So years ago, I used to live at this house in Magnolia (map here) with my friends Tim, Greg and Jen. Greg and Jen got married and ran off to L.A. so Greg could work in the "pictures". And sure enough he did... heck he is even on IMDB.com! His latest foray was working as a "Post-Production Coordinator" for the 3-D movie, Barnyard: The Original Party Animals. Well Greg and Jen headed back home this last weekend and invited about 50 of their closest friends and family out for a little soiree at The Chapel Bar and then a viewing of the film. Cute movie... good message for the kiddies, but the boy cows have utters and that's just wrong. Even more confusing... there's a bull in the group of animals at the end. Who knows why...
In other news...
I'm finally selling my poor old Subaru. Got her all cleaned up and running!
I'm heading home to Eugene all next week to visit with my sister and her baby boy while they are in town... oh yeah and see my parents too.
So just a little update. The job search continues, but I hope to have cooler stories coming soon!
Sunday, August 06, 2006
Thursday, June 01, 2006
I am SO sick of seeing that California post!
Ok, ok... I've been lazy. It's been hard to think of things to blog about, but stories are in the midst of developing. Look for a possible entry on my trip to Florida (with some pics), stories about the upcoming World Cup and how my roomie Phil has come through with technology du jour it seems. Summer's coming folks... although you in the Seattle area might not see it through the rain. Thanks for letting me take a break, and I hope some of you have at least bothered to check on my lack of progress from time to time. Until the next post... drop a comment!
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Southern California Adventures, Part 2: Universal Studios
Writing again... I guess the road makes good blog fodder!
Today being Sunday, I decided to stop using the "road" as an excuse to miss church. So I fired up the old laptop here and found a church to my liking, St Paul's Lutheran of North Hollywood. Now, in my mind, there are no two groups so diametrically opposed as Lutherans and Hollywood "types". I'm always in the mood to have my world rocked by contradictions to my perceptions, so I gave it a try. Well, now I know where all the Lutheran women are hiding! In all seriousness though, the church was stunning and the message was great. They aren't really into singing (or anyone who can sing is way up front in the choir) so I was kinda left winging it myself. Really nice folks though...
After church I happened to notice Universal Studios was on the way back to my hotel. Seeing as I had nothing to do all day, I decided to swing on by. Now Universal Studios has a sweet place in my heart because I remember being a kid and visiting So Cal for the first time. Universal was one of our stops. I liked it WAY more than Disneyland, Knotts or the boring drive to San Diego just to see some Koalas (which for some bizzare reason I liked as a kid... little did I know they they are essentially ugly Australian Tree Badgers). Anyway, back in the 80's Universal had everything I loved as a kid. They had Kit from Knight Rider, where you could sit in his seat and talk to him... like Santa only Kit is real! (or at least I thought so when I did it) On the tram tour, you got to see the A-team guys (animatronic I came to find out later) blowing stuff up and shooting guns (of course no one got hit by anything... just like the show). But the COOLEST was driving into the hanger of Battlestar Galatica when Apollo and Starbuck (back when he was a GUY) took out a whole bunch of robotronic Silons! How awesome!
Alas, those days are long gone... but Universal is still for the 8 year old kid inside of me... I know that if that version of me could visit today, he'd have just as much fun and believe every cheesy bit of it. Today they now have a lot of 3D theater shows ala "Captian E0" (video commerical here... a blog entry all of its own) The two best I saw were Terminator 2: 3D and Shrek 4D... fun stuff but a bit on the campy side, especially T2:3D. I remember visiting back in college when it was just on the edge of being outdated... now it's more funny than cool. I went on the Back to the Future ride too. I'm convinced this ride is sponsored by the American Chiropractors Union or something because it's essentially a whiplash machine. I will say that the Mummy ride was quite a treat. Its nothing compared to the big rides at Six Flags, but I was surprised to say the least. The "plot" of the ride was about as flimsy as a wet tissue, but it was very dark and very twisty. Its strange when I'm faced with being hurled in the dark, out of control... I relax... it's the best feeling in the world to me. Everyone is screaming and I'm as sober as a preacher on Sunday. Anyway... I wrapped up my day by going on the campy tram tour. Now you have to understand I know it's going to be bad, but something draws me to it everytime... the cheesy "flash flood" to the animatronic "Jaws" shark. Two things that have been changed however were no more bridge fall apart under the tram and no more "parting of the pond" ala "The Ten Commandments". For those of you who like "Serenity" and the TV show "Firefly" (so basically not Dan and Ada) there was the "mule" vehicle from the show on the tram tour too... the highlight for me. I was still hoping the tour would drive through a Galatica hangar again... maybe another time.
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Southern California Adventures
Well after a week in Bakersfield, lugging boxes of furniture, monitors and computers, I'm down in LA (more precisely Hollywood). Here is what has happened so far:My first night in So Cal I stayed at a Motel 6. Now, I'm the most normal guy in the world and things like "room decorations" and "bed accessories" don't usually pop up on my radar... but this did. I think it caused a few cones in both my eyes to explode.
I saw orange trees for the first time... too bad I'm not fond of pulp.
Another first for me... getting beat up by a 3 year old. I was working on this little demon's classroom computer, when he walks up and speaks something I guess were "words". Now, kids do this all the time... come up and try to "talk shop" with me. It's cute, they are usually funny, and we all have a good time. So when this kid just reaches out and tries to grab the mouse from me, I tell him no. What does he do? Screams and starts hitting me. Whoop-de-do... he's three, so I can easily troubleshoot the computer. Since I don't really react to his "onslaught" he digs his little nails into my arm and scratches me... and then proceeds to throttle my head. You know what his teacher did then? Did she yell at him? Did she scold him? Did she remove him from the area? Nah, she thought it was funny. I just finished up and left... So in about 20 years I'll be looking out for a mass murder to spread mayhem in Southern California.
Last night (Friday, March 4th) I went to see Gabrel Ingelasis in Fresno with my co-worker and her family. I had seen him on Comedy Central and thought he was pretty good. I wasn't expecting though to be one of handful of white boys in the crowd! I was towering above 90% of everyone... I had to hunker way down in my seat so all the rows behind me could see. It was really cool and entertaining, but never in my life would I have guessed I would attend a Latino comedy show in Fresno, CA... never.
So I packed up my stuff and drove down to Los Angeles and found an affordable place in Hollywood. Now I've heard it's not the nicest place to stay, but my per diem stinks, so beggers can't be choosers. I did have just enough time to check out the area around my hotel and take some pictures of Paramount Studios. However my favorite picture was this. Ok... so when do you admit you have a drinking problem if you get your liquor delivered?!
More pictures (and hopefully stories) to come.... stay tuned!
