2024 LOGAN FESTIVAL OF SOLO PERFORMANCE

 I ushered at 1st Stage for 2024 LOGAN FESTIVAL OF SOLO PERFORMANCE on Sunday 1-9 pm. Too Fat for China was a personal story of a Jewish American lady who tried, failed and eventually succeeded to adopt a baby. GUAC was also a true story of a father of Parkland shooting victim Joaquin Oliver. Fly Me to the Sun was a story of an El Salvadorian grandma who moveed in with her family in a Chicago suburb. One-person shows were challenging by its nature, but these were moving and personal as dialogs with the audience. I was very sleepy by the time of the third show, so I left early.

Panorama to Pinnacles Campground 12-m hike

 

I hiked with four friends in the Shenandoah National Park along the Appalachian Trail Panorama to Pinnacles Campground for 12 miles with 2800 feet elevation gain in 70s (fall like weather with breezes). We saw a black snakes on the trail, and then shared drinks after the hike. I ate some wild raspberries on the trail.

It was a pity that our favorite winery was close for a private event on Saturday that we found out when we arrived there.

I ran 8 miles Sunday morning to complete my 20 hike/run miles weekend goal. I saw one fox.

Reston 60th birthday party

 

It was forecast to rain on Saturday so I ran 10 miles and swam 10 laps in the morning, and I hiked 8 miles on Sunday with a meetup group to the little devil stairs for 8 miles with 2000 feet elevation gain.

I swung by the Lake Newport pool to check out Reston 60th birthday party for the food and fun.

Computer Vision Market Research Project

 

I participated in a computer vision Market Research Project this afternoon at the Bull Run regional park. Fortunately, the weather was cool and cloudy most of the time.

It turned out to be pretty boring and we were only asked to walk around with RFID tags for tracking. We finished early because of technical problems.

The only exciting thing was one butterfly staying on my hat for over 2 hours.

One Piece Music Symphony

 

I ushered tonight at Capital One Hall @ Tysons Conner for One Piece Music Symphony. One Piece, the Straw Hat Pirates, is a Japanese manga (漫画) series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda 尾田栄一郎. The memorable moments of the series were projected on a giant screen to the sound of a 50-musician orchestra. The orchestra played famous songs, such as “We Are!,” “Sai sai saikyo!!! (最、最、最強！),” “Oitsumerareta,” and “Binks no Sake”, and a few new pieces specifically made to celebrate the occasion, and some pieces were projected with lyrics for the fans to sing along.

The concert was completely sold out (1600 seats). There were many fans dressed up as characters tonight. Here is a link to the list of characters: https://comicvine.gamespot.com/one.../4050-21397/characters/

Running & Swimming

 

I skipped hiking this weekend, and ran/swan instead. As I was busy planning my annual overseas trip, I don’t want to take far away hikes. I ended up running 16 miles and swam 20 laps to meet my weekend goals, plus I stood 4 hours last night ushering which was equivalent to 3 miles run.

When seeking shady trails in my neighborhood for running, I found a group of turkey vultures eating dead animal, and a home of a bunch of deers. There were usually seats for ushers, but last night’s concert was completely sold out.

Bear Church Rock

 

I took a hot and humid hike to Bear Church Rock for 13 miles with 3100 feet elevation gain on Saturday. One section with overgrown plants that almost covered the trail. A hike that is far and with annoying overgrown situations to be avoided in summer. We shared cool drinks and watermelon after the hike.

I got up early and ran 7 miles before the heat kicked in, to complete my 20 hike/run miles weekend goal.

Asian style 7/4 party with hiking friends

 

I had an Asian style 7/4 party with hiking friends: a dumpling party with all kinds of Asian food, such as Chinese pork/beef/vege dumplings, Japanese curry, Thai basil chicken, Korean glass noodle salad, several kinds of Vietnamese sandwiches, mushroom stir fry, vege rice noodles, deviled eggs (laid by home grown chickens), etc., instead of typical BBQ cookout.

In addition, we had many different kinds of deserts, including mochidonuts, blueberry tiramisu, better-than-sex cake, fruit yogurt pizza, etc.