Drinks At Vessel, Talk At Benaroya

Last night, my friend and I attended Dr. Abraham Verghese's talk at Benaroya Hall, as part of the Seattle Arts and Lectures Literary Series. You can read my review on Slog here.

Prior to our arrival, I thought it would be nice to grab a drink at Vessel on 5th Avenue (between University and Union). I've walked by the place a few times, and was struck by it's unusual window setup. My friend thought of it as there being "window models" on either side of the entrance. That is, there are about five chairs situated immediately in front of the large glass window, with an almost intruding wall placed directly behind the chairs.

I arrived before she did, so I found us some private seating upstairs. It was very 'Seattle' of me; sitting near other people... how foreign and unnatural. The place was definitely swanky, but it was fun to pretend that we were sophisticated, if only for an hour or so. She had a glass of champagne, followed by a Stella Artois (in the bottle). I tried my very first Manhattan (rye, vermouth, bitters, and a cherry). It was drinkable, but I was definitely a boy pretending to be a man. Next time I will stick to what I know and enjoy.

We were a bit hungry, so we ordered the Croque Monsieur, which, I believe, is french for "Fancy Grilled Ham and Cheese". Feeling a bit tipsy, hunger marginally satisfied, and our wallets rapidly thinning, we asked for the check and headed over to Benaroya. It was a good night.

The Best Line I've Ever Read In A Police Report

"On 020510 victim invited the suspect and a couple other friends to come to his apartment to partake in some substance abuse and to stay the nights."

Rad, dude.

A Time And Feeling Reminiscent Of November 5, 2008

Right now I feel like I did on November 5, 2008.  The candidates and measures that I voted (and lobbied) for all won their respective offices, but in another state, gay marriage was voted down.  Last year, Californians went to the polls to strip away marriage--equal protection--rights from gay couples.  In 2009, in Maine, voters went to the polls, driven by the same fear tactics used in California, to do the same.  While we may be 'losing' at present, rest assured that this is not the end.  We're not going to just go away and accept your own insecurities and bigotry as the law of the land.

Update: 12:59pm (Eastern) - With 589 of 605 (97%) of Maine's precincts reporting, the totals are now: 298,002 voting 'Yes' (reject the same-sex marriage law) and 266,599 voting 'No' (uphold the same-sex marriage law).  That's 52.78% to 47.22%, and a difference of 31,403 votes.

While the ballots are still being counted here in Washington state, it looks as though Referendum 71--on whether or not to allow a legislative bill expanding the rights and responsibilities of domestic partners to pass--is going to be approved by the electorate.  We could not have done this without your support, outreach, and most importantly, your vote.  This is a big win for us today, and I couldn't be happier.

On that note, I would like to take this time to thank each and every one of my friends, family members, and coworkers for putting up with my incessant heckling to get their voter registration up-to-date and voting.  Your support means the world to me (and to everyone in the gay community).  Again, thank you.  Now, let's roll up our sleeves and get to work!

Sunny Day Real Estate Is Playing The Paramount?

I couldn't believe it when I saw this today:

Apparently they're doing a reunion tour. Who would have thought?

Last Night's Free Sheep Event At The Moore Theater

Every now and then I'll venture outside of my cave, swallowing whatever self-induced agoraphobia I might be having on that particular day, and attend certain publicized events. Last night, for one night only, the Moore Theater let 30+ artists (in all senses of the word) run amok and give everyone in attendance a free mind-fucking experience.

The Stranger has had the details here. The event's over...so their details would serve only an informative purpose.

Sadly, for me, art is a very personal experience to be enjoyed at whatever pace I so choose. There were hundreds of people aching to get inside this mere four-hour show. Hence, and as is the case with most art I experience, I did not get to enjoy and discern all that was offered in a fashion suitable to my liking. The show started in the back alley. As you waited in line, you could get a poster and write whatever the hell you wanted in a black square (with white pens). This part was your showpiece. Once you were in, the choices of where to go were limitless. You could go down into the basement, up to the balconies, to the main entrance, anywhere...except for the roof, I think. And now...photos (via my broken iPhone).

For whatever reason, I had to see the bathrooms filled with watermelons. It was a bitch to find though. There are only so many ways to get down to the basement. The women in togas are representative of the muses, and were running about and screaming in joviality. I later found out that one muse in particular wanders off, and the others are intent to find her in the likes of Ms. Pac Man. From the Seattle Times:

Performance group Seattle School is planning to reunite Urania, the Greek muse of astronomy and the only muse not to be depicted in marble in the Moore's lobby, with the rest of her sister muses. The unpredictable Urania will be portrayed by Marya Sea Kaminski.

Perhaps if I came out of my cave more often, I might be more appreciative of these walking art exhibits. Finally, as a side note, the theater, in retrospect, had a very eerie feel to it. This was especially true in the basement. It was cold and felt haunted almost. I definitely would not want to be in the theater by myself at any point.

How Should I Get Home And Exercise At The Same Time?

It looks like I have a scenic six and a half mile walk ahead of me. I'll post pictures later. I'm looking forward to the walk across the Aurora bridge. Should be fun!

View Greenlake to First Hill Walk in a larger map

[Updated]: Now with pictures! I'm exhausted, and am in no mood to tell the entire story. I'll let the pictures do the talking. I'm only posting the few that I like. Also, I twittered the entire walk, but those 'tweets' are apparently not in existence on my page. WTF Twitter?

