ironymaiden | Entries tagged with memorable days

realized that i often cycle on and off with DW posting and that it's kind of seasonal.* there's too much and i find that i start with a thing i want to write about and then i start trying to backfill all the the things i didn't write about and ...death spiral.

anyway, C and i went to a show last week. first time in a long time, and damn it was a good time. it's been almost 20 years since i could walk to the Croc and it's a very nice thing to have back.** we actually went to their smaller downstairs venue Madame Lou's,*** where we saw our favorite band from the internet, Sub-Radio. they did not do any of their charming parodies, which is fine because they write remarkably perfect pop music. i feel like they're a tv show needle-drop away from being famous. this is the new single:

Watch on YouTube

anyway, the set was tight, high-energy (only one slow song!) and filled with queer joy****. we danced and sang along and it was delightful. the room was well-ventilated and cool; they said it was sold out but we never felt crowded and had wonderful sightlines to the stage.

we also enjoyed the opener, Doublecamp, who were new to us:

Watch on YouTube

the real difference between 20 years ago and now is that we went straight home instead of getting post-show eats at the 5 Point.

*if i were

buhrger i would crunch the numbers but that's not really fun to me. although i have been meaning to play with some of the Python visualization libraries like Bokeh and Seaborn...

**for locals, if you're as out of it as me, The Croc is now in the old El Gaucho space and they've turned the Cuban Room and The Big Picture into venues as well.

***also for locals, which is NOT the home of the chocolate chip orgasm and excellent deep dish pizza.

but the old Big Picture bar is a Tat's outpost? need to figure out which one is closer the next time I'm craving a cheesesteak and tastykakes

**** the vocalist is bi, which gives you both "Caroline" and "King of My Heart"

Current Location: the vivarium
Current Music: C playing Rogue Trader

picked this up on Tumblr, where I think you're supposed to have people pick the questions but meh. I like this list better than the classic questionnaire I've used before

