That was the temperature of Lake Michigan at Tunnel Park as of yesterday evening at 7:00pm. Swimming was a long, slow kick in the nutz.

The Flash Photo Album is nearing completion. 12k of Actionscript, compiled into a 3k .swf file. When I am satisfied with it I will upload a hundred or so Alaska photos. Maybe today, maybe tomorrow.

This morning I woke to the sound of a mouse in a trap. The poor little feller was trapped by his left front leg, up near the shoulder. He had been trying to gnaw himself free for some time, but couldn’t quite reach far enough to complete the job.

So I fed him to a stray cat.

I hate mice.

But not as much as I hate Internet Explorer 5.

Today I began a re-build of the Flash Photo Album application, with an eye on using it as a CDROM presentation tool, among other things. So not much in the way of new and interesting stuff.

This is a sea otter we woke up in Prince William Sound during a glacier cruise:

Sea otters have the densest fur of any animal. The average human head has 100,000 hair follicles. There are 300,000 hairs in a single square inch of sea otter pelt. Sea otters do not have blubber, but instead, when cleaning themselves, blow air into their fur, where it is trapped and acts as insulation.

Boy, sorting through hundreds of photos takes more time than you would think.

It is official: Though the last two years have been wondrous fun, and I may have the most well-located apartment in the city, it is time to move on. Somewhere around the end of the month I will be moving three blocks to a house on a quieter street. Perhaps then, finally, my time will be a little more my own.

Nah, who am I kidding? That will never happen.

After being up for 40 hours, I slept for twelve. I was initially, as the song says, too tired to sleep, but Daredevil put me out like a light.

So: Alaska. Amazing place. We had, apparently, unusually good weather for this time of year; 60s and sunny in Fairbanks and Denali, 70s and partly cloudy in Anchorage.

Thunderstorm’s a’brewin, so I need to unplug. I will continue after the weather clears. In the meantime, look at this:

And Boy, are my arms tired!

I’m off for ten days in a cabin in the Denali National Park in Alaska. See ya when I see ya!

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday dear Hunter!!!!
Happy Birthday to you!

I have a friend named Rick who I met the day I started studying with Master Lee . Rick is Master Lee’s senior instructor and has helped teach me most everything I know about martial arts. He is one of the hardest working, most diligent people I have ever met, and everything he does, he does with an air of grace and humility. He is one of the world’s truly brilliant souls.

Today Rick married his longtime girlfriend/fiance Behnje. It was a small ceremony, full of poetry and teachings from the faiths of the world. Perhaps twenty friends, and 150 immediate family members (they both come from BIG families). Potato Moon , whose muse shines like the sun, provided the music.

Now Rick and Behnje are off to Hawaii for a couple of weeks; the honeymoon is the first vacation they have had in many years.

Rick, Behnje… being your friend is the greatest of gifts.

Congratulations.