My Kitties

I have a myriad of topics that I could discuss on here. Considering that I have had a few beers, three to be exact, and that I am tired from a day of shows, Ive come to the decision that I will discuss a lighter topic that is easier to write about. So, here we go!

My cats will be the discussion of this evening :) Im definitely a cat person! If you have never been over to my home, you have probably never met my cats, though you may have heard stories about them or at least heard their names.

All of my life, I have lived with cats. I have had dogs, too, but Im not very fond of dogs. The first two cats that we had since before I was born were named ambrosia and amnesia. As I got older we had Sunny, Willow, Rascal, and chicklet. By the time I was 15, I knew that I wanted a unique name for our next cat. I had moved out of my house by 17 to train at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in DC and at that point, my mom had gotten a new cat. As the years passed, she got two more cats. I really, really wanted to name a cat psycho. I dont know why, but I thought it was the funniest, most unique name. So, when I got my own cats, I finally got my wish and named one of my cats Psycho!

PSYCHO

So, here is Psycho! Psycho was a lucky kitty. When I first wanted to get a cat, I decided that I was just going to get one. I didnt think that I could afford two cats and, to be honest, I didnt want to clean up litter for two cats. I'd never tell him, but he was my second choice, but Ill get to that later.

Although, Psycho was my second choice, Im so glad that I got him. Psycho is a light, cream color. Not orange, but somewhere between orange and vanilla. He has a really unique looking face. I call him "my little lion." His face isnt shaped like your typical Domestic Short Hair'ed cat, but I like it. Also, when he was a baby, he kind of had a lazy eye. But, Im glad that as he got older he grew out of that because my first boyfriend had a really lazy eye and it kind of reminded me of him. Anyway, the funny thing about Psycho is that he isnt really that Psycho at all. He is the most chill cat that you have ever met. I would definitely call him a lap cat. You can pick him up and hold him upside down and walk around for 5 minutes and he wouldnt really care that you were doing that. He loves to be pet on his belly and will welcome any newcomers into our house. He is our little mechanical cat. He can open any cabinet door, manipulate any sliding door, and sneak into any space. When he was younger, he used to try and hide on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. Admittedly, one time, I even left him in the fridge for five minutes until I realized that he was nowhere to be found. He loves to go outside on our balcony and he loves to cuddle. At night, he sleeps next to me (if i choose to sleep on the side of the bed thats not against the wall) and rests with his head on my hand. That is his most comfortable position and I think its the cutest thing ever. DJ thinks that Psycho is trying to kill him with his shit. That is the one unfortunate thing about Psycho, he never learned how to cover up after he used the litter box and he has some rank methane stored up in his body. Luckily, we always know what is coming because the moment that he goes, he runs around the apartment and shows why his name is Psycho.


Maddie
Maddie is a beautiful, calico colored cat. When I first went to the pet store, she was the first cat that I had my eye on. I asked the owners of the store if I could pick her up and they said yes and walked away. I tried to pick her up, and in typical Maddie fashion, she held onto the carpet inside of her crate and wouldnt let me pick her up. I walked away thinking, I dont want that cat. The owner asked if I had held her and I said that she wouldnt let me. The owner walked me over and yanked her reluctant self off the carpet and handed her over to me. The second she was in my arms, she started rubbing her face to my cheek and kissing my cheeks. I was hooked. She was going to be my Psycho. I had fallen SOOO in love with this cat at that very moment that I didnt want her to be alone. I didnt want her to be bored and waiting for me. So, I decided she needed a brother, and chose Psycho.

After taking Maddie home, I didnt name her for over a week. I already had Psycho's name set for almost 7 years. I felt she deserved to at least earn a name. So, for a week I dealt with her nuzzling my face for affection, trying to stick her mouth inside my mouth (She tried to make out with me for a year, but eventually gave up and now just nuzzles my face). Since she was so affectionate and loved to rub her face against every part of my body (minds out of the gutter people), I named her Madame-Rubs-A-Lot. I figured that would be to hard to say everytime I wanted to call her, so I affectionally gave her the nickname of Maddie.

