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november report
I was in the state of Washington for the entire month of November.
Notable events: Early in the month, there was this massive dinner party on the last day of daylight saving time at Terra Plata that started at Bar Ferd'nand and included a waiting stop at Still and then made use of the extra hour at the Hideout. The next morning I was surprised that we weren't politely asked to leave at least one of those places due to rambunctiousness. I guess that since we ordered everything they were inclined to tolerate the high degree of zany?
In town: Various fundraisers like a party to convince people to become marrow donors for Amit Gupta (just an incredibly depressing story) and another one to get people to take off their pants and dance for Carinna's classroom (a laugh riot). That one had something about gambling and video games, though I did more of the former than the latter.
Several other celebratory / housewarmy sorts of parties as well as our office's very early holiday party. I'm thinking of adding "white elephant host" to my c.v.
Out of town: We also had a big urban family adventure to Orcas Island for Thanksgiving, taking over about twenty percent of West Beach Resort for the very long holiday weekend. When I learned that there was an option to go there by seaplane, I was very tempted. But then we realized that we'd need to buy extra seats for the turkey; so instead we filled every square inch of April's hybrid and Samantha risked life and limb by squeezing into the backseat food/luggage/cargo fort. Our tenacity for leaving early got us one of the last spots on the afternoon ferry, which allowed us a stunning sunset voyage past the spooky mystical wolf clouded islands. The trip featured a massive Thanksgiving feast, some aborted hikes, late night dock walking, plenty of lounging, and a hilarious dance party. We also made a trip over to Doe Bay for another "order everything" dinner that also functioned as a way of getting on the priority list for next year's Doe Bay Festival. On the way out, we quickly stuck our feet in the soaking tub and sat in the sauna in our winter clothes for a few minutes. I think that that scheme, which required us to rent a room that we didn't need for a night was equal parts us outsmarting the beardos and the beardos outsmarting us.
Music: A little bit of show photography for Feist and Wild Flag, which were both just really excellent shows. Wild Flag was one of the few shows that I can even remember needing to stick foam in my ears to protect myself from deafness and even then I left the show kind of earbuzzy. There was also a Ballard adventure to see Typhoon "just for fun" out of recent addiction to their 2011 EP. The funniest part of that show was how their double-redundancy paid off when a sullen trumpet player's horn stopped working, leaving him onstage just looking confused while the other dozen bandmates soldiered on through obvious road colds.
Movies: several failed attempts to cash in on SIFF screenings, plus the Rum Diaries (which was boring).
Books: I started reading 1Q84 at the Silent Reading Party at the Sorrento's fireside room and spent the whole month finishing it.
october 2011, listed
I think I was out of Seattle more than I was in it during October and when I was here I was either touristing my parents or sleeping off the cold that my canadian cold caught on a flight to Los Angeles. All Tomorrow's Parties (I'll Be Your Mirror) was an excessively pleasant non-crowded music festival for grown ups that made me want to go to the resorty english one even more; I had a couple extra days in New York for the 99% and amazing upscale mexican dinner with friends; I took my parents to the magical island of deer; spent a week in Canada grateful that I ditched the conference hotels for a similarly priced but excessively more pleasant boutique in the Old City; saw some good shows (including a Ryan Adams laugh riot) at an in-city music festival; and ended the month at a conference in LA where I got to hang out with my cousin, experience warm weather, standstill highway traffic, race through a museum of lies, and see Kings of Convenience (omg); and completely skipped Halloween.
