Own Every Inch: Seattle Appreciation in Lists

I hate to be a cliché in my own life, but I believe that running away to NYC actually taught me a lot about Seattle. I came out of high school with a fully formed desire to escape that place. Suburban, middle class, mostly white high school taught me – in some strange ways – that nothing I wanted was going to be easy to get. We had the academic standing, but the culture of our school was restrictive. While administration wanted us to perform well on standardized tests, they barred us from creative endeavors like theater programs and newspapers. And, unless it made the school look good, philanthropic and cultural clubs were also out.

That atmosphere left me, the motivated do-gooder with a creative bent, completely despondent.

CED Round-Up: Seattle Pride Parade!

This week was event-filled and awesome, so a lot of the work I was doing happened outside - particularly at the Seattle Pride Parade, in which I fanatically snapped pictures of everything from the Washington Bus Summer Fellows to the amazing outfits that people adorned. Check it out after the jump - and yes, there will be dancing.

 

Like The Cowation on Facebook to see more of the pics!

Moving Day!

Today was my moving day, and tomorrow I am flying out to Seattle, so posting is on hold until Friday! Peace out, NYC!

Epic

Today was just awesome.
For photography, for food, for hanging out with people, for... well, a lot of things. I am going to have a really long-winded post today just to belt out all of this stuff from my system. And then there are the 50 billion pictures that I am going to put - at the end of the post so that it doesn't look like I'm entirely neurotic. But I will put my favorite one at the top!
Anyway, yesterday was Sophia's going-away party and we rocked out for a while [though it was kind of hard to because barely anyone outside of our group showed up to the dance] and then went to a coffee shop and played Apples to Apples for a while to get acquainted. I won once and got something like... Harmful, European, Refreshing, Hot, something. So that is apparently my personality - brilliant! It was just great to meet all those different people and to send off Sophia in the way that she wanted. Yet it didn't hit me then that she was leaving; ironically, that only happened today at the time she left Gasworks Park. I will miss her soooo much!
[as an off topic bracketed side note, I went to Costco yesterday before her birthday and found the most awesome pair of jeans ever and a new bathing suit and a novel about Bangladesh during the separation from Pakistan - totally win! I went back today and got 3/4 of what I wanted: a warm jacket, bras, and stockings. I LOVE Costco!]
That brings us to this morning - where I made another collage mirror for Ka-chan's birthday gift (the picture of it is below if you prefer to look) and bought Indian food to bring to her house. Sadly, not as many people showed up for lunch as was expected and so we had a ton of food with only 3 guys, Ka-chan and I. So we partied it up at her house for a bit and then left for Gasworks [in Connor's dad's car which is actually super awesome - and warm when you stuff two large men in the back and "manwich" me between them... ehehe...]
I had never been to that park before today but now I am in love with it. There is just so much to photograph! The water and boats and skyline of Seattle and archaic rusting architecture and friends that come with you and rolling hills and dogs and arches and poles and geese and... *takes a breath* Today I am a little giddy and not so professional, as perhaps is noticeable. Oh well.
We just played around the park after that, in the frigid weather which we adjusted to after a time (though when I got home and took off my shoes, my toes felt like they were irradiated). Sophia and Lin showed up so we got to jog around and take pictures of each other and do crazy things - Grant, Connor and Mike were already there and acting themselves while trying to fly a kite. Then Rachel, Katie, and Austin arrived and we ate cake and talked about life as if it were some big explosion of creativity and luck. Which it is, in a way. Sophia and Lin left at about 5pm, and that was when it hit me. She's leaving. It made the joyous feelings just all the more memorable, and so we had a group Asian female hug fest for a few minutes before they left to the great yonder. *sigh*
Then we too departed; eating Ginger Thins and discussing a spring break road trip on the way back to B-Town [which is actually not what all the cool kids call Bellevue] and realized... life isn't all about school. I think that was perhaps the best part. I didn't think about school at all. I miss the days when that was so easy...
Ka-chan's birthday was great and grand (even though it really happens tomorrow, so I can still shout HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the sky so that she will hear it) and I think we all got to really step out of our student skins for a second [mega alliteration!] to finally be real. Let's hope it continues.
Here are the pictures - I hope that you get a kick out of the jumping ones, 'cause they're just that awesome.








Check out some more posts featuring my photography.

Back Home Again

I have arrived home after a week and a half of our two-person crazy fest. Shouting/taking pictures/watching Current TV/dancing/clashing over musical tastes/changing clothes 50 bajillion times/talking until late hours about everything - that was the vacation time. I think we got a little bit on each other's nerves, but that's probably because I'm more surly than she...
But, no matter! Now that I am back home, Heathy's in school, and I am furiously trying to beat procrastination to a pulp [I know this is an old story, but it must be said in order to make me feel responsible for it]. I am currently working on all the college essay material that I have. I will finish this stuff by the time school starts - but I have no idea about my scholarship applications or anything else. At least I have five more days.
Other than that, has anyone noticed how hard it is to find a one-piece women's swimsuit for a reasonable price? It's all bikinis and tankinis and whatever else, but no one has a frickin' one-piece suit. I have gone to as many as 8 places by now and everything is just heinously expensive or nonexistent *grumble*.
On another other note, the Democratic National Convention has inspired me to be more involved with internal politics. I am usually informed, but not invested in, national news while international and scientific are my fields of choice. When I heard Bill Clinton last night it was amazing and just made me feel proud to be an American - which I haven't been able to say in a pretty long time [perhaps ever...].
The world is coming to an end! And, when it does, we'll be singing.
"It's too late, we're gonna dieeee..."