Its kind of amusing because Maddie is so crazy and Psycho is so chill. Its almost as if they should have different names, but I like the idea that Psycho's name is mostly an oxymoron. Maddie is truly the crazy cat. She is EXTREMELY intelligent. She practically understands the English language. She is extremely tempermental. She is so loving and manipulative. When she wants something, she knows how to get it. Its almost like Maddie is the brains and Psycho is the brawn. Maddie is super affectionate with me, but isnt very fond of other people. I take pride in the fact that I have raised my cats not to scratch or bite people. But, Maddie is a BITCH! My nickname for her is actually "Kitty McBitch Bitch." She will let you get super close to her, but walk away before you can pet her. She knows she is pretty and abuses that privelege.
When Dan first moved to Seattle, Maddie used to only let DJ pet her when I wasnt home. She would never let me see that she was willing to show affection to anybody but me. She is extremely loyal to me, too. She actually acts like a dog to me. Sometimes, I walk around our apartment in circles just to watch Maddie follow me around. Ive done this for more than 5 minutes once and she never ceased to follow. Anyway, although I love her dearly, she is like a teenager. She drives me nuts sometimes with her moods. She cant sit on my lap for more than 5 minutes and she is always getting into trouble.

With all that said, my cats are awesome and I am so lucky to have them to keep me company. They have been with me through some of my lowest times. They know when things arent good. They laid with me when I cried after my first love and I ended it, they were by my side every moment of the time that I was home for a month when I had mono and only 2 friends dared visit me for my month of misery, and most recently, when I had complications after my nasal surgery, they laid at my side and on my legs, even as I kicked my legs in bed in a panic as I choked on my own blood clots. My cats are the most loyal, loving kitties and I wouldnt trade them for a thing in the world. It's funny, my mom calls them her grandkids, and in a way they are almost like kids. I love them much!

City of Beggars

What is it with the city of Seattle that draws lunacy out of a hefty percentage of its inhabitants? I have lived in Seattle for 4 1/2 years now and since day one I have been overwhelmed, annoyed, and shocked by the "crazies" that litter our streets. It just doesn't make sense to me sometimes.

I am a walker. I walk to work about a mile every day. It takes about 20 minutes to get to work if I walk fast and break the law by walking through red lights or jay walk at certain points. That means, I am guaranteed at least 40 minutes of street time if I walk to work and stay, and its at least 80 minutes if I come home in the middle of the day for lunch. So, either way...I spend a lot of time walking these streets. Its a nice way to get exercise and its a nice way to wind up for work or unwind from work. The shitty part is that, I have to encounter homeless, drugged out, and/or crazy people throughout my entire day.

I can say with almost no exaggeration that I get asked for change an average of 5 times a day. This is pretty impressive considering that the area behind my apartment has relatively cleaned up over the past year and a half since construction began on the new condominiums (fortunately and unfortunately the project has gone on longer than planned thanks to the economy). Its pretty interesting actually, Rayban, who is 71, and I have had a conversation about young people and their need to block out the world as they move in and out of their days via the Ipod. He seemed disturbed by this, but...considering the world that I have to walk through everyday...doesnt it seem like a blessing? The only thing that protects me from having to talk to these beggars is my music playing. Well, thats kind of a lie, because I dont talk to people that ask for change. In fact, I dont even acknowledge these people. It is uncommon for me to actually fall for a beggar's first line. I dont typically need a line...I just need to see you trying to make eye contact with me.

So, the point of this is that Im frustrated. I dont understand why this city is so full of such aggressive, fucked up people. Its unavoidable and its a nuisance. I think that all of these beggars should be picked off the street and should be shipped somewhere warm that doesnt have any people around for maybe 100 miles in all directions...think the Sahara :)

Anyway, Ive got my frustrations out, so now I will entertain with stories of people and attempts that I have gotten from people.

