I'm old!

Last night was a cruel reminder that I am getting old.

I went to dinner and a show with some friends, Bonnie Prince Billy, aka Will Oldham. The show started at 9:30, with two openers, which means he didn't go on until 11, which means he played untill past midnight, which means I wasn't home untill 1 ish. I was exhausted. The show was ok, but I all I could think was "one more song then I'm going to bed" I had to struggle not to yawn the whole time.

On the plus side, I met a cute girl, friend of a friend. I'm sure that nothing will come of it, but it's noteworthy regardless.


Heather posted about a church they went to for a wedding. The architect, Bernard Maybeck, was a fore-runner of arts and crafts on the west coast. We studied another of his churches, First Church of Christ in Berkeley. Maybeck designed this with Julia Morgan, the architect of Hearst Castle.

Visiting Seattle

Ed and Heather have been talking about visiting Seattle at New Years, so I thought I would post a little filmagraphy for anyone else thinking about making up a trip up here at some point. A few movies set in Seattle:



Say Anything, a classic.



Singles, equally classic, parts were filmed in my neighborhood


Also:

Ten things I hate about you- the high school is actually in Tacoma, but several of the scenes were filmed near my house.

Twin Peaks- Primarily filmed outside of seattle

Sleepless in Seattle- obviously

Fabulous Baker Boys- I haven't actually seen it

War Games- a young matthew broderick sticks it to the military



and TV as well, most notably Frasier and Grey's Anatomy, and of course the Real World Seattle. Aparently the view from Frasiers apartment is actually 3/4 of the way up a radio antenna on Quenn Anne hill.


Any others????

A host of Blogthings

You Are A Hornbeam Tree

You are a reserved person, looking in from the outside. Naturally attractive, you take good care of your looks. You are not egoistic, and you make life as comfortable as possible. You look for kindness in others - though you are seldom happy with yourself. A bit mistrusting and unsure, you dream of being swept away by someone unusual.

What's Your Celtic Horoscope?

You Belong in Amsterdam

A little old fashioned, a little modern - you're the best of both worlds. And so is Amsterdam. Whether you want to be a squatter graffiti artist or a great novelist, Amsterdam has all that you want in Europe (in one small city).

What European City Do You Belong In?

You Are Austin

A little bit country, a little bit rock and roll. You're totally weird and very proud of it. Artistic and freaky, you still seem to fit in... in your own strange way. Famous Austin residents: Lance Armstrong, Sandra Bullock, Andy Roddick

What American City Are You?

Misc:

I just saw a dude with an x-wing tattooed on his hand!
I just got a haircut for the first time in about two months.
I have a head cold,
Which sucks because tomorrow I am doing a wine tasting with some friends. We are tasting “the big six”, three whites (Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay) and three reds (Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon) that make up 80% of the wine sold in the US, either sold as varietals or in blends.
According to the book I am reading (Great Wine made Simple by Andrea Immer) taste is from the tongue while flavor is from the smell. Your sense of smell is crucial to fully appreciating wine, and mine is blunted by this damned cold. Oh well, I will suffer on and drink regardless.

Things that come with a house: Part Two- Yardwork

I have never been a friend of yardwork. I mowed the lawn as a kid, and pulled weeds when forced, but neither of these made for an enjoyable weekend activity. My one proactive attempt at yardwork involved clearing a patch of Will Haskins’ backyard with the goal of putting in a garden. I moved out before the planting ever began.

I am equally surprised as some of you may be at the fact that I have taken on responsibility for the front yard. A week before I actually moved in I spent an hour or two pulling weeds from the planting strip in front of the rocks. That only put a dent in the years of neglect. After I moved in I spent more time weeding (I’m sure that some valid plants were caught up in the purge, I wish them the best of luck wherever the green waste ends up) put in a few plants and laid down some mulch and bark.

Yardwork is a good way to meet the neighbors. The woman in the house next door (left) was really excited that someone was finally taking an interest in the yard. She and her husband had adopted one side of the rock slope (the portion to the left of the steps, adjoining their yard) because they had to look at it everyday and it made their yard look crappy. She offered to split off some of her plants if I needed them, and gave me a volunteer kale plant. Hopefully I can keep up with it. I put in some bulbs, tulips and something white, so hopefully their appearance in the spring will keep me at it. I’m not sure if I will ever tackle the backyard, it’s a bit of a jungle and probably best left to its own devices.

A note to explain the ninja banner. The neighbors across the street have a pirate flag on their door. Some time ago, my friend Liz (whose departure to Japan made it possible for me to move in) decided to hang a ninja flag in response and host a pirates versus ninjas party. Nothing much has happened since then, but I think we should up the stakes by suruptitiously placing ninja clad gnomes in their garden.

Things that come with a house: Part One- Television

I may have mentioned this before, but my move to the house means entering the world of TiVo. Let this post serve as my declaration of love for TiVo! I watch far fewer commercials now, and I can even stomach watching football (an unfortunate side effect of moving to Dude House) because a 4 hour game really only consists of about an hour of playing. I still haven’t really figured out how to program TiVo, so it doesn’t record the things that only I want to watch, but my roommates have good taste in shows…for the most part. This leads me to the next section, shows that I now watch that I would never have watched on my own.

First up, Amazing Race. Yes I used to watch it in Fresno, but the constant bickering really gets to me and I stopped watching. Now I am back into it. My vote is for the moms, they seem so positive and supportive of each other and the other teams. I doubt they will win, but I will support them to the end.

Next, Laguna Beach. It’s like The Real World meets 90210. Every episode is a train wreck, and yet a house full of guys (the afore mentioned Dude House, or The House of Dude) tunes in every week to yell at the tv, simultaneously TiVo-ing it for later replays.

