Catching up

I failed to post pictures from a hiking trip in late fall. It was pretty damn cold, and it turned out to be the first snow of the year. It featured a very close moose encounter at the end of the hike, when Elise and I found ourselves stuck on a trail with a female moose behind us, and an interested male moose trudging up the trail toward us. We had to bail off the trail into the underbrush.

Mark it down

October 1, 2011.

Wedding website here, with more updates to come on this blog as I start to awaken from a blog hibernation. More to come.

Homer

Turns out I forgot to publish the photos from a trip to Homer a couple weeks ago. Good times, including a halibut fishing charter that resulted in every member of my party walking away with 13 pounds of fresh halibut. Also made a trip across Kachemak Bay to Halibut Cove, one of my favorite places in Alaska.

A little hike

Here's a story you might enjoy. Two Saturdays ago, August 14, Elise and I set out for a hike to Reed Lakes, a one of my favorite hikes in Alaska. It starts in Hatcher Pass, just north of Palmer and Wasilla.


View Reed Lakes in a larger map

About 3.5 miles in the trail leads to Lower Reed Lake, a turquoise gem tucked in the side of a scree-filled mountain.

At the upper left of the picture above you can see a small waterfall, where water flows down from Upper Reed Lake. The trail heads up toward the waterfall, which turns out to be a series of small falls.

The view from the top of the falls is pretty cool.

That's the spot -- remembering it was a cool spot the last time I did the hike -- where I planned to ask Elise to marry me. So I jumped over the creek and settled on the rock on the other side of the falls:

I summoned her over, and we appreciated the view for a moment. I then told her that I had a "gadget that helped my camera take panoramas" in my backpack. Yes, four miles to walk and the best I could come up with was "gadget to help with panoramas." She asked if I meant my tripod, and I said, yes, that's it. (A much better excuse to get myself down on a knee and rifle through the bag.) While I was down there I pulled out a box. I yelled over to her: "Hey!" (Yes, that's how I started.) She turned, and I said, "take this."

"What's this for?" she asked. "Open it." She opened it.

"What's this for?" she asked. Not expecting to have to narrate this part, I stammered: "I'm asking you if you'll marry me." I'm always best working with the present participle.

She was aghast, and then smiled, and then hit me. "Is that a yes?" "Yes, of course." Good. I didn't want to hike 4 miles back in silence.

The question everybody has for us is what's next... and we don't know. Both in regards to where/when the wedding will be, and where we'll be living. Those decisions continue. But for now we're happy and looking forward to what's to come. The complete set of photos from the hike:

Daily reminder that Seattle sports are awful

Entering this past weekend you'd never have expected it to be one of the worst for Seattle sports in quite a while, but that's just our lot in life. There wasn't a big game going on, there wasn't a big trade. There was no reason to batton down the hatches and prepare for the worst. Lesson learned: always be prepared for horrible things to happen to Seattle sports, at any time.

First, it was referee Bill Leavy apologizing for the poor officiating in Super Bowl XL, in which the Seahawks got royally jobbed. I don't even know what to do with that information. Part of me is a little glad to hear it -- it adds vindication to the years of complaining -- but another part is disappointed to have to relive it, and think about how the game could have gone differently if the refs were doing their jobs. Arrgh.

Next, it was Brandon Morrow nearly throwing a no-hitter. The Mariners gave him away in the offseason for disappointing Brandon League. We can't even blame this on Bill Bavasi, which means we have to start dealing with the possibility that our new GM sucks too. Arrrrrrgh.

And then today the M's fired Don Wakamatsu. The team is horrible, everyone knows it. Wak deserves his share of the fault for all the bad baserunning, bad in-game decisions, bad bullpen usage, bad lineups, etc. But he's not really at fault here. It's the players who couldn't hit, the players who weren't professional enough to do their jobs when designated huggers Griffey and Sweeney left the team, and the front office who thought Griffey deserved another year. Argh. What the heck, sports gods? What did we do to you?

July, late

And we're already several days into August before we discuss July. This blog is truly a debacle.

Well, anyway, July started with an awesome trip to Sitka, one of the places in Southeast Alaska I've always wanted to visit. We stayed in this old lighthouse in Sitka Sound that's been converted into a place for rent, replete with kitchen, bunkbeds, all the fixins.

