Festival of India

I went to Kumbhamela 2009 at the Vedic Cultural Center just a few miles from my house. It's the most cultured thing we've got going on in this town! A couple of years ago the Krsna Temple was complete and to say the least, its pink exterior didn't quite blend with its surroundings, but I'm glad it's there!

This picture of the exterior came from here because the one I took of the outside didn't turn out.

One of my favorite parts was the giant inflatable cow outside! (unfortunately, the lighting wasn't very good for the outside shots)

This was inside the Prayer Room, where we also listened to live music -- the traditional music played in the presence of God.

We walked through the displays outside that depicted the story of Krsna.

We also listened to the national anthem being sung, and ate lots of curry!

My Design Philosophy

I started a new blog. In the near future I hope to start my own interior design business. Though I'm not actively designing/decorating right now, I'm always looking at magazines, blogs and websites. I decided to start featuring the things I love most in the design world...in hopes that my own work will be on there some day. Everyone has their own tastes, opinions and viewpoints when it comes to design, but here are a few of mine.

http://mydesignphilosophy.blogspot.com/

Enjoy--

K.

Ride the Ducks with Captain Fun-Tastic!

On July 31st, we celebrated my Mom's birthday. We spent most of the afternoon downtown just hangin out, walking around the Seattle Center. However, on this day, I had one of the most unique tourist experiences I've had...in my life. Ever since I can remember, every time we went into Seattle, we saw the signs and the parking lot for 'Ride the Ducks of Seattle.' We've never done it due to it's cheesy CHEESY nature, however, on this day we said, 'why not.' It's a unique way to tour the city because:

- You are in a bus/boat-like vehicle that works both on land...and in the water.

- You get to see the best of Seattle (Pike's Place, The Piers, Gasworks Park, the Floating House where Sleepless in Seattle was filmed...)

But what really makes this tour worth it is the bus driver himself.

I had the privilege of driving around Seattle with Marvin (aka Captain Fun-Tastic). Marvin was nuts (but if you ever do get a chance to Ride the Ducks, ask for him) He reminded me a little bit of Bill Cosby and he kept us (and innocent bystanders on the streets) entertained by:

1. Making us say "Cha-ching!" everytime we passed a Starbucks (it got annoying real quick...)

2. Wearing a 70's disco fro wig (the poor man was sweating profusely by the end...)

3. Waaavviinngg to eveerryyy pedestrian then tilting his head back and screaming, "I luh my job!"

4. Rocking back and forward in his seat that bounced right along with him, with his fro wig blowing in the wind...

Sooooo we cruised around Seattle and he'd blast tunes like Stayin Alive so people standing on the street corners could get their disco on (and people actually did...)

By the time we hit the water, I was cracking up. He had one individual on the boat/bus (whatever it is) particularly excited about the whole ordeal. I think he was most excited when the theme song for Sponge Bob came on. I heard this mumbling "mmuuuuddmmmuunnddermmmsseeaa," then in a loud, rather zealous voice, " SPONGE BOB SQUARE PANTS!" This grown, white male sitting behind me proceeded to sing the entire song without a lull of enthusiasm. I felt bad for the poor Chinese man sitting next to him, who I don't think knew a word of English!

I suppose my point is that Seattle is full of quirks, and here is yet another one.