The interns piled into a 15-passenger van today for a tour of Seattle led by Dave Boardman, editor of The Seattle Times. A good time was had by all.

I heard a commotion on Sunday afternoon, and saw some people across the street all staring at the intersection a few houses down. In the middle of the street was a loud protest with yellow signs. I didn’t have a picture of the day yet, so I ran to my room, grabbed the camera and my keys, and proceeded to follow the protest for a few blocks for pictures. From what I could tell, it was the Vietnamese community from Seattle-Tacoma area protesting against China. when I got in, I took a look on Google and found out that it was planned in solidarity with rare protests happening in Hanoi. Wild, huh.

This is what I saw coming through the intersection near my house.

This guy spent much of his time shouting into the megaphone. I don’t know exactly what he was saying, but he was emphatic.

A lot of the participants were shielding their faces with their signs from the photographers/videographer.

SPD was there and was very helpful in keeping the protest safe from drivers. The intersections can be nasty in my neck of the woods.

My schedule is a little strange this week, since I am working on Saturday night (but not really working – we get to see the presses as part of the internship). So I joined my favorite Stephanie and her friend (and her friend’s son) on a trip to the Woodland Park Zoo. The weather was nice, and the zoo wasn’t too crowded. And the animals came out to play a bit! A very worth-it visit and day off adventure.

For size comparison, see here.

Um, Steph – that’s not a zoo animal. That’s the baby.

Something strange appeared when I looked through my photographs from the Georgetown Carnival on Saturday. Do you see it?

(this one is a stretch)

What a strange combination of punk, rock-n-roll, live music, antique vendors, food, kids, dogs and sunshine. It was rather enjoyable.

I found myself out and about much later tonight than any other night so far. I’ve now been here a week. Crazy, it feels like it’s been so long, yet it hasn’t been at all. This city is incredibly beautiful.

Alki beach

From the King County Water Taxi fishing pier

This was made from test footage on a Panasonic AVCCAM AG-HMC150 camera and produced as part of my workflow training for my internship with The Seattle Times.

It’s a neat camera, and I seem to have figured out how to expose and compose the same way I would a still camera. Or at least vaguely close.

(Thanks to my coworker and teacher-of-things Danny Gawlowski for the lower thirds. I don’t really live with a Scary Man, I live with two very awesome girls.)

A week ago Thursday morning, I left for my summer internship at The Seattle Times. It was not an easy morning. But Seattle is beautiful. And three days in, the internship is off to a good start. So all is well. But I still miss home. And Scott.