Before I was around

Last time I went up to visit my folks in Anchorage, I snagged some old family photos. I’m (finally) starting to get some of them scanned in.

First up: four photos of my Aunt Kay. I never met Kay, as she died long before I was born. However, I’ve been told on a few occasions that she and I are very much alike. While I’m sure I’d seen pictures of her before, I didn’t remember any of them before I found these while digging through the stacks of pictures at mom and dad’s house.

From left to right: Kay sometime in 1960; Kay in a kilt sometime in 1961 (possibly at the University of Iowa, according to the handwritten note on the back of the photo); Kay and her date for Senior Prom sometime in 1961; Mom and Kay dressed up for Kay’s High School graduation in 1961.

Kay Ward Kay Ward Kay Ward, Senior Prom Berta and Kay Ward, Kay's High School Graduation

Lastly, Mom pinning Dad’s wings on after his promotion to 2nd Lieutenant in 1968.

Dad's 2nd Lieutenant Promotion

Northgate Theatre and Medical Office Building

Word came out this week that Seattle’s Northgate Mall was finally going to be getting an upgrade, part of which is going to involve demolishing the Medical Office Building and the Northgate Theatre that have long stood empty and unused.

Northgate Medical Office Building and Theatre, Seattle, WA

Since I had some time to kill yesterday, I wandered down to the Northgate Mall and spent some time wandering around the old buildings. I was able to shoot my way around about three quarters of the soon-to-be-demolished buildings before mall security took noticed and asked me to stop. To their credit, the guy that spoke to me was very polite, just letting me know that the mall didn’t allow photography on mall property, and told me that I’d be welcome to take photographs from the street if I wished.

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CascadiaCon

For the past few months, there’s been two different events on my radar for the Labor Day weekend that I was interested in: Bumbershoot and CascadiaCon. Some time ago, I’d decided to forego CascadiaCon in favor of Bumbershoot, but then over the past week I got a bit ticked at the Bumbershoot people over their “no cameras” foolishness, and ended up deciding that I didn’t want to head that way, either. So this weekend was looking to be pretty low-key.

Thursday evening Prairie and I went out for dinner with some friends from the Vogue (something that’s becoming a weekly event), and found out that Erin had been asked to showcase some of her clothing in a fashion show at CascadiaCon. Over the course of the conversation, I ended up getting asked to photograph the show, and Prairie was asked to be one of Erin’s models!

So, Saturday evening, Prairie and I headed down to the SeaTac Hilton, picked up CascadiaCon attendee badges at the registration desk, and found our way up to the designated “green room”. Prairie was soon buried in hair, makeup, and clothing, so I wandered back and forth between the green room and the conference room where the show was going to be.

The show itself was much fun — three designers showcasing four clothing lines (Imp of Satan, Fetishwear, Winter Couture, and Notorious Curves) in a late-night, 18+ only Fetish for Fantasy Fashion Show, hosted by Betty Rage of Glitzkrieg Burlesque and Cherry Baum (aka Mickey, who I know from the Vogue).

There are, of course, lots of pictures in a Flickr photoset. While my photos aren’t nearly “professional” quality (after all, there’s only so far you can push a little point-and-shoot, no matter how many dials and buttons they stick on it), I did the best I could. Here’s a few sample shots…

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The New Apartment

Finally — pictures of the new apartment!

Each of the following shots has notes added if you click through to the Flickr page, pointing out some of the bits and pieces you see in the rooms.

And now…tour time!

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Happy Anniversary!

What with still being neck-deep in moving I’m a day late on this, but — yesterday was my parents’ 38th anniversary.

John and Berta

Happy Anniversary, mom and dad!