Starting with my favoritest homeless person and beggar:

The walker - This guy is always sped WAY up and really fucked up. He walks around neighborhoods with a cup in one hand. And he walks as fast as he can, wherever he can go. He asks people for change, but doesnt stop walking...so by the time you get a response out (if you want to give a response) he is way too far away for you to even do anything. My former neighbor JenJew and I keep tabs on this guy via text message...everytime we see him, we text each other. Weve seen each other so many times, I think he even recognizes me at this point because he doesnt ask me for change anymore.

Shoeless - (if you couldnt tell, I name these people if I see them enough) This woman has asked me for change WAY too often. She is older and has shoulder length hair. Sometimes I see her with shoes...and more often than not, she doesnt have any shoes. Ive concocted a story in my head that she gets shoes...then she gets really fucked up and in her high state, always takes off her shoes. So, she walks around Seattle shoeless...often. Long story short, I even watched her pee her pants on a bus once....and didnt say anything when I guy sat down in the same seat (whoops...I almost did, but it was too late for me to get him to stop).

The Ghost - I actually havent seen the ghost in a while. But, she is an extremely old lady. Think like 75. She is always really together, very well kept, and clean. She approaches you and surprises you when she asks for money. The reason though why she is "The Ghost" is because she only walks the streets at night and she is so old, pale, and her hair is so white, that she looks like a ghost wandering the streets.

Wheelchair Lady - Wheelchair lady and I did not get along. I saw her around a lot. She was a middle aged woman who was missing one leg. She would not use her hands to get around, but she would use her one leg to push her along, skateboard style....but on her ass. So, one day, I was walking to work behind my apartment. She was sliding by me and asked me for a light. I ignored her and she got pissed off. She started chasing me in her wheelchair. I had to run up the hill behind my apartment so that she couldnt catch me. So, when I returned home from work that day, I found that wheelchair lady had somehow gotten a mattress in one of the pay parking spots behind our apt. complex. I almost called the cops after a day had passed just because I was mad at this lady for chasing me. Finally, after 4 days her mattress was taken away and I havent seen her much since. Oh...and DJ tried to give her a dollar once after that...and right as it almost touched her hand...I shouted "DONT GIVE HER THAT!!!!" and grabbed the dollar out of his hand as it touched hers. I hate that bitch!

- "The One" - DJ actually hates my name for this person, but I chose it and now its stuck. This name is actually short for "The One and Only Fucked Up Asian Person." Yeah, yeah, I know, Im sorry if I offend anybody. But, I have never seen an Asian person all fucked up on the street until she appeared. I watched her descent into hell. She started off normal, but then slowly started to act more cracked out and hang out around here more often. Eventually, she started walking all crazy...from her I coined my signature "Crack Walk." Finally, one day I saw her get arrested, and I didnt see her again for about a year. Then, one day, DJ and I were walking through Pike Place Market and I saw her walking with this guy towards my apartment. I knew where she was going. I actually started saying out loud "NO...NO...Turn around!" But, I didnt have the balls to actually go up to her face and say it. Unfortunately, she started to go back to her old ways.

- The newest regulars I have seen are G.I. couture - Hes a young gay guy that mutters to himself, sometimes singing opera. he walks the streets at a fast pace and is always wearing army fatigues under sweat-shorts and a hoodie. I feel bad because I think Im actually seeing him slowly lose his bearings. He always looks clean, but his clothes arent. the other newbie on the streets Im still determining a name for him. Im pretty sure his new name is going to be "Rasta-dore." He looks like a homeless, Rastafarian version of Dumbledore. He always dons many blankets around his shoulder and multiple cloth bags. His featured area is Queen Anne, but Ive also seen him in belltown and Capitol Hill.

