I'm now making pretty regular trips to Pike Place Market to get produce on the weekends. Its relatively inexpensive and now that I've found the best vendors the quality is just incredible. I'd been focusing on cherries, mushrooms, and apples until two weeks ago when Huan informed me that the peaches were pretty good. I feel like I have a fairly refined palate when it comes to peaches; my family would often be in South Carolina during prime peach season when I was growing up, and even though Georgia might be known as the Peach State, South Carolina more than holds its own.
So when the guy hawking peaches last week claimed that these were the best peaches anyone had ever had, I told him that I had had a couple of good peaches in my day. He cut a slice off his sample peach and told me that my order would be free if I could look him in the face and tell him it wasn't the best peach I had ever had.
I paid for my peaches.
Sadly, the State of Washington seems to be home to peach fuzz eaters. Again, I feel as if I come from peach country, and I can't seem to remember anyone eating a fuzzy peach. Peaches, like oranges and kiwis and bananas, are meant to be peeled. To this day it freaks me out when I see someone just grab a peach and go to town. Maybe this is one of those things where I'm a freak (since nearly everyone I talk to seems to eat fuzzy peaches), but if so, I'm a freak on a terrific moral high ground.
Peel your peaches. Please. At least in front of me.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Pics
Lots of posts with text, so here are some pictures to soften the blow. Above: the view of downtown from my office. Below: My office and the football stadium.
The fake druggies on the bus
One of the problems with uptight Seattlites is that no one will stand up to obnoxious people (they probably go home and blog about it rather than doing something). The buses here are often filled with young kids full of braggadocio who talk loudly about who they are having sex with or what drugs they are doing. I had a wonderful experience today sitting in front of three kids who, other than a few extra piercings, look like 95% of the other kids in Seattle... white, nattily dressed in an Urban Outfitters kind of way, probably the sons and daughters of two Microsoft engineers.
Anyways, here are a few of the gems from the conversation. I actually wrote them down:
Anyways, here are a few of the gems from the conversation. I actually wrote them down:
- Everyone was referred to by a nickname. But what struck me was how obviously contrived the nicknames were: Insomnia, Blue, Two-tone (or Tu-tone), Ashtray. Except for poorly written Saturday morning tv shows o one has nicknames like that. Real nicknames are ones that the nicknam-ee don't really like. Dickey. Shitty. Gonz. Chazz. Goose. These were the nicknames I knew of in college (Dickey was mine), and no one was really that jazzed about having them (I certainly wasn't). But no one earns Ashtray... they sit around thinking about it and make a declaration "I will henceforth be known as Ashtray."
- "He's better when he's on meds or on crack." One girl actually said this. While I doubt they know anyone who has actually used crack, they are missing something. No one is better on crack. The term "crackhead" is not a compliment for a reason.
- They were shocked that undercover cops looked "hella, hella normal." Um, yeah. That's why they are undercover. And this is Seattle. No "hella"s please.
- All the kids were talking about how they wouldn't snitch if picked up by the cops. One actually said they would rather do 2-3 years in jail than snitch on their friends who were using drugs. Maybe this is true, but I'm sure that mom and dad's lawyers would convince them otherwise. Or, hours 1 through 5 in prison. I'm guessing they wouldn't make the two years.
- Right before they got off the bus the dude in the group was telling a story about his friend who got jumped because "They knew he wouldn't do anything." Apparently, "they" left him alone because he was from the "west side of Phoenix." Um, since when does that make you hard? Google "Phoenix west side". When the first entry is "Westside Urology", well, you're neighborhood can't be that tough. I could be wrong, but I'm guessing it's no Bronx, Anacostia, South-side Chicago, East L.A., etc.
Huan is ruining lives
To say that Huan has "blown up" since arriving in Seattle is an understatement. How many writers for alt-weeklies become world-renowned freak dance experts? His stories have been skewered by the blogosphere* before publication and some cover art of a story he wrote pissed off parents throughout the city and made the evening news.
But now he's getting people fired.
That's not a true statement at all. Uptight Seattlites have decided to fire people, most likely based on a story Huan wrote. I found it much more creepy that the high school girls invited Huan to the prom for 30 seconds before he pointed out that it would be "weird." Sadly, he would have been my second post-college roommate to attend prom had the invite been accepted.
All this comes just a week after the wife of a friend of ours got pissed at Huan for writing about Safeco Field's absurd "red card" fan behavior tool and mentioning our friend by name. She was convinced that he would summarily be fired after it became public knowledge that he had both A) gone to a baseball game and B) had a beer.
Why the recap of Huan's Seattle reign of terror? Because I'm terrified of what might happen after he comes golfing with Tyler H and I on Sunday. Theoretically he's going to write about the course, but I'm sure it will be misinterpreted in a way that will cost me my job. Or, worse, get me banned from the golf course.
* I despise the term blogosphere. It's not like the the Interwebs are a physically distinct world that emits commentary. It's easier to publish via the web than via pamphlet, but it's the same idea. Thus that is that last time that the b-word shall be used here.
But now he's getting people fired.
That's not a true statement at all. Uptight Seattlites have decided to fire people, most likely based on a story Huan wrote. I found it much more creepy that the high school girls invited Huan to the prom for 30 seconds before he pointed out that it would be "weird." Sadly, he would have been my second post-college roommate to attend prom had the invite been accepted.
