Category: Seattle

Posted on

Smoking ban?

A representative from West Seattle is attempting to pass a state law banning all forms of smoking within bars and restaurants. Rather than get attacked by conservatives who say that liberals are taking away smokers’ rights, he’s attacking smoking as a health hazard to the servers/waitstaff who have to soak in the stench all day. I hope this passes – it’s one of the reasons I enjoy going out dancing and singing in San Francisco. The restaurant associations in Washington state say that business will plummet, but I believe it will increase, since people who don’t go to bars and restaurants because of the smoking will now go if that law is implemented.I’m thinking about flying in to San Francisco next weekend a day earlier. I wondered aloud to a friend of mine about how psyched I am when I come back from the Bay Area, all charged up with new ideas and things to create and do as a result of my New College experience and the general outward clashing of ideas prevalent in that city, but that energy dissipates after a few days back in Seattle.

My friend Julie and I went to a vespers night at the Episcopalian church across the street – they have Gregorian chant, and turn off the lights. It’s a nice reprieve from an otherwise hectic few days.

Posted on

NYC “inevitable”, say Seattleites

A big gathering at Molly Maguire’s tonight, and I meet two more people who are moving to New York. Something’s catching.

“You know him. He was the guy who used to walk around downtown capturing crows in a cardboard box – the guy whose girlfriend led him around with a dog collar at the Catwalk?”
Overheard on Capitol Hill

Pundits are declaring the Iraq war “inevitable” again, and the terror alert has been reduced to “Elevated”. I think I’m going to turn off the media for a couple of days for a well-deserved break. Like homework, for instance.

Posted on

The upside of phlegm

I’m finally finishing up five days of a flu bug that’s going around Seattle. Hacking less and less each day. How pleasant.

The cleanse has severely curtailed my tolerance to alcohol. I had a glass of wine with dinner, and then later on had another one at a icky-snooty bar with friends, and ordered a third, but couldn’t drink it. I used to be able to work with a whole bottle. Ah, well – at least this has an economic benefit.

Posted on

Seattle to Bangkok, 90-day trial

My cabaret singer friend, Julie Cascioppo, just got a 3-month contract in Bangkok at the Hotel Plaza Athénée, starting in July. Most everyone I know in Seattle seems to be heading out this spring. Have we as a city collectively squeezed everything we’re going to get out of it, and then leave? Won’t that only leave Microsoft employees behind? Yow.

Posted on

SEAtoNYC.html

My friend Raya’s back in town – she’s spent the last six months around the world, living out of a backpack. She’s moving to New York in mid-March and sort of feels in limbo – she wants to plant some roots after being adrift for so long. Like me, she has good feelings towards Seattle, but the call of a larger, more diverse city is too strong to ignore.

Posted on

Outback Mountain Ramjam

From now on, it’s two drink maximum per evening. I so didn’t want to break my no-hangover vow this year. Last night I went out with my friend Jeannette, and a couple of her friends, for happy hour at a steakhouse. Not much for vegequarians.At least we left the steakhouse to sing karaoke at the Comet Tavern. I belted out “Black Betty” by Ramjam (where are they now? One-hit wonder.) I think the taps were unclean at the Comet. I only had two pints of Guinness.

Posted on

Going Coastal

Nicole, my partner in the cleanse, and I had “real” (and by real, I mean not) food for breakfast at the Ccoastal Kitchen. I had the goat cheese rhumba, with spinach and eggs and cilantro, and some tea. Not the healthiest breakfast, but a little gift to myself since I stuck religiously to the cleanse for two weeks.Diana and I were going to have dinner this weekend at Platanos in the Mission, but just found out that the chef there was killed a couple of blocks from there last night. I think that’d be kind of creepy to eat somewhere when the body’s not even cold yet.

Posted on

MPA or MBA?

MPA or MBA? I spent today looking at a couple of options for graduate studies. Evergreen State College has a Master’s of Public Administration: it sounds sort of what I’m looking for and is 8 quarters (2 years) long. Not bad. I’m also looking at the Green MBA program offered through New College – a business program founded on ethics and sustainability practices sounds like a desperately needed foundation for any prospective business student.

Posted on

Fun with food poisoning!

Make no mistake about it: the choices we make today can greatly affect our future. I stopped at my favorite Mexican restaurant for a salmon burrito, and while walking back to my place, I ran into my friend Jeannette, who asked me if I wanted to get some lunch. I declined, since I had already bought it, but should have taken her up on her offer: I got food poisoning from the salmon, and spent the rest of the evening throwing up. Ugh.

Posted on

SWM makes dinner

One of the things I don’t like about living alone is the very important ritual of cooking and eating at home. I eat out a lot, and know a lot of foodies to support this habit, so I decided to try something new and invite my family to dinner at my place as a housewarming and a chance to enjoy conversation, food and wine with people I love. Pumpkin soup, spinach and walnut salad with goat cheese, tofu spinach lasagna (all vegan), and then good old chocolate cake (dairy necessary) for dessert. All the ingredients were organic and locally grown if possible. We played Taboo afterwards – a normal evening by most standards, but something I really wanted after such a turbulent 2002.