Snoqualmie Falls and the Japanese Garden

Friday night Jer picked me up after work and we drove to Snoqualmie Falls. The only other times we've been were later in the year, when the falls were much gentler. This was a crush of water, spray redirecting upwards, blanketing the observation deck in thick mist.

I alternately whipped out my camera and a small rag to remove the droplets from the lens. It was a losing battle. The mist came in waves, and with each fresh blast I turned and huddled protectively over my camera, then spun around and snapped in the half second before I was drenched again. Jer said it looked like I was shooting a model. "Show me sexy!"

We relocated down the fence a bit, where the spray was less fierce. One or more of those pictures will be on the photoblog in the coming days.

On Saturday we used two free movie tickets to see "Iron Man." I'd received the tickets in March from Safeway for purchasing frozen food, I think. I don't really understand the promotion but I'll take the tickets, by gum.

It was one of the more (maybe most) entertaining superhero films I've seen. Robert Downey, Jr. made the role.

We ate lunch at the Mongolian Grill and then drove out to the Japanese Garden at the Arboretum, over by the University. It was our first visit. Admission to the gardens is $5 per person, and it is a lovely, relaxed, quiet space, beautifully landscaped. Most of it is shaded, perfect for the 80 degree day we had yesterday. I took some pictures and Jer wandered around. It's not a big place. Quite a few other visitors, sitting on the benches, enjoying the strong floral smells, the sounds of trickling water, and large ponds with koi and turtles.

Other movies we watched this weekend were "Elizabeth 2: The Golden Age," and "Rent." Although I was pre-disposed to want to love each of them, neither really did it for me. Cate Blanchett was fantastic with what she was given, and she alone made "Elizabeth" worth watching. "Rent"... well, I disliked one of the actor choices. And -- this is a problem peculiar to myself -- all of the speaking when they should have been singing grated on me. I think I'm still too close to the songs to be objective about the movie.

Also, I'm getting older and I have way less sympathy for a band of struggling artists who refuse to pay rent. I wondered why they all just didn't get jobs. Why did they expect to live in their apartment for free just because their old roommate married the landlord's daughter? What gives them the right to be so entitled? And when their friend Benny does try to help them, they get all uppity about compromise and settling and embarrass him in front of his investors.

I have a complicated relationship with the plot of "Rent." Let's leave it at that.