End of the year Asks

Song of the year? I Don’t Wanna Dance with Nobody by Sub-Radio
Album of the year? I don’t think I listened to a full album that was new-to-me this year. I feel like singles are bigger than ever, and between that and my not being particularly connected to drivers of new music (other than Spotify) I just don’t discover or listen to albums end-to-end.
Favorite musical artist / group you started listening to this year? I think I technically discovered Sub-Radio last year, so it would have to be Kishi Bashi. I went to his film Omoiyari at SIFF Docs Fest, kind of on a whim, and it was quite good.
Movie of the year? Recency bias, but god damn Godzilla Minus One is amazing. Crying at a monster movie over a dude with PTSD was definitely not on my bingo card for 2023.
TV show of the year? Oof. There were all the queer love stories - Our Flag Means Death, Good Omens, Interview with the Vampire. The one-two punch of Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks (and the crossover!). There was my indoctrination into dropout.tv. I think, in spite of being uneven overall (no, the musical episode wasn’t good) it would have to be Strange New Worlds.
Episode of tv or webisode that defined the year for you? Probably the one that’s been quoted constantly in my house since it first aired: Lower Decks “I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee”. Moopsy!
Favorite actor of the year? While not technically a 2023 joint, I watched it in 2023 - Eric Bogosian in Interview with the Vampire was a favorite performance.
Game of the year? Jedi Survivor. It’s always good to be a Jedi, and the storytelling in this one was top-notch.
Best month for you this year? This year was complicated. It might have been January, when I went to Disneyland with mimerki.
Something that made you cry this year? Well, my best friend died and that generated a lot of tears both before and after. My runner-up for “movie of the year” is Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. I encourage folks to watch it, it’s sweet and funny. But if you have seen it: I saw it after mimerki had started palliative care, and the end absolutely wrecked me. (I do not recommend ugly crying in an n95 mask, it gets hard to breathe.) And she died the next day, so yeah
Something you want to do again next year? If I can find the time and money, I’d love to do a quick trip to Disneyland and get C to Galaxy’s Edge. It’s really not hard to do from here and I love how walkable it is inside and out.
Talk about a new friend you made this year Not something I managed: first I was being very covid-cautious, then I was very sad (and busy), then I was just busy.
How was your birthday this year? Dismal. I had covid and lost my sense of taste for a couple weeks.
Favorite book you read this year? The Hands of the Emperor by Victoria Goddard. On the one hand, it’s a fantasy novel about implementing UBI, and burnout, and friendship. It’s also about someone who leaves home and is successful in ways that aren’t meaningful to their family of origin. (While I think it could have used a ruthless edit, I also think that might have stripped out most of what is good about it. It’s just a long warm bath of a book.)
What’s a bad habit you picked up this year? Buying coffee and a pastry way too often (because neither of us could manage to consistently plan for breakfast).
Post a picture from the beginning of the year [the Millennium Falcon in a spaceport setting with rock spires in the background]
Post a picture from the end of the year
[the view from Kerry Park in Seattle, featuring the Space Needle and Mt Rainier]
A memorable meal this year? Our anniversary was a significant one and we kind of forgot about it, then managed to snag a last-minute reservation at The Herbfarm a few days after. They were absolutely brilliant with C’s dietary needs. It’s totally worth the money.
What’re you excited about for next year? I remembered our anniversary earlier this time, and we finally snagged a reservation for a cabin at a resort on the Pacific Coast that’s well-known for being dog friendly. Looking forward to walking the beach and/or watching the waves roll in by the fire.
What’s something you learned this year? When you die in the US, you become a business for tax purposes. The SSN is retired, and the estate gets an EIN just like a business.
What’s something new about your place of residence (room, home, or general location) now vs the start of the year? My whole place of residence is new! I am sitting in front of my fireplace right now, looking at the lights of the cityscape out my window. It’s awesome
Favorite place you visited this year? Galaxy’s Edge. If you love Star Wars, it's a delight. (yes, I really liked Disneyland)
If you could send a message to yourself back on the first day of the year, what would it be? You always feel better after you get some exercise, don’t skip it.
Did you keep any New Year’s Resolutions? I don’t think I made any
Did you create any characters (in games, art, or writing) this year? Describe one Currently playing Worlds Without Number with the Friday group. Our party is all from a somewhat isolated coastal island and we’re slowly exploring the wider world. I rolled randomly for pretty much everything and then crafted a character based on the stats. So he’s Buck, the butcher’s apprentice; he’s strong and kind but not very bright. I found a picture of a rugby player that I really like for him - square-headed and plain with a great smile.

my knitting group has struggled to stay together through the pandemic. the original organizer is a cancer research nurse, others are immune compromised, and we're all paranoid. we met in person once at some point last year in that moment after vaccine and before Delta, and otherwise we've been doing zoom meetings but it sucks. but today, today really felt like spring, the first warm day of the year. so we met up at a place with outdoor seating and totally failed to knit, it was just so nice to see each other.

part of my neighborhood's response to pandemic restrictions was to reduce traffic on a historic street and allow all the businesses to put seating and shopping stalls into the parking spaces. it started out rudimentary and turned into roofed open air seating with lights and heating, various sorts of decor, and plants. so on a warm evening it has a wonderful festival feel* with fairy lights everywhere and a gentle buzz of activity (but because everything is in the streets the sidewalks aren't crowded).

so anyway, we hung out at Hattie's Hat, and then wandered up the street for gelato. across the street from the gelato place there was a popcorn cart in front of the candy shop, sort of a tiny truck, large enough for someone to stand inside. the smell of popcorn is in the air, and we step outside with our dessert, lights are shining in the gloaming, and the woman in the popcorn truck begins to sing. and she was doing something. at first i thought she might just be singing opera and dishing popcorn because that is totally a Seattle thing to do. and then i realized that she was focused on the window but not reaching through the window. SHADOW PLAY!

we walked across the street and sure enough, she had a little proscenium where the walk-up window would be, colored scenery that she scrolled from scene to scene, and various spring-themed shadow puppets. and there was a dude that just came around and handed out little bags of the popcorn.** ( i found a little video clip )

and then we all drifted our separate ways and the walk home was lovely, and I got C and Leela and we did our usual last walk of the day together, and now I write it all down. those moments of serendipity, the strange profusion of nice things that are just part of everyday life are what made me fall in love with Seattle and why i'm still here.

