Meow Meow
I forgot! The kitty friends are coming! The kitty friends are coming!

Back to Ballard
I said when I moved out here that I was going to live in Ballard. I loved it! It is such a great place to hang out; great little coffee shops, theaters, live music, old fishing neighborhood, slow to develop, very blue collar, etc. Ballard is for me.

Then I realized how long the commute was to my work and I was like, NO WAY. I'm not taking a longer bus ride. I'm not going to live here.

Now, as I start my apartment hunt, I'm starting to realize that Ballard is the neighborhood that I can afford.

I'm heading back to Ballard.

'lI-"brer-E
British usually and US sometimes -br&r-E; US sometimes -brE, ÷-"ber-E
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -brar·ies
Etymology: Middle English, from Medieval Latin librarium, from Latin, neuter of librarius of books, from libr, liber inner bark, rind, book

Collection of information resources in print or in other forms that is organized and made accessible for reading or study. The word derives from the Latin liber (“book”). The origin of libraries lies in the keeping of written records, a practice that dates at least to the 3rd millennium BC in Babylonia. The first libraries as repositories of books were those of the Greek temples and those established in conjunction with the Greek schools of philosophy in the 4th century BC.

Today I picked up my library card for the Seattle Public Library System. The little branch I stopped at didn't have any of the books I wanted but promised them in a day or two.

I love the library - though my love affair has waxed and waned throughout my life. As a kid, our mother use to take us to the library each week to check out our 10 book limit (or how many ever we were allowed). Reading was something we did and was very valued. There were series that I read; reading contests that I entered (and won a couple of them); a many great hours spent at the library (yes, yes, yes, say what you want - but libraries are hip in my mind.)

Unfortunately in high school I over dosed on the library. I stayed hours every day to work on some ridiculous project for high school English class and couldn't stand to be in there after the project was done. I got headaches if I spent more than 20 minutes in the library. I think I went into the belly of my college library less than a dozen times. (Though I spent more time the art school library).

Peace Corps changed all of that. If you were to ask me what was the one thing I missed the most in the Peace Corps, I would have said libraries. And I don't think it was necessarily the books, the building, the magazines, the stereotypical old-maid librarian that I missed - it was the access to information and knowledge and the power that came with knowing all of that. There were wars waging; constitutional issues being fought; histories of countries being shaped and I didn't have a library (yet alone the internet) to research; to better understand what was going on. It was piece meal history at best, speculation and rumors at worst.

So now I have a library card. I'm pretty happy.

I got a Washington drivers license last week - I have a completely different opinion on that. (see yesterday's entry on that)

Suggestions

Traffic lights are a suggestion - not necessarily the law or the way to regulate traffic here in Seattle. When the light is yellow it is suggested that you speed up and if it is red then go if the vehicle in front of you made it. Absolutely do not go if the light is green until you're sure all of the other vehicles burning the red have made it through. That is the suggested way of driving through this fine city. (Though, according to my father, this is pretty characteristic of the west.)

It is suggested that you stop for pedestrians even if they don't appear to be crossing the street.

Also, it is suggested to always bring an umbrella because even if it's been 40 degrees and sunny for the past three weeks it will eventually rain... you're in Seattle after all.

Merry Christmas!
Knit One Perl Seven and a bit of advice from My Secret Twin

Merry Christmas! My first time in Seattle though my second time with Pygmy. The first holiday we spend together happened to be in Cote d'Ivoire while the country was being over thrown (that's another story for another time). This time, we had a great time exchanging gifts and I shared conversations with friends and family across that States. (I didn't catch everyone one but left many messages. Happy New Year and Happy Hanukkah too!)

In my gift exchanges, I did notice a theme I had to share - it seemed that knitting was one theme (a pattern-a-day calendar and some yarn) and the other was drinking (a set of martini glasses and a drink making book) - coincidently two things that go great together. It reminded me of my knitting group back in Cleveland - Knit One Perl Seven. They're a fantastic group of women who have lively conversations, knit crazily beautiful things, with wine in one hand and needles in the other.

Another part of my day come with advise from My Secret Twin (see 12/20 posting) who just recently had a baby. We were chatting on the phone, catching up and I was telling her how I had hoped to serve meals at a women's shelter today and though I had found a couple opportunity, I hadn't been able to get my act together to volunteer anywhere. She sighed and said "Michelle, don't you remember in the Peace Corps they said not to do any big project until you're settled in your house; until you understand the culture. That was the first three months of your job." Oh right.

