epiphany

Night Light

The moon was out last night with hardly any clouds to obscure it.

Crazy Days

Monday and Tuesday were crazy at work. After my lulling ease of last Thursday and Friday, wherein I read manuals and learned how to answer the phones, I was wondering just how they could justify paying me my salary.

Well, on Monday I finally got together with some people who've been sharing my job responsibilities while the Foundation was looking for a new administrative assistant. It was more than a little overwhelming. I felt like I'd just been dropped in the ocean and had better learn to swim or else. My head was certainly swimming.

Yesterday probably wouldn't have been too crazy except that the receptionist was out sick. As primary back-up for the phones, it fell to me to answer them. I've never fully appreciated what a receptionist does. They are fantastic people who deserve as many large raises as a company can afford. To add to my troubles, the lady who has offered to help me with phones as I'm learning ended up being in a meeting for close to four hours. My supervisor covered the phones for a while as I worked on a copying project for her, but I still spent the majority of the day smoothing out my "Northwest Lions Foundation and Eye Bank, this is Jonathan" and hopefully not putting too many people through to the wrong line. The accomplishment of which I'm most proud was when I was able to transfer a caller to someone's voicemail and still had time to pick up another line.

Today was easier. I did have phones for a little while, but the receptionist was back to work. I was able to catch up on a few of the many projects I'd received over the previous two days. I even had some time for straightening up parts of my desk at the end of the day. Hopefully I can get the rest of my projects in line early in the day tomorrow.

Things I'm learning:

1. I miss teaching.
2. It isn't possible to complete every project all in one day (at least not yet).
3. If at all possible, leave the office right at 5:30 so you can catch the 28 bus instead of the 15. Not only does the 28 leave earlier, the commute is about fifteen to twenty minutes shorter than the 15's non-express route.
4. Drinking hot/warm water has become an addictive habit. (Drat you, China!) ;-)

Yard Art

Silence and Separation

I been reading various articles about the doctrine or application of Christian separation on various blogs recently (here, here, here and undoubtedly elsewhere). A few months ago--even a few weeks ago--I would have felt a need to stick in my two-cents. I don't know if it's a phase, growth, maturity or laziness, but I have very little interest in commenting anymore. I still read the entries, and sometimes I do want to inject a comment. But overall I'm almost amused at the angst, panic and defensiveness I see.

I think a lot of my present reaction (or public lack thereof) has to do with the fact that by being in Seattle I'm no longer as closely associated with the formal body of Institutional Fundamentalism as I once was or the other authors presently are. I've been able to step back or even step aside and simply observe the infighting and argumentation. Although the fighting and thinking do affect me to some degree, they no longer have as much control over me. I've been able to set up house "outside" the compound, so to speak, and suddenly the neighborhood relationships have much less immediate consequence to my own well-being. The bickering ladies, formerly irritating, become humorous. The old gossips "sharing" over the backyard fence approach the laughable.

And yet it makes me sad to watch. Trying to resolve problems is good, but what I see is various neighbors forming their own cliques and defining their opponents. Rather than sharing the burden or combining their energy in the mutual goal of community development, I see the neighborhood swiftly working to tear itself apart and redefine the geographic community in terms of a cul-de-sac here or there. ("Only the streets between 85th and Holman are Crown Hill." "No! Only the streets north of Holman but south of Carkeek Park are Crown Hill!" "Fine--take the name Crown Hill, but we're claiming all the streets north of 100th and west of 16th for Blue Ridge. You guys keep your squabbles and riff raff out of here!")

I see a culture of distrust and defensiveness, a community noble in its goals of purity and power but sadly petty and impotent in practice.

Jesus, people.

Jesus is who you're about. Find out who he is, who he really, really is. Reject the controversy you live in, if only for a month or two. Settle in on the Gospels and get to know the one who makes you children of God. Don't just siphon him for information or theo-philosophical weaponry. Get to know your God in a practical way. Talk with him and see how he responds. Know not only his diety but his humanity. Find the person behind your theology. Let his life and love continue to act in and through you.

Ladies and gentlemen, the solution to your problems is One, and his name is Jesus.