Lastly, this is just a smattering of some of my favorite attempts at begging for change, that I ignored, but have heard as I walked away, or as a friend I was with decided to respond to these city irritants:
- Walking out of a store a woman asked for some change, I said no, she responded "Buy me a bag of chips?"
- A guy asked a friend of mine to spare a dollar, he said no... the guy said "do you have an atm card? Come on, Ill show you where the closest ATM is!"
- A supposed "family"(that all looked drugged out) came up to me at Fisher Pavilion and told me there house had just burnt down
- A guy offered me a hit of crack for some change
- Most recently, a guy on the hill behind my apartment jumped out of the shadows and said "Let me lick your butt!" I, of course, walked away as fast as possible. I stopped at the bus stop and began to text DJ about the odd happening when i felt a weird energy. I looked up and the guy was standing next to me and smiled, while shaking his head up and down. I told him to fuck off and he got scared and ran away.

So, with that...I think my evidence is clear that Seattle SUCKS when it comes to beggars! Unfortunately, the amusing experiences are incredibly outnumbered by the boring, everyday experiences that I have to suffer through

Three Year Celebration

This weekend has been an extremely enjoyable weekend. DJ and I chose to enjoy an entire weekend celebration of our commitment that began 3 years ago this coming Tuesday, January 27. Three years ago, I was in the midst of mononucleosis (aka the kissing disease), which I did not contract from him. We had been talking for about 3 months and had visited each other in our respective cities, LA and Seattle. It was shortly after I had taken my first trip to LA and DJ had mentioned that he may consider moving to Seattle, at some point, that I decided it would be ok to commit. And, well, here we are three years later and still going strong :) Since DJ and my anniversary falls on a Tuesday, and we will be preparing to open our next program at the ballet, we decided to have a weekend full of celebratory activities.

We began our fun on Friday night. As many of you know, Im kind of bored with Seattle. I couldnt figure out why I didnt feel like it was a very metropolitan or exciting city. I finally came to the conclusion that I feel like this because once you have explored a neighborhood in Sea-town, there isnt much that you havent seen. When I lived in NYC, I could visit a neighborhood 20 times. Even with that, everytime I went back, I would see a new store or restaurant that Ive never noticed before. In Seattle, there isnt anything unknown or exciting after a few trips to one place. So, my aim lately has been to find places in neighborhoods that Ive never seen or been to.

So, Friday, after a hard week of work, Dan and I made our way to Galerias Mexican restaurant up on Broadway in Capitol Hill. We have walked by this restaurant a bunch of times, but never eaten there. Not until recently, when I was walking past this place, did I notice it existed. I was mostly drawn by the fact that the restaurant was giving a 25% recession style discount Monday through Thursday to all diners. Although, the inner Jew in me wanted the savings, I knew this could be an exciting new find. We showed up and enjoyed a first class Mexican meal in Seattle. It was not 100% genuine Mexican food, but probably the closest experience you will get while in Seattle. We were looking for ambiance...and we definitely got ambiance. There was even a harpist to boot. We were sitting next to her and she asked for requests, but we had no money for tip. After two more songs, we told her we couldn't give tip. She said she didnt care and played a few songs that we wanted to hear. It was awesome.

After enjoying our relatively inexpensive anniversary meal (which of course included Mole Poblano and a shared flask of Sangria), DJ and I made our way to Julia's on Broadway to see their weekly drag show, Le Faux. Now, I was a little suprised to see that it cost $20 for the show, but I was pleased in the end. This isn't your typical run of the mill drag show. They actually use the expensive cover towards the production. There was a host and four other leading ladies, who sang (or lipsinked) to the best of them; Cher, Madonna, Reba, Dolly, Pink, and my favorite...Lucille Ball (in Vitameatavegamin, which was a treat). There were also backup dancers, video clips, confetti explosions, and fog. It was a true production that I feel any visiting, non homophobe should attend.

The next day of our celebration consisted of a trip to Ballard. Ive only recently started exploring Ballard. Ive been to this distant neighborhood before, but never really explored it until Rogayn showed me around during our past lay off. DJ and I took the 18 over the Ballard bridge and settled down to eat lunch at Snoose Junction. Ive never even heard of this GREEN pizza parlor. DJ and I enjoyed sandwiches and a few games of Addams Family Pinball (complete with clicking paddles for the theme song). We, then, walked around Ballard making the obligatory trip to Archie Mcphee's and Cupcake Royale. We checked out a couple of shops and made our way home for a rest.