Friday, February 24, 2006
Ayric vs. The Artists
Well after a boring month or two, I decided to get off my keister and get out of the house. (that and I ran out of TV shows to download) So, one Sunday, at church, my friend KC invites me to the “grand opening” of the new… how can I explain this in fewer than 1000 words… artist loft cultural complex… that he recently started managing. Sounds cool… he mentions a computer training lab (which immediately sold me) and a theater. He does mention that there are going to be lots of people there… but I think I glossed over this detail in my mind.So tonight (Friday night) was the night. I left my shallow, yuppie, condo-dwelling, home in the ever-so fake-n-bake Eastside neighborhood of Kirkland to West Seattle. For those of you not familiar with Seattle and the Eastside… there is fairly clear delineation of culture. Seattle (aka the “Westside” of Lake Washington) is made of liberal elitists or the "I want to pay more taxes because I am weathy and not a minority so I feel bad" crowd. More on these folks later. Bellevue and the “Eastside” of Lake Washington is your typical moderate to conservative elitists, or the "I inherited my wealth and company but I am sure if people work hard enough they can be rich too" crowd. And here I am, more of a libertarian, minus the pro-drug stance with a dash of Constitutionalist. So back to the Libs.
Libs LOVE the kind of event I am about to describe to you. It makes them so giddy and smug that it borderlines on President Clinton interviewing new interns. So what we have is a bunch of kids and washed out art teachers living in a gorgeous old school building. All the classrooms have been converted into studio spaces with kitchens and bathrooms. Actually… if I thought I could be neat enough and not turn into a human gerbil, I would consider living in such a space (if the rent was cheap) But, according to our local government, not even the birdseed I make is low enough for housing assistance. The theater is amazing, the old school gym/cafeteria retrofitted with seating and state-of-the-art stage. KC and Becca’s apartment is the coolest I saw all night, because it’s arty but accessible. The main problem with the evening is that there are so many people there that you can’t really stand and look at the art, the building, or anything cool. If you try to take pictures, you just get the back of some guy’s head OR the "artist" will accuse you of trying to duplicate their "art" digitally. You think that if someone wanted to take a photograph to remember something that struck them as interesting it would be a complement. I guess my short hair, clean shaven; freshly bathed appearance belied my true nature as an evil capitalist
I’ll admit… in every viewing of “art” I see some pieces that I consider really talented and compelling. Unfortunately, it’s like 1 in every 10,000 pieces. Usually, I think of how much money they blow on pot instead of nice materials and tools for their medium. I’m also thinking how they would scream bloody murder and possibly assault me if knew my voting record and faith in God. Truly, the art scene to me is like being a cat at Westminister. This community wouldn’t respect my opinions. That’s why I’m writing this now. Because I respect their right to make whatever piece of junk they want, and some self-righteous phony to buy it… it is the American way.
I wouldn’t hinder or dissuade them in anyway… it’s not my place, even if the piece offends my sensibilities, like overtly political or religious pieces. I will not participate in censorship or thought policing. However, would they respect me if they knew my feelings? Perhaps a small minority. Where I am from and where I grew up, if you like the free-market and complete freedom of expression, speech and religion, you are hated, persecuted, and alienated. I do not live in America; I live in the Soviet Union of the West Coast.
I find it sad that those who espouse freedom and find the world’s current condition of wars, death and mayhem appalling, stil won’t accept those with different views. They won’t do a single thing except spout out talking points and make signs with sophomoric profanity at a duly elected leader of our country. All these people do is make sure that no one around them can challenge their faith in their politic, in their righteous assumptions. I’ll be the first to admit, I hardly know or understand anything, but I’m willing to listen to reason.
I’m not really in a funny mood tonight. I felt repressed and alone… so I turn to here to express my feelings. I challenge you, dear reader; make sure that you never trample on someone’s right to disagree with you. Their speech is protected, your sensibilities are not.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Why I haven't posted in a while... Pictures from the Road
Well I thought I would provide some evidence as to why I haven't had a chance to post in a while. Click on the picture for more
Enjoy!
My trip to Whistler in Canada.  | My trip to Southern Oregon and the Coast.  |
My trip to the Olympic Peninsula and Northwest Washington Coast.  | My trip to Oregon State University.  |
Enjoy!
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Ada and Dan: Behind the Engagement
Some of you may or may not know that my best friend, Ada, was asked this Christmas to marry her boyfriend, Dan. I'm very very happy for both of them, and I know that they will have a great life together (as long as Ada learns to clean up after herself finally!)
But what I'd like to share with everyone is how the smallest choices and, in my opinion, nudges from God, have amazing outcomes that we, as silly finite creatures, can't comprehend.
How two people found love because I went looking for a couch.
A year ago, my buddy Phil and I got a condo in Kirkland. And being the two nomadic bachelors we are, we had practically no furniture. We like having people over, but with few places to sit, we knew it wasn't going to work. So the great couch search began!
He put the word out at his church, whereas I went to Craigslist. If you aren't familiar with Craigslist, think of it as the free classified section of the Internet. It's a mixed bag and no frills, but the place to go if you need something quick and cheap or to get rid of something fast.
So look for couches, but nothing really grabs me. I also notice that there is a personals section. Well as a single guy, I'm always looking at such things. Again, I don't find anything that really grabs me, but one profile (while not my "type") was very wittily written. For some reason, I think that Ada would get a kick out of it too, so I send her the link. What does Ada do? She emails the gal! And they hit it off! And she has a friend... who is Dan. One thing leads to another, and now they are engaged!
So if you have single friends out there... fire up your browser and start looking for furniture, because you never know what you'll find instead!
But what I'd like to share with everyone is how the smallest choices and, in my opinion, nudges from God, have amazing outcomes that we, as silly finite creatures, can't comprehend.
How two people found love because I went looking for a couch.
A year ago, my buddy Phil and I got a condo in Kirkland. And being the two nomadic bachelors we are, we had practically no furniture. We like having people over, but with few places to sit, we knew it wasn't going to work. So the great couch search began!
He put the word out at his church, whereas I went to Craigslist. If you aren't familiar with Craigslist, think of it as the free classified section of the Internet. It's a mixed bag and no frills, but the place to go if you need something quick and cheap or to get rid of something fast.
So look for couches, but nothing really grabs me. I also notice that there is a personals section. Well as a single guy, I'm always looking at such things. Again, I don't find anything that really grabs me, but one profile (while not my "type") was very wittily written. For some reason, I think that Ada would get a kick out of it too, so I send her the link. What does Ada do? She emails the gal! And they hit it off! And she has a friend... who is Dan. One thing leads to another, and now they are engaged!
So if you have single friends out there... fire up your browser and start looking for furniture, because you never know what you'll find instead!
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
A Very Dierenfeld Christmas...
Well I'm now heading home after a wonderful Christmas with my family.
And being who we are, we do Christmas a bit different than others. Following our ethnic German roots, our family goes to the Christmas Eve service at church (as kids this was known as the Horror Before the Rapture of New Gifts) and then head home to open gifts that evening. That's right folks... for almost 30 Christmases now... I got to open my gifts before you (unless you also were a part of a more enlightened, Germanic family too). Christmas Eve is the great night, were everyone in my family feigns "oh you don't need to get me anything" and "I really didn't get anything much for anyone" unless it's me... and I really mean it.
