Coffee Design

I went out to a coffee shop tonight and asked for a mocha. They always do a neat design with the milk's froth. I know I've taken a picture of this before, but this is a different design.

Morning Frost

It was cold today in the morning, very cold. All the plants and grass were covered with ice crystals.

Windows Vista Launch

Today was the Windows Vista and Office 2007 world wide launch. So in several cafeterias across the Microsoft campus they showed the web cast of Bill Gates in New York City launching the products. At the end of the event, they dropped a ton of balloons attached to the ceiling. Some of them contained prizes which I obviously didn't win; probably because I was busy trying to take a picture. See this location in Live Maps.

Footprints

Went to Point Defiance Park in Tacoma, south of Seattle. Went for a walk around the beach and came across these fresh seagull foot prints. See this location on Live Maps.

Sunset Over Puget Sound

I went for a small hike to the Discovery Park in north Seattle. I made it to the south beach in time for the sunset.


I got to the beach as the tide was going out. It was actually already out pretty far, but it still kept going. It was neat to stand at the edge of the lapping water and notice it move back several feet in a mater of minutes. In some spots where the water pooled, the reflection from the sky gave the pools a neat mirror image.

Tree

A tree on my way to work.

Morning Due

It's surprising how a little sun can make a difference.

Skull

My brother Roberto gave me this skull some time ago. It's made of black pottery from the State of Oaxaca in Mexico.

Dinner

I made Szechuan chicken stir fry tonight. And no, I'm not pigging out. I made enough for several days. Yummy!

Peppers

A close up of some dried peppers I have hanging in my kitchen.

Bellevue Downtown Park

A view of the water fountain that goes around the park. See this location on Live Maps.

Books

Nothing interesting going on today... Just waiting for the weekend.

Raindrops

It's stopped snowing. But now it's back to rain. Most people at work are glad the snow is over. But I honestly prefer the snow. I know if I commuted, I would have a different opinion, but walking in snow is much nicer than walking in the rain. I took this picture on my way to work this morning.

By the way, what color would you say this is? I can't decide if it's violet, lilac, purple, magenta, fuchsia, plum or what.

Walking Home

It snowed again today. However, it decided to not stick around. It rained in the afternoon, so I had a slushy walk back home.

Reflections

It was a long Monday...

Kirkland Marina Park

Went for a walk to the Kirkland Marina in the afternoon. The park has a great view of Lake Washington and is great for enjoying the sunset. However, it was too cold to stay around for too long. At the end of the pier in the distance, you can see a part of the Seattle skyline. See this location on Live Maps.

January at Marymoor Park

When I moved to Seattle, I was told that it hardly ever snowed here. Yet, this is the third time it snows this winter. I suppose I can thank El Niño for this.

On the may back from the grocery store, I drove through Marymoor Park in Redmond. I'm not sure what these geese are doing back here in January, I thought they came back in a couple months. But hey, I'm not a biologist. I like the way they are all looking in different directions.

This windmill is near the entrance of the park. It overlooks the Sammamish River which I bike next too in warmer weather. See this location in Live Maps.

Snow

Snow covering a plant.

After a Night of Snow

These are a couple pictures I took on my way to work today in morning. I love the way the snow falls on the evergreens and makes them all droopy looking.

My walk to work usually takes about 10 minutes. But since I stopped to take pictures every few minutes, it took me twice as long. By the time I made it to the office, I really didn't want to go in. I wanted to be able to stay outside and enjoy the view. How I wish my office had a window...

Snow After Work

I love snow. I suppose I love it because I don't really have to deal with the hassles it creates. I've always lived close to work or school and I am able to walk when it snows. Also, I've never lived in places where it snows frequently.

It's pretty rare for Seattle to get snow. Usually, it's just a long rainy winter, so a change in the monotony is welcome. It was actually supposed to snow last night but only in the northern areas of Seattle. Instead, it decided to defy the weatherman's prediction and snow in the southern areas. So when I woke up today and didn't see it all white, I was disappointed. But thankfully my disappointment was gone when I walked home as it snowed.

Today's walk home was a bit different, even somewhat weird. Normally, you can hear all the hustle and bustle of the traffic; the honking, the motors, etc. But today, a silence fell over all the traffic. There seemed to be more traffic than normal, but it was so quiet you could hear the snow fall on the ground. Near the cars you could hear the fresh snow crunching under the tires.

When I got back home, I looked like the abominable snow man because I was covered in snow. I took my camera and tripod and took a few pictures. This one picture below is from behind my apartment next to a small lake in my apartment complex.

Green

On my walk to work today in the morning, I couldn't help but notice that almost all tree trunks are green. Not totally green of course. But most trees are partially covered with different kinds of moss. It's actually an interesting sight, especially if you are used to cold and bleak winters where everything is gray.

French Press

A view of my kitchen and part of my dinning room. Reflection is from the top of a french press my brother gave me for Christmas. Thanks Jose!

Seattle at Dusk

A little over a month ago, I went to Gas Works Park which has a very nice view of Seattle. Since then, I've wanted to return to take a picture of Seattle at night.

Going Home

Sadly, I returned to Seattle today. I like Seattle, but I wish I could have been in Mexico a bit longer. Anyway, today was a very long day. United was nice enough to cancel my very early flight and make me wait in line for an hour and a half before they could rebook me. I ended up taking three different flights and three different airlines.

My initial anger disappeared as soon as I realized they had booked me in first class from L.A. to Portland. I've never been in first class before and wow, the seats and service are so much better. However, after arriving in Seattle in this small plane, they decided my trip hadn't been messed up enough and they lost my luggage!

Anyway, this is the small plane that I took from Portland to Seattle. I've never been on a prop plane before. I sat right behind the propeller and got to see how it starts up. Maybe I'm easily amused, but I thought it was neat. The only problem is the noise! They are so much noisier than jet planes. You nearly had to shout to get the flight attendant to hear you.