All this comes just a week after the wife of a friend of ours got pissed at Huan for writing about Safeco Field's absurd "red card" fan behavior tool and mentioning our friend by name. She was convinced that he would summarily be fired after it became public knowledge that he had both A) gone to a baseball game and B) had a beer.
Why the recap of Huan's Seattle reign of terror? Because I'm terrified of what might happen after he comes golfing with Tyler H and I on Sunday. Theoretically he's going to write about the course, but I'm sure it will be misinterpreted in a way that will cost me my job. Or, worse, get me banned from the golf course.
* I despise the term blogosphere. It's not like the the Interwebs are a physically distinct world that emits commentary. It's easier to publish via the web than via pamphlet, but it's the same idea. Thus that is that last time that the b-word shall be used here.
Smug Seattle
This is the kind of attitude from "native" Seattlites that bewilders me.
It's one thing to have pride in your home, whether it be a town or a region or a country, but they don't really have that here in Seattle. They have anti-pride. They aren't ashamed of aspects of the city, but rather they share a smug happiness when transplants (like myself) find things about the city that are disagreeable. This is unlike many places I've been... New Yorkers have no problem telling you why your city is inferior because there is nothing you can do there that they can't do in New York. Folks from DC think its quaint that you might have a "mayor" in your town, because they have a "president." People in LA complain about the traffic, but it seems a worthwhile trade for the weather, the beautiful people, and the access to beaches and mountains.
But in Seattle it seems chic to brag about being able to deal with the gray. I've blogged about the weather a lot, and I'd be lying if I said it didn't take a little time to adapt. But let's get serious: it's not very hard to adapt to "mild." This isn't Minneapolis in the winter, or New Orleans in the summer. Who brags about adjusting to the middle? And who brags about one of the bad aspects of their city?
Seattle has a lot to be proud of: it's clean, it has stunning views of mountains to the east and west, there's more outdoors activities nearby than any other major city in the US, there's a great music scene, it is home to several wildly successful companies... Seriously. Show some pride. You aren't Dallas (which has nothing to brag about, yet Texans just seem to love it).
It's one thing to have pride in your home, whether it be a town or a region or a country, but they don't really have that here in Seattle. They have anti-pride. They aren't ashamed of aspects of the city, but rather they share a smug happiness when transplants (like myself) find things about the city that are disagreeable. This is unlike many places I've been... New Yorkers have no problem telling you why your city is inferior because there is nothing you can do there that they can't do in New York. Folks from DC think its quaint that you might have a "mayor" in your town, because they have a "president." People in LA complain about the traffic, but it seems a worthwhile trade for the weather, the beautiful people, and the access to beaches and mountains.
But in Seattle it seems chic to brag about being able to deal with the gray. I've blogged about the weather a lot, and I'd be lying if I said it didn't take a little time to adapt. But let's get serious: it's not very hard to adapt to "mild." This isn't Minneapolis in the winter, or New Orleans in the summer. Who brags about adjusting to the middle? And who brags about one of the bad aspects of their city?
Seattle has a lot to be proud of: it's clean, it has stunning views of mountains to the east and west, there's more outdoors activities nearby than any other major city in the US, there's a great music scene, it is home to several wildly successful companies... Seriously. Show some pride. You aren't Dallas (which has nothing to brag about, yet Texans just seem to love it).
Monday, June 18, 2007
Pigs
Strangely, this post has nothing to do with pork, or at least edible pork. It would seem that the pig is some sort of symbol of the Pike Place Market, despite the fact that the amount of seafood sold at the market is probably 10-15x the amount of pork sold at the market. It turns out that this is the 100th birthday of the Market, so there are all sorts of events building up to August 18th. Mainly this means that the Market is crazy busy during the weekend, making it miserable for locals like myself to go shopping (it really does have fantastic produce stands).
As part of the celebration they have put up these fiberglass pigs all around the city... I assume they are sponsored by various businesses who decorate them to represent their company. For those of you in DC, they're a lot like the Pandas that were in town a couple of years ago, only they aren't frequently vandalized.
Anyways, I think they are cool. So here are some pictures:
As part of the celebration they have put up these fiberglass pigs all around the city... I assume they are sponsored by various businesses who decorate them to represent their company. For those of you in DC, they're a lot like the Pandas that were in town a couple of years ago, only they aren't frequently vandalized.
Anyways, I think they are cool. So here are some pictures:
Chillax
When I get back to the East Coast in a couple of weeks you might find a couple of new words in my vocabulary. One is bogart, as in "That guy bogarted three parking spots." That's actually a pretty old term, but I've found it particular descriptive recently.
Obviously the other word is chillax, as in "This is where I chill. And relax. Where I chillax." I plan on chillaxing at the beach, in DC, and in various other places in the next couple of weeks. Charlie Murphy may not be as universally funny as his brother or as Dave Chapelle, but given the right material I think he can top them both.
Obviously the other word is chillax, as in "This is where I chill. And relax. Where I chillax." I plan on chillaxing at the beach, in DC, and in various other places in the next couple of weeks. Charlie Murphy may not be as universally funny as his brother or as Dave Chapelle, but given the right material I think he can top them both.
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