My Father's favorite pastime while I grew up was to try to convince my sister and I that there wasn't going to be any gifts for Christmas. That and hiding and mis-wrapping gifts to completely confuse us. Like one year were my GI Joe super-cool airplane was wrapped in Rainbow Bright paper, making me think it was for my sister. Or the other year where he hid our new bike/scooter in the back yard, and my poor sister stepped in dog waste and tracked it through our yuletide living room.
In later years it has been a less commercial affair and more about having a wonderful time together as a family. This is usually centered around various processed meat and cheeses, as well as my mother's infamous Sour Cream Cookies. If you think it sounds nasty, then I'll let your ignorance remain and have your share... because there is NO cookie that beats them. This year's spread was even improved upon, adding the wild game / exotic processed meats. We had Elk Salami, Buffalo Summer Sausage and Duck Summer Sausage. And if you think that they sound nasty, well then I'll have your share of that too.
Perhaps the greatest part of it was the addition to the family, Nicholas. He's already a sweet kid and super cool. When I get home, I'll be posting pics and some short video of him. I'm a proud uncle of a month old baby boy, who doesn't like naps and makes faces at people. Looks like the Dierenfeld genes might dominate...
However, what really makes Christmas wonderful is knowing that my Savior was born around 2000 years ago. Sure, not on Dec 25th, but we couldn't let the pagans have all the good holidays. I hope you had a wonderful time of merriness, joyfultude, and general good cheerifulocity. And I wish you the most blessed New Year!
And being who we are, we do Christmas a bit different than others. Following our ethnic German roots, our family goes to the Christmas Eve service at church (as kids this was known as the Horror Before the Rapture of New Gifts) and then head home to open gifts that evening. That's right folks... for almost 30 Christmases now... I got to open my gifts before you (unless you also were a part of a more enlightened, Germanic family too). Christmas Eve is the great night, were everyone in my family feigns "oh you don't need to get me anything" and "I really didn't get anything much for anyone" unless it's me... and I really mean it.
My Father's favorite pastime while I grew up was to try to convince my sister and I that there wasn't going to be any gifts for Christmas. That and hiding and mis-wrapping gifts to completely confuse us. Like one year were my GI Joe super-cool airplane was wrapped in Rainbow Bright paper, making me think it was for my sister. Or the other year where he hid our new bike/scooter in the back yard, and my poor sister stepped in dog waste and tracked it through our yuletide living room.
In later years it has been a less commercial affair and more about having a wonderful time together as a family. This is usually centered around various processed meat and cheeses, as well as my mother's infamous Sour Cream Cookies. If you think it sounds nasty, then I'll let your ignorance remain and have your share... because there is NO cookie that beats them. This year's spread was even improved upon, adding the wild game / exotic processed meats. We had Elk Salami, Buffalo Summer Sausage and Duck Summer Sausage. And if you think that they sound nasty, well then I'll have your share of that too.
Perhaps the greatest part of it was the addition to the family, Nicholas. He's already a sweet kid and super cool. When I get home, I'll be posting pics and some short video of him. I'm a proud uncle of a month old baby boy, who doesn't like naps and makes faces at people. Looks like the Dierenfeld genes might dominate...
However, what really makes Christmas wonderful is knowing that my Savior was born around 2000 years ago. Sure, not on Dec 25th, but we couldn't let the pagans have all the good holidays. I hope you had a wonderful time of merriness, joyfultude, and general good cheerifulocity. And I wish you the most blessed New Year!
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Christmas Time Traveling
Well something actually interesting and “blog” worthy is happening! I’m off to Wyoming to see my sister and the whole family (including new addition Nicholas). Of course I waited until the last minute to do laundry and pack, but with the help of the “Captain” and some egg nog, I had no worries.
I gathered everything together and got a bleary-eyed Mr. P out of bed to drive my rear to the airport. It is always the case (at least for me) that if I get to the airport on time, there are no lines for anything… not at check-in, security or Starbucks counter. It’s like life is one easy breeze. I never have travel nightmares! My bags have never been lost, I’ve only missed one flight (due to my own procrastination) and never has my flight been cancelled. I’ve never sat next to the screaming baby, the annoying salesman and (to my consternation) the cute, single, hot gal. I do have delayed flights, but I feel like compared to the ease of everything else… this is no big deal.
So in the Sea-Tac main terminal, past the Starbucks, the Anthony’s Fish Café and multitude of salmon-and-lumber themed kitschy gift shops, there lies a slice of Americana, Terminal “C”. At Sea-Tac, this is where all the small turbo-prop, egg-beater, puddle jumpers arrive and depart. This is where the real people fly in and out of. The plaid-clad contractor and his family of 10 heading to Pullman, the forever-tanned fisherman off to visit his land-locked brother in Boise, and the young Native couple and their baby heading to Kalispell in Montana. Just your everyday man, woman and child on a yultide journey for the Christmas spirit with family and friends.
And now my journey has ended. I’m at my sister’s place in Wyoming… and met my new nephew for the first time. There will be pictures coming soon!
I gathered everything together and got a bleary-eyed Mr. P out of bed to drive my rear to the airport. It is always the case (at least for me) that if I get to the airport on time, there are no lines for anything… not at check-in, security or Starbucks counter. It’s like life is one easy breeze. I never have travel nightmares! My bags have never been lost, I’ve only missed one flight (due to my own procrastination) and never has my flight been cancelled. I’ve never sat next to the screaming baby, the annoying salesman and (to my consternation) the cute, single, hot gal. I do have delayed flights, but I feel like compared to the ease of everything else… this is no big deal.
So in the Sea-Tac main terminal, past the Starbucks, the Anthony’s Fish Café and multitude of salmon-and-lumber themed kitschy gift shops, there lies a slice of Americana, Terminal “C”. At Sea-Tac, this is where all the small turbo-prop, egg-beater, puddle jumpers arrive and depart. This is where the real people fly in and out of. The plaid-clad contractor and his family of 10 heading to Pullman, the forever-tanned fisherman off to visit his land-locked brother in Boise, and the young Native couple and their baby heading to Kalispell in Montana. Just your everyday man, woman and child on a yultide journey for the Christmas spirit with family and friends.
And now my journey has ended. I’m at my sister’s place in Wyoming… and met my new nephew for the first time. There will be pictures coming soon!
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Going back to "school"
Well today I finally committed myself to getting my A+ certification.
For all of you un-techie types, it's basically the high school diploma of the computer world. I know a little of this and little of that, but this would prove that I know "stuff" about computers. So along with my experience and few books off of Amazon, I'll be attending Ayric's School o' Nerdiness for the next month or so. Gives me something to do over the holidays, and I can always prod my techie father about stuff when he's not distracted by the new grandson.
