One of the best movies ever! Chris, John, and I went to see this gem of a movie last night at the Imax theater at the zoo. The movie itself was incredible, and seeing it on that huge screen with the great sound, was awesome!!!!
I was blown away by all of the components: the writing, the cinematography, by the actors' performance. This is a movie that actually made me scared of what some people will do, how far some people will go to throw the world into complete chaos. The movie explored some incredible morals dilemmas and was psychologically stimulating throughout.
Great movie! Go see it! If you have an opportunity to see it in an Imax theater, even better!
31 July 2008
29 July 2008
Busy and busier
I experienced the calm before the storm at work: it's been quite a while since I've actually been busy, and now, things are starting to get crazy. There's a particular co-worker who refuses to admit that not everyone comes in at 9am and not everyone is willing to stay until 6 or 7pm. She insisted on sitting down with me for an hour tonight after I'd already been working straight through since 7:30am. Grr....
But it's the budget season, and things are bound to get a little crazy. I just hope that I don't wind up on the fourth or fifth floor of City Hall because I've killed someone. That might be a little harsh; I do, however, have a feeling that I will have fleeting feelings of pure hatred of people or of computer programs before these few weeks are over.
On to better news, we spent a relaxing weekend at my parents' house. While they may have thought we were bored, they could not have been more wrong! It was wonderful! Plus I got to give my mom her 30-some-year-old afghan! Here's a picture to show off it's awesomeness:
Mind you, the "afghan" completely covers a queen size bed. Yep, we made that. Good teamwork Mom!
But it's the budget season, and things are bound to get a little crazy. I just hope that I don't wind up on the fourth or fifth floor of City Hall because I've killed someone. That might be a little harsh; I do, however, have a feeling that I will have fleeting feelings of pure hatred of people or of computer programs before these few weeks are over.
On to better news, we spent a relaxing weekend at my parents' house. While they may have thought we were bored, they could not have been more wrong! It was wonderful! Plus I got to give my mom her 30-some-year-old afghan! Here's a picture to show off it's awesomeness:
Mind you, the "afghan" completely covers a queen size bed. Yep, we made that. Good teamwork Mom!
19 July 2008
The Lion, the Witch, and the War Hero
That's the name of the preview we saw at the Brave New Workshop (you may remember that we went to a Christmas show last year). This show was all about politics - the first half was pretty funny, but the second half wasn't so much. Still a fun night overall. Thanks to Autumn for the tickets!
In other news, my body cannot handle heat and/or humidity! I become EXTREMELY FRUSTRATED when I tried going on a bike ride this morning with Chris when it was very cloudy outside and it felt like there was a breeze and everything! But my body said no, you may not ride in this type of weather - if you try, I will make you feel weird and extremely sluggish. I'm starting to get frustrated with not riding to work because I can't handle the heat. I try to keep telling myself that if I don't enjoy it (which I wouldn't) then there's nothing wrong with not biking. But instead of listening to myself, I guess I'd rather be frustrated and get pissed about it. Yeah, it makes tons of sense.
I'm not sure if I wrote about it, but on our vacation when we were out in Leavenworth, the temps were probably upper 80s, but it felt like 90s with the bright afternoon sun, and we were scoping out where we were going to climb the next day. We parked the car and talked about climbing up to find the place. First, Chris said we should walk down to see the river. It was probably only 100 feet (I'm bad at judging distances), but I starting feeling really disoriented, like I didn't care about going down to the river or about much else to be honest. I can't accurately describe it, but it's a similar feeling to the one I get when I try to do any physical exercise in the summer.
Needless to say, I am very much looking forward to the fall and winter! That's right, I said I'm looking forward to the winter! I've been telling Chris that we should get a summer place in Alaska.
In other news, my body cannot handle heat and/or humidity! I become EXTREMELY FRUSTRATED when I tried going on a bike ride this morning with Chris when it was very cloudy outside and it felt like there was a breeze and everything! But my body said no, you may not ride in this type of weather - if you try, I will make you feel weird and extremely sluggish. I'm starting to get frustrated with not riding to work because I can't handle the heat. I try to keep telling myself that if I don't enjoy it (which I wouldn't) then there's nothing wrong with not biking. But instead of listening to myself, I guess I'd rather be frustrated and get pissed about it. Yeah, it makes tons of sense.
