Dad’s Photo Time Capsule

Elizabeth,

I was reading through some of these letters and realized that they’re severely lacking photos. I’d thought to paste a few into my original self-introduction letter, but then couldn’t narrow the photos down to only a few, so instead I’ve decided to throw a bunch together here — your little “taking a trip back in time through Dad’s photos” collage.

I’ve added captions, and they’re all clickable in case you’d like to enlarge them.

Enjoy!

Me as a baby

Me as a baby

Elementary school yearbook photo

Elementary school yearbook photo

5th grade yearbook photo

High school ID, freshman year

With my father at his house in Skykomish, WA — age 17

Late-teens to very early-20s (I’d just woken up; Grandma Stewart took it.)

At a cabin with friends for the weekend (Yes, I was driving the limo.) — age 20

Me with Lisa Loeb and Dweezil Zappa on a harbor cruise, Seattle, late-1997 (age 22)

With my first local friends in Taipei, 1998

With Minnie Mouse, at a friend’s restaurant in Taipei, 1998

With a friend’s baby daughter — age 24ish (I’d shaved my head for a Brazilian jujitsu class.)

After getting my first pair of glasses (early 2000)

At the Skagit Tulip Festival — 2000/1ish

2001ish?

My painful experiment with black hair (2002)

At an old friend’s wedding with two very lucky ladies

Monkeying around with Sam, at his parents’ house in Santa Cruz, Thanksgiving 2002

One of my favorite selfies, taken at a little cafe in Danshui when I lived out there.

Outside Bossa Nova, at Qian Shui Wan, Sanzhi (2006)

Rowing across Sun Moon Lake, Chinese New Year 2006

Checking out (and thoroughly enjoying) the opening of the first Coldstone in Tianmu (Taipei City)

Philosophizing over a cold Hoegaarden, my longtime favorite beer, with Sean, my favorite non-shoe-wearing treehugger colleague, at Alleycat’s Tianmu, another longtime favorite

Sightseeing in Yilan, 2006

Cycling at Dongshan River Water Park, at the 2007 Yilan Children’s Folklore & Folkgames Festival

Cooling off with a sour plum juicesicle, in Yilan, 2007

Sporting my new tailored suit (required attire when I was teaching at the hospital)

Uncle Ron, me, Uncle Terry (L to R) visiting Grandma Stewart at Swedish Medical Center, 2007

A little sitting meditation while visiting Glacier National Park, 2008

Running the pub quiz at Alleycat’s Tianmu

Monkeying around at Snoqualmie Falls, with Grandma Stewart and Uncle Terry (2010)

Alki Beach, Seattle (2010)

Having a few laughs with Grandma Stewart, at Lincoln Park in West Seattle, 2010

Living It!

Hi there,

I’ve been meaning to write for a couple days already, but just haven’t been able to slow down enough. I have the afternoon off and your mother is taking a nap, and I’m caught up with pretty much everything else, so I thought I’d catch you up on what’s going on with us.

We had quite a long weekend. I took Friday off, so we headed to Houtong, a small village near the coast known as the “cat village,” where dozens of well-cared-for stray cats have taken refuge and are the main attraction. We’ve been meaning to check it out for some time. From there we fought our way through traffic to have dinner at Bossa Nova, on the northwestern coast, overlooking the ocean. To top it off, we headed to another favorite seaside spot, Youngdoor, for dessert and tea, then capped the night off visiting friends at Alleycat’s in Tianmu.

 

On Saturday we had dinner at The H.O.P. with a friend who’s back on the island, visiting from Saudi Arabia, and his wife. Not having to drive, I relished in the joint’s exquisite imported beer selection, having more than my share and loving it. I’ve never been a big drinker anyway, but having not had wheels for so long, I’ve recently had to pass on the occasional drink due to having to drive. So since we were having dinner not too far from home, we took the bus and I enjoyed myself as much as possible. Selina did too, stuffing herself with pizza, salad and buffalo wings.

After being out and about the past two days, a lazy Sunday at home was in order. And your mother caught up on some much-needed extra sleep. I spent much of the day in the kitchen, something I too enjoy immenselybut have had so little time to do lately.

You’ve been kicking a lot, Selina tells me. I’ve begun reading a bit to you while we’re settling into bed for the night. When I stop, you resume kicking. And last night you seemed to have shown a liking for Miles Davis. As soon as I switched from the radio to it, you began kicking up a storm. We guess you were dancing.

Your mother’s belly has been stretching ever so fast. Some of her favorite dresses are going to need to be retired very soon, or put away for a while. I’m still enjoying this process a lot.

Love,

Dad

An Expansive Weekend

Hi there,

I took most of Friday off, so we’re having a bit of an extra-long weekend. We spent all day yesterday in Taipei, including some shopping at Wu Fen Pu for some comfy preggo clothes for Mom.

Today it looks like a lazy day at home, hiding near the fans and air conditioners. I made brunch: blueberry multigrain pancakes with homemade strawberry compote. And now we’re sipping down a huge pitcher of passionfruit honey green tea I brewed yesterday — iced, of course.

Selina is looking really pregnant. Now, rather than getting surprised looks when she tells others she’s five months pregnant, people have been asking her how far along she is. She’s as beautiful as ever, and super curvy now. And she has a few new things to wear now, including a couple pairs of slip on extra-padded shoes.

One of my friends who has been following this blog mentioned the other day that I’ve posted too few pics of myself, so here’s a selfie I took last week in the men’s room at MiaCucina, one of my favorite Taipei eateries.

Love,

Dad