30 June, 2008

WTSS RadioMux #4 (July 2008)

I loaded this months RadioMux with lots of tunes that are new to me.
ENJOY.

http://wtss.muxtape.com

WTSS RadioMux #4 (Set List)
  1. Kirbi - "The Island Of Unrealized Hopes"
  2. The Grouch - "Artsy"
  3. Anthem In - "Hold On To Me"
  4. Emmanuel Jal - "Shadow Of Death"
  5. Shout Out Louds - "Streams Of Whiskey"
  6. Manu Chao - "Me Gusta Tu"
  7. State Bird - "The Golden Glowing Mask"
  8. The Donkeys - "Walk Through A Cloud"
  9. Fire On Fire - "Hangman"
  10. Sporto Kantes - "Whistle"
  11. Sunny Day Sets Fire - "Brainless"
  12. Two Hours Traffic - "Stuck For The Summer"

Mountain Monday


This is the second installment of a summer long photo series I'm doing about the glacier melt on Mt. Hood. This week notice the haze that is hovering over the mountain. Late yesterday lightning strikes set off over a dozen small fires south of the mountain.

Story & Video

29 June, 2008

Drinking Habits

Here in the Northwest we are blessed with an abundant amount of neighborhood Coffee Roasters and Micro Brewery's. It's not uncommon to see the same people in line at the coffee shop in the morning, and then run into them again at the pub in the evening hours.

Local Coffee Roasters:
Local Micro Brewery's:

25 June, 2008

A New Kind Of Balance

I thrive when I have balance and structure in my daily activities. So, with me living in a less hectic, and more tranquil environment this summer, I have found new ways to both enjoy the great outdoors and meet interesting people.

Every Wednesday at the Mt. Hood Cultural Center & Museum they have a yoga session. Although I have only practiced yoga a few times, I think this activity is a beneficial way to spent my Wednesday nights, both mentally and physically.

The benefits of yoga are many, some of them include; improved flexibility, tones and builds muscles, corrects posture, eases back pain, relieves stress, relaxes the mind and body and frees the spirit.

So far here are the other daily activities that I do throughout the week:
  • Spaghetti Sunday, every Sunday I make pasta.
  • Movie Monday, normally I don't watch many movies but on this night I do.
  • Ultimate Frisbee in Welches and Taco Tuesday at The Ratskeller.
  • Yoga every Wednesday at the Cultural Center.

23 June, 2008

Mountain Monday

Every Monday throughout the summer I will be taking a photo of Mt. Hood, from the same location (Ski Bowl East, horseshoe pit) and posting it, in order to track the weekly progression of its snow melt.

Mt. Hood with an elevation of 11,239 is the highest peek in the state of Oregon and is also the second most summited mountain in the world. Eleven glaciers line its year round snow pack but it's obvious to those who have lived around the area that these glaciers are quickly disappearing.

According to scientists Mt. Hood's shrinking glaciers are typical of a worldwide trend.

This photo was taken today around 4:30pm.

19 June, 2008

Summer Of Fun


Although tomorrow is the official start of Summer, mine has already started. Last week brought the school year to a close and with that, I relocated once again back up to Government Camp, OR. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this Village, it is located at the 3,900 foot elevation mark at the base of Mt. Hood.

The photo above is one that I took last summer from the top of lower bowl at Ski Bowl. The view is of Government Camp in the foreground and Mt. Hood in the background.

14 June, 2008

Poetry

I enjoy writing poetry so I thought with the official start of summer just six days away (June 20th) this little poem I wrote would be appropriate to share.

"The Lantern"

Path of the sun,

I burst into applause;
For when the day and the night are of equal length,
Your spirit represents one heart.
For you are The Lantern
And I marvel.

Here are some poetry podcast worth checking out.

05 June, 2008

O Summer, Where Art Thou?

Below are two shots I took last summer.
I figure they will put me in a more summer like mood.



Three weeks ago the sun was shinning bright and the fine residents of Portland were out in full force. But as is always the case in this corner of the world, mother nature likes to tease us. Right now as I look out the window at my local coffee shop for all I know it could be late October, not early June. To get a better idea of the setting it looks like this; the wind is blowing, the sky is gray and the ground is damp.

Hey, but look what I found,
just a few short weeks ago on a bike ride down the Springwater Corridor.

02 June, 2008

The Art Of Letter Writing

When was the last time you sat down and wrote a letter to a friend or a loved one? I'm not talking about an e-mail or even a note to be hand delivered, but rather a letter that goes into an envelope, slapped with a stamp and then dropped into the mailbox.

Because the handy nature of technological communication (e-mails & text messages) letter writing has turned into a novelty and with that fewer and fewer people are writing and receiving traditional letters. I would have to admit that it has been sometime since I have composed a letter and sent it off.

The reason I bring this subject up is because I will be relocating for the summer and a friend of mine, also relocating, thought it would interesting to stay in touch by writing letters back and forth during this time. This is a grand idea in my opinion because writing and receiving letters is more of an intimate experience than the more "modern" forms of written communication.

With a handwritten letter you get to express your personality not only in handwriting but also in other ways like colors, texture (of the paper), size (of the writing), smell, noise (of the paper), envelope and choice of stamp. None of this can truly be duplicated in an e-mail on a computer screen.