Job Searches and Other Heartaches

I just got back from a second interview for an administrative assistant position at Zeek's Pizza - a Washington chain. My odds are good: 100 applicants > 50 applications read > 8 interