ascending.direction
seattle, wa
6 may 2012 - g10, f/4 1/250s, iso-80

i started this blog ten years ago to this day, probably on a whim at some equally strange hour of the night, likely in some room in some building that was not my apartment at the time in leiu of studying or doing any homework assigned. ten years ago, about two years before blogging would hit the mainstream.

it probably was started as some place to record and develop or to fragment and deconstruct thoughts that would bubble to the surface during long nights of sanding and machining, building a race car of a team which i was a part of. i was still in rochester, new york, at the time this blog was born and i can safely say that it was created with very little foresight in mind. in fact, i had expected to abandon this altogether by the time the race car was complete--thinking this would be yet another one of those silly whims that sounded good at the time.

thankfully, i was very wrong.

perhaps it was thus quite appropriate that the 20th anniversary unveiling of the team with which i spent five years of my life coincided so closely with the anniversary of this blog. 8 may 2002 coincided with the construction of the 10th design and perhaps the first real burn-out or some need to really vent a bunch of thoughts in any given direction. some may remember this, some may not, and i'm sure there are many stories floating around both correct and incorrect about the circumstances and after-effects but the main point here is that while flying back to rochester this weekend was sort of a return to a prominent part of my life in the context of engineering, it was a bit more than that.

driving down the familiar streets, it was hard not to have all of the memories come back--driving past the spot i would sit and watch airplanes takeoff and land, driving past the ford street bridge where i took pictures for a still photo i final project, even driving back toward the machine shop brought back a flood of smiles and thoughts about the things we did back then.

there have been many changes since, and yet at the same time many things stayed the same. talking with one of the people that helped me maintain my sanity throughout those years, a man with endless patience, it was quite easy to go through the various memories and shenanigans that stood out through the years, including when he would teach me how to use the machines and eventually how he trusted me enough to be one of those allowed run the machine shop during the off-hours as well as to teach some of the labs.

but those views in retrospect seem to make sense with all the views in prospect. looking forward from this time it is amazing how things have changed, and yet the presence of this blog remained constant throughout, and recently one of the xanga questions of the day asked, "how has your xanga changed your life?"

i don't think i can answer that in any short question, but there are quite a few friends that have stemmed from this, some during periods of important personal growth, but i think as many would tell you that have had some contact with me in some shape or form with this blog, the stories are true--even if it may seem that the imagination would have been the only possible source. if anything, in this blog are the answers to why i love barnes & noble, and why i have a nook instead of a kindle, but while there are answers for what has been and why things are, there really is no telling what will be in store for the future. only guesses.

if anything, it's the people that i have met through this blog that has changed my life in the way i could never have imagined. to that and to those people i say one thing: thank you.

so, ten years in and however many more years forward, the flight plan is set but depending on what lies ahead, there may be a few side adventures or even discoveries. who knows, right?

and not knowing, i think, is the best part about it.

on to the next milestones...

-j

second.decade
rochester, ny
5 may 2012 - eos-1ds mk2, f/4 1/100s, iso-250

i may not have been a part of the beginning and i may not even be a real part of the team anymore at all, but having been able to participate and even lead the body group during my own brief (yet full) stint of five years on the team, it amazes me to see how much has been learned by the team in the twenty years the team has been competing and how much learning is going on with the current team, and how much further they are going to push the boundaries of creativity and intelligent innovation.

it had been nine years since completing the last car on which i worked, and while there are a few things that have stayed the same all throughout those years, the right things have changed, too.

there are tough lessons being learned in almost any dimension you can imagine, but, rest assured, there is a tremendous amount of learning that is going on. i've never really understood how a generation other than yours or by having no direct input in a particular project could ever make one feel proud, or at least proud to be a part of a growing and living entity, well, that changed this weekend. and it was a good change to have.

to this year's R•I•T formula SAE team: good luck guys and gals, we're all hoping for the best in your upcoming competition season and we know that's all you'll deliver. you've already made us graduates proud.

