The power went out again last night for the 3rd time in 3 weeks. This time for about 4 hours. Not sure why, but it’s been a common occurrence in West Seattle since “WIND STORM 2006″ in mid-December. We always get along just fine given many of our appliances run on gas. Gas fireplaces, gas stove, gas water heater. I just feel bad for the local businesses – especially the grocery stores which must lose thousands of dollars every time their frozen foods defrost. The darkness does make for an eery drive home, however. Drifting up California in the black, not a single light to be seen barring the lonely flicker of a candle here or there. Last night was “date night” – a rare chance to hang with Katrina one on one. We caught the 5:40 (6:00 after commercials and previews) showing of The Departed and then wandered over to Coldwater Bar & Grill in the Westin for crab legs and a shank of lamb. When we arrived at home, the search was on for the house flashlight. Katrina’s sister, Angie, already had a few candles burning, but the downstairs was entirely in the dark. The thing is, I just saw the flashlight a couple days ago while doing something else around the house. But could I remember where I saw it? No. Not at all. It wasn’t until I stood in the dark and, in my mind, relived every moment of the past couple days that I finally had the “aha” moment. I carefully felt my way around the utility room closet and there it was – the elusive red house flashlight. We had light and life was right again. And then the power came on…
My assessment of the best music of 2006. December 29, 2006
Music may be a more integral part of my life than photos. I listen to it every day. I’m adept at manipulating music in digital format. I know I can’t stand 99% of the pop crap produced today. In fact, I’m completely comfortable being a music snob and therefore, the list below is my account of what music really, truly mattered in 2006. You may disagree. In fact, I hope you do – you may be able to introduce me to new stuff. But I stand by my assessment that your music collection isn’t complete until these titles grace your living room shelves.
:: Asobi Seksu – Citrus
:: Built to Spill – You in Reverse
:: Jeremy Enigk – World Waits
:: Kate Havnevik – Melankton
:: Lady Sovereign – Public Warning
:: Lily Allen – Alright, Still
:: Mogwai – Mr. Beast
:: Shiny Toy Guns – We Are Pilots
:: Silversun Pickups – Carnavas
:: South – Adventures
:: S. Pompougnac – Hotel Costes 9
:: The Appleseed Cast – Peregrine
:: The Brother Kite – Waiting
:: The High Violets – To Where You Are
:: Thom Yorke – The Eraser
Why Photos? December 28, 2006
Not entirely sure why. In fact, this is my first blog ever, aside from short descriptions of my vacation photos on treener.com. Photos have a way of evoking memories while at the same time explaining where someone has been. The reasoning behind the travel can then be defined by the viewer themselves. Viewers can say “oh, I’ve been there before” or “boy, I’d sure love to go there sometime” or “why in the heck would Ryan ever go there”. Viewer definitions are limitless, and only trumped by the photographer’s verbal or written descriptions. Sharing photos is easy, and somewhat narcissistic. Especially when you have a website somewhat dedicated to the display of family vacations. One can argue that it’s an easy way to share photos with friends and family, but it’s also extremely fun to see just how high in a search engine you can get your website to appear. For instance, a Yahoo! search for “ryan williams images” lists my website as the first listing. Not sure how or why, but it’s fun to see it there. I also have a small selection of photos on a very cool, new website called ImageKind.com. In addition to building an extremely functional and convenient way to print, frame and purchase art online, they’ve done a great job of indexing their pages on Google, so a search for “Ryan ImageKind” will return my ImageKind gallery as the #2 search result. And I just posted it a week ago. Impressive.