I missed spending the holiday with the my family in Cleveland who were all together at my younger brother's house (with my cats) but enjoyed the holiday with Pygmy and Jon's families here in Seattle who were graciously welcoming and full of spirit! We ended the day visiting a friend who had to work at a coffee house (packed!); playing Ms. Pac-man and drinking coffee.

I hope you all had a very happy holiday too!

Twas a few days before Christmas...
And all thru the city
The rain was steadily falling - making it quite *hitty.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care
Even the one brought from the grocery store (just over there)
The city folks were all huddled up in the bus
While visions of warm dinners dance in their head
When out of the blue there came such a clatter
The bus driver woke the passengers announcing "I must empty my blatter".
I opened my eyes and lifted up my head
Wishing I was really asleep in my bed
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear
But the Library Cafe and tiny white light reindeer
Our funny little driver, so lively and beat
I knew I had surely missed my own street!
More rapid than eagles, my curses they came
I mumbled and grumbled them, sighing by name
Past 3rd, past 6th and past 8th,
now past the Library Cafe and down on to Wey
Past Diddle and 9th, past 12th and the Safeway
To the top of the street! To the top of Crown Hill.
They kept passing by, passing by, passing by all.
So I jumped down off the bus and onto the street
With 15 blocks to home in the rain almost sleet,
But I heard him exclaim as he drove out of site
"Merry Christmas to all and don't fall asleep the next time".

*smile*

he he he.

Secret Twins
I have a "secret twin". Ok, never mind the fact that I have twin nieces (right) who I think are the greatest thing ever! (They're even cuter than little puppies!) I love them and all of you know that already. But I do have my own twin - quite a few of them actually - though we're not triples.

One of my twins is a girlfriend of mine I met during my days working at Borders in Beachwood. She was leaving for the Peace Corps in a couple of months and we found, besides Peace Corps (I would leave a year later) we had so much in common. We both loved Bell Hooks, literature in general, poetry, people, Africa (yes, the whole continent), music, music, music, dancing, outdoors, and many millions of other small things. She was African-American and from Seattle, I was Midwestern and white but we were secret twins and we introduced ourselves to other people as "this is my secret twin". We shared many experiences even if we didn't share them together.

My other twin comes in the form of my younger brother, whose birthday is 10 months and 28 days after mine. You call that "Irish Twins", but we're not Irish.

My last twin come in the way of a friend, who I met last year at a leadership workshop in Cleveland, who turned out to be my secret twin - or a partner in this cosmic journey called life. The conversation of discovery went something like this:

Me: Did you say you were from Beckley - West (by God) Virginia?

Twin: Yes.

Me: Me too - I was born there.

Twin: Me too.

Me: I was born in December.

Twin: So was I!

Me: In 19--

Twin: Me too!

Me: (trying to top it) In a blizzard!

Twin: So was I!

By the end of this rapid exchange we found out that we were both born in the same town, in the same year, on the same day, in the same small hospital with the same blizzard swirling around us - though I'm the older twin - even if by a couple of hours.

Aren't twins fun? (Aren't my nieces cute?!)

So Happy Birthday Cosmic Twin! Happy Birthday Irish Twin and Happy Birthday to my Secret Twin.

Happy Christmas/War is Over
is probably my favorite holiday song - ever. John Lennon's hit from 1972, (before I was born) which I loved as a kid and still find it a great song to reflect upon as an adult. Because, that's what it is - a song to think about...

So this is Christmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Christmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear ones
The old and the young ...

So at work last week a colleague and I were talking about the things that define a generation - you'd be able to answer these questions if you were a Baby-boomer, a Gen-Xer, Echo boom, etc. My generation - some of them might have remembered the death of John Lennon (December 8th, 1980) but I didn't. Though I remember Reagan's near assassination, the Pope's etc., but I missed this one. I remember things like when Ryan White died; Jim Henson death; OJ Trail, Sept 11, etc.

My colleague remembered where he was when Lennon was shot. He was gigging that night at a club in California and someone told them shortly after it happened. Huge sorrow and somberness overcame their group, and by the end of the night many of their friends had gathered at the bar to remember him. A friend of mine, a week later sent me this story about it http://www.commondreams.org/views05/1208-33.htm which was similar to my colleagues.