Last up, Wild and Out. I think this is on MTV, although I’m not sure. It’s a hip-hop/stand-up comedy-contest type thing. I’ve come to love it. Charlie Murphy was on the other night, funny stuff.

Other than that I am excited about having access to the shows I’ve always loved but can only watch when visiting friends with cable. The list includes: The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Good Eats, most of HGTV and the FOOD Network. A great new show is Mythbusters, where they test out myths and urban legends.

In summary, my television world has expanded and been equipped with the wonderful gift of Tivo. Now the trick is to not spend the entire evening on the couch watching TV. Wish me luck.

Back to the world of posting

I promised it would happen, and now it has. First, let me start with a post that I wrote but never posted. It is a recap of my trip to Colorado.

I have returned to the land of clouds and a chance of drizzle, tho to be fair the weather hasn’t really switched over, it is still a pleasant Seattle summer.

Colorado was great, we did a lot although it never felt like we were running around. Still, beer and fishing can take a lot out of you. Let me take this opportunity to say that I have a great dislike for loud ass jet skis and the jackasses that don’t care if they are scaring off any chance of my beating Jay to the elusive catfish. REALLY, there is a whole lake to pollute with noise and oil, why do you have to circle in the cove we have chosen to fish in?

I finally made it to the Golden Bee, it was all that I hoped. Everyone knows that I am not a Karaoke’r, but this is different. For those unfamiliar, the Golden bee is a piano bar, and there are books of lyrics at the tables so that everyone can sing along. It was great fun, although I chose not to sing the Army, Air Force, and Marine anthems (it was family weekend at the academy). Jay and Becky are the greatest hosts, and I hope they had as much fun as I did.

Now its back home and back to work. I just went to the Library for some books on S. American architecture. We are designing a house in Nicaragua (sp?) and we want to incorporate the ideas of traditional homes without replicating them. It is a semi steep site, which presents its own challenges. I’ve also been working on a second floor addition to a house near the office.

I gave notice on my apartment, so it is official. I will be relocated by Oct 1, hopefully a bit sooner so I can clean, etc. Moving is a pain, but I am really looking forward to having room-mates again. Once I move I will work on posting regularly, hopefully something more interesting than these life-updates, something more infotaining.

(side note to adam: are you still listening to jazz? I’ve been trying to expand my collection thanks to the Seattle Public Library and the Ken Burns documentary Jazz. I’ve been listening to people like Coleman Hawkins and Fletcher Henderson. Are you interested in another CD or two? This time it may have to be a trade.)

blogger is pissing me off!

I just wrote a nice post, and it was deleted when I tried to spell check.

this is a brief summary minus the poetic language and well turned phrases...

moving this week, into the new place by sunday, it has internet and I will start posting and checking other peoples blogs more often

I will be in fresno from dec 21-29

that is all

Saturday

(Below was also posted as a comment to the last post)

The computer is wiggin, I think it might be a problemwith the wireless card.

The Rudy Weibe book is called Sweetr than all the world. I haven't started it yet. My recent hike at the base of mt baker (a volcano) inspired me to re-read Kerouac's Darma Bums. At one point I found that book vry meaningful, although on re-reading I can't see why. Maybe the insights are in the second half.

As for the Kayak, I'm not looking for white water, more the touring around the lake and mayb into Puget sound type. Something with a couple storage compartments and a rudder. a recreational/day touring affair. maybe a hybrid. But beggars can' be choosers....

Have I told you how much I love the library? I am using theier computer and internet at the moment. Also I picked up a couple moe DVD's and a few books I had requsted. Public library rocks!

If someone knows how to make a sidebar thing to put on the side of the page,I want to put together an on-going list of books. I'm stealing the idea from Nick Hornby, who has a column in Believer where he lists the books he bght that month, and what he has read. The column is usually a review of one of the ones he read (rather than the un-reads, which ouldn' make sense).

Just checking in, still alive.

As I said before, I don't like blogging at work, and it doesn't always work out so well at the cafe (we'll se if it works today). I am planning on taking my computer in to the Mac store so they can fix it while I am in CO. I will be visiting Becky and Jay at the end of the month.

For the first time since I was a little kid, I signed up for a library card. Being in school, I didn't need to get a public library card because I could get everything I needed through the University. If UW didn't have a book I could order it from schools in Oregon. If it wasn't available through any university, it was 99% sure that the Seattle library system didn't own it. But in my attempt to cut down on expenses, I decided to stop buying so many books and start borrowing. This is the excitement my life holds. Today I picked up the first pile of books I had requested from other libraries in the system. It's like being in school, except three of the books are about wine, two are about mennonites (sort of, one is a novel by Rudy Weibe, the other is about the anabaptist seige of Munster in 1534) and one is a movie by Miyazaki, my favorite animator (responsible for such greats as Howl's Moving Castle, My Neighbor Totoro, and Spirited Away).

I had been looking for a new apartment, but that has been abandoned. Instead I am planning on moving into a house one street east of my apartment. My friend Liz is moving to Japan for 18 months, so I am moving into her room in a house. I already know the other guys living there, so I think it will work well. They are a good group of guys, pretty active (climbing, skiing, etc.) so hopefully I will get a chance to join them. Personally my new interest is Kayaking, although I don't have the money to buy a Kayak anytime soon. My goal is to find a used one before next summer. Of course then I will also need a roof rack to transport it, and paddles, and a life jacket, and all that whatnot.

For those of you who know and encounter my Dad, wish him a happy 60th, and be sure to refer to him as an old geezer.