For my own laziness... I'm adding some links on the sidebar, so that I have them when I'm away from the home CPU.
Well that's about it... I might post more about the wonderful world of computers later, but now it's off to bed.
For all of you un-techie types, it's basically the high school diploma of the computer world. I know a little of this and little of that, but this would prove that I know "stuff" about computers. So along with my experience and few books off of Amazon, I'll be attending Ayric's School o' Nerdiness for the next month or so. Gives me something to do over the holidays, and I can always prod my techie father about stuff when he's not distracted by the new grandson.
For my own laziness... I'm adding some links on the sidebar, so that I have them when I'm away from the home CPU.
Well that's about it... I might post more about the wonderful world of computers later, but now it's off to bed.
Friday, December 02, 2005
Update: My job, My Nephew and Curious Dating Rituals
Hey Everyone... I'm back from dead. It's been a trying month... work completely died on me, which brings me to my first piece of news.
My job has been reduced from full time with salary and benefits to just part-time with zippo perks. Kind of a bummer, but I've been in far worse scrapes in my patch-quilt of a career. I've been bouncing back and forth between faith-filled optimism to gloomy curmudgeony. Can't say I thought I'd be in the last months of my 20's, still not sure about my career and being single. But alas, am but a pot in the hands of Potter... (Romans 9:15-20)
So on happier news, I'm an uncle for the first time! My nephew was born on the 28th of Nov just before 6am. Healthy guy coming in at 7lbs 6oz. Looks like he has some of my sister's traits (which bodes well for him). Either way however, he's got two of the best parents a kid these days could hope for. I got the other set myself.
And lastly I'd like to pass along a little story that's in the midst of developing. I will leave out names to protect the gutless... er innocent. Here goes.
Let's say I know a guy named Bob. Bob is a good guy, with a great heart for God. Bob has helped me out immensely in the last few years, and I cherish the guy. Well Bob picked up a hobby as of late, which he seems quite adept to. Well at this hobby's shop is a certain lady I'll call Susie. Susie I'm not so acquainted with, but she seems (at a distance of 10 meters and 2 minutes) to be a sweet gal. Bob thinks he likes Susie, but isn't sure. Bob has talked about Susie to me for about two months now and hasn't done much to get the ball rolling. Luckily Bob has another friend who put his feet to the fire. He was told that Susie is going to get a call if he doesn't bite the bullet and just ask the poor gal out for a simple meal or a cup of joe. I maybe wrong (being the antithesis of Casanova if there ever was one) but I can't see a scenario where Susie is going to explode, turn into a wolf, or melt if he asks her out. So she might have a boyfriend, so she might not be interested, or possibly scarier than that... she might wind up liking Bob alot. I say go and ask her out before the Lord and give it all to him. In that there is no fear and no risk. But of course, if I were in Bob's shoes, I would be no different. Are you still a hypocrite if you admit your hypocrisy? Tomorrow is "the day", friends... we shall see if Bob can do it.
If you want to give Bob advice, just comment... he reads the blog. :)
My job has been reduced from full time with salary and benefits to just part-time with zippo perks. Kind of a bummer, but I've been in far worse scrapes in my patch-quilt of a career. I've been bouncing back and forth between faith-filled optimism to gloomy curmudgeony. Can't say I thought I'd be in the last months of my 20's, still not sure about my career and being single. But alas, am but a pot in the hands of Potter... (Romans 9:15-20)
So on happier news, I'm an uncle for the first time! My nephew was born on the 28th of Nov just before 6am. Healthy guy coming in at 7lbs 6oz. Looks like he has some of my sister's traits (which bodes well for him). Either way however, he's got two of the best parents a kid these days could hope for. I got the other set myself.
And lastly I'd like to pass along a little story that's in the midst of developing. I will leave out names to protect the gutless... er innocent. Here goes.
Let's say I know a guy named Bob. Bob is a good guy, with a great heart for God. Bob has helped me out immensely in the last few years, and I cherish the guy. Well Bob picked up a hobby as of late, which he seems quite adept to. Well at this hobby's shop is a certain lady I'll call Susie. Susie I'm not so acquainted with, but she seems (at a distance of 10 meters and 2 minutes) to be a sweet gal. Bob thinks he likes Susie, but isn't sure. Bob has talked about Susie to me for about two months now and hasn't done much to get the ball rolling. Luckily Bob has another friend who put his feet to the fire. He was told that Susie is going to get a call if he doesn't bite the bullet and just ask the poor gal out for a simple meal or a cup of joe. I maybe wrong (being the antithesis of Casanova if there ever was one) but I can't see a scenario where Susie is going to explode, turn into a wolf, or melt if he asks her out. So she might have a boyfriend, so she might not be interested, or possibly scarier than that... she might wind up liking Bob alot. I say go and ask her out before the Lord and give it all to him. In that there is no fear and no risk. But of course, if I were in Bob's shoes, I would be no different. Are you still a hypocrite if you admit your hypocrisy? Tomorrow is "the day", friends... we shall see if Bob can do it.
If you want to give Bob advice, just comment... he reads the blog. :)
Monday, November 07, 2005
Fark Photoshop Contests
Well I've been distracted from posting lately... I've visited Fark.com a few times in the past, mostly due to Ada showing me a cool photoshop contest. These contests have no prizes, but just bragging rights and a chance to show off what you can think of and create. Well I finally bit the bullet and started participating. I really have fun doing it and it's quite relaxing. Instead of sending you all over Fark.com (which can be, at times, questionable) I'll be putting together all my entries in a set on Flickr.com under Fark Photoshop Contests. Enjoy!
Monday, October 24, 2005
Bob's Corn Maze of Silty Death
Well folks... it's been SLOOOOW lately. Not much excitement from the road, or the home front. So its story time...about two innocent boys named Ayric and Phil and what happened on a dark and rainy night about a year ago.
Phil (good friend, co-condo-dweller, and awesome cook) invited me just about a year ago to attend a "singles and young couples" gathering hosted by some great folks from his church. This particular event was quite well attended and I met some nice people over dinner and a few drinks. All well and good, until the second part of the evening. You know how in horror films how everything seems too good, too quiet, too happy at the start? Same thing here...
Flash-even-more-back... Phil and I had attended a conference earlier that day at another Church in town. While not in our Sunday best, we weren't slouches either. I was wearing a new pair of black Rockports for the event. This important to remember, as I retell that fateful evening.
As the meal wraps up, the announcement goes out that people will be departing shortly for the Corn Maze. I guess you could say I grew up in the "city" only if by growing up in the country means you visited a corn maze. I had not. Phil mentioned a Corn Maze and it didn't set off any red flags. I think I imagined something about 12' by 12' for the little kids to run through, daylight streaming though the crisp clear fall air, and lots of hot cider and pumpkins around. I was right about the pumpkins.
