Alternate titles for today
– A Day Without Doughnuts Is Like A Day Without Sunshine
– Hey, Didn’t You Used To Play In Mudhoney?
– Introducing The “Rally Nap”
– I Know That Goddamn “Real World: Seattle” House Must Be Around Here Somewhere!
They say that the third day of the Tour de France (which I have given up following due to the time difference and the lack of tv coverage in the hotel) is the hardest because the riders’ bodies have not quite adjusted to the long hours on the bikes. My vacation, while admittedly a sliver of activity when compared, has had me walking many miles each day and my body is minutely revolting. After a long walk and an aborted attempt at going to the Seattle Art Museum I headed back to my hotel to “rest” for a while and wound up taking at least a two-hour nap, here-to-fore known as the “Rally Nap.” When I awoke around 6:30pm the sun was out (yea!) and my battery had been recharged.
Brother Can You Spare A Dime?
I’ve been a bit harsh on Seattle, but I seriously don’t “get” this town.
I’ve walked a lot of Seattle’s downtown blocks and have been somewhat surprised by the amount of people bumming change — white, black; young, old; clean cut, scruffy — they are everywhere. (Hey, didn’t that guy play in Mudhoney?). I’ve been to many of America’s major cities and nowhere have I seen so much panhandling (psst- Seattle, why don’t you give them all one-way bus tickets like Atlanta did? Wait, are these people transplanted Atlantans?)
To Seattle’s credit the people (Seattleans? Seattlites?) seem friendly enough (must be the Western Canadian influence) and seem to understand that tourism is a big part of their economy — which furthers my confusion with the panhandling.
ITP Flickr Pic
I found this little rubber ducky floating amongst debris last night
Admittedly the ducky is a bit soft in the picture. By the time I found him the light had dimmed considerably and he kept bobbing up and down while spinning around. I’ll be heading back to the waterfront today and hopefully can find him again.
Happiness Is…
There are times when it doesn’t take much to make me smile. Here are some of the most recent.
– Watching a French family eat Yoplait for breakfast. They looked confused. I looked amused. Remind you of home, Pierre?
– More than once I’ve wanted to take out my cellphone in a crowded coffee shop or restaurant and scream “I hate this fucking Windows Mobile phone!!! Why didn’t I buy an iPhone?!”
– I am sitting in my hotel room looking across to the neighboring hotel. I feel like Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window — except there is nothing as exciting going on over there.
Am I Loved Or Hated?
I can’t determine whether I am a hotel maid’s favorite, or least favorite, type of guest. You see, I have had the “Do Not Disturb” hanger on the door since I checked in, and I don’t plan to take it off until I leave. I have plenty of towels and toiletries, and no need to have my bed made so I see no need to allow them into my space. It’s not like I am running a meth lab in here or anything.
Guess I Won’t Be Seeing The Nightwatchman After All
I stumbled around looking for a place to eat dinner having no idea where I should go. After filling my belly with Mama’s Mexican (a chili Colorado burrito) I accidentally located The Crocodile, the bar to which I was planning on going tonight to see The Nightwatchman (Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine) perform. Much like The Polyphonic Spree I had missed Morello’s show in Atlanta (and Bruce Springsteen was in the crowd goddammit!). But as I passed The Crocodile a guy was putting up a sign saying that the show was sold out. Oh well, I guess if you snooze Rally Nap you lose.
And now for some ideas stolen from LiveJournal…
Current Mood – back to good, trying to figure out what I should do today
Current Music – none
Website Of The Day – Since I’ve been missing Big Brother 8 (And CBS insists on making me use Real Player, which I loathe, in order to watch episodes online. If I walk past their offices here in Seattle again I might give them a piece of my mind.) I’m resorting to the Internets for information. One of the better BB8 sites is We Love Big Brother.
Exercise (b)Log – much walking
Mode Of Transportation To Work – None, I’m on vacation
July Goals
0) Celebrate my 42nd birthday
1) Get my first Ruby / Ruby on Rails program written
2) Get my photoblog up and running
Cheers,
Paulie [eatl/ga]
“I hate this fucking Windows Mobile phone!!! Why didn’t I buy an iPhone?” had my co-workers asking what I was laughing out loud about…
Go to the concert and see if you can pick up an extra ticket… surely the nice folks in Seattle would feel sorry for a downtrodden tourist.
The Tour is like a heavyweight prize fight, with 9 or 10 men in the ring at the same time. At some point, only one will be left standing- you’ll be back in Atlanta by the time that happens.
-FP
(and happy birthday Primer!!!)
Have you been to Portland? There’s a teenage runaway, drug addict on every street corner bumming for change. It seems that every drug addicted, troubled teen from the midwest heads to Portland and Seattle when leaving home.
I’ve never been to Portland. That was my second choice if Seattle didn’t work.
Thanks for all the b-day wishes!
Paulie – yes, I was off work yesterday, in fact, I hadn’t been to work since last Thursday. See yesterday’s comments for details about my exciting day……
Go find some wineries, but you probably need a car or it is an expensive cab ride I’m guessing.
Bums are alive and well in Atlanta. For fun, start at the intersection of Trinity Avenue/Peters Street and Spring Street. Walk east along Trinity towards city hall. Note the massive confluence of bums and hoodlums taking up space in the parking lot next to Garnett Station. After passing city hall, turn left on Washington/Courtland/Juniper Street. Once you get to the church with bums sleeping in the doorway across from the capitol, you’re done. Congratulations, you’ve just toured what I like to call the Bum Zone of Death (BZOD). For bonus points, do this around noon on a Sunday. Then you will be privy to The Feeding of the Bums at the church across Trinity from city hall. Note the non-taxpaying bums lounging all over the city hall grounds. I do not recommend doing this after dark. Also, running the BZOD gauntlet is undertaken at your own risk. Smoove D and Propeller Skies are not responsible for any robberies, rapes, homocides, or other violent crimes you may incur as a result of this adventure.