Rose is a Zen master

(from the Is it Zen? department)

Hi everyone,

One of the stories we like to read to Rose for bedtime is Zen Ghosts by John J. Muth.  He has a series of these books, featuring a large panda bear named Stillwater, who is also a wise spiritual master.

Well - we decided to read her another of these books - Zen Shorts.  Afterwards, I mentioned the Zen koan I always keep handy:  The Rhinoceros Horn Fan.

Rose found that koan interesting - so she told us her own version.  In her version, she replaced the fan with cake and the rhino with ice cream.  Awesome.

I grabbed my smartphone, started recording and asked if she'd tell the koan again.  Here's the result:

Unfortunately, she didn't quite tell it the same as she did the first time.  Still - it's quite the koan, isn't it?

Cheers,
Paul

Rose's Bridge Crossing Ceremony at King Street Cooperative Preschool

(from the It's Summertime department)

Hi everyone,

Rose had her bridge crossing ceremony at King Street Cooperative Preschool today. 



It's kind of like a graduation/celebration of summer vacation.  I have some more footage I'll try to edit together to give you a better sense of what happens.  This is just Rose crossing the bridge.

Cheers,
Paul

Making friends with the new kitten

(from the Mew Mew! department)

Hi everyone,

We have a new kitten. Currently, her name is Hazel, but we're letting Rose pick her name - so that may change shortly. In the meantime, we've been trying to introduce our other cat, Jellie, to the kitten.

This has not gone well. There's been some hissing and some hackles - then they back away from each other.

Well - last night - Jellie curled up to sleep and the kitten stalked him. This was the result:



Then - they heard us taking pictures:



Here's the both of them, looking fluffy and sleepy:



And - one more - sleepytime friends:



Cheers,
Paul

Ferryboat docking - Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, WA - April 2nd, 2012

(from the It's Better In The Islands - In HD department)

Hi everyone,

Here's some more from the San Juan Island trip. This time, it's an HD video of a ferryboat docking at Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, WA. This video was shot on April 2nd, 2012 at about 7:19 PM. Rose provides the motorboat accompaniment.



Man - it's amazing what these phones can do.

Cheers,
Paul

Lime Kiln Park - San Juan Island, WA - April 1st, 2012

(from the It's Better In The Islands department)

Hi everyone,

Here's a few photos I took with my Windows Phone on our trip to San Juan Island last weekend. We were visiting Lime Kiln Park, on the west side of the island, facing Victoria, BC.










Pretty cool for a camera phone!

Cheers,
Paul

More Angry Birds + Rose

(from the It's Better With Lunch department)

Hi everyone,

Dana & Rose joined me for lunch today at the Grecian Corner.

While we were there, I got another photo of the Angry Bird on the Space Needle. This is a much brighter shot, since the sky and sunlight is better today:



Also - Rose was being her adorable self, playing a game called "You can't photo me, Daddy!":




Notice the new style in boots Rose has invented. She calls it "criss-cross".

Finally - this last shot was an accident - I almost deleted it, but looking at it now, I'm glad I didn't.



Cheers,
Paul

Angry Birds invade Seattle!

(from the What's that on the Space Needle? department)

Hi everyone,

The latest version of Angry Birds - Angry Birds Space - launched yesterday in Seattle.

As part of the promotion, they had a special display on the Space Needle. I took a few pictures:







Finally, here's a photo taken with the Space Needle as seen through Fisher Plaza to give some sense of scale:



(Compare/Contrast with the normal view from one of my previous blog entries: Look - it's the Future! (or at least June 21, 2011)

Cheers,
Paul