Had a great nite on the boat with Dawn and Kim, and we hit up happy hour at the Whale Maker for a great deal on seafood and drinks! Authentic and tasty!

Check out Brad Brace’s 12-hour project, he’s been posting a black and white photo (usually a city scene) every 12 hours since december 1994! That’s dedication…

Had a great time watching the Mariners thrash Detroit wednesday nite with my favorite paper monkey, Julia. Her company seats are awesome and we had a ton of fun - thanx for inviting me, J!

Lindsay and Adam are starting to build their website (mercifully, the long-since-exhausted 'coming march 2002′ banner has finally come down). So in addition to amusing pictures of their cats, you can now enjoy Lindsay’s blog ramblings and links to things they deem worthy (i predict it will be heavy on cat toys manufacturers and TiVo hacking forums).

The Blue Angels have been scaring the royal rastafarian nay-nays off of the populace all day. A couple of the low runs over west seattle shook the house like a quake, rattling the windows and creaking the floors. In their path they left barking dogs, crying babies, wailing car alarms, and a wide swath of white painting the blue sky. Well, kinda blue sky, not so blue around the edges as it’s been several weeks since any rain and the 5-year-record-high temps (low 90s) aren't helping anyone conserve energy. Hopefully the haze won't conceal the air show all weekend…

I for one (and i don't think i'm alone in this) totally love this part of SeaFair, and practically get the giggles every time a dark blue fighter jet roars over my house, or banks past the downtown highrises. My big thrill is the juxtaposition of such disparate things, seeing (and feeling!) military jets circling the city or watching the huge warships dock downtown - sometime tomorrow the navy fleet is supposed to arrive and fill up harbor island with massive gray armaments. Then all day saturday we'll be partying on the lake, watching the hydro races and throwing water balloons at passing pleasure yachts. It’s gonna be a great weekend! SeaFair rocks! :D

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Eek! I always knew mountain dew probably wasn't the best choice, nutritionally - i mean, sugar, caffeine and carbonation aren't exactly direct substitutes for vegetables, protein and fiber… but apparently m-dew code red poisons you and dyes your fat cells from the inside out… creepy! :o I'm gonna stick with the traditional day-glo green 'healthy' kind from now on…

I need to stop doing things that i feel compelled to take pictures of, cause then i wouldn't have to spend so much time indoors all summer in front of a computer trying to post said photos for yourselves. I'm still working on the air show gallery - Gabe’s helping me caption them so i don't blaspheme some integral part of aviation history or something - and now i have another weekend’s worth to get done! Geez!

So, despite the overwhelming pressure to post pix, i had a very enjoyable weekend. Went to the NHRA nationals (those are drag races… pro stock, alcohol and top fuel cars… ) on saturday with Steph and her coworkers - it was a company event. Much cooler than the john l scott corporate olympics (hula hoops and dwarf bowling in the parking lot out back) and a pretty fun (albiet loud) time. Over 300 mph on the quarter mile, and times under 5 seconds… 0 to 100 in 0.8 seconds… the Max seemed really slow, along with pretty much everything else i've driven… but then, i haven't driven Christi’s car yet. ;) I was super impressed how much we got to walk thru the pits, right up to the cars, and chat with the mechanics and crew. A very interactive event, if i'm ever drowning in disposable income i'll definitely go back of my own accord. I came home with some great pix, a few sunburned patches and a nice set of earplugs with that little string between them.

