the thing itself and not the myth

I did stuff lately that I didn’t really take pictures of, or, if I did, I took crap pictures. Let’s talk about them anyway!

Earlier this month I went up to Vancouver, a whirlwind weekend trip that included sushi the size of my head, gelato, knitting, sunshine, friends, and roller derby, which was the excuse for going up at that particular time. Terminal City is a really young league (this is only their second season), but they already deliver awesome derby action. I opted to cheer for the Riot Girls, using the time honored pick-the-best-uniform method of allegiance, and they took an early and commanding lead, but I was happy to root for the Faster Pussycats at the end, when they got in some awesome jams. I hope to be able to come up for more derby action this year! Hint, hint, Vancouver friends.

The next weekend, since the new hangar meant that the Rat City bout sold out CRAZY EARLY, I went to see Ellis Paul out at Youngstown. (I was maybe a little grateful that derby sold out, so I didn’t have to make that decision myself. I am possibly ridiculously fond of Ellis.) Antje Duvekot opened, and was lovely, and of course Ellis was great. He had just got a new guitar in Oregon, and he was maybe a little infatuated.

The coolest bit, though, was when he took requests, and someone asked for “Trolley Car”. He admitted right off that he couldn’t remember it well enough to do on his own, and asked for audience support. Eventually, he wound up calling a guy from the front row to help him out. Between them they could woodshed about 75% of the song, which was really great, actually. But what makes this particularly awesome, is that I am pretty damn sure that this fellow’s girlfriend/wife/partner-person is the same woman who got called up several years ago, when Ellis played Phinney Ridge, to take the Patty Griffin part of “Conversation with a Ghost”, and was amazing. I also have a feeling that they drive from Spokane/Idaho/some great distance to see Ellis in the first place. So. That is all just wicked cool, so far as I am concerned.

Finally, I trekked up to Lake Forest Park Town Center (the name that means nothing) to see the Yarn Harlot and a bunch of knitters at Third Place Books. Where I did not buy her book, but I did finally buy Tam Lin, and I also scored a copy of Once Upon a Time in the North, a pre-His Dark Materials story featuring Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrnison. I am enjoying it much more than Lyra’s Oxford. Plus, it comes with a game! Sweet.

After the jump, a few things I *did* take pictures of. (more…)

The last week of January, the Decemberists played two shows at the Moore. I had bought tickets to their cancelled “The Long and Short of It” tour, so there was no question I’d catch both of these. I was up in the balcony for both shows, which is probably best as I had brought a cold back from London and wasn’t anywhere near the top of my game. The first night was a lot of fun, but the second was awesome.

First, the opener was much better. The Butchers & the Builders, who had a great energy and mad percussion action. See the toy drums, etc, at the front of the stage? They got handed out to the audience. I whipped out my camera at first for the totally busker-esque drum kit.

Then the Decemberists were just on, with a set that included the two songs I most wanted & thus least expected to hear - “The Soldiering Life” & “Sons & Daughters”.

&

Yay!

In other seafaring news, I did a little damage over at Etsy recently, getting magnets & a necklace on the theme.

And finally, totally not sailor related at all, click through this photo to see my set of photos from International New Year, aka the Work Event That Prevented Me From Caucusing.

…I really am going at this completely backwards, aren’t I? Eventually I swear I will post stuff from England, for the one person who hasn’t prowled through my Flickr already.

I’ve been going to a knitting group in Ballard lately, which has been lovely. I like the group & the tea & spending time in Ballard. I think if I wasn’t carless I would really like living there, but the buses in and out take aaaaages. Here’s a shot of sunset & the skate park across from the fabric store.

At the end of October I went up to see Sherman Alexie at Third Place Books. It’s in Lake Forest Park Towne Center, which, seriously. I cannot believe they can use that many words and not actually say anything.

I was way in the back.

Sherman was *fantastic*. Unsurprisingly. I can’t even talk about him without turning into a blubbering fangirl.

The next day we went on a field trip to Auburn, to meet other people who work for our agency, and check out their site. It was pretty strange for me, because I grew up in the south end, and so much has changed!

On the way down, so many pumpkins!

Their office is in an old farm house. I’m jealous — it has so much history! And a ghost! And the offices are in bedrooms, basically, so they’re really cozy. This is the house from behind.

And the view out the window of back building.

It was nice to get out of the office a bit. We’ve been busier than usual, and it’s not going to slow down for me until after Christmas. Today we had an all-staff meeting, and it being Monday, I’m off to knitting again in a bit. Yay.

Thursday afternoon I went to the Lake City Farmers Market to take pictures of the Zucchini Races. Our office generally has a table promoting the Center & literacy projects at the market, but Thursday there was no time for reading, only time for zucchini.

Making cars:

On your mark, get set, go!

The Family Center is the clear winner, creaming the Farmer’s Market!

Friday after work I went up to Third Place Books to see the Yarn Harlot. Because she is awesome. I got there a little (okay, a lot) early, on purpose. They have a nice little commons there with free wifi and a few restaurants. I hung out and knitted and watched some TV on the laptop, as all the knitters filtered in.

The Harlot is always funny, of course, but I tend to find her pretty empowering as well. I’m really a star at demeaning my own work, and she puts forth a pretty strong argument against that.

Speaking of my own work, I made it to the armholes on Samus last night. Here’s a shot from Saturday night:

And the other productive thing I did this weekend:

The package calls these “Danishes”, which is generous. If you take them as Danishes you’re in for disappointment, but if you call them scones they’re downright tasty. Oh, gluten free. It can be tough.

(Hey! Ben Lee has a new album coming out tomorrow! Score.)

I have been so busy doing stuff I haven’t had time to tell you all about it. As usual, click through to Flickr for bigger photos.

Thursday we had an end-of-summer barbecue at work, which was awesome and crazy, and then that night I went back to Seattle University for an end-of-summer celebration for one of our intern programs. I went to one last year as well, but it was held in a building that didn’t exist on campus when I was a student. This time it was in the ballroom off the dorm residence hall I lived in for two years. It was very strange. They’ve remodeled the lobby — my tuition dollars at work.

The Admin building, where basically all of my classes were held…

The fountain in the quad (which we sidewalk-chalked overnight when we finished the Honors Program) And the Chapel of St Ignatius at night, which I love… Friday I went down to The Center for Wooden Boats, because they had the Lady Washington (which you all have seen on film as Norrington’s ship, the Interceptor, in Pirates of the Caribbean) and the Hawaiian Chieftain. (The Lady Washington is in front here.) On board the Lady Washington, looking out towards Gasworks Park. These ships are so small! Saturday & Sunday I spent working on our Back to School drive. Our set-up at the store: While I was there, I knitted. Unsurprisingly. I’m working on Wendy’s Cabletini socks in the yarn I got last week: Then, Saturday night was roller derby! Which is dangerous: This is technically a terrible photo, but I love it. The band was the Wages of Sin. LIME GREEN UPRIGHT BASS, BABY. And they are self-described as “Punk rock sea shanties and Appalachian death polka.” How awesome is that? The two teams I was rooting for — DLF & Grave Danger — both won. So that basically ruled.

Sunday I came home after work and passed out. I am still not quite recovered. I watched a good deal of television, including finishing off “Blackpool” (awesome!) and half of “My Life in Film” (which I snagged because I wanted more Kris Marshall after Death at a Funeral, and which is also awesome, but in a totally different way. More like “Spaced”.)

I also knitted on Samus’s cable band. I am in the 8th repeat of 11. I can do it!