Blurry Green Eyed Demons

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Is it Cold?

I walked outside tonight and thought to myself "hey, it's kind of nice out. Not that cold." It was -4F. Cold is relative, especially when you live in an area where the temp can change 60 degrees in one direction or the other in 24 hours.

I always say that the long winter makes me appreciate the short summer even more.




After 7 months of this....




a few months of this...




is worth more than gold.

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The Bead Lady

My friend Lois is the bead lady. She has been beading for as long as I have known her. And she is good at it.




Recently she opened her own shop. It's located at the 4th Avenue Marketplace in downtown Anchorage.




When I was in Anchorage I had a chance to stop by and see her new shop. These lanyards are always my favorite. I bought one of these for a friend for Christmas.




Here is the one that I bought.




Lois has many different pieces available at the shop. There are necklace sets...




...in several different styles.




Small hair clips.




I really like these big hair clips. She has several different patterns.




These pin cushions were made by lois' aunt (and my friend) debra. The sides are made with seal skin.




Deb also made these baby mukluks.




She also has carved walrus ivory pendants made by her uncle Jim.

So, if you are downtown stop by at the 4th Avenue Marketplace (the blue building across from the Army Navy store) and check out her shop.

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Will Beg For Chips

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Heading Home

Well, after 36 check card transactions in 3 days I'm headed back to the Land of OTZ. Uyaana had a great time. He saw 2 movies, went to H2Oasis, and Chuckie Cheese's.

I endure these places because Uyaana does not get to do this stuff very often. H2Oasis is definitely not my favorite place After 2 hours I think there I think that we have been completely sanitized. The chlorine level is practically off the charts. Chuckie Cheese's is just....well I'm sure you all know what I mean.

So we went to the movies. I like to try and see a movie or two, depending on what's playing, when I come to Anchorage. Funny, when I lived in the lower 48 I hardly ever went to the movies. Maybe it was because I was so broke. I can't really remember the reason now. So here are my reviews for the movies we went to see...

"Bolt"- very funny.
"Madagascar 2"- meh

There you have it. I'm sure my in depth reviews will soon be in demand around the world.

Places To Go and Things To Do

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I'm in Anchorage til Wednesday evening. Just thought I would check in and I'll try and post tomorrow when I'm not so busy doing really important things like spending gobs of money at Target and going to the movies.

Flashback

6th Grade, Gilmanton Elementary School, Gilmanton, New Hampshire. Circa 1983.
(That is most definitely not me in the baby blue pants and pink sweater...nope, no way, not me.)

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A Tough Day

I have had several emails about this so I thought I would touch on it briefly. I won't go into details as it's really not my place and I am sure that there will be more news of it in the paper tomorrow.

Last night there was a tragic accident in Kotzebue. Local musher Tracey Schaeffer and a pediatrician from Anchorage, Dr. Gollub were hit by a snowmacine while mushing dogs out on trail on the ice. Unfortunately Dr. Gollub didn't make it. Dr. Gollub worked, before his retirement, at Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage.Even though he is retired he would come to Kotzebue for the regularly scheduled pediatrics clinic. I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Gollub on several occasions through work with special needs kids. He was a kind man and was dedicated to the children of Alaska, especially those with special needs.

Tracey Schaeffer is a dog musher and also an occupational therapist. She is a really great lady who cares so much about the children of our region. For the last 6 years I have had the pleasure of knowing Tracey both professionally and as a friend and she and Chuck and their family are in our thoughts and prayers. I'm praying for your speedy recovery Tracey.

Past

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Running Errands

Here are some photos from running errands today. I only got out of the office once today while it was light out so here it is. These were taken at about 12:30pm through the car window.

Hidin' Out

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C.O.D.

Uyaana wants to be mailed to Grampa.












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Doesn't Everyone.....

Have severed ungulate heads on the front porch of their apartment building????

A Few of My Favorite Things

I have decided (since I have haven't had a chance to take very many pictures lately and I am clearly taking too many classes this semester) that I will revisit a few of my favorite photos taken over the years. Hope you don't mind. These are in no particular order of preference, just random pictures that I like.


This is Kaija as a puppy. Wasn't she the cutest puppy ever? This is one of the few photos I have of her of a puppy. When she was about 5 months old my computer crashed and I lost a whole bunch of photos. Since then I have become more proactive about backing up my photos.




I have taken many photos of Kotzebue but this is one of my favorites. This is a panorama so I had to shrink it down really small to fit on the blog. It looks much better full size.




This is actually one of my top 10 favorite picture that I have taken. This photo is proof that you do not have to have a fancy camera to take a good photo. This was taken with an HP Photosmart R817 (or something like that). This is Mt. Memelak on the Noatak River taken September of 2006. I sold a few prints of this photo at the craft fairs last year.




Another top 10 favorite. Probably because the iris is my favorite flower. I took this with a Minolta DiMage Z1. I hated that camera. I think it took maybe 5 good photos. This makes a really nice print and I sold a few of these too. This photo was taken near Paul's Slough on the Noatak River in July of (i think) 2004.




I really like this one too. I think it looks like a painting. This was taken on the Noatak River near where the Agashashok (Aggie) River joins the Noatak. I took this with my crummy little Kodak Easyshare back in 2003.




This was taken when I first got my D40. Not only is this a handsome kid (of course) but I liked the lighting.




