Seattle in Review
Apr. 8th, 2006 09:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
weaktwosOkay, I shall review my weekend in Seattle, since it nears to a close.
I finished work by 1pm and beat-feet to the hotel room to drop off my work stuff and gather a smal pack of goodies for walking.
I wandered down to Pike's public market. In two locations about 6 blocks apart, I ran into women who looked so stylish and wealthy, and they were handing out Jack Chick pamphlets. Gah. I can't believe those are still in production. I hope a homeless man is using them for toilet paper.
So I walked the street that is Pike's Public market. Musicians were at every block, playing their hearts out and having cds available for purchase. This is why I'm not a professional musician. I don't find standing on a busy street corner trying to make contact with random citizens very fun.
It was interesting to see they all had CDs, though. And you could tell they were very homemade. I think it's cool that technology has made it so that street minstrels can make their own CDs.
I found a market and had a tasty sandwich with turkey, bacon, cheddar cheese, cranberry sauce on whole wheat bread. It was exactly what I needed.
I took to the streets again and saw a big sign that said "Turkish Delight". I was immediately transported to Narnia and I purchased a box. I don't recall ever having actually had Turkish Delights, though I'm sure I've had something similar.
Doubling back and heading south, I ventured forth to find the Crumpet Shop. My journey was briefly delayed by a developmentally disabled man telling me about the joys of an ice cream shop on the lower level. He did this while looking at my chest. I said, "Thanks for the info," and moved onward. Pity I hadn't found the Crumpet shop while I was hungry. Nothing but crumpets with sweet and/or savories on which to pile.
I left that store and began heading south on 1st street. Past the Seattle Museum of Art, which is closed for reconstruction. Across the street another building was being demolished and stuck in mid-demo.
Further down the road there was a homeless man who looked more out of sorts than the average homeless man, and some EMTs were tending to him.
I was in a predominantly financial district, now. Some of the buildings now seemed older. Brick from years back. I was near Pioneer Square. My goal was Main Street. I was in search of the Elliott Bay Book Company, a large independent bookstore.
About two blocks from Elliott Bay, I came upon a city block that had a bad feel to it. It was in a state barron state. Very few people hanging out except people who appeared to belong to the class of meager means. They appeared to possess the kind of tales that I didn't want to hear told, so I moved onward.
Towards the end of this strange city block, there was a sculpture paying tribute to the Seattle Firefighters. I thought it was rather cool. I felt sad that it wasn't in a more bustling area so more people could appreciate it. I think they are trying to rejuvinate the area, however. another block further and trendy cafes and bookshops appeared.
Pioneer Square still houses the Underground Tours, and the square was a lovely blend of eccentrics, asians, and a large group of seemingly dutch foreign exchange students. There was a young woman with blond hair pinned up to the back of her head and wry expression on her face. She had a camera trained on a sleeping old man on a park bench. He appears to have been reincarnated from an oil rig, as his head slowly and steadily moved backward and forwards as while his eyes were closed.
I finally arrived at the Elliott Bay Book Company. It's quite expansive. The lower level houses the Cafe. The store goes up another one to two levels. It simply brims with books. It is a baby Powell's, essentially. I browsed for books and purchased a book by Gary Cole called "Artless". He was giving a reading later that night, and I thought attending that would be a mellow way to spend my evening. It was indeed thought provoking, and I shall dedicate another post to that book and his talk.
After the talk, one of the women attending the talk waved to me as I passed by the bus stop where she was waiting. Her name is Paula. She's a Playwright who used to live in Michigan. She found the talk intriguing from an artists viewpoint. She wanted to talk about how the past 6 years have been such a blow to her creativity. We chatted a bit about current events and then I wandered in a northeasterly direction towards a bus stop that would get me back to my hotel. I was over a mile away from my hotel, and while it was light when I walked to the bookstore, it was now 8:30 at night, and there were a lot of beggars out on the street. in the distance were a few emergency vehicles tending to some little mishap on the street.
I got a call from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
taogrl. I didn't hear her call for some reason, but I heard my phone's voicemail tone. She called to inform me that my cats were safe and sound. Yay!
Then I caught the night bus that took me to my destination. Before heading to my room, I ducked into Borders to find a cd that I was suddenly obsessed over.
Four hours earlier, I had been in the Elliott Bay cafe. I had just appropriated a soy cappucino and a chocolate confection. Incidentally, the bakery storage is full of little flying bugs. I had not noticed this before I ordered my chocolate confection, otherwise I would have gone without. Upon reflection that I had not noticed them beforehand because the opening of the bakery case had disturbed them from their pastry-napping revery. That's a little disconcerting. The EBC cafe is a well-worn locale. Dimly lit, used books line its shelved walls. It has plenty of seating, brick walls, exposed pipes. I really enjoyed it, minus the extra protein sourcelets hovering above the sweets.
