Here is one happy man...John's dad is pointing to the TWO bullseyes he got to win our dart game, even though John was ahead of both of us pretty much the entire game. He said he was going to buy us a new dart board so that we could keep the darts in this one, in memorium. We couldn't wait for the new dartboard, though, so this picture will have to serve as the documentation of the amazing come-from-behind victory. 

So, my uncle Dan often makes up these crazy stories when reporting on, say, a diving trip, taking exaggerations to the extreme. For instance, we'll get out of the water and he'll ask if we saw the whale giving birth, etc. I thought of Dan on this day, when we saw this blue heron catch, clean, and eat a fish right in front of us as we were kayaking in the arboretum on Lake Washington near the UW. If you click on the picture and look closely, you can actually see the fish hanging out of the heron's beak. We had to get some proof to back up a story like this! 

Another fun activity we did with John's parents is go kayaking. This picture is of John and Kathy on Lake Union touring the house boat community. 

When John's parents and I went on an Argosy cruise of Lake Washington, we got a very unique view of the WA-520 floating bridge. Lake Washington provides a huge psychological barrier between the city-folk of Seattle and the family-folk of The Eastside. That barrier is likely accentuated by the fact that there are only two bridges to get across the ~20-mile lake, and especially 520 (and the approaches to 520) is typically backed up with traffic that people would rather not deal with unless they have to. Personally I enjoy going over the bridges because I can watch the boaters on the water, catch a great view of mountains, and get an overall fresh-breath-of-air feeling because the sky is so open over the lake. The most painful part of the bridge for me is a gas tax of 9.5 cents that was recently passed to pay for a new 520 bridge and improvements to another highway going through Seattle. (Pump prices here have risen above $3 at some places.)  

Last weekend we took John's parents to eat at the TASTY Cafe Campagne near Pike Place Market. Afterward we checked out some of the fresh fruit & vegetable stands and walked over to the waterfront. As you can see, the hanging baskets they have in the park are huge! 

They made it! 

Are we there yet?

We dragged John's parents up the Rattlesnake Ledge hike. Even though they made the trail less steep than it used to be, it still has enough grade to make the hike challenging for people who aren't used to hiking!

For the past week or so, John's parents have been visiting from New Hampshire. They really are kids at heart! 

YAY! John replaced my camera as an early birthday present! 

The End of an Era

Recently I found out from my friend Phil that the ManRay Club in Cambridge (http://www.manrayclub.com/) is closed. It makes me a little sad to hear this news, although I have to admit that my first experience there was a bit uncomfortable.

Over Christmas Break in college my friend Dianne asked if I wanted to go to this place to see "interpretations of Grimm's fairy tales". Since all of my other friends were home for break and I welcomed the chance to get out of my dingy dorm room, I told her I would go along. I had no idea we were going to a club, much less a goth club. (As an innocent young woman from the midwest, I didn't even realize that those things existed outside of the movies!) In fact, I thought we were headed to an auditorium of some sort to hear a lecture about the fairytales. When we got to ManRay I remember being totally shocked and trying not to stare too much at all of the club-goers, who were garbed in leather/PVC, chains, and freaky make-up. Shortly after we arrived, Dianne found a woman she had a crush on, so basically I was entertaining myself on the dance floor from then on. After dancing with myself for what seemed like an eternity, I kept wondering, "When are these damn interpretations supposed to happen?" Before I knew it, the stage I happened to be dancing next to came to life and I had a front-row view of an "interpretation" of Hansel & Gretel, which involved a lot of g-strings and whipping. I couldn't believe I was watching this, and kept praying that they weren't going to ask for audience volunteers. Fortunately they didn't, although I was almost tackled by a large guy who climbed on stage after the performance, roared, and then jumped into the crowd. At this point I indicated to Dianne that I was ready to leave.

Later in my college career I went back to ManRay several times and had a much more pleasant experience. I think it's partly because I knew what I was getting into and partly because I was with better friends. I never saw another S&M performance there, but I enjoyed the music and people-watching. To hear that this place is closing makes me feel like a part of my personal history is gone.

Big and Bad

Last year the New Yorker ran an article called "Big and Bad" which you can read here:

http://www.gladwell.com/2004/2004_01_12_a_suv.html

The article is a fascinating discussion of the unexpected rise of the S.U.V., why people buy them, and how safe they are. According to the article, industry market research shows that “SUVs tend to be bought by people who are insecure, vain, self-centered, and self-absorbed, who are frequently nervous about their marriages, and who lack confidence in their driving skills”. If true, I guess that explains why SUV drivers seem to be the biggest jerks on the road.