Following our rest, we made our way across the street, from our apartment to Elliott Bay apts, for our friend Joermanny's annual holiday party. Yeah, a little late, but it was delayed due to snow and overly busy Seattle-ites. The name of this event was "Feuerzangenbowle," which essentially means "fire tongs"...I think. I cant really pronounce it. I kept on repeating something along the lines of, guh-flerk-in-zan-gin-blerk-in. Anyway, it was fun to watch Joermanny light the bowl of redwine and 151 rum, and even more fun socializing and sipping the warm, biting liquor.
So, finally, we get to today. Today, Danya and I went out to brunch with our former neighbors from the 3rd floor. We chatted and enjoyed the common actions of the two Jews at the table (we had two dreamers and two realists/debbie downers)...which ones do you think were the Jews ;) Anyway, we left there and took a bus to the U-District. I dont go here often because I get bored there quickly, but we had heard that there was an Upper Playground along the Ave. DJ and I have visited the one in Portland, and were surprised to find that Seattle could have this fun, edgy store. We stopped by there and checked out a couple places along the way. Then, made our way home for the typical food shopping and cleaning that we do on Sundays.

Altogether, we had a very awesome anniversary celebration that consisted of new explorations, which excites me. As I have learned, in order to keep spark in my relationship, I always have to keep exploring us. I feel it is the same for cities, too...at least for me. I get bored with the city if I dont have new things to explore. It made me happy to be able to do both this weekend :) So, with that...CHEERS TO THREE YEARS...AND MANY MORE TO COME!!!! L'Chaim!

Guiltless Guilt of the dancer's mind

I just got home from a most delicious dinner. Yeah, the dinner wasn't very far and it was actually completely free. That would be due to the fact that our neighbors invited us over for dinner. When we lived two floors down, we made great friends with our neighbor and were even invited over their place for dinner here and there. Unfortunately, it never really worked out timing wise for us. Now that we live on the top floor of our complex, we have made friends with our new neighbors. They invited us over for dinner tonight and made us a delicious Thai style dinner and dessert. We spent three hours less than about 20 feet away from our place enjoying great food and great company. It was a great time!

Other than that, my day was filled with questioning whether or not I was going to guilt myself the entire day for not taking class. After the mental draining conversation last night, combined with a muscle relaxer for my achey back, I found myself completely incapable of getting out of bed. When my alarm went off at 8:40, I changed it to 8:45. Well, when I woke up then, I knew it wasnt going to happen. So, I took a brief minute (long enough to figure out my schedule, but not long enough to completely awaken my mind and render me exhausted but unable to fall back asleep), and figured out what would be a good time to get up, whilst still warming myself up sufficiently in time for rehearsal. I figured it out and went back to sleep.

10:15 arrives and I am finally ready to wake up. Still kind of tired, but capable of functioning in this state. So, I waste time online and then get prepared to go to work and finally make the chilly 20 minute trek to work. I spent a little too much online and started feeling a bit rushed by the time that I finally got to work. I went into the therapy room, with my headphones on, ready to give myself a barre. I wore the headphones to appear as if I didnt notice anybody, because although I know they dont care, Im not very good at taking those jokes about being lazy for not taking class. I chuckle and make fun with those people, but deep, deep down inside, I feel horribly guilty for skipping out. I probably shouldnt feel guilty. I am a 25 year old adult and I can make my own intelligent decisions, but no matter what, I feel guilty for not taking class. Nonetheless, Im determined not to feel guilty.

