the ranch once, and I took Brian there too.

The gold chair with the rucked up throw was in my parents' house when I was toddler till they replaced the livingroom furniture when I was in college (again, old friends and family will recognize this chair). When we moved to San Francisco and were desperate for furniture, they let us take it. To this day my mom teases me that she wants her chair back!!
There are lots of 60's/hippie posters that we've accumulated over the years. Got the rainbow tapestry at a Gay Pride Parade in San Francisco; it's covering our fuse box! One of the pride and joys of our memorabilia collection is that Rainier Beer sign shaped like Washington State. We searched long and hard but finally located one in Snohomish a few years ago. The wall w/ the ribbons is our "wall of fame", and contains all of Brian's brewing awards. There is one award up there that's mine though, 2nd place in the Marin County Holiday Recipe Contest. I won for my cranberry bread recipe.

And yes, the rest of the house pretty much looks like the den....