This week has been pretty quiet. In my car, around the house. Just not feeling the music. I think it was because I spent all of last weekend—the long Labor Day weekend—listening to live music.

Saturday was Seattle's Bumbershoot music and arts festival, Sunday was the Dave Matthews concert at the Gorge in Central Washington, and then on Labor Day, it was back to Seattle Center for the final day of Bumbershoot.

What did I hear that was noteworthy and cool? The Shins. A local band called The Lashes that have serious charisma. Gogol Bordello for gypsy punk rock craziness. Joss Stone, the Diva from Devon, was fun and fab. John Legend was "eh." Joan As A Police Woman, the band (with lead singer Joan) was a pleasant surprise from New York City.

But, man, the crowds. They came, they came, and they came.

Dave was similarly crowded and full of "dude"-ish energy and purple haze. I'm not a huge Dave fan, but was impressed by the musicality and new songs like "Cornbread" and "Eh Hee," which is much better live than in the weird video form which I saw on iTunes this past week.

Check out the photos on my Flickr page.

Work has been crap. I sustain myself with Russell Brand podcasts, good music, and the new show on AMC, "Mad Men," which you must check out. Oh, yeah, and the sex scene in Team America: World Police gave me a laugh. Jaw-dropping! I'm so rone-ry! Haha.

I had a great time in Chicago recently, where I met a lot of great teammates from across the country who I work with at my job. You know who you are! I also had a great time singing karoake and "caught the ear" of a really cool young woman from Brighton, UK, named Kelly G. (I really did rock the house with some Tina, Elton, and Stevie classics.) Check out her site. She's a really cool singer/TV presenter with some awesome vocal chops. We were a mutual admiration society, and I hope to be in touch with her soon. Girl, you rock!

Back in Seattle, I've had a great time getting to know my visiting co-worker from Germany. Seafair was a great experience last weekend, enjoying the excitement (and bearing the crowds) lakeside at Genessee Park. I took some photos of the air show and hydroplane racing that you can view on my Flickr page. I also have some photos on there from my Chicago trip.

Finally, let me just say that, even though I know the iPhone is getting all of the attention right now, I am LOVING my new BlackBerry Pearl. My Seafair photos were taken with its camera and you can reach me via SMS text message or a quick Yahoo! Messenger ping anywhere. Even the web experience has been great, making it easy to upload and view my Flickr photos directly from the device.

What's next? Recovering from a weekend sunburn, attending the first meeting of my friend's new book club, hanging out with some new friends, and attending the opera. Have fun in the sun, people!

Some of you who visit my Yahoo! 360º blog (http://360.yahoo.com/seattle_wordsmith) might have checked out the photo albums I have on there. I never really have kept up with posting photos, so it's been a sporadic affair.

Recently, however, I was forced to move my photos on to Flickr when Yahoo announced it was discontinuing support for its old Yahoo! Photos site. And it's a good thing because everyone loves Flickr and I'd been meaning to get on there for ages. They made it easy for me.

Now, all my old photos and some new ones, including photos from my trip to 7-Eleven on 7-11, are hosted on there for your viewing pleasure.

The new permanent address to my Flickr page is http://www.flickr.com/seattle_wordsmith.

Be sure to add me to your contacts or groups in Flickr and please add your comments and testimonials. I know I'm late to the party that is Flickr, but I'm there now!

I just got back from Chicago for a work trip. I really like it there. It was my second visit. I've written up a review of my favorite new tea shop, Tea Gschwendner, that should be on my blog soon. I love discovering new tea places.

There was so little time in Chicago to do much self-exploration, but luckily our clients wanted to do quite a bit of local coolhunting, so I we'd nip into cool shops and eateries. I dropped a fair amount of change on some cool stuff... Besides a bunch of really unusual tea, I bought two more Azteca Dunnys, three awesome Series 3 Dunnys, an 11" plush Ugly Doll, and a cool ring.

Get this. It's a brushed stainless steel ring with a small diamond on the INSIDE. I'd been thinking of a ring with a secret diamond in it for a long time and I was excited to see that they made such thing. It was my gift to myself for a lot of really hard work and sacrifice lately.

Wear your diamonds on the inside, people. Give good things to yourself and know your own true worth regardless of what your peers, your job, or society tries to tell you you're worth.

Hey, I would love it if you'd join me on Sunday, February 11 (the day after my big day) for a "dining, drinking, laughing, talking" thing in the International District. We'll hold court at a big table and maybe there will be some flowers around. Maybe some balloons. Maybe I'll buy them for myself. Who knows? Anyway, some of you are already committed to making it. Some of you don't know about it or haven't gotten back from me. Send me a message on here for details and I'll give you the scoop.

Happy Birthday... to Me!

I watched the Maysles Brothers' Grey Gardens. You must see it. It's a cult phenom and the inspiration behind the Broadway musical of the same name. Fascinating!

Also, you might remember Heather Nova from the Lilith Fair era. Well, her record from 2005 wasn't released Stateside and I haven't bought the import yet, but it's really beautiful stuff. Check out the video for the wonderful "Done Drifting."



Justin

It's been weird. A couple of my MySpace friends have fallen off the face of the earth. Joan? John? Anyway, hit me up. I hope that you enjoyed my holiday greeting and are having a great start to 2007. Things have been super-busy and I'm really excited to be working on several new creative endeavors, including one with a couple of my MySpace friends–keeps life interesting. My birthday is coming up just around the corner on February 10, so I hope to see some of you there. Not quite sure what that the affair will look like, but there will be something.

