ironymaiden | (no subject)

the nice weekend continues in spite of the weather.

Saturday,

mimerki came over and helped me to shop victoriously for balcony furniture. (a "5 pc conversation set" which translates to two chairs with footrests and a little table to hold drinks.) then patio dinner at Madame K's and the first run of the courtyard hot tub. it's lovely. part of me still does not understand how i get to have such nice things.

i think July 4th dim sum is now a tradition. i was surrounded by a wealth of friends and a wealth of things filled with delicious, delicious egg custard. pretty much everything that has carbs on the outside and creamy yellow stuff on the inside is my favorite. i was so full that i couldn't finish my serving of soft tofu. the lions outside the crazy furniture store were wearing festive traffic cone hats.

later C and i joined Pirate B (and his K, and later we cajoled out Pirate A) at Gas Works for the fireworks. they were there around 3:30 to secure a spot and had a wealth of gear. our job was to bring wine. (surreptitously. thanks Platypus.) the location was astonishingly good - directly in line with the barge, near the top of the kite hill. B texted us that they were just south of the head. we didn't understand until we arrived. it was like a happy Planet of the Apes.

we did sit through some gentle rain, but it passed and we were properly attired. this is the first time we've watched from the park proper, and it was particularly sweet considering that there might not have been any fireworks in Seattle this year. (backstory: Washington Mutual sponsored the Lake Union fireworks. Washington Mutual also rented office space from the art museum that paid a good chunk of their budget and employed thousands of people downtown. Chase killed the fireworks, left SAM high and dry, and cut something like 5000 jobs. yes they were crooks, but they were our crooks. between that and a lot of policy changes, we've moved our bank accounts.) the crowd was entirely friendly and cheerful, the announcers were all "we looooove you because you all made this happen", and hey, the Presidents of the United States of America played before and after the fireworks, and they are always fun. (highlights included the pause during Kitty before the one verse - "we know this is the Family Fourth, so it's important that you explain to your children that profanity is acceptable in the context of rock and roll" and the cover of Video Killed the Radio Star.) someone on the Capitol Hill side of the lake had a green laser and harassed ducks and highlighted a balloon. the fireworks themselves were gorgeous. later we had rootbeer floats.

this morning the breakfast special at the High Life was crabcakes.

soon we will go to the zoo. meerkats!