2026.3.26-28 Electric SEA

Electric Sea 2026 is hosting a so-called hackerthon at ArtLove Salon, where I took a few art classes recently. I signed up for a workshop taught by Grant Hinkson. He has prepared 6 nicely crafted wooden box, precut plexi-glass plates, PCB board designed by him and manufactured in China (shipment arrived in 4 days!). In class 1, we hooked up the wires with the controllers, and an Teensy 4.0 microcontroller (Amazon or Sparkfun). In class 2, we downloaded his code, and flashed onto the Teensy with Arduino IDE. We verfied that our connections were correct by checking the readout in our laptop using his debugger, for all the controllers: 4 rotary, 2 sliders, 2 buttons. Then we screwed the bottom plate on, jammed the USB cord through the outlet. Too bad that the plug where the USB cord goes through is too tight. I, and Daniel, fried our microcontrollers. Last, open Visual Studio, grab any example from OpenProcessing, modify it by using AI (Claude) with an example he provided.

3/28, Saturday, evening, OK and I arrived almost at 7pm. I asked her to sign up for the award ceremony. But no one checked her registration. We walked around different installations, ate sandwiches and spring rolls. Saw a group using VR glasses, one girl with her colored fabric patches of her year of pain, a group with LED lights that get brighter if one light is near another, a large screen of static kelp and sound of water (diving), a cut piramide-shaped robot, a large paper-mache with lights that turned color when you touch it, a webapp that registers user's hand gesture to ~8 emotions based on predefined questions and then plot the the questions in shiny spheres colored by aggregated emotions... The inventor (or the group of designers) stood by their products and tell you what they are about. To be honest, a lot of crap. But a great chance for people of different discipline to get together and play. Here's Grant's station showcasing what we built: 3 boxes here (total 6 students). None of these are final prototype, but a tool to use in some projects.

At 8:15pm, Elizabeth Churchill gave a talk to encourage everyone playing with AI. She's part of a planning team for an AI univesity in United Emerit. Luckily she's not there now, with the ongoing war. A good speaker. Afterwards, the organizer Third Place Technologies presented awards to the "digital kelp", and the "light together".

Daniel's microcontroller woke up last evening. Safety fuse? Grant gave me back my dead MCU. However, when I tried it later, it was still dead.

2026.3.28. Red Mountain

3/28, I failed to set up alarm clock, woke up later than planned. O.K. and I drove out shortly before 8am. She came up north because she needed to pick up her tent from her friend in Tacoma, with whom she climbed Orizaba early this January.

The road to the TH of Red Mountain was mostly covered with snow, some middle parts were melted out. We pulled off the road and parked on the snow. With the record low snow this year, I was hoping to drive all the way to TH. This is a photo of the TH, which O.K. by the sign.

Started walking the road ~9:45am. The first minute or two was on trail, but soon the trail disappeared into the snow. Snow was soft and shallow in the beginning. Not a lot of snow, but enough that we were punching holes. Put on snowshoes. From time to time we could see a faint trail where the snow had melted on steeper slopes. The slope gets fairly steep, but not terrible. There's some road zigzaging on this slope, which we crossed a couple of time, and there, it was flat and all snow. Minor bushwhacking involved.

Once we emerged from most trees, the view was pretty good (to east). Eventually, we followed a ridge. At about 5400', no more trees, somewhat steep. We put on crampons. I haven't used crampons for years. Had to adjust to fit my current boots. It gave me a chance to eat a bit of my sandwich, otherwise, I was lagging behind so much that I had no time to stop and refuel. Almost 1pm already. O.K. doesn't seem to need to eat. We also got our ice-axe out, and put on our jackets. A bit chilly when wind blew.

Finally we got on a false summit. Great view here over to the west (Alpine Lakes). Rainier is to the south shrouded in clouds.

From here, need to drop down on to the ledge that connects these peak to get to the proper Red Mountain. You can see O.K. in this photo. A bit narrow here, but not bad, except for one small rock-pile that I had to use hands.