Anyway, while poring over my new book, I noticed a song on their music system. It's a song I haven't heard in years. I was suddenly transported to my pre-teen years. It was Tina Turner's "Be Good to Me". I loved this song. Somewhere in my box of old vinyl records is Tina Turner's album "Private Dancer". I listed to that frequently. But Be Good To Me was my favorite.
I realized I must have that album in CD form. So, there I was in Border's Books Exactly 10 seconds before they closed. Thankfully, they let me run and get my CD and they didn't let the door hit my ass on the way out.
Finally, I was back in my room, somewhat tuckered from my day. I slipped into my comfies and popped a movie into my ibook.
The movie was "Everything is Illuminated" starring Elijah Wood and directed by Liev Schrieber. I enjoyed the movie in its own right. But having read the book, I was a little disappointed in the significant change made by Liev in his screenplay. Oh well. Eljiah is still adorable.
And with that, I went to bed.
I slept in until 9am, the sounds of the city tapped on my hotel room window. I rolled out of bed, bathed, and planned my attack.
My first effort was to walk nearly a mile to the REI Flagship store. For outdoor gear, this is the place to shop. The place features a bike test track outside. The area looks like a mini nature preserve. This REI has free parking, which is refreshing in a city. The parking is located below the REI facility. You can take an elevator or walk up the stairs. You can gaze at the little natural bike test area or at the man-made waterfall that falls from the building wall.
I shopped around, and purchased some new hiking shoes. Waterproof and mid-height. I also acquired a waterproof hat and a pair of hiking socks.
As I left REI, it had finally started to rain. Two days of gorgeous sunny-cool weather was all I was getting. No worries, I had a hood. So I walked back to the hotel in the rain, quite content.
In the hotel, I put on my new gear and summoned forth my car to head out to Discovery Park.
I took a wrong turn here and there, got a little lost, but finally found my way back to where I needed to go. Discovery Park is right next to an Army Reserve base. The rain picked up a bit as I pulled into the visitor's parking lot. I purchased a map of the park for a dollar, and the lady at the Visitor counter apologized about the weather. I didn't mind.
I put on my rain hat and hopped on the trail. It's quite lush and peaceful in there. I was having a grand time. I called my mother to let her know I was still alive and kickin'. When I informed her that I was walking these trails alone, she begain to entertain me with recent news events of women from san francisco showing up, brutally murdered and in plastic bags.
As luck would have it, I came upon two hikers on the trail that gestured to me, advising me to stop. It was a male and female couple. The female was on the phone talking to someone. The male informed me there was a troublemaker down the trail and his wife was calling 911.
Oh how lucky to be talking to my mother, the paragon of positive thinking, while this occurred.
Upon further information, the 911 dispatcher informed the woman who called that another person was calling to complain of the troublemaker on the trail.
More discussion with the hikers, as we briskly walked back from whence I came, revealed that the troublemaker was a man wearing nothing but boots, a hat, and a jacket. His meat 'n veg was out-a-danglin' in the spring rain.
That wouldn't have bothered so much, but the couple did express a sense that there was more to him than his nudity and they didn't feel safe on the trail. The female said she's walked this trail many times alone and this is the first time she's encountered this.
When we got back to the Visitor Center, another woman came tumbling off the trail with her dog. She breathlessly told us and the visitor booth lady that there's a naked man on the trail. And he wasn't just an exhibitionist, but there was something more predatory about him. She was quite shaken by him.
So, to make a long story slightly longer, my dream trundle among nature was cut short. I hopped back into my rental chariot and called my mother to let her know that I was now out of perv's way. I then went for a drive, exploring the city and pondering my next destination.
After a few wrong turns and nearly hitting a man in a wheelchair trying to cross the street, I settled on the Asian Art Musuem.
Incidentally, having a membership to the SF Museum of Modern Art gets you a reciprocal membership to the Seattle Art Musuem. So I got in for free. That's a good thing, because for whatever reason, there was only ONE FRICKIN' EXHIBIT that was open today.
It was an exhibit on Buddhist Art. Definitely gave me some things to think about.
I headed back to the hotel and then in search of dinner and a beer.
And that brings us up to date.
Soon, I shall be back home.
Now I'm listening to Pandora.com. I just finished watching a documentary called Jupiter's Wife, which was quite a fascinating study of a crazy homeless woman in New York. I recommend it.