The Future Of Same-Sex Marriages In California Has Been Announced

The California Supreme Court voted in a 6-1 ruling that Proposition 8 did not constitute a constitutional revision, and therefore, is legally valid. This means that same-sex marriage in California is, as of now, officially illegal. However, on a brighter note, the Court voted unanimously to not invalidate the 18,000 or so same-sex marriages performed prior to its November 4th passage. You can read the court's legal opinion here.

There will be a (now)-protest rally in Westlake Center at 5:30pm today. If you support the right for same-sex couples to marry, we hope to see you there.

It Was A Beautiful Night In Seattle

From my apartment on First Hill. Queen Anne Hill is in the background.

Two Car Accident On 5th and Spring

I was lucky enough to catch the Metro 2 across 3rd Avenue and up Spring Street, but when the bus got to 5th Avenue, we came to a halting stop. We could only see that there was an ambulance and several police cars with their lights flashing in the intersection. I figured we might be waiting a while, so I got off and walked the rest of the way home. I took this photo around 11:30pm on Thursday night.

The car (center) had most of its front end smashed in, and the other car (center-left) appeared to have plowed into the telephone poles on the southeast corner. I really cannot envision how this accident played out. Everyone appeared to be in stable condition. I noticed an officer wrapping a brace around a woman's neck. This was the exciting news story of my night.

A Return Trip Home Through Freeway Park

I haven't walked through Freeway Park in months, mainly because it was dark when I got back from work. Now that the days are longer, and the sun is out until near 8pm now, I can feel safe walking through the park on my way home from the bus stop. The park was lacking two things, one of which I was happy to not see there: trees and unemployed hippies that play their acoustic guitars and with their dogs. I'll let you figure out which of those I was happy to not see.

The trees were actually removed a while ago due to them being overly excessive in height. Hence, you will understand why my pictures look so devoid of much nature. Click on the photos to view them in their full size.

Sunshine, Water Taxi, Longboard, Alki

Today was one of the most beautiful days, so far, this year. I was tired from work, but I told myself that it was too damn gorgeous outside to just stay in for the rest of the night. So I convinced myself to grab my longboard and camera after I got home, and head down to the pier to catch the King County Water Taxi across Elliot Bay to Seacrest Park. I longboarded from the park all the way west on Alki, and then back to the park. I took some photos along the way. Click on the photos to view them in their full size.

The bittersweet moment came when I returned to Seacrest Park and discovered that I read the schedule wrong. The water taxi would not be coming back. So I had to longboard all the way back to the opposite end of Alki to catch the Metro 56 bus. On the plus side, I got to enjoy the sunset and add two additional miles to my longboard run; I longboarded a total of six miles. Damn I felt good after it all.

Also, I would appreciate it if people would understand that the walking lane is for walking, and the speed lane is for cyclists, longboarders, skateboarders, skaters, and runners.

The Weather Gods Are Against Me

I made this conclusion after viewing the weather widget on my phone. The weather reports for Seattle are as follows:

Sunday - Sunny - 65 degrees
Monday - Sunny - 70 degrees
Tuesday - Sunny - 68 degrees
Wednesday - Rain - 55 degrees
Thursday - Rain - 50 degrees

I work on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday; there will be warm temperatures and sunshine on those days. I do not work on Wednesday and Thursday; there will be cold temperatures and rain. The weather gods hate me.

Pagliacci Exposed

No, I'm not exposing the clown (or the opera). In fact, I'm not really exposing much of anything, but merely remarking upon the absurd expectations that pizza customers expect from a local business.

If you don't already know, I worked for Pagliacci Pizza from August until late November of this year. I didn't work at the pizzerias or delivery kitchens (there are 3 pizzerias and 15 delivery kitchens), but rather, I worked at their centralized call center on Pike and Summit (on Capitol Hill). My job involved answering incoming phone calls to enter people's pizza orders.

"Thank you for calling Pagliacci. Can I start with your phone number?" I've said that so many times that I literally just self-induced a flash-headache. The job was mundane, uneventful, and not conducive to actually ever mingling with ones coworkers. I still don't fully understand how people were able to simultaneously converse with each other at the call center -and- take phone calls from customers. Unless, that is, they were not taking calls on a consistent basis, which I was doing.

Regardless of all that, what caused me the most distress was the kind of precedent "ass-kissing" that was (in essence) company policy. I can understand trying to garner repeat business, but some of the expectations these customers had were beyond ridiculous. Maybe I'm just jaded from the time I've spent in a customer service position, or maybe not. Either way, people demand way too much for something so simple. It's fucking pizza!

People wanted to be strictly referred to as "Mr. or Mrs. XXX". If you didn't address them as such, they would scoff at, or correct you.

People were noted as being perpetual "clock watchers". That means that if they order their food at 5:02, and you quote them a 35 minute delivery time, if their food wasn't there by 5:37, they would be on the phone to you to complain by 5:38.

A customer once took up nearly 10 minutes of my time (on a night where we had roughly 80+ people waiting on the phone to place orders) to inquire, complain, order, repeat. As we came to concluding part of the transaction, [payment], he threw up his hands (I'm sure of it) in a fit and exclaimed, "forget it, I'm goin' ta dominos" (click). Thank you for wasting my time and killing off even more of the soul I don't believe exists (on a universal, not individual, spectrum).

Maybe I should write a book about all these idiotic encounters...but why waste my time? [rhetorical].

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It snowed! In Seattle!

From my one and only apartment window.

From the same window...slightly to the right.

The morning after.

The park next to my apartment building.