Finally, we reached our objective. It doesn't seem any higher than the false summit. In summer, it's easy to scramble to other peaks along this ledge. There's a trail, once the snow is gone. Snapped a couple of photos, especially photos of O.K. on summit (she posts them on Facebook).

Because we had an event to go this evening, we turned around right away. The event promised dinner, so both of us were motivated to go back not too late. I glissade a little bit to catch up with O.K., and gave me a chance to finish my sandwich. My left leg was starting to cramp.

Switched to snowshoes at some point. I'm testing a newly acquired Altas Helium snowshoes. I like the fitting: easy to secure, and fit well. But getting on and off is slow, as I have to unbuckle all 3 bindings, even though each one is easy. O.K. was taking on/off her snowshoes constantly. I, after one switch, gave up, and plowed through the alder branches and down logs on snowshoes. Even with snowshoes, I managed to step through into some holes and fell twice. Miraculously, no scratches. Could have easily fallen on a pointy tree limb.

Dropped back on the road a bit south of the TH, but still north of the creek. The road was now melted more. I didn't put on spikes walking out. Saw a truck and a snowmobile as we walked back to the car. Now, a problem: the car had sunk into now melting snow, and it couldn't move. I used a snowshoe to dig out snow behind all 4 wheels. Then, O.K. would drive on reverse, and I would push. Did this a couple of rounds, and finally the back wheels got on pavement. That took ~20 mintes. Drove out ~4:45pm.

We filled the gas at Cle Elum Safeway, before driving back home. Dropped our stuff, and I picked up my badge and my Midi-box. We rushed to ArtLove Salon. Arrived ~7pm, still had most food left. Total ~6.8 miles, 3470' EG. I get to use all gear: spikes, snowshoes, crampons, ice axe, and helmet. Not all necessary, but definitely snowshoes.

2026.3.26. Cherry Blossom at UW Quad

3/26, Thursday. Sunny. Went to UW at lunch time. Too bad, many others had the same idea. The flowers are lovely, just too many people.

2026.3.23. Tiger 3

3/23, Monday. After 2 meetings, I headed to Issaquah for Tiger. Started late, only went to Tiger3 today, so I could visit a friend in her new house. Despite of the clouds, I could still see most mountains, and the Seattle high rises. Here's a mother carrying her unwilling baby up here. Not a bad excercie.

Tried again today with my Brooks running shoes, and I fell twice coming down. Need hiking boots here. Debating what to bring for my Camino -- I'll be walking 200 miles in late April. I was told to wear trailrunners. Maybe next time, I'll try my On shoes. Or do I need ankle support?

From Issaquah to Kirkland requires 3 buses!

2026.3.21. Mixed Media Workshop with Rowan Eriksson

3/21, Saturday afternoon. Another workshop at Art Love Salon. Today, no lesson. We were given a wide variety of paint, crayons, charcoals to use. A bunch of magazines to cut from too. More students than usual. Most I haven't seen before. 2 glasses of cut flowers as model. But not all the students paint from these flowers.

I'm at loss of what to use. I like lessons. This is what I made after ~2 hours. Mixing oil with acrylic turns out disasterous. Rowan smelled my paint and told me which one is what. Amazing. The guy on my right painted very fast and well. Then he started to glue things onto his painting. The guy on my left, by contract, did 2 things which I couldn't tell what either one is. He also talks a lot. Quite annoying. He is a cancer researcher.

2026.3.20. Firebird at PNB

3/20, Friday.

• Alejandro Cerrudo -- Little mortal jump
• Ulysses Dove -- Red Angels
• Kent Stowell -- Firebird

I had too high of an expectation for Firebird, and it fell short. The last grand scene of palace and the new couple look nice with the costums, but no much dancing. The set uses many overhanging painted cardboards. A few arches. Looks nice enough, quite efficient, but not sure why the hype.

