life these days

Tonight I am writing about nothing in particular.  The white space that occurs in between other, bigger events in life...  The times that you see something amazing, find yourself in a place and can't really figure out the series of events that got you there, or simply stay out for one more drink and wind up meeting someone who will develop into a good friend.  These are the times that I cherish most in life, the unplanned times, and as of late, I've not done all that much that is truly noteworthy, but I've done a whole lot of nothing, and it sure has lead me into some super cool situations.  I've got four stories to note, so the post might be a little long but be sure to read story 4 before taking off... It has the leaset pictures but is my favorite story!

Story #1: Oliver's Twist.
Last friday I had no plans.  I didn't really know who to call, so i decided to be proactive and head out alone (each time I do this, i feel like I get the slightest bit more comfortable in my own skin, if you've not done it, you should, trust me, you will survive and you might learn a thing or two about yourself).  There was some event called the "arts walk" in my neighborhood, and well, I like art, so i figured I'd check it out.  My "art walk" experience really isnt all that interesting, in fact, mediocre is a better word to use when describing it... but AFTER the art walk, 15 blocks away from home, I decided, as any logical person would, that it was time for a drink.  I was about 20 pages from completing "On The Road" by Jack Kerouac and found the perfect bar to do it in.  I sat down at the corner of the bar, ordered a drink, and opened it up.

Two girls sitting to my left mentioned to me that I had the same drink as them, thus starting some conversation (with 10 pages left, I closed the book).  Turns out one of them JUST completed the photography class that I just signed up for, so we chatted about our cameras, life, photography, etc.  Well, after about an hour or two of chatting and me expressing that I was trying to get more into sailing, I got invited to go out the very next morning as part of the crew in a sailing race... not bad, right?  So at 930 the next morning, I bought a 6 pack or beer, met my new friend Christina in the parking lot at the marina and went out for a race.  Not bad.  

Heidi was our captain- 'Cricket' is her boat.

a great boat name "Tutto Bene" means 'everything's good' in italian... 

The views around Seattle on a clear day are unlike anything I have ever seen... if you could plan a trip here during the summer, i promise you will not be disappointed... though, keep in mind, according to locals summer starts on July 5th every year.

Our crew, post race.  Some were pulling ropes, others of us merely weighed the boat down to keep us fast... either way, it was a blast and the weather couldn't have been nicer.  I also met a great group of people as a result.

Story #2: Nature.This past friday, once again, I had nothing on the schedule...(seeing a pattern here?).  Logan wanted to go for a hike, so she invited me along and I went...why not, i hadn't gotten a chance to hike yet since arriving and I've heard there are some really nice hikes around here...

 I didnt know what to expect, but she said it would be 4 miles in and 4 miles out and it was about an hour away.  When we arrived and got started, my mind was blown.  This place was SO beautiful.  The water was crystal clear, the mountains capped in snow, the trees so green and all the smells of flowers and pine filling the fresh air.  It felt like we were in the middle of the swiss alps... and reminded me of why i moved here.  I still have a hard time believing that just one hour away from Seattle there exists such a place... I cant wait to camp in one of these great places.

Unfortunately, due to some snow on the ground, we didnt quite make it to the lake.  Logan fell into a hole (see below) which thankfully was very shallow, so we turned back from there, but we still saw plenty of amazing things along the way- here are some pics... 

ZaZi Interlude...

Just look at this dog... her name is Zazi and she is awesome.  Logan is house sitting so i was over there for dinner and got a chance to play with this energetic pup.  I grabbed a few shots to add to my collection.

Dogs make such great expressions.  All Zazi was saying was "hey mr. can you put that camera down and hit the wiffle ball so I can run and get it?"

A few of us had dinner together at that house one night

Story #3: Solstice Festival.Every year, in Freemont (which is a little part of seattle that claims to be the center of the universe) holds a solstice festival.  Now, after being at bay to breakers in San Francisco, this simply couldn't compete- though there were a great deal of interesting characters there and I got some fun shots.  Oddly enough, I went to the solstice festival this saturday because, well wouldn't you know it, I didn't have anything to do so I ventured out alone to check it out... check the pics out

Ever wonder where all the VW buses are?  Well, it seems they are all here in Seattle... no joke, i see at least 10 every time I go out.

 I think this MIGHT be just a bit too far... but it was certainly funny enough to take a picture of.

Story #4: The coolest bike ride.

This Saturday, after the solstice festival, i actually HAD SOME PLANS for a change!  Big deal right, I know...  I was invited to play some cards and I was excited to go.  (Side note:on friday, during my hike, I got a call from a new friend named Joe.  He sails and since I also told him I was interested in learning, he invited me out for a race on Sunday... well, on saturday, before the card game, he called with bad news... the boat was out racing today and it crashed into another boat... sad news because I was excited to sail again)... but the guys at the card game invited me to go on a bike ride instead, so I figured it was a great plan b.  Back to the card game...it started out just as any card game would but it let to some serious drinking, heading out to a bar with a bigger group, all of us nearly getting in a fight with the bouncer for arguing about what time the bar actually closed because it said 2, but they were kicking us out at 130 because according to them, "BAR TIME said it was 2..." when it was actually 130... which is BS... right?  Anyway, none of this is important, what IS important is that I needed to be up at 8am in order to get on my bike and ride to where we were all meeting- about 5 miles away- and it was almost 3am... and I had quite a few drinks in me... so I left my car there, got a ride home, and did what any normal guy would do.  I changed the pedals on my bike, tuned it up, packed my stuff for the next day... all while I was a bit out of my mind intoxicated... then I went to bed.  At 8, i thought i was going to die, but I got up because I was excited.  I took a few sips of OJ and made a game time decision to take my portable bose sound dock with me, so that I could BLAST some tunes WHILE we rode.  As I went to leave i realized that both my helmet and my raincoat were in my car- which at this point was pretty far away... So i ride the first length without them and borrow both from my friend Ben... We all get started around 930 and meet the rest of the group around 10am.  It is raining, it is cold, but I am CRANKING James Brown, Sex Machine for all the world to see and the 10 of us (same group from the night before) embark on a wet 20 mile ride to the red hook brewery in what became one of the coolest days I've had since arriving here in Seattle... which as always, winds up being due to the people.  Any 10 people that will get up that early after a hard night of drinking, not bail out on their plans, and bike that far in the rain with a smile on their face are my type of people.  So anyway, we rode, we drank, we ate, and we rode back.  It was such a fun day, but now at 130am, I am about to fall over because I am so exhausted.  So, to the 9 of you who I went on the ride with, thanks for an awesome day.  I hope you all enjoyed the 2 hours of loud music along the way-

This picture was shot with Lauren Furuya's camera by a perfect stranger along the way- Im just borrowing it to show the crew.  (and u can see my speaker in the green back pack on the ground)

Thats it for this time.  Starting this tuesday I have my photography class and I am going to be doing a weekly blog on www.nicedwells.com so W2W might slow down a bit, but I do love posting on here so Ill do my best to keep posting if at least a few of you will keep reading it.  Id love to know who is reading... if you care to go public, leave a comment...

Thanks!