sky.burst
sammamish, wa
9 march 2012 - eos-1ds mk2, f/5.6 56s, iso-500

at about 10pm i looked toward the north and saw haze and clouds and stepped inside with a mild feeling of defeat yet comfort that even if i wanted to see the aurora, i wouldn't have been able to do so anyway. i started to take a shower at approximately 11pm. having been on only 3 hours of sleep the night before, i calculated in my head i would have 5.5 hours of sleep before having to wake up the next morning but while showering the extremely (and unusually) loud text message sound of my phone thundered into the bathroom.

wondering who could be messaging at an hour like this, i dismissed it as another likely junk text.

ready to go to sleep, i checked the message. it was from a friend. the message sequence went something like this:

r: hey jon! are you going hunting for northern lights tonight? i'm picking up a friend and we're going out to a park in issaquah. wanna bring your camera and come with? big solar storm!! i can pick you up.

me: hmmmmm...i have to be at work early...how late do you plan on staying out there?

r: 1230 to 130 :). i have to be at work too. probably not sleeping but it's a once in a lifetime opportunity!!!!!

the key words were "once in a lifetime opportunity." they were right. so right. and my arm was sufficiently twisted.

me: you have a point. i'm putting on socks and shoes and stuff...

r: cool! send me your address. i'll be there in 10. don't forget a tripod if you have one.

how did she know i hated using actual tripods enough to remind me to actually bring one along? more interestingly, how did she know i even owned one as a just in case measure? i may never figure this out, but i grabbed the robust tripod that gathers dust in its spare time and told her where to meet me.

we had driven to the park but were looking around trying to see where or if there was any aurora activity visible. none. well, it appeared to be none. feeling defeated (again), we were starting to tell each other, "well, at least we tried. if there was something going on, we would have definitely missed it if we decided not to do this."

on that thought, i said, "you know, i'm just going to take a picture just so i have one of this lake to say i've been here."



i let the camera run for approximately one minute, waited another minute for it to process, and expecting one of those "night looks like daytime" photographs, i was shocked to see the sky was a very vivid green. what we had originally thought were clouds and haze was actually the aurora borealis itself! and it seemed to be intensifying in activity!



it was approximately ten minutes before 1am and i had my camera shutter open, taking long exposures and my friends were taking however long a picture they could take with their cameras. r was trying to see what they could capture with their new lytro camera (yes, they did waitlist for one once they broke the news). the excitement was so intense, watching spears of faint colour streak across the sky and after about three or four minutes of marvelling, the skies were calm and constant again. there was a very faint glow in the distance but it was once again appearing to mix with the colour of the clouds.

gone so soon, as with many things in life, but we had been there and we were ready. we took a few moments to show each other what we had captured (as i was packing my camera to head home), and we started the drive back to seattle.

i was dropped off first and if i were smart, i would have gone to sleep seeing that it was 2am by that time and i had three hours left before the alarm would signal it was time to prepare to leave for the commute.

i downloaded the results and shrank them to size and posted them. everywhere i could remember to post. what we saw really happened and the memories were perhaps just as vivid as the colours that the human eye couldn't perceive at the moment. the excitement was not going to let me sleep satisfactorily. i had to download them and wow, were the results ever breathtaking. i selected a few, posted them, and stepped away from the computer. everyone asleep would have the images waiting for them when they woke up.

i slipped beneath the covers and forced my eyes closed. the next morning, my phone was buzzing with activity--notification after notification because, well, who talks on mobile phones these days, anyway? ;) a man contacted me about using one of the pictures i posted for a blog entry that was rounding up aurora pictures from all over the world and all he needed was one from the lower 48 (49?) united states. not one to pass an opportunity up, i did give permission and, exhausted, carried on with my day. i did tell the story to my colleagues but it wasn't until i later received notification of a link that i finally brought it to everyone's attention: i was up late watching some scientific phenomenon and came back with an amazing picture or two. the proof was in the following link:

msnbc photoblog: sky lights go wild, north and south, by alan boyle.

and that, i suppose, was my fifteen minutes of fame for the day.

~ = ~

from 1am yesterday up to now, the past 24 hours have been one for the personal record books. thanks, dearest friends (near and far, old and new), for an amazing day and for continuing to make this life of mine one of pure and real magic. none of my experiences would be possible without the kindness and support of my friends.

a very special thanks to "columbia" for bringing my picture to mr. boyle's attention, and thank you mr. boyle for including my picture among the collection of even more fantastic shots from all over the globe! perhaps most importantly, because if she and her friend didn't twist my arm so that i wouldn't get the much needed sleep i was after i would have missed this greatest celestial show of 2012.

i do hope all is well with you as well, stranger friends.

always.love
-j

winter.set
seattle, wa
18 february 2012 - g10, f/8 3.2s, iso-200

lately i've been revisiting the first few chapters of the royal road to card magic and working on the first few effects in the context of teachings by juan tamariz. what has been fascinating me on this journey so far is the human mind and how it makes (or breaks) the magic within the effects. this may sound like a phenomenon that occurs exclusively in the mind of the spectator however there is also a significant part of this that must happen with the performer.

i've been on a search for texts regarding presentation and performance theory, the tension and relaxation of the moment, as opposed to learning new routines or sleights. as a result of this, my study has been focused on watching performances by some of the famous names as well as reading a lot of books from the psychology section of the bookstore.

these books may not explain life, but i've found it helps, to some degree, deepen compassion and also help to proactively counteract misunderstandings.

the mind is a powerful and amazing thing.