The rest of July was spent chasing the great white whale. I had to catch a fish. Just one. A legal, edible fish.

I thought I'd finally done it, but turns out I had snagged a spawner in the back -- an illegal catch, and fish that was too old to eat. So I let it go. But it was a beauty:

One week later I was back, and this time I got me a fish. A smaller one, but it was still silver, and I hooked it in the mouth. Score!

And that's really it for July. Finally spent a few weekend at home, taking a break from all the travel in the early summer. August is looking to be a fun month. Perhaps I'll update again before too long?

June!

It's been another month and my blogging is still crappy, but I won't let the whole month go down without an update. So, where were we.

June started with an awesome trip to Kauai, where old ultimate friend Fleisch got married. Kauai is a lush, green island, and not nearly so overrun with development as Oahu. The north shore is particularly green, and feels authentic Hawaiian (from what I can tell -- I'm no expert) with its laid-back little town of Hanalei. Lots of cool hikes, especially along the Na Pali coast, where jagged cliffs soar out of the crashing ocean waves. The pics:

Back to Alaska, June is the month that never sleeps. There is no night, only various stages of brightness. It's awesome, but exhausting. Every weekend is an adventure. Two June weekends were spent on the Kenai peninsula. The first was an attempted fishing trip that turned into an all-day raft/float trip because the sockeye weren't in the river yet. I was in a packraft, which is a small rubber raft just big enough for one person. It takes a little time getting used to it -- especially how to steer to avoid obstacles and to prevent spilling into the water -- but it's an awesome way to get down a river. The second weekend was more of the same with the packrafting, this time camping at Granite Creek with a large crowd to celebrate some birthdays. The pictures (including a random moose sighting from the front yard):

Finally, this past weekend was spent in Harriman Fjord in Prince William Sound. It's one of the most beautiful places I've seen in Alaska. It's located here:


View Harriman Fjord in a larger map

We camped on the south side of the fjord and kayaked around the protected waters. There was a ton of glacial ice floating around, due to the seven or so glaciers that fed into it. Seals and otters hung out on the icebergs as we paddled by. It drizzled for most of the time, but we got some sun breaks on Saturday and then all fog on Sunday. It wasn't too cold, as we were far enough from the glaciers so we didn't feel their chilly winds. The pictures:

Now entering July, we're starting to lose daylight again. Which is a good thing. It's still weird that at 11:54pm, as I write this, it's perfectly light outside. In a month we'll actually have dark nights again.

What adventures will July bring?

May roundup

Well I've let a whole calendar month go by without posting anything. Things have gotten mighty thin around here. But I'm not giving up; one of these days I'll start up again at the old pace. For now, this is what I've missed in the last month.

I'm 34.

I went biking in Denali National Park on the park road, before it was opened to cars and buses. We camped near the entrance, and then biked about 10 miles in (some people went farther) before turning back and camping again. We saw sheep, eagles, ptarmigan, moose, caribou, and -- from about a quarter mile -- a grizzly bear. Others saw a lynx and a fox -- two animals I haven't yet seen here. I shoulda kept riding! Pictures:

In other news, the Mariners suck. It's been a combination of poor roster construction, bad luck, and players performing well below career levels. Griffey may have been sleeping in the clubhouse, or he may not have, but the problem is that he was getting so many at-bats in the first place. He should be a figurehead and an occasional pinch-hitter. Not a full-time player like he was for the first seven weeks. Looks like they got him tied to the bench now, so that's good. It also appears that the players are still boycotting the TNT reporter who published the sleep story. I don't know what I think about that... on one hand, it's fine if they want to band together against a common enemy (a single reporter). On the other hand, he was only doing his job, and the players are obligated to speak to the press. It's an interesting question whether the rest of the press is obligated to band together to protect each other from such boycotts -- only then, really, can they do their jobs without fear of retribution. But that's just the way it is in the clubhouse -- you work for years to gain access, and it's too valuable to sacrifice in the name of principle and journalistic ethics. I say the boycott continues until Griffey retires.