Later that night, i managed to strongarm Clint and Christi into joining me at the Capitol Club for a round of drinks in honor of Clint’s birthday. It was past their bedtime (10.30) so it was a bit of a challenge getting them out of the house. I succeeded much less with Travis, Jason and Christie, who were all determined to be lame and waste a beautiful summer saturday evening sleeping. I hope they're not in charge of my next birthday celebration - i fear it would consist of a high-fiber snack, a glass of prune juice, and an afternoon nap…

Sunday Steph and i rolled down to Portland to enjoy the International Brewers' Festival with Brandy and Zach Lawson. It was an excellent time, very good to see them as it’s been quite a while. They had quite the hookup on happy hour deals, too, so it was a day trip that my budget enjoyed, too. ;) And then on the way back, i found two 300z’s in used car lots (one of which was guarded by two vicious, rabid, Cujo-style dogs) that i had to stop and look at.. trips just don't get better than that! :D

It’s over 90 this week in Seattle, a 5-year temperature record. The AC is actually working today, and this weekend is SeaFair (translation: heavy duty boat time!) so it’s only looking up up up! :D

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My Homestar Runner figurines arrived two days ago, but i've been so busy since then i haven't even had a chance to tell you about them! Augh! :)

Last nite we took the boat all the way around Mercer Island, with a small detour on the south end of the island for Kim to take advantage of some great waterskiing conditions. The sunset over the city from the lake was incredible! And we almost got swamped by a seaplane about 10 times as we were crossing Lake Union in search of dinner. So that was pretty fun. ;) And check out the killer tape collection of Kirby’s i found hiding on the bookshelf at home - makes a great boat soundtrack, doncha think?

Weekend’s almost here, tonite is (finally) payday, so things are looking up there, too! Saturday Steph hooked me up with an extra spot in their company’s box at the drag races (sweet!) and then sunday she and i are headed to portland for the international brew fest thingy, and to cross paths with Zach & Brandy. Also, saturday nite i'm headed out with the team for Clint’s bday. And friday nite is the torchlite parade downtown, the start of SeaFair week. So i predict this weekend will fly by and i totally won't be ready for monday… ;) And then next week is SeaFair, fun in the sun, baby! Gonna live on the lake for a week! :D

So, enough delay already, let’s talk about the Homestar figurines! If you live under a rock or in a cave or something and haven't watched the toons on the web, you better go do it right now! Seriously, the guys that make these, Mike & Matt, are really clever, and the stuff is completely out there and super funny. Strong Bad reading his email is one of the best features, and the Teen Girl Squad shorts are hilarious! So i ordered the whole figurine set the day i heard they were released on fark. They're really sweet, i'm totally impressed with the quality and accuracy. Plus they're kewl! They also came with a hand signed thank-you from Mike and Matt, pretty sweet. For your enjoyment, i also have Strong Bad and The Cheat taking a roadtrip in the Viper and Strong Bad rollin' in style in the Nissan 350Z. I know you're totally jealous, and wish you had been the first person to get them! :D

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For starters, a big happy birthday to Ja'Neille (it was actually yesterday) - hope you had a rockin' weekend!

I personally had a most excellent weekend of summer fun. Josh, Kim and myself hosted a killer bbq saturday nite, and despite a treacherous and unsuccessful trek in search of fully operational tiki torches, we pulled it off smoothly and had a great time. A good crowd of our friends were able to make it, nobody parked in front of the neighbor’s driveway enciting a feud, no grillables plummeted into the flames, all of the snack food disappeared, and we retained a small cache of beverages to supplement our boating adventures for the next few weekends. Clint, Christi, Travis, Jason and Christie would have met more people if they hadn't been so anti-social. j/k! ;) I have yet to exact my revenge on Clint for hitting me squarely in the forehead with a projectile grape in mid-sentence, so he better be watching his back! Bwah ha ha ha! I'm also very glad that Becky, Gabe, Duncan, Lucas, Erika, several of Kim’s coworkers and a random assortment of Josh’s soccer teams were able to join us!