*I know this is Tuesday in Europe but in the US cities are really shitty about anything outdoors that slows down cars

**turns out that is her dad

We did hybrid local/online Friday night game and it was delightful. ~~pirate~~ B was in our house!
the conference mike/cam worked well!
we rolled dice!
we used a real deck of cards (the camera was focused on the table to show them)!
B's laptop battery lasted the full session!
we will do it again!

also, we had "natural" cheetos for the first time in almost two years. we don't buy them ourselves, only our friends can buy them and we eat what they share. they are still an addictively delicious snack.

Current Mood: happy

I had a lovely morning today: I met up with

mimerki and

just_cris for dim sum and it was exquisite. I'm sure part of it was not having any for over a year, but everything was fresh and a perfect expression of its dish. Normally I don't really like the hairy deep-fried balls of shrimp with mayo sauce but damn if they weren't perfectly crispy on the outside and the sauce was fatty and tangy and just so. I am a sucker for sweets and the cart with the bao and sesame balls and egg custard everything* came first ❤️❤️❤️
I am so used to going with a big group that I hadn't registered that most plates come with three pieces; just perfect.

I am worried about the restaurant. It was very empty, especially for a weekend. In the before times it was wall-to-wall families.

I broke my journey there downtown and had time to walk around before getting the train. The business district has really suffered in a way the neighborhoods have not. I remember our coffee shop (which is a tiny in-city chain) said ours was the last to close/first to open around lockdowns because they still had traffic when everyone was working from home. anyway, lots of boarded up storefronts and no people away from the orbit of Pike Place Market. I walked through Post Alley and saw some people had added masks to the gum wall.

After dim sum I killed time at Kinokuniya and the park with the daleks until it was time for the Sounders game. The game was okay (being there was fun, feels like it will end again any moment, not a good result). On the way out my phone went off with a message from Mom: my brother-in-law is dead, and the kids found the body. (they're young adults, my sister isn't in the picture.) Spent the bus ride home chatting with family and recovering from shock.

As I said to

mimerki:
Anyway Pat's dead and the Sounders lost but I did get this cute transit card holder wallet that looks like a Shiba Inu

We got home in time to order the kids some grocery gift cards, then get online for continent-spanning D&D. We defeated the angry ghost and it was a good way to wind down.

I was originally supposed to be at a picnic at the time when the death notification came through. I felt bad about fucking my schedule and letting people down, but so glad I didn't have to be in the middle of freeform social interaction when this came down.

*okay, they didn't have the ones that seem to be the Chinese version of filled mochi. I'm not sure if I love the egg or taro ones of those more. Most of the staff don't speak a lot of English so I don't know the actual names of most things or what is in them. Not for anyone with food allergies

2nd shot complete.

so far, just thirsty (although I think part of that was having to pass an open boba place while not willing to unmask to have one)

History says, Don't hope
On this side of the grave.
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up,
And hope and history rhyme.

i don't remember actually watching much of any prior inauguration. i was excited about Obama, but i was happy to see the best of clips later. today i needed to see it in real time and make sure it happened, that nothing could stop it.

i have the concert on (also a thing i've never cared about before) and it is FUCKING AWESOME. the song choices are SALTY, performed by actual good musicians. (i lost it over the musical theatre peeps singing Seasons of Love.) i hope there will be a recording available of these performances or at least a playlist of the setlist.

