I’ve been taking a lot of photos lately, mostly of cars, so maybe that’s why i have them on the brain. Or perhaps because i read Boing Boing a lot and Cory, Xeni and co. frequently dig up the photographic gems of the interweb and post links for me to click on. Come to think of it, a lot of my daily reads are photography-heavy, i suppose because there are only so many mediums through which i can be digitally influenced and with my solid distaste for websites that make noise that leaves lush photography, witty prose and off-kilter cartoons as the only possible ways to reach a creative hand out from the flickering orb and hijack my attention.

That said, i’d love to show you all the amazing photographs i’ve been taking lately as i walk to work, explore the city or sit staidly watching passersby. Except that i don’t do any of those things, and i’m feeling the limits of a point-and-shoot camera (albiet a pretty flexible one) and that’s holding me back from taking a lot of photos myself. If someone wants to buy me a nice DSLR i would be happy to fill my web hosting space with snappy photos to amuse and delight you, perhaps even Polaroid-o-nized for your viewing pleasure (check that out, seriously, it’s the coolest thing i’ve seen in a while). While i’m waiting for your gift order from Amazon, though, you’ll just have to enjoy other people’s photographic adventures instead of mine.

I’m all into old Russian stuff lately, so in that vein i’ve got some abandoned Russian buildings and some propaganda posters that i, at least, enjoy perusing. There are actually some Cuban and Czech commies represented there, too. I just find this stuff so creepily intriguing.

A photo montage under my direction wouldn’t be complete without some pictures of cars, natch. So let’s click over to the Henry Ford Museum and peep all the vintage cars, crazy motors and vintage american kitsch. Apparently Henry also has a large collection of dresses and women’s shoes… interesting.

A museum is fun, and while i’ve certainly been known to swipe through one camera in hand, what really turns my crank are the shots that aren’t manufactured for you by a display designer but that come from your own unique (trans: weird) view of the world. That’s why i really enjoy Brian McCarty’s work – in addition to the obvious name similarities (did you notice both of us share surnames with Phoenix Suns players? how crazy is that?) his work inserting toys into real life situations is exactly the kind of thing i’d waste countless gigs of digital film trying to duplicate. Or maybe i’d just build myself a girlfriend out of legos and take glamour shots of her all day. I mean really, how many more examples do you need of what a great photographer i’d be with the right equipment? Go buy me that camera already! It’s not like i’m asking for a 4 billion pixel camera or anything, although that would certainly be cool. Check out the landscape shots at the bottom of the gallery – wowza! That’s some serious detail.

Anyway, that’s my pitch. I hope i’ve convinced you that every second you don’t buy me a new camera is another second you’re depriving the internet of the large-aperture action figure photography it so desperately needs. Now it looks to be a nice day today (perfect for exploring the city with a camera… ahem) but i guess i’ll go to work and maybe later i’ll invite some athletic friends to the park and we’ll play soccer and make ice cream.

I had such a blast on this weekend’s roadtrip, and i really wanted to sit down and log it last night while it was still fresh, but anyone who saw me last night (namely Danielle, and that jerk from craigslist who shorted her $20 in the U Village parking lot – what is it with craigslist people? oh well, last laugh’s on him: he thinks he drives a baller’s “Tahoe” but it’s a late-eighties Blazer. Someone got suckered by the used car lot!) knows i shouldn’t have been looking at a computer screen. My eyes are still a bit bloodshot today, but 9 hours of sleep and half a bottle of eyedrops have made great strides. That’s also why i haven’t processed the 4 memory cards (512 MB) of photos, either. But i might try and do that tonight, if my eyes can take it. I’ve got some contract work in the queue, too, and that does take priority…

I left work early friday for a doc appt with the very capable (and wow! incredibly hot) Dr. Jeannie. Before you go thinking i’m a traitor, Eric was in hawaii getting married. I don’t think he was even thinking the slightest bit about who was covering his appointments. At least, i hope he wasn’t. ;) I will see him this afternoon and ask him how it went, but i assume he’ll tell me before i have to ask… ;)

Clint left work a little early, too, and we did some last-minute car cleaning and then met Travis, Christie and Peter in marysville, forming our Vancouver BC caravan crew. Clint’s Z, my Z and Peter’s 200sx were entered in the Driven to Perform show at BC Place, and Travis filled his Sentra with snack food and beverages heavy on the C₈H₁₀N₄O₂ and acted as our support vehicle. We met up with Luis about halfway to the border, and he rolled with us for a bit until some unluckily-timed showmanship landed him a $327 speeding ticket (sorry again about that, Lou!). Despite some navigational snafus (it’s not easy to read a map, hold a flashlight, steer and shift when you only have two hands, ok?) we found our way to the east airlock on time, and met up with Vince, Ben, James, Colin, Ron, Aaron, Luis, Tyler and the sweet booth that NWN had built for the show. (I know these names mean nothing to half of you – i mostly enumerate them for my own benefit, so when we’re 70 and i’m arguing with Clint about what that guy’s name was with the nice blue Silvia i can look it up here and prove him wrong ;)

Some cleaning and polishing, followed by late-night Denny’s, where Travis tried to take a picture of some chick he nearly convinced us was JoJo and her two-man Fubu entourage. It’s probably better there is no photographic evidence because now it will become our own private urban legend, as well as the running joke of the weekend.

