Panorama: Glacier Bay

Panorama: Glacier Bay
Originally uploaded by kekaroo

I've recently figured out how to pan-o-ram it up with multiple shots. It's kinda fun and kinda time consuming as most hobbies go.

This shot in particular is kinda cool since there's a lady off to the side, looking at the same thing I am: the view from the back of the ship. Little did she know she's been captured forever, mwa ha ha!

And there's an interesting point to all this: how many pictures are we really being captured in around the world? And suddenly we realize the world is becoming smaller the more we travel.

The Last Frontier

We came back from an Alaskan cruise on Monday! We spent one week sailing up the inside passage and making port calls in Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway, plus sea days in Glacier Bay and College Fjord.

Our friends got married at sea the first formal night. Short, sweet, and surprisingly moving, I didn't realize how choked up I get at these things -- especially in such an intimate setting with a dozen of your friends and family.

Best memories? The wedding photo of everyone on the staircase. ("Put your hand on her other cheek, please.") The gorgeous views of glaciers and mountains and whales and seals. Snorkeling in Ketchikan. Hottubbing at the back of the boat on frosty evenings. The White Pass railway trip up from Skagway to Fraser, BC. The brewpubs! (Sooo many new ratings!) Seeing Mount McKinley, the highest point in North America, on a clear day -- from Anchorage, more than 300km away! Panning for gold!!

Oddly enough, after watching a couple of Princess PopStar live performances, I have a strange urge to go and sing karaoke somewhere with my sister...

s'Cool Dreamin'

I had a dream last night that I went back to university.

It was September and I moved into a new residence room. Except we snuck in my fiancee and he stayed there the whole term without security knowing it.

Not sure what classes I was taking but seeing as I've been thinking about this lately, I'm pretty sure it had something to do with getting a degree to further my education in education. Am I eligible for a Masters in Education? Not sure yet...

... but I'm checking...

Brave New Book

I've decided to embark on a book journey: one of my own. Haven't done this in five years but now is a good time to start. I was inspired to after starting to read "The Mapmaker's Dream" -- a lovely book with an interesting plot and wonderful writing...

Words can be so magical sometimes, and so extraneous other times. I hope this is not too vain... or in vain.

Sage Advice

We were sitting in a McDonald's this morning, starting the day off healthily with an egg, bacon and cheese bagel and a cheese biscuit when I happened to start eavesdropping in on a nearby conversation.

Two elderly couples were sitting at the back of the restaurant, not eating so much as discussing various life notables they have found in their due courses. One of the women happened upon the topic of child-rearing:

"When you're raising children, it's not what you give them that's important: it's what you Choose *not* to give them that makes the difference."

Sigh. If only we can learn these things early in life...