Current Mood: politics are boring again?!?
Current Location: deluxe apartment in the sky
Current Music: Katy Perry - Firework (Live)

last night our neighbor D had a heart attack. he's alive and in the hospital, but it was a wild few hours that included C tossing furniture aside and doing chest compressions (coached by the fine people at 9-1-1), C also having to get D's wife A through the resultant anxiety attack, and me watching* D's 96 year old mom for a few hours while C walked A over to the hospital. (where they couldn't actually see D because it was after visiting hours plus covid protocols - D called and asked A to come before he knew that was the story.)

the way this went down last night was that we were having leftovers for dinner. i had made up my plate and moved out of the kitchen, C was fixing his, commotion happened in the hall. i was gathering info for us to vote, i heard the door a couple times and it took some time for me to understand that C was not in the bathroom but GONE. eventually i reached him via text, and that was around the time he was helping the medics into the building.

which is to say that C didn't get to eat dinner until around 11, and then there was a lot of just holding him and petting him.

tonight, we decided to get a nice indian dinner delivered. order placed, i started to dock up my personal laptop to the big monitors (remote learning class is slightly better when bigger) when the fire alarm went off. so we had to evacuate the building for a while. i missed the beginning of my class; C loitered outside to meet the delivery person while i brought the dog home...to find our food sitting in front of our door. apparently while the fire dept had the normally secure front door propped open, our hardworking driver just went up the stairs and dropped off our order.**

i would like tomorrow evening to be less exciting.

*this was easy and relatively pleasant since while frail, she's sharp as a tack and stoic.
**this is why i always lock the apartment door when the alarm goes off. since we have our share of shady peeps in the neighborhood i tend to assume the fire alarm is not fire but a way to get in the building (or get stuff out of the grocery store on the bottom floor). we still evacuate like responsible people.

C's birthday was this weekend, so we made a trip to Capitol Cider. it's so nice to have a meal out and not have to ask questions about the menu or make special requests or only eat certain things.* we shared a flight of barrel-aged ciders while we ate a fruit and cheese plate, then another glass of cider paired with our entree, and dessert. it was lovely.

we indulged in a Lyft there and back again; we had an interesting conversation with our driver on the way out about the economics of driving full-time. he's a single parent and feels that being self-employed is the only way to make it work. he leases his car on a plan that is specifically for rideshare drivers - he swaps it out every 80,000 miles and all vehicle maintenance is included in the fee. they also will immediately issue him another car if he gets in an accident. he says that he certainly wouldn't use a car he intended to keep with this job, that wear and tear is brutal.

it occurs to me that the expectation of how cars are to be used is that they're driven in short bursts and then sit for hours and hours, with the occasional road trip. imagine doing a road trip at least five days of every week, but almost entirely in stop-start traffic. no, not great for the car.

*their kitchen is gluten-free and also free of peanuts and tree nuts. AND they mark things on the menu that are free of eggs. we only care about the gluten but we know folks with other concerns.

Today is my Seattleversary. I remain glad.

there is a longer story to tell about how it all came together, but the important thing is that i finished my first week at new employer The Eyrie, i love them and they love me.

i bought my monthly bus pass on the way home and this weekend i sticker up my laptop and figure out the touchbar.

Current Mood: ecstatic
Current Location: the 40
Current Music: Peggy Carter work icon didn't properly express my emotional state

Patrinell: The Total Experience

there is nothing, nothing like seeing the world premiere of a film about a hometown hero. documentary profile of Patrinell Wright, founder and director of the Total Experience Gospel Choir. the film is good, and worth seeing especially for its chronicle of the changing landscape of the Central District neighborhood of Seattle. it's a complicated narrative about race, church politics, and economics with a ton of great music.

what you can't have is Pat Wright getting the entire Egyptian theater to stand, hold hands, and sing with her after the film. she didn't ask us, we just did it. she is a treasure and I am sorry that she is retiring.

philotera put together a Jólabókafló∂ party (but in January because fuck trying to wedge something else into December) and it was delightful. there were about 20 of us, and several people who didn't know each other - we did a random draw and many of us had to do some stalking.*

we had pan-scandinavian smörgåsbord, with three kinds of pickled herring, fish dumplings, open-faced roast beef on rye, an epic smörgåstårta, homemade bread, cheeses, chocolates, and cookies. i failed to take pictures but everything was both pretty and delicious.

we went around the room and opened the books one at a time. wonder of wonders, in the entire party only one book had been read by the recipient (and he loved the book but didn't own a copy). then

philotera gave everyone another book she had chosen, or in my case a brick that consisted of an entire series of paperbacks by David Gemmell that i haven't read.

