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

sounds like a good thing tbh

Looks like I'll potentially be busy until 4, so 5 o' clock?

hey. thinking about applying to the university of washington law school. i'm an african american. will i stand out like a sore thumb? i'm not bothered with being the only black student in my class; i'm just trying to get a sense of what the demographic is like.

also---is it super rare to see interracial couples?

again, just trying to get a sense. this isn't an issue that will likely make/break my decision to apply, just curious.

I don't know about the law school but my brother did his undergrad there and I can't say I thought he stuck out at all. (Then again, the context from which I came from was "suburban MN where we were one of 2 black families" so seeing 20 black ppl in one area who weren't my relatives was rare for me; I have no idea how the school would come across to me now.)

also---is it super rare to see interracial couples?

No, not at all. Here's a factbook with some demographic info on UW, latest is from 2007 though: http://www.washington.edu/admin/factbook/

charles johnson's take on moving to seattle and to the UW
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/mytown-seattle-200809.html
I mentioned to my friend and mentor, the novelist John Gardner, that my wife, newborn son and I were moving to the Pacific Northwest. I remember he paused, pushed his vanilla-colored Prince Valiant hair back from his eyes and looked as if a pleasant image had flickered suddenly through his mind. Then he said, "If my daughter ever married a black man, the first thing I'd do is ask her to move to Seattle."

Now I knew how fiercely Gardner loved his children, but at the time I was unable to unlock his meaning. The first day I set foot in this city, however, I began to glimpse what he meant. It was peopled with every sort of American I could imagine: Native Americans, whites who sprang from old Scandinavian and German stock, Chinese and Japanese, Senegalese and Eritrean, Hindu and Sikh and Jewish, gay and lesbian, and blacks whose families settled in the territory in the late 19th century. It was a liberal city remarkably similar in texture and temperament to San Francisco (both are built on seven hills, have steep streets and have burned to the ground).

My parents are an interracial couple and, as far as I know, have never encountered anyone here who had a problem with that,

i feel like i see lots of interracial couples here but maybe i just notice more because there are so many white people?

I once talked to a girl, a young white woman, who said she'd never really understood or experienced racism firsthand until she travelled with her black boyfriend to his native South Carolina and was immediately struck by how people, white and black alike, would just stare at them as if they were some sort of freaks, whereas here they were accepted just as much as any other couple.

Seattle is the most laid-back you-are-who-you-are place I have ever lived, and that suits me just fine. Visiting Indiana recently fully reinforced that feeling.

I swear I just read something recently that said Seattle has the highest per-capita number of interracial marriages of any major US city.

i feel like i've heard that too

Good old friend of mine attended UW for law and v v much enjoyed her experience and has started what appears to be a very promising law career. The first three year she (ethnically, she is chinese) had an african-american boyfriend and never expressed any problems about acceptance of the couple in the community at large. So there's that.

tza, I got another recommendation for a sushi place today: Koji, at the Harbor Steps (across 1st Ave from the art museum).

that looks really reasonable!

google maps knows important landmarks

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/8163/suship.jpg

loool

heh - Hammering Man's shadow looks like it is enjoying the view too!

aha--it's not just my imagination re: multiracial coupling

It occurred to me that every last one of my cousins on the black side of my family is in or has recently broken up from an interracial couple. I think my sister and aunt are the only two on that side who mostly have relationships with black partners.

Nick Hornby is reading at the main library on Oct 9.

I'm going to the NW Tea Festival at Seattle Center on Saturday morning, if anyone is interested in a lower QA lunch fap.

Hai guys, I want to come to your town. Tickets not bought yet, but it will be for a long weekend in the first half of November. I am going to shamelessly fish for places to stay, although that circumstance may need to be flexible and TZA has already offered, but you know, worst case scenario, just to spread the burden around a little bit....

You're always welcome at ours! Indoor cats though, and a non-smoking bldg :(

Thank you, I appreciate it! Also will not forget that you offered to pick me up all the way at the airport last time, during major highway construction. You are Seattle's Angel of Mercy.

Tickets are like $230 right now!! That's unreal.

For roundtrip? That's so cheap!

Yes! It's like a trip to the grocery store plus one monthly metrocard. How could I not go??

Also my cousin & his girlfriend have a new baby I've never met. Her name is Lucy.

yeah my place is still open. also: just bought a love seat and will be better at entertaining. maybe i would even host a HI LAUREL!/really belated housewarming if i get my shit together enough?

jaq, i would be up for saturday lunchfap maybe - my love seat is being delivered during some unknown time window on sat and i won't know what that window is til sat am :(

I would be in for a brunchfap...I need to be back in B'ham by 2.

Ooooo I like the idea of brunch if we could make that work - what time would you have to hit the road, kate?

By 12:15-:20 or so.

Want to meet up at the 5-Spot on the top of Queen Anne around 10:30ish? I haven't been there in ages, but the food is usually excellent.

Let's do it! I'll message you my number so you can call if something comes up.

tehresa, you should come, too!

yes, if i can!
i will not know til the morning what time my couch is being delivered but i'll text jaq or something once i do!

webmailing me from ILX doesn't work - kate I sent you my contact info. Maybe the_higgs and Morley Timmons are around too. Or even Lingbert?

tza, we could all run fast down the hill to let the delivery guys in :)

hahaha it's really only like 3 or 4 blocks... you may have something there!

Totally doable, tehresa!

alternate option: buzz them in from my phone and tell them to leave it with my butler. by the time they realize i don't have one, i'll be there.

Okay my dates are confirmed as Nov 11-16th!!

Ticket not yet purchased but soon, soooooooon, my pretties.

Ooo, you'll be here for a Sunday night - would love to throw a dinner 4 u, if that would work? Tell me what you want on the menu.

I don't know! I don't know anything yet. Schedule is totally unresolved, plus I'm just now telling various family members that I want to visit them on the fly. That is really lovely of you, though, and I'll try to start firming up plans.

omg exciting!!!!! :D :D

hey all these other cities are fapping. should seattle?

Probably!

OKAY IT'S OFFICIAL!! Ticket bought, I am westwardbound...in about a month. Let's plan!

yessssss! awesome!

there is no one left here! but i was thinking maybe trivia next week.

and of course we will plan a laurelfap in november :)

I can do quiz on monday night. It's downtown at the Blarney Stone at 8pm. Perhaps Jaq is over the oink by now and can join us?

Almost oink-free, though still hacking away. Monday might work!