My radar started to register the impending doom of our situation when people started changing. They wore pretty typical street casual wear at the meal. Now they came back looking like they were either going to a Gallagher concert or an all-you-can-eat ribs night at Tony Roma's. Boots were offered, but they were kid's size 5, not the ski size 14 that I needed.
So we drive out to the country. By now it's quite dark (being fall and all). Eventually we arrive at Farmer Bob's Corn Maze. The place is packed! I'm starting to feel better thinking that it's not as bad as people were thinking. However no sooner had this thought come to my mind than, Farmer Bob drove his John Deer out of the darkness, up the road from his "maze", with some of the most miserable people heaped on to his hay trailer. Imagine about 20-30 folks, looking like they had been pulled out of the North Atlantic, bouncing, flopping and flailing around on a very unsafe hay trailer. All of them looked dressed for a season of crabbing off the coast of Alaska. Also, it started to rain. I had only a leather jacket.
At this point, I'm certain that I won't be going into Bob's little sick trap. I'm smarter than that... I know when I've not adequately prepared for an undertaking and this was the mother of all inadequately prepared undertakings! I decide its time for my hot cider, which I am a huge fan of. I get my cup of apple-ly goodness when I notice that Bob either had a bad corn/pumpkin crop or was a protégé of P.T Barnum. He’s CHARGING for his hellish ride and soul-stealing adventure. I turn to Phil and I say that there is NO WAY I’m paying 5 bucks to get dumped a dark and rainy corn field wearing my new dress shoes and only a leather jacket. Oh and we don’t even have a flashlight. The moment the last syllable was out of my mouth… this gal in our group literally appears out of thin air, right in front of me, and says in a very loud voice, “What?! Are you CHEAP?!” At this point the whole joint goes quiet and all eyes are on me. I got called out… and pride goes before the fall. I pay my five bucks, grab a map, find the complementary “galoshes” (plastic grocery bags… I doubled bagged each foot) and someone was kind enough to give us a glow stick for light. We all load up on Farmer Bob’s sadistic hay trailer and go bounding down the dark, muddy road to our eventual doom.
The ride took years off my life. Imagine standing on a drenched wooden floor and dropping down into corn field much like the waterfalls in Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. I was certain that if I had fallen off the cart at this point, my body would have never been found. (which made me wonder if there were previous passengers missing). There was mud EVERYWHERE. Oh yeah, Farmer Bob’s wicked maze was on a silty flood plain. The trailer is basically drug through the sloppy mess. Finally we stop… in practically the pitch dark.
With trusty glow stick in hand, we have to walk to the front of the maze. Phil and I team up with another guy Andrew to help tackle this Herculean task. Before we start, I try to orient myself using the map. Holding the weak glow light next to the paper I can make out patches of light green, and lighter green. It looks like we fell pray to another one of Farmer Bob’s evil jokes. Instead of getting an actual aerial shot of the 4 acre maze, he just got a 9 foot ladder to just crest the tops of the 8 foot corn and snapped a picture. This was then photocopied, faxed, photocopied again, thrown in the garbage, fished out, faxed and then photocopied to make what was called "the map". Basically, I could see the parts of the maze that went North-South, but nothing that went East-West. So we started off. The trick was to essentially cross country ski using plastic-bag feet and sliding through the silt. If you were to lift a foot off the ground the other would instantly lose traction and send you on your butt.
Holding the weak green glow stick as high as I could and skiing through slit, we come to our first fork in the road. Farmer Bob strikes again with agricultural questions. He must be doing night classes for his PhD in Gourd Sciences and Corn Landscaping with an emphasis in Bad Ideas. The questions are something like, “If you grow corn on a 72 hectares of land and pumpkins on a 3 square mile patch with a train leaving Chicago at 8:45pm going 55 mph, how many people could you bilk for five bucks?” You were then given a list of answers with corresponding directions. So the answer “1-1000” would have been “go back”, “1000-3000” was “left”, “3000-6000” was “right” and “depends how many fell off the hay trailer” was “start digging”
Luckily Farmer Bob is not used to someone who got though college on multiple choice tests. And of course Phil knew a lot of the answers despite going to college for Finance. I suspect that he hung out with a lot of 4H’ers back in the day.
Well after a harrowing hour, we found our way out, and we were the first. Not that anyone noticed. We gathered our band of brave souls and headed back in Farmer Bob’s muddy death sled. Getting back to the relative safety and civilization of the barn, I got a chance to see the damage to the shoes. They were coated in mud, but a good spray down got them back in shape, not too much worse for wear.
So what’s the moral of the story? Always be prepared. Rural folks are a lot more crafty than you think. If a gal calls you cheap, tell her that you are, save $5 and possibly your life.
Phil (good friend, co-condo-dweller, and awesome cook) invited me just about a year ago to attend a "singles and young couples" gathering hosted by some great folks from his church. This particular event was quite well attended and I met some nice people over dinner and a few drinks. All well and good, until the second part of the evening. You know how in horror films how everything seems too good, too quiet, too happy at the start? Same thing here...
Flash-even-more-back... Phil and I had attended a conference earlier that day at another Church in town. While not in our Sunday best, we weren't slouches either. I was wearing a new pair of black Rockports for the event. This important to remember, as I retell that fateful evening.
As the meal wraps up, the announcement goes out that people will be departing shortly for the Corn Maze. I guess you could say I grew up in the "city" only if by growing up in the country means you visited a corn maze. I had not. Phil mentioned a Corn Maze and it didn't set off any red flags. I think I imagined something about 12' by 12' for the little kids to run through, daylight streaming though the crisp clear fall air, and lots of hot cider and pumpkins around. I was right about the pumpkins.
My radar started to register the impending doom of our situation when people started changing. They wore pretty typical street casual wear at the meal. Now they came back looking like they were either going to a Gallagher concert or an all-you-can-eat ribs night at Tony Roma's. Boots were offered, but they were kid's size 5, not the ski size 14 that I needed.
So we drive out to the country. By now it's quite dark (being fall and all). Eventually we arrive at Farmer Bob's Corn Maze. The place is packed! I'm starting to feel better thinking that it's not as bad as people were thinking. However no sooner had this thought come to my mind than, Farmer Bob drove his John Deer out of the darkness, up the road from his "maze", with some of the most miserable people heaped on to his hay trailer. Imagine about 20-30 folks, looking like they had been pulled out of the North Atlantic, bouncing, flopping and flailing around on a very unsafe hay trailer. All of them looked dressed for a season of crabbing off the coast of Alaska. Also, it started to rain. I had only a leather jacket.