I'm not sure if I wrote about it, but on our vacation when we were out in Leavenworth, the temps were probably upper 80s, but it felt like 90s with the bright afternoon sun, and we were scoping out where we were going to climb the next day. We parked the car and talked about climbing up to find the place. First, Chris said we should walk down to see the river. It was probably only 100 feet (I'm bad at judging distances), but I starting feeling really disoriented, like I didn't care about going down to the river or about much else to be honest. I can't accurately describe it, but it's a similar feeling to the one I get when I try to do any physical exercise in the summer.
Needless to say, I am very much looking forward to the fall and winter! That's right, I said I'm looking forward to the winter! I've been telling Chris that we should get a summer place in Alaska.
13 July 2008
Pics from vacation
Here's a sample of pictures from our trip:
Chris looking at the paragliders that are about to take off of the slope.
The start of our hike around Mount St. Helens.
This is the kind of weather we encountered for the majority of our day.
This is the view of the mountain we got as we started back towards the car a few hours later.
This the slab that we climbed on the whole day we were out at Leavenworth. The hike up to this was a bit crazy. We were likely about 700-800 feet above where our car was.
He can't resist stopping to smile for the camera :)
This is the river flowing through the bottom of the valley.
Chris looking at the paragliders that are about to take off of the slope.
The start of our hike around Mount St. Helens.
This is the kind of weather we encountered for the majority of our day.
This is the view of the mountain we got as we started back towards the car a few hours later.
This the slab that we climbed on the whole day we were out at Leavenworth. The hike up to this was a bit crazy. We were likely about 700-800 feet above where our car was.
He can't resist stopping to smile for the camera :)
This is the river flowing through the bottom of the valley.12 July 2008
Coming to a close
We only have about nine more hours in the Pacific Northwest before flying back home. I have to say that even though I've been having a really good time out here, I am looking forward to being home.
Yesterday while Chris was at his meeting, Brent and I hung out around the Pike Place Market. That is the market that houses that crazy fish stand where the guys throw the fish back and forth to one another while they're wrapping up someone's order. There's always a crowd around them. After Chris got back, we headed out to a Thai restaurant that apparently Brent has taken Chris a few times. With stomachs full, we went back to Brent's for a while and packed up for an overnight trip.
We met Adam and Ildiko and camped overnight at Camano Island, which is about an hour north of Seattle. It was a very interesting night including people at different camp sites shouting at one another and a couple of kids trying to cut down a big pine tree (all of which I slept through). Unfortunately Chris woke up with the beginnings of a horrible migraine that pretty much put him out of commission. While he tried to relax in the tent, the rest of us walked down to the beach and watched the dogs play fetch.
Adam and Ildiko have two dogs: Jackson (a border collie/lab mix) and Omar (a Kelpie). Jackson absolutely loves the water - once he gets in, he doesn't want to come back out. Omar is a little bit more leery of the water given a not-so-pleasant experience when he was a bit younger. So the way they played fetch was that Adam threw a stick out in the water and Jackson would swim for it and bring it back to about five feet from shore where Omar would be waiting for the handoff. Omar then brought it back to Adam. It was so funny to watch!
Now we're back at Brent's place where we'll hang out until our flight which takes off at 12:25am (ouch). I'm really hoping that I can figure out a way to sleep on the plane. I have a feeling that we'll be sleeping a lot tomorrow!
Yesterday while Chris was at his meeting, Brent and I hung out around the Pike Place Market. That is the market that houses that crazy fish stand where the guys throw the fish back and forth to one another while they're wrapping up someone's order. There's always a crowd around them. After Chris got back, we headed out to a Thai restaurant that apparently Brent has taken Chris a few times. With stomachs full, we went back to Brent's for a while and packed up for an overnight trip.
We met Adam and Ildiko and camped overnight at Camano Island, which is about an hour north of Seattle. It was a very interesting night including people at different camp sites shouting at one another and a couple of kids trying to cut down a big pine tree (all of which I slept through). Unfortunately Chris woke up with the beginnings of a horrible migraine that pretty much put him out of commission. While he tried to relax in the tent, the rest of us walked down to the beach and watched the dogs play fetch.
Adam and Ildiko have two dogs: Jackson (a border collie/lab mix) and Omar (a Kelpie). Jackson absolutely loves the water - once he gets in, he doesn't want to come back out. Omar is a little bit more leery of the water given a not-so-pleasant experience when he was a bit younger. So the way they played fetch was that Adam threw a stick out in the water and Jackson would swim for it and bring it back to about five feet from shore where Omar would be waiting for the handoff. Omar then brought it back to Adam. It was so funny to watch!
