Laurel lane jam

I had couch-front-row seats to a cool jam last week.

geto

What gets you through a trying day? For me, it was:

• this Geto Boys joint
• yoga
• a lefty chit-chat over laundry (some dirty, some clean)

PS I've been traveling for the past couple weeks, I have news of the prairies, New England, and the city. More to come.

de la

Happy sunny Saturday, here's some De La for y'all:

you'd think

Call me late to the show but it's so much harder to be consistently  nice than it is to be a jerk. I'm struggling these days. I hope the struggle means I'm learning.
*
That said, I had to tell a man he couldn't sit next to me on the bus today. He's a creepy guy, probably learning disabled, who rides very occasionally, and always makes his way to wherever I am sitting and sits next to me. Once he sat down close in a mostly empty bus and put his hand on my knee (I yelled Cut it out!). A couple weeks ago, he squeezed in between me and a college girl, his leg resting against mine. When I moved, he got mad and talked shit  to the back of the bus for the next fifteen minutes. So today, when he headed for the empty seat next to mine, I got up my nerve and said flatly, You can't sit here. When he protested, I reiterated Sorry dude, you can't sit here. The back of the bus quieted. The woman across from me slid over to let him sit down. I could feel people's horrified stares. How dare she tell the retarded guy he can't sit next to her. When he got off the bus I explained to the woman, and she seemed relieved. I wondered, she said. I figured you had a reason. I did, but I still felt horrible about it.
*
I took this picture of glow stix a month ago but with Olympics fever raging it seems appropriate to post now.

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.