At this point, I'm certain that I won't be going into Bob's little sick trap. I'm smarter than that... I know when I've not adequately prepared for an undertaking and this was the mother of all inadequately prepared undertakings! I decide its time for my hot cider, which I am a huge fan of. I get my cup of apple-ly goodness when I notice that Bob either had a bad corn/pumpkin crop or was a protégé of P.T Barnum. He’s CHARGING for his hellish ride and soul-stealing adventure. I turn to Phil and I say that there is NO WAY I’m paying 5 bucks to get dumped a dark and rainy corn field wearing my new dress shoes and only a leather jacket. Oh and we don’t even have a flashlight. The moment the last syllable was out of my mouth… this gal in our group literally appears out of thin air, right in front of me, and says in a very loud voice, “What?! Are you CHEAP?!” At this point the whole joint goes quiet and all eyes are on me. I got called out… and pride goes before the fall. I pay my five bucks, grab a map, find the complementary “galoshes” (plastic grocery bags… I doubled bagged each foot) and someone was kind enough to give us a glow stick for light. We all load up on Farmer Bob’s sadistic hay trailer and go bounding down the dark, muddy road to our eventual doom.
The ride took years off my life. Imagine standing on a drenched wooden floor and dropping down into corn field much like the waterfalls in Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland. I was certain that if I had fallen off the cart at this point, my body would have never been found. (which made me wonder if there were previous passengers missing). There was mud EVERYWHERE. Oh yeah, Farmer Bob’s wicked maze was on a silty flood plain. The trailer is basically drug through the sloppy mess. Finally we stop… in practically the pitch dark.
With trusty glow stick in hand, we have to walk to the front of the maze. Phil and I team up with another guy Andrew to help tackle this Herculean task. Before we start, I try to orient myself using the map. Holding the weak glow light next to the paper I can make out patches of light green, and lighter green. It looks like we fell pray to another one of Farmer Bob’s evil jokes. Instead of getting an actual aerial shot of the 4 acre maze, he just got a 9 foot ladder to just crest the tops of the 8 foot corn and snapped a picture. This was then photocopied, faxed, photocopied again, thrown in the garbage, fished out, faxed and then photocopied to make what was called "the map". Basically, I could see the parts of the maze that went North-South, but nothing that went East-West. So we started off. The trick was to essentially cross country ski using plastic-bag feet and sliding through the silt. If you were to lift a foot off the ground the other would instantly lose traction and send you on your butt.
Holding the weak green glow stick as high as I could and skiing through slit, we come to our first fork in the road. Farmer Bob strikes again with agricultural questions. He must be doing night classes for his PhD in Gourd Sciences and Corn Landscaping with an emphasis in Bad Ideas. The questions are something like, “If you grow corn on a 72 hectares of land and pumpkins on a 3 square mile patch with a train leaving Chicago at 8:45pm going 55 mph, how many people could you bilk for five bucks?” You were then given a list of answers with corresponding directions. So the answer “1-1000” would have been “go back”, “1000-3000” was “left”, “3000-6000” was “right” and “depends how many fell off the hay trailer” was “start digging”
Luckily Farmer Bob is not used to someone who got though college on multiple choice tests. And of course Phil knew a lot of the answers despite going to college for Finance. I suspect that he hung out with a lot of 4H’ers back in the day.
Well after a harrowing hour, we found our way out, and we were the first. Not that anyone noticed. We gathered our band of brave souls and headed back in Farmer Bob’s muddy death sled. Getting back to the relative safety and civilization of the barn, I got a chance to see the damage to the shoes. They were coated in mud, but a good spray down got them back in shape, not too much worse for wear.
So what’s the moral of the story? Always be prepared. Rural folks are a lot more crafty than you think. If a gal calls you cheap, tell her that you are, save $5 and possibly your life.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Brooks & Dunn: Deuces Wild Tour
Wow... had a great night with good pal and occasional condo-mate, Mr. P (aka Phil). We got tickets a while back for the local appearance of a great musical act, Brooks and Dunn. Yeah, yeah... the "Boot Scootin' Boogie" guys. I don't dig that song, but since then... they have put out alot of great tunes and put on an even greater show. They were preceded by the Warren Brothers (they are "barely famous" because they are "barely country" music) and Big and Rich (country music's new rebel/hippy/hip-hop/cannabis influenced act).
Much apologies about the lack of B&D pictures... my camera died (typical) just as they came on. The pictures I did get were good... I'm starting to figure out this whole digital photography thing.
Here's the pictures
Much apologies about the lack of B&D pictures... my camera died (typical) just as they came on. The pictures I did get were good... I'm starting to figure out this whole digital photography thing.
Here's the pictures
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Horse Auction and off to Montana!
I'm back, briefly... it's hard to find an Internet connection in the middle of the Rocky Mountains!
As I mentioned before in my last post, I went to a Horse Action... here's a few tips if your friend invites you to one.
1) Ask where it is. My assumption... in town (Greater Portland Area). My reality... two hours away down the Columbia Gorge in a town called The Dalles.
2) Ask how long it will take. My assumption... a few hours, we get bored and go home. My reality... 12 hours.
3) Don't stand near scared cows. The stress of being "wrangled" tends to make them... um... poop. Alot.
4) Don't bring alot of money... food doesn't cost more than $4.95.
5) Bring a camera... and here's the pictures
Well now I'm in Montana, going a million miles an hour installing and training computers. Not much time to take pictures, but I'll try to snap some today, because the place is really gorgeous!
Until next time!
As I mentioned before in my last post, I went to a Horse Action... here's a few tips if your friend invites you to one.
1) Ask where it is. My assumption... in town (Greater Portland Area). My reality... two hours away down the Columbia Gorge in a town called The Dalles.
2) Ask how long it will take. My assumption... a few hours, we get bored and go home. My reality... 12 hours.
3) Don't stand near scared cows. The stress of being "wrangled" tends to make them... um... poop. Alot.
4) Don't bring alot of money... food doesn't cost more than $4.95.
5) Bring a camera... and here's the pictures
Well now I'm in Montana, going a million miles an hour installing and training computers. Not much time to take pictures, but I'll try to snap some today, because the place is really gorgeous!
Until next time!
Saturday, October 08, 2005
On the Road Again...
Just an short update... I was hoping to have some pictures from the road for you all, but I left the proper cord at home. I drove off to Pendleton, Oregon yesterday from Seattle (Kirkland) and wrapped up my work there this afternoon. I'm now hangin' out with my friend Ada and her boyfriend Dan. I guess they want to goto a horse auction / show tomorrow, so I'll pal around with them before heading home.
Sunday afternoon will start another big trip... a week in Montana and Wyoming. Hopefully no snow (please Lord... no snow) and lots of gorgeous pictures to share. Have a great weekend everybody!
Sunday afternoon will start another big trip... a week in Montana and Wyoming. Hopefully no snow (please Lord... no snow) and lots of gorgeous pictures to share. Have a great weekend everybody!
