Seattle: Updated and Revised, or We're Not in Cedar City Anymore

"Oh, well I've been orientating myself for the last few days so I'm fine."
"Okay, but I don't think orientating is a word."

Things I Have Acquired:
1) Ethernet Cable! I bought this today at RadioShack and this is how I am able to communicate with you here by the magic of the Internet. I also realized that I have no idea what the Internet actually is and would be at a complete lost to explain it to someone who has been living in a cave for the last twenty years. (But now that I have the Internet again, I can look further into this.)
2) Bloodied Appendages. Years ago the people of Seattle decided to spend their money on building more freeways instead of a public transportation system. Where were all the hippies when you needed them? So everyone drives their car and that makes for traffic congestion like all the time. As a result, I have been walking about most of the time, and while individual neighborhoods may be great to walk around in, walking from neighborhood to neighborhood is less great. Also, the shoes I have been wearing were made by people who hate feet. So what were once feet have been turned into blistered stumps that would make a manicurist cry--or just me. So today I decided to pull out my very old Adidas/Goodyear shoes (that's right, Goodyear shoes) that are very comfortable and in which I walked all around and about London. Sweet Merciful Relief (though I still have blisters). I will be wearing these old shoes until I can find new, decent walking shoes (and gel insoles).
3) My Husky Card/UPass. Sadly this Photo ID features, hands-down, the absolute worst pic I have ever had on any Photo ID. The good news is that I can now ride the buses for free, and supposedly the bus system is actually pretty good. The (other) bad news is that I don't know how to ride buses.
3) A Bottle of Wine. It really helps with the feet thing. Also, hooray for grocery stores selling wine, and not just crappy boxed wine either. I think I'm going to like this place.
4) A Personal Shopping Center. Sandwiched between my apartment complex and campus is University Village which is a large and vibrant shopping center. With more stores than I can count, it includes Barnes & Noble, Gap, Banana Republic, Tiffany & Co., Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, two Starbucks, QFC, Apple Store, Radio Shack, Williams-Sonoma, H&M, J. Crew, Busterblockers (also known at Blockbuster), Safeway, and much, much more. I just hope I don't get into too much financial trouble with such temptation right down the street.
5) A friend! I met Maggie at my tech workshop and we grabbed lunch together, and then after our last workshop we walked around Wallingford and stopped in Teahouse Kuan Yin which was a fabulous relaxed tearoom for serious tea enthusiasts. We spent a couple hours there in delightful conversation. Tomorrow we have a date to explore the Woodland Park Zoo and then to maybe go see Bright Star. Rae was telling me that if my friends truly are one in a million then there have to be around 6,786 of each of them out there and some of those have to live in Seattle. Maggie reminds me a lot of Amanda U. Maybe it's their similar features, or that they're both from California, or into gaming, or studied history and lived in Germany. Anyway, hopefully I will meet more new and exciting people who are the Seattle counterparts of my own dear friends. I also met my aunt's friend Brigitt and she's fun and fabulous and took me to Target to get a bunch of housewares, and hopefully she will also give me some tours of the city.
6) A Shower-Curtain and 6b) Shower-Curtain Hooks. My first morning here, I showered with no shower-curtain and consequently my bathroom floor was turned into a small lake. So when I went to Target, I bought a shower-curtain and some fancy bronze, oblong hooks (because that's all they had). Unfortunately, my shower rod is thick and the rings were too small (that's what she said), so morning number two was an exercise in creative showering. Yesterday, I bought wonderful hooks from Crate and Barrel and they fit perfectly. I was thrilled, but that may have just been the wine.
7) Books. Today I went up The Ave, which is technically named University Way, and features all sorts of hole-in-the-wall cafes, bookstores, restaurants, and shops. I'm very excited to explore them, but maybe with a friend. Local, hole-in-the-wall places (especially bars) and not places I like to drop in by myself. Anyway, the flagship University Bookstore is on The Ave, and I spent $150 on my two required books which isn't too bad I guess.

