(props to mikey for the art – i’ve been thinking about grabbing more and writing short paragraphs about them also.)

8/13
Tense muscles are pulling tight on the fingers. Relaxation is not an option. Is it supposed to feel like this? Fingers fumble furiously over the electrolyte filled bottle. Push the palm against the cap and try to pry it loose. Look around for some assistance. Offer the bottle to the baby. Giggles rebound over the request. Splash! Splash! Splash! Tiny fingers show off their dexterity. Re-channel the energies at the task at hand. Need a distraction from the pain. The liquid is something to wash down the little orange pills to fool the pain.

8/12
Insert a portion of your eye into the realm beyond the last light. Does your eye perceive the change without the presence of your brain? Or does it cease to connect with the cortex as it passes the barrier? The lights are fantastic. A spherical pattern trails and follows the eye as the last light fades into the distance. Has the order been rearranged while the eye begins to emit new electrical impulses throughout the darkness that it leads into? Is it too late to return? Has the eye purchased a new direction in its existence?

This monkey has got nothing on me....

Say hello to my little friend.

Walking Around from beef moe dee on Vimeo.

What do i do next?

PS – I’m currently 14lbs 6oz and a bit over 25in long. Not too bad since I was 6lbs and 19in when I was born.

As always, lots of pictures of me. I need to get more shots of momma and Otto. I also need those elusive action shots of Otto. However, he’s not one to go along at the moment. He’s got a few modes of operation – eat, sleep, poop….. He definitely likes momma’s touch.

He’s still a little peanut but our rough estimations have him up in the mid-7s for weight. He’s getting pretty good at craning his neck around when he’s put in such a position. Megan’s got the baby bjorn working and takes him out for walks around the neighborhood during the day.

Check-in is early – between 10.00 and 11.45. Then 12-2 is the mustache categories. 2-4 the partial beard categories. 4-6 the beard categories. As you can see, i will be waiting around until the late afternoon. Megan may come over later in the afternoon.

Some info can be found here.

Hopefully this is a preview for my dominance in Anchorage in 2009.

Day 1 – Thursday

We took the redeye from seattle which meant no sleep for Beef until Thursday night. We had a quick bite to eat at the Black Sheep Pub. A couple of cups of coffee sent me off to explore the various historic instituions in downtown. The Liberty Bell, Independnece Hall, the Constitution Center, and various other historical buildings from the day. Aaron, Jill, and Emily arrived Thursday evening. WE set out to do a little bit of destruction. The Continental was first on our list, then the Westin, next was Oscar’s, and finally a drunken cab ride to cheesesteaks at both Geno’s and Pat’s. I’d have to say Pat’s was better due to the lack of politics. Then we spent our first night in Philly at Club Quarters. If you stay in any of the major cities, I’d say try to be a member of this place or at least find a frien who is, low prices and a decent room in the heart of downtown.

This day was strange all around. We went and got some lunch at some Irish place. Took a stroll around City Hall and Love Plaza. We headed over to Andy’s as Terry and Mike rolled back in from DC. Andy, Mike, Terry, and Greg headed up to Riegelsville, PA where the reception was to be held. Megan, Aaron, Jill, Emily, and myself were going to see the Phillies play that night and then head up in the morning. Alas, Ernesto the hurricane had other plans for us, the game was rained out. Unfortuneately, we didn’t find this out until we got off the empty subway and walked upstairs to see an empty parking lot and a sign stating the obvious. We took the subway back and headed up to Riegelsville ourselves. Our luxurious quarters were the Riegelsville Inn on the majestic banks of the Delaware. Not only that, Jersey was just a bridge walk away. Amy, Tom, and Cece rolled in late friday night. We proceeded to do what any good patriotic American family would do – we got drunk. This included a walk over to Jersey after the bars in Pennsylvania had closed for the evening.

Day 3 – Saturday

I could really say a lot about Saturday. It was a great day. Beth’s parents – Walt and Maureen threw a great party for all involved. It was set on in the rural hillsides of Pennsylvania. I’ll just try to limit my description of the day to a few concise one word descriptors. You take the pictures and make what you want of them. Rain, tractor, strapless, mud, stuck, capirosca, boss.

Day 4 – Sunday

We awoke in the morning to the rain finally having passed from Ernesto. We hopped in the car, drove back to Philly, and I endured another 5 hours on the plane back to Seattle, too tired to read, too uncomfortable to sleep.

All in all a fine trip, Labor Day weekend aside. If this hasn’t given you enough to think about, Aaron is even more camera happy than I am. His post on the matter is located in this direction, while I think the majority of his picture can be found over this way (all 187 of them).

so many things. mainly it lies within the camera. crappy pictures have been taken and they just don’t seem worth the effort to put up. but hopefully all of this will change, i’m looking for a new camera – something smaller, a faster speed between pics, sound capture, hopefully reuse by 512K xd card which limits me to olympus and fuji i think. if you have any ideas, drop a line and i will take any advice into consideration.

here are a few pic collections of a couple of events. the first is sack’s visit to the great northwest for supercomputing and general tomfoolery.

sack’s picture post and the full archive

here are photos from wedding v3 – the seattle story starring jason and beatrice

ed’s interpretation and mr. bellman’s eyes

Unfortunately, the only party we could find on this friday evening was a wake. We were mourning the loss of youth and innocence.

We ran into the thompson brothers. Good times all around. When push comes to shove, this ain’t a bad lot to have on your side.

We ran into our good friend tony. As always, he had a lot to say and wasn’t shy with the details.

Our connection from mother russia, serge, found his way over to pay his respects with the widow. He’s had a long life and is trying to provide some personal support in her time of need.

Something tells me the night is progressing along quite nicely.

One more shot for all the ladies who just can’t get enough. Llook for me early in the morning, i take care of the garbage no one else wants to touch.