Seattle: Day 12 "Creation day"

Art museums are recharging stations for creativity.

We went to the Seattle Art Museum today. It inspired me to go beyond the thoughtless work that I have a habit of creating.

I was able to see work from Pollock, Warhol and many more. As I admired the work that many seem to simply overlook, I felt a strong impression that I was capable of creating just like the artists I was admiring.

I felt the worth of human creation.

There was a meteor shower later that night. My day filled with creations by masterful hands was ended by viewing the greatest work of all.

There is an art museum all around. Thanks be to God for that.

Seattle: Day 11 "Petty Theft"

I went to lunch with some missionaries this afternoon. Tsige called me 15 minutes before her appointment with them. Luckily, I was already strutting around my room in my new skinny jeans.

We ate Red Robin. Tsige kept requesting more fries for me so she could eat them. Technically, that is petty theft. I'm sure she was aware.

Later, we went to half-priced books and shopped for books no one has heard of. I think we secretly competed to see whose book was more obscure.

Later that night I went to dinner with Stephanie and Marni. I met them at a dance party. Nothing makes you look more legit than going to dinner with two beautiful women at the same time.

The End.

Seattle: Day 10 "Sushi and Shopping"

I bought skinny jeans. If you do not like that, then the punk side of me says, "I don't care." I bought them while at the mall with Tsige. On the way back, Tsige put us on the wrong freeway. Here was the dialogue:

Joey: "Tsige, is that Seattle?"

Tsige: "Errr....Ummmm..."

J: "Well, there is the space needle right there."

T: "Darn, I thought you wouldn't notice."

J: "What?!"

After we went through traffic hell, we went to a sushi bar.

All food should be presented conveyor style. Notice the period at the end of that sentence.

Seattle: Day 9 "An Ethiopian Tour Guide"

My tour guide for the day was the lovely Tsige. She was pretty inexpensive. All I had to do was pay her bus fare and she was set.

We went to the Seattle library, which was one of the coolest places to house books I had ever seen. Locals busied themselves with study and Facebook updates while the tourists took photos of them as though they were part of an exhibit. The sea of computers dominated the third floor with the sound of keyboard clicks crashing against the shore of the metallic walls.

We also saw the Seattle Art Museum sculpture garden. Big Brother scolded children over a loudspeaker when they touched the artwork. We were not excluded.

I ran into a person who tried to sign me up for a children's charity organization. She asked me to join after pitching for five minutes. I thanked her, but told her I already contribute through another organization and I would have to give her's more thought.

"What would you possibly be thinking about? I told you everything," she said.

At that point I realized that she was pushing a sale, rather than a cause. I was disappointed. Her insistance made her intentions clear.

We later had Thai food, which was rather spicy. My nose ran as I took my stomach lashings like a man. Tsige was fine.

It was a productive day.

Seattle: Day 7 "New friends"

Day seven was lazy. I just did my laundry and watched rain splash the pond behind the house. I played a lot of Mario with the kids here.

However, I went to a dance party in Seattle. It was a Mormon dance party, so it was clean. The only exception was the tall drunk man who stumbled into the party and started dancing. He made quite a display.

I met new friends there. Mia, Marni and Stephanie are from a place near Redmond.

Meeting new friends and running into old ones made for a good night.

Seattle: Day 6 "I found my soulmate today"

The title was just to get you to read. Sorry.

I had a vanilla bean (coffee-less) frappuccino at Starbucks while designing a postcard. It was an amazing Washington experience.

Today I went to the waterfront in Kirkland for photos. I parked the car and made my way over to the parking meter. The meter did not say how much time I could pay for. I asked a parking lady nearby how much I should put into the meter.

"Just pay for the maximum. You never know when you will meet your soulmate," she said hopefully.

I gave her a quizzical look and paid the minimum.

Soulmate or not, I took some lovely photos.

Seattle: Day 5 "Starbucks and MacBooks"

I used Wi-Fi in a public park today. Washington is a magical place.

I took more photos in Marymoor Park, then immediately uploaded them in the park. It was convenient.

So far this is what seattle has done for me:

1.) Fueled my passionate desire for an iPhone.

2.) Magnified my frustrations toward Microsoft.

3.) Pushed me to become a better photographer.

4.) Enticed me to move here.

The radio doesn't even suck here. THE RADIO.

Washington is so magical that it even has my bank. I was able to deposit $500 that I received when I sold my camera. This, of course, was after I fanned myself with it a few times. There are only a handful of times I will have that amount of money in my hand, so I have to take advantage of it.

I went with Jessica to Bellevue Mall to buy a MacBook. That city seems to be owned by Microsoft, which made the purchase that much sweeter.

We have plans to sit in a Starbucks with our MacBooks talking about how original screenplays are dead while sipping our hot cocoa.

I'm living the dream.