On Thursday, Mr. Daroga and I took the day off and drove up to Bellingham. It's about an hour and a half away, which meant it was easily doable in a day without being snowed in. I didn't take many photos, but there was a beautiful park (Whatcom Falls Park) in the middle of town and, as a bonus, a totally awesome sign.

But most of the day was spent at the American Museum of Radio and Electricity and another museum around the corner called Mindport. It cost a total of $14 for the both of us, and were two of the most interesting museums I've seen in awhile. The Radio and Electricity museum is, at heart, an amazing collection spanning the history of electricity from before Franklin through the 50's. They had all sorts of gadgets and exhibits and some of the most enthusiastic docents I've ever met. They had two theremins and countless radios and I was used as a subject to make my hair stand on end. The museum could use some more organization: it's chronological and comprehensive, but there wasn't enough (without an interpreter) to connect one development to the next. But they seem to be growing all the time, and very dedicated to what appears to be a totally unique experience.

Mindport, too, was totally unique. Basically it's two rooms of what are, essentially, toys. They encourage you to play with everything, to read the instructions or ignore them. There were musical instruments and experiments that allowed you to witness various scientific phenomena. There are things with marbles and music made by waves of water and, my personal favorite, a fake stream with plenty of rocks and bits of wood you can play in. That sounds silly, but it's exactly what I spent a lot of my childhood doing, and I could have stayed longer.

We had some lovely pizza at a wood-fired place (they listed "tap water" on the menu for $0.00) and enjoyed awesome weather and great views of mountains and the San Juan islands. It was a great trip, though we had to hurry home for a production of "A Doll's House" which I had never seen and loved.

( on to the photos! )

We took this hike with some friends (including lettered) last summer. Yes, I'm still sorting through photographs from last summer. I thought that having the digital camera would make things easier, and it has in the sense that I don't have to develop/scan anything. However, I have thousands more photos than I would otherwise, and it's all a bit daunting.

Anyway, this was a gorgeous walk less than two hours from Seattle. The photos don't do it justice, naturally, but I thought they were nice, anyway.



( +13 )

We found this while (no lie) seeking Edward Cullen's house in Forks. I don't think this is it, but it was an amazing find anyway. I have no idea what happened here, but at the time it had been there for quite a while and the locals were getting fed up. I thought they'd be angry I was standing there taking photos--they just wanted us to send them to the town council or whatever.




( Read more... )
( bonus: mr. darcy pwns crab )

As you may know, I was recently on a camping trip at the southern part of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. On the way back, we (myself, Mr. Daroga, tkp and Mr. Darcy) took the scenic route, ostensibly to bask in the wonders of our glorious natural setting but in actuality to see the illustrious home of one Bella Swan and a family of perfect, sparkly vampires.

I refer, of course, to Forks, former timber town and current very sad place. It has achieved new life and hope through the fairly random placement of Stephenie Meyers' books here, my review of which you can find here.

But you'd be better off checking out tkp's amazing comic rendition here. It's basically why I love the girl, distilled into stick figures.

Anyway, considering our shared ire (fueling the fact we can't stop reading them), there was no force on Earth that could have kept us out of Forks. Mr. and Mr. went along obligingly once we'd fed them, and on a potty run actually found the high school.

( I give you... Forks High School. OMG DRAMA! )
( Forks, WA: the main drag )
( And the crowning glory, we actually found this across the street from the school. No lie. I love people. )

ETA: I just found out through ontd_twatlight that gemma_violet did the above. All hail!

By the way, I'm a few chapters into Eclipse and already Edward's been abusive, deceitful and disabled Bella's car, she's been insufferably condescending about her mother, and several people have described her as a satellite orbiting Edward and she's had no problem with that. He's still the most kind, loving, and generous person she's ever known. It's like the cliched train wreck, with "russet" colored Native Americans. I cannot look away. I AM DAZZLED.

children at play by ~l-aurens on deviantART

Featured in ProjectSeattle, Volume 1, Issue 1. What amuses me is that it's in amongst a bunch of pretty landscapes and things.

Also featured in Phantoms Siren's journal. Check out her stuff!