Sunny Day Seattle

I just posted a bunch of photos I took at Seattle Center on a sunny day a few weekends ago. Enjoy.

Ice sledding video from my dad in Oklahoma

What's so funny about this video is that my family had no idea Maggie the English Bulldog would act that way when they were sledding down the driveway.

Pink Elephant Car Wash

Tonight will be my second class in screen printing. This is the image I'm working on. It's a a sign for a car wash in downtown Seattle. I love the sign. I hope the print turns out as well as my mock up.

fun with kitchen utensils

First print done!

My first screen print done! Here they are on the drying rack. I'm in love with it. It's looks like something that would be fun to put in a child's room. It's definitely not perfect, but that's no biggie. I'm somewhat obsessed with the ocean since moving to Seattle, seems fitting.

Screen Printing Class

I started a printmaking class last night at Pratt. It's the first time I've taken one since 2002. Oh printmaking, how I've missed you! I know realize what was missing from my life for the past 7 years. The class was full at 12 people. Mostly female. I went into the class thinking surely it would take the whole 4 hour class to cover the basics of screen printing. I was pleasantly mistaken. We talked about an hour then she let us loose to do whatever. So I came up with a very quick design. The process is cutting a pattern in a sheet of newsprint then taping it to the screen. Very quick and easy with fast results. So I finished my first screen by 9pm then cleaned up for the evening. The class also gets studio time all day Friday as part of the class fee. So I'll be finishing the print up by Friday evening and will post the finished product then.

Poppy

My friends Diana, Lisa and I went to Poppy to try it out. It's a pretty new restaurant located at the end of Broadway on Capitol Hill. Plus the Seattle Times recently gave it a good review. My first impression was BRIGHT! This restaurant is incredibly bright with the orange and yellow tables and blonde colored wood everywhere. It didn't really bother me but I do prefer darker lighting. We met about 6 and it wasn't too busy. Then as I sat down the server informed me that all alcohol was 50% off in celebration of the new president. We also ordered food off the bar menu my favorite was the eggplant fries with honey and sea salt. Yummm.

Andew Bird

A friend gave me a copy of Noble Beasts a few weeks before it's release. Based on his new album, Jen, Missy and I bought tix to see him at The Moore Theater here in Seattle on Feb 23rd. I've been there once before to see Fleet Foxes. Jen is particularly excited since she's never been.

Slumdog Millionaire

Missy, Jen and I went and saw SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE at The Harvard Exit Theater here in Seattle last week. It's a story of Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?"

We absolutely loved it. First off, I adore almost any movie set in India or that depicts Indian people. It was a fantastic story about 2 brothers surviving under the most bleak circumstances. The love story is epic and there isn't alot of subtitles if that bugs any of you. The soundtrack kicks ass, Indian music of course, but they included a few MIA songs which was genius. It was like MIA, who wrote those songs years ago, had written them especially for this movie. Overall this is the best movie I have seen in over a year. If it is playing near you, go.

Floods

I wish it would stop raining! I got soaked between my work and Marcos tonight. I only had 6 blocks and I got totally soaked! My dad called from OK while watching The Weather Channel (his favorite channel, it's his favorite reality show) and said there was flooding and I-5 was closed to the south and north. So basically everyone in Seattle is stuck here!

As a side note, I think both my mother and my father missed their calling as weather forecasters. If I'm in WA my dad calls me from OK to warn me about the weather in WA, if I'm in OK my mother in WA calls me about the weather in OK. In the TEN years my mother has lived in Washington, she has called me during every tornado warning, her timing is uncanny she managed to call just when the sirens were going off.

The end is in sight, Friday starts a week of dry weather and even 5 straight days of sun (hopefully)!

$5.98

photo.jpg, originally uploaded by rrgelder0129.

The other day I was headed to work and I stopped into an asian gift shop. I was looking around at dishes, cookware and all kinds of strange items when I came across these dolls. A wedding doll set. Which is normal enough. But they each have a small child next to them, they look about 8 years old are so. So who are these children? Are the doll children from a previous marriage or relationship? Are they the brides children or the grooms? Or maybe they each have a child from a previous marriage. How many times have these dolls been married before? How did they meet? Dollieharmony.com? And the biggest question of all, who makes cakes that put on a light show and play music and why didn't Kathy get one for her wedding? Edible or not, seems like a no brainer. I think asian doll manufacturers must be more socially accepting of alternative versions of the typical family unit then the ones I grew up with. Plus they make toy wedding cakes with lights and music!

Best of 2008: Beards, Beards, Beards!