i had the toughest draw, the manager of a local bookstore. they write a book review blog and have an extensive goodreads, plus they wrote a good likes/dislikes post. example one star novels: Sabriel, The Golem and the Jinni. dislikes include: YA, epic fantasy. wow, we do not want the same things out of books. (hopefully soon i will come up with the time to write a post about what i learned about myself.) ultimately i had a good time solving the puzzle of what book i had read and endorsed that a) they had not and b) might actually like. the list was short, but i settled on Too Like the Lightning. not only had they not read it, but they had previously held the book in their hand and nearly purchased it (only because they didn't like the typesetting on the paperback, but i had purchased the more-readable hardcover). victory!

i did get to talk with them about why Sabriel was a one star.** they don't like anything that has a flavor of folk tale or narrative distance from the characters. i wouldn't have said that it reads that way, but i can see it, and Sabriel herself is pretty stoic.

i hope (if

philotera is in the US at the appropriate time next year) we do it again.

*the whole thing was coordinated via facebook, which always makes me sad. it did allow everyone to supply links to their various goodreads and amazon wishlists and blogs and whatnot. (i didn't link to my books tag here because i'm never voluntarily connecting this account to my facebook activity.)
**✨Sabriel by Garth Nix✨ i endorse this book and its immediate sequel, Lirael...and might love the latter more due to having a giant library and a dog.

what a nice time i had yesterday. we did a lot of prep on Monday, so Tuesday was very low stress in spite of making dinner for seven and worrying about Leela yowling at our guests.

dinner went off without a hitch, Leela calmed down eventually, and i even got out to see Aquaman with

mimerki,

philotera, and

varina8.

i made pies for dessert, and originally the plan had been to do one cranberry-marzipan and one blueberry. but when i grabbed the pie cookbook to look at blueberry filling, it opened in my hand to "Farmstead Eggnog Pie", so we had to have it. ( recipe from 1965 Farm Journal's Complete Pie Cookbook )

it really did look and taste like eggnog, and it set perfectly.

mostly we ate food and talked (with Darth Vader burning in the background) and it was an excellent way to wind down what has been a cruddy year for almost all of us.

i took a daylong kayak touring class yesterday. morning was skills evaluation and practice, afternoon was rescue skills. i was there for moar rescue time, since i am still trying to master self-rescue.

due to life stuff, this was my first time on the water in 2018. the good news is that i had no trouble launching or landing and all my strokes came back to me effortlessly. i could go pretty darn fast and was tracking well (going straight ahead in a line instead of snaking left and right). assisted rescue came back easily, and i swear that i'm more able to lift a swamped boat than i was in the fall (and this was a heavier boat).

self-rescue was better too, but still not good enough. now i can get my body onto the boat, then capsize again while attempting to get my legs into the cockpit. i am sad about this, but OTOH this is without any of the conditioning that i planned to do this year, after doing the first paddling i had done in over six months.* i need to practice. and it's pretty ridiculous for me to imagine that any physical skill would come to me without the hours of repetition that has been required for every other physical skill i've ever learned. in doing more research today on the subject, the most "serious" of the local outdoor schools won't even take you if you can't haul your body out of a swimming pool without a ladder--i'm not sure i could do that when i was a lithe tween who was swimming several hours a day--but that's what i need to work on. so that's the next thing - conditioning, swimming, finding out if NWOC might let me practice wet exit and self-rescue by their dock.

( class notes, mostly for me )

my pfd with aftermarket crotch straps was great. i also ran out the wetsuit in the afternoon. it was comfy in the water but sweaty for paddling so i'd say this one is definitely just for colder weather. getting it on and off requires quite a bit of strength and flexibility. (i can see myself adding a lighter Farmer Jane to my quiver in the future.) the nice thing about the full wetsuit was that it kept most of me out of the sun. unfortunately i forgot to renew the sunscreen on my hands after i pulled it on.

***
there was a point where one of the instructors was talking about moving the boat with your hips and referred to it as "your mermaid tail". that's very much how it feels when everything is adjusted correctly, that it's an extension of my body. yes please, more of that sensation of flying through the water.