always.love
-j

task.list
seattle, wa
16 february 2012 - g10, f/2.8 1/80s, iso-800

i am on very little sleep at the moment but for the heart it was very much worth it. i didn't know i was going to do it until very shortly before the clock struck midnight. after that, i knew i was committed. and it was the best decision ever.

what was it? it was following through with doing something i had read about a few months ago: 38 acts of robyn.

thank you to my parents, my brother, and to all of my friends that inspired me and encouraged me to be the person i am, and for giving me the courage to do some of the crazy things i decide to do. i can't say it enough, but i feel this gratitude deep within my heart. at 10:45pm i finished all 32 items on my mission. exhausted, happy, joyful and tearful, it was a full roller coaster ride of emotions that still finds me exhausted today. but it was definitely worth it.

the stories from yesterday's experience will last a lifetime, hitting so very deep with so much meaning. i urge you to give it a try.

always.love
-j

vocal.chord
seattle, wa
9 february 2012 - g10, f/2.8 0.6s, iso-80

on the first of april of 2007 i purchased a viola by a russian maker that had moved to the united states. according to the hand-made label, the instrument was created in 2006 and the only information available about the luthier was a brief testament of his work and awards won. the shop had given me five instruments at the time, some well within the "typically unaffordable" range and one of lower grade (just to help give me a baseline). it wasn't until i had played that instrument that within a minute of doing scales i had fallen in love with the sound. i had to ask someone to play a few scales for me so i could hear it from a listener's perspective and once they did my choice was made.

it was a voice like no other at the time and with a change of the strings and their new voice, the instrument, having aged six years and a sound that has opened up, i am clear on one feeling: i have fallen in love with its voice all over again.

sometimes when you're looking, something will find you first, yes? keep your eyes (and hearts) open, stranger friends.

~ = ~

the new strings have made working on this symphony an immense and unadulterated joy. perhaps the thing that has kept me playing my instrument is the richness of experience when not only does something sound wonderful but also feels wonderful under the fingers.


sibelius :: symphony no. 3 [berlin philharmonic]

the staccato passages, the sul G passages, this is going to be one fun one to play come march. am i excited? yes.

always.love
-j

always.brighter
seattle, wa
14 january 2012 - g10, f/2.8 1/400s, iso-800

i was going to write something that involved a lot of thought, but in my distraction, i have realised that i'm just going to say it was a very good day. there are things that make us happy, and there are things that make us so very happy for other people. either way, they make us happy.

yes?

always.love
-j

[omg congratulations, sleepysouthie!]

alternate.route
seattle, wa
19 january 2012 - eos-1ds mk2, f/4 1/20s, iso-500

to all of my friends in minnesota: so far i think we're kicking your ass in snowfall.

kthxbye.

~ = ~

believe me: people really do say these things over here (and there's enough to make three videos, btw). at the 0:26 mark you hear shit that i say as a minnesotan. and it's true.



if you can't laugh at yourself, you're missing the funniest joke of all.

always.love
-j

first.beat
seattle, wa
1 january 2012 - g10, f/8.0 2.0s, iso-400

at the end of the first week of this new year, i've ventured into avenues that weren't exactly on my list. this, perhaps, was the most beneficial thing that i've done. funny how things work out that way, yes? and maybe that's just a continuation of a lesson that has been unfolding for the past few years--what you may have expected, what you may have hoped or planned, will not usually go as originally envisioned, and maybe this is just one of the ways that we learn how to adapt as opposed to succumb to fear.

~ = ~

after all, how else would you find yourself meeting up with a bunch of strangers to just sight-read chamber music? it's one of the new things here in seattle: classical revolution. it's a way to make the genre of classical music called "chamber music" a bit more accessible to the masses. chamber music was originally music created for more private affairs of affluent people at the time, but now we're trying to share it with everyone that might think it's for people that "know" classical music.

well, if you think about it, classical music being the popular music at the time they were composed, nobody knew to love it or hate it much like going to see a band play without listening to their albums first. we might not completely eliminate the stigma that classical music needs to have some previous knowledge, but to at least place it in an environment where people won't expect it.

something called "classical revolution" started in san francisco but we've got one here in seattle. it ebbs and flows but all of the time it's been quite fun. this past monday we had a band, "the family crest," visit from san francisco and also someone brought an electric bass to the chamber music jam. we listened to "the family crest" as well as "alchymeia" (a local group with a fantastic sound) as they performed for those at the bar that night, but after their performances, we also brought out the sheet music and just played some beethoven quartets. that's right, beethoven with an electric bass. the point here is: have fun.

classical music, especially chamber music, was often written for the pleasure of the person commissioning the piece. that is, they had the composer write it for their fun. well, now that they're dead, why not bring the fun to everyone, right?

(most of the things we do depend on one thing: it's all in how we frame the thought. there are many different ways to approach an idea.)



so, that's how we jammed: with a seattle band, a band visiting from san francisco, and a guy playing an electric bass. we played beethoven and it actually was quite a bit of fun. purists may object, but the mission is a bit different. it's to get it out there. to have some fun--to round up some interest in the real stuff.

and even if the mission doesn't exactly follow through to fruition, hey, at least we had fun, right?

~ = ~



"the family crest" is playing all over seattle this month, so be on the look-out. they're such friendly people! if you do go see them play, you can also get a copy of their upcoming CD "the village," which, i must say, has been a pleasure for the ears. if you don't get your hands on it while they're in town, it comes out on the first of february!

~ = ~

hoping your 2012 is off to a great start.

always.love
-j