Places: Asbury Park, New York, Orcas Island, Montreal, Los Angeles
Music: Jeff Mangum, Bonnie Prince Billy, the Album Leaf, Awesome Tapes from Africa, Colin Stetson, Ultramagnetic MCs, Portishead, Battles, the Horrors, Beak>, Deerhoof, Robyn, Ryan Adams, Allen Stone, Grand Archives, The Hold Steady, Male Bonding, Kings of Convenience
Events: All Tomorrow's Parties, Occupy Wall Street, International Congress of Human Genetics, City Arts Fest, Maggie & Curtis's Wedding, CHARGE Investigator Meeting, Mom and Dad visit
Books: The Art of Fielding, The Marriage Plot
Hotels: Laingdon Hotel, West Beach Resort, Hotel St. Paul, Crowne Plaza Redondo Beach
Sites: Silverball Pinball Museum, The American Museum of Natural History, Zuccotti Park, Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal (but not the light show), Bixi bike rentals, The Getty Center, The Museum of Jurassic Technology, Santa Monica Pier,
Notable Food Stops: Pizza Moto, Asia Dog (Brooklyn Flea in Asbury Park); Empelln, Nanoosh, Shake Shack (New York); L'Avenue (hilariously described to us by a conceirge as "French cuisine"), Fairmount Bagels, Olive et Gourmando (every day), Le Cartet, L'Auberge St-Gabriel (Montreal).
working vignette
Sometimes people wonder what I do at work all day: Today's answer is that I will have spent probably 8 hours or more entering twenty people's names and addresses into an ancient website.
Part of this excessive timesuck is that until today (the due date) I didn't know that I'd need their street addresses (why?) so I have been hunting them down in the Google. The other part of this black hole of productivity is because the website is so very poorly made that rearranging the order of the names takes approximately one minute for each re-ordering and only allows one position change per page load. Oh, and sometimes the website just gets sleepy and crashes the whole browser with its frustrated narcolepsy.
But, hey! The reason for this nonsense is submitting an abstract for a meeting in Paris in July. So, maybe the violins I'm hearing are on the smaller side.
monthly dispatch: xmas to o'leven
DECEMBER was relatively uneventful. It had the usual office holiday party, in all of its afternoon potluck arts and crafts glory and white elephant. I can't remember when I became the host of that game show, but it's a duty that will probably follow me to the grave.
It was also a Narnia-heavy month. After one brunch we went into the big city to see the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It was impossible for the film to live up to the book, but my affection for it carried it into being pretty enjoyable. I think that it was actually better that I didn't remember the plot. Otherwise, I'm sure that the added action & adventure melodrama might have been too annoying.
The next week, we filled a table at the Can-Can to hear Seattle singer-songwriter types singing original mostly charming songs inspired by the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. My biggest disappointment was that the bar didn't stock any actual Turkish Delight (the subject of many a song), instead serving cheap beer with a shot of cheap whiskey in its place. Vaguely appropriate, given its role in the book, but less satisfying than the gummy confection. It was also interesting how so many of the songs focused on Edmund, though in retrospect it makes sense. He's really the only character that substantially develops during that book. At the end of the show, Santa appeared on stage to receive guests on his lap.
It wasn't the first Santa sighting of the month. Earlier in that weekend, he arrived in the middle of a performance by surf rock carolers Dancer and Prancer at Arabica. The small cafe was packed wall to wall; people passing by looked confused at the sight of so many people reveling to instrumental rock versions of traditional holiday music.
Somehow the midwest escaped the vicious, travel-snarling blizzards that crippled air travel on some coasts and my trip to Michigan was without incident. We did the usual things -- visiting the mall, having americanized chinese lunch, seeing a movie (the Fighter, prompting my sister and I to speculate on which of us corresponded to which boxing brother), walking around downtown in the candy cane lined park on xmas eve (where we saw some kids either assembling in a failed flash mob around the manger or playing an ill conceived prank). In a probably overdue change, xmas day festivities migrated to a new, roomier location that found everyone taking a turn at virtual hula hooping at the end of the night. Before returning to Seattle, we had a minor Table 15 gathering. Due to various sickly children, we relocated at the last minute to a restaurant in the tiny town of my high school, which was funny. I'm not sure when I'd been there last.