Loving: "Hello Bonjour" by Michael Franti. Really uplifting and brilliant.


Technorati Profile

For my friends, family, and colleagues this year, I have prepared a video to get you in the spirit of the season. It's my new spin on the holiday card.

Turn your sound up and click here to view the clip and my holiday message to you:
http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-A5E74eo7aKUxwVIGD0x4J3zhBA--?cq=1&p=315

I'm glad to know you. Best wishes for a happy holiday and a great New Year.

Warmly,
Justin

I have this running joke lately. I want a raise. I want a new computer. I want a new stereo. I want a better wardrobe. I want better peeps. So, my mantra has become "Upgrade!"

At least I've succeeded in the first three upgrades. I got a mini promotion, a new iMac, and a new stereo in my living room that can play the iTunes from the iMac via AirTunes using AirPort Express. I'm finally semi-modern. Can you believe until recently, I was using dial-up?

Anyway, I digress... When I set about changing my ISP, I had a new primary email address I needed to tell my friends about. It's interesting to send a mass email like that and see what old friends in your address book come popping out of the woodwork to say, "Hello, old friend!" and which ones just completely ignore you. Granted, some were happy to hear from me and wanted to be added to MySpace or share recent life stories. One "friend" of mine, though, just critiqued the design of my personal website, telling me that it was poorly designed and showed "garbage characters" on Internet Explorer 7. He's a total Microsoft nerd, though. But, I mean, really... That's ALL you have to tell me? (But really, folks, if my website looks weird, let me know in comments. It looks fine on my Mac!)

I know I'm bad about keeping up with people. It's hard. So many people, so little time. And then there's the whole phenomenon of dropping someone a token comment on MySpace in lieu of actually trying to connect in a meaningful way with that person. (You all know who you are!) And then there are those whose good MySpace graces I try to stay in, hoping I can cling to the top of their friends list before they abandon me in favor of the latest page candy. Okay, now I'm going off the rails. Did I tell you I'm afraid I'm losing my hair? I wrote about it today in my Yahoo! blog. Back to my midlife crisis! Peace out.

Today, I was watching "Larry King Live" and Larry asked former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright if she thought we were on the brink of World War III. (I must have gulped audibly.) Larry's not the sharpest tack on the air, and thankfully she said that she didn't believe that to be the case, but he's probably seeing what we're all seeing -- it doesn't look good.

This is a tough time. We suffered the hearbreaking attack of 9/11, saw an overzealous president lead us into a costly quagmire that has gone on and on, and now the rest of the region seems poised on the brink of a larger conflict. A devastating tsunami revisisted another area in the same vicinity as the terrible 2005 tsunami, claiming more human life just days after the terrible Mumbai attacks. North Korea gave us a rocket show of their own on the Fourth of July. Gas prices climb unabated.

Yeah, it's a tough time. And yet everything goes on. The world keeps moving. I still have a job. My life maintains its steady monotony, even as my heart breaks for what I'm seeing on the TV at night. The people of Israel and Lebanon are living in great uncertainty and I feel for both groups. It seems so petty -- a prisoner here, a prisoner there -- but I understand they are people and that they are symbols of something taken away, withheld.

I'm convinced that calmer minds will prevail in this latest conflict. A new presidency and geo-political climate will eventually stabilize my stocks and the prices at the pump. The occupation of Iraq will end. The world is so cyclical. This is just my first grown-up exposure to what I know from history comes around again and again. Are we evolving and learning from the past? It's hard to tell. But this fever will break. Patience. That's what I'm learning. Patience.

Well, I'm back from vacation. Anyone miss me? I definitely owe some people some phone calls.

I spent three days in the San Juan Islands with my mom. It's become an annual mother/son vacation ritual to go somewhere in the Northwest every year together, so that we can take a leisurely vacation yet still have a couple days in Seattle at my place.

If you haven't been to the San Juans, I highly suggest a visit. It's a beautiful ferry ride out to them and you definitely feel like you've really traveled somewhere. They're largely rural. This trip, we did Lopez Island and San Juan Island.

I definitely like Lopez the best. It's so peaceful and has great terrain, trails, and some cool rocky beaches. I liked our inn. It was a bed and breakfast run by a couple. Supposedly, Tom Skerrit, the actor, built the house to be run as an inn. They love him the Seattle area because he lives here and is occasionally spotted. (Snore.)

We did a whale watching excursion from Friday Harbor on San Juan and saw a pod or two of orcas (killer whales) near Canada. It was amazing to see some great orca moves -- maintaining a distance because of their endangered status. We saw some full, out-of-the-water breach jumps, a 95-year-old pod matriarch, and some great swimming in formation. The whales we saw hunt for salmon, but there's a so-called transient pod that comes in and out of the area eating sea mammals like harbor seals, and I guess it can get pretty gorey.

So, yeah... I didn't get back until late Sunday night and then my mom was with me all day yesterday. I was feeling pretty prolific with my blog and other online stuff before my little break, so I'll have to get back into the swing of things. I've had over 1,000 page views by just under 300 unique visitors, which I guess isn't bad. This week, I plan to write about the Lt. Watada story, his refusal to deploy and whether or not I think he's a hero or an idiot. (Still not sure.) From my Yahoo! 360 page, you can also see photos of my San Juan Islands trip.

As relaxing as vacation was, it's nice to be back in the thick of things.

Justin
SeattleWordsmith