CatchCon 2011: Part One- Sailing, Sailing!

 CatchCon!

Well, I'm finally posting about Seattle where another round of Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch convention, CatchCon took place. Like the previous CatchCons, it was full overrun with fans and fishermen alike! Of course, my experience is usually a bit deviated from the norm at these events, and this year was no exception.

The flight into Seattle was the standard cross country adventure, nothing to write home about... or blog about for that matter. The ride home however was a terror-filled, white-knuckled panic fest, but I'm getting ahead of myself. After landing, I met up with my fabulous friend, the wonderful Cindi, since she was landing only a half-hour after I did. Together, we grabbed our bags, headed outside and met up with our friend Lynn and two of his friends Brianna and Danielle, who were good enough to come pick us up from the airport. Lynn and Cindi are pretty much bff, and he's just a great guy all around.

 Me, Brianna, Cindi, Keith, Danielle, and Lynn at The Market Arms... good times!

We ended up in Ballard at a little establishment called the Market Arms, just outside of PacFish, where we met up with Keith, Monte, Lenny, Gary, and a few of other people. It was a fun night of swapping stories, playing a few darts, and  making new friends and catching up with old ones. However, it was getting late, heading towards the 2 A.M. mark, and we all had an early morning coming at us hard, so we turned it in for the night. The morning would bring us back to PacFish for our annual visit to the F/V Wizard!

Once the lines were untied, we started off pretty quickly. Unfortunately, Monte and the new greenhorn Danny were still standing on the deck of the Pinnacle! However, Keith maneuvered the boat close enough for them to hop aboard, no man left behind on the Wizard!

 Lynn! He's becoming a seasoned vet of the CatchCon shindiggery now.

 Craig Terrill was kind enough to pose for a pic with Jackie and me.

We had a huge crowd on the Wizard this year for the morning crossing. Craig Terrill from the Seattle Seahawks, several people from Discovery Channel, friends and family of the crew, Peter Moran from Rezin Marketing, who does a great job for the Wizard, and then there was us! It was a gorgeous morning for a boat ride.

Norwegians!

 Of course, the F/V Northwestern was gearing up for the ride over as well... 

...Complete with camera crew!

Captain Sig Hansen. Sig wasn't on the boat by the time we arrived at the Locks. I'm not sure if he hopped aboard or drove over to the pier actually. All I know is that he showed up at some point after the boats docked.

We make this same face and take this same picture at every single event we attend together. We're awesome. 

 Here's a shot of a lot of the folks with us for the day on the bow of the boat. Discovery, business partners, deckhands, and a Seahawk or two are all enjoying the ride. Still, I think Jax and I had the best seats in the house.

Riding high! Jackie and I get a great view from the top of the F/V Wizard's Wheelhouse.

We had a stowaway or two make their way to the deck as well! It seemed a few ravens wanted to take the ride from the terminal to the pier! 

Beautiful!

I thought this was a nice shot of Gary Soper. Soper's a cool guy, quiet, but with a great sense of humor. It's always nice to get to see him when I'm around for one of the functions. You'll probably recognize him from the cover of Season 6's DVD box! 

I always love sailing in and seeing the city appear in the distance. The grey, cloud-filled sky just screams "Seattle!"

And, what ride into Seattle would be complete without a picture of the Space Needle?

As we were sailing in, a Coast Guard chopper seemed to appear out of nowhere and fly directly over the boat! I've only seen them two other times, once at a previous CatchCon during a rescue demonstration, and again in Panama City, FL after a very tragic double red flag day when they were out searching for several bodies. The memories are chilling, one for what could happen, the other, for what did.

Thank you, US Coast Guard, for all you do!

 There it is, The Bell Harbor Conference Center, and the pier I've come to know so well. The next day will be a long one...

And, as always, I'm loving every minute of it! Next up, docking the boat, "hey, look, it's Edgar," and other shenanigans.

Alabama Tornado Outbreak April 2011

heycameraman@flickr

1.5 mile wide wedge Tuscaloosa-Birmingham tornado in downtown Tuscaloosa, AL.