Things I Have Not Acquired:
1) A Roommate. When I called Nordheim Court to see about a room, I got the last available two-bedroom apartment: 3001B. Our apartment's scheduled move-in date was last Thursday, but as of right now 3001A remains empty. It's been kind of nice since I'm still slowly moving/settling in, but it's also kinda lonely. So I think I'd rather have a roommate than not. But if I don't have one by the end of this week, I kind of doubt that I will have any sort of roommate this quarter.
2) HuskyTV. This is a satellite television service through UW Tech that is provided by my apartment building (for free, and it includes HBO!) but sadly I have not been able to hook my TV up to it. It's an analog TV and I don't have a converter box, so that may be the problem, but I connected my hella janky cable cord from the TV to the wall plate and no dice (except I am getting FOX). So another trip to RadioShack may be in store, but if any of my technologically savant friends have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. In the meantime, I'll just keep watching HIMYM on DVD.
3) Ice Cub Trays. My movable bar is now much more permanent, but without ice, I cannot make cocktails. It's quite sad, so it looks like another trip to Crate and Barrel or Williams-Sonoma is in store, and maybe a trip to Safeway for vermouth and mixers. I really want those silicone ice trays that make perfect cubes.
4) My Bearings. Seattle is a very large city (150 sq. miles; 600,000+ pop.) and is laid out in a quadrant. Goodbye dear Salt Lake City and your wonderful if unimaginative grid system (and great parking). Theoretically, I understand this quadrant system and the NE, NW, SW, SE roads, but in actuality, I get totally turned around. This is when it's helpful to look around for the Space Needle, unquestionably our country's greatest needle, to orientate oneself. Over the course of the next two years, I hope to understand this crazy, crazy city.
5) A movie friend. Maggie is great--and likes movies--but she is not a cinema buff. I need to meet an amazing movie friend combining all the better film parts of Ellen and Slarue.
6) Many Other Things I'm Sure--but have forgotten. You see, I got out the wine again.

A Brief Play-By-Day
On Thursday we left Bountiful and on one tank of gas, my car made it all the way to Boise. My dad's 4Runner was not so fuel efficient. We ate in Boise and then drove all the way to La Grande, OR to sleep for the night. Almost all of the rooms were booked for the Pendleton Round-Up. The next day we crossed into Washington and drove all the way to Kent, a suburb outside Seattle, where my mom's cousin lives.

On Saturday, we drove into Seattle combating bad traffic which was especially bad since there was a big home game against USC. I live not far at all from the stadium. It was also grey and drizzly. Welcome to Seattle! The days since have actually been sunny and warmer than I expected. We found my complex and moved me in. Then we went to Safeway and my parents generously bought me a bunch of groceries, even though it still seems that my fridge and cupboards are bare. We met my aunt and her friend, Nick, for lunch--Dungeness crab mac and cheese (with Gruyere!)--yum. My family left, and I spent the night with the daunting task of unboxing everything and moving in. It's still a work in progress. I then explored campus by dark and luckily stumbled upon Mary Gates Hall which is where the iSchool is housed.

On Sunday, I drove downtown past Pike's Place and then north all the way to Shoreline, that was scary, and then back down to Green Lake. I found some street parking and walked around the lake trail for an hour--that was in the bad shoes--and got some Peet's Coffee which sadly was quite bad. Maybe it was the roast that day, or the fact that there was almost no room left for cream and that instead of half and half, there was only milk. Later that day, my aunt and Brigitt swung by and took me to Target (which is way outside the city) and then to dinner.

On Monday I woke up bright and early and walked to campus for my first two tech workshops. I managed to find Mary Gates Hall again--even campus is confusing--and met Maggie and spent a long, but fun, day walking around town--which my feet may never forgive me for. And that brings us to today. I went back to campus for my last workshop, bought my books and the Ethernet cable, stopped at a Starbucks (for as anti-corporate as Seattle is supposed to be, there are still a vast number of Starbucks--it is a local company after all--and they are all very, very busy), and am now sitting at home, enjoying the wine, and writing this blog. I hope you are all doing well. I think I am slowly but surely adjusting. Much love.