Another picture post.

What can I say? I'm lazy. The thought of actually writing doesn't do anything for me right at the moment.

As usual, I woke up waaaay too early ... around 4:30 I think. I spent the morning just puttering around before taking a nap with Stoli. This afternoon, it was beautiful out, so we headed up to Snoqualmie Falls.

The Cascade Mountains heading east out of Seattle:

Having a heat wave ... :

The falls from above:

The lights they use to illuminate the falls at night - they're about 5 feet in diameter:

Anyone who was a fan of the show "Twin Peaks" in the early '90's will recognize the Salish Lodge at the top left of the falls. This was the Great Northern Hotel in the TV series:

We hiked down to the bottom of the falls - to the end of the boardwalk overlooking the river:

Some people don't know how to read signs, and climbed off the raised boardwalk to climb the rocks out closer to the falls:

Among them - Scott the Scofflaw:

A deer by the side of the road as we drove back:

The Seattle skyline from Interstate 90 - unfortunately, the Olympic Mountains are a little too hazy to see in the background, but you can make out a faint outline:

Heading down to the I-90 floating bridge to cross Lake Washington:

Going into the Mt. Baker tunnel - I wouldn't want to live up above it, but there are some nice homes up there:

Just a few blocks from home:

Scott cut the grass in the back yard ... and Kali thought it was funny to attack the lawn mower:

Off to dinner at a cool Mexican restaurant nearby:

More later ... off to clean the house for a while.

... and things that make Matterdays bawl like a big baby.

I know, I know ... this is stilted, and contrived, and superficial, and overwrought ... but in that hyper-1950's way that makes it all okay. With the Super-8 film look and not-quite-realistic colors. It's like a moving Polaroid.

Please ... EVERYBODY gets a little misty-eyed watching this. Everyone human, I mean. If you haven't seen this movie or don't know the story, spoiler is below the clip.


*umm ... how do I post an "after the jump" link on Blogger?*

Okay, the spoiler for those that don't know this movie:

Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr meet on a cruise, and both have pretty Significant Others. But, in this era of overwrought romanticism, they fall in love with each other ... and agree to meet at a later date at the top of the Empire State Building (because it's impossible to miss) if they still have feelings for each other and want to be together. Cary Grant shows up, but Deborah Kerr doesn't ... because as she's rushing to try to get to him, and looking up at the building, she is hit by a car and is paralyzed.

She doesn't want him to know, because she doesn't want him to feel sorry for her - and doesn't want to see him until she can walk to him - so she goes on with her life, teaching music to underpriveleged inner-city children. Yes, this is one of the contrived parts.

Cary tries to continue to be a painter (umm, art - not walls), remembering her urgings - and those of his aunt, with whom they spent time while abroad - and finally he stumbles across her, and somewhat bitterly delivers his aunt's shawl to Deborah, as his aunt wanted her to have it after she died. He has no idea that she was in an accident until ...

Watch.

I'm such a sappy geek.

Things that make Matterdays happy ...

• Scott and I have the weekend off together. Two weekends in a row. This is unheard of, with him working in the retail world. But, he's starting a new job on Monday. I'll let him tell you about that. He's excited, and a little nervous. Maybe we'll buy him some new school clothes this weekend. And a Hello Kitty lunchbox.
• The weather in Seattle today: Sunny and 68 degrees. Not quite the 80 degrees we had for 12 of 12, but I'm excited. I'm really starting to feel some wanderlust with warmer weather coming. I think it's time to start planning a vacation. Any suggestions?
• I had lunch (finally) with my good friend M - also known as 'Roo, as in Kangaroo. Bounce, bounce, bounce. The boy cannot sit still. It's quite entertaining, and I'm a little bit jealous that someone my age has that much pent-up energy. He was actually wearing a Tigger t-shirt, which says it all ("Their tails are made out of springs!"). He and I have known each other for years, but haven't really spent any time together for quite a while - grown-up lives and all. Hopefully we can see each other a little more often!
• Rediscovering cool music I love. Claudia reminded me that I need to hear some more of The High Priestess of Soul, Nina Simone. I think she was (is) fascinating. Here is one of my favorite songs of hers, in her first television performance, the Ed Sullivan Show in 1960. Ms. Simone trained as a classical pianist for a while, and I love the Baroque counterpoint in the instrumental breaks of the song:

Feelin' good, indeed. What's making y'all happy? And yeah, there's gotta be SOMETHING ...

Feelin' Good

I was born in the wrong decade, apparently. This is the kind of music I love listening to.

Of course, you can't touch Nina Simone's version - but this is sexy, too, in a James Bond sorta way.

Weekend pics

Yeah, it's Tuesday night and I'm posting pictures from the weekend. Deal, kids.

Saturday night, we ordered teriyaki. The menu's a little tattered and stained ... it's well-used:

We drove around running some errands on Sunday ... the weather's crazy here lately. We headed south of the city, and ran into hail, downpours of rain, and snow. Luckily, in a band of decent (but cold) weather, we came across Saltwater State Park, between Federal Way and Des Moines (which, in Washington, is pronounced "Deh Moynz" ... yeah, I know, strange to Iowans like Scott and Andrew):

Clam season is closed. No lesbians out today. *I did NOT just say that*:

Watching the rain south of us:

The path along the waterfront:

Some signs need subtitles (get it?):

Dogs playing on the beach:

Clouds over the bluff:

The little cafe:

Scott pointing out where we are:

Scott near the Cool Bridge:

We stopped by a nursery on our way back home (I know - US?? At a nursery?!?!?!?). I want this arbor with the benches:

Next door to the nursery was an antique store. You know "teh gays" and antique stores. I fell in love with this chandelier:

We took some videos, too - but those will have to come later. I'm tired, and dinner has to be made sometime tonight.

For those of you who have read this far - I know it's been a (long) while since I've actually WRITTEN a post. A thoughtful, meaningful Matterdays post. So ... give me some ideas. What should I post about? Leave a one-word comment and we'll see what comes of it.