-noodles

it has been a great three days at the alma mater, to visit with old professors and mentors, and to spend some time with the future of the team for which we had all given and learned so very much. hope to be back before another eight years fly by! for now, my bags are packed and it's time to make my way toward the airport.

un.lift
everett, wa
27 april 2012 - g10, f/4.5 1/800s, iso-80

we must remember: no matter how big we may think we are, the sky will always be even bigger. we must remember we are all in the context of a much bigger reality--we should never be so selfish as to focus exclusively on our own.

we live in a world of interactions. make them positive.

always.love
-j

low.light
seattle, wa
23 april 2012 - g10, f/2.8 1/50s, iso-80

some days there are no words. just pictures. imagine the breeze blowing a subtle hint of the ocean smell toward you. imagine the faint ray of sun shooting vertically through the ice crystals high above. bands of colour, some faint, some bold.

this was today's sunset.

inhale (crescendo).

exhale (decrescendo).

always.love
-j

compound.note
seattle, wa
12 april 2012 - g10, f/2.8 1/10s, iso-400

in this modern, hyper-connected social networking age, sometimes i find it quietly amusing to spot connections and see perhaps how long it may take someone to discover a random connection (if at all). sometimes watching life happen and watching people interact is where the fun is, and when you have met two people that know each other but don't know you are a side-jogged leg in another connection between the two, i find it more interesting to smile at it and then leave it in the back pocket.

it's more fun that way--especially when it's discovered :)

so, maybe if one friend flips through a few pictures of another friend's musical project, they might find someone looking familiar...

buried treasures, buried treasures.

~ = ~

last week, when the planets aligned for enough free time to take up an opportunity, i found myself severely out-classed by some wonderful musicians in a recording studio. here i was, an engineer, stepping in at the last moment to play the viola part to someone's upcoming song. it was my first time, it was definitely not my normal element, but a few weeks earlier i was having a discussion with a few friends talking about how just being around much better musicians does wonders for one's experience.

maybe not so much improving my playing immediately, but to see at what level of professionalism and quality these people work. believe me, the session was not easy and everybody's patience was pure gold, but it definitely was wonderful to be a part of the project and work with these people.

it was something i didn't think i'd be crossing off on my list of life experiences (i don't even think i had it on the list), but to lay down a track or two for someone's upcoming album has now been completed. really hope it turned out to their liking :)

outside of the comfort zone is where the magic happens, and this experience was definitely magic.

always.love
-j

lucky.seven
everett, wa
9 april 2012 - g10, f/4.5 1/640s, iso-80

it's been decades since my little brother and i would run toward the screen door in the humble duplex. it was where we first lived when my family moved to the united states and we were situated in a spot that afforded a perfect view of planes flying by to land at JFK international airport.

this is how it started. at that impressionable age, the sound of a jet and the colours of the world's airlines would float before our eyes and before we could write our alphabet, we knew how to draw these airplanes. this is how my dream was born.

there's something about the sound of an approaching airplane and the smile it leaves in its wake as it moves past...



some things will never get old in this life of mine, and this is one of those things. yes, i will find myself checking to see if there are any flights arriving or departing before i head to my car and if there are, and if time and weather allow, you can usually find me watching.

these are sometimes the same feelings i use to appreciate the different passions of others. my interests may not be interesting to others and vice versa, but deep inside we all share the same enthusiasm for whatever those interests may be.

because when you grew up with this dream or even share it, all of this will make perfect sense. and at least i know about that inexplicable joy that makes you passionate for your loves, whatever they may be.

if we boil our life experiences down to a few essential elements, we can perhaps begin to understand a lot of the things around us.

food for thought from today's few moments of watching an airplane come and go.

always.love
-j

ghost.romance
seattle, wa
3 april 2012 - iphone 4, exposure data unrecorded

delicate is the image, like memory, as the unimportant begins to decay, maintaining integrity on the flirtatious visual specter-thought that originally catches our eye.

keep your eyes open as well as your hearts.

when creativity flows, let it flow. on the weekends, let it flow whenever it wishes; insight might very well be in the stream lines.

always.love
-j