New Year's Eve was approximately quiet. It started with a late birthday brunch and concluded with a couple of parties at apartments ("house parties" seems to imply too much wildness given the tone of the actual events). After drinking champagne and listening to music we bundled ourselves for the roof deck and watched the space needle explode, on schedule. Then we returned and gathered around the DVD player to watch *HOUSE*, a Japanese movie that we decided was in the Psychedelic Candyland Horror genre. It was bizarre and hilarious. Because we'd started watching it much later in the evening than planned, I was ready to call it a year by the time it was over.
Aside from that, my main lesson of the evening was that drinking champagne in itself does not necessarily result in violent illness or crippling hangovers, given that it's of high enough quality and that I manage not to switch to other spirits over the course of the evening.
Day One of o'leven started like the last day of oh-ten. Brunch, this time at Del Rey. When that bar had to close early due to staff defections, we migrated to the upstairs clubhouse at Belltown Pub and spend the better part of the afternoon lounging, playing shuffleboard and cards, eating brussels sprouts, and other lazy day activites. Eventually we migrated to a big booth at the back of the Crocodile's recently-reclaimed back bar for pizzas.
There was also a reading party at the Sorrento. I'd wanted to go there forever; so that provided a good excuse to take another stab at the Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet and have a giant Manhattan. The book is getting better, but seems impossibly long, especially in electro-form. The party maintained its studious silence for the first hour, but by the hour and a half mark any semblance of staying quiet was abandoned. We followed up by visiting the new Vito's. It looks almost the same as the old Vito's (of my memory, at least), aside from this version being occupied more with artists and writers instead of an old pimp, his prostitutes, and Dave Matthews. I think that we should spend more time over there. It's pretty great.
Yesterday, I rented a Zipcar and spent the afternoon wandering through IKEAand amusing myself by watching all of the people trying to imagine their lives with different furniture. My main purpose there was to buy more lighting for my constantly dark office (happily, all of the fluorescents died long ago), but ended up buying many additional items. When the zombie apocalypse arrives, my closets will be well stocked with various odd-sized framing options.
Recent entertainments have included seeing True Grit (a Coen Brothers movie that I was surprised to both admire for its craftsmanship and still find emotionally engaging) and Somewhere (which I loved pretty much without reservation). I don't have to try too hard to imagine why some people wouldn't like it: it's essentially a film whose plot fits into a two minute trailer, yet its so well done that the two hour meditation is a really affecting pleasure to watch. As far as I'm concerned, Sofia Coppola can keep making movies about sad people in hotels for as long as she wants.
Of late, we've been spending a lot of time entertaining ourselves by zealously and collaboratively editing trip planning agendas Google Docs, most immediately for another return to the magical Orcas island at the end of the month.
it took tumblr's temporary death for me to catch up with this thing
er. wow. I haven't catalogued daily/weekly/monthly/seasonal happenings since:
August: returning to the (seemingly) sweltering (actually) less hot than usual midwest to take pictures at Lollapalooza and hang out with my sister and her friends in Chicago. Getting lost looking for the press entrance and nearly winding up at the Natural History Museum. Sprinting across Grant Park to catch both daily headliners (Gaga vs. the Strokes / Green Day vs. Phoenix / Soundgarden vs. Arcade Fire). Spending considerable time in queues for said headliners. A goofy party at the Hard Rock Hotel. A hilarious Vitamin Water powered luxury bus ride. A street person trying to sell us a gold chain late at night while were were in a restaurant.
The back in Seattle. Hercules and Love Affair, Scott Pilgrim, the shrieks of teen disbelief when Vampire Weekend abruptly cancelled on Marymoor Park. Floating around Lake Union on a remodeled fishing trawler while little bands played, other small boats joined, and the crowd mingled, drank wine, picnicked, and climbed the boat. The rain forcing the last performance below deck for an impossibly cozy concert.
A road trip to the hood canal to camp in a parking lot with tall trees. Inventing new s'mores (handpies) around a campfire. Photographic experiments under a nearly full moon. A new tent from REI for the occasion. A couple of sunny afternoons on the tiny grassy cliff overlooking the water. Cat buskers in Olympia.
