Higher Learning

CONTEMPLATING COLLEGE:  Kids. They grow up fast. So fast that it's time to start thinking about college for CJ.

Fortunately, Washington state has a program called Running Start that lets high school aged students get a jump start on college. Recently, we went to an info session about the program. I'll have CJ tell you more about it. ...

On a Tuesday evening, 28 August 2018, my mother and I went to the Highline College in Des Moines, WA. We went to the campus' Building 7 for a presentation about Running Start, a program run by Washington State allowing high school juniors and seniors to begin their college freshman and sophomore years, while still in high school. As of the time I'm writing this, I am not yet eligible for Running Start.

At the presentation, the audience (consisting of me, my mother, and roughly seven other people) were told the benefits (tuition paid by the state, both high school and college credit, etc.) and considerations of Running Start. An example of a consideration is that when high school isn't in session, college is, and while college isn't in session, high school is. Fortunately for me, I have a non-traditional schooling schedule, so this would likely turn out different for me than for most other students. Midway through the lecture, I asked about textbook expenses (the PowerPoint mentioned that textbooks must be paid for by the student). After the instructor clarified that textbooks are a student expense, a woman sitting in front of us informed me of a website named thriftbooks.com, where textbooks can be found for cheap.

At the building entrance (and in the middle after the lecture), there were multiple papers (including a Running Start application form, notepaper for the PowerPoint, information about a sister program named CareerStart, etc.) for attendees to pick up. I picked up a copy of all of them, for usage at home.

Highline is a pretty little campus, several miles southwest of our current 'campus.'

Unfortunately, I didn't take but a couple of photos while there. A couple of totem poles got my attention. 

Here's a panoramic photo of the campus from the college's website. ...

You can take a virtual tour of the campus by clicking on this link: https://www.highline.edu/campus-guide/take-a-tour/

We're going to check out the Running Start program at South Seattle college, as well.

SETTING THE STAGE: After finishing a drama workshop last month through Seattle Public Theater, Annabelle was offered an opportunity for a set design mentorship with the organization.

It has been a big commitment - three evenings a week at the theater on Green Lake, as well as 4.5 hours each Sunday afternoon for three weeks.

I'll have Annabelle tell you a bit more about it.

Foundry10 recently began a collaboration with the Seattle Public Theater to bring students at the Bathhouse Theater at Green Lake an opportunity to peek into the world of set design. Four other students and I were being taught under Stephanie, who does set design for her career. Upon the beginning of the course, we immediately began work on a set for "The Pirates of Penzance," a famous opera students would be performing the following week. We began by laying out eight wooden panels on the floor and priming them bright white before using charcoal to sketch in mountains and a harbor according the grid we were provided. Instead of uncomfortably crawling on our hands and knees the entire time, we took pieces of charcoal and chalk taped to the end of long roller sticks (usually meant for painting high walls or ceilings).

The set ended up being completed with standard latex paints as we learned about new techniques such as scumbling (mixing of paint with brushstrokes) and how to effectively use color to imply distance from the “camera.” Once the painting on the boards was completed, they were hung behind the stage and we continued on to paint the floor a nice sandy color and color the acting blocks (rectangular props you can sit or stand on) a rocky grey. The walls next to the panels were then painted to match them and the set was complete.

Over time, the other four students dropped the class. Thankfully, the other two sets we worked on were considerably less complicated. For a play titled “The Woods,” we simply changed the sandy beach of the background to a more greenish color reminiscent of a swamp. The final play we’re currently constructing a play for, “Trix of The Light,” has one tablecloth that simply has some magic sigils on one side and an Egyptian tomb on the other. Those two sets are still in progress, but as this is the final day they should be complete soon!

I didn't get to see any of the plays or the sets. I was super impressed with the work shown in Annabelle's photos (above) for "Pirates ..."

So, while the internship has been a lot of work and a huge monkey wrench in our schedule, it seems a very worthwhile experience. 

Great Wide Open

AIR OUT THERE: We're not quite all 'green' here, smoke in the air wise, but I'll take 'moderate,' and so out we went into the morning sunshine and blue skies!

