just laura

I just got back from a great trip to Whistler, BC to spend time with Chris and Alyssa! We went white water rafting on the Green River, we saw beautiful waterfalls at Narin and Brandywine, we ate good food, stayed at the great Cedar Springs B&B, watched many bikers on the jumps and trails, spent quality time in the hot tub, and did the most spectacular hike I can imagine… Joffre Lakes… where we saw magnificent lakes, cliffs, waterfalls, mountains, and even got to climb right up onto the snout of the glacier! What a fabulous weekend, and what fabulous friends who made it all possible! Look for more pictures to come… for now, a self-portrait from us at Narin Falls! Enjoy!

I’ve only worked one day this week (Wednesday) and my mental calendar is kinda off. :) That’s okay… it’s been a nice, relaxing week. Wednesday I worked, and it was peaceful. Thursday Erin, Erica, and I went to Mt. Rainier and did a short hike at Snow Lake. This Snow Lake should not to be confused with the other Snow Lake hike that’s also about 60 miles from Seattle in the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. :) The hike was still mostly covered in snow, even in July, which I have to admit was kinda weird. Texas never generally lacks heat this time of the year, so to be 60 miles outside Seattle and in the snow was kinda bizarre but nice none the less. We saw lots of birds, two lakes, lots of snow, and even a marmot. :)

When I got back that evening, I joined Dieter, Chris, Max, and friends for a little cookout before watching the Fourth of Jul-Ivars fireworks over the Puget Sound. It was a pretty laid back, relaxing day off. Tonight I’m heading back down to the Pier for another of the summer concert series, tonight featuring Austin’s own Shawn Colvin. Should be nice!

Life’s had small ups and downs lately, but nothing too exciting or earth shattering. In the ups… the Shawn Colvin concert was great! She was funny! The music was good, I was expecting nothing less. However, I wasn’t expecting her to be so funny or clever! She was quite the story teller… related tales on high school reunions, “road therapy,” and stories about her littler girl Callie. Callie came on stage at one point, asked to sing Yellow Submarine, and then did the whole song. “Couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket” was how Shawn accurately summed up the performance. :) Some guy from the crowd asked Shawn if Callie still performed the “potty song” on stage too. Shawn said no, that Callie was on to the safe sex songs now. Was pretty funny… considering Callie is probably 3 or 4… still a little girl! At another point in the show, the mic plug was bent and not working right and Shawn commented “the bent ones are never good.” Don’t know if it’s too funny on paper, but as a crowd we were dying with laughter last night. Hmmm… let’s see. In other good news, the police arrested a guy found trying to spend Dieter’s stolen checks… that’s a good thing! In less exciting news, a friend sent me an email about “patriotism” that had tons of racist undertones… yuck! The conversation that ensued wasn’t fun, but thankfully, I think there’s a deeper level of understanding now.

What else? Been feeling kinda blah lately. I think I’m wanting more out of work, out of my relationships, and in the ways of travel, so while things aren’t going badly, I’m craving some excitement that’s definitely lacking. What to do… what to do… I did Dallas for 2 years, Houston for 2 years, Seattle for 1.5 years. Is it time to move again? Look for a different job? Change/build relationships? All of the above? None of the above? I don’t really know. But it’s at least a little comforting to know I’m not the only one stuck in a slump like this. Hopefully Beal or Suzan or Charles will figure out exciting plans for their futures too! Bummer things aren’t more clear cut sometimes… it’d make life so much easier.

Just found out Beal was able to book her flight to Seattle for Labor Day weekend! Yipee!!! Our current plans include eating Oh My God peaces from the market, ogling the fish boys from Pike Place Fish, and catching some great music at Bumbershoot, The Seattle Arts Festival. Four days and 2,500 astounding artists and performers! Tickets are only $12 a day… and look at this lineup!

FRIDAY, August 30:

Hip-Hop 101 w/ Wyclef Jean, Nappy Roots & 4th Avenue Jones • Coco Montoya • The Itals • Christy McWilson • Kristin Hersh • Living Daylights • 764-HERO

SATURDAY, August 31:

Lou Reed • Ani DiFranco • Concrete Blonde • Stanley Jordan • Blackalicious • Roy Rogers & the Delta Rhythm Kings • Jamgrass, a bluegrass mini-festival with: Yonder Mountain String Band & Sam Bush • Dan Hicks & the Hot Licks

SUNDAY September 1:

Everclear • Sonic Youth • Ramsey Lewis Trio • Modest Mouse • Kelly Willis • Lifehouse • Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra • Lifesavas • Electronica Showcase

MONDAY September 2:

Jewel • Maceo Parker • Wilco • Jerry Cantrell • Blonde Redhead • Richard Thompson • El Vez • Michelle Shocked • The Gourds • The Derailers • Electronica Showcase

Wow!

