5 posts tagged “seattle”

At work last night one of the kids, probably in junior high or so, was -shocked- that I didn't have a car. That used to happen a lot, but ironically slowed down once I actually got a license. (Not having -that- was just over the top, I guess, especially as I wore on towards my late 20s.)  Furthermore, this one argued with me.

"They're expensive!" says I.
"But you could get a used one!" says she.
"But then I'd have to pay to get it repaired!" says I. "Plus gas, and insurance, and parking."

I mean, on one hand I am cognizant of the fact that I'm lucky. for all we bitch about the bus system in Seattle, it -exists- and is not ridiculous for getting me to and from work, even though I work far outside of the downtown core. (I finally got my license at the age of 27 precisely because I was living in the suburbs of a town without decent transit.)

But on the other, part of this is me being -conscious- of things, of choosing to live in the city, at an apartment with good bus service, and furthermore, one with an excellent walkshed. I mean, not only can I walk to the library, bank, grocery store, restaurants, bookstores, & movie theater in ten minutes or less, in another ten I'm in the downtown core. That was a decision I made. I find it bizarre that it is so shocking.

Earlier this year I worked out how much I paid in transportation. A bus pass every month, six bus tickets to Vancouver, and two plane tickets to Spokane totaled just under $1100. That's as high as my transportation costs could possibly go, and you certainly can't drive for that. I overestimated on the out-of-town portion, probably, as so far this year I've only been up to BC twice. But I have been to Spokane once already, and all of those trips are ones where I would have at least considered driving if I had a car.

I don't know. I know there are many great reasons why people choose to never use transportation alternatives, why people live in their cars. But I am tired of it being shocking that I made a different choice.

Hello all. I went to load the compose page on Safari and Vox told me that it is incompatable with this browser and that I should download Firefox. Which, yeah, except the reason I was composing in Safari in the first place was that Firefox does this bizarre overlapping-text thing sometimes, which I think is some sort of CSS & Mac issue, but I have no idea. I just know that it is annoying when I am typing & editing in a wee box and I can't tell where my cursor actually is. I'm going to boldly compose over here anyway and we'll see what happens.

What's the most memorable building you've lived in?

This is a timely question, because one of them is in the process of being converted to condos, and thus will no longer be interesting.

First, though, I lived in an interesting house just out of college, interesting not so much for the house itself as much as for the fact that it was next door to the Catholic church, and, in fact, I rented from the parish. I had to have additional insurance on the property, and my lease included a morality clause. (Not that they ever enforced it, but it was there.)

In grad school I lived in an apartment building on Capitol Hill, next door to the library. The first thing you see when you get there are the pirate doors, a man & a woman in stained glass. The lobby and hallways had crazy wallpaper, and throughout my time of living there we referred to it as "bordello lobby". The apartment itself was bright with huge windows, but the lobby was deep reds and golds and this great chandelier. But, sadly, the building was sold earlier this year, and they are beginning condo conversion on it. The pirate doors are still there for now, but I fear it is only a matter of time.

My current building is not memorable. Woe!

This morning when I was walking from the bus to my coffee shop (tall mocha!) and later from the bus to the library (returning the first season of "The West Wing") it rained. Not a hard rain or even a medium rain, but my favorite rain, a misty rain. It's another autumn day.

On the 29th of August, Seattle smelled like autumn for the first time this year. It was crisp and sunny, the leaves were starting to turn, and there was just that hint of something in the air. It's my favorite season, something I've written about in other spaces before. The new year for me begins in September. I've still spent more years of my life as a student than not, and even now in my working life my schedule follows the school year.

I love the fresh school supplies and the falling leaves, the sweaters and the spicy drinks, the earlier evenings that invite knitting and reading and writing. I even love the holidays. However, for the first time I am sad that it is autumn because next comes winter, and I am becoming more aware of the fact that winter and I do not get along. Last year, some may recall, I had Issues With The Rain. I had days where I wanted to cry solely because it was raining. This year I am aware of the problem, and I am a little afraid.

But for now it is autumn, and there is a slight chill in the air and glorious colors on the trees and I listen to music at the bus stop and curl my fingers a bit tighter around my mocha. And it rains. Just a little. Not too much. For now.

I regularly read Outer Limits: The Lake City Blog at the Seattle P-I. I work in the Lake City area of Seattle, and it is a unique area of the city with a lot of potential to go either way. My office, by the nature of our work in direct service, puts a large emphasis on community involvement and connections, and reading Erika's encounters with local leaders helps foster a sense of community for me.

I also am interested in her coverage of things that are less great about Lake City, and when I saw her post on the Discount Gun store that recently went in on Lake City Way, I made a mental note to pay attention when I passed it on the bus. When I did, I was horrified to note not only the store's existence (at least the second gun shop between the freeway and 125th) but also the decor. In every window is a poster for a movie glorifying gun violence. (shot from the discount gun website)The Boondock Saints and the 2005 Mr. and Mrs. Smith were among the "hey look! guns are sexy!" features. Now, don't get me wrong. I enjoy violent cinema. I own The Boondock Saints and mourn the fact that the Criterion edition of Hard Boiled is out of print. But I am sickened to see such blatant gun marketing. And it's not that I'm opposed to all guns; I come from a hunting family. However, it's pretty clear to me that this is not what the shop is going for. Instead, it's aiming for everything that makes me ill about America.

(Tonight I came online and thought to look for Erika's original post so I could read any comments on it, but it's gone, only to be found via Google's cache. I have to wonder why.)