I finished work by 1pm and beat-feet to the hotel room to drop off my work stuff and gather a smal pack of goodies for walking.
I wandered down to Pike's public market. In two locations about 6 blocks apart, I ran into women who looked so stylish and wealthy, and they were handing out Jack Chick pamphlets. Gah. I can't believe those are still in production. I hope a homeless man is using them for toilet paper.
So I walked the street that is Pike's Public market. Musicians were at every block, playing their hearts out and having cds available for purchase. This is why I'm not a professional musician. I don't find standing on a busy street corner trying to make contact with random citizens very fun.
It was interesting to see they all had CDs, though. And you could tell they were very homemade. I think it's cool that technology has made it so that street minstrels can make their own CDs.
I found a market and had a tasty sandwich with turkey, bacon, cheddar cheese, cranberry sauce on whole wheat bread. It was exactly what I needed.
I took to the streets again and saw a big sign that said "Turkish Delight". I was immediately transported to Narnia and I purchased a box. I don't recall ever having actually had Turkish Delights, though I'm sure I've had something similar.
Doubling back and heading south, I ventured forth to find the Crumpet Shop. My journey was briefly delayed by a developmentally disabled man telling me about the joys of an ice cream shop on the lower level. He did this while looking at my chest. I said, "Thanks for the info," and moved onward. Pity I hadn't found the Crumpet shop while I was hungry. Nothing but crumpets with sweet and/or savories on which to pile.
I left that store and began heading south on 1st street. Past the Seattle Museum of Art, which is closed for reconstruction. Across the street another building was being demolished and stuck in mid-demo.
Further down the road there was a homeless man who looked more out of sorts than the average homeless man, and some EMTs were tending to him.
I was in a predominantly financial district, now. Some of the buildings now seemed older. Brick from years back. I was near Pioneer Square. My goal was Main Street. I was in search of the Elliott Bay Book Company, a large independent bookstore.
About two blocks from Elliott Bay, I came upon a city block that had a bad feel to it. It was in a state barron state. Very few people hanging out except people who appeared to belong to the class of meager means. They appeared to possess the kind of tales that I didn't want to hear told, so I moved onward.
Towards the end of this strange city block, there was a sculpture paying tribute to the Seattle Firefighters. I thought it was rather cool. I felt sad that it wasn't in a more bustling area so more people could appreciate it. I think they are trying to rejuvinate the area, however. another block further and trendy cafes and bookshops appeared.
Pioneer Square still houses the Underground Tours, and the square was a lovely blend of eccentrics, asians, and a large group of seemingly dutch foreign exchange students. There was a young woman with blond hair pinned up to the back of her head and wry expression on her face. She had a camera trained on a sleeping old man on a park bench. He appears to have been reincarnated from an oil rig, as his head slowly and steadily moved backward and forwards as while his eyes were closed.
I finally arrived at the Elliott Bay Book Company. It's quite expansive. The lower level houses the Cafe. The store goes up another one to two levels. It simply brims with books. It is a baby Powell's, essentially. I browsed for books and purchased a book by Gary Cole called "Artless". He was giving a reading later that night, and I thought attending that would be a mellow way to spend my evening. It was indeed thought provoking, and I shall dedicate another post to that book and his talk.
After the talk, one of the women attending the talk waved to me as I passed by the bus stop where she was waiting. Her name is Paula. She's a Playwright who used to live in Michigan. She found the talk intriguing from an artists viewpoint. She wanted to talk about how the past 6 years have been such a blow to her creativity. We chatted a bit about current events and then I wandered in a northeasterly direction towards a bus stop that would get me back to my hotel. I was over a mile away from my hotel, and while it was light when I walked to the bookstore, it was now 8:30 at night, and there were a lot of beggars out on the street. in the distance were a few emergency vehicles tending to some little mishap on the street.
I got a call from
taogrl. I didn't hear her call for some reason, but I heard my phone's voicemail tone. She called to inform me that my cats were safe and sound. Yay! Then I caught the night bus that took me to my destination. Before heading to my room, I ducked into Borders to find a cd that I was suddenly obsessed over.
Four hours earlier, I had been in the Elliott Bay cafe. I had just appropriated a soy cappucino and a chocolate confection. Incidentally, the bakery storage is full of little flying bugs. I had not noticed this before I ordered my chocolate confection, otherwise I would have gone without. Upon reflection that I had not noticed them beforehand because the opening of the bakery case had disturbed them from their pastry-napping revery. That's a little disconcerting. The EBC cafe is a well-worn locale. Dimly lit, used books line its shelved walls. It has plenty of seating, brick walls, exposed pipes. I really enjoyed it, minus the extra protein sourcelets hovering above the sweets.
