A stairway on Queen Anne.

A stream off the North Cascades Highway.

Ross Lake off the North Cascades Highway.

Mt. Baker from a view ontop Mt. Walker.

The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks

The Locks in Ballard

No More Saab Stories...

...because last night I traded my Saab in for a Subaru :) I'm looking forward to enjoying many years to come driving out to new trails to mountain bike and hike!

More photo art that I made tonight. Top Left: Ceiling tile from Pike Brewery; Bottom Left: Friend's lamp; Middle: Art Sculputure in Ballard; Right: Cars driving 1st Ave. on a Saturday evening; Poem: Emily Dickinson.
I'm not sure if I really like adding other's poems to my art work but I'm still experimenting with layout and elements in photoshop.
In other news I got my car back from the mechanic shop :)

Ballard Seafood Festival. Thanks to a blog post from Sprizee I was reminded that this event was this weekend. Mmmm....the salmon burger was tasty!

Woo it's hot out. Maybe the heat has warped my mind, hence this photo creation I made over the last five hours :P

I May Have Lost My Car, I May Have Found God.

A view From Miller Peak:


A trail from Miller Peak:



Alright, my vacation certainly didn't go as planned. Don't get me wrong the view from Miller Peak is stunning. The trail up to Miller Peak is almost hell; 5 miles of hike-a-bike with a 4000' elevation change reaching a 6400' summit. I remember seeing one peak through a break in the alpines and filled with elation shouting "Yeah, Woo Hoo", revitalized realizing that I was close to reaching the peak.

After spending about an hour on top enjoying my lunch, taking in the views and the awe of it all I decided to head back down. The path that I wanted to take back was via the Iron Bear Trail, which I thought would be 15 miles of mostly downhill. Well about 1 1/2 hrs. of riding on trails (see "A trail from Miller Peak" photo) which if you veered off the trail by a tread length a world of hurt would soon to follow. I decided to head back.

The route back was HELL. First of all I had already consumed my 3 liters of water, secondly it was around 5pm (meaning it was very hot and I had to go back thru the 1 1/2 hrs. of trail riding from hell, then another 1 hour of trail down back to my car!), and finally to add insult to injury (which I thought at the time but would later learn that was going to come at the end of the ride) my legs where starting to go thru some major cramping (Entire parts of both my legs cramping at the same time).

It was on this ride back trough the 1 1/2 hrs. of trail riding from hell that I was starting to have some serious fears. I feared that I would not make it back in time before the sun went down. I feared that I would not have enough stamina to make it back and would have to spend the night without any of my camping gear that I had left in my car! The worst fear of all was that I would get a serious injury and would be up there - all by myself - maybe having to wait days before help would find me!

There I was about 10 miles away from the trailhead, in terrible shape physically and rapidly draining mentally I began to pray to god for strength and safety. Now I know that this may seem really cheesy, for I have not been a very religious person myself. But while I was praying to god for strength and safety I noticed that my energy and confidence was coming back. My legs were cramping less and I wasn't so fearful. Sure, this may all be psychological and for the most part probably was. However, my point is I noticed that whenever it comes down to it for myself and some heavy shit is on the line I always pray to god for help. My epiphany was that deep down, when my belief really matters and is in question, I do believe in god. I feel like that this is really good news for me because now part of my foundation in my beliefs have become solidified.

OK enough with me telling you about my personal experience with god. I told you on my audioblog that your mind goes through a ton of emotions on this ride!

This is what happened when I got my stuff all packed back into my car. As I was driving out of the trailhead my car's oil light goes on! Right after my oil light goes off I start noticing my engine making some knocking noises. I quickly pulled over. I checked the oil dipstick. Empty. I looked under the car for a leak. My oil pan was bleeding oil profusely. I then noticed that there was an oil trail all the way back to the trail head and a trail leading in front of my car. I later found out that my oil pan struck a rock causing a puncture.

Fortunately I had all of my camping gear and tons of food with me so that I could camp out there. I ended up finding a nice campsite next to a trickling stream, which was very pleasant. In the morning I packed up my stuff and saddled up on my bike to find help. Once again I was fortunate. I soon came upon a very nice couple that went by the name, the Nickerson's, that gave me a lift back to their house and let me call a tow company from Cle Elum to come give me a tow.

A couple hours later my car was in tow to the mechanic shop in Cle Elum. After reaching the shop in Cle Elum the mechanic assessed that my engine may need to be rebuilt. So after careful deliberation I had my car towed back here to Seattle. Ouch, that was one expensive tow! Right now my car is back at my mechanic's shop where he is doing further assessment on the damage.

So with all of this, the last couple of days have been intense. I'm glad I have tomorrow off. I think I'll go catch a movie and relax. Also I'm supposed to have dinner with a friend that I haven't seen for awhile....which is always nice.

P.S. Enjoy the pics

Gear - Check

There is the path of wisdom and the path of ignorance. They are far apart and lead to different ends...Abiding in the midst of ignorance, thinking themselves wise and learned, fools go aimlessly hither and thither like the blind led by the blind. What lies beyond life shines not to those who are childish, or careless, or deluded by wealth.

