fill up and you don't have to pay

My, this town is charming.

I've driven by no fewer than four car washes in the past couple of weeks, and not the cement-building-next-to-a-gas-station kind, but the kind with wholesome, all-American teenagers giddily waving handmade signs advertising the operation and the wholesome, all-American organization which will receive the proceeds. I've yet to stop at one -- I'm usually in a hurry and/or low on cash -- but if I ever run across a car wash/bake sale, this may change.

Seattle is small-towny in other ways, too. Even the drivers are courteous -- traffic can be rough on some of the more popular freeways (yes, "freeways," and just when I'd finally gotten the hang of calling them "highways"), but merging is never a problem and people rarely honk at each other, even when they make flagrantly stupid mistakes (I've tested this a couple of times). Cashiers seem genuinely happy to help, the managers at my apartment complex are downright cheery, my new co-workers will drop everything to chat and offer advice...and I haven't even mentioned the weather! So far, "summer" in Seattle has meant temperatures in the 70s, unnoticeable humidity and maybe three rainy days since I arrived. Plus gas is cheaper, Targets and California Pizza Kitchens abound and I've seen *maybe* two Bush-supporting bumper stickers. How is it possible that the rest of the country (or at least the rest of the liberal, global-warming-believing, over-educated yuppies) hasn't moved here already?

now or never

Well, seeing as how work starts tomorrow(!) and odds are I'll be too exhausted, overwhelmed or generally computered out to do a real update for a while, here's the obligatory "what I did on my [very last] summer vacation" post. My apartment's not yet ready to be shown off (I'm waiting until I get my first paycheck to finish procuring furniture), but I suppose I can show you my already cluttered kitchen:


What's more interesting is the sightseeing I've done, both intentional (e.g. Alki Beach, which has an excellent view of the Seattle skyline) and unintentional (occasionally I'll turn down a street and have a distinct memory of passing through it on my way to a top-secret Committee meeting during YGC tour '03). You'd like to see pictures, wouldn't you? Of course you would:

view from Alki Beach

Mt Rainier

trying to take artsy photographs on the way back (not recommended while driving, btw)

But as pretty and green and leafy as everything is, it's been a little lonely sightseeing alone (cf the above comment about taking pictures while driving), and while the few friends I have here are great, I'm looking forward to assembling a solid crew similar to (but not nearly as awesome as) the people pictured:

(I miss you too, Dani -- I just wanted to make sure these guys saw their c-raaaaazy picture from GPSCY karaoke)

For now, though, I'll be at work, trying out this new Vista thing I keep hearing about and batting my eyelashes at the programmers in hopes that one of them will fix my laptop, which has taken an inexplicable-freezing turn for the worse. Looks like I'm starting just in time...

the final countdown

I'm sleep-deprived, exhausted and my knees hurt from racing up and down the stairs of my apartment all day, but my room *finally* looks like I'm moving out in the relatively near future. If you squint, it might even look like I'm moving out tomorrow! I've shipped an obscene number of boxes (and given an obscener pile of stuff to Salvation Army -- where did this stuff come from?) and discarded any furniture my roommate didn't want, and all that's left to do is consolidate the trash and recycling, clean the floors and try to fit whatever's left in my suitcases. I'll probably have to pay the extra fee for too-heavy checked luggage, but since (a) I'm not technically paying for the move and (2) I won't really have any other options, I won't be too heartbroken if it happens.

One thing I wasn't expecting was how ambivalent I'm feeling about leaving -- while I've gotten a little teary at the past few goodbyes, I think the combination of sheer exhaustion (it's been more than a week since I've gotten more than six hours of sleep) and spending the past week in a messy, partially-packed apartment is letting me concentrate more on where I'm going than what I'm leaving. I know the next couple of days -- traveling across the country (with a stopover, of course) with two suitcases, an overstuffed backpack and a violin case that I'll probably have to fight to classify as a carry-on, then building an apartment from scratch -- have a high probability of sucking, but at the other end is an apartment! Just for me! Dishes will only get dirty because I've used them, I can have as much cable television as I want, and I won't be forced to make small talk when all I want to do is watch "Dateline." It's unfortunate that I had to move 3,000 miles away to get all this, but I'm fairly certain it'll be worth it.

The saga begins...

Heyyyyy kids,

Rather than share my adventures in moving, unpacking and adjusting to life in Seattle via the shared blog or email, I figured I'd join the hordes of bloggers and do the bulk of my pontificating here. Topic 1: Packing sucks. It really, really sucks. I've spent the past four days assembling boxes, filling them with items I may or may not need, and paying an exorbitant amount to fly them across the country, but my room shows little sign of progress (save the now-bare walls, which just makes it look sad). I'm sending off a big shipment tomorrow, at which point I hope to be able to see my floor again, but even though most of my clothes and books will be gone, I'll still have to deal with a closet and desk full of papers. Oh, the papers.

I'm also starting to suspect that my denial skills are faltering -- while I've managed to largely avoid thinking too hard about this whole leaving-New-Haven thing, it's gotten a lot harder since I started packing (and writing my new address over and over...and over...). I spent my childhood in L.A., but after eight years, New Haven has become more of a home to me than any place in California. While I'm sure Seattle will eventually start feeling like home, the next few weeks (months?) will probably be a confusing, lonely time. I suspect it'll really start sinking in tomorrow between sending off the bulk of my boxes, getting rid of furniture and hanging out with several of my favorite people, most of whom I don't expect to see again until at least November.

Why am I moving again?