Thursday, October 06, 2005
New Blog Name.. "The Adventures of Cutie-kins"
So... in typical Ayric/Andy style, I thought I was clever... when really, anyone could see how to easily thwart my poorly planned attempt at blocking the joke. Congrats! So following the old addage, "If you can't beat them, join them" I will now endorse and accept the nickname "Cutie-kins" It beats "Deer-in-the-field", "Andy Dangerfield" (becuase I got no respect in middle school... or now it seems), or my college nickname (for the first 4 years) of "Freshman".
Until next time,
Cutie-kins
Until next time,
Cutie-kins
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Ok, Anonymous... joke's over!
I wasn't sure if I was acutally going to respond to the Anonyomus comments on the blog. If you can't identify who you are, then why do you get a response, right? I've thought the comments were funny and all, and I'm throughly convinced that it's probably my friends showing their sense of humor (which needs work) and making me all embarassed.
However it might not, so in all fairness to this person... and to prove that they might be wrong about my "cutie-kins"-ness... here's a link to pretty much all the personal pics I have. Not much, and some are older than dirt... but "enjoy".
If the comments were made by my friends... haha, LOL, ROFLMAO, you got me, titter-titter... now get to work and stop draging down America's GDP.
Oh, and no more anonyomous commenting... I want to know who you are!
However it might not, so in all fairness to this person... and to prove that they might be wrong about my "cutie-kins"-ness... here's a link to pretty much all the personal pics I have. Not much, and some are older than dirt... but "enjoy".
If the comments were made by my friends... haha, LOL, ROFLMAO, you got me, titter-titter... now get to work and stop draging down America's GDP.
Oh, and no more anonyomous commenting... I want to know who you are!
Monday, October 03, 2005
Island Adventure Blog: Day 6, South and West Shores, Waimea Canyon and Flying Home
Well my last day on the Island was a bit busy... trying to cram in everything that I didn't see yet. I hate being rushed and stressed so I didn't enjoy the sights as much as I did the day before. Here's the pictures...
I packed in the morning which made me get a late start... and the leftovers from hurricane Kenneth made the weather pretty crummy at times. But I did see some pretty interesting stuff. I found a coffee farm and roaster. I had never seen coffee plants before and tried their coffee (of course it wasn't Caffe Lusso, but it was still better than Charbucks). It was interesting that they list tea before their coffee on the menu there.
The next site was very beautiful and ugly at the same time. I had found a place listed as Glass Beach online with this strange multi-colored glass in the sand. I thought the glass was naturally occurring. I never heard of such a thing before, so I made it a priority to find the beach. Looking at pictures I found online in relation to some storage silos I saw, I found it. The beach was alot smaller than I thought... and very dirty. There was small bits of mouldering trash. But not nasty stuff like food or diapers... but glass, rubber and metal. This was confusing and I was wondering if it was related to the more industrial nature of the area. As I was taking a few pictures, I noticed a cemetery up the dirt road from the beach. It looked like a nice area to take some wider, establishing shots. I got up there to find the most neglected, hodgepodge of graves I had ever seen. Yet the kanji characters on the tombstones were so delicate and ornate I took a few snapshots. I then went to the cliff edge to get the shots I came for. I noticed as I took a few pictures that there was old rusted engines and transmissions. Gears too. I then saw that the whole cliff face was old garbage... not the modern stuff we throw away today. This was the dump back at the turn of the century. Then they buried the unfortuate people on top of it. This is also where all the glass for the beach was coming from. Old bottles were being eroded off the cliff face, warn down into little bits and deposited on the beach. Weird...both gross and beautiful.
I then visited an old Russian fort (Fort Elizabeth) near the mouth of the Waimea River. This is also the spot where Captain James Cook (famous British sea explorer from the late 1700's) first landed. Up the river from there is a the Menehune Ditch... which doesn't sound or even look like much, but it is said that the infamous Hawaiian little people made the ditch to help the native people irrigate their taro fields.
After that I headed out to Polihale Beach which is 15 minutes down a dirt road. It was worth every bumpy minute however. This was the most beautiful beach I saw the whole trip. It's HUGE and the water is that amazing blue. Very remote and quiet, and I only saw a handful of people. If I had time I would of just sat there all day. If I go back, I'm camping there!
After that I headed up into the Waimea Canyon. They call it the Grand Canyon of Hawaii, but to me it looked even bigger. Amazing views and lots of waterfalls running down the sides of mountains and cliffs. Its not for those who are in a rush though, as the roads are all 25 mph limits and extremely curvy. Also, make sure you gas up before going, otherwise you'll just stress about the gage being past the "E" and have to coast in neutral all the way back into town. Not fun... take it from me. Also if you want really clear views, make sure there is NO chance of rain or clouds that day and go early. It was pouring about half the time I was up there.
So I cruise back into town, jaunting over to the Wailua Falls I missed on other days... in full flood mode... pretty sweet! I didn't have time for the Fern Grotto tour, but there is always next time. I dashed into the Coconut Market place for gift run, and headed to the airport.
So you know about those poor people who get strip searched, flight gets delayed, have the same name as some random terrorist, and then lose their luggage? Yeah, that's not me. My flight home was one of the most easy experiences of my life. The commuter flight to Honolulu was only half full, and there were two cool Hawaiian locals who chatted it up with me. We had a blast for the short 30 minute flight. Then at Honolulu the strangest thing happened. NO ONE was there. I waltzed up to the ticket counter, upgraded to first class, and was the only one to go through the security check point. I couldn't believe how fast it was. As I got to the gate, they were boarding the plane and I was off with mai tai in hand, enjoying not only the huge first class seat but the one next to me that was empty as well. I have to say, first class is worth every dime! I'm so spoiled now, it's gonna be hard to cram into a coach seat, next to a screaming baby, ever again.
So I'm back home! Enjoying the cool, grey, rainy weather; good coffee from the roomie; driving my big ol' work van; and having to get up at was feels like an ungodly hour of 8am (5am Hawaii time).
Thanks for reading about my adventures and checking out my pictures!
I packed in the morning which made me get a late start... and the leftovers from hurricane Kenneth made the weather pretty crummy at times. But I did see some pretty interesting stuff. I found a coffee farm and roaster. I had never seen coffee plants before and tried their coffee (of course it wasn't Caffe Lusso, but it was still better than Charbucks). It was interesting that they list tea before their coffee on the menu there.
The next site was very beautiful and ugly at the same time. I had found a place listed as Glass Beach online with this strange multi-colored glass in the sand. I thought the glass was naturally occurring. I never heard of such a thing before, so I made it a priority to find the beach. Looking at pictures I found online in relation to some storage silos I saw, I found it. The beach was alot smaller than I thought... and very dirty. There was small bits of mouldering trash. But not nasty stuff like food or diapers... but glass, rubber and metal. This was confusing and I was wondering if it was related to the more industrial nature of the area. As I was taking a few pictures, I noticed a cemetery up the dirt road from the beach. It looked like a nice area to take some wider, establishing shots. I got up there to find the most neglected, hodgepodge of graves I had ever seen. Yet the kanji characters on the tombstones were so delicate and ornate I took a few snapshots. I then went to the cliff edge to get the shots I came for. I noticed as I took a few pictures that there was old rusted engines and transmissions. Gears too. I then saw that the whole cliff face was old garbage... not the modern stuff we throw away today. This was the dump back at the turn of the century. Then they buried the unfortuate people on top of it. This is also where all the glass for the beach was coming from. Old bottles were being eroded off the cliff face, warn down into little bits and deposited on the beach. Weird...both gross and beautiful.