*they intentionally have you paddle for several hours before you do the rescue practice, since it's pretty much going to happen when you're tired.

Current Mood: tired
Current Location: deluxe apartment in the sky
Current Music: Germany v Mexico

i had a lovely day Monday.

it started with a leisurely wakeup, coffee, and dog walk with C. then i caught the bus to Capitol Hill for Zombillenium, which was delightful and might secretly be my favorite film of the festival.

after that, i met C at Folklife for food and sunshine and music and surprise bargain shopping*. Folklife holds a special place in my heart since we were so very broke our first summer in Seattle, and Folklife was there to give us remarkable entertainment and food samples and people watching and random swag on their pay-what-you-can model. i'm happy that i'm able to support them now in a way i wasn't then. it's still pretty wonderful, and it coincided with a rare day where C was feeling okay about crowds.

*Mishu had a stand with a $10-15 rack at the festival, so i now have a fleece-lined jacket, a lighter double-breasted jacket, and a wool hooded pullover for under $50.

last week's questions because a) i failed to post then, b) more appropriate anyway.

1. What are you thankful for this year or are you just happy it’s nearly over?
i am always thankful for my chosen family, for my health, for C and Leela and clean water and safe food and having an income and health insurance and a nice home to live in.

i'm thankful that we didn't start a new war this year. *knocks wood* but i have to say that, and i've continued to wrestle with the destruction of my mental model of "America". i need this year to pass with the least damage possible.

2. When you have a traditional family get together, be it Thanksgiving, Christmas or for some other reason, is there a dish that you just have to have or something is missing?
if mom is cooking there needs to be home-frozen sweet corn that she or my brother has put up. (i am a vicious snob about sweet corn. commercially preserved sweet corn is rubbery and gross, and so is most corn-on-the-cob by the time it hits a grocery store. it can only be consumed if it is canned creamed corn, which i consider an entirely separate food.)

3. Do you like turkey?
yup.

4. Do you anticipate or dread family get-togethers?
how many layers of family? i get on well with my immediate family; even my sister is fully capable of being pleasant company for an afternoon. C's family is also pretty great. i am happy to see them but hate traveling to see them. when we start adding aunts/uncles/cousins, that's where things get dicey. one side is extra-Christian, the other side has an explosive mix of flaming liberals and guns-n-racism conservatives. prior to last year i would have said the extra-Christian get togethers were the most awkward, but prior to last year nobody shook the explosive mix container.

5. If you could get your family/friends to listen to you at one of these gathers, really listen to you, what would you say to them?
this seems like an invitation to talk about political or social issues or some family fight. as noted above, it depends who is in the room. but really, my immediate family has always been pretty awesome to me and i know that not everyone has that.

"I love you and I'm glad you're a part of my life."

* * *

i'm thinking a great deal about years and transitions since it was my birthday this week. last year's birthday is kind of a blank in my memory. not surprising, really, since i spent most of November mired in situational depression. i just hate that i don't know. there's very little i remember about November 2016 after the election; America was ruined, Leonard Cohen was dead. i stopped using facebook and i made one post on LJ that month. academically i know that the Sounders were on their MLS Cup run but i don't remember any details about that either.

Thanksgiving was good. ~~pirate~~ E and G made ham this year, partly because their oven was annoyingly unreliable last year, partly because with baby M in the house something had to give. and it was pretty great, we can do that again. we ate right on time (pirate D even came out), everything was delicious and then we all watched Buffy, as is tradition. baby M was on his best behavior, flirting with all and sundry and conveniently sleeping while the rest of us ate. Leela was also on her best behavior and didn't howl at anyone. A++, would feast again.

yesterday there was gaming, as is tradition, and C and i made a crockpot roast to share and a mix of new sides and leftovers. ~~pirate~~ A brought his homemade pumpkin pie. the food was a hit AND we defeated the manticore and re-consecrated the healing spring.