In other outdoors fun, last weekend I made my annual trek to Eagle and Symphony Lakes. A lot more snow this year than last year, but it was a brilliant sunny day and the trail was in good shape. Pictures:

Finally, the finale. Of Lost. I liked it a lot when I saw it... then liked it more as the first days went by... and now I've started to like it a little less. This deserves its own post someday. But I will miss Lost immensely -- although it's not the best TV show I've ever seen (that's The Wire), it has been my favorite. No other show inspired so much imagination. I wonder if there will ever be anything else like it.

That's it for now. Hopefully more soon!

There goes Walter, best there ever was

Here's to you, Walter Jones, the best Seahawk of all time and maybe the best offensive lineman ever. Also my favorite 'Hawk of all time. Congrats on the retirement, and thanks for getting us to the Super Bowl.

In which I tangle with the Washington attorney general

The first thing I should say about these lawsuits being filed by attorneys general around the country in attempt to stop the health care reform law is that they are a complete waste of time with no chance of succeeding. Anybody who has spent any time learning about the Constitution and the Commerce Clause knows this; you'll only find disagreement among people who either (a) disagree with the Commerce Clause jurisprudence and want it to change, (b) intentionally misrepresent Commerce Clause jurisprudence for the sake of riling up conservatives and scoring political points, or (c) both. Anyone who takes a dispassionate look at the caselaw will tell you that the health care law is constitutional.

Put another way, the only way these attorneys general will win is if they convince the court to overrule decades of precedent. If the court simply follows precedent, they're toast.

This is why it is so disappointing to see AGs like Washington's Rob McKenna dragging his state into this mess. McKenna is a bright guy, so it appears his involvement is inspired purely by politics. Or so I thought, before today's interactive chat on the Seattle Times website.

I joined the chat, hoping to get an answer from him about how he would handle precedent like Wicker (the "Hay Case") and Raich (the "Marijuana Case"). Both cases held that under the constitution's Commerce Clause, congress had the power to regulate noneconomic, instrastate activities when those activities might undercut its regulation of interstate commerce. Under those cases, there's no way the health care act isn't constitutional.

It took a while but I finally got through for a little exchange with the AG. You can go to the chat, and keep an eye out for "geezer." In short, I questioned his competence; he asked me for citations; I provided them; he didn't respond. He'll have to respond eventually, and... good luck with that.

Winter stuff

Some more winter photos... The dogs are on their way to Nome, and they started last weekend in Anchorage.

And after a heavy snow this past week, it was the perfect time to head to Arctic Valley for a some fresh powder. (The ADN was there too, and its photos are a little better than mine.)

It's back, and it's not pretty

A year ago I wrote what I thought was my last post about The Bachelor. I was wrong. Tonight they proved there is no end to the torment, as ABC broadcast a 2-hour program chronicling the wedding of my old high school classmate, Jason Mesnick. I should have stayed away, having learned my lesson on the pain that comes with all things Bachelor. But I made a commitment long ago to see this thing through to the end, and so it's back.

What follows are -- hopefully for the last time but after tonight I can make no guarantees -- my uncontextualized impressions from the program.