September
Bumbershoot and all of the usual attention-deficit scrambling around Seattle Center. Bob Dylan for a few songs from far away. Watching an amazing interview with Courtney Love and ditching Weezer to see Pavement at the Paramount. A Jaime Lidell double feature. Sticking through the rain for the Thermals' encore.
Musicfest Northwest and the funniest tiny dorm room in all of Portland at the Ace Hotel. The springy floor at the Wonder Ballroom, Okkervil River, Menomena, more Thermals. The Tallest Man on Earth downstairs at the Doug Fir, and the guy who couldn't maintain his drink shouting about the next Dylan. A day at the Woods for those great short KEXP sets. A magical foursquare-enabled hangover-induction. A funny search for mexican Coke when it was at our home all along. An evening at Courthouse Square for the National, the Walkmen, a crazy dancing kid in the audience. A whole lot of brunch.
And later, Genius Awards, Vampire Weekend (for real), the Flaming Lips (for confetti and lasers), and Dirty Projectors (for awesomeness).
October
First a return to the magical island of deer: Orcas Island. Missing the ferry and making the best of it with gas station dining, roadside romance novel readings, and giant cups of tea enhanced with wax cup eroding whiskey. More luxurious cabins, another drive to the top of Mount Constitution, a walk full of waterfalls, deer called Ghandi and Venny. Poker & Wizard. Smoky scotch. Hot chili. Golden hour on the dock with a visit from a martini pusher. It's pretty much one of the ten best islands in the country, for sure.
Short work trips for meetings in Washington, DC and then Houston. The DC flyby at least included enough time for dinner at Oyamel, drinks at the Science Club, and a quick visit to the Smithsonian to see Madeline Albright's symbolic brooches.
Another (new) music festival in Seattle that had us seeing Belle & Sebastian in Benaroya Hall; Cat Power (not breaking down) at the Fifth Avenue. Foals being enjoyable despite some offensive oblivious superfans and the Vaselines telling the same old funny jokes.
Starting a week with of Montreal, and ending it with Sufjan Stevens (convincing me of the merits of his goofy new album) to a near empty bar on Halloween Eve and winding up at a northern soul dance party.
November
Seemingly all-travel all the time. Watching three seasons of the Wire on airplanes.
Back to DC for ASHG, the always-intriguing Illumina party, a whole lot of meeting-going, various dining opportunities with far-flung colleagues, a couple of returns to Adams-Morgan. First in the afternoon for quiet cafe times at Tryst and later for dinner, drinks at various 18th Street dives including a squeeze to the top of Madam's Organ, a lifesaving Jumbo Slice, and then trying to fit too many people into a cab and being immediately stopped by the police and told to disperse.
Then catching the train for a weekend in NYC in Ellen's new apartment. Dinner with Al/Malinda/Chris and drinks at a shark bar (can't wait until that theme takes over for mammalian taxidermy here, too). Standing in the cold to watch the fast runners in Brooklyn, finally going to the Met, pizza, an accidental walk to Shake Shack, some mostly unproductive shopping in the rain, and then back home by way of Newark.
A few days in Seattle and then another meeting in Chicago, mainly occupied by dad birthday festivities including an odd bus ride/dinner extravaganza, cocktails at the Hancock building, enormous brunching.
Another day in Seattle and then to a consortium thing at the Balard edge of Paris. Visiting the Orangerie, walking through Tuileries, eating macaroons, and drinking delicious (Angelina) hot chocolate to fend off jet lag. Meeting dinner at Editeurs and then finding a bar nearby that was later swarmed by singing gay rugby players. Trying to take a hot air balloon ride at Parc Andre Citron but being thwarted by "the wind" / lazy attendants. Seeing a guy running around the park in a hamster ball for a commercial instead. Relocating to the Latin Quarter to the tiniest hotel room of all time and re-finding the super delicious cafe that makes "Brick" and finding that since it was "winter" they were also making wine brule. Walking around the Marais for the awesome falafel. Looking at art at the Palais de Tokyo mainly because it was the only thing open late.