On April 27th, my home state, Alabama, along with several other Southeastern states, was hit by a devastating outbreak of severe weather. It has now been estimated that roughly 362 tornadoes touched down over a three day span, the 25th-27th, 312 of which occurred on the 27th. The destruction and loss of life was staggering.  We had excellent warning, days of notice that severe weather was coming, and for many, up to half an hour of tracking coverage before an actual strike... still, the absolute power of the storms was too much, and despite the fact that these storms were taken very seriously by the majority of the populace, they were simply to strong, too big, too deadly, and many were killed in spite of their safety measures. So far, over 350 deaths have been recorded, and over 300 people are still unaccounted for.

 AGU Blogosphere Dan Satterfield

 Statistics courtesy of NOAA

 The clean up and relief efforts have started, but this isn't something that can be fixed in a week or even a month. The people affected by this storm will need long term support. The areas hit were highly populated, both urban and suburban. Communities I have known my whole life are gone, and people are left with nothing. These are my neighbors... these are your neighbors. Please offer whatever support you can, time, money, goods, blood, prayer... all of it is needed. Remember them when the next sensational story overshadows the coverage of their suffering. Below are some links where you can donate or sign up to volunteer your time. 

Samaritan's Purse

American Red Cross

Salvation Army

Feeding America

The Governor's Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives

The Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham

 Local churches are also organizing aid distribution and drop off sites, so check in your community to help at these aid stations. Also, contact your city hall for more information.

If you have been affected by the storms, please contact FEMA to apply for federal aid. 

 American Nation.Info

Boston.com

This site has many pictures of the devastation and puts a human face on much of it, such as this photo of a grandmother comforting her granddaughter... this tragedy happened to real people. (Fair warning, some of the reader comments are atrociously ignorant.)

myfoxal(courtesy Beth Shelburn's fb page)

Cullman County's tornado, destroyed much of downtown Cullman, including homes and businesses.

 wxbrad
The damage path of the Tuscaloosa-Birmingham tornado as seen from 41,000 feet.

A few, pictures from own community:

 These apartments have been condemned.

 Metal siding was ripped off like paper.

 Completely destroyed.

Total loss, owner has decided against rebuilding.

 The damage shown here is along the main stretch of highway and in no way shows the complete picture of what was affected. Other homes and businesses suffered greater damage. It is surreal, the extent of the destruction state wide, regionally wide. I have debris in my yard from 60 miles away, people's mail, parts of their homes...

Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, Cullman, Pleasant Grove, Pratt City, Hackleburg, Cordova, Concord, Athens, Fultondale, Smithfield, Rosedale, and many, many other communities need our help.

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me'." Matthew 25:40

Deadliest Catch, Seattle, and More! ...All Over Again!

 Me and my friends! (Photo courtesy of Discovery)

Yep! I'm heading off to Seattle tomorrow, as I've done pretty much every April for the past 3 years. It's time for Discovery's Deadliest Catch CatchCon again, and I'll be right in the middle of it! I'm hoping to see some old friends and make some new ones. For anyone who won't be going but wishes they were, be sure to check out the live webcam on Discovery which will be streaming from 12:30-6:00 PM PST on Saturday, April 9th! Who knows, you might even see me hanging out on the F/V Wizard!


LIVE WEB CAM! 

 Hope to see you there! (Photo courtesy of Discovery)

Somewhere Over The Rainbow...Cake!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Last night, my best friend and I got together to do a little baking. Of course, if you've met either of us, you know this wasn't a polite little get together to make dainty tea cookies. No, this was an exercise in creative insanity. Previously, I'd experimented with making a Psychedelic Rainbow Cake, and found that not only was it amazingly fun, it was magically delicious! Now Jenny, my best friend, happens to a Pampered Chef consultant, but not just any Pampered Chef consultant! No, she's the REAL Pampered Chef Consultant... and you should check out her blog: Real Kitchen. Real Life, which features this cake today. It'll be worth your time. Trust me.

