Before and After - Pictures of me

This last year of school was torturous, not in the sense of I didn't like what I was doing, rather in the sense that I was being tortured. So I started to let how I was being treated manifest itself in my appearance so people could have a better understanding of how I was really doing. What follows are pictures during the last week of the spring semester.


I was one ugly beast. How could Katie stand to be in the same room as me when I looked like this, you may ask? Well, we weren't in the same room for most of this last semester. Nevertheless, I couldn't look like this when coming to Seattle, so before getting a haircut, I had to get this picture as the definitive "before".


This picture was taken as I was wrapping up a very large research paper on wind turbine aeroacoustics. I had been researching this topic on and off for a couple of months, but due to time constraints and other serious obligations, I wrote it and made up a 15 minute presentation on it in a little under 24 hours, and had enough time to go to school to print it out. I was particularly proud of what came out of this research, and my interest and understanding grew hand in hand.


Furious scribbles, I like the key words that pop out in this one.


The recovery room. This is the next morning after I presented and turned in my paper that Katie was brilliant enough to capture.


Doesn't this make you want to learn?


Again, Katie supplied this terrific "after" photo. Getting a haircut was a very good decision. I definitely couldn't think, see, or talk straight. Thanks U of I for these fond memories.

Here and Back Again

[Foreward: Sorry it's been so long. I had a lot of editting to do with this post, and things didn't always come out the way they were supposed to, especially if they get erased. I hope you enjoy these as much as I liked having the opportunity to take them.]

I've seen this tag in a few places while I've been walking around. I don't know if it's associated with anything, but if you're going to see graffiti, it might as well be this.

There are a lot of plants here that I've never seen before.

Seattle has a lot of bridges. This one was taken on Univeristy Bridge looking at I-5 going over where Portage Bay and Lake Union meet. And yes, the whole city looks like the background.

Good people. The closest is Mojdeh who is the one who opened all the doors for me here.

I thought this was hilarious. To park here, you have to hop the curb and travel a good 15 feet "inland". I guess some people really want a drink of water.

Another oddity here. Most places don't have air conditioning because it hardly ever gets above 90. Also, some don't have central heat; instead, they have individual heaters in select rooms with these "comfort zone" termostats.

Seattle really is a city dropped in a forest. Trees and vines and foliage are omnipresent.

This is possibly the bluest picture I will ever take. People have forests and botanical gardens instead of lawns.

This is in the Greenlake neighborhood, which is one of two neighborhoods that are notorious for monsterous all way stops. It just seems like the city planners couldn't come up with anything so they just said, "You figure it out." This is a very busy 5-way stop.

This is Green Lake itself. If you go to google maps and look up Seattle, it's the green blob in the north central part of the city. It's a great park with sports fields, a community center, a monterous playground, and paddle boats and kayaks.

This is someone at the race unity picnic in Everett, the town where I work.

Again, if you like to photograph nature, walk down the street.

I've discovered the pleasure of having enough time to cook decent meals. While my culinary expertise hasn't widened much, I definitely enjoy eating a home cooked meal typically accompanied by a generous salad. A small Trader Joe's is about 4 blocks away, and it's the cheapest grocery in the area. Food at regular groceries is really expensive here, with everything a good $.50 more on each item than Urbana. This picture reminds me of some muppet character.

More good people having fun at the Baha'i booth during the International District's (Chinatown) annual festival.

More examples of dense foliage. They have the stuff dripping off of overpasses and all kinds of places where you wouldn't normally expect to see it.

People use parks here. It's unbelieveable how many people are in the parks on the weekend. Not a single part is unused. I think people just know how to take advantage of the good days, since they get so many gloomy ones throughout the fall winter and spring.

This ref talked so much smack to the players while they were playing, I guess to keep everybody in line and to maintain the pace. It was really funny.

Flint Hills

These are pictures I took out my car windows while driving through the Flint Hills (take it from me, don't try this yourself, or only do it once if you have to, like I did). This is a region of gradually rolling hills in Kansas that has very little top soil on top of flint (or "rock chalk"), and fire is a critical part of the prairie ecosystem, so trees have a very difficult time surviving. The result is awe-inspiring, and this is one of the most beautiful places on earth, even when all the grass is dormant for the winter. My favorite pictures from the trip are below.

Midnight Sun

Here's my latest airbrush painting. I tore large sheets of paper to outline the top of the hills/mountains, but everything else was done free hand. I wanted to switch the sky and land colors for this sunset and landscape, and I think it has an interesting effect.

Things I should have posted a while ago

These are pictures that have been taken with our camera over the last couple of months. The most recent images are toward the top of the page and get older as you scroll down.

One of the many ledges at the new Wichita skate park.

This is the greatest family in the world, the Donaldsons, learning how to play Settlers. They ate it up hook, line, and sinker.

Katie's snow gnome in Batavia.

Here's one of the "killer" icicles hanging next to the steps to our door. The weather in Urbana has been pretty brutal since November.

Katie destroyed me in this Monopoly game. I had only one dollar left by this point.

Samwise loves to be scratched on his rump.

Katie took this picture of me while lying on the couch.

I know this one is really blurry, but come on, Reed's a prairie dog when in his native couch habitat.

Dad liked our camera so much that he went and got his own. Wise choice.

Samwise is putty in your hands when laying next to him.

Thanksgiving was scrumtrulescent.

Our apartment can get pretty chilly from time to time. This was one of those times.

Amia in her element.

I'm exhibitting my at the time new haircut.

I really like this one.

I was particularly proud of this turkey burger.