Today's firebird is Ashton Edwards, a 5'-short non-binary boy, who danced en pointe in a female role. He/she is very good, as graceful as a girl, but have strength. Kudo to PNB that allows such a young artist to flourish.

Out of the 3 works today, I liked "Little mortal jump" the most. It's quite different, with some jerky movements.

2026.3.20. Daffodil Day at Pike Place Market

Another daffodil day at Pike Place Market, celebrating the start of spring. A bit dreary, weather-wise.

2026.3.19. Mary Jane - Seattle Rep

3/19, 7:30pm preview of Mary Jane, by Amy Herzog. This is an one-act play on a single mother battling with the health care system for her cronically ill toddler with cerebral palsy. Quite sad. Ends almost abruptly. Could be longer, because it touches many aspects, but none deep: religion, health care, juggling with work, taking care of a sick child, nursing, teaching, privacy. Nice stage set:2 sets (a home scene and a hospital scene) on a rotating base.

2026.3.19. Facial Expressions in Charcoal with Dominique Medici

3/19, Thursday. Another art workshop. This time is charcoal drawing. Dominique laid out 3 steps:

• proportion
• shade
• details

We were given many funny images of faces to choose from. She walks around and makes suggestions. This is my result after 2.5 hours.

2026.3.15. The Consul - Puget Sound Concert Opera

3/15, Sunday, 3pm. Puget Sound Concert Opera's 2nd performance this weekend of The Consul by Gian Carlo Menotti (both music and libretto).

The plot is sad. A dissident escapes towards the frontier, leaving wife, baby and mom, who are now monitored by the secret police. The wife goes to the consolate day after day trying to get a visa to join her husband. The secretary of the consul is a heartless burreaucrat who demands numerous documents from all applicants. In the end, baby, mom, wife all die, husband captured.

I liked the songs about "tomorrow, tomorrow", and "papers, papers". Some words are clever. Overall I enjoyed it. A pleasant surprise is that they had laid out some food during the intermission.

This is the first time I ever visited Langston Hughes performance center.

2026.3.7. Black Canyon

3/7 Saturday. 13 of us (8 Indians) met in 2 locations, and headed to Wenas Wildlife area for some sunshine. Black Canyon is new to me. Open vista (few trees), gentle slope, a few OTVs, gravel road.

Saw some buttercup and yellowbell in the valley below, 1 single grass widow, quite a lot of buckwheat (all white and small). Also a couple of fainted sign posts, and 1 corpse.

One of our 3 cars is a Tesla, so we parked by the paved N. Wenas Rd, and walked the gravel Black Canyon Rd to a gate. Unlatched the gate and walked inside. I guess if you had a key, you could drive further, as one black truck did.

Almost all flat in the wide canyon. At this trail junction, we waited for S who went back looking for his sunglasses. S is the only person who has been here. It took a long while. 3 of us scrambled up a hill to the right (east), hoping for a better view. But it's too flat up, couldn't see the other side. Soon as we lost the sight of the group below (see them in this photo), we turned back down. There, I found the only grasswidow today. Pretty happy.

Finally S is back, accompanied by R. They were running. We continued forward in the valley, opposite what S suggested. Found some lingering snow. A bit muddy. Finally gained a bit of elevation, and reached Ridge Road, where we saw a couple of ATVs. Decent view: Adams, Rainier, the town of Wenatchee.

We walked long a nice flat ridge following a trail, and then scrambled over to a different ridge. Coming down, a bit steep. Scramble is new to some of us, and their progress is slow. The 3 of us who went up the hill earlier at the fork were the first to come down. Regrouped and walked out on the gravel road together. Some are excited about the scramble, some not so happy.

At the car, they discussed having dinner in Yakima. One guy, N.B., had a date tonight, so begged S (his driver) to skip the dinner. I hopped on their car, went all the way to Redmond, with a 5 min stop at North Bend to charge the Tesla. Then N.B. drove to downtown, after picking up his date near Volunteer Park. Their event is at the library. Perfect for me. I walked home.