I hate myself for this. “America has been waiting for” this wedding. And how.
The weather is awful. This wouldn’t have happened if he had gotten married in Seattle, instead of taking the corporate dollar and doing it in a SoCal resort.
Hooray, Seattle scenery.
Shave that terrible scruff, Mesnick.
Holy crap I forgot how much I hated this.
I love the commercial for the Dyson Ball. That’s a lot of passion for vacuum cleaners.
They have a 100-man army working on this wedding, putting twigs and branches in random places. That’s normal for weddings, right?
Yay, let’s recap the part where Jason became “one of the most hated men in America.” Good times! (Who else was on that list? Madoff?)
This is just as horrible now as it was a year ago.
Lives torn apart by tabloids. An unpredictable repercussion from putting your entire life on national TV.
Molly felt really bad for Jason. Which made Jason feel really bad for Molly. A shame spiral. Then he gave her a piggy back ride and everything was okay. Note to self.
Now an update of other “Bachelor couples” whom I’ve never heard of. They all make me sick. They pretend to have planned their own wedding. Who's buying that?
Who are all these people?
I think that guy was the fat kid from Stand By Me.
They’re building a Swiss Family Robinson house for them. Don’t know why.
Of course the professional jeweler thinks the wedding band is incredibly important to a marriage.
They’re creating “a romantic arbor” in the room. I think that’s more important than the wedding band, honestly.
They made Jason’s dad make awkward, non-sequitur conversation about Jason’s journey whilst trying on tuxedos. (Tuxedoes?)
Was hoping I’d recognize some of Jason’s dudes from high school, but I don’t see anyone I know. Oh, maybe that guy. So hard to tell – everyone would be 15 years older. Jason freakishly looks the same, minus the glasses.
This shit is two hours long. Entire weddings don’t last that long.
Dare I say the product placement is cheapening this event?
Their families say lots of nice things.
All this hair and makeup is going to be for naught once the much-hyped thunderstorm hits.
I’ll never understand the female reaction to shoes.
He’s such a crier. His dad’s like, what the hell’s with the crying.
If you were drinking every time you heard the word “fairytale” tonight, you’d be housed right now.
Wow, paparazzi showdown. Put that guy in a headlock.
Doesn’t the host have to hate this?
Boy the weather sucks.
This guest list is awkward. All these people who have been on dating shows together. Can they possibly still be friends, or are they required to attend by ABC?
Lots of umbrellas being turned inside out. Blame the umbrella, not the weather, I always say.
Ceremony begins. Wow, an American Idol castaway is singing. Can’t believe he was available.
Again with the crying.
How much does it cost to get doves and poignantly release them into the wild? Are they farm-raised doves?
Nothing is more romantic than the hum of the paparazzi helicopter.
Careful, he’s going to cry again.
Run for the hills, it's raining.
What’s for dinner? They won't say.
Lots of interviews concerning the quality of the first dance. Why am I still watching this? Oh thank God it’s over.
Never again.

"It was hard to tell if the reindeer found it fun..."

"... one imagines that the smell of sizzling colleagues near the finish should have struck them as suspicious."

Yes, another year of the Running of the Reindeer in downtown Anchorage. I witnessed the event from my office, where I glumly peered out the window while crafting jury instructions.

Where did February go?

It's been over a month since my last post, and I've been very busy. I've been working on a trial for the last two weeks, which really sucks up a lot of time. Before I knew it, February has come and gone and I haven't blogged a peep.

We had two weeks of warm, above-freezing temperatures that took its toll on winter sports. I haven't been skiing as much as I'd like. But we got some snow recently, and we're back down to a more normal 17 degrees, so March should be fun. March is my favorite winter month here, with lots of sunlight and lots of snow.

Wish there was more to say now but I've just been stuck at work too much to generate bloggable subjects. March will be better.

Things I'd be blogging about if I were a better blogger

I still can't shake by blogger malaise... but I can sense myself waking from the slumber. If I were wide awake, I'd be talking about these things:

• Massachusetts special election, also known as: Democrats Doing What They Do Best
• The Supreme Court's opinion in Citizens United, ripping the guts out of McCain-Feingold. I'm going to need a couple days to review it more closely, but this much I know: we have a new definition of judicial activism, as no greater example has ever existed.
• Continued Alaskan hypocrisy by Gov. Parnell about wanting the federal government out of Alaska, yet failing to mention that the state would collapse without federal funding. Thankfully Julia O'Malley doesn't let it slip.
  
• In better news, Felix Hernandez signed a 5-year extension with the M's. It actually makes up for all the bad stuff. Yay Felix.
  

Happy Birthday, Quincy!

Four years old today.

It's going to be difficult

Pete Carroll is a cheat. He's a good college coach because he can recruit well, but apparently he also pays well (hello Reggie Bush and Joe McKnight). I see no reason why he'll be a good NFL coach. The Seahawks are selling a piece of their soul by hiring him.

I was hoping they would fire Jim Mora, because his team got worse as the season went along. He did not demonstrate that he deserved another season. But if I had to choose between Mora and Carroll... ugh. Really, these are my choices?

On the bright side, the Pac 10 is now wide open. The wicked witch is dead. I just wish she wasn't resurrected in Seattle.

Blogger slowdown

As you've noticed the blogging pace has slowed around here of late. Sorry about that, but I have to admit that it will probably stay that way for a while. It won't come to a stop, but a post every few days is probably what to expect for now. I know this will affect your lives in countless ways.

Hope you had a good holiday season and new year. I was in Seattle and then Chicago, and now I'm back in Anchorage, perhaps going to trial next week. So it's been fun and busy. I have a good feeling about 2010.