Anyway, while poring over my new book, I noticed a song on their music system. It's a song I haven't heard in years. I was suddenly transported to my pre-teen years. It was Tina Turner's "Be Good to Me". I loved this song. Somewhere in my box of old vinyl records is Tina Turner's album "Private Dancer". I listed to that frequently. But Be Good To Me was my favorite.
I realized I must have that album in CD form. So, there I was in Border's Books Exactly 10 seconds before they closed. Thankfully, they let me run and get my CD and they didn't let the door hit my ass on the way out.
Finally, I was back in my room, somewhat tuckered from my day. I slipped into my comfies and popped a movie into my ibook.
The movie was "Everything is Illuminated" starring Elijah Wood and directed by Liev Schrieber. I enjoyed the movie in its own right. But having read the book, I was a little disappointed in the significant change made by Liev in his screenplay. Oh well. Eljiah is still adorable.
And with that, I went to bed.
I slept in until 9am, the sounds of the city tapped on my hotel room window. I rolled out of bed, bathed, and planned my attack.
My first effort was to walk nearly a mile to the REI Flagship store. For outdoor gear, this is the place to shop. The place features a bike test track outside. The area looks like a mini nature preserve. This REI has free parking, which is refreshing in a city. The parking is located below the REI facility. You can take an elevator or walk up the stairs. You can gaze at the little natural bike test area or at the man-made waterfall that falls from the building wall.
I shopped around, and purchased some new hiking shoes. Waterproof and mid-height. I also acquired a waterproof hat and a pair of hiking socks.
As I left REI, it had finally started to rain. Two days of gorgeous sunny-cool weather was all I was getting. No worries, I had a hood. So I walked back to the hotel in the rain, quite content.
In the hotel, I put on my new gear and summoned forth my car to head out to Discovery Park.
I took a wrong turn here and there, got a little lost, but finally found my way back to where I needed to go. Discovery Park is right next to an Army Reserve base. The rain picked up a bit as I pulled into the visitor's parking lot. I purchased a map of the park for a dollar, and the lady at the Visitor counter apologized about the weather. I didn't mind.
I put on my rain hat and hopped on the trail. It's quite lush and peaceful in there. I was having a grand time. I called my mother to let her know I was still alive and kickin'. When I informed her that I was walking these trails alone, she begain to entertain me with recent news events of women from san francisco showing up, brutally murdered and in plastic bags.
As luck would have it, I came upon two hikers on the trail that gestured to me, advising me to stop. It was a male and female couple. The female was on the phone talking to someone. The male informed me there was a troublemaker down the trail and his wife was calling 911.
Oh how lucky to be talking to my mother, the paragon of positive thinking, while this occurred.
Upon further information, the 911 dispatcher informed the woman who called that another person was calling to complain of the troublemaker on the trail.
More discussion with the hikers, as we briskly walked back from whence I came, revealed that the troublemaker was a man wearing nothing but boots, a hat, and a jacket. His meat 'n veg was out-a-danglin' in the spring rain.
That wouldn't have bothered so much, but the couple did express a sense that there was more to him than his nudity and they didn't feel safe on the trail. The female said she's walked this trail many times alone and this is the first time she's encountered this.
When we got back to the Visitor Center, another woman came tumbling off the trail with her dog. She breathlessly told us and the visitor booth lady that there's a naked man on the trail. And he wasn't just an exhibitionist, but there was something more predatory about him. She was quite shaken by him.
So, to make a long story slightly longer, my dream trundle among nature was cut short. I hopped back into my rental chariot and called my mother to let her know that I was now out of perv's way. I then went for a drive, exploring the city and pondering my next destination.
After a few wrong turns and nearly hitting a man in a wheelchair trying to cross the street, I settled on the Asian Art Musuem.
Incidentally, having a membership to the SF Museum of Modern Art gets you a reciprocal membership to the Seattle Art Musuem. So I got in for free. That's a good thing, because for whatever reason, there was only ONE FRICKIN' EXHIBIT that was open today.
It was an exhibit on Buddhist Art. Definitely gave me some things to think about.
I headed back to the hotel and then in search of dinner and a beer.
And that brings us up to date.
Soon, I shall be back home.
Now I'm listening to Pandora.com. I just finished watching a documentary called Jupiter's Wife, which was quite a fascinating study of a crazy homeless woman in New York. I recommend it.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2006-04-11 05:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-12 12:52 am (UTC)