in a perfect world of yancies: May 2011

27 May 2011

Upcoming Adventures

So, you might ask, any plans for the weekend, or for next month?

Well, the insanely huge Seattle International Film Festival is going on, and while there's no way we can see very many of the films, we just have to see Page One, a new documentary about the New York Times:

Will let you know what we think!


And next month we're driving down the coast. Merrica thought a map might be fun, so here you go:

View 10th Anniversary! in a larger map

In the meantime, the end of the quarter is upon me, so I'd better run. Happy Weekend!

18 May 2011

Jams and Bread

As I mentioned, we checked out HONK! Fest West last weekend. Lots of fun music, even if it was accompanied by stilts, kilts, and jugglers...

Our favorite was definitely the Seahawks drum line:

Makes me think I might have to go to a football game one of these days!

Was such a nice day that I rode my bike there (!) with my friend Laura, and we met up with Emily, who'd just finished up at the Seattle Archives Preservation Roadshow.
Emily, Yancy, Laura
As Laura captioned this, "sunglasses needed!"

Back home, we've been losing our minds over the no-knead bread recipe that Mark Bittman wrote about a few years ago.
Bread
Incredibly easy, and incredibly tasty—nice crunchy crust too! And, as Jim Lahey says in the great video, it has "beautiful crumb structure."


You know what else is beautiful? Plato's Greek is truly beautiful. I've been fortunate to have found a few other faculty members at Seattle U. who'll read Plato in Greek with me lately.
Seattle U. Ancient Greek reading group
Lots of fun, and a nice chance to spend time with faculty from all over the University—Physics, History, Theology, Philosophy.

Right now we're reading the Euthyphro. Slow going for most of us, but rewarding. Want to take a look? The Perseus site will gives you access to a side-by-side Greek and English version. Good stuff.

All right reader, back to work. Cheers!

14 May 2011

Looking Back, and Looking Way Back

Today, I'll address some unkept promises...
Yancy at Middle Falls

I told you we went to Wallace Falls State Park, but now let me show you:
E & Y at Middle Falls
These are the "middle falls"; we didn't make it to "upper," but it was a great hike, so I hope we'll be back soon!

Part of what made it cool was that it starts under some giant power lines, and then you turn and it's just solid nature. Like travelling backwards in time! Or something.
Wallace Falls State Park

We could actually hear them hum as we started the hike. Emily got the best shot, of course:
Power

The other thing in that post was a screen grab of the Nike+ map. I really love that little program for my phone... Want to see it in action? Here's a link that'll show you our walk/run around the neighborhood the other day. So cool.

But those new shoes? We only ran about 1.5 miles that day, but four days later my calf muscles are still aching! Yow!

Still back a couple weeks, here's the best shot I've found so far from our friend's "Hollywood in '61" birthday party:
Y & E, circa '61

And my favorite tree photo from the tour we took that same weekend:
Great Tree
Boy, that was a busy weekend! Sheesh!

Okay, let's end even further back in time, with light that's millions of years old and a website millions of years in the making.
Seattle Times ran a story recently about a guy who quit his job, took almost 40,000 pictures of the sky, and ended up with a genuinely awe-inspiring website. Definitely worth a look: http://skysurvey.org/.

Be sure to check out the Interactive 360° page.

Meanwhile, in the present, I'd better get moving if I'm going to make it to HONK! Fest West on time...

Happy weekend, reader!

10 May 2011

Trees and Caves

Had the chance to see Arthur Lee Jacobson again, and to get an autographed copy of his book:
Mimi and Tree
Isn't that a great signature? We got to choose the tree, and Emily picked the Washington state tree, which he drew as we watched! Here's a closeup:
TreeArthurJacobson

And speaking of the convergence of human and natural wonders: if you can, you should definitely see Cave of Forgotten Dreams.

I mean, just take a look at this glowing review!

A truly amazing film.

05 May 2011

Mapping Things Out, With Help from the Times

Had an incredibly fun, incredibly busy weekend. Could easily do a post for each day... but for now here are some highlights, in no particular order:

Hiked in Wallace Falls State Park. Amazing trail, beautiful falls, and pretty close to the city. All of which explains why we had a few hundred other hikers keeping us company on the trail :)

But we definitely plan on going back. Took some photos, but for now, here's a map of our hike (or "run," as Nike insists on calling it):

Also outdoors: did a fascinating tour of Capitol Hill trees, led by Arthur Lee Jacobson (might have to scroll down a bit to find the Capitol Hill tour). Have about fifty photos that we're still looking through--trying to match up the images with the names Emily wrote down...

But I do know that this is a Redwood, growing on what was a curb:
Redwood

You have to love the Seattle area!

And it turns out we're the 8th safest place in the county, natural-disaster-wise:
Yay safety!

Okay, just a couple more things...

The Times also put together this cool interactive grid, charting people's reactions to Bin Laden's death:
(Clicking that photo will enlarge the screen shot of my comment, because I'm vain. For the interactive page itself, click here.)

And, on a totally different note (except for the vanity part), I wore a bow tie and a tuxedo shirt as we celebrated our friend Wendy's 50th birthday:
Getting ready
More pictures on the way!

Happy Thursday, reader!