Ivan Tedesco, Washougal 2005

#30 Ivan Tedesco, on his way to winning the first moto of the 125cc class at Washougal.

Unbound Energy

It was a day of unbound energy at the Washougal motocross nationals.

Flying High

Flying high.

Carmichael Cornering at Washougal 2005

Ricky Carmichael dives into a rut near the bottom of the "ski jump" at the Washougal track.

Washougal Motocross Nationals 2005

Ricky Carmichael nears the start/finish line during qualifying at the 2005 AMA Motocross Nationals at Washougal, Washington. These bumps seem to get taller each year. Carmichael went on to win this race.

sultry summer day
lazily emanating
pink cotton candy

Lubricate

It's true, WD-40 really is "delightful-smelling." Why hasn't there been a Calvin Klein's WD-40 For Men Cologne?

Glasses

It seems that the Superman/Clark Kent trick actually works.

Stay Dirty

Clive posts about the possible dangers of taking showers:

A couple of scientists from Wake Forest University noted that water contains trace elements of manganese. That's a metal that occurs in nature, so we're naturally exposed to it all the time; but when it enters the body in higher concentrations than normal, it can cause brain damage. The scientists hypothesized that showers would would aerosolize any manganese in the air and make it inhalable, a particularly effect way of getting the metal into your system.

But doesn't this make humidifiers bad, too? They put water into the air where it can be inhaled. What about fountains and waterfalls? What about fog and rain? We could potentially filter our shower water, but we can't do anything about rain or fog.

And at the beach, the crashing of the waves must put a lot of moisture into the air. Is a day at the beach bad, too? Even with sunscreen?

Everything is bad for us. But worrying is also bad for us. Drat. Where's the lemonade?

Summer At Last

Most of my photos are hand held shots, so I tried that at first with this one, but eventually realized I would have to bring out the tripod to get the picture I really wanted. I shot this from about 5 feet away with zoom instead of up close with macro, and then I digitally removed some distracting elements from the background in the upper right and lower left.

Spike 

This is Spike, our new kitten. 

The Allergy Channel

Welcome to the Allergy Channel, your source for allergy lifestyle programming. I'm your host, Kat Dander. On the Allergy Channel, you'll see classic movies like Sneezeless In Seattle and Saturday Night Hay Fever. You'll see game shows like Wheel of Pollen, and the latest reality shows Histamine House and Hell's Itchin'. When you see the dust mite logo in the lower right corner of your screen, you know you're tuned in to the Allergy Channel. So stay tuned for the latest allergy news and allergy fashions, right here.

[This post inspired by Delta Park's post on the Horse Channel, and by the person who came here from a Google search for "the allergy channel."]

Flower Pr0n, All Wet, Part 2

Another wet rose. See even more wet roses. See also Miragination.

Flower Pr0n, All Wet

I've been struggling to photograph these roses for a long time. They look pretty in reality, but pictures of them rarely look as good. I wonder if the people who photograph regular pr0n (as opposed to flower pr0n) have this problem. I wonder if they have to say, "Sorry, you look incredibly hot in real life, but it just doesn't come across well in pictures."

It rained last night, and some rain water was still trapped in the roses. I thought that might make the rose more photogenic than usual. Then I got to thinking about how much I've liked some of Peter's tall, narrow photos, and I decided to try a similar aspect ratio.

I used GIMP to play with the color curves and make the background darker. It's still far from perfect, but finally, I think I have a picture of this rose that is OK. I'm not sure why it's so hard to get a good one, though. Maybe my digital camera has some weakness with this particular shade of red.

Oh, and one final question: is flower pr0n considered even more hard-core if it has bees in it?

Crash

If you came here looking for the story of my motorcycle accident, it is here and here. I haven't talked about this in a long time because I've basically forgotten about it. I have recovered nearly 100%. I occasionally feel a relative lack of flexibility in my right thumb, and a relative weakness in my left ankle compared to my right, but it is only a slight difference. It does not make any difference in my daily life.

If you have been unlucky enough to be in a serious motorcycle accident, my advice would be to make sure you get physical therapy. Do not neglect this, it works.

And if you ride a motorcyle, I would really encourage you to wear a full-face helmet. In a high-speed crash you are likely to tumble (I know I did) and when you tumble, every other time you hit, you land face down. Because I wore a full-face helmet, I sustained no damage to any part of my head.

Details

The other day, I jokingly threatened my girlfriend with a spanking.

"Oh," she said, "that reminds me of something that happened at the office!"

That was not the type of reply I expected. For a moment I pictured something out of the movie Secretary. But she is a lawyer, so she was just talking about a detail from one of her cases.

Day Lily 2

Flower Pr0n, day lily edition, part 2.

Day Lily 1

Flower Pr0n, day lily edition.

The grass is sometimes greener in your own yard

I have not watered my lawn yet this year, but it still looks like this. That shows just how wet Portland has been. I'm starting to think that Summer has finally arrived, though.

Hydrangea 2

Another Hydrangea

Hydrangea

Hydrangea in my garden. This is an unmodified image; the color balance and contrast resulted from taking the picture at dusk.