Catchup

I realized that with the exception of a couple Married to the Sea comics, I had let a lot slip by since my last post. This will count as catch-up.

1. My birthday came and went. I'm not much for announcing it, so not many people knew. I was in Idaho for work, so it was pretty easy not to mention it to anyone. My friend Charlie was kind enough to give me some pretty amazing coffee, as well as a cool mug with a shortbus headed to Stumptown. (side note- the most expensive coffee in the world is the Kopi Luwak, which is passed through the digestive system of a Civit. It can sell for up to $600 a pound. This was not that coffee)
2. June being birthday month, the weekend followed with a Central District-First Hill-Squire Park-Madrona progressive dinner by bike party for Charlie. I never really took a head count, but there must have been at least 20-25 people. It made for a great ride between stops, with great food and drink at each.


3. This weekend I headed down to Olympia to visit Leah. I'm always a bit tripped out by Olympia. It is the state capital and although it isn't very big (about 50,000 people) I'm always surprised by the uber-hipster vibe. I'm told it's a result of Evergreen College, although I don't know anything about Evergreen. I'm not sure I understand the place, but its nice to visit, and each time I get to experience a little more of what it has to offer, as Leah gets to know more people and places.
One of the surprising things is the number of murals, etc in the downtown area. The one above is an exploded espresso machine portafilter on the side of a coffee roastery. It was about 6' tall.
I'm not sure what was in this building, but it is just down the street from the capital building. Pretty well done. Possibly as a result of the murals, I didn't actually see that much tagging. I love murals and graffiti art, but I think tagging is akin to dogs pissing on trees to mark their territory, and I was glad not to see much of it.

quest for 1000

In my quest to add 500 miles to the bike by the end of July (it hit 500 during the last weekend in May) I decided to jump on the bike and head out to Woodinville. I hadn't made it to the Novelty Hill / Januik Winery. I had heard the building (designed by Mithun) was worth the trip.

I knew about Mithun before I had moved to Seattle, and I loved most of what I had seen. Now that I've been here a little longer (and have known several people that worked there) I am no longer so enamoured with the firm. Still, they have their moments, and I think this is one of them. It is an elegant project, with very simple but well executed details.


Sadly I misjudged the weather, and was forced to spend more time in the tasting room to avoid a June hailstorm. Of course that meant more wine tasting, and a bottle to take home. Eventually I tried to take advantage of a lull in the rain to ride the .1 miles to the Redhook brewery, where beer and food beckoned. That .1 mile was just enough to get soaked. But the beer was good and the soup was spicy. I had thought ahead enough to bring a book, so I waited out the rain and then rode home.

Another 40 miles on the odometer and the 1000 mark closing in.

Critical Mass 1885 via marriedtothesea

marriedtothesea.com

This is just to say

marriedtothesea.com

I love Married to the Sea

for those that don't know the reference:

This is just to say

"I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold"

William Carlos Williams

Charming Video

LAÏKA (SHORT VERSION) from Guillaume Blanchet on Vimeo.

Charming video made in honour of a Montreal bar called Laika, by a guy that lives above the bar. Apparently it took about 3000 photos. More info here.

Canine Carabiner

I saw these when I was out in Idaho the week. What a great idea!

Websites

I love realizing that I haven't checked a favorite website for a while, because it means there is a treasure of cool stuff waiting for you. Case in point, I hadn't been to Josh Spear lately, so I had several month worth of posts to peruse.

Back in April there was a post about a site called Is This Your Luggage. The site displays the contents of lost luggage that has been bought at auction. As the about sections says, it's voyeuristic and a little odd, but not as odd as stamp collecting.

There's also a link to an interesting article about the origin of shoe names. I knew about Adidas, and of course Nike, but some of the others were interesting.

searching for seersucker

I SOOOO WANT THIS !!!

I've been lusting after a La Merde hoody for a while, and now I see this! Good thing I'm broke and jacket weather is fading away.

Japanese Garden

The Seattle Japanese Garden was built in 1960, primarily with funds from a private anonymous donor, but also with a lot of support from locals and a couple Japanese cities including Kobe (hi liz!)

After a lovely breakfast at Volunteer Park Cafe, we walked meandered through the neighborhood and the Arboretum to walk through the newly reopened garden. It made for a lovely Saturday afternoon.


Sadly the original Teahouse (donated by the city of Tokyo) was burned down by vandals in the 70's (bunch of savages) It was reconstructed in the 80's. They hold traditional tea ceremonies, and I really want to find out how to participate in one.

Scenes From a Bathroom

Today's featured bathroom belongs to my friend Lisa, whose birthday we celebrated on Friday. I love the tile in front of the bathtub. It's just fun.