"The best camera is the one that's with you." - Chase Jarvis

Photography has been on my mind quite a bit lately. Partly because my photography road trip with my cousin is coming up in a couple weeks. But probably mostly because I've been reading through photo blogs in my spare time.

The most recent blog I've come across is a photographer by the name of Chase Jarvis. I find both his work and his insights about the medium interesting and engaging. One of the things that he's been focused on over the past couple months has been using his iPhone to take photos. To quote, "The best camera is the one that's with you.". As a gear hound, it's a great reminder for me that photography is not about the equipment, but rather the person using it. And although the 3G camera isn't great, it's always with me, so I never have an excuse not to shoot.

A perfect example of this happened yesterday. After dinner, B proposed that we take a walk around my neighborhood... I was feeling lazy, but somehow managed to motivate myself to throw on some shoes and take the stroll anyway. The weather was pleasant, it was about an hour until sunset, and the overcast skies had started to burn away. My original intent was only to walk, but shortly after starting, I realized this was a perfect opportunity to put CJ's reminder to work.

One of the great things about walking is that we often start to notice the little things that are often missed when one drives by. For instance, the large cherry tree about a block from my house, with ripened Rainiers dotting the ground beside its trunk. Or the number of traffic circles that people had volunteered their time and money to beautify with various flora (Thanks to all of you!). It's these little things that provide ample subjects for my lil' iPhone. I've posted a few of the results from our walk below -- just a tiny glimpse of the good ol' neighborhood of Maple Leaf.

Four Food Filled Days...

It's been a busy past few days. My brother arrived a few days ago from Miami. He's spending the summer traveling cross country photo-documenting Push America's summer cycling and build teams. Since one of the teams kicks off from Seattle, he was here to capture the festivities.
As luck would have it my cousin from Australia also came into town, having decided to swing by Seattle for four days on his way home back to Sydney. Even Mother Nature cooperated by providing perfect 70 degree sunshine for the fellas' time here. I couldn't have scripted it any better if I wanted to.

During their stay, Calvin (the cousin) played tourist, and Jenkins (the brother) played guide/driver. I unfortunately still reported to work, but I know they were able to extensively explore Seattle. And at least I was able to get home each day at an early hour to join them for dinner... And what meals we had!

Here's a breakdown of the food during their time here: Sunday night: I made dinner -- stirfried pork loin w/ julienned carrots, sauteed garlic green beans, and rice. Quick, easy, healthy, tasty.

(photo courtesy of C.Chan)

Monday night: Taste of India on Roosevelt in the UDistrict. The former owner of Cedars' relative (brother or son maybe?) own this place. The food's just like Cedars (terrific), and their home-brewed, bottomless Chai is heaven. I'd come for the food alone, but their service matches the tastiness of the food.

Tuesday lunch: J & C were downtown, so they swung by and picked me up for lunch. We went to the renowned Salumi, and proceeded to get three of the messiest, satisfying pork sandies ever. Calvin chose the "Porkchetta", I selected the daily special of "pork cheeks" , and Jenkins went w/ the classic meatball sub. Since Salumi is such small establishment, we went around the corner to the downtown waterfall, and dug in. Succulence ensued.

(photo courtesy of C.Chan)

Tueday dinner: With a guest in town from as far away as Sydney, we decided to go to one of Seattle's premier restaurants, Canlis. It met our very high expectations easily. The service was second to none, and the food was cooked perfectly (For those keeping track- appetizers: pork belly, Kona ceviche, crab cake, and the Canlis salad. Entrees- lamb chops, wild king salmon, and two orders of duck breast. Dessert (shared)- A pear cake with thyme ice cream in a pear consumme).

Wednesday dinner: Since this was Calvin's last day in the US, we thought it would be fitting to end his time here with hamburger. But not just any burger would surfice -- so we headed to the Lunchbox Laboratory. Calvin was introduced to the Dork... I'll let the pictures below tell the rest of the story.

(photo courtesy of C.Chan)

So all in all, it has been a great few days. We were able to send an Aussie cousin home with a grand impression of Seattle, both of the area as well as the dining. Hopefully it was enough to warrant a quick return!

A New Pig In Town

My coworker and I headed out to lunch in the beautiful sunshine and stumbled up on this metallic swine of beauty...

Move over Rachel (the beloved mascot of the Pike Place Market)! There's a new pig in town, and he goes by "Maximus-Minimus". Max, as I will refer to him/it, is the newest taco-truck-type-vendor in the street food craze that's hitting Seattle. And that is a very cool thing indeed.

Today was their second day serving lunch on the corner of Second & Pike... So far, their menu is pretty small, but the line for food was not. Fortunately for us, we beat the noon rush, and were able to grab a pulled pork sandwich with Beechers cheese in about 5 minutes. The sandie was decent -- the meat was a bit dry, but the flavor was good, and the addition of cilantro added a nice twist.

All in all, it was a memorable lunch experience. I had read about the metal porker on various food blogs over the past month, so it was cool to actually see it in person. I look forward to seeing how things change and improve over the next few months for Max.

For more info on Maximus-Minimus, you can go to their website and/or check this out. For a couple more pics, see below for the business side of the swine, and what he serves up...