I start giving myself barre in the therapy room, but something has made the marley SOOO slippery that I cant stand in any position but first. So, Im forced to go downstairs, where class has just finished and everybody is preparing to begin rehearsal. Im now surrounded by people that want to greet me, so instead of waiting for the inevitable, I just take the headphones off. Im thinking "I WILL NOT FEEL GUILTY NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE SAYS TO ME....I WAS SMART TO SKIP CLASS!" So, the first friend approaches. I start thinking of my jokingly defensive response for not taking class. "Hello. How are you?" Then they walk away. I continue where I left off, jetes. The next friend comes by and sits down. Im ready for the comment, but it never comes. Reality strikes...No one really cares that I wasnt in class. And if they do joke with me, its not because they care, but because they know that Im going to guilt myself for it, and they can chuckle.

I may never know why I feel so guilty about the rare times that I dont take class, but it must have something to do with my abusive russian training. Its one of those things that will probably come out in therapy after I have my midlife crisis at 26 (dancers enter middle life at 25, so Im guessing Ill need middle aged therapy by next year). It will come out and I may come to understand why I guilt myself, but in the end...I think that it will always be this way. I will be retired for 30 years and still feeling guilty at the age of 65 for not taking class for the past 30 years. Oy...the Dancer's Life!

The Desperation of Seattle

Oy! Im pretty exhausted! Physically, after a day of dancing, working out, and struggling with my seemingly never-ending back problems. Mentally, after the long conversation that DJ and I just completed. What better way to let go of some of it, then by blogging. Oh yeah!

Some days I feel like the world is falling apart. Today is one of those days. Or, perhaps, tonight is one of those nights. Typically, I would be attempting to fall asleep right now, but with my mind running the way that it is, it may be awhile before my mind goes to sleep (muscle relaxer for my back and all). I feel a little unnerved. In fact, I would say that I feel slightly desperate. After a couple years of searching for an exciting, satiating job, DJ has been struggling. He will probably hate that I am putting that on here, but it has spurred a lot of thought from me. Well over two years have passed and things just dont seem like they are ever going to get better. I understand that we are in the midst of a depression(oops...I mean recession), but when someone works their ass off, puts out hundreds (no exaggeration) of resumes, and has a hearty education to boot, you would think that everything would inevitably fall into place. Unfortunately, this isnt so.

Seattle SUCKS when it comes to looking for work. There it is, I said it! It is perhaps the most unique, specialized market in the country. All of our major companies are either tech based or engineering based. Think Microsoft, Boeing, Amazon, Google, Expedia. On top of this set of companies, we are the most educated city in the country. Yeah, along with most educated, we also have the lowest church attendance...which excites me and seems sensible, but there can be negatives that come with this, too. Since everybody has an education, it seems that your education doesnt really matter. Since education doesn't really matter, job placement seems based merely on luck. Unfortunately, our country seems to be running out of luck and the economy has collapsed to the floor. Well, not to the floor, but lower. Now that our economy is practically non-existant, the same happens with jobs.

I think that there are relatively few job openings in Seattle, if any! What do you do if getting a job has nothing to do with education or your area of expertise? I dont know, sell your body, sell drugs, or mop up deck on a boat. Hi...my name is Larry, I have a Masters in history...would you like a blowjob, blow, or for me to sweep up in here? I think this is not a last resort anymore. I feel that if things dont get better soon, desperation could cause even the most educated of people to do this. Im frightened by that and I dont really know how to make the situation better. I think what it truly comes down to is that there are too many people looking for too few jobs. There must be a way to settle this. At this point, I dont know how, and I dont know if our new president knows how, but Im cant wait for it to be taken care of. Two years is a long time. And two years can really put at damper on one's, or two's, spirits. So, I guess the point of this entire thing is for me to post one thing...a wish. My wish is...