Last night was another fabulous night at the Pier… beautiful sunset, warm bay breezes, and a friendly crowd all in love with the Indigo Girls. Yes, it’s true, I finally got to see the Indigo Girls play after I’d been wanting to see them for years! I don’t know who wrote this, but I think it captures them nicely: “Whether it’s staged at a campus coffeehouse or a sold-out Madison Square Garden, each Indigo Girls’ show conveys their passion for fresh musical ideas, their respect for their audience and each other, their commitment to peace and social justice, and especially their unflagging enthusiasm for live performance.” It’s so true! They’ve been a duo for 16 long years… with fans so loving they not only drive for hours to see them, but want to share the music with others, and go further by learning the words and chords to favorite songs. And just as impressive (or even more impressive?), they’re committed to social justice… songs about racism and classism, advocacy efforts on their website, travels to Cuba, etc. I like a ton of bands, but I can’t think of many I respect more than the Indigo Girls…

The concert was great… a perfect blend of music from their roots and new music they’re just releasing! They played songs I’ve loved for years (Galileo, Least Complicated, Power of Two), newer tunes (Shame on You, Get Out the Map), and a few tracks off their most recent release (Moment of Forgiveness, Become You). They didn’t talk tons, but were super friendly and in touch with the fans… thanked folks for homemade cards, signed shirts and license plates handed up to stage, etc. During a technical moment, Amy took questions from the crowd. What did she do today: kayaking. Emily? She ate in Capital Hill. Nope, Emily’s dad wasn’t at the concert again tonight, just last night. How old was Amy? Getting to the age you’re not supposed to tell (thirty-eight… an old lady). :) Very friendly! What amazing individuals… and fabulous musicians to boot! Made me quite content for the evening! Imagine my surprise, after I got home and curled up in bed with my book, to get a call from Dieter at midnight saying he’d fixed us dinner. He’s so friendly too. I did eat dinner and then promptly fell asleep on the couch while he did homework till 3am. A lovely evening all in all.

Some tomato plants need lots of sunlight… apparently more sun than many Seattle gardens can provide. My plant quickly grew from 6 inches to 3 feet tall, then promptly turned black, shriveled up, and lost many leaves. Well, I figured it had died, and my To Do list included tossing out the dead body. Image my surprise yesterday when Dieter pointed out its first tomato!! Hallelujah!

Today is Tuesday. It’s my day off. I’m bored. I guess that’s okay… I had a fun filled weekend and wouldn’t mind a peaceful day of rest and relaxation. Let’s see… Friday Erin, Evan, and I watched movies: Beautiful Mind (good and suspenseful), and Aimee & Jaguar (sad war love story). Saturday and Sunday I spent long days at the Capital Hill Block Party! It was nice to be back in my old hood, surrounded by all of the freaks and the fabulously image conscious people. Saturday I saw lots of greats bands: Peter Parker (Matthew’s band – felt pretty fun to get the wave from the lead singer and have 1/2 the crowd turn to see what girl he was waving at), Pretty Girls Make Graves, the Simians, Jackie and the Control Tops, Ursula and the Androids, Hell’s Belles (all girl, AC/DC cover band), and Seattle’s darlings Mudhoney. Dieter joined me after work for the Hell’s Belles show and it was pretty rocking! The crowd loved them, sang, along, and got very excited when the bassist striped off her jacket, shirt, and skirt. Any AC/DC bassist with dreadlocks who will play in a bra and panties seemed to be great with this crowd! The Mudhoney show was good too… while many in the crowd were big fans, I think most were just there because they know Mudhoney is an “important” Seattle band (the “Grandpappies of Grunge,” playing punk and rock before Pearl Jam or Nirvana made the Seattle scene). Either way, it was a good day all around. :)

Sunday Jake and I hit the festival together. He was able to get us in free to the event (with VIP passes none the less)! After some shopping at Value Village and some lunch at Dick’s, we hit the festival around 1pm and stayed till around 11pm… long day! We saw Dead Low Tide (a washed up metal band from Portland), 10 Minutes Down (a really good local ska band), 764-HERO (power pop, good stuff), the Catheters (these boys were living the rock star life on stage), and Sleater-Kinney (Time magazine calls them America’s greatest rock band!). Sleater-Kinney was my favorite band of the day, and Erin joined us for that show. I also ran into my old neighbor Cheyenne at the block party… was good to catch up with her.

