Welcome to Seattle!

So chilly, rainy, autumnal Seattle weather has begun in earnest now. and there was much rejoicing. yay.

Yesterday, I was really committed to doing my homework for . . . a little while, before blowing it off to do frankly more important things. Maggie and I were going to see Ballard Sunday morning, but I decided to sleep in instead. In the afternoon I met her and her friend Flannery, who is American but grew up in the Netherlands!, for tea. Flannery is an econ major who has seen the error of her ways and so is now taking English classes, because she missed writing essays--no, really!--and wants to get an MLIS once she graduates. During tea, we decided we wanted to see Inglourious Basterds because neither of them had seen it and I was totally up for seeing it again. So once we figured out which bus to take we made our way downtown.

Downtown! Sometimes when I walk across I-5 making my way to and from Wallingford and the U District, I see the Seattle skyline and it warms my heart, and I think, "Look at Seattle, isn't it so pretty?" Because living in the U District which is technically Seattle, doesn't feel like it at all. If you really want to feel like you're living in a major metropolitan city, you make your way downtown after dark and see all the crazy people and all the homeless people and think, yes, this is what a city is.

So after getting off our bus, it was like Hello Pike's Place, Goodbye Pike's Place, because Pike's Place is mostly closed on a Sunday evening and we were hungry. This was only the second time I had been downtown, the other time was on my first, full-day in Seattle when I foolishly decided to drive to Pike's Place by myself--this was on my aunt's advice--and so white-knuckled I drove right through the market but didn't get out because I wasn't going to pay $20 to freaking park, so instead I ended up in Shoreline. Anyway, sans car, downtown is a delightful place to walk around--so many buildings, so many stores, so much city! We grabbed some quick Mexican grill food and made our way to the Pacific Place mall which houses a movie theater. In Utah, when people complained about how expensive the movies were, I was like "You're crazy!" But now living in Seattle, I understand. The whole damn city is bloody expensive and they have a super high sales tax. This is an offset for having no state income tax, which must be nice if one had an income. As it is, it's all of the pain, and none of the fun. Still, Inglourious Basterds is even better the second time around. "Ooh, that's a bingo!" Classic. And downtown = awesomesauce. I can't wait to go back. And then it was Monday. Boo.

In other weekend adventures, on Friday night I attended a Scrabble tournament, and this is where I, the former English major and future librarian, admit that I hate Scrabble and am absolute trash at it. Still, I won a chair prize which ended up being a beer certificate. Go, Fight, Win! Afterward, Maggie came over and we watched The Devil Wears Prada because she had never seen it, a travesty we quickly remedied. And I finally dipped into my bar because I had finally bought ice--perhaps the most important ingredient of any cocktail. I also had somebody to drink with, but that's just so much less important. And I watched some more Mad Men via Netflix and the show, which I have never really gotten into but am watching nonetheless because it's cultural currency, is finally getting interesting--to me anyway.

And on Saturday, after sleeping through most of it, I went to the Seattle Book Arts Festival which was all right, and chatted with Lillian which is always a pleasure. And then I went to Alex's house in Fremont for a little party. I played "Wizard Slap" which is a lovely little game where one does a shot and then gets one's face slapped off before (or after) reciprocating the favor. Supposedly, the slap acts as a chaser while the shot numbs your face. And you get to slap someone, so really how can you lose? I also smoked my first hookah, and my wasn't that interesting, while watching really bizarre YouTube videos. The night ended with pizza and watching Harold & Kumar which I had never seen before, so it was a night of firsts.