Here is another 1top ten favorite. This was also taken with that little HP photosmart in July or 2006. This is a creek that flows into the Little Noatak River. The Little Noatak is a branch of the Noatak River. Photos like this make me really miss summer. This was one of the photos that sold well. It is also the print I get the most request for from family and friends.




I have lost the exif data on this photo but it was taken either with that hateful Dimage or with the HP. I think it was taken in 2004. This is of Hugo Mountain on the lower Noatak River.




Ok, last one for now. This was taken in Point Hope, Alaska during a blanket toss at their whaling feast in June of 2007. This was also taken with the HP Photosmart.

Well that's all for now. It's kind of fun to go back and look through past photos that I haven't seen for a while. It was also a good way to make a blog post when I had nothing else to offer.

Sniffin' Around

Here's Kaija the Karelian Bear Dog out doing her favorite thing...running and sniffin' around.

Stuff

I'm getting the feeling that the only person who thinks that seeing Jesus Christ Superstar is really awesome is me. I get all excited and tell my friends and they just look at me with this weird blank expression. *sigh* I'm so misunderstood. I am a closet Andrew Lloyd Webber junkie and I love musicals. I saw Cats and Aspects of Love in NYC on Broadway. I haven't had the opportunity to see a lot of professional productions but I love the soundtracks.

I first saw Jesus Christ Superstar in 1993. Actually I think i saw it twice in 1993, once in Boston and once in Durham NH. I know for sure that the one in Durham was September 20th 1993 because that was Ted Neeley's 50th birthday. Me and a friend waited outside the theatre and got me meet him after the show. He was very nice and took the time to talk to everyone and sign autographs. He was very appreciative of his fans. He is 65 years old this year , but I don't care, I still love him.

So then I was still on the Centertix website and I saw that the Alaska Theatre of Youth was putting on Fiddler that same weekend so I bought a ticket to that too. I remember we did Fiddler when I was in high school and I bought the movie starring Topol. I loved the music and the play. I hear that Topol is touring with Fiddler again and I wish that I could see it.

I have been sick since last Thursday. It started as a sinus thing with the drippy snotty nose and has progressed to a chest thing with lung debris of various shades. I stayed inside all weekend and did a lot of sleeping and laying around. I reluctantly dragged my butt out of bed this morning and went to work. Thankfully I have Veteran's Day off and I can sleep in.

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What's the Fuss Tell Me What's Happening

Can I just tell you....



that I just bought tickets to see Jesus Christ Superstar, starring Ted Neeley, at the Atwood Theatre in Anchorage for December 9th?

I.AM. SO. EXCITED!!!!

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Post Office

I was gonna title this "Going to the PO" but I didn't want to make anyone think I was going to see a probation officer. All that is behind me I swear.

I figured I better get some photos anywhere I can so I took a few on the way to the post office. Kotzebue does not have home delivery of mail. We all have post office boxes, so the post office is usually a daily thing around here.




On the way you could see that people are fishing out on the ice here and there.




They are still catching tomcods and even some smelts here and there.




Here is the lunchtime traffic jam in front of the post office.




Doesn't everyone drive around with a 55 gallon drum of gas in their pickup??




Here is our post office. It's kind of ghetto. It's not our fault though. Apparently the federal government feels that we are not worthy of a new post office....even though Point Hope has one which is totally not fair.




this fella was just hanging out.




I think this guy was walking to the airport.

So that was my exciting lunchtime trip to the post office.

Excuses

Yeah I have lots of them. I apologize for the lack of outdoor photos lately. I know that is why most of you come here. I am afraid it is only going to get worse for a while. This semester Bree and I, for some reason that escapes us now, thought it would be a good idea to take three classes this semester. Um, yeah. Monday, Wednesday and Friday I am gone all day and don't get home until between 7pm and 8pm depending on the day. Combine that with the shortening days and here I have a post with no pictures.

I will try and load up on the weekend and spread them out.

Go Smarty

Today was awards day at June Nelson Elementary School. Much to Uyaana's chagrin I was there to take photos. See how thrilled he was when he saw me.




He was even more thrilled when he had to go up and accept his award for High Honors from his teacher.




This was his response when asked to hold his award up so I could take his picture with it. I guess technically he IS holding it up.




Then after being told by me to quit being a sullen butthead this is the look I got.

Oh well. Hurray for my smart boy!

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How About You???

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Everything I Know About Politics I Learned From Bloom County

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In the Homestretch

We're almost there. I have almost survived another presidential election. I can't wait until I don't have to watch another campaign commercial. I can't wait until my mailbox is no longer full of those flyers. I really dislike politics. I don't like listening to politics. I don't like talking about politics. The whole thing just puts a nasty taste in my mouth that no amount of Crest Whitening Expressions can get rid of. I'd try Listerine but I might be tempted to drink it. SOOO, only a couple more days to go.




Today was a beautiful cold day. I woke up in the dark at 9:30am, made some coffee and watched the sun rise through the living room window. I decided to take poor Kaija for a run. She hasn't been out in the country much lately. With three classes a week it can be hard to find time. I usually only take her out with the fourwheeler when it is light out so that I can keep track of where she is. Pretty soon I will be going to work in the dark and leaving work in the dark so her runs will be mostly on the weekends.









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Nothing New

I have nothing new at the moment. The last three or four days have been pretty much taken up my work, classes, and Halloween stuff. Tomorrow I'm going to take the dogs out for a run and hopefully take some pictures. Tonight we turn back the clocks so it is going to get darker earlier in the day. November and December aren't the greatest months for outdoor photography around here.