BARRY's WISH: I WISH THAT THE WORLD WOULD BE A BETTER PLACE...ECONOMICALLY AND POLITICALLY. I ALSO WISH THAT SEATTLE WAS A MORE METROPOLITAN CITY, WITH MORE JOB OFFERINGS. BUT MOSTLY, I WISH THAT ALL THOSE MOTHERFUCKERS THAT HAVENT OFFERED MY BF A JOB THAT PAYS AT LEAST $100,000 A YEAR WOULD GO TO FUCKING HELL, EAT SHIT, AND DIE (so my BF can take their jobs;)

Love always,
Barry

Blog, Fog, and Obama

It has been nearly a year since I have blogged. In fact the last time I blogged was on March 20th of 2008. Wow! Its been a long time. The last time I blogged I was 24, in the middle of my first true opportunity in my career, and Bush was president. Its amazing how much we all change from year to year and how much the world changes too. I fell out of blogging for a couple of reasons. One, I was becoming overwhelmed with schoolwork. I have been taking a short break from school since I realized I have 70 credits and no true direction. Instead of wasting money on classes that I hope would fit into some sort of degree, I need to figure out what I want to do and how to do that. Also, I had a change of heart with myspace, where my previous blog exists. Im kind of sad about that. On my myspace blog I have 445 posts and nearly 25,000 views. I just beome overwhelmingly annoyed with the stream of spam that I received. It drove me away from myspace and drove me away from blogging. So, its been long enough and Im ready to give it a try again. I chose to find an actual blogsite to blog this time so that I would be able to post as I wished without any other distractions or annoyances. I hope to keep up with this as often as I used to keep up with my old blog.

Moving on from my necessary introduction, I wanted to start posting as I typically do. Lately, Seattle has been suffering from air stagnation. This is caused by temperature inversion, which I dont have a huge understanding of, but I know it has to do with cold air in the middle layer of the atmosphere keeping warmer air from escaping. Anyway, this causes a lot of fog, as well as a build up of air pollution. Ive been having trouble sleeping lately because my breathing has been off. I couldnt figure out why until this morning, when I had to pull out my inhaler to make it through class. It must be because of the air stagnation. Yeah, yeah...this weather issue is causing me some health problems, but to be completely honest, I love it when fog forms as thickly as it has been lately. I was walking home from work tonight and as I walked under the Space Needle, I struggled to see UFO-like top that Seattle is so famous for. I couldn't see any of the tall buildings in the near distance and when I was close enough to home to see Elliott Bay, it looked like Seattle was a northern beach town, instead of an inland port city. There's just such a mystical feeling that you get when you are walking amongst a grounded cloud. I may be psychotic, but I almost felt as if a talking cat or a wandering unicorn was about to come around the corner and tell me that I had to complete some mysterious mission. But alas, there was no cat or horned-horse, just me and my somewhat active imagination. My final thoughts about this approached something that is a more common train of thought in my mind. I felt like I was walking through foggy San Francisco. I could see the low-clouds blowing a bit. Although Ive only been once, I got a taste for that city. And although it may not be my ideal city, it is so much more metropolitan than Seattle. It made me ache, as I do probably about 20 times a day, to live somewhere vast, exciting, and unexplored (of course in a city).

Lastly, I thought it necessary to just mention the incredible change of the guards today. Today, Barack Obama (important note of knowledge: we USED to share our first name, til college, when Barry Obama wanted to get more in touch with his African roots) was sworn in as our new president, replacing the disaster of a leader that preceded him. Im not super political, but to see the direction our country was heading frightened me. Frightened me in too many ways to write. I saw too many values that I have as a human being falling away from my country of residence. Im cautiously excited to see what Obama can do for us, but I feel that there are too many problems for him to fix for him to achieve many of his objectives successfully. Not to be negative. I hope for the best and I expect a little less. I feel that people could easily turn on Barack if he doesnt accomplish EVERYTHING people feel needs change. The excitement that surrounded election day winnings and today's inauguration just scare me. If Obama cant succeed at what he promised, there will be more people angry than I can imagine. People expected stupidity and ignorance from Bush. Their rage with him was already so high, it couldnt get higher. But with Obama, it may be different. I think we just need to trust that he will do his absolute best for us. But the mess that has been left for him to clean up may in the end just be too cumbersome. With that said, if this country doesn't recover. Im moving to one of the following cities; Vancouver, Toronto, London, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, or Dubai (though I think the whole gay thing may not work out there).

Anyway, Im glad to be back to blogging! Cheers!