I then visited an old Russian fort (Fort Elizabeth) near the mouth of the Waimea River. This is also the spot where Captain James Cook (famous British sea explorer from the late 1700's) first landed. Up the river from there is a the Menehune Ditch... which doesn't sound or even look like much, but it is said that the infamous Hawaiian little people made the ditch to help the native people irrigate their taro fields.
After that I headed out to Polihale Beach which is 15 minutes down a dirt road. It was worth every bumpy minute however. This was the most beautiful beach I saw the whole trip. It's HUGE and the water is that amazing blue. Very remote and quiet, and I only saw a handful of people. If I had time I would of just sat there all day. If I go back, I'm camping there!
After that I headed up into the Waimea Canyon. They call it the Grand Canyon of Hawaii, but to me it looked even bigger. Amazing views and lots of waterfalls running down the sides of mountains and cliffs. Its not for those who are in a rush though, as the roads are all 25 mph limits and extremely curvy. Also, make sure you gas up before going, otherwise you'll just stress about the gage being past the "E" and have to coast in neutral all the way back into town. Not fun... take it from me. Also if you want really clear views, make sure there is NO chance of rain or clouds that day and go early. It was pouring about half the time I was up there.
So I cruise back into town, jaunting over to the Wailua Falls I missed on other days... in full flood mode... pretty sweet! I didn't have time for the Fern Grotto tour, but there is always next time. I dashed into the Coconut Market place for gift run, and headed to the airport.
So you know about those poor people who get strip searched, flight gets delayed, have the same name as some random terrorist, and then lose their luggage? Yeah, that's not me. My flight home was one of the most easy experiences of my life. The commuter flight to Honolulu was only half full, and there were two cool Hawaiian locals who chatted it up with me. We had a blast for the short 30 minute flight. Then at Honolulu the strangest thing happened. NO ONE was there. I waltzed up to the ticket counter, upgraded to first class, and was the only one to go through the security check point. I couldn't believe how fast it was. As I got to the gate, they were boarding the plane and I was off with mai tai in hand, enjoying not only the huge first class seat but the one next to me that was empty as well. I have to say, first class is worth every dime! I'm so spoiled now, it's gonna be hard to cram into a coach seat, next to a screaming baby, ever again.
So I'm back home! Enjoying the cool, grey, rainy weather; good coffee from the roomie; driving my big ol' work van; and having to get up at was feels like an ungodly hour of 8am (5am Hawaii time).
Thanks for reading about my adventures and checking out my pictures!
Island Adventure Blog: Day 5, The North Shore
Well now I'm finally back home in the Pacific Northwest... I got busy my final two days on the island and didn't want to waste them being on a computer! I was in paradise! Click here for the pictures!
So day 5 was by far the best day there because the North Shore is just amazing. Luckily I did some research online before arriving on the island and found the location of some off-the-road beaches. Anini Beach was one of the best beaches I saw all day... people snorkeling and wind surfing in the most blue water I've ever seen. I also noticed that the surfers will put stickers on signs leading to the best beaches too. I also have some pictures of Hanalei Valley, where they grow Taro root (which Poi is made out of... more on Poi later).
The highlight of the day was hiking a small portion of the 11 mile Kalalau Trail. This has been rated as one of the greatest American hiking trails. I will say it's not for the faint of heart (as you can see in the pictures). It is really steep and very slimy. I saw a few folks with alot of mud on their rears and over most of their legs. Somehow I managed to keep my balance, and get to the top of the first ridge. I got a sweet shot of Ke'e Beach there... just as my camera died. So for all you travelers out there... charge your camera battery before leaving the hotel!
If the Kalalau Trail was the highlight of my day, the Coconut Beach Luau in Kapa'a was the highlight of my evening. Being the only person there by myself was a bit interesting, but I quickly made friends with a group of Danes (that's people from Denmark, Ada... the country North of Germany... but you'd have to know where Germany is) The luau itself was very entertaining, the girls were quite pretty, and the Emcee was as cheesy as Bill Murray's Star Wars lounge act. Best of all was the food... especially the Kalua Pork. It is cooked all day long in a pit heated by lava rocks with pine wood and the pig is wrapped in banana leaves. It has this amazing smokey sweet flavor that I'll never forget. It's a must eat when visiting Hawaii. They also had Poi, which was served with a warning. Being one to cast common sense aside, I tried it. Not as bad as I was expecting, but not something to be tried again. Basically this is Hawaiian wall spackle. A bland substance like a thin purple porridge. I perfer the roasted taro root...
Oh and the open bar was pretty sweet too! Mai Tais anyone?
So day 5 was by far the best day there because the North Shore is just amazing. Luckily I did some research online before arriving on the island and found the location of some off-the-road beaches. Anini Beach was one of the best beaches I saw all day... people snorkeling and wind surfing in the most blue water I've ever seen. I also noticed that the surfers will put stickers on signs leading to the best beaches too. I also have some pictures of Hanalei Valley, where they grow Taro root (which Poi is made out of... more on Poi later).
The highlight of the day was hiking a small portion of the 11 mile Kalalau Trail. This has been rated as one of the greatest American hiking trails. I will say it's not for the faint of heart (as you can see in the pictures). It is really steep and very slimy. I saw a few folks with alot of mud on their rears and over most of their legs. Somehow I managed to keep my balance, and get to the top of the first ridge. I got a sweet shot of Ke'e Beach there... just as my camera died. So for all you travelers out there... charge your camera battery before leaving the hotel!
If the Kalalau Trail was the highlight of my day, the Coconut Beach Luau in Kapa'a was the highlight of my evening. Being the only person there by myself was a bit interesting, but I quickly made friends with a group of Danes (that's people from Denmark, Ada... the country North of Germany... but you'd have to know where Germany is) The luau itself was very entertaining, the girls were quite pretty, and the Emcee was as cheesy as Bill Murray's Star Wars lounge act. Best of all was the food... especially the Kalua Pork. It is cooked all day long in a pit heated by lava rocks with pine wood and the pig is wrapped in banana leaves. It has this amazing smokey sweet flavor that I'll never forget. It's a must eat when visiting Hawaii. They also had Poi, which was served with a warning. Being one to cast common sense aside, I tried it. Not as bad as I was expecting, but not something to be tried again. Basically this is Hawaiian wall spackle. A bland substance like a thin purple porridge. I perfer the roasted taro root...
Oh and the open bar was pretty sweet too! Mai Tais anyone?
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