My past year is split between Seattle and Athens with a gorgeous road trip sandwiched in between. Part I!
Our last Seattle apartment was in Lower Queen Anne. Sometimes, I’d wake up a couple hours early and walk (rather than bus) Downtown to clear my head. There’s nothing quite like a walk through Olympic Sculpture Park on an empty winter morning. I loved when the fog hung over the tiny waves on Pocket Beach. Just me ‘n’ the gulls. Of course, it wasn’t always grey skies. A pop of bright, blue sky in January made me explode with joy.
One 2014 goal I definitely stuck with was driving. When I got my license, I’d only spent about 12 hours on the road- kinda scary since I’m a shitty, nervous driver. So I got Zipcar and forced myself out on a handful of test drives. One of my earliest ‘freedom rides’ was down to Bob’s Java Jive in Tacoma. Dang, I wish I’d gotten to see Martin’s band play here…
I don’t think there was a bad night out but some of the best include: drinks and drag queens with Kristy; La Luz with Nate and Gavin; Iron Chic at Black Lodge where a sweet punk pup kept me company. Every dance night was pretty great too: Talcum at Chop Suey where the DJs spin rare soul 45s; Barboza basement J/K-pop; and Britpop dance night through its many incarnations. Sadly, I don’t have a 2014 group shot with my dance floor regulars Arabella, Nate, and Kristy. But I really like this this one of Jacq, me ‘n’ Kristy at the Lo-Fi (my favorite venue).
Tuesdays after work, Kristy and I would head down to Scarecrow for trivia with our core crew. I also roped my co-workers into a special Fanta Basement team before leaving. Always a good time.
In April, we went to Portland for a long weekend. It was a bit chaotic and I’m sorry one of our friends had a terrible time but I think it was a good trip. We saw all our pals there and I bought an armload of comics. We stopped for greasy breakfast at Country Cousins on the drive down and stopped off at Olympia on the drive back.
I lucked out big time when I cold-called my favorite publisher as a 21-year-old without a plan. It was great even when it wasn’t. Before leaving, my role model Larry gave Gavin and I his personal tour of Seattle. Bella DJ’d Larry’s soundtrack and their banter was like a dad-kid version of Statler and Waldorf. It was THE BEST.
Our last couple of weeks are blurry but I was so, so anxious. Our moving plans completely fell apart but I think I already mentioned that and don’t wanna whine. We are so grateful that Gavin and Rachel let us crash at their place. How do I have a million photos of their cats but only one of our human hosts?! I dunno but cats are a good way to end.
hometown unicorn 