Switching Blogs

I'm switching blogs. I got bored here, so please visit my new page: http://www.xanga.com/nwnomad. Hope you'll patronize my site!

In the Soviet of Seattle

Pike Street Market - home to Santa's back-up sled team










One of the fish markets in Pike Street. The guys at this one are the Market's main attraction. They throw fish everywhere, chanting people's orders in unison. So much fun to watch!



Pike Street Market













Zeb, coolly waiting for me to be done being artistic
















Totem poles at Pioneer Square. There were others in the Square - I would have posted a picture of them too, but this is a family-friendly blog. (Laura, remind me to describe them to you later.)

It's Just Not Easy Being Vinnie

"Mollie! Mollie! Help me! Save me! I love you, Mollie! Help!"
















"Mollie! I hate you! I'm going to kill you! I'll get a stake and... No!"











"Mom! You old woman!"

Better Than Grandma Getting Run Over by a Reindeer

Carols for the Disturbed

1. Schizophrenia --- Do You Hear What I Hear?

2. Multiple Personality Disorder --- We Three Kings Disoriented Are

3. Dementia --- I Think I'll be Home for Christmas

4. Narcissistic --- Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me

5. Manic --- Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and Tree and.....

6. Paranoid --- Santa Claus is Coming to Town to Get Me

7. Borderline Personality Disorder --- Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire

8. Personality Disorder --- You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll Tell You Why

9. Attention Deficit Disorder --- Silent night, Holyoooh look at the frog- can I have a chocolate, why is France so far away?

10. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder --- Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

(Laura, thank you! You just made my Christmas by sending this to me!)

The End of the Summer of Mollie

So I started a new job today.

It's normal, it's coporate, and it pays. Still I mourn the loss of the Summer of Mollie - should've taken up lying on a beach in Tobago with a drink in my hand and a book by my side - and I feel I've taken a job without a real purpose. But work is good, and this will give me the time and the capital to move on to the things I really want to do with my life, like lying on that beach in Tobago. (Andre, what's your friend's number? I wanna book a room.)

Getting Ready for '08

Thanks, Megan!

Nilufer - Cok uzaklarda

"Tango to Evora" by Loreena McKennitt is one of my favorite peices of music. I would love to master its heartbreaking melody on my guitar. Here it is beautifully performed by the Turkish singer Nilufer. Enjoy!

Counting the Days

Yes! I bought my ticket home for Christmas yesterday. I'm so excited! Christmas at home - good food (Polish cheesecake), making cookies (and a mess) with Vinnie, learning to own noobs on World of Warcraft with the guys, Christmas shopping with Dad in Seattle, driving up to Whidbey Island with Mom, hanging out with Crystal, midnight Mass (what language is it in this year?), being Santa's little elf, and laughing at the psycho kitty (His nose is going to be out of joint with me home.).

I haven't been home for Christmas in two years, but I'm not complaining about how I spent Christmas last year. I was in Paris! And that says it all! The organ music at Notre Dame that morning still reverberates in my mind, and after visiting Chartres later that afternoon, I can die happy. I'm still not sure what I ate for Christmas dinner at the little cafe in Chartres, but it was all part of the French experience.

Notre Dame

Chartres