But our conversation didn't turn out being about the songs, or where you were, but all of the good people that have been killed - intentionally - and what kind of place would the world be if we had their lenses, their influences, their visions to help us understand some of the tragedies that have continued to occur in our lives. I'm talking people like MLK, like John Kennedy, Malcolm X, John Lennon, leaders, artists, visionaries, etc. I'm sure we all have a short list of people whose opinions we would like to have heard or whose vision, guidance or concert could have take me, you, a community, a nation, together thru a struggle.

So Happy Christmas.
And what have we done
Another year over
And a new one just begun

Not nostalgic... just sharing.

some photos from my going away party...

A Couple Secrets...
There are a couple of secrets about this city that I thought I would enlighten the rest of the world...

Rain - not so much
This last week was 45 degrees, bright blue and sunny. I think Seattlites like the myth that it's constantly rainy so that the rest of us stay away. I saw the Cascades, Mt. Rainer and the Olympics almost every day last week. (Today was pea soup but it burned off by noon.)

"Slightly terrifying" is how I would describe driving on the downtown hills of Seattle. (I'm pretty sure this is why they invented automatics.) The angle at which the roads are paved probably isn't legal - your stomach flips going down them and your brakes had better be new to stop on them. (It's a little worse than night skiing - see earlier entry - because of the pedestrians.) While having a conversation with a friend Friday after work, I saw a skater zip down this hill (neither of which, the skater nor the hill are legal) and take a turn at an incredible speed and slam into the car being thrown out of site. I jumped up thinking we should go do something when the skater reappeared to see if he had done any damage to the car. Crazy. Both. The Skate and the Hill.

A sleepy fishing village...
Once upon a time, there was a sleepy little city in the Pacific Northwest that was the home of many types of people, mostly Japanese, Chinese and Scandinavians. This sleepy little fishing village of Seattle become the home to Microsoft, Boeing, the grunge scene, the tech boom, etc. Like many immigrant groups, those in the fishing industry send money home to their families like immigrants have always done. It turns out, according to my colleague who did a college paper on the amount of money that goes back to other countries, something like half of the money in the fishing industry returns to Scandahoovia... No wonder they're the wealthiest of the European nations - they're being supported by Seattlites! (Kidding...kind of.)

Lots of Scandinavians
It's kind of like Meeeennesota. (See the paragraph above.)

Those are all the secrets for now.

Pie in the Sky.
Sky....The last three mornings in a row the snowy Cascades in the east have been spectacular as the sun rises above them. Even Mt. Rainer, so gigantic, she has her own weather patterns, has been stunning. The plus, is that I can see all of this from the 2nd and 3rd floors of my office. I see why people move here.

Granola with Carp, (continued)
At about 4:30 p.m. today the same colleague who suggest the capoeira party popped her head into my door and asked me if I was interested in grabbing a beer after work. I laughed to myself and said I had to help Pyg with something at home - she said come on - just a beer. (Ok, twist my arm.)

We went to the bar one block from our offices. It was a total dive that use to be across the street (they moved to this building and decorated exactly like the dive it use to be). We had a Manny's, (local microbrew that I always get when I'm in Seattle. Pyg and Jon actually know the guys who created it.) We chatted with customers about the statewide smoking ban that goes into effect tonight (they have plans around it), talked to the bartender who was googling stuff on his laptop (really, only in Seattle!); spoke to each other in French about dating, Africa, dancing and good neighborhoods. I had such a wonderful time! She said the secret to Granola with Carp is finding the right people. . . I think I found one.

Granola Crunchy Grapefruit...

So when I was getting ready to leave Cleveland, I was having a debate with some of my friends about "How Granola Crunchy does one become when they move to Seattle?" Of course then that lead to a conversation about "what constitutes Granola Crunchy? (and it's not, not showering.)" So my debate was how Crunchy would I become - how environmental, how healthily, how socially conscious, etc. Ok, honestly, it's not that far of a stretch. I'm eat very well; I lucked out and got a free two week membership to Gold's Gym (where Pyg goes) from the local grocery store so I've been working out; I take the bus; I'm looking for an organization with whom to volunteer; I bought organic shampoo; blah, blah, blah. I'm already pretty close.

