that someone forwarded to me in an email, and it totally made me smile.

Simple creativity = lots of Joy

Click Here and press play

where did all that time go? I looked at my last post and realized that an entire week went by - what have I been doing?

I spent last week celebrating and catching up with some really great friends. I was reminded about generosity, humor, good food and family(the kind you choose). We spent some time out on Lake Washington with Jet skis, we went out to some bars, we made a raucous (all 15 of us) at PF Changs. We sat outside underneath the summer stars…

Summer time is always a wonderful time to just be- (Actually I think anytime is…) but one thing’s for sure- there’ll be more BE-ing coming along….

So take the time to just be. And enjoy seeing what goodness surrounds you…

Happy Travels…

A couple of posts back I had talked about how I’ve been internally wrestling over direction and focus and things I want to accomplish. All things that my birthday brings about and forces me to think about.

But you know, I’m tired of being too serious. I’m tired of strategizing the heck out of my life. I want to be more playful and change the internal voice in my head to be the kind of friend that I try to be (not the stern uptight voice that seems to only exist for me).
So my direction is this, to change that voice to be more:

Encouraging. Patient. Light Hearted. Fun.

This is my conclusion over the last few days and I think the wisdom must be setting in. Not only am I getting older, I’m getting a bit smarter too.

***

I always imagined that at the end of my life I would be a happy old man sitting on a rock looking out over the ocean. And if I look into that vision- I realize that there is nothing “material” that makes the vision appealing. The appealing part is the fact that the man on the rock was always Completely Happy with his life journey; Content with being still, but ready for whats to come…

Now flashback to right now. Where the huge realization is this:

The only adjustments I need to make are internal.

Because there is an ocean, a rock, and complete happiness waiting for me. Right Now.
So here’s to dedicating time for reflection and for finding internal resolution quickly.

I’m tired of fostering my high-maintenance internal philosopher

Happy Travels (now!)….

had an incredible birthday dinner at kurtwood farms.

My sister and Brother-in-law have attended a few of the weekly meals held here and have been raving about it for a while.

Here’s the skinny: pretty much everything other than the wine, and coffee beans was raised on the farm. Eating as close to local as you can get.

invite list is limited to 20 people per family style meal and we met some great people- the kind of people you would hope to meet up with and share similar experiences with, again and again and again.

Kurt says it best in a post from october of 2007:

“It is what dinner should be — great food and great people. Period.”

Thanks everyone for the birthday emails, blog comments, texts and general bday love. And a special thank you to Maia and Craig for sharing this place with me. what an awesome way to spend a birthday meal…..

Happy Travels…

today, in between having fun and seeing friends I’m thinking about getting a year older. and being the philosopher/analytical type self I am going thru the list of things…

Thinking and overthinking gets me feeling overwhelmed. But today as I am enjoying it all (even all this heat!) I will think about what my favorite self-help/writer/philosopher Nathaniel Branden suggests to think about:

1) What is good about my life right now?
2) What still needs to be done?

Happy (birthday) Travels…

got my new scanner in the mail and have been spending the evening playing around.

The first one is my first official medium format photo. I caught it in Houston while waiting for a flight out. A lot easier catching a shot like this when you are using a waist level viewfinder.

I love the square format…

And also some from the holga.

I’m excited to shoot with these more, now that I’ve got the scanner. you definitely can expect to see more in the future….

of making mistakes.

A few months ago someone broke into my car- smashed the window and stole my ipod.

That morning I sighed. Did not get angry but called a mobile window replacement guy. No prob. $150 and we’re back on the road.Until he opened it up and found that one of two critical pieces was broken on the inside. It was the part that held half of the window up.

He was able to reinstall the glass but advised that I get a new part soon.

Well, I didn’t and I’ve been driving around with the window rolled up. I was just lazy and didn’t feel like searching for the part- besides the window was in place and I had an excuse to not go thru drive thrus… until today. THe glass just decided to drop into the door.

Basically long story short. In all of 2.5 hours I was able to locate the parts and after being told that labor would be 2 hours at over $100 an hour, I decided I’d rather spend my moolah on something else and do it myself.

First, I am not really mechanical and I have never really been into tools.

But what I am is: not afraid of getting into something, observing the set up and learning about it. and: able to understand how things connect with one another.

Those two things alone give me the confidence to think:
I can probably figure it out….
I am happy to say that the window is fixed (and in less time than I was quoted at the dealer’s)!

so go out and don’t be afraid to make a few mistakes. You may get it on your first try, or you’ll have tons of lessons to learn from!

Happy Travels…

spent the day out on Seattle’s Lake Union where we ate, drank, and napped the entire day waiting for the fireworks show.

It’s one of my favorite annual traditions- being out on the lake with good people, laughing and enjoying it all…

below are a few of my favorite shots of our perspective. You can probably tell why I make it a point to be on board for this show every year….
Hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend and are relaxing as much as I am!

Cheers to Independence!

Happy Travels…

Been continuing to catch up with friends and family over the last few days. It’s been good- mixing all the work and play and I’m calmly content.

I’m thinking about what I’ve been up to and its like I’m in a “gathering data” phase. For the longest time natural processes like these have threatened me- because I think I have to be doing “this in particular” or “that in particular”, but now I am at a point where I understand that it is just a part of my life process. And it’s a heck of a lot easier just accepting it….

So between it all I attended a class on making my own biodiesel this weekend and am really interested and excited about the prospects. It’s pretty amazing and I am reading a bunch that’s out there. I’ll see- still figuring out what roads that’ll take me down. But let me tell you how exciting the prospects of making fuel for under $1 a gallon is….

Anyway- this is my concept corner idea of the week: Let yourself go thru whatever process you naturally need to go thru (without negative criticism, judgment or guilt), so that you can identify and accept that same process the next time it comes around. (Chew on that one for a bit! )

and…more images from last week’s shoot.

Happy Independence day week everyone!
Happy Travels…

summer has officially made it to these parts and so with it comes lots of things to do. The last few nights we’ve rendezvous-ed at places like this:

It’s been fun catching up with people, and was even better that I had the chance to be out on the water for a few hours to catch this…

My highlight of the week was a photo shoot with Sean McGarity.

Sean is a talented dancer and being able to work with him was lots of fun. He brought a fellow dancer and lifetime friend Pat along and we all ran around Tacoma, shooting in some cool spots, blasting some music while trains were going by. It was cool to see them work out choreographed steps and to see them having pure fun.

Haven’t had the chance to get to proof any of those photos yet, but I’m certainly excited to see the results. 

For now, back to work. Enjoy the Friday sun!

Happy Travels…

today I’m thinking about how I always seem to be rushing. rushing to get somewhere. rushing to get things done. always rushing.

And if I think about it it boils down to this: I am usually rushing so that I can get to the next point in order to rush some more.

What kind of sense does that make?

Just recently something happened to me that got me to see that the mentality of rushing is just a vicious cycle, and
that my “rushing” habit is one that will keep being a part of my life until I do things differently. So I am trying to be aware. trying to be conscious of the fact that slowing down, is beneficial.

If I want to honor my life (my family, my friends), slowing down helps me to be present. And being present is one of the most significant gifts anyone can give. It’s the type of gift that has no tangible benefits, but the meaning and significance that you start giving to your life, means that your relationships and experiences will have more richness and depth.

Slowing myself, allows me to know what my limitations are. It helps me to recognize what things on my to-do list help facilitate making life more meaningful and it helps me understand what things on my to-do list are just me being fixated on an outcome.

So, slow down. Make some time. Be like Molasses and mosey to your next destination