Photoblogging: Sun and Moon Over Seattle

Sunset 4:15pm

Moonrise 4:45pm

One thing I love about living in the Seattle area is the light we get just around this time of year. I've taken absolutely gorgeous photographs right around sunset; girls' faces absolutely glow with this kind of light. And even the sky itself is beautiful. I took these photographs last Friday, and they were so lovely I had to share them. It's amazing just how clear they both are, given the crappy weather we had the day before and the day after. I had to shoot the sunset through glass; that's why there's the reflection to the right, and the artifacts on the glass itself.

While I was taking the moon shot, a young man came up to me and wanted to know all about the Gorillapod and the camera, and I showed him how it worked, how light the 'pod was, and how you used the timer to stabilize the camera for deep exposures. It was kinda nifty altogether.

All I Want for Christmas

Braaaainnnsss!

Man, I'm sorry. Omaha and I were walking around Westlake Center in downtown Seattle yesterday, hitting the food court after we'd ridden on the carousel, and I spotted this poster outside one of the clothing stores. I couldn't help but lean over to Omaha and say, "All I want for Christmas is some flesh for my skull!."

Sunday: Carousels and Singing Queers

So, in the holiday spirit, Omaha and I took Kouryou-chan up to Westlake Center to ride the Christmas Carousel. The vast bricklain quadrangle was Cold, wet, and dark-- just the way Seattlites like it-- but a brass band played proudly in one corner as we waited in line.

After the ride we went into Westlake, where I snapped the photo in the previous entry. We went up to the food court, where I tried the BBQ (okay, but unremarable), Kouryou-chan had pizza and Omaha bought a wrap of something Thai-like. While we were there, a gorgeous young Asian woman walked by with her entire head done in tight, colored cornrows: black, blue, and white. Be still my heart. I complemented her on them and she said "It took seven hours." I don't think I'd have that much discipline.

We went home, had a quiet afternoon and dinner, and then went back out because our big event of the day was the Seattle Men's Chorus's annual Christmas Show. It was a big event, and we got box seats in the uppermost tier.

Omaha bought a pair of raffle tickets from a very cute guy, and although ultimately we didn't win, my strongest reaction to hearing the man we bought them from was, "Damn, I miss that life." I do, really. From the cute pair of men holding hands as we walked in to the gorgeous array of dancers on stage, it was all memories of my time in the early 90s when I was younger and queerer. Ah, well.

The show was fabulous. A Countrified version of the Dredl song had us all laughing so hard there were tears. They did sing-alongs with Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, and the conductor encouraged us to use the "extra" refrains that only kids know-- hey, that's why we brought the eight-year-old, right? A comedy skit in the middle was a little flat, but the follow-up of "Jingle Bells" sung in ten different styles was very good. The closer of "Silent Night," which finished in complete silence and done only in sign, was moving, and the crowd was let out with a roaring, stomping rendition of "Santa Clause is Coming To Town."

Yes, even I am affected by the season

I've kinda been stumbling around with my writing the past couple of days. My writing machine seems to be stabilized, which is nice, but I haven't found the groove quite yet, and I seem to be having an unusual amount of trouble typing at the speed to which I am accustomed. I keep having odd typos, dropped letters, things like that. I wish it would stop.

I was looking at my funny little love story about Darzi, an artist, Peren, a girl who want to model for him, and Jouet, an abandoned tabula rasa robot body Darzi receives from his next door neighbor and starts using as a posing mannequin, and I've kinda been stumbling around for the past couple of days trying to figure out what to do with it. Where's the story there?

Well, the idea hit me last night while we were at the SMC concert. Which means that A Pleasing Shape will need a small re-write, after which it will also get a new title: That Old Silk Hat They Found.

Okay, I'm a sap.

A slight miscalculation, a sad little fine...

This afternoon Omaha and Kouryou-chan and I ran down to Science, Art & More to buy our children some horrible diseases. We parked in a spot that read, "No Parking, 4-6 PM except Sat-Sun-Hol."

Note to self: Monday is not a holiday, even if your company gives you the day off. Christmas Eve is not a holiday, not even after sunset.

This lesson will cost $38. Payable to the City of Seattle.