At loose ends...
With Mel out of town, my inclination is to lurk at home and commiserate with the cat. This weekend I decided to ignore this inclination and pack in enough fun things that I would have no real time for loneliness and gloom. Surprisingly, this actually worked out OK.
Saturday morning, I got a semi-early start and headed out to Summit to get some skiing in. First I stopped by the Madison Market for my ceremonial pre-ski meal, a breakfast samosa and cappuccino. On the way up, I listened to This American Life (A Prairie Home Companion entertained me on the way back.). The slopes were packed with people. The snow was icy under an inch or two of powder, but I still had a great time. Getting to use the singles lane makes up for a lot of the bad waiting-in-line behavior that comes with the crowds. I got some good slope-time in, working on my fairly gruesome form in the substandard conditions. I really need to find something to do for a living that will supply me with these ski-endorphins on a regular basis (yes, I'm sure there are special ones just for skiing.).
I had a late lunch at the Issaquah Brew House on the way back. This is Rogue's local outpost. It's not as good as the one in Portland, but both the beer and the food were good.
I stopped at home long enough to feed Morgan, then I headed downtown to see a movie. When Mel is away, I tend to deliberately go to see movies that she has no interest in. Over time, this has become me deliberately going to see some pretty bad films. So I went to see My Bloody Valentine 3-D. Not that I expected it to be good, despite its implausible score of 71% on Rotten Tomatoes. I really just wanted to check out the new 3D technology, which is pretty much the coolest I've seen. More on that in a future post. Anyway, the film was really excessively bad, even by the low standards of the modern horror genre. Campy as hell. Constantly tongue-in-cheek without actually being funny. It was pretty much just a demo for the new 3D tech.
Afterward, I stopped at the freaky triangular Starbucks in Westlake Center for coffee. Yeah, I hate them, but not many downtown coffee shops are open that late. Plus the freakiness of building makes it OK in this case.
Next I wandered Belltown for a place where I could catch a late dinner without being too conspicuous as a single diner. In the spirit of the evening, I even made an effort to make it someplace new. Walking around the neighborhood, perusing menus, people-watching, and just enjoying the atmosphere of a cool city on a Saturday night was satisfying all on its own. I settled on Txori, a Basque tapas bar with the same ownership as our neighborhood's excellent Harvest Vine. The food was great, if not quite so great as at the Harvest Vine, and just what was wanted. It included the first food I've ever had that was coated in wet squid ink, as well as the same Garbonzos con Tomate that I had fallen in love with at the Vine. Seriously, I can imagine no better thing that can happen to chickpeas.
Sunday morning (OK, more like noon) I headed back up to Summit for more skiing. Central was inundated with children in helmets, so I spent my time over at West. The slopes were coated in a thick fog that made everything seem much eerier and a little bit less in control than usual. Once again, I had a good time, despite lame snow conditions.
After a while, I headed down to Seattle just in time to see a fairly spectacular sunset from the Pike Place Market; it being a rare clear day, I had been planning on this from the start.
Next I headed up to the Seattle Public Library Central Branch. Surprisingly, despite being in this town for over three years, I had never been there. It really is a unique combination of structure and user interface. The use of structural glass certainly impresses. I've always found it to be aesthetically awkward from the street. The interior, I have not decided about. The topology of the place could probably use some work. They are definitely playing with some fun ideas about how the patrons will interface with collections and services. I wonder how well these have worked out thus far.
Saturday morning, I got a semi-early start and headed out to Summit to get some skiing in. First I stopped by the Madison Market for my ceremonial pre-ski meal, a breakfast samosa and cappuccino. On the way up, I listened to This American Life (A Prairie Home Companion entertained me on the way back.). The slopes were packed with people. The snow was icy under an inch or two of powder, but I still had a great time. Getting to use the singles lane makes up for a lot of the bad waiting-in-line behavior that comes with the crowds. I got some good slope-time in, working on my fairly gruesome form in the substandard conditions. I really need to find something to do for a living that will supply me with these ski-endorphins on a regular basis (yes, I'm sure there are special ones just for skiing.).
I had a late lunch at the Issaquah Brew House on the way back. This is Rogue's local outpost. It's not as good as the one in Portland, but both the beer and the food were good.
I stopped at home long enough to feed Morgan, then I headed downtown to see a movie. When Mel is away, I tend to deliberately go to see movies that she has no interest in. Over time, this has become me deliberately going to see some pretty bad films. So I went to see My Bloody Valentine 3-D. Not that I expected it to be good, despite its implausible score of 71% on Rotten Tomatoes. I really just wanted to check out the new 3D technology, which is pretty much the coolest I've seen. More on that in a future post. Anyway, the film was really excessively bad, even by the low standards of the modern horror genre. Campy as hell. Constantly tongue-in-cheek without actually being funny. It was pretty much just a demo for the new 3D tech.
Afterward, I stopped at the freaky triangular Starbucks in Westlake Center for coffee. Yeah, I hate them, but not many downtown coffee shops are open that late. Plus the freakiness of building makes it OK in this case.
Next I wandered Belltown for a place where I could catch a late dinner without being too conspicuous as a single diner. In the spirit of the evening, I even made an effort to make it someplace new. Walking around the neighborhood, perusing menus, people-watching, and just enjoying the atmosphere of a cool city on a Saturday night was satisfying all on its own. I settled on Txori, a Basque tapas bar with the same ownership as our neighborhood's excellent Harvest Vine. The food was great, if not quite so great as at the Harvest Vine, and just what was wanted. It included the first food I've ever had that was coated in wet squid ink, as well as the same Garbonzos con Tomate that I had fallen in love with at the Vine. Seriously, I can imagine no better thing that can happen to chickpeas.
Sunday morning (OK, more like noon) I headed back up to Summit for more skiing. Central was inundated with children in helmets, so I spent my time over at West. The slopes were coated in a thick fog that made everything seem much eerier and a little bit less in control than usual. Once again, I had a good time, despite lame snow conditions.
After a while, I headed down to Seattle just in time to see a fairly spectacular sunset from the Pike Place Market; it being a rare clear day, I had been planning on this from the start.
Next I headed up to the Seattle Public Library Central Branch. Surprisingly, despite being in this town for over three years, I had never been there. It really is a unique combination of structure and user interface. The use of structural glass certainly impresses. I've always found it to be aesthetically awkward from the street. The interior, I have not decided about. The topology of the place could probably use some work. They are definitely playing with some fun ideas about how the patrons will interface with collections and services. I wonder how well these have worked out thus far.
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