This week, Apple introduced a tablet computer.

To understand the magnitude of this statement fully, you would have had to pay attention to rumor boards for the last decade. In summary: ever since Steve Jobs killed the Newton upon returning to Apple… there has been a persistent rumor of a tablet announcement. Not one solid rumor throughout the years, but a brand new rumor, every single time Apple hosted a product-launch keynote. It became a complete joke: “Oh boy, here’s the Apple tablet rumor again”. Now, having this much speculation can only mean one thing: overly hyped expectations. And if you are paying attention to the tech blogs this week, you are basically hearing the results of that expectations. (Just understand that.)

I have been skeptical that a tablet would even be released. Who needs one? What would it be used for? I couldn’t think of any good answers. Even as far as two-thrids of the way through the announcement of the actual iPad this week, I remained completely nonplussed. Then it hit me… this is not made for people like me. This is purpose built for our parents, our grandparents, or our kids. It is the computer for people who don’t need a computer.

Which leads me to the snapshot above. A funky angle taken looking over the railing in the Seattle Public Library. Rows and rows of books waiting to be held, browsed, and read. And while I am not stupid enough to predict that tablet computing will end the print industry; looking down at all these beautiful and dusty old books, I do know one thing… this will become a rare museum soon enough. And as technologically forward as I consider myself… that thought just makes me feel nostalgic and old.

Tomorrow is my Great-Grandmother’s 100th birthday. We’re flying down to Orange County to celebrate at her daughter’s home and I am quite excited! It will be the first time I have seen most of them in years, and will be a nice gathering of my mother’s side of the family! Let the fun begin!!

I still haven’t fully recovered (or finished sorting through photos) from the trip yet, but promise to have some recent pics up as soon as I do. But you know, it’s always a good idea to go with the flow, and the flow says go.

This is a snap I took up in Seattle a few months back. Looking straight up into the library latticework of steel girders with a little tiny self-portrait in the middle. Love the repetition and mini-surprises cast by the reflected glass.

Been hustling on a magazine project this week, and haven’t had much free snapshot time to gather my thoughts (or imagery) outside of the project immersion. So now given a little reprieve I figured I would post another view from Tuesday’s snapshot.

Often when taking photos I try to crop them so objects become unique and are taken out of context. In this shot, I used the roof of the buildingand the irridecnent wall to frame the Space Needle off in the distance. I love the juxtaposition of the entirely massive monument in the background, utterly dwarfed by the blobby metal shapes in the foreground.

Took me about 4 tries to correctly frame this shot before everyone got tired of waiting, and entered the museum—leaving me to look up form the view-screen and hustle over to the door. Luckily, the last one turned out well!

Got a few projects in the hopper right now which has prevented me from adiquately pruning this web bush, so… apologies—but remember you can always visit LEGENDmag or BR4DSH4W to tide you over in dry spells.

This photo was taken in Seattle, facing into the Experience Music Project… reflecting the local flora and fauna. I don’t really remember what it was supposed to say, but it reads like “wild river” to me, and when I looked back at the image as a whole, I was reminded of looking into a giant, metal, flowing river.

That the building got built in the first place is a wonder to me, but I am really glad it did. Absolutely beautiful.

This is a snapshot looking directly up at the Seattle Public Library. The building is designed by world-renowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, and definately worth stopping by when you head up to the Pacific Northwest (a seemingly rare architectural wonder, where the insides are as spectacular as the outside).

Koolhaas sees the new library as a custodian of the book, a showcase for new information, a place for thought, discussion and reflection—a dynamic presence. —arcspace

Even though the rain has let up (gotta love that San Francisco weather), I figured I would continue yesterday’s thread with more photos from the series taken on the ferry in Seattle. Something about the mixture of rain, ocean, texture, and neon that just struck me. Or it could just be the picture-perfect conditions that Washington offers… those bright, cloudy skies helping to pop out any semblance of color the lens focuses on!? Either way, I’ll be back in the area soon and hopefully will be able to pull another run of classy shots to accompany these.

In honor of today’s drizzly weather, I present you with my vantage point off the back of a ferry on the Seattle sound. Wonderfully miserable, cold and rainy with a feint hint of horizon almost lost in the mist. Love it!

I have a few others in this series that I might post up this week… we’ll see if the storm continues and my muse remains. But in the meantime, enjoy this snapshot and try to stay dry!

Had a fun weekend with my good friends—digging into all the madness that is San Francisco’s Love Parade. Our little crew put a lot of effort into building, displaying, and ultimately dismantling the float. But by the time we set sail for the day… it was vividly clear the separation of those who regularly attended electronic music events, and those who were just poaching the good vibes. Either way, I didn’t let it ruin my fun (and managed to maintain my smile until the wee hours of the night).

This photo was taken at the Experience Music Project in Seattle; of the reflection off the metal substructure and atmosphere. Just one of those right place right time textural snapshots that captures everything and yet nothing.

A lot like my weekend. { grin }

After working for 20 years at various companies, shops, and boutiques; I decided to take a stab at things on my own (owed in no small part, to the constant encouragement of my brother). And after working at it now for a few years doing freelance design and as the Creative Director of LEGENDmag, I can honestly say I like it. Granted there are very different approaches one must take to employment—most notably that the more you work, the more money you make (which stands in stark contrast to a corporate job)—but overall it has been good to me. I have learned how rewarding a good day of work can be, and how equally scary a week-long draught is. I have been able to relax at opportune moments, and had to miss out on fun because something needed designing. But above all it continues to be a wonderful learning opportunity, and I plan on continuing it as long as I can.

This snapshot is taken of the monorail in Seattle, which connects downtown with the Space Needle and EMP. It is actually taken at the end of the line peering straight down into the track, while waiting for the train to arrive. Lovely bands of rusted metal, painted concrete, and mechanical systems; for us to admire and examine, stacked up like a slice of mountainside.

This morning, I listened to an NPR interview with Karen Armstrong about her new book “The Case for God”. The discussion surrounded the current state of religion, along with some relevant history. However, there is one thing that stuck in my mind from the interview.

In the words of Ms. Armstrong (from the transcript):

…the idea of God as a supreme being means that he is simply like us, writ large, and just bigger and better, the end product of the series; whereas this divine personality that we meet in the Bible was, for centuries, regarded simply as a symbol of a greater transcendence that lay beyond it.

Some theologians call this the God beyond God. And this God isn’t just a being like you or me, or the microphone in front of me, or even the atom, an unseen being that we can find in our laboratories. What we mean by God is, some theologians have said, is being itself that is in everything that is around us and cannot be tied down to one single instance of being.

What a huge statement, right (!?) …that God is not the noun “being” (as in a human being, a person or someone up in the sky), but rather the verb—a state of being!

This makes a whole lot more sense to me and explains clearly why people will spend their whole lives in search of enlightenment through meditation. They are trying to get as close as possible to that single essence of being… that god-like state of existence! Just strange that it took me 35 years on this earth to understand a subtle shift in meaning.

I apologize if this seems glaringly obvious to the rest of you.

And speaking of zen… this snapshot is taken in the apartment lobby of the Uwajimaya building up in Seattle. I love the minimal quality of the stones and the different textures going on. It was wonderful to run across this in a hallway, especially given that most large apartment situations would render an installation such as this completely ruined. But in this complex context, it works quite well.

…

See that? I can play with words too…