Seattlin': to Orcas
Apr. 11th, 2007 04:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jazzfishI flew out of National this time, for what may be the first time ever. I like National all right. The main terminal just looks like an airport ought to, glass and high ceiling and all that. It gets bonus points for being right on the metro, too. Chicago/O'Hare, on the other hand, is ugly and crowded and loud, and I would be perfectly happy to never spend any time there again. Seattle airport's a lot more welcoming, all bright and artsy and subway-equipped and generally well-designed.
Missed my stop twice taking the bus from the airport to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nixve's place, but I got there alright in the end. She was just coming down with a cold when I arrived. There was snuggling regardless.
Thursdaynixve went to work and I wandered around the Seattle city center. I did /not/ pay money to go up in the Space Needle, but I did wander through the Sci-Fi museum. It was interesting, but now that I've been once I don't really feel any great need to ever go back. Maybe in a couple of years, with someone who's never been before. They had an awful lot of pictures and movie props from fifties sci-fi; every time I saw one of these, all I could think of was "Torg, come OUT of the SPACESHIP!"* Good times. I also poked my head in the Experience Music Project briefly. Since I have little interest in either hip-hop, Hendrix, Disney, or the Seattle music scene in the nineties, and the make-yer-own-music parts were dominated by small children on spring break, that was pretty much a wash.
After that it was still a gorgeous day. I wandered down towards the water by way of a random courtyard with a fountain in it, in the middle of what I assume was a high-priced apartment complex. The signs warned me that GATES MAY CLOSE AT ANY TIME. This inspired visions of alarms going off and my scaling the wrought-iron fence with dogs nipping at my heels. Perhaps fortunately, ANY TIME wasn't while I was in there.
In my ramblings I found a rather neat little garden on Vine Street. I started wandering through when another tourist said "Oh, there's a sign here that says NO TRESPASSING." I sighed and took pictures of a couple of ravens outside the garden. Then the tourist said "Oh, but this sign says 'The NO TRESPASSING signs are not intended to deter anyone from experiencing the beauty of our garden. They are simply meant to discourage illegal behavior.'" "Like trespassing?" I asked.
I trespassed through the garden for awhile, avoiding prosecution and persecution, and eventually made my way down to the water. On the way back I meandered through a sculpture garden (kinda neat, nothing spectacular) and stopped in at a large cafe-like building that seemed to be part of the sculpture garden. Inside were a couple of hanging mesh cages with small children playing inside them. So I took my shoes off (as recommended by the sign) and climbed into one and laid there for a bit, swaying and wiggling and /laughing/ because it was just such an awesome day.
On the way out I stopped and chatted with the girl working the gift shop for awhile, mostly because they had copies of Villa Paletti for sale. I can only assume that my obvious enthusiasm for the day and the art and the city overwhelmed her. That or she was really bored.
That eveningnixve and I took in some of the local art scene along with the infamous Torsten and a couple of his friends, followed by a trip to a very large bookstore.
Friday I went to work with her and witnessed the craziness of three hundred children arriving late to a theatre production. She and her coworkers handled them remarkably well. I also got to see "Everybody Knows What a Dragon Looks Like," a rather cute production (with puppets) of a Chinese fairy tale / children's book. Fun times.
And then we drove two hours north to Anacortes ("Without Cortez," a clear reference to the town's lack of conquistadores) and got on the ferry to Orcas Island. I think that's the first time I've ever been on a ferry. It's definitely /not/ the first time I've ever been on a boat that big, I've got definite memories of something like it. I'm just not sure what they're from. We played Bird Or Stick? several times, and a couple rounds of Marine Mammal Or Log? ("Log." "Damn.")
. . . to be continued . . .
* From the late lamented MP3.com description of The Laziest Men On Mars's "Nothing Can Stop Torg!": "TORG GROWS TIRED OF PUNY HUMANS. SOON TORG WILL CRUSH THEM. In the meantime, Torg enjoys making generic acid music. Weegy wawgy woo bleep bloop." The best part of this song is the feeling of intense frustration one gets from the scientist. It's like he's talking to a two-year-old.
Missed my stop twice taking the bus from the airport to
nixve's place, but I got there alright in the end. She was just coming down with a cold when I arrived. There was snuggling regardless.Thursday
nixve went to work and I wandered around the Seattle city center. I did /not/ pay money to go up in the Space Needle, but I did wander through the Sci-Fi museum. It was interesting, but now that I've been once I don't really feel any great need to ever go back. Maybe in a couple of years, with someone who's never been before. They had an awful lot of pictures and movie props from fifties sci-fi; every time I saw one of these, all I could think of was "Torg, come OUT of the SPACESHIP!"* Good times. I also poked my head in the Experience Music Project briefly. Since I have little interest in either hip-hop, Hendrix, Disney, or the Seattle music scene in the nineties, and the make-yer-own-music parts were dominated by small children on spring break, that was pretty much a wash.After that it was still a gorgeous day. I wandered down towards the water by way of a random courtyard with a fountain in it, in the middle of what I assume was a high-priced apartment complex. The signs warned me that GATES MAY CLOSE AT ANY TIME. This inspired visions of alarms going off and my scaling the wrought-iron fence with dogs nipping at my heels. Perhaps fortunately, ANY TIME wasn't while I was in there.
In my ramblings I found a rather neat little garden on Vine Street. I started wandering through when another tourist said "Oh, there's a sign here that says NO TRESPASSING." I sighed and took pictures of a couple of ravens outside the garden. Then the tourist said "Oh, but this sign says 'The NO TRESPASSING signs are not intended to deter anyone from experiencing the beauty of our garden. They are simply meant to discourage illegal behavior.'" "Like trespassing?" I asked.
I trespassed through the garden for awhile, avoiding prosecution and persecution, and eventually made my way down to the water. On the way back I meandered through a sculpture garden (kinda neat, nothing spectacular) and stopped in at a large cafe-like building that seemed to be part of the sculpture garden. Inside were a couple of hanging mesh cages with small children playing inside them. So I took my shoes off (as recommended by the sign) and climbed into one and laid there for a bit, swaying and wiggling and /laughing/ because it was just such an awesome day.
On the way out I stopped and chatted with the girl working the gift shop for awhile, mostly because they had copies of Villa Paletti for sale. I can only assume that my obvious enthusiasm for the day and the art and the city overwhelmed her. That or she was really bored.
That evening
nixve and I took in some of the local art scene along with the infamous Torsten and a couple of his friends, followed by a trip to a very large bookstore.Friday I went to work with her and witnessed the craziness of three hundred children arriving late to a theatre production. She and her coworkers handled them remarkably well. I also got to see "Everybody Knows What a Dragon Looks Like," a rather cute production (with puppets) of a Chinese fairy tale / children's book. Fun times.
And then we drove two hours north to Anacortes ("Without Cortez," a clear reference to the town's lack of conquistadores) and got on the ferry to Orcas Island. I think that's the first time I've ever been on a ferry. It's definitely /not/ the first time I've ever been on a boat that big, I've got definite memories of something like it. I'm just not sure what they're from. We played Bird Or Stick? several times, and a couple rounds of Marine Mammal Or Log? ("Log." "Damn.")
. . . to be continued . . .
* From the late lamented MP3.com description of The Laziest Men On Mars's "Nothing Can Stop Torg!": "TORG GROWS TIRED OF PUNY HUMANS. SOON TORG WILL CRUSH THEM. In the meantime, Torg enjoys making generic acid music. Weegy wawgy woo bleep bloop." The best part of this song is the feeling of intense frustration one gets from the scientist. It's like he's talking to a two-year-old.