Current Location: deluxe apartment in the sky
Current Music: Rebels

today, the smoke from the wildfires in BC has made the air quality here worse than Beijing. it's creepy and getting uncomfortable. the haze makes it cooler than was forecast, but the nights are warmer, and the air is starting to hurt my throat :/

Monday, it was sparking clear and hot but not too hot. it was the second Monday in a row that i went kayaking on Lake Union; hopefully that will get to be a really regular thing before it gets icky outside. we're busing in, renting, and busing out. perfect urban adventure.

last week was windy and there was a lot of chop; they gave

philotera and i rec kayaks (i think they were Rip 12s) that were okaaay. we struggled to travel up the east side of the lake. it was nice to look at the houseboats but any time i stopped paddling the wind blew me all over the place.

this week, we went again (with the welcome addition of Sailor J) and both

philotera and Sailor J brought their carbon fiber paddles along. i'm not saying that definitely changed things, but this time we got real sea kayaks with rudders. (now that i know there are choices, i will express a preference.) based on our prior experience, we nosed around the calm south end of the lake and up the west side past the float planes and up to the working boat moorage at the north end, then a long diagonal back to the the rental dock.

( more about the trip, with pictures )

i think my favorite bit was on the way back to the dock, when we were directly below the flight path of a float plane that had just taken off. it was breathtaking.* i am sad that i don't have a picture, but glad that i didn't waste such a stunning moment fumbling with my phone.

I'm still trying to figure out my best transit path/timing (traffic in South Lake Union is hellish) but the lake hasn't been super-busy, so in general Monday night looks like a good time to go.

Monday Night Paddling. it might be a thing.

*the underside was painted with a local tv station's colors; for all i know we could have been b-roll on Evening Magazine.

i've been longing to be on/in/near water recently. i live within a few minutes' walk of a public launch and i see people out enjoying the water, coming and going, literally walking from their house towing their kayak on little wheels. waaaaant.

after chatting with

philotera (who has been kayaking for a few years now), i signed up for a kayak class to not-so-metaphorically get my feet wet. i was looking to get some paddling technique training, and see how it all felt vs canoeing. would being so low in the water be scary? would my legs go to sleep? would the paddling exhaust me?

oh, i liked it. pretty much all of it.
( about the class )
at the end of it all, i came home and realized that i had lived for years near a lazy river (and while growing up near fast-flowing but not-rough creeks) and could have been paddling nearly year-round. where i grew up, the word kayak meant whitewater and helmets and eskimo rolls.* oh well.

my legs did not go to sleep. nor was i crippled with pain the next day, although i definitely felt the work in my abs and i had a little sunburn on the backs of my shoulders.

i'm dreaming of boat-in camping now. but that means getting C on board. (and probably going without Leela, which makes me sad...okay, i was trying to figure out if she could sit between my legs as long as i skipped a spray skirt.)

*and perhaps if i had grown up here i would have thought of kayaking as waves and drysuits and hypothermia, rather than puttering about in a lake.

this was my view this weekend.

i was at a tame and gentle bachelor party. ~~pirate~~ A wanted to go camping with the game group and his old roommate, so we did. the sun came out and blessed us with a bright but still cool day on Saturday. we drank a lot of cider, but not so much that anyone was sick or stupid. we cooked great food, and played games, and enjoyed the bluff and the beach. (i only went to the beach once. there were switchbacks and stairs involved - fine on the way down, less appealing on the way up.)

we blew bubbles, and we toasted peeps.* i think everyone read my Mockingbird trades; responses included "this is my favorite super hero now".

we gloried in moonlight and looked at stars, and we definitely threw toxic chemicals on the fire.

it was a good time.

*the drug store was selling leftover packs of peeps for 5 cents each. i spent 15 cents and we didn't go through them all.

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ironymaiden

November 2024

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the girly who shall end all girls

please scream inside your heart

Entries tagged with memorable days

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2023 that was

why I'm here

savage worlds doesn't use a d20, but i still win

(no subject)

countdown to hugs

hope and history rhyme

i would like to get off now pls

5/366 being normal

a better day

a very good week

SIFF hot take May 26, 2019 at 06:51PM

Jólabókafló∂

...and to all a good night

spending time with my mermaid tail

in the gloaming

last Friday's Five

Monday Night Paddling

kayak

mostly we read books and looked at the water