Returning to Seattle to find it covered in snow and ice and generally its usual state of incapacitation without the typical snowy splendor.
And then ending the month for Thanksgiving in New Orleans with Samantha, Carinna, and Carinna's parents. Midnight bar foods. So much Who Dat, Saints, and other sequined clothing opportunities passed by. A lot of walking around the French Quarter. Multiple visits to Cafe du Monde. A birthday walk on Bourbon Street (less repulsive than expected), drinks at a pirate/piano bar and speculation about its claims to historical endurance. No mule ride. Two meals at Commander-related Palaces. Streetcar rides. Scrambling around Whole Foods for Thanksgiving supplies. A cemetery stroll and a voodoo museum. Finding a lot of places that turned out to be closed for Acadian Thanksgiving. A bar with a carousel in the middle and slow service all around. The home of the Sazerac in the midst of a crazy football crowd. Being picked up by a taxi and sympathetic strangers. Sunny afternoon snacks on a balcony above Winding up at the airport a few hours too early. No mule drawn buggy rides or fortunes told.
Squeezing through a crowd of teens to take photos of Passion Pit and snapping some shots of Michael Cera playing bass with a new Sub Pop supergroup and finding out just how interested kids (and the internet) are about seemingly minor celebrities turning musicians.
A weird amount of jetlag and adjustment to the dramatic daylight shortage. Seeing James Franco cut off his arm with a dull knife. Still haunted and jittery from that one.
summertime happenings
Of all the conveniently imported holidays from foreign lands, I think that Bastille Day is my favorite. Or at least it is my favorite as celebrated by the Adventure School in Seattle. For the second year in a row we ventured to Georgetown where they had turned a small trackside property situated under a flight path in the shadow of an overpass into a tres charming village estate. We arrived in time for the chicken races to witness a bit of ego-stroking parental cheating and stayed long enough until the kids had abandoned the modern art bouncehouse and the racing fowl had gone to roost. I wore hastily acquired American Apparel stripes and a beret while sipping rose, eating falafel and crepes, and helping someone celebrate an end of the night birthday. Probably partially because it marked the long-delayed summer, it felt like fantastically materialized perfection. I want(ed) to pack up and move to the countryside. Preferably into something more Summer Hours than A Christmas Tale. Oh, and after a lot of wine I was convinced to eat an oyster! It was weird and I chewed it too much. But kind of like the ocean! This summer of which we speak has been fickle, though. On some of the days that it's made an appearance I've read in the park or walked around downtown. There have been outdoor drinks at the hilarious Hard Rock Cafe before the outstanding and kind of unbelievable Carissa's Wierd & Aveo reunions. Sidewalk beer from Black Bottle as preparation for sitting in the cozy bar/theater for Inception. A hasty sendoff picnic at Madison Beach, which is not really a beach, but it's not such a bad little tourist town. That sort of thing. Last weekend was the Capitol Hill Block Party. I'm still undecided about whether the annoyances outweigh the benefits. I guess that they do since I keep going back, but my problem-solvy mind can't help but spin against all of the obvious inefficiencies, apparent oversights, planning problems, and stymying site design. Maybe if I were going simply to drink and hang out in a beer garden or rooftop while music played in the background it would be entirely lovely. But having to cross the urban grid to get from stage to stage (and back again) while toting heavy camera gear made all of the quirks into glaring thorns. Don't call the orchestra of tiny violins, though: for three songs at a time I was among the few people with the best (mostly) unobstructed views of a whole lot of bands that I really like. Hassles aside, it's not such a bad way to spend a weekend. A bunch of the kids crushed into the barricade would've probably very happily traded places without any convincing.
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