Believe it or not, I didn't really come here to write about anything deep or esoteric today.
Really, all I came to say was that I just had a great vacation home (aside from a football-related bite through my lip - healed nicely, though, with the aid of Super Glue - don't ask - think Marsha), followed closely by my first visit to Seattle for a friend's wedding. Aside from having a large contingent of young vocals apparently objecting to the blessed union, the wedding was one of the most beautiful I've been to. Small - but not too small, simple, and romantic. The following day, Adrian, Tiffany, David and I visited Crystal Mountain (thanks to those of you who recommended it!) and spent a day on the slopes. More precisely, Adrian and I spent an afternoon and evening on the slopes. The others didn't have quite the affinity for hypothermia and, instead, spent considerable time sitting in the warmth of the lodge observing the occassional toboggan coming down the hill with another frozen body strapped to it. After the sun went down at 4:00, the resort's three night lifts lit up and the day's three to four inches of fresh powder sucked us into staying a few more delightful hours. It quit snowing about that time, too, and we couldn't have asked for better powder.
Sunday, we paid homage to the original Starbucks, wandered the fish market, went shopping, stumbled over a few homeless people - woah, is it just me, or does Seattle have the largest homeless population of any city in the world!? I had to have seen at least twice as many there as I've ever seen in San Francisco! Anyway, I wouldn't make Seattle my first choice for a tourist destination, but overall it wasn't a bad place at all - especially for people who enjoy shopping, people-watching, and street-wandering. Oh, and street musicians! They were out en masse and pretty fun to watch. I was tempted to buy a couple CD's, but decided I needed to spend the money on stuff more critical to my immediate survival: coffee, for instance. I'd heard Seattle had a coffee shop on every corner. That wasn't exactly the whole story. Not only was there a Starbucks, Seattle's Best, or some other home-grown coffee shop on every corner, there seemed to be three or four per block. I realized this as I was sipping a carmel macchiato and thinking a coffee refill would be nice. I looked up and there was a coffee shop. A few sips later, there was another, and another, and another. At least the people of Seattle will never go thirsty.
Speaking of thirsty, I read a book while I was in Seattle at the airport called "Blue Like Jazz: nonreligious thoughts on Christian spirituality," by Donald Miller. It had been recommended to me by several friends, so I finally took the advice and read it. ("What does this have to do with being thirsty?", you ask. Well, not much, really.) This book is great. There are a lot of things I don't agree with the author on, particularly his political and social views - I haven't protested any war efforts recently, or attended any anti-Bush demonstrations, but his humor, openness, and love for the Lord and people are compelling reasons to read the book if you get a chance. It's a really fun one, and challenging in its own way. Besides that, it's helpful for closed-minded, white male, Christian Republicans like me to get a glimpse into "the dark side" occassionally.
Really, all I came to say was that I just had a great vacation home (aside from a football-related bite through my lip - healed nicely, though, with the aid of Super Glue - don't ask - think Marsha), followed closely by my first visit to Seattle for a friend's wedding. Aside from having a large contingent of young vocals apparently objecting to the blessed union, the wedding was one of the most beautiful I've been to. Small - but not too small, simple, and romantic. The following day, Adrian, Tiffany, David and I visited Crystal Mountain (thanks to those of you who recommended it!) and spent a day on the slopes. More precisely, Adrian and I spent an afternoon and evening on the slopes. The others didn't have quite the affinity for hypothermia and, instead, spent considerable time sitting in the warmth of the lodge observing the occassional toboggan coming down the hill with another frozen body strapped to it. After the sun went down at 4:00, the resort's three night lifts lit up and the day's three to four inches of fresh powder sucked us into staying a few more delightful hours. It quit snowing about that time, too, and we couldn't have asked for better powder.
Sunday, we paid homage to the original Starbucks, wandered the fish market, went shopping, stumbled over a few homeless people - woah, is it just me, or does Seattle have the largest homeless population of any city in the world!? I had to have seen at least twice as many there as I've ever seen in San Francisco! Anyway, I wouldn't make Seattle my first choice for a tourist destination, but overall it wasn't a bad place at all - especially for people who enjoy shopping, people-watching, and street-wandering. Oh, and street musicians! They were out en masse and pretty fun to watch. I was tempted to buy a couple CD's, but decided I needed to spend the money on stuff more critical to my immediate survival: coffee, for instance. I'd heard Seattle had a coffee shop on every corner. That wasn't exactly the whole story. Not only was there a Starbucks, Seattle's Best, or some other home-grown coffee shop on every corner, there seemed to be three or four per block. I realized this as I was sipping a carmel macchiato and thinking a coffee refill would be nice. I looked up and there was a coffee shop. A few sips later, there was another, and another, and another. At least the people of Seattle will never go thirsty.
Speaking of thirsty, I read a book while I was in Seattle at the airport called "Blue Like Jazz: nonreligious thoughts on Christian spirituality," by Donald Miller. It had been recommended to me by several friends, so I finally took the advice and read it. ("What does this have to do with being thirsty?", you ask. Well, not much, really.) This book is great. There are a lot of things I don't agree with the author on, particularly his political and social views - I haven't protested any war efforts recently, or attended any anti-Bush demonstrations, but his humor, openness, and love for the Lord and people are compelling reasons to read the book if you get a chance. It's a really fun one, and challenging in its own way. Besides that, it's helpful for closed-minded, white male, Christian Republicans like me to get a glimpse into "the dark side" occassionally.
posted by jph | 3:41 PM
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