Stargazer » Seattle

Hanging Irony

jules.maas — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 23:03:21 +0000

One of my neighbors made the comment at our Baby Shower in January that folks should take a good look at me and say everything they needed to say, because once the girls came, no one would see me again for another five months. I chuckled and thought to myself “PFAUGH! I WILL SHOW THEE.” And then they were born. And I DID get out of the house. In fact, I got to go out ALL FLIPPIN’ DAY.

Once. In April.

Green Falls

jules.maas — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 05:07:00 +0000

Early in January, my friend Maiya and I started taking free photography classes at our local Kitz Camera shop, and I’ve been dying to try a time-delayed water shot ever since. The picture below is the only shot of about 35 that I was able to get in focus, and as a result I have a number of recommendations for anyone else who wants to give it a try:

call your local store to get their class schedule (almost every store holds these year-round)
if you’re shooting on a mountain that never thaws, congratulate yourself for thinking to grab your coat, but next time MAYBE ALSO BRING GLOVES
don’t walk around reminding yourself all morning NOT to forget your tripod, and then forget your tripod, DORK

North side, Mt. Rainier, WA

Foggy Paradise

jules.maas — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 05:10:00 +0000

I don’t know if it was because the Visitor’s Center was rebuilt in 2008, or because it was 100% sunny on our last trip. Standing in Paradise last week felt like we’d walked through the wardrobe and found ourselves transported to an alien, magical land. Like Amsterdam.

Paradise, Mt. Rainier, WA

Cookie Hunter

jules.maas — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 05:12:00 +0000

For Memorial Day, Trav took us on a long drive all the way around Mt. Rainier. It was cold. rainy, and foggy. And although this meant we couldn’t see the mountain itself, there was no shortage of breathtaking sights along the way. What’s around this bend? A waterfall! And this bend? Craggy black tunnels and a bridge! And this bend? Oh goodie, a ginormous cliff wall HANGING OMINOUSLY OVER THE ROAD. Stopping at the visitor’s center, we discovered it had been demolished and rebuilt since our first visit in 2006. We also spotted this little guy on our way out of the parking lot. As we idled by with our windows down and I scrambled to get one decent shot, he looked back at us, padded softly across two lanes of traffic, and peered up at us with eyes that seemed to say, “I CAN HAS SNAK?”

Paradise, Mt. Rainier, WA

To Market To Market

jules.maas — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 04:51:20 +0000

Real Men Wear Pink

jules.maas — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 04:54:10 +0000

Trav and I spent Saturday immersing ourselves in all things self-propelled at the Flying Wheels bike event . He spent five hours pedaling every inch of a 65 mile course, while I spent five hours resisting the urge to call him to make sure he wasn’t dead. “OH MY GOD IT’S BEEN FOUR HOURS. WHERE ARE YOU? ARE YOU ALIVE? ARE YOU SURE? BECAUSE I WILL GET IN THIS TRUCK AND COME GET YOU”. Apparently, he was dealing with a very big hill. To the tune of my non-stop jangle in his back pocket for an hour and a half.

Thank God for beer.

Here’s the full slideshow featuring special guest, Hector, Caterpillar of DOOM.

Be Strong

jules.maas — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:08:27 +0000

I really am writing a follow-up post to the whole surgery-baby-drama post, but something happened yesterday that is just way, way cooler:

I met Mack Strong.

For about 30 seconds. But still. We had a conversation. And I didn’t suck.

Every month, the Newcastle Chamber of Commerce meets at Tapatio’s for the usual ‘who are you, what do you do, speaker presentation’ and it is the only time I ever get up from my desk for an actual lunch with actual people. I don’t always get to go – Chamber meetings are always the same day as Parks Commission meetings (which I also attend), as well as WRPA meetings (which I’d really LIKE to attend) and often I just have too many conflicts.

But when I do go, the presentations are always good. (As is the food.) As you would imagine, most of the presenters are local business owners or members of the community. Sometimes a City or State representative. I spoke here last month on the status of our events, the line-up, the opportunities, and the need for more sponsors. (It went pretty well, considering half the restaurant stays open and we’re forced to compete with the assery that is the lunchtime rush.)

Here Mack introduces himself for non-sports followers like me. (Due to a event poster printing fiasco, I was late. Thus the suckery of my angle.) Did you know his neck is FUSED? You probably do. I get the impression I am the only person in Seattle who knows nothing about this man. Except that he lives in Newcastle. And that my office-mate worships him.

Now I also know he was undrafted (and what that means), played for the Seahawks for 15 years, LOVES Seattle and qualifies for disability. I’m not sure that he takes it, though. It was kind-of a joke. I guess you had to be there.

Here he’s talking about Team-Works Academy, a non-profit program that he and his wife, Zoe established to help underserved Native American tribes in Idaho and Washington. He told several touching stories of the kids they’ve helped and about his philosophy – one that’s based on mentorship and hard work in an age of instant gratification – that I can personally, whole-heartedly agree with.

During the Q&A, someone asked him the strangest thing he’d ever signed. He was VERY diplomatic about the answer. Mack cited all sorts of tame examples including a dog. But there was a glimmer in his eye. One that made my Banned Items spider-sense tingle. And I am positive there were far more embarrassing things.

After his speech, I felt a little awkward – but introduced myself anyway. He was incredibly nice. I asked him about volunteer opportunities with Team-Works and the possibility of joining our events for local exposure. Nothing was agreed, but Mack seemed interested. As a vehicle for connecting and engaging people, I think it’d be AWESOME to be able to help Team-Works through our events.

We’ll see.

Kirkland Pier Sunset

jules.maas — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:42:00 +0000

Blue Tower

jules.maas — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 18:20:00 +0000

Dreary, Dreary Morning

jules.maas — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 05:30:37 +0000

From our bedroom window, this has been my first glance at the day ahead. For almost two weeks straight now. It grew so depressing, I came *this close* to going downstairs and shoving my head into a box of Christmas Truffles.