Eyeballs and Butterflies

These were originally intended to be 2 separate posts, but because my friend Ann kills (and inspires) me when it comes to timely blogging, she did it first. The eyeballs are hanging at Pike & 11th (just down from the Satellite). I actually forgot where I saw the butterflies (I was on my evening constitutional). Pretty sure it was either Thomas or Harrison and between Summit and Belmont. I've heard there are more elsewhere on Capitol Hill, but I haven't noticed any. I just think both things are so great. I love it when someone comes up with a cool artistic idea and shares it with everyone (and then I can share it with you).

Fairewell D&G

I could write pages about this, but this isn't really the right venue for it. I love Divya and Gautam and they moved to D.C. this weekend (the mass exodus continues). They had a going away party at a cafe on Capitol Hill called Faire. I've been there several times (usually with them). I also really like their friend who runs the place. It's a great space with great people. Swing by if you ever have a chance. I keep meaning to go on a Sunday for a big glass of wine and the free Jazz. This past Friday I went to swap stories with other friends about D&G and watch my favorite local band, Motorcade, play (unfortunately sans-Casey) what was possibly their last show. Bye D&G, I'm going to miss you guys.

Turtle Power

I love all the random artistic and neat stuff you find all over the place in Seattle. I think it mostly has to do with walking everywhere and how you have more time to look at the little things. I saw this the other day while walking near the corner of Pine and 11th. It was just kind of back in the bushes, not really out there for anyone to see. I just got lucky.

Oklahoma City Supersonics

I saw this billboard while waiting for the bus near the Seattle Center (where the basketball stadium is). Ouch. I am not a Sonics fan, but I'm sad to see them go. I think sports teams help make a city more of a national destination. I think it hurts Seattle a bit to lose the team. I was also excited to see how they do in the next few seasons as they have a very young and interesting team. I guess that's just the politics of it all.

1 Year Anniversary

1 year ago this week (July 6th) I arrived in Seattle, not as a tourist, but as a resident. My first year has been better than I could have ever imagined. I've had 2 roommates and lived in 2 different places so far (though they are 2 blocks from each other). I've had tons of visitors and I've been all over this crazy city. I've had a chance to do all kinds of great and new things, many of which only Seattle allows. Highlights include Santa Pub Crawl, Solstice Parade (upcoming blog), Sasquatch Summer Festival at the Gorge, Tubing in Leavenworth (twice), Urban Golf, and Marques' Halloween party.

I look forward to the next year and plan to continue to try to enjoy all this beautiful and quirky city has to offer.

Father of Trees

This is a mural that was in the middle of Cal Anderson park on the sidewalk (between the reflecting pool and the fountain). It looks like it was done in charcoal. It was created by Allen Sparks and is called Father of Trees according to the signature at the bottom. It amazes me when people put so much work in something that will just wash away. The artist must really enjoy the process to spend so much time on something like this. The design is pretty intricate at the top.

The Post-Marques Seattle Era Begins

This past weekend was Marques' last in Seattle, so it was a busy weekend. There were lots of festivities, including hanging out at the Satellite bar, where MJ and I are regulars. Lots of friends were able to come and we had a grand ol' time.

When I was talking to Justin outside, he said that he saw something pretty odd on the way over to the bar. While walking through Cal Anderson Park, he and Yachi saw a marching band practicing at 11pm at night in the middle of the park. We all agreed that was pretty bizarre. It was more bizarre when Mike ran inside the bar around 1am and pulled several of us out to the sidewalk to see the band playing while they were walking up the street. And it took another twist when they all stopped playing and walked in to the bar with their instruments. Once everyone made it past the ID check at the door, they struck up the band and played us a couple of songs, for no apparent reason, with no explanation, in the middle of the Satellite bar. I apologize for the crummy picture, but it was really dark in there and hard to snap a non-flash picture. It was so great!

The weekend was awesome. I have a few more pictures, but I might spread them out a bit. It is really sad to see Marques go. He is the reason I chose Seattle as my new home. He's a great friend who I have literally known my entire life and just an incredibly fun person to be around and I'm really going to miss him. That being said, one of the best gifts he gave me was this city. I never would have moved here without him nor would I have met so many of these great friends of his that have even become friends of mine. Divya said it best when we were saying goodbye to Marques this morning. "This is the end of an era." It is a little colder and a little darker in Seattle today and that's just how Marques would have liked it.