Home, No More Home to Me

The weather was nice, so I switched my license plates this morning.

First Day

I successfully completely my first day at the Lions Foundation. In keeping with what little experience I've had with office jobs, the first day was a bit slow. I did a lot of reading of manuals and got to know a few people, including a really interesting non-practicing (?) Jewish lady who also works as dance instructor. We had a fun conversation about music structure and how it relates to dance. Her husband was a jazz musician, and she had to come up with her own breakdowns of movement patterns to relate to his musical ideas. The description fit very well with a physicalization of Schenkerian Analysis, my favorite branch of music theory.

Fun for me. Strange for you.

Also helpful in spicing up the day was a one pound box of chocolates from my new supervisor.

Season's End

WA Resident

Yesterday I switched my car insurance and set up a local bank account. Today I applied for my driver's license (they mail it to you) and registered my car.

Guess that makes me an official Washington state resident.

Makes me miss Wisconsin. :-(

A Productive Member of Society

As of this Thursday morning, I will officially be a Productive Member of Society. After a good while of job-hunting, I'll be having my first day as an administrative assistant at the Northwest Lions Foundation for Sight and Hearing.

This morning's interview went really well, and they offered me the job on the spot. I had a tour of the facilities, some of which were familiar from Drew showing me around last summer. I met too many people to remember. And my cubicle will actually be where Lisa, Drew's wife, worked while she was at the Foundation.

Drew and I went for lunch at a Thai restaurant across the street, and it was nice to feel I was able to finally treat. :-)

Shameless Plug

Or un-plug, as the case may be.

We've been having problems with the bathroom sink since I last lived here in the spring and summer of 2003. Drew and I have tried fixing the sink via various forms of Drano and Liquid Plumr. Foaming pipe snakes worked decently for an evening or so, but by the next morning, the sink would be just as slow as ever--if not slower. On Friday, Drew tried to physically unclog the drain but couldn't find any problems.

Drew and Lisa are out of town for the weekend, and I figured I'd give the drain one last try before calling the landlords or plumber. The last bottle of Liquid Plumr's foaming pipe snake seemed to indicate that it sometimes takes two bottles to clear a drain, so I was going to pay the roughly ten dollars the bottles would cost and pray that they would work. However, as I was about to grab my second bottle and head to the check-out counter, I noticed a product that claimed not only to be environmentally safe and non-toxic but also to "unclog drains in seconds." All the other cleaners take about an hour, so I was intrigued. The box was a lot smaller than even one bottle of pipe foam, yet it said that it contained fifteen applications. The instructions were a little strange, but since it cost less that two bottles of Liquid Plumr, I figured, why not give it a chance?

Well friends, Power Plumber, distributed in my area by Jelmar's CLR division, is a dream come true. With a (rather frightening) one-second application, the drain cleared completely. I've been trying to flood it again and can't. That's pretty amazing for a sink that wouldn't let you run more than a trickle for over 30 seconds!

Available at Walgreens and other fine, practically-oriented stores.

Nectar of the Gods

Oh liquid heaven,
Viscous pain
And pleasure corporeal,
Come again to me
And make your home my own!

In other words, if any of you really love me, you'll order me some BLENHEIM!!! Mild (gold cap; "nah"="not as hot") or spicy (pink cap) will do. You can get my address by sending a note to the "Contact Me" link on the main Epiphany sidebar. (And please note that the ordering page has earned a permanent link on the "Favorites" sidebar.)

Actually, now I'll feel guilty if anyone sends me Blenheim. But I'll still drink it. And I'll enjoy every drop. Every single one. Talk about a way to make poor little Jonathan Hanneman happy. Poor little Jon who has no substitute for that rich ginger flavor and enlivening bite. Poor Jon who learned to drink Blenheim with his roommate in grad school as we listened to the Irish song, "The Humours of Whiskey." Jon who gave his BJU hall leader friend a bottle as a gift. Jon who grinned wickedly (though in innocence) when the hair-cutting unnamed hall leader took his first gulp and, once finished choking, immediately asked in an undertone, "Jon, is this alcoholic?"