DTP was a good time on saturday, with the guys at Garage Five taking home most of the trophys in our class, which we’re fine with because their cars are totally sweet. I took a kazillion pics, talked to a lot of canadians “aboot” my “zed” and pretty much laughed myself exhausted with Travis, Christie, Peter and Clint. We had a great time; it’s too bad we can’t afford to do this stuff more. The show staff kept us all locked in the exhaust-fumes-death-stadium until almost 1AM, and upon release we booked it past the hookers, junkies and drug dealers on Hastings Ave and straight to the border, because even with our quick departure we still only had 2 hours for a nap and a shower at Travis’s in marysville before it was time to report to Stanwood for the Twin City Idlers hot rod show. The entire rest of the team made it out for this one *with their actual cars*, which was a first since i’ve been involved. Someone’s always got a mechanical problem, or is in the middle of a build project, or has to work. But for the first time everyone cracked their “real” cars out of hiding (Jason even braved the burbs in his new R32 Skyline) and we filled a (small) parking lot with our Nissan contingent (and Nate’s turbo’d civic, just for variety). In the middle of a classic hot rod show we felt a bit out of place, but the quirkiness of a small-town close-main-street-for-the-day kind of event kept us all entertained, and (creating further amusement) our swag bags included packages of both beef jerky *and* pepperoni. Probably also a coupon for half-price bull castrating and a vintage Chevrolet parts catalog, too, but i haven’t gone thru it all yet. ;)

By the time 3PM crawled towards us, everyone was bleary-eyed and ready for a gargantuan nap, especially the five of us on a two-show international weekend tour. We puttered out of there past the gawking crowds and went home to crash (in bed, not on the road, thanks to energy drinks purchased, donated and surreptitiously acquired from vendor booths in a quantity large enough to fill a small pool), vowing on the way home that there should be many more weekends of spirited driving, walkie-talkie insult wars, celebrity pancake sightings, bikini-clad car show models, and breakdance fighting before we all get too old and start taking ourselves seriously. ;)

It was so sunny and great yesterday, and again this morning, that i left my jacket at home. And now the thunder starts, & the monsoon begins.

Blame it on the weather, but i’m lusting after a boat. I found the perfect one on craigslist. It’s exactly what i want – twin outboards, twin engines, a cuddy cabin big enough to take a nap in, a mini fridge for drinks, and even that saucy wing over the back – i don’t know what those are called in nautical terms, but i really like how they look. I think you can hook a wakeboard rope to them, yes? Plus the three-spoke racing steering wheel, and look how many gauges and switches on the dash! That’s the mark of a true luxury yacht. True, it’s older than me (a 1977) but it still looks hot! Financed for 5 years that’s only $148 a month, right? I’d go get a night job right now, but i think that the amount of moonlighting it would take to make the payment, pay $200/mo or more in slip fees plus $100 a weekend in gas would probably leave me without any time to enjoy it! Either that, or i’d have to put my furniture in storage, cancel my lease, and live on the boat. You can get broadband internet on Lake Washington… right?

What an incredible weekend. The amazing sunny weather that usually marks august and september is here early, and i don’t think a soul in Seattle isn’t celebrating its arrival. Every convertible top was down this weekend, every rooftop bbq fired up, every case of beer (a chilled local microbrew, of course) was ceremoniously enjoyed, every pair of sandals worn without socks. ;) Volleyball nets sprouted up in the parks, and streetside bistros and coffee shops rolled up their garage doors and dusted the residue of winter off their patio furniture. Gradeschool kids made lemonade in their quest for a jar full of quarters, while high school students attending summer athletic and music camps washed cars in search of loftier goals. Windows were flung open, awnings stretched low against the afternoon heat, stereos turned up and attitudes instantly improved. The city comes alive in the summer, and i love it.

Half of what made the weekend so sublime was spending a lot of time behind the wheel with the t-tops off. Danielle and i took a leisurely trip to the Kirkland waterfront saturday for lunch in the park and milkshakes on the dock. Saturday evening i met Lance at the airport on his 12-hour layover en route to Quito, and we tried to cram in some good times before his early morning flight. An italian meal on Alki, a late-night movie, a few hours of sleep and a sunrise drive back to seatac and he was on his way to his next layover in houston. I was back to the city in plenty of time to meet Danielle for early morning mass at the friendly little church in her neighborhood, followed by brunch (crab cakes benedict, mmm tasty!) on the patio at Bluwater on Green Lake. In the early afternoon i made my way to factoria to meet Eric for a postcard summer afternoon in the driveway, sipping gin and tonics and washing our cars, capped off by dinner on yet another cordial patio at the Roanoke Inn and a spirited, scenic, twisty lap around mercer island. As we parted ways and the warm summer evening waned, i was flush with a joy that defied repression.

Driving past all the beautiful waterfront homes on the island, and then later crossing the 520 floating bridge amidst the lapping waves of lake washington and the wakes of a thousand sail and speedboats, the sun low in the sky and the shadows long, i couldn’t help but feel sentimental and sappy and just generally good about everything. When the days are this long and warm, when the scenery is this rich in color and depth and variety, when the friends are this good and the time spent with them so free of stress and distraction life seems so entirely simple and priorities seem so clear. If only every day could be assembled with the same building blocks, experiences like these stacked together one after another. Take a backyard bbq among friends, a cool beer on a shady porch and a face warm with summer sun, add driving a fast car with no place to go, subtract any concern for where the money comes from or what the next day will bring, and you’re left with the sort of perfect day that other days only dream about being. Even today as i sit behind the inch-thick glass, ensconced in air conditioning and clacking keyboards, i can’t help but marvel at the cloudless blue sky and recall the affable glow of yesterday. So intense and dreamlike is my state that the warmth of an imagined sunbeam still touches me, the cool breeze of an early evening still brushes past me, and nothing – not bills, not deadlines, not inane chatter, not problems with the world i can never hope to solve – can deflate this sweet, quixotic high i’m riding on.

May your day, too, be so blessed.