Granola with Carp
But one thing that I'm trying to figure out is how a Seattlite, like a true Midwestern, goes out after work for a beer with colleagues or new friends. (It appears many people go home to their neighborhoods and hang out there as opposed to hanging out in a locale close to their work.) I know this isn't exclusive to the Midwest, but I'm pretty sure it has to do with long commutes and such. (Ok, it's only week two, maybe I'll have it figured out by next week.)

Granola with Grapefruit
So after going to the gym, I went to the grocery store to get some more salad (see above) and grapefruits. It's grapefruit season and I LOVE grapefruits. I picked out three that seemed nice and juicy and went to the check out. The woman presented my total and I looked at the register. The grapefruits were $1.29 each. I told her I thought they were that price per pound. It's winter - it's grapefruit season! They're supposed to be 4/$1.00 or something close to that. So I went to another store and they were $1.79 each. I went home without grapefruit. I went home a little confused - California, Mexico, where are the grapefruit on the west coast?

New friends, new experiences
A friend at work pass along a party invite for a capoeira party in the Capitol Hill area - I had an general address for this performance studio. After finding an exit and a direction, I found a parking spot not too far from where I needed to be. Of course, I was looking at the completely wrong interesting (Pine & 12th instead of Pike and 12th) and couldn't find the place and when I finally righted myself I couldn't get in - the door was locked. I knocked, I rang the bell, I waited five minutes. Then someone who clearly knew how to get in, came knocking on the windows. We were allowed in (I fell down the ramp entrance - again - note to self - shoes with rubber soles). I met all kinds of people. Most of them lived in the neighborhood; some worked at the capeoira center; some were students and had other jobs; some were full time instructors. All of them welcomed me. I shared my Samba stories. I met the guy whose birthday was being celebrated by a pot luck. I met many wonderful people.

I learned that the Wonder Bar (not bra) in Wallingford has Samba on Friday nights. Chop Seuy is a club on Madison (I walked by it when I abandoned the bus on Friday) which has CD release parties, hosts indy bands, rock, hip hop, reggae, etc. I learned that the best Samba instructor in the city, Janelle, teaches at a community center close to where I am living currently.

I also decided that I need to live in that neighborhood... reminds me of how I met most of my first friends in Cleveland - through dancing.

Out and about...
Yesterday, I left work just before 5 p.m. ending my first week of the new job. I was meeting Pyg and some other friends down at Pioneer Square Saloon first and then heading to the ever popular Belltown for drinks later. My bus crested the hill on Madison and started heading down (these are one of those hills that are VERY scary to drive down) when it stopped. We watched the light change from green to yellow to red through about 7 cycles before people started getting off the bus. I asked the woman next to me what was going on... she said it was a traffic jam, it always happened this time of year because people come into town for holiday shopping, etc. Many of these people had to catch the bus and so by the 10th cycle of not moving, I too got off the bus and walked 12 blocks to the bottom of the hill then over the Saloon. Note to self: Get boots with rubber sole so you don't fall.

We were barely at the Saloon when we decided to head over the Del Ray in Belltown. I wanted to try it out because it came up in some city guide as "the best singles scene" or something like that. So there were five of us gals - all young, funny (mostly married) laughing it up - drinking beers, telling stories of crazy family members, funny job stories, holiday plans. At one point we had a tongue curling contest (part of a chat about recessive genes), then we were trying to touch our noses, and our chins and laughing the whole time. A table full of guys were staring at us and all I could think was, YES, you have a table full of very talented women - all of whom but one were originally from the Great Lakes region.

We left there and headed to Belltown Pizza loosing one of the gals (who was tired and went home). Yum! Shel's friend came by to say hi and we thought he was a she - trying to pass off a "cool 80's hair cut" he ended up just looked very butch. Taxis and busses later we found ourselves at home, watching the last episode of the "L Word" before it had to be returned to Hollywood.

This was a nice way to end my first week in Seattle. I discovered as the week went by that my friends' lives in Cleveland were moving forward at amazing speed - more babies (twins infact!), another engagement and of course - snow! Made me a little home sick for just a moment... I didn't have any carrot sticks with me this time so I had another sip of my beer and got over it.

It's Snowing! It's Snowing!