No friend, that's ginger ale as it was meant to be!

And for those of you now tempted to try the best soda ever to come from the South (or anywhere for that matter), I feel obligated to warn you,

DO NOT CHUG!

And never, NEVER inhale!!!

Heavy Mover

I spent the day moving two tall shelving units full of marble, granite and other stone slabs and tiles from one building to the building across the street. The only problem was that the entrance I needed was on the opposite side of the building across the street. Fortunately the journey with a loaded cart was almost entirely downhill.

I was amazed at how many people ignored or simply didn't notice a man in a red shirt pushing a red handtruck loaded down with large stacks of heavy rock. I'm also surprised that I didn't take off anyone's ankles. I came close a few times. You'd think people would realize that a cart has less mobility than a pair of legs.

Anyway, I had borrowed one of Drew's rain jackets this morning because the forecast was nasty. I never had to use it because it turned out to be a beautiful fall day. There were a few sprinkles after lunch, but nothing terrible. Most of the day was sunny with a nice breeze off the Sound.

I also set up my interview for Monday. The lady I spoke with sounded very eager to meet me. I'll brush up on my Word and Excel this weekend and will hopefully be completely prepared come Monday.

Rainier (cont.)

Here are some more shots from Saturday's hike.

Changing Plans

One of my reasons in coming back to Seattle was a job opportunity at my church. They're looking for someone to lead up the technological aspects of the services in addition to managing volunteers and planning events. Well, I interviewed on Tuesday evening, and I felt that it went pretty badly. My mind wasn't clear, and I felt like I couldn't keep a good train of thought. Had I been interviewing me, I would have figured I was just being evasive.

I was really disappointed Tuesday night and had trouble falling asleep. Wednesday I was fairly depressed. Somehow today I felt pretty optimistic, not about getting the job, but rather not worrying about it.

Well, tonight when I got home from work, I had an e-mail saying that I didn't get the job. I'm a little disappointed, but I think I worked out most of the disappointment yesterday. In some ways I'm actually relieved. Holding that position would have been a huge responsibility. Also, I was concerned about the likelihood of living my life out here in an entirely Christian environment. While some may dream of that opportunity, I don't believe it's the best thing for me. I think it's important for me to interact with people from all walks of life and all viewpoints.

In a really odd twist of expectations, however, a job has opened up at Drew's work. I sent my resume and cover letter with him this morning, and he called just before noon saying that they're REALLY interested in me. I need to call them back tomorrow to set up an interview. This job would pay fairly well, and I could leave the work problems behind at the end of the day. It should also allow me a lot of time for working on art and music.

Nothing's settled, of course, but things are looking positive right now.

Muscle Bound

I survived my first day moving tiles and stones. They're expecting to have two more days of work. Overall, things went well. The tiles are large sample pieces, so they normally aren't in boxes, which makes moving them much easier than I was expecting. I broke five early on (several inside a big stack on a hand truck that I lowered too quickly), but Jack, the guy who hired me, didn't seem to mind. He said that those were some of their competitor's old tiles.

Other than that, Drew and I went up to Mount Rainier on Saturday afternoon. It's 227 miles roundtrip to the mountain but takes about two-and-a-half to three hours to drive one-way. The forecast was calling for heavy rain, but we didn't get rained on at all. However, we didn't actually see the mountain's peak (more of a bulge, really) due to the heavy cloud cover. The colors were beautiful. The heather and bushes are turning a dusty red and orange, but there's still enough green to hold a stark contrast. Some alpine flowers are still blooming, and we saw several small herds of deer as we walked around. Due to our late arrival and the onset of both clouds and evening, we didn't actually hike very far--maybe three miles total. Paradise (more here and here) is open until at least October 4. I hope to make it back another time or two.

Remembering

Three years ago today, I was working at BJ HomeSat. The internet had been slow, as was often the case in our building. One of my fellow workers rushed in and said that somebody had attacked New York. Of course, everyone tried to find out what was going on via the internet, which had become completely overloaded with the rush of people from around the country hunting for more information.