2026.3.5. First Thursday at Seattle Art Museum

3/5 Thursday. Two new exhibitions at SAM.

Beyond Mysticism - the modern northwest is quite a large collection, focus on PNW artist or scenary. However, there're a couple of Dalí's paintings. Quite fun to see. I like fanciful imagery. The local artist Malcolm Roberts is new to me, very Dalí like paintings. I'm very disappointed that Wikipedia doesn't have a proper article on him. I also like Reginald Marsh's fun depiction of indoor scenes in NYC.

In the middle of this special exhibition is a "living room" fit with paintings on the walls and books on shelves. Quite cozy.

Another exhibition is a solor show of Samantha Yun Wall. Very stylish, creative, all black and white. Shadows, hands, eyes. I quite like these. Wall is the winner of SAM's Betty Bowen award for Northwest artists.

2026.2.20-21. Color pencil with Sarah Bixler

2/20-21 Fri-Saturday 1-4pm. I went to yet another art class. Day one, first we pick 4 color panels, and 3 color pencils to recreate the 4 colors. See the right side of the photo. Next, we picked a photo or a picture in one of Sarah's books, and using only 3 color pencils. She did a demo: shapes, put down the main colors, then adjust the values. I settled on one painting in Robh Ruppel Graphic L.A. book: a large rock on the beach. I settled on the same 3 colors: orange, yellow and blue. The left top is my target, and left bottom is the sketch at the end of first day.

2nd day, we started on a color wheel, before going back to our drawing. Sarah walked around, answer questions and making suggestions. She just draw on a different piece of paper to illustrate her point. This is at the end of my 2nd day, and the 4 pencils I used: had to add a 4th, brown.

Last, we put all our drawings together, and Sarah did a review. Most of my classmates use smaller paper sizes, many did 2 drawings.

I like these classes. Drawing/painting is quite meditative. The instructors all play some soothing music in the background. This is my 2nd class with Sarah. According to her, she's signed up to do one class per month here.

2026.2.20. Lunar New Year community concert at Seattle Steinway Gallery

2/20, Friday. A Lunar New Year Concert. Every piece is played by different musicians.

彩雲追月 Silver Clouds Chase the Moon  -- Victoria
Li Huanzhi, Spring Festival Overture -- Piano: Melody, Violin: John Shieh
Cecile Chaminade, Caprice Impromptu Op153 - Jiayi

George Gershwin, Rhapsody in Blue   -- Oliver
Philip Glass: Etudes: No. 6         -- Jess
越人歌 The song of Yue Boatman       -- Finnie and Aimee
Butterfly lovers concerto 1st mvt : Adagio cantabile -- Annie and Justin

Unfortunately I had to leave at intermission. I quite enjoyed the first half.

2026.2.15. Twin Falls

2/15, Sunday, cloudy. Went for a short hike at Twin Falls. Quite a lot of people. But we know a secret spot above the upper falls, which we always visit. This time, we also followed a faint trail going up to the top of the hill. Too many trees to get a good view below. Saw a fixed rope on a tree. Very tempting to hang on it. But I have no experience to tell how secure this rope is, so gave up.

Today, we also stopped at the lower falls. The recent rain made it very pretty. It's also possible to scramble over onto rocks in the middle of the river. Fun.

2026.2.14. Iris Unveiled - Seattle Symphony

2/14, Saturday. Xian introduces Iris Unveiled. It's an interesting, not a new composition.

Qigang Chen          Iris Dévoilée (Iris Unveiled)
Dmitri Shostakovich  Symphony No. 5

I like big orchestra. This is it. 5 people on percussion! 10 cellos, 8 basses. For Iris Unveiled, other than the Peking Opera singer Meng Meng, 2 supranos (Mei Gui Zhang and Tess Altiveros), Yang Jin on pipa, Cathy Yang on Erhu and banhu, Lucina Yue on guzheng. It's interesting to hear the difference between Peking Opera's voice and classical suprano's voice. Big sound. Glad to watch and listen. However, neither these 2 works I'd revisit.