Tonight Dieter’s parents and grandmother were passing through Seattle on the way to a family reunion. We got to catch up with them at dinner, and will probably do the same again tomorrow (they’re only in town for two days). His grandmother was sad because she had so few photos of him… kinda funny considering I have so many. I don’t know how many of mine are the best to pass along, but I’ll definitely have to supply her with mullet shots, pictures from Halloween, etc. It’ll be great! Was nice to see them again… I saw them in Los Angeles in March, but you never really know how often you’ll see an exes parents after you break up…

Oh, and how could I forget another exciting part of my weekend?? This Sunday, at the block party, I spotted one of my heroes just standing in the crowd chatting with his friends! This person is amazing, intelligent, has a way with people, incredibly influential, and an absolute idol of mine! And, he lives in Seattle! To see him in the crowd, I knew I needed to jump at the chance to introduce myself and thank him for his contribution to society. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this weekend I got to meet the one and only Dan Savage! Those of you not yet fans of the man, well, I encourage you to read one of his books or start checking out a paper that runs his weekly column. Dan writes “Savage Love,” a no-holds-barred syndicated sex-advice column which runs in papers in the United States and Canada. He’s kinda the Ann Landers of the sex world. :) Ingram says, “An original and funny thinker, trashing around in the playground of human sexuality, Savage advises on a wide range of titillating topics.” So true, so true! He’s just a great guy all around! See smiling photo at left (and observe the hard nipple… what a great bonus!).

Gentle men and women in the audience… we now have working blog comments! I don’t know how fast or slow they’ll be, but feel free to leave comments if you ever feel inclined to do so. Blog on!

Well… the comments seemed to be broken on IE 6.0, and while they work fine on 5.5, it definitely slows the download quite a hefty bit! So, I’ve removed them temporarily while I look for something new. We’ll see. I’m almost feeling inspired to finally start my Seattle scrapbook, and maybe a sewing project or two, so maybe the comments will have to wait. :) That’d be a good thing… I don’t know why I’m waiting so long to take advantage of my free time and do the crafts I’d like to do.

Oh, and for those checking to see what’s up lately in life….

Friday was our graduation at work for this year’s team. We did it on the waterfront at Seward Park, got to see bald eagles, eat BBQ, chat for hours, and enjoy the sunny end to a rainy year. Friday night Erin and I went to Volunteer Park for the free Shakespeare Festival… we saw an okay production of Henry IV. Yawn…

Saturday was more fun, and more exhausting! I join Dieter and Andrew for a friend’s wedding on Bainbridge Island. I’d never met Fletch & Jen before, but they’re quite nice and their families were terrific! The wedding was outdoors at her parents house… gorgeous! The BBQ after the reception was great fun too… we played on the most amazing playground, and got crazy with kickball, basketball, frisbee, and ultimate too! Wow! It felt great to play like a kid again!

Sunday Dieter and I ate some breakfast then went out to the Ballard Locks. “The Hiram
M. Chittenden Locks provide a link for boats
between the saltwater of the Puget Sound and the fresh water of the Ship Canal connecting
to Lake Union and Lake Washington.” Need more? “When you enter this National Historic Place, you immediately feel that you have left the big city behind. The combination of the beautiful botanical garden, the architecture of the buildings, boats, locks, fish, and the visitor center can capture the hearts of young and old. Visitors from around the world and of all ages find something here that brings a smile to their faces. Come out and see for yourself, you’ll come back often to see the changing of the seasons, and you will know why we say the Locks are “Where the Activity Never Stops.”

My favorite part about the locks was the Salmon ladder. To help these endangered fish get upstream in this busy section of the locks, the Army built a salmon ladder back in 1917. Any help they can get is nice… only about 1 egg in 1,000 survive to spawn as an adult. Today I spotted a harbor seal in there too, apparently deciding that feasting on salmon is much more fun than migrating south like the rest of his pals this summer. It was cool to see a cute seal swimming around, though I know it’d be better if he wasn’t there. Guess he’s one of the reasons only 1 in 1,000 ever get to spawn. It was still a nice afternoon to watch the boats rise and pass, watch the fish move upstream, and wander the gardens where a live Jazz band was playing. Let’s hear some appreciation for the Amry Corps of Engineers!

Today I’m enjoying a productive and relaxing day off! I think I’m going to clear off my desktop and get rid of it once and for all! Yeah! Let’s hear it for less clutter! :) I also baked a lasagna today… that was pretty fun! I tend to get stuck in a rut doing the same foods over and over… happily I remembered lasagna existed in the world! Easy to make, healthy, and great for leftovers! And, there’s a fabulous invention that makes lasagna even easier… no bake noodles! Cuts your prep time in half! Wohoo! What a wonderfully exciting world! :) (Exciting day to blog, I know!)

Hello all! This weekend in Seattle four very exciting events are going on… I’ve confirmed my prescence at one, and hope to hit a few more!

First, and foremost, I’m going to the Evening with Billy Idol as part of the Summer Nights at the Pier concert series! Yeah!

Second, Friday night the Crocodile is having a Wham/George Michael cover night as a benefit for JAMPAC! How fabulous!!

Next, the 56th Annual Pacific Northwest Scottish Highland Games & Clan Gathering is happening! I didn’t get to go last year, but it sounds quite fun!

And finally, there’s a mini-burn at Golden Gardens to gear folks up for Burning Man! I’ve been to two past burns for the Church of Mez, and both were quite a blast!