Being the very capable party planners that we are, sunday cleanup was easy (very few dishes - yay!) leaving us plenty of time to be on the lake! After a small adventure into Georgetown to locate Wiley’s watersports and buy a ski tube, Kim and I raced to Seattle Boat to meet Becky, arriving just as they were loading our vessel into the water. We took off right away, and then hit a small snag (figuratively) when Erika arrived right behind us, only to be stranded on shore in an area too shallow for an aquatic approach. Enter Officer Friendly and his police launch, who was kind enough to escort an embarrassed Erika from the shore out to us. She felt silly climbing on board, toting a small cooler full of beer and a waterski, but he was very pleasant - turned out to be from Butte, to which we all said “I'm sorry", triggering a group laugh. We passed him a couple times during the day with sheepish waves, feeling like the teacher’s pet because the waterway patrol knew who we were. :)

Anyway, so after a brief swim and a treacherous tube ride (not so much because Kim and I were having difficulty staying on the tube together, but because Erika the Banshee was driving) we picked up Erika’s boyfriend Erik (Erika and Erik, cute, huh?) and band member Mike in Kirkland. The rest of the afternoon flew by, filled with sunshine, splashing, and the discovery that a full bottle of beer floats very poorly. After docking up we hit the Northlake Tavern for 6 pounds of excellent pizza (that’s total, not each), laughed at the irony when only-person-who-brought-dry-clothes Becky found herself wearing a glass of water thanks to the swift reach of Erika, and were home and in bed by midnight, just enough sleep to leave me on time for work but feeling all day like i should still be in bed! ;) But what an excellent weekend!

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Don't know if i'm gonna have anything really witty to say today, as i burned most of my clever energy thinking up funny slogans to be on t-shirts, and submitting them to StickerJunkie in hopes of a big phat prize and a cushy book deal after i become famous. So start watching for me on Leno, and if you have anything i've signed, you might wanna hang onto it.

Spent a while discussing the great pop vs. soda debate with Ian on IM. If you're unclear where you fall, let statistics be your guide. I personally am a big proponent of soda, despite growing up in pop-heavy montana. I mean, they use soda water to make it, and pop is just such an overused word - you can pop someone with your fist, you can pop into or out of a place, you can even pop the top of a soda… tires do it, bubbles do it, weasles do it… just too generic. Although i'm a big fan of calling them 'kleenex' and not 'facial tissues', the idea of referring to all soda as 'coke' annoys me, also. Guess i'd never survive in texas… But all kleenex are facial tissues, where not all sodas are coke. Mutual exclusivity and all that. Eek, calculus flashback. Quick, think about something mindless…professional wrestling… the fox network… my job… ok! Better!

Some new pics up today, so you can check out Tonya and Jared’s Wedding, Mom and Dad’s new house being built, and Sara and Kelly’s visit last week. Enjoy!

Summer weeks are nonstop joyrides it seems, from a nite on the lake to a dinner in a bar to a movie downtown to a weekend bbq. I'm very behind on eating junk food, watching cartoons, sleeping in past noon, and other important weekly tasks that i've been forced to let slip lately in the face of the all-consuming social life. It is summer, tho, so i should take advantage of the lovely weather and cheerful spirits to indulge a bit - there will be plenty of rainy days to settle down with a book (or my bills) and a hot drink (really anything that i don't order at a bar would be good) and curl up in front of the fire (or the washer and dryer). Mm, gotta go, i need to get home and work out if i'm gonna be in shape for wakeboarding…

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So i'm sitting at work, reading testimonials on friendster , looking thru my photo gallery, and then Sarah McLachlan came on the ipod (specifically, Tonite). All that combined is making me feel really sentimental, and i just needed to share that. So here’s me saying thanx to everyone that i consider a friend, i appreciate your understanding, loyalty, humor and bravery, and i truly value my time with all of you. Take care of yourselves, keep in touch, and here’s to many more good times [ lifts glass ]. Okay, now get back to work! :)

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Oooh, i can barely walk today! So i must have had a really great weekend, right? Well, you're right, i did! Summer is the best! :)

