Pre-funk

Gin, soda and new tattoos at CC's pre-Comeback. This is apparently the
first night that Sean has worn shoes since his latest tattoo.

Bridges of Seattle

For the first year or two I lived in Seattle, I was entranced by the
canal bridges. I would always hop out of my car whenever the bridge
went up, to have a closer look at whatever boats were interrupting the
traffic flow. I'm sure some people thought I was nuts, but what the
he'll else are you gonna do while waiting for the bridge to go back
down?

Recently I started getting out of my car again when the bridge goes
up. Something about being reminded that life is too short. Here's the
lone sailboat that caused the Ballard Bridge to go up yesterday.

The master plan

I would like to have pleasant smells and colors greet me whenever I
step out my front door. But there isn't nearly enough of that in late
winter / early spring. So last fall, I finally followed the advice of
Julie's hero Ciscoe Morris, among others, and planted as many early
spring bulbs as I possibly could. At least 100 bulbs I reckon.

They are just now starting to make themselves known. Here are one of
the clumps of crocuses I planted last fall. There are also narcissus,
tulips and allium.

Wasting time

I needed to buy extra equipment in order to edit my Sibelius score, so
I decided to hit the U District (as if I don't get enough of it during
the week). I passed Thai Tom just as they opened, so NO LINE. And I
was out of there in 20 minutes.

Frigging gorgeous day

I was thinking about going to an Obama fundraiser after work, but I
was wiped. Having seen the incredible sunrise this morning through the
windows of the IMA but not having had easy access to my iPhone's
camera to record it, I decided on a slight detour from my regular bike
ride home to take in the sunset at Gasworks. It was well worth the
additional two minutes' ride.

So many good times yet to be had

There are so many people complaining about what Seattle has become,
and I can't really disagree that it's expensive and filled with people
who feel profoundly entitled.

But all of the money and attention have brought great changes to the
bar/restaurant scene. Ten years ago, who would have thought one could
hang out on Capitol Hill and enjoy a wild boar sloppy joe and a glass
of garnacha in the spot previously occupied by the worst Mexican joint
in town?

The allure no longer escapes me

My friend and fellow trumpeter Doug got an iPhone months before I did.
I don't spend as much time browsing and texting as he is does
(demonstrated here), but I do find myself reaching for the camera
quite often.

My life as defined by where I buy coffee

Over the course of the last 15+ years, I've frequented a number of
coffee establishments, including Vivace (every location, even the long-
defunct cart downtown), Bauhaus, Victrola (both locations), Pegasus,
Lighthouse (still my vendor of choice for beans), and the new
Stumptown on 12th.

But few places balance atmosphere, enthusiasm and fine coffee like
Trabant in the U District. I've become addicted to stopping there
after lunch each weekday for a nonfat iced latte or one of their
featured varietals made in their trendsetting Clover machine. (I hear
that Starbucks is even testing one at a store in Greenwood.)

Trabant is another nicety of the U District that I will miss. I will
miss the employees as well, including sweetheart Jonathan here.

One of the things I love about working @ the UW

Almost every weekday, I take a bus to the Ave to eat lunch. The lack
of cheap ethnic food is perhaps the thing I like least about our
office's impending move to South Lake Union. Well, that and the extra
20 minutes it will take me to bike to work every day.

I know that most of the teriyaki joints are owned & run by Koreans,
but this place, whose name I don't know despite walking by it hundreds
of times, serves Korean food almost exclusively. I seldom eat Korean,
so I decided to give it a shot.

I had the beef hot pot. Very hearty, if a bit too sweet.

Despite the bad jokes and too many birthdays

I really enjoyed Darcelle's. She's quite the Portland institution at
age 77.

More Portland

I brought watercolor paint by numbers sets for my cousins Spencer and
Avery. Avery loved painting her inner princess.

First order of business in PDX

I always seem to have to stop at Stumptown in Southeast first thing
whenever I come to Portland. This even though there are now two of
them in Seattle. I think this one makes the best lattes of all of
them. And it seems the most neighborhoody.

Coppergate

Hanging with my friend J.D. here @ Coppergate in Ballard. Here's the
cheese plate.

First iPhone Blog Post

I had seen this piece of paper poking out of the locker next to mine
at the IMA for several days. Today I decided to see what it was. I
figured it would be a locker renewal notice, but I never would have
guessed the notice would be more than 30 years old!

Apparently this notice and an identical one on top of it were stuffed
in a crack above the baskets and have been slowly wrenching themselves
out since 1975. Of course, most of the customers of the IMA weren't
even born when this notice was typed. Most have never "typed" anything
in their lives!

Regroup

It's been a very up-and-down week. The biggest "up" was participating in my local Democratic caucus on Saturday. My precinct went three-to-one for Obama, and I was elected as a delegate to the district (or is it county?) level. Here's what it looked like 20 minutes or so before the caucus started.

The biggest "down" was attending the memorial for Dream a week ago. Meeting his family and reuniting with his other friends was very draining emotionally. But it was also very cathartic. Dream's friend Lara took some wonderful photos of the memorial, including shots of his artwork, his music, his movies, his clothing (!), and finally photos of the few photos he allowed himself to be in.