one looooooooong post with lots of photos

i apologize to all three of you that read this blog. i meant to have SOMETHING posted here last week but i caught a mystery disease and was unpacking and leff's been using the computer to code for his top secret job, blahblahblah...

why don't i just start from the most recent news and work my way back?

ok, so last night i dyed my hair again.



this is my favorite red so far. note to self: feria 67.

i finally made it to a coffee shop.



uptown espresso is quite nice. and the chai that i got was probably the best chai that i've ever had. and i've had some chai in my time. leff's cafe americano was quite delicious as well!

the lady in front of us at uptown ordered a coffee with a list of requirements so long that it needed its own pamphlet. and i laughed at her because complicated coffee drinks are SOOOOOO 90's.

but despite the litany of directions on how her coffee should be made, she somehow left out the word "mocha". so the barista left out the mocha. and then the lady complained. and i laughed at her again.

then the barista, who was cute, bitched about her to me and leff.

ah, seattle. i love you!

moving on...

leff and i accidentally ended up at seattle center while we were looking for a flexcar location. (i'm selling michico nissan, my sentra, as soon as i can get a duplicate title from tennessee. i lost it in the move.)



yeah, the space needle is so close to home that we just stumbled upon it.

also, while we were at seattle center we tripped over the mobile story corpsmobile. (we keep tripping over lots of things these days. it must be the air...)



i heard about the booth in grand central station in nyc a few years ago, but i had no idea that there were two mobile booths touring the country. i might interview leff.

i'm making a lot of progress on the apartment. i sorted the books by color a la chotda.



and the bathroom is finished. although the shower curtain is too short since our new tub is super deep. like, jacques cousteau could do a program from the depths of our tub deep.

oh, and the bedroom is finished. it's just the living room that still needs unpacking at this point.

this sunday we went to the ballard farmer's market. lots of organic fruit and veg, lots of fresh flowers. and one incredible booth with super inexpensive, delicious produce yeilded this onion.



it was a huuuuuuuge onion. one of those = four smaller onions. i've got to go back to that guy's booth! he had baby bok choy for $1 a bunch!!

have successfully found trader joe's, safeway, larry's (all three of which are grocery stores that i can WALK to) and one of the targets.



this target?? tres impressive. it's entered through the parking garage. and it's two stories with a cartscalator.

yes, i'm easily impressed.

i also am now the proud owner of a seattle public library card! i went to the queen anne branch on, like, my third day here.



it's an original carnegie library with stained glass windows!!

the librarian that gave us our cards was wonderful! she found it quite amusing that i already knew the specs about the seattle library system. (but how could i not?? it's only, like, one of the greatest library systems in the country!!)

have i mentioned that you check out your own books?? okok, you scan your card and then place your books onto a flat surface that reads, i guess, an rfid chip that's imbedded in them. then you press ok, print out a return date slip and you're out of there!

have i also mentioned the lack of overt security systems at the queen anne branch? in memphis, leaving the library is like leaving fort knox. there are magnetic sensor things by the door and often a security guard. in seattle? none of that. not even the magnetic sensors. of course, i haven't made it to the central branch yet (that's sunday, i think...) so i may be a bit premature in saying that people in seattle might not steal books.

also, nancy pearl is teaching two classes at, i think, uwashington this year. i might try to audit the second one since i'm too late for the first.

AND salmon rushdie and ha jin are BOTH going to be in seattle!!! (not at the same time though.) i've GOT to go to BOTH readings/signings!!

but back to mundane things. on labor day leff and i took an eight mile walk that started at the dna bridge at elliott bay park



took us to pike place market and then back home. pike place was stupid crazy busy with tourists so we didn't stay long.

note to pike place tourists: if you've seen one busker, you've seen them all. get the fuck out of my way, cornfed, before i kick you in the nuts.

*ahem*

the day before that we drove through freemont and stopped at the troll.



we drove past the lenin statue too but i didn't get a photo.

what to say about my brief time in freemont? it's confusing. the roads are all crazy curvy and one way and they dead end and god i don't even know where the hell we were in freemont.

but i want to try the greek place that happy gilmore recommended!

*whew!* long post! this will have to suffice for today. i'm not sure i even want to write about the drive across the country as it was 1) dull in most places 2) painful most of the time due to a swollen, broken toe, massive bruises that were turning black they were so deep and the multitude of cat scratches i received from anxious kitties 3) i just really don't want to think about it right now.

here's the link to the photoset of the moving photos. and that's all she wrote!