Now we're back at Brent's place where we'll hang out until our flight which takes off at 12:25am (ouch). I'm really hoping that I can figure out a way to sleep on the plane. I have a feeling that we'll be sleeping a lot tomorrow!
11 July 2008
Camping...well, kind of
Adam, Ildiko, Chris, and I (and the dogs!) headed to Leavenworth, a crazy German village-themed town near the place where we planned to climb. We went to this one campsite (KOA) which was not what I was expecting at all; I thought we would be lucky to have an outhouse, but everything was paved, there was a swimming pool and hot tub, and the main office was a place where you could buy pretty much any foodstuff you might want. Definitely not what I was thinking of doing. But it was fun to swim when it was hot.
So after being in the car for about five hours or so in hot weather, we got to the campsite with the hopes of climbing, but it was not to be. I ended up getting a migraine from (I think) a combo of the heat and not eating lunch until 3. I was miserable. Eating helped though. After we checked in, we headed down to where the trail to the climbing site started. We hoped to get a sense of how long the trail was to the site. By the time we got there, I truly could not handle the heat and luckily, the boys offered to go check out the trail while Ildiko and I drove some teenagers back to their car after a long hike. After we dropped them off, we all headed back to the campsite for a swim in the pool.
The next morning, after a late start and the rest of my migraine later, we headed up to the trail. The sun was glaring and I thought it would be another horrible day. But everything turned out for the best. The hike up to the site was very scary to me because it was very step and there was a lot of loose dirt.
We got up to the site without incident (luckily) and the wind picked up, making it not very hot at all. We ended up being able to climb two routes each on a big granite slab. It was bit difficult to trust my holds at times because there weren't really hand holds at times, but the texture of the rock made for some great climbing. Chris got some good shots (so I hear), so hopefully he'll be able to get those up soonish. I'll post some pictures when we get back.
Now we're back in Seattle. We're planning on meeting up with Adam and Ildiko tomorrow afternoon to spend some time near the coast. This has been a great vacation so far, so thanks for planning everything Chris!
So after being in the car for about five hours or so in hot weather, we got to the campsite with the hopes of climbing, but it was not to be. I ended up getting a migraine from (I think) a combo of the heat and not eating lunch until 3. I was miserable. Eating helped though. After we checked in, we headed down to where the trail to the climbing site started. We hoped to get a sense of how long the trail was to the site. By the time we got there, I truly could not handle the heat and luckily, the boys offered to go check out the trail while Ildiko and I drove some teenagers back to their car after a long hike. After we dropped them off, we all headed back to the campsite for a swim in the pool.
The next morning, after a late start and the rest of my migraine later, we headed up to the trail. The sun was glaring and I thought it would be another horrible day. But everything turned out for the best. The hike up to the site was very scary to me because it was very step and there was a lot of loose dirt.
We got up to the site without incident (luckily) and the wind picked up, making it not very hot at all. We ended up being able to climb two routes each on a big granite slab. It was bit difficult to trust my holds at times because there weren't really hand holds at times, but the texture of the rock made for some great climbing. Chris got some good shots (so I hear), so hopefully he'll be able to get those up soonish. I'll post some pictures when we get back.
Now we're back in Seattle. We're planning on meeting up with Adam and Ildiko tomorrow afternoon to spend some time near the coast. This has been a great vacation so far, so thanks for planning everything Chris!
08 July 2008
Off to camp
Today we went climbing at Frenches Dome - great rock and beautiful views. I completed a 5.10b, and considering I haven't climbed one of those in the gym for a very long time and because the route was a lot longer than any in the gym, I'm pretty proud of it.
Tomorrow we're heading out to camp and climb some more. We were supposed to head out tonight when we got back, but we were all pretty tired (translation: we were lazy). For some reason the thought of being in a car for four more hours after traveling one already and being wiped out didn't sound appealing to us.
We'll be back in Seattle Thursday night, so I'll post about our climbing trip then!
Tomorrow we're heading out to camp and climb some more. We were supposed to head out tonight when we got back, but we were all pretty tired (translation: we were lazy). For some reason the thought of being in a car for four more hours after traveling one already and being wiped out didn't sound appealing to us.
We'll be back in Seattle Thursday night, so I'll post about our climbing trip then!
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