Friday nite we took Josh out for his birthday. Started with dinner at the Elysian Brewery (mmm… beer battered fish!). I feel it important to point out that their cool mood music was pumping out of an iMac behind the bar. ;) Then it was off to Dilletante for way-too-rich desserts that required taking the latter half home with us in boxes. That could perhaps be partly because Kim, Josh and I ate an entire birthday cake in the 5 days preceeding. Josh actually only had two pieces, so it was really Kim and myself enjoying birthday cake with dinner, for dinner, as a snack, for breakfast, etc. Anyway… then down to the Alibi Room for drinks, finishing off a great summer evening! And a big happy birthday to Josh! He should have birthdays more often…

Saturday Josh and I met his friend Duncan for a most excellent day of lake fun and sun. Besides being a rather cool guy, Duncan also pilots a well-equipped boat, perfect for Josh’s seasonal-first and my forever-first day on a wakeboard! It was a total blast, i did way better than i thot i would and had a superb time at it. Despite swallowing a large portion of lake washington, i managed to get on my feet by the end of my first set, and by the second set i was getting the feel of it and carving around the wake a bit. I'm totally jacked about giving that another try, and a big whopper thanx to Duncan for being such a patient instructor and gracious watercraft host! Totally sweet.

Lest we get any time to rest, Josh and I rolled right up to Steph’s to enjoy her housewarming festivities - burgers, beer and good company! We did a good job of scaring Steph’s work friends into their own little corner of the house with our obnoxiousness and chased each other with leftover sparklers in the backyard. A top-notch summer evening, and a perfect initiation for Steph’s new house!

Sunday Gabe and i rolled down to Tacoma to scope out some freakin huge airplanes, and also some not-as-huge but still pretty impressive ones, at the McChord AFB air show. I've got pics i'm workin on, but suffice to say we saw a lot of cool stuff, and Gabe totally filled my brain with random airplane facts - i think i could lube the landing gear on a C-17 with my eyes closed. ;)

Today it’s back to work, and not too bad of a day, as i'm spending most of it working with the graphic design department to set up their sweet new Macs (including one of those amazing 23″ cinema displays). Always fun to work on the machines in that department… ;) Spent some time catching up on IM with Sara Torbet, Josh Lambert and Shanna Massey, too - great talking to you kids!

So i'm still totally sore from abusing myself on the lake, drinking a bit, and getting no sleep - so much so that i'm still limping this afternoon. But it was totally worth it! I'm having a great monday - hope you are all too! :D

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Guess who was in town?!? Sara Torbet and Kelly Weak came thru Seattle last nite, crashed on our couches! We had a lot of good laughs over dinner, breakfast, coffee, gelato… it was like the fourth of july! :D So glad they stopped in, it was great chilling with them!

Mom and Dad are in town for a couple days, too, after towing out a u-haul filled with Danielle’s stuff and delivering her little orange ball of kitty terror, Ferris. Nice to see them again so soon! We're gonna try and squeeze in some fun stuff while they're here.

Saturday nite on the lake was great, enjoying the sunset, the city sights, and the clouds of gnats on union bay. Big thanx to Kimmy for that one (she rocks, btw!) Hope to be doin that a lot!

Met Ian, EB and Sarin down at Intec Racing saturday to put Ian’s car on the dyno. Not the huge performance gains he was hoping for out of the 5spd swap, but still well over 300 hp at the wheels, and it should be pretty darn quick at the track this summer. The guys down there have a great shop, too, and really seem to know their stuff, plus offer pretty reasonable dyno rates. Everything down there, Ian’s included, made my family sedan seem really slow… ;)

A big happy birthday shout-out to roomie Josh Huisenga - hope he had a great bday yesterday, hope i left him some hot water in the shower yesterday morning! :D You're not that old, man, and even if you are, we still like you!