Quality, Quantity and the Walk Score

This isn't really a photo post, but more about the difference between the places I have lived previously. My friends Divya and Gautam are trying to sell their place in Capitol Hill. I was reading the website that D put together for their place and found the demographics and "Walk Score" very interesting. Walk Score is the ability to walk easily to the places you need to go most often (grocery, drug store, bars, theaters, coffee shops, parks, etc.). As far as I can tell, it maps the closest item that fulfills each criteria and then your Walk Score is how far those things are from your address. It is a quantity measurement.

The place I moved from in Franklin, Indiana had a walk score of 18. Some of the closest items were in Indy, which is double digit miles away. It is tough to walk anywhere in Franklin. And actually, if they factored in that you can't safely walk to several of those places because of lack of sidewalks and crossing highways, it would probably be quite a bit lower. It's not just low quantity either. There are not very many cool restaurants, bars, coffee shops, parks, etc. in Franklin. The cream of the crop in Franklin is the Willard (which I love). Also of note are Ritters Frozen Custard, Jeff Street (it's one of the only worthwhile bars), the buffet at Franklin College (because it's cheap, but not good) and Applebee's half-priced appetizers (which are both cheap and good). It was nice being close to Franklin College because it is a nice campus and we could easily access their football field. Without the college, Franklin would be mostly uninhabitable because you'd lose most of the fine establishments I mentioned above.

To be fair, Franklin is my most recent place of residence, but isn't really the best comparable. I also lived in Broad Ripple in Indianapolis, which is much more walkable. Outside of living in downtown Indy (I always wanted to live on Mass Ave), it is probably the most walkable place in Indianapolis (and all of Indiana if you discount college campuses). There is a close-by mall (Glendale), grocery (Marsh or ghetto Kroger), several great eateries (Broad Ripple Brew Pub, Bazbeaux Pizza, Yats, BW3 [side note: all of which I try to visit every trip home]), music venues (Vogue, Birdy's, Patio) and some wonderful local ale establishments (Stone Mug, Alley Cat, Old Pros Table, Average Joe's). The score there was 78, which I thought seemed a tad high. B.Ripple has a fair amount of quantity (but some of it is quite a hike) and a good-to-great amount of quality.

This brings me to the place I currently live, Capitol Hill in Seattle. Cap Hill has a Walk Score of 95. This area has not only the quantity of places you can walk to, but amazing quality. Capitol Hill has the best coffee shops in Seattle (and therefore, conceivably the country) (Victrola, Vivace, Top Pot Doughnuts), several of the best venues for music in the Pacific Northwest (Neumos, Chop Suey, Paramount), several of the best bars in Seattle (Lindas, Cha Cha, Capitol Club, Summit Public House, Faire) and I'd imagine the best sandwich shops in the city (Baguette Box, Honey Hole, Saley). We also have a new public park and easy walking access to downtown (which has even more stuff!).

I really enjoy living in an urban area that promotes walking and having great stuff nearby. I loved Broad Ripple, but it is not quite concentrated enough for me. Several of those places are a couple to several miles away. You couldn't survive without a car. Although I know you can get much of the quantity or quality elsewhere, the combo of quality and quantity of Seattle is really hard to beat. Would it be too much to ask for a Qdoba and Arby's in Capitol Hill? =)

Where's Waldo?

This wall has actually been the subject of a previous post. I thought this was a particularly clever piece of graffiti. It is at an entrance to Cal Anderson Park.

The Scourge of Graffiti

Apparently the graffiti cops don't appreciate these types of things as much as I do. Maybe it is because I'm still pretty new to Seattle, but a lot of it is more art than gang related. To say that it will bring a downturn in the community seems an over exageration. I think it makes a difference what types of things are being done to public property. If they are gang related, then I would agree, but half the time it is some weird octopus looking thing or a molecule diagram (which I keep meaning to look up which compound that is) stenciled on the sidewalk. I love the stencils. Because of the preparation, they seem better thought out and you can be so much more detailed than just with a can of paint.