Kubota Garden was our destination. Just a couple miles north of our house, it features 20 acres of immaculate hills and valleys, streams, ponds, waterfalls, and amazing plantings. It's a gem of a park.

 There are lots of little bridges. Here are the kids and their pups on one.

And on the bridge below, on our very first trip to Kubota, for whatever reason, Laika (the little black one) thought it would be a great idea to jump into the water. :0 Fortunately, she had a harness on, and I fished her out.

We came around one corner and found this light chocolate bunny in a meadow. It wasn't at all bothered by our presence - not us, or the dogs. That shocked me. All I could figure was that it has grown up in the park and doesn't think of humans or their furry (on leash) friends as foes.

At one small corner of the park, there are bare tree trunks. I told the kids to "go stand in the U-s" and they knew what I meant immediately. I love seeing Spock peek out from the trunks. 

We passed by a number of ponds today where we expected to find koi based on a past visit. However, they were fish free. I speculated to the kids that was because the water was too low and they'd be too vulnerable to predators.  

Eventually, we happened upon a nice big, deep pond and found many a koi there. Call it their summer home. :)

They came right over to us. Clearly, they're used to humans as their food source.

This duck wanted in on the action, too.

 And honestly, as slow-moving as this turtle was, he made his way toward us in hopes of food, too.

 All in all, a lovely day in the out-of-doors.

 There were some pretty flowers along the way. 

 Fortunately, a family member informed me they're Cleome. 

 And below, some lace leaf hydrangea. 

This shrub below was interesting to me. The south-facing end of it was SO much whiter than the rest. I don't think the discoloration was a new-growth thing. I think it was sun bleached. 

Smoke on the Water

SMOKED OUT:  Friday we found ourselves taking a last minute/hasty trip to the Olympic Peninsula to pick up some building materials (specifically about 60 used glass blocks at a cut rate price). 

After getting some VERY bad advice from navigational software Waze, and getting a bit lost, we eventually found our mark and picked up the blocks.

As soon as we were back on our way, I told the kids that the blocks 'smelled like the '60s.' In other words, they reeked of cigarette smoke. I did NOT want to spend an hour plus in a car with that, and we had to have the windows up because of the forest fire smoke.

We quickly went to Plan B. I had the kids use their phones to find out when the next ferry was leaving Southworth. Fortunately, it looked like we had time to get to the dock and catch that ferry, so that's what we did.

So, instead of commuting with nicotine, we got to enjoy a nice ride on the ferry. We'd never taken the Southworth to Seattle run before. It makes a brief stop on Vashon Island.

The kids and I couldn't help but notice how tiny the ferry we were on was, relatively speaking. Named after a Suquamish tribal Chief in the 1800's, the Issaquah class ferry is 328' long, and can hold a max of 1,200 passengers and 124 vehicles. 

Compare that to a ferry like the Puyallup. The Jumbo Mark II class has more than three times the horsepower of the Kitsap. It's over 460 feet long, and can hold 202 vehicles and 2499 passengers. 

It was a downright serene ride. I'm kind of happy the glass blocks stunk so much.

The only drag was the smoke was still so thick that the normally stunning views were hazy landscapes (see the photo at the top of the post). 

HOME WORK: We continue to work away at the long, Long, LONG "to do" list around our new (to us) old house. This weekend CJ helped with wiring in the basement bathroom, where a couple of new recessed lights were installed.

Upstairs, today's work involved installing a new (to us) dishwasher. We bought it at a building materials salvage store. We were there looking for something else, but I spied the nearly-new looking dishwasher (complete with fancy stainless interior), and so it came home with us.

Installing it meant making a few modifications. Fortunately, Christian is super handy, and, once again, CJ gave him a hand. 

PETAL PUSHERS: Over the weekend, Annabelle and I worked on some cute little centerpieces for a back-to-school breakfast.

We made some cardstock flowers with colored pencil stems. Annabelle cut the flowers out with our awesome Cricut machine. Love that thing!

 We were really happy with how they turned out. We made six pots in all.