I had forgotten about doing one of these, but Kathy's list got me thinking about how I would award this years music. Well here is the most anticipated top 24 songs of 2008. Yes there are only 24 instead a nice tidy 25 because 2 songs tied for #1. I couldn't decide which band I am in love with more, Bon Iver or Fleet Foxes. So I awarded the top spot to both and it's not just one song, it's the whole album that I am completely in love with. If you haven't heard these, go buy them right now. BUT, you must see or hear them live (even if they are just recordings). There is a great SXSW live set and interview with Bon Iver here NPR SXSW Bon Iver. Then after that go here...NPR FLEET FOXES. You won't be sorry.

1. Fleet Foxes - Mykonos or Winter Hymnal & Bon Iver - Flume
2. Pinpack - Good To Sea You
3. Blind Pilot - Go On, Say It
4. Helio Sequence - Hallelujah
5. Human Highway - The Sound
6. Mates of State - My Only Offer
7. TV on the Radio - Halfway Home
8. Elbow - Grounds for Divorce
9. Sigur Ros - Inni mer syngur vitleysingur
10. Kings of Leon - Sex on Fire
11. Lykke Li - Tonight
12. Bell - Housefire
13. Ten Kens - Bear Fight
14. Ra Ra Riot - Dying is Fine
15. Dr. Dog - The Old Days
16. Elliot Brood - Write it All Down
17. Michael Franti and Spearhead - Say Hey (I Love You)
18. CSS - Rat Is Dead
19. Jessica Lea Mayfield - Kiss Me Again
20. Jenny Lewis - Acid Tongue
21. Ray LaMontagne - You Are the Best Thing
22. DeVotchKa - The Clockwise Whitness
23. Thao with the Get Down Stay Down - Bag of Hammers
24. Say Hi - Northwestern Girls

Baby Shower

On Saturday, Missy and I are going to my favorite cousin Laura's (pictured on the far left of the photo) baby shower. My father and her mother are brother and sister. Our birthdays are 1 month apart. This was taken at a family picnic in Bellingham when we were 7 or so? Not sure. I'm right next to Laura (of course) then Missy is next and Sarah is on the end. It so funny. Our poses are so typical of our personalities, even as adults. Even Sarah's pose is so like her. She has this child like quality, even now.

Annie Leibovitz

Annie Leibovitz, originally uploaded by rrgelder0129.

Missy and I are very excited about seeing Annie Leibovitz speak tonight at Benaroya Hall in downtown Seattle. We're going to Wild Ginger for our favorite duck in town before the lecture.

Fleet Foxes Moore Theater Oct. 19, 2008

Working Sunday

Well, it's rainy and overcast here in Seattle today. I'm working on website layouts. This is my first experience working in a coffee shop. I rather like it. It's nice to get out of the house and I feel better able to focus without distractions.

I'm currently listening to Fleet Foxes. I didn't blog about this concert yet. Maybe because it was one of my top 5 most amazing concert experiences ever and I wasn't sure where to begin. Saul bought tickets months before he came to visit. He was able to get us 3rd row seats. I had listened to them before the concert. I wouldn't have said I was a huge fan though. I'm embarrassed to say I didn't even know they were from Seattle.

Well I can say I am a HUGE fan now. This band is one of those groups that you HAVE to see live to really appreciate them. The music demands your full attention through the whole concert. I'm glad it was a seated concert for that reason. Between each song there was brief clapping but while they played, you could hear a pin drop. Did I mention it was a sold out show? Do yourself a favor and listen to their new cd, it's my favorite CD of the year. I'm going to try to find you tube footage of the show. I'll post it hear if I find it.

Isabella

Corie is the Business Development person over here at RocketDog. She brings her French Bulldog Isabella in on Mondays. Today on a walk, Corie bought a rain jacket for Isabella in preparation for the rainy winter. She didn't like it much.

Fall

I like to walk the hard way to the bus stop every morning. It's up hill all the way. There is a large leaf maple on the walk that has shed all its leaves. Leaving the steps up this hill covered :)

1000 Songs

Do yourself a favor and listen to this podcast and buy this book. I was listening to it this morning on the bus to work. It's all great music but the one that stopped me in my tracks was Reinbert de Leeuw version of Satie's Gnossiennes No. 2. I am a HUGE fan of Satie and I love to hear him get exposure, even though he wrote this in the late 1800s.

Go to the link below to listen.

1,000 Recordings To Hear Before You Die

My new project is to gather all these songs and burn them to a DVD. I might even give them a lucky few as a christmas gift :)

Crashed Car

For the last week or so since I've been working at a firm only 2.5 or so miles down Capitol Hill, I've been walking either to work or home. Depending on if it's raining or not. I try to pick a different route every time. Yesterday on Pine just off 20th I stumbled upon the Girly Man truck. I'm not sure what happened to these vehicles or why they're sitting on a city street. But it was entertainment for me as I walked home...