Anyway, if you don't know us... this is Jenny:

And this is me:

And of course, you've met the cake already.

Jenny and I might have a slight flair for the dramatic, and honestly, we'll take any opportunity to make something more eventful than it would normally be. So, instead of just making the cake, we decided to add a St. Patrick's Day Flair by dressing up in as much green as I could wrestle out of my closet. What made it even better? The fact that nothing matches. None of those greens go together... at all.

 Here I am whipping some eggs together. I am, apparently, really, really happy about that, but why not? Those eggs make cake, and what's not to like about that?

Here's Jenny mixing the cake, and wearing my favorite pair of socks. Jenny's an unconventional kind of girl who sees a sink as more than just a place to wash dishes or fill stuff with water. She views it as a physical challenge. Balance, coordination, and the ability to mix a cake while teetering on the edge of a thin strip of counter are all skills Jenny aspires to perfect.

Of course, we all know the most important part of a rainbow cake is the color. Otherwise, it'd just be, er... cake. (Not that there's anything wrong with that!) Still, you might think coloring a bowl of white batter would be child's play, like melting crayons in the toaster, but I assure you, it's an exact science. Just look at that concentration!

Each of these colors were mixed using a very complex systematic equation to obtain optimum colorization. This might be above some of your heads, but I'll go ahead and write an example for you. Because, as an artist, I know all about the maths.

There are two bottles of blue, one neon, one regular. Here is the ratio: A bunch of neon blue to Not as much regular blue. Thus, your equation would be:

(a bunch of)Nb+(not as much)Rb="yeah, that looks good."

Exact. Science.

Now, like all exact sciences, take chemistry for example, you don't really have to pay attention when you're pouring stuff from one thing into another. Just assume it's right. It'll be fine.

See? It's awesome! That's what science (magic!) does.

After you've baked the cake and let it cool as much as your greedy face will let it, spread on some icing. Now, don't go thinking this is some kind of canned crap. Oh no, this is the homemade stuff, with marshmallow fluff no less. You don't get much better than that!

Slap those layers together, ice the rest, and cut into that rainbow on a plate! (Two layers! Double rainbow on my plate! So beautiful... What does it mean!? ) All memes aside, I have to confess that we didn't actually eat any of the cake, we just cut it to show it off for Jenny's blog. She's going to take it to her brother's birthday party, so others can experience the wonder. However, I did have some (most of) the one I baked last time, and let me tell you... if that's not a frosted lucky charm, I don't know what is!

Happy St. Pat's!

Home Sweet Home!

This is not my living room. This is some girl named Karen's living room, but it's doing an amazing impression of mine... or really, of any room in my house. But, that's OK because all of those boxes like these that I own, are at my house... MY house! I've been living there since Friday, and I love it. Finally, finally, after all the crap - waiting so long for it to hit the market after the bank took it over, dealing with the UNRIVALED MORONS nice people at the bank while buying it, the six months of clean up it took, the endless time, money blood, sweat, tears I shed, I'm there!

Thank. You. God.  -and I mean that!

Give me a little time to finish unpacking all those boxes (or at least hide them in the attic) and I'll post some pics of what the place really looks like. It's all going to be a bit mismatched, not like a magazine perfect home, unless it's Eclectic Hand-Me-Downs Monthly. But, I love all my rooms, love having my stuff there, having it feel like home, and also the little extras it has. It's a nice place...

chloe's blog

It comes with its own fruit, like these ^

 residential concrete

A basketball court set up, almost exactly like this ^

Darboy

I'm really excited that I have a cast iron fireplace like this one! ^

I know my posts this year haven't exactly been jam packed with awesome, but it's only February, and moving will keep a gal busy... and broke, ($30 for a shower curtain?! Oh, Target, you gots to be kidding!) but it's exciting to me at least! (However, I will say April's going to be an AMAZING month, having nothing to do with moving or houses, and I can't wait to blog about it!)

Well, I guess that about does it for now. :)

3 Blogs of Note!

At last blogging, I was excited about my move. Saturday, it finally happened! When I get the place set up a bit, I'll do a nice big post on that. Today however, on this Valentine's Day, this Single Awareness Day, as it's known to those of us flying solo, I'm going to deviate from the standard posting of hearts, flowers, and dangerously armed flying babies and tell you about something else.

There are a few blogs I'd like to post links to, because I think people should read them. I believe this, firstly, because I write two of them, secondly, because my best friend writes the other. Yes, shameless self promotion brought to you by The Shenanigan Files. 

I've recently started writing on a site called Bukisa. The things I put there really don't fit how I write on Blogger, but they are things that I want to say. It's a write for profit site, and assume I'll at least make enough to order something off the dollar menu once a year. I'd appreciate if you'd at least swing by and give it a look.

 I write other things here!

L.A. Douglas on Bukisa (Notice how I went with initials? That's professionalism! I write about different issues I run across, advice, "how to" articles, and various other musings. I've only published two articles at the moment so it really won't take much time to drop by and have a read.)

The second blog I'm going to recommend is anything but professional, and I have to think if you've read this blog, you're aware of my other one.

 I made it myself!

The Ugly Sweater  (It's about... well, exactly what you'd think it'd be about- ugly/tacky sweaters. However that is simplifying it. It's about all kinds of knitwear, some Christmas disasters, some intriguing art projects, and of course, animals in clothes. It's a good read if you don't like to take life too seriously.)

The third blog, is one that I really think you should visit! It'll improve your life through deliciousness!

You know you want them.

Real Kitchen. Real Life (Finally, I'd like to introduce you my best friend, Chef Jenny-Lyn. She's a Pampered Chef consultant, but her blog is so much more than that! Sure, she tells you the value of the products, how to use them, but she also posts wonderful recipes- like Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits! Plus, she's got a terrific sense of humor so you're not stuck reading a boring blog about kitchen products and bland food. You're reading a blog about great kitchen products and amazing food, and amazing food is my favorite kind of food!))

Finally Moving!

Well, here it is February of two-thousand lebben, and I'm still not living in that house I bought back in... September? Granted, the place was unlivable for a few months, and at first, downright deadly, but it's good to go now. Then, December happened and I got sidetracked by sickness and surgery, and January seemed to be the month of perpetual weather insanity. Thus, ensuring that every single time I tried to do any moving, a great and terrible snowpocalypse would rear its frozen head and shut me down...

...which of course meant it was time to play in the snow like a kid with a get out of school free card. Be sure to enjoy my cousin eddy style headgear, lack of make-up, and nerd glasses.

And, as I sit here today, and look outside the window I'm pretending I have beside me, I can see that the whole of the landscape is again, covered in a nice layer of "winter precipitation" as the cautious weathermen here usually refer to any sort of snow or ice. However, this weekend, they, the television prophets of doom, the conjurers of meteorological fortune have promised me fair winds and a balmy 65 degrees. That being said, I have a u-haul with my name on it waiting for me Saturday morning at 9 AM, and some friends who I've tricked into, er... who love me enough to help.

Here's what I woke up to this morning. The roads however were clear and dry, so work went on as usual.

Anyway, back to the house (of which I have no new pictures yet.) The place actually looks pretty good, and despite the albatross hanging from my moving van's rear-view mirror, I've even managed to get a few things in the place. It's a far cry from the mold infested, grease covered, cat pee saturated monstrosity I originally purchased. Still, like any older house... and it's hard for me to believe a house built in 1970 is over 40 years old, it has its little quirks. The other night, I was repairing a tile on the counter in the kitchen, just a quick fix until I can find an actual match, but as soon as I'd finished and stepped back to admire my handiwork, three tiles fell off the side. House, your sense of humor is a jerkface.

Well, for now, that's all I've got. Anyone reading this, enjoy your weekend, and if you're one of my friends, come help me move! I'll pay you back with baked spaghetti, chocolate cake, and the begrudged obligation to help you move when you need me.