Seattle! How is it now? Are there jobs? Should I move there?

Anyway, I signed the lease on a place in Lower Queen Anne yesterday. I found looking for a place to be extremely frustrating, and so when I came across this place, I just said fuck it and signed. I was able to talk them down to a 9 month lease, and it's fairly cheap (also small. 300 sq ft studio, and it has a gorgeous sidewalk-level view), and the neighborhood does seem cool. I'm only a few blocks NW of the main area. I figure I'll use the 9 months to get a better feel of the city and find a better place then. No big deal (though I'm kinda bummed because I got a call from a place I liked better later that night, but by then it was too late. Alas).

So yeah, thanks for all the tips everyone. I move in next weekend. Tomorrow I start job hunting. I'm looking for something temporary until I finish my EMT stuff in December, so maybe I'll try and hit up one of the neighborhood places. I'm going to talk with a temp agency tomorrow hopefully, too.

Also, Seattle is confusing as hell to drive in.

Also, the downtown library is the coolest library ever.

Very true. When I moved there, I wanted to be sure to live in sight of the Space Needle, so I'd have a landmark to find my way home. Also, lower QA is where the differing grids of the two guys who laid out the city meet up in chaos. (Arthur Denny and Doc somebody - read Sons of the Profits for enlightenment; v. funny esp. the rivalry between Tacoma and Seattle.)

Went to the Japanese Garden today. It's nice, but I really really really really wish it wasn't right next to a busy street (Lake Washington Blvd?). The traffic noise ruins the ambience.

I briefly drove through (and stopped a couple times) the Washington Park Arboretum. It manages to be just far enough away from the busy street that the traffic noise subsides to a dull roar and you can actually hear the animals and the wind. I'm looking forward to going back and spending more time there.

Has anyone been to the Hoh Rain Forest? Once I get settled in, that's at the top of my to do list. Should I be as excited about seeing it as I am?

That book was written by the guy who originally started the Underground Tour, whose name has completely escaped me. Bill something or other.

Yeah, there's no way to avoid that initial "GAWD I HATING DRIVING IN THIS FUCKING CITY!" breaking-in period... but it does go away once you find ways to maneuver around the streets that don't end prematurely, get collided into 5+-way intersections, or get confused with the whole directional suffix. (i.e. Denny Way, Boren Ave, Westlake Ave., Taylor Ave., Hwy 99/Aurora, etc. -- ok Westlake becomes Nickerson St. just south of Fremont, but the street swerved to become east-west so that makes some sense at least).

The worst thing is trying to get to the other side of Aurora Expressway, and the sad truth is.. you just have to know which streets go underneath or over it, and which streets don't -- the hard way.. since that cement center divider knows no exceptions (south of Winona Ave. that is.)

also, psst... Mt. Rainier

The Hoh is awesome! I drove over that way initially to see what a town named Humptulips would be like, but hiking in the rainforest was the best. Once when we were there in November, a herd of elk were munching away right next to the trail. Also, in the spring I've seen families of river otter playing. Another cool thing to do on the peninsula is the ocean beaches - all kinds of tide pools - and the hot springs at Sol Duc.
I'm there, maan.

What is this "Mt. Rainier" you speak of, gabbneb? Is this some obscure local attraction?

And if you haven't noticed, Seattle drivers are.. ur.. bad. But they're very polite and slow bad drivers, so you can see the dumb thing a driver is going to do 5 seconds ahead, allowing you to roll your eyes, and just slow down and/or maneuver around him or her.

The one time I was in Seattle was during the grand opening shindig, and it was pretty cool. But man, is that place going to look dated in 20 years.

I'm moving to eastern Washington in a week, so I'm probably going to get to Seattle more often now as it will be the closest "real" city. Spokane is big-ish compared to whare I'm from and where I'll be, but it dosen't quite cut it.

haha I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the "STOP FOR ME IT'S THE CLAW" sign that someone posted on another thread is right here in Seattle.

The downtown library looks kinda dated now, actually, but it's still cool. Though maybe I'm still in the passionate beginning phase of the relationship where everything is lovey-dovey and wonderful and the sex is fantastic, but soon the novelty will wear off.

our library in a scene from battlestar galactica: http://www.kriskrug.com/images/vancouver-library-battlestar-galactica.jpg

i was just in seattle briefly to tour the U-W campus' student union building in advance of a similar project at SFU. how does the university district fit into the city as a whole, culturally? both of vancouver's universities are relatively quite isolated from the city centre.

sorry to derail the thread. i'm just trying to prompt some similar photos of the seattle library.

(i assume, minus a dot, that's your email?)

The U-district is certainly in a corner of the city that many can easily avoid if they want to, however, it's really easy to bus to from any central neighborhood in Seattle, really. If you have to try and map central Seattle as a square, the U-district would easily be the NE point of that square... it's not "way the fuck out" there, comparatively speaking, i.e. it's NOT like UBC where it's this place hidden and tucked away west of a mini-forest that separates it from Kitsilano.

That said, UBC is a beautiful campus in a beautiful spot.. and the isolation does give it part of its charm.

True story: One night about 11:30 p.m.--a weeknight--on Capitol Hill, I was headed to Chop Suey for a show. No traffic, except one car coming from my left. I was about to jay walk and decided, sensibly, to wait for the car to pass. The driver stopped in the middle of the block and waved me across. It's like, "You idiot, I'm waiting for YOU. YOU'RE the one with the 2,000-pound piece of metal that could crush me. GO!"

I really love the U District, one of the places in the city that's retained its funkiness, and especially enjoyable once you're immune to spare-changers, as I've been for a while now. (Though once I did get heckled by a couple spare-changers in Belltown, which was interesting.)

Is it like New York's?

Fugghedaboutit.

It is like Robson St in downtown Vancouver?

Uh, no.

Does it have a lot of cool shops that people gloss over and don't realize exist because people think Capitol Hill is the Soho of Seattle when in fact it's really the fringe art retail neighborhood moreso than anything else?

Definitely.

"Boy, I wish Nellie hadn't gathered me those sad looking shoes from the Avenue :( "

btw, the U district was a huge part of our life over there - I love the Neptune and the Varsity theaters, the U bookstore, etc etc etc. Also, theater productions at the U, Trader Joe's, Go Center, varied restaurants and other shopping.

I even mentioned you there. :)

SEATTLE CROQUET FAP

Jaq and I decided that this coming Sunday (8/20) would work best for both of us. We're calling it 2 p.m. My house. Email me for directions: jergins at gmail dot com. Easy bus access to Phinney ridge.

There will be: food, beer, rum, croquet, music. Who's in? What else?

In case ILX suffers a worse shutdown soon, I will then have everyone's contact info in some form or another for tMG Easy Street FAP thing.. as well as the Sunday Croquet thing.

I won't be here often, due to ILX wonkiness... so contact me! I can be reached at macro at either myspace or 43people dot com, and put a "k" between the "c" and "r". Then I'll tell you my email address.

OK!

Croquet! That's me playing in Madison Park. Sadly I can't make croquet on Sunday but I will see you guys Monday night

Jaq?

I'm taking your mom and stepdad out for all night ravin at Decibel Festival. They won't need to sleep.

PLUR, HEH HEH HEH!

We're in town to house-hunt that weekend (I start work on 9/25, otherwise I'd join the dow nut for that all night ravin...)