Keep calm and carry on...

      I was at Wild walls one evening and I was about to leave when I ran into Sarah. I hadn't seen her there for awhile, so I asked where she'd been. She told me she had knee surgery and couldn't climb. (insert sad face here) She said she was just going to do a light workout and stretch the knee a little bit. I asked if she cared if I photographed it. "I don't mind, but it won't be exciting" she said.

      Every once in awhile I'd she her gazing at the people climbing. "Sometimes I just watch them, I wish I could just go down there and climb. I try and guess what route there going for or how their going for that hold...but I won't be ready till October".

       After some stretching and pull ups, it was time for some light weights. "Just have to try and stay strong till October".

       After weight work, she did a couple of knee stabilization drills.

~tortoise~crush on~rock~

    End of workout stretching...or what I like to call "beautiful elegant".

     In closing, I know that these photos are not the greatest, they are dark, grainy, under exposed and all that. But Sarah's Patience, persistence and determination to come back strong and climb again I think deserves applause.

                                                                     

An Evening at the Stables: A Photo Essay

   This is my friend Rachel. She works at a horse stable. She is a beautiful, buff, tough as nails, hard working chick. The photos speak for themselves. Thanks.

Seattle, the way I see it...day 3.

     My 3rd and last day in Seattle was the busiest. I start out going to "The Underground Tour" first. I wanted to catch the 1st tour of the day, so I was there at 9am. On my way there I came across "The Hammerman". This statue was really tall with a swinging arm. It was located outside the Seattle Art Museum.

      The Underground Tour was very interesting, but very fast moving, making it hard to compose photographs. I think next time I will take the private tour, which cost $180.00. The normal tour is $20.

    After the Underground tour, it was time to find the Fremont Troll. My friends at work told me it was not to be missed. So, to city bus rides later, I found myself staring into the eye of the troll. The Fremont troll is a huge statue of this troll with a full size VW bug in it's hand. As I watched people come in groups to take their picture with the troll, I heard the phrase "stick your head up his nose" at least a dozen times.

      This is what the troll sees, day in, day out...

    So, from Fremont troll, I took a city bus to the Seattle Center. My goal: Pacific Science Center. I bought a ticket that got me into the Science Center and 1 imax show. The Science Center was not as big as I remember as a kid. Maybe I just got bigger?

        So, I left the Science Center after about 45min, with about 2hrs before my IMAX show started. I took some photos of the Monorail and the EMP museum.

  This Photograph of the Monorail is one of the best photos I took on my trip...i think.



    The EMP museum, I had no plans of going in there. But, I just wanted to take a quick peek. That's all it took for me to buy a ticket. I loved this place. I ended up going back after my IMAX show. It was awesome!

On my way back to my motel, I had to stop at the gum wall. The gum wall is a wall near Pike Place Market, that people have been sticking chewed gum on for years. People say that it's gross, but they keep going and having there picture taken in front of it!

       They say all good thing come to an end and so must my Seattle trip. But at last I have next time to look forward to...

                                                                           

Seattle, The way I see it. Day 2

     So, I started my day around 10ish and I started it with a doughnut and orange juice at "Top Pot Doughnuts", which was conveniently located next to my motel.

    I decided I wanted to go to the Aquarium first. I have been

working on my own aquarium at home for the last year and a

half, so fish have become very interesting to me. On my way to

 the aquarium I went Pike Place Market. I really wish I would

have spend more time there.






























       There are little artistic things I like about Seattle. For example, The 3 light guys in the above photo.These guys were at Pike Place Market and I thought that they could have just put up 3 normal lights, but no, they put up 3 guys holding light bulbs! How cool is that!

     There was an organic roof top garden at Pike Place Market and the owner was holding a parrot, so, of course, I took a photo of the parrot.

                                                                                                       

      There was a wall over by Pike Place that was covered with graffiti, gig posters, spray paint and posters. I thought it was beautiful. The above photo is part of that wall. I cannot take credit for this photo, because it is not my artwork, but I love showing it to others who were not there.

      As I left Pike Place Market and made my way down to the Aquarium, I saw this cool building with clouds reflecting in the windows with clouds moving behind it. I thought this was photo-worthy.

      The aquarium was amazing. I loved the contrasting colors of the fish and the coral, so that is what I focused on...

     Besides fish, they also had otter, sea lions, birds and other marine life. But I didn't see one seagull there!

        Well, I guess some people say we came from the sea...

I also went on a harbor cruise, which was neat. I heard all sorts of interesting Seattle facts, but the only one I remember is that there are 120 Starbucks stores within a half mile of Pikes Place Market! ...I only remember the important facts.

      After I left the boat, I went over by the Space Needle. I didn't go up in the Space Needle, just tried to photograph it from the ground. After looking at the photos that I took, I now have many more ideas of how I want to photograph it next time I'm in Seattle.

      So, day 2 is over and I'm pretty tired so stay tuned for day 3 which was an even longer day.