These were on the same wall of an apartment building over by the Northwest School (Summit & Pike). There were some more, but these were the best. They were both fairly small. The peace one was probably only 5 inches tall and the Ladies First, I kind of forget, but maybe just a little bigger.

Night Court

The basketball and tennis courts at Cal Anderson park are always an interesting place to be at sun-down. We play basketball there a couple times a week (if we can get good weather). The courts are used for more than just their intended purposes though. Tonight was a great example. There was a 5-on-5 basketball game, a 2-on-2 bicycle polo match (they usually have 4-on-4, so I imagine it was just getting started) and a 30 person game of dodgeball, all happening right next to each other. Foreground to background: basketball, polo, dodgeball.

Seattle Democratic Caucus

Despite not being registered to vote in Seattle yet, I attended the caucus last weekend. I wanted to witness the democracy of it all. Almost everyone I know in Seattle lives in the same neighborhood. So we several of us went to Divya, Gautam & Casey's for mimosas, donuts, bagels and debate beforehand, then headed down to the Commie College to be democratic. It was one of the wildest things I've ever witnessed. The process is incredibly outdated and awkward, but it was a really unique and kind of neat experience.

We packed over 100 people in to a classroom (see picture above). These people all live within 2 blocks of each other. The whole thing has a very "community" feeling. While signing in, everyone wrote down who they planned to vote for (undecided was an option). Then we all got in the room and people took turns talking for Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. None of the speeches were very convincing and almost every single one had flawed logic at one point or another. It was more of a, "This is why I'm voting for ---". It was still pretty neat. One of the speakers actually broke down in to tears for Barack. It was awkward, but pretty impressive that she was that emotionally involved (and probably unstable). Then everyone votes again.

The process might be flawed, but it was still deeply democratic. I was so glad I went. It really has the feel of what democracy was in the early days of our country.

Open Mic Night

Hopvine is a little joint up the hill on 15th. They had good pizza and a really good microbrew on tap. However, the reason for our trip was that Wednesdays are Open Mic Night. Andy and I took one for the team (if you can call eating pizza and drinking beer taking one for the team) and got there early to lay claim to the table right in front of the stage and I'm glad we did. It is a fun time and I'm planning to return. I was pretty impressed with most of the acts. There was a duo called the Forget-me-nots with violin (5-string) and acoustic guitar that were really good. They are opening a show at the Showbox SODO this weekend. I might have to check it out.

Twisted Metal

I took this picture a couple years ago on a trip to visit Marques. I've always thought this was a cool piece of artwork and I like how the picture turned out. This is located at the Commie College (SCCC), close to the corner of Pine and Broadway.

Seattle Vehicles

I have encountered some interesting vehicles in my time here in Seattle. Twice I have seen The Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo (separate incidents). I saw a Mercedes Benz with deer horns. And I've seen a tricked out VW Beetle with spikes on it. There is also a large saw-like fin on the roof (the light on the top of it says "Not A Taxi").

Pink Monday

Today is Martin Luther King Jr day and I have the day off work. I took the occasion to bus over to the U District to catch some Qdoba and walk around The Ave a bit. Today is a sunny, clear, awesome day outside. You can see all the mountains and there isn't a cloud in the sky.

I saw this on the way to the bus stop. People in Seattle seem to love to stencil things on the sidewalks. Some are weird, some abstract, but I really like this one, a pink heart and crossbones. I think it is interesting that it is pink instead of black or red.

Caffe Mocha

I have discovered a beautiful thing. In Seattle they have this thing called mocha coffee. It's like hot chocolate meets coffee. It is awesome! I gave Espresso Vivace Roasteria 3 bucks and they gave me this amazing elixir of caffeine.

Santa Pub Crawl

Marques, Justin, Chris and I went on a pub crawl around Seattle dressed as Santa. I had a beard, it just didn't last long. There were easily over a hundred Santas and we went to 7 or so bars, a mall and a playground. There were all kinds of Santas: Jedi Santa, Jesus Santa, Pirate Santas, etc. There were also Mrs. Clauses, Elves, Reindeer, Snowwomen and my personal favorite, a guy in "milk and cookies" pajamas, handing out Oreos to the Santas. My favorite part was the looks on people's faces when a hundred Santas stop traffic while crossing the street. I absolutely loved it. I hope to participate every year from now on.