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My, how plans can change at the last minute! In reference to yesterday’s post:

We didn't go on the boat after work. Kim was kept at work late cause she was getting a promotion - congratulations Kimmy! - and that left us with not enough time to get the boat out of dry dock before their 8pm cut off time. We're headed out on saturday evening, tho, and we caught the new Charlie’s Angles movie downtown with Danielle, Gabe and Sara last nite, which is still super fun. I'm not on my way to oregon today - it was all starting to feel too crazy-hectic at the last minute, and i've had too long of a week and wasn't feeling mentally stable enough to roll with so many punches, so i declined. Clint says he he’s not my friend anymore now, but i'm hoping he'll change his mind when i buy a Z. Patrick is not on his way to Cali today, as he had too much fun last nite out with his friends and isn't ready to go today. Not sure what his schedule will be now, not sure if his parents still want him to go. It would be a shame if he missed out on an opportunity to be a valet at Lexus of Ervine all summer… ;)

It is still independence day today - that hasn't changed - so i'll try to find some cool fireworks or something, or a bbq, or maybe i'll just lay on the couch and play Vice City all day and eat oreos… Actually, that last one sounds pretty good.

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What’s the deal with time moving so fast, anyway? The last two weeks have felt like a whirlwind…

Trip to MT was great, it was awesome to see Mom and Dad and see how their new house is coming along. It’s going to be really cool (pix coming!), even despite the washboard roads and early-morning livestock fiascos. Tonya and Jared’s wedding was a great chance to see them, and catch up with a few others. A sunny, amazing weekend to travel, too. Lance, Matt and I caught the new Charlie’s Angels movie back in missoula sunday, which is great, and joined Grama and Grampa, Grama Frances, Aunt Judy & Uncle Gordy, Jennifer & Anthony, Taylor, Zachary, and Mom & Dad for McKenzie River pizza at Rowdy’s Cabin. Overall, a great vacation, although i did come back somewhat less than rested. ;)

Christian finally got his phone fixed just before i left, so feeling a little less disconnected there. I called him at sunday brunch and passed the phone so he could congratulate Tonya, too - ironically, he was at a wedding reception at the time. He’s hoping to run the Florence marathon in october (yes, in Florence, Italy!) and i'm going to try and cross-schedule my trip to be there waiting at the finish line! I have the money all saved up, gonna start shopping for plane tickets pretty soon. So exciting!

Gabe returned to Seattle from air force tech school on friday, so since i've been home monday we've been hanging out nonstop. Helped him pick up his Honda streetbike (pix coming!) from the repair shop, and now that the frame is straight we're both seeing the potential to make it really cool, and are really excited to start working on it. He’s gonna be stationed at McChord AFB in tacoma, so he'll be around awhile - we're gonna do all sorts of stuff. ;) We also rolled thru Sturtevant’s, an awesome ski shop (staffed with cool, friendly people despite being on the eastside) and a found a sweet DNA ski jacket for half off - part of my watch-for-good-deals-on-gear-so-i'm-outfitted-by-next-season plan. Sweet!

Found a bunch more cool anime movies and some japanese musicians that are really cool - added a few of them to my Amazon wishlist. Feel free to buy me something. ;) I ordered Akira on DVD and it arrived just before i left, so i haven't watched it yet. I'm excited, tho - it’s one of the cornerstones of modern japanese animation, and digitally remastered in DTS it’s supposed to be really impressive.

Headed to Woodburn, OR (near Portland) with the NWNismo crew tomorrow morning, for a track day and some vacation time. Hopefully, i'll be able to scam a ride down there in somebody’s Z32 (Clint? Christi? Hint hint!) but as long as i make it down there, i expect i'll have a good time. Patrick is rolling down to Cali tomorrow morning, too, so we might caravan with him as far as Portland. He’s gonna be gone until sept 21st - it’s gonna be lonely around here for the summer! And he’s gonna miss out on some serious boat time… ;)

That’s today’s plan, btw. I still need to do some laundry and pack tonite, but hopefully i'll be done with work a bit early, to meet Kim at home and head for Lake Union and some watery summer fun! If ya wanna go, gimme a call… :D

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