Not on my own effort

With mother around, it has been ‘easier’ to achieve this goal ;)

See more progress on: Early to bed, Early to rise

Thanks everyone!!

This was fun to do, and I’m so glad so many 43ers joined the fun :)

I’m ending the week with an avatar of my younger self.

And now, I’m off to take on a related goal to simpsonize myself for an extra week!

See more progress on: declare Jul. 27 - Aug. 2 Simpsons Avatar Week

Growing

The tomatoes, the sunflowers, and particularly the pumpkins have grown so much in the past week that they have taken “center stage” compared to the rest of the plants that grow in a more moderate way ;)

See more progress on: grow a garden

The energy of the crowd

The 14th of July —as every year— marked the last day of los Sanfermines, bringing a great festivity for the spectators to watch.

The encierros (running of the bulls) as well as the corridas (bullfighting) have always triggered an internal debate within me —not to mention the heated debates of the fervent flocks of supporters and of opposers. Though it is either an amusing or a disturbing sight for those who watch, in a sense, I think it’s a custom that honors and celebrates the bull’s courage, life, and death in a more dignifying manner than that of the slaughterhouse.

Coincidentally with this event, I was concurrently listening to Herb Alpert’s “The Lonely Bull”, and I am —like he is— captivated by these festivities. The power and courage of the bull, as well as the atmosphere within the crowd, really gets to you, and it is better described by Herb’s words on his CD:

”...I was inspired to find a way to musically express the feelings I felt while watching and listening to the wild responses of the crowd in the stands … The bullfight was gory, beautiful and sometimes troublesome to watch, but the energy in the stands was overwhelmingly exciting.” —Herb Alpert

See more progress on: follow los Sanfermines

::Breathe, breathe deeply::

UFFFF!!!

It seems that in my previous entry, the Blue Angels were only warming up :S I can’t even explain the emission of energy these airplanes release ::sigh:: Though my heart pounding faded a few minutes ago, I’m still trembling a bit… ::breathe again::

These guys took a 5-minute break and came back roaring their engines on top of our heads! What an impressive display! It really made my heart beat intensely —though I’m afraid this might have just been a teaser for what’s coming up in the real show.

It was hard to get a good picture of them, by the time the shutter went off, they were miles ahead!!

The neighbor’s dog took refuge under a tree, the ones in front were howling —the poor little things—, and my dog Uma came to me and asked “What is THAT?” ;)

At this moment, the Blue Angels are done,, but a new batch of other kind of airplanes is practicing overhead right now. This will be quite a show to witness…

See more progress on: See the Blue Angels

Overhead RIGHT NOW!!

10 o’clock sharp, the Blue Angels started practicing all over Seattle for this weekend’s show. It’s startling that for 2 hours now, they have been the only air traffic in town instead of the ubiquitous airport traffic!

They’ve been flying “relatively” high for two hours now, except once that one of them flew quite low and jerked to the left, delivering a rocketlike sound and a tail of smoke!

I remember a couple years ago, my brother called me while I was in Mexico, and, over the phone, those airplanes sounded like rockets, and it scared the heck out of me!! So actually, I wasn’t too excited of being in Seattle for this event. Especially since I now see that our house is under their route —they’ve flown over here at least 8 times :S

But hopefully, it should be quite a spectacle and amazing to watch this weekend over Lake Washington!

See more progress on: See the Blue Angels

10+ years

Ten+ years ago, I briefly joined a bowling league. In all this years, I haven’t touched a bowling bowl except for every spring cleaning! LOL

After all these years, I finally went bowling yesterday with a bunch of friends and had a LOT of fun. Really enjoyed it! Yet I did miss my ball and shoes back home. Not sure if that had made a difference, but it’s always nice to have your own gear.

I was aiming to score at least 100, but I didn’t succeed in holding an average. In the first round at the 6th “inning” I was at 37!! Yet I managed to bring it up to score a 103. Next two rounds I scored 104 and 87 :P Well, not too bad for not bowling a single round in so many years :)

Though striking and sparing is very exciting, it’s really all about having good fun and drinking beer ;)

PS
Oh, yeah, and I’ve got a blister on my thumb!!

See more progress on: go bowling

Woo hoo!!

The Simpsons Movie is here —simpsonsmovie.com— and so our chance to create our own Simpsons avatar —and create a new goal while we’re at it ;)

So for one week, coinciding with the movie’s premiere, I’ll let my Simpsons yellow alter ego be my avatar on 43T!

See more progress on: declare Jul. 27 - Aug. 2 Simpsons Avatar Week