fwp

It's been a fun week of seeing old friends and meeting new ones. A handsome someone from Santa Barbara was in town for a day and the old crew got together in the loft at Belltown Pub on a steamy, ninety-something July evening. We took turns standing in front of the fan, misting ourselves with a spray bottle. And, I'll never look at bratwurst in the same way again. My traveling pal's man is in town from Europe and we had a fun night Friday drinking whisky and Fireball with iced coffee and cream. Ms. Hammy and I hung out all Saturday afternoon, shopping at Momo, then grabbing a Car2Go up to the hill, a spicy lunch at Rancho Bravo, and perusing art supplies at Blick. She danced, she sang, she prodded me not to forget her birthday. Later, one of my besties and I hung out with a friend in town from the Bay Area, sharing laughs and Seahawks stories and beers at Five Point--crowded with weary Bite visitors and accompanied by a heavy metal soundtrack. Later, a quick walk down to Shorty's for one more drink, then pretzels and fried cheese curds at Bravehorse. Still later on, my man and I relaxed and caught up at home over with a Manhattan and big band music.
With all this loveliness, I find myself getting whiny, whingey, unpleasantly petty, and then I read the news and it's all bad and I just feel ashamed of myself: drunken criminals rifling through dead passengers' belongings in Ukraine--a friends' sister-in-law passing away after nearly two decades of fighting cancer--unceasing fighting in the Middle East--it's a ghastly time. I worry.
What does one do? Can one do?
Why am I so lucky? Are we unredeemable, lost without all hope?
It all seems so bad. I want to have hope. I want peace.

bartender therapy

 
It's been a week of memorials and saying good-bye. Yesterday to my enigmatic former boss, who--it became clearer as those who knew him better spoke--revealed little of his true, inner self to anyone. One of the speakers mentioned how he'd smile in response to questions and comments and yet never utter an answer but, "you always knew what he was thinking." Well, obviously we did not. I feel sad for his wife and the kid who likely won't remember much about him but the violent and decisive way in which he departed this life. Afterwards, whiskey from a flask and a sunny walk to a windowless bar for drinks and hashing it all out over fried cheese and edibles and thanks to our kind-hearted waiter, an ice cream cupcake on the house.
A good friend said good-bye to her kitty last week and when she told me the other night about Paige the cat's last day alive, we both got teary, and we are not teary people by nature, least of all in public. But this cat! This cat was her family for fourteen years and she had been ill for a little bit and yet she passed on her own terms and with dignity. So we talked and listened to 90's hip hop at Bar Sue and raised $2 shots of Old Crow to lovely Paige.
(*picture is from Vostok Dumpling House)

whats noo

Y'all are going to have to start calling me Einstein because I've been doing so much new stuff I've probably developed a whole new brain's worth of neurons.
Perhaps I exaggerate.
Still, in the past couple of weeks I've:

• Served on a jury in Seattle Municipal Court -- instead of Twelve Angry Men we were six bored jurors but, we got the hookup with free wifi, decent coffee, and three days off work. We listened, waited, deliberated, concocted a new drink called The Sidebar, and finally delivered a split verdict.
• Gone bouldering with an artist pal and discovered that I'm not a bad climber and that it was entirely possible to catch up with a friend over chalk and Level 0 handholds and not just $5 happy hour well drinks.
• Made it via bus from LQA to a bbq in Ballard to a bbq in Kirkland and back to LQA in the space of 7 hours
• Checked out the newly-privatized liquor situation in town, in search of my old favorites and new stuff to try: Wine World--great for whisky and bourbon; Emerald City Spirits--meh; Total Wine, in Bellevue--hello good friends Ul Ultimo and Monopolowa! and my neighborhood joint, Queen Anne Liquor, re-opened for just 2 weeks and with no website, no advertising, just a couple of sandwich boards and a bevy of smiling clerks.
• Done some less fun stuff too: witnessed an arraignment in King County Superior Court, strategized with family about an aging grandparent, endured a handful of appointments with MDs and PAs and shrinks, realized anew that a co-worker harbors a deep and ugly hatred for me. This stuff is all out of my control and I know it simmers in my gut, waiting for an unguarded moment or that nexus of frustration where it can sidewind its way into my mind

 As they say at Oola Distillery: raise your glass to being above ground and lucky enough to enjoy it.