- The Tibetan Book Of Living And Dying

My Upcoming Vacation

I have taken Wednesday thru Friday off for vacation. My decision for a vacation is somewhat limited due to distance and funds, since I'm poor because I spend my money on CPA exams, technology and beer...oh wait, I mean giving all my disposable income to the needy and refusing to accept more money from my employer because I don't want to feel like I'm overpaid..."SLAP"...Ok, I digress. Actually I'm really looking forward to my vacation. I've decided on a mountain biking theme, since mountain biking is one of my favorite passions. The following, but not limited to, is what I will try to accomplish:




..and to do so by going to:


Sun Top:




Miller Peak:


OK, yeah there may also be some beer involved along the way :)

Also, I will try out something new on this site by posting some audioblogs via my cell to keep you kids informed.

Part of my day today I spent at Discovery park. I made this composition playing off the image of the radar. I thought that inserting a picture of the EMP would make an interesting addition. I also added an earlier photo I took of one of the soldier statues someone had installed for awhile at Magnuson Park. The caption is from a sign at Discovery park. I thought the comment would add a little irony to the whole picture.

Alaska. Salmon. Your Vacation.

2000 Knowles press release
Clean Cruise Ships Act

A Composition - Discovery Park

Discovery Park 1:
 
Discovery Park 2:

Discovery Park 3:

Do you ever get the feeling that someone is watching you from afar when you go out hiking? I know I do. Especially when I go out hiking by myself. Maybe someone/something is watching, and probably is. I think this feeling of being watched is personified by our fight/flight response. I always try to keep this feeling in check and use it as a tool rather than a hindrance.

I like looking at the sailboats moored in the Duwamish...


...but not so much of looking at the muck!

Un-Fortune

OK....I now have officially spent way too much time on the computer today: Work 8hrs, Photoshop 3hrs, and posting blogs....well you get the idea! Tomorrow I'm going to take a break from Photoshop and posting so I don't burn myself out. I think I'll do some mountain biking after work. Hopefully I can switch my road tires to mountain bike tires tomorrow...maybe during lunch...hmmm :)

By the way....this was a picture I took on my way home from a coffee shop tonight. It's a biker gang's Vespas!

Everyone has dreams

Yeah, my car does go this fast....foo !

It was a nice day at Gas Works Park...until suddenly...muh hu haha

Jobs

I have a whole new respect for my job (and no this is NOT ME)!

Actually this is:
A Thai waiter wears a condom over his head while serving a cocktail as a patron looks on at the Cabbages and Condoms restaurant in Bangkok on July 8, 2004. The restaurant, founded by Mechai Viravaidya, better known as 'Mr Condom', aims to educate the public about safe sex. Bangkok will be the host for the upcoming 15th International AIDS (news - web sites) Conference from July 11-16. REUTERS/Stringer

Work Ethic

Some folks always seem to have work on their mind.

Time To Play

Watch out now! I've found a Photoshop book that is very inspiring (As you can see from this new picture I just created). I'm definitely psyched about this book and looking forward to creating and posting some sick pics! Stayed tuned kids this could be interesting :)

Finished Exam...

...and this is how I feel about it! First of all I almost missed the exam because I forgot to bring a stupid piece of paper with me that says I registered. (OK I thought this exam was supposed to be better because the format was computerized. Obviously some things have not yet changed for the better. I mean I did have my two required pieces of I.D. and they do have me in their computer system as registered....so what's the point of bringing in the piece of paper showing my registration #??? AARRRGGHH) Well, after I burned rubber (may have significantly exceeded the speed limit :O) to go home and get my registration paper I made it back to the testing cite with 10 minutes to spare. Whew, that was a close one! After that I think I did pretty well on all parts of the exam. I won't get my results for a couple of weeks. Get this, the Confirmation Of Attendance sheet that they hand out after the exam says, " When can I expect to receive my score? For this test window (April-May-June, 2004), you can expect to receive your score after July 1, 2004." Ummm....No shit, considering it's July 10th. God I hope I don't have to take this section again....my brain hurts and I'm going to take a nap.

Seattle Dreams

Seattle dreams....and so shall I. It's been a long couple of days studying, working, and battling insurgent cold/flu armies (Thanks for the Emer'gen-C G...I think it worked). I probably won't blog again until after my exam....this Saturday....so farewell until then.

You're Too Young To Know

Sam Brown. This guy is a cool artist, reminds me of drawings when I was a kid...only better.
Check out his website:
http://www.explodingdog.com/

Seattle's North Shore: Golden Gardens

Recipe of Thoughts:

Cubicles

Poor, poor G has Seattle's smallest cubicle:


Really, is this the best idea for a working envirnonment that the brilliant minds in business can come up with? Reasons why cubicles suck:

A.) You always feel like a gopher when you stand up to see what's going on outside your cubicle
B.) it's like you're in a fish bowl for people to watch,
C.) ergonomically boring,
D.) feeling of subpar compared to those that have offices.

What are your thoughts to cubicles? Has anyone seen or have better alternatives to cubicles? How about tents or domes?

Yay!!!....almost

After 17 days I got my car back from the mechanic shop!!! I feel like there should be a parade....no not any ole parade though, I want the Freemont Summer Solstice Parade with lots of naked women, free beer, mountain biking, and great food!!

But like most things that are good, there's a price. My price is that I'm now very poor...and there also a catch. Why's there always got to be a catch?? The catch is that the mechanic said that my motor mounts have to be replaced....soon. AARRRGGHHH!!!!

Well...here's to car maintenance (Cheers)