Being a small satellite television station, the internet was hardly our only source of news. Soon every screen in the building had been turned to live news coverage of 9/11. Many of us simply stood there watching the events unfold, immediate yet distant and unreal. I think the first tower had just fallen when I saw my first report. I remember a reporter, confusion and panic in his voice, saying, "There are little bits of building floating past." Strange--even humorous--now, but terrifying at the time. The tech desks were all out in the warehouse section of the HomeSat building, set in a square with the clip producers. There were two TVs hanging in the southwest corner of the area. I don't remember if both screens were showing the buildings, but I do remember watching as the second collapsed.

I don't remember which day of the week it was. I know that it wasn't my regularly scheduled day to go to chapel, but I went anyway. Walking across the BJU campus was surreal. Most people, having been in class or studying all morning, hadn't heard the news yet. The air was full of laughter and the chatter of an average morning early in the school year. I was afraid that the administration hadn't heard yet. Part of me was saying that if they didn't change the chapel format and have a time of memorial and prayer, I would leave the school and never look back.

As I recall, the service started out normally. However, I think the singing was cut short. Dr. Bob announced what had happened. He only mentioned one of the towers. The second had fallen just before I left for chapel, so he must not have known about that one yet. At that time, no one knew how many people had died, but reports had said that as many as 50,000 people worked in the buildings. My hometown had fewer than 25,000. I remember the service being appropriately somber. I don't remember if it was given entirely to prayer or not. However it went, I felt it was appropriate enough that I wouldn't leave. As I sat in the balcony of the FMA, all I kept thinking was "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen" and wondered why the angel had repeated the phrase twice. Could this have been part of the end?

I remember calling home and talking to my parents. I wanted to be with them. I had just returned to school to finish my grad work after spending the Spring semester at home. Dad wasn't doing well, and just being with them would have felt safe somehow. I remember hearing the first airplane to fly over Greenville days later. I remember how unsafe, how horribly dangerous that sound had become. I think everyone shivered at the new appearance of that formerly natural noise.

Today I sit across the country, still getting most of my news from the computer. Airplanes are flying past the house, and everything seems normal now. Normal but somehow different than it was before. We were all changed that day, yet as its memory has moved into history, it seems that nothing about who we are, how we live, has changed.

I've heard people say that they can remember exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard that President Kennedy had been assasinated. Do you remember where you were and what you were doing when the towers fell?

Leaning toward Autumn

The weather this past week seems to be leaning toward autumn. I haven't gotten out a whole lot, hence the lack of pictures and postings. I did, however, finish arranging a song for a friend's project. Today I took a few more minutes in the yard, imaging summer's end in a quasi-suburban Pacific Northwest.

With a Little Work

Well, I have at least a few days of work finally lined up for next week. I'm probably crazy to be doing it, but I'll be moving stone and tile for an import company. They're moving storage areas, and it sounds like I'll be their primary mover. Me and my puny arms. Maybe they won't be as puny once I'm finished!

In other news, I have an interview (more of a pre-interview, really) Tuesday evening. If things go well, I'll say where it is. If they go really badly, I'll probably say where it is as well. :-)

New Digital Home

If you're reading this, you've probably entered the correct address. If you came here through http://epiphany.chattablogs.com/, you should know that that address is fading into memory. Please update your links and redirect your browsers to http://epiphany.seattleblogs.org/.

Of course, if you click the new link, you'll just end up reading this again.

(See how many times you can do it before going absolutely mad.)

Pandemic

First Seattle. Then Berlin. Now Romanian villages. As if they didn't have enough to worry about, what with the Carpathian vampires and all.

(Thanks to Joy for the heads up. For another take on the situation, check out the BBC report.)

Pike and Pioneer

The first eight are from Pike Place Market, the last four from Pioneer Square.

A Trip Downtown

It's been a cool day with a good bit of sunshine. After looking through part of the Sunday want ads this morning, I took the bus downtown to get some more photos this afternoon. I stopped by Pike Place Market, figuring that this is probably its last big weekend of the year. It was pretty busy, but some of the booths were closed, including two of the fish sellers. It could just be Labor Day, but maybe they're actually done for the year (I can't imagine that being the case, though, since the salmon runs are still going). Later I walked down to Pioneer Square, the oldest section of the city. From there I hopped on the number 15 bus and headed home.

