JIM FINALLY DID IT!

Picture this. Jim and I on a warm autumn evening walking along alki beach during sunset in West Seattle. Jim holding my hand. Jim kissing my cheek. Then Jim leaned over and ordered a 3 piece fish at the Spud! Yes that's right folks, I took him to the Spud for dinner. His first time there and it has to be said. He devoured it. As some of you may know this is a family tradition, whenever anyone comes to town or we are just craving fish we head to Alki Beach at go to the Spud. My grandpa still lives in West Seattle so we always call him and his wife up and they come on down. I mean tradition is tradition. It also calls for ordering a pickle. And then taking a walk to the statue of liberty. Welcome to the family Jim.

Seen posted on the website "Eavesdropping"

Boss man to staff: "Growing up, there was a kid on my block who was a lot like John McCain. His team was losing touch football 10-75 so he said, "um my mom needs me" and ran home, and, of course, took the ball with him. That's John McCain."

-- Downtown

Quotes that I've clung to lately

When I dare to be powerful-
To use my strength in the service of my vision,
Then it becomes less and less important
Whether I am afraid - AUDRE LORDE

If you are neutral in situations of injustice,
you have chosen the side of the oppressor.
If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse
and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will
not appreciate your neutrality. - BISHOP DESMOND TUTU

The National

Friday evening I went with Randy, Emily, and Aaron (old friends from high school, actually my brothers friends from high school) to a benefit concert to help the co-op farms of the Midwest that were flooded. It seemed fitting since I had just come back from Iowa that week and Aup had taught me all about co-op farms. Now about the music.

The National is an amazing band that when heard on the album sound rather laid back and calm. Not true when heard live. I saw them live for a bit at the Sasquatch festival but seeing them in an intimate setting was completely different. They rocked it and hard! I couldn't even tap my hands or legs fast enough to the beat. I still could yell somehow despite having no speaking voice. What makes them great is the cleverness of the lyrics when paired with the music. It makes you stop and think and wonder if you just heard that. They are lyricist and the drummer pushes them further. The lead singer barely turns to the crowd and only then some, he likes to keep his back to the crowd, it is as if the crowd deters him emotionally from his poetry.

A little history about them. They were previously all law students and then decided to drop that gig and become musicians. I love to hear stories like that! I will try to put music on this blog though I have no idea how to..or how to make a link...If someone would tell me that would be great! Meanwhile go here to enjoy a glimpse of this amazing band. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBujZr20O6M

Thank you brother for finding them! THEY ROCK! GO SEE THEM LIVE PEOPLE. I BEG OF YOU!

Nostalgia Returns

Last evening Jim and I went to the Puyallup fair. It had been a long time since either one of us had been on a ride and had delicious fair food. Jim took me straight to the ride that he wanted us both to do. This bungee thing that launched you up into the air...and I mean WAY into the air. I passed. He passed because I passed. He worked the entire evening on convincing me to do it using cheesy funny lines like "I'll make you popcorn if you do it." and "It's about trust." Which he knew himself was just blowing smoke out of his ears and making me laugh at him more than anything. Of course he wasn't serious saying those things. Little did he know that when I say "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh" it really means I will most likely do it as the butterflies fill my stomach. Luckily though, we had to use all the ride tickets we used on the regular rides and that took forever and we ran out of time. Darn. Well we saved fifty dollars too! Next year honey. Next year.

We ate a lot of fair food...I had been craving curly fries and the ever elusive elephant ears. Yummy. We also tried our hand at Jalapeno popcorn, shaved ice, and a cheeseburger for the Jim. It was great. Jim kept steering my hands towards more food but by 9:30 we headed to the place where they sell you stuff from infomercials. Probably my favorite place to be really. Then we went and looked at the HUGE pumpkins (see picture).



All in all a fall fun adventure. I don't have a voice this morning what with all the screaming (Jim's favorite part was when I accidentally swore before going down a huge hill on the roller coaster). it was another perfect start to Autumn. Just like all the years from my childhood going to the fair it was as good as I remembered.