The preconcert lecture today was advertised at 90 minutes before curtain. But the auditorium was closed and had to wait for the usual lecture 60 min prior. What a screw-up. In the lobby, there was a screen playing videos on Peking Opera. Today's lecture is on female characters in Peking Opera, by Jeremy Jolley of the education side of the symphony and Shuang-Chiu Wang, of Hwa Sheng Chinese Opera Club (華聲社）. She's also a professor at Bellevue College. She articulates and explains well. I enjoyed it.

While we were inside the auditorium for the lecture, Seattle Chinese Orchestra ensemble played in the lobby. Not sure what we missed. It was a nice performance using traditional Chinese instruments, I especially liked the lady on Er Hu. She's so good.

2026.2.13-14 Oil Painting with Riley Doyle + Christal Baschet

2/13-14, 1-3:30pm. Another salon studio: 2 sessions of oil painting with Riley Doyle, and my result at the end. Everyone has these colors: red, blue, yellow, black and white. We started with sketching blocks of color. Let the painting dry overnight. Then adjust the colors and add details. I painted Riley's cat. My lesson is that I should have sketched all the components, including the cat.

On Wednesday this week, during the salon social, bassist Keith Lowe and brother Bryan Lowe played downstairs. Bryan brought a rare and remarkable instrument: Cristal Baschet, a sculptural French instrument of glass rods and resonant metal. He was proud and kind enough to let me (and others) slide my fingers with water on some rods. I could feel the vibration. He said just the shipping costed him $5000.

2026.2.10. Tiger 2-3

2/10, weather is too good to stay indoors. Went to Tiger again. This time, I didn't wear the weighted vest, because I had a talk to go to in the evening.
Saw paragliders today from Tiger 3.
View is very good thanks to the clear sky. Continued to Tiger 2. Always better view.
Very lucky today. The bus arrived just as I was crossing the street to the bus stop.

5:30pm, an AWS user group event on Kiro, an agentic IDE, at Slalom Hawk tower 18th floor. Great view of the Safeco Field. Seems you don't need to buy game tickets! Can see the preping for tomorrow's parade to welcome SeaHawk home. We won the SuperBowl.

2026.2.9. Super Bowl ads analysis

2/9, Monday after the Super Bowl Sunday, where Seattle Seahawk won the championship. Seattle University hosts an annual Super Bowl ads analysis. This time it was co-organized by AAF Seattle. Despite of being a marketing and ad agency, and plenty images and slogans were displayed, I had to Google AAF to find out what it is: so bad! It also pretty much hijacked the event. I like SeattleU's original format better, even though I did enjoy this one too. This time, they also collected audience's reaction. These ads were talked about: Search Party from Ring, Last Harvest from LAY's, Bet on Kendall from Fanatics Sportsbook, Shake Your Bots Off from SVEDKA, OpenAI, Gemini, Instacart.

2026.2.6-7 Color workshop with Larine Chung

2/6-7, Thur+Friday 2-4pm. Another art workshop at Art Love Salon. Today's teacher is Larine Chung, and we got to use gouache, a medium that I only heard of once (also from here), let alone used. It's interesting. Feels like watercolor, but thicker, so can layer.

First, she talked about value and the perceived brightness. We each made a color wheel.
Next, we picked one of the ~10 prints, and tried to duplicate the color, under 20 mixes. The top right photo is Larine doing the demo. Left photo is my attempt. Apparently, I'm not able to get the colors right.

This class was held on 4th floor in a separate room. So we could leave our stuff here, and come back the next day. Dried Gouache paint can still be revived by adding water. So, need to be careful, not to drop water onto your painting.