Photos will follow, probably tomorrow. But for now, please enjoy the only one I took yesterday:

Land and Sea

Some shots from Carkeek Park

A Journey to the Center of the Universe

Ah, Fremont! Who would have guessed that the Center of the Universe lies in the Pacific Northwest, much less within the Seattle city limits? Currents of surreality run east to west here, bound in on the south by the Fremont bridge and to the north by a Baptist church. Fremont is a fairytale land of sculpture, the future and the Old West, playing host to a rocket, comrade Lenin (who has become of big fan of fish tacos since the fall of the Soviet Union), and the occassional bridge troll, among others (read about all of them here). As you walk east along the canal, you'll find shipyards and views of both downtown Seattle and the Space Needle.

(Sometimes you just need a shot of your own shoes to liven things up. That and I was tired of walking after shooting at Gasworks the same day.)

65th and Rainier

When I first came to Seattle last year, I was eager to see Mount Rainier. I'd heard that it was huge and beautiful, but I had no idea of which direction it would be or what it actually looked like. The common cloud cover and proximity of two major ranges (the Cascades and Olympics) didn't help me. As I would drive around with friends, I would see various mountains and ask, "Is that Rainier?"

"No," my friends would reply. "You'll know Rainier when you see it."

After a few weeks in town with no sign of Mt. Rainier, I had pretty much forgotten about looking for it. One evening while driving alone to church, I turned for the slight jog in 15th Ave. NW where it crosses 65th St. I was dumbfounded. Jutting above the city stood a towering mountain of ice and stone. As my friends had said, I knew without question. I had found Rainier.

I wish I could give you guys a better picture, something that conveys the awe of seeing the mountain for yourself. Unfortunately--and surprise, surprise--we've had a lot of cloud cover since Drew let me borrow his camera. 65th and Rainier will have to do!

Bug's Eye View

More shots from the trip to Gasworks

Gasworks

Yesterday afternoon I took a jaunt down to Gasworks Park.

Gasworks sits on the north shore of Lake Union, which is north of downtown Seattle. Apparently the park used to be an oil refinery. When the company went defunct, the city bought the land to make a park. But being the wacky town that it is, the people kind of liked the look of a refinery--or at least wanted to remember it. Thus, today one finds sprawling grassy hills dotted with rusting smokestacks and machinery, a living monument to post-apocalyptic vision.

Morning Walk

I woke up early this morning. It wasn't raining, so I decided to try to get some photos of the Olympic Mountains with the sunrise shining onto them. I got distracted along the way.

Locks and Gardens

I went back down to the Chittenden Locks Tuesday afternoon, armed with Drew's camera.

In addition to the mechanical wonders, the park includes quite an extensive garden.

Great Line

"God must have a great sense of humor to have me on board."

-Bono

After the Storm

A Photographic Romp through the Yard

(featuring karagraphy-inspired square thumbnails)

Good Thing I Didn't Take That Walk Yet

I was doing some e-mailing when I heard thunder and a mighty rushing noise. I headed out back just in time to see my first Seattle hail storm.

Yes, that is sunshine in the last photo, storm still in progress. Now that it's over, maybe I'll take that walk after all.

A Walk in the Woods

Sunday afternoon I took a walk down to Carkeek Park, my local beach access and getaway. Drew's been letting me borrow his digital camera, a nice 5MP Sony. Digital takes a little getting used to when you're comfortable with a film SLR. I have a tendency to take just one carefully planned shot of each subject, whether or not that particular shot turns out. With instant (though not always entirely accurate) replay available, I'm finding that I need to become a little more free with my shooting.

As I entered the woods, I found a stump with a spidery root design overtaking it.

After I had wandered the beach for a while, I found a real spider. Spiders are not hard to find in Seattle--at least not in my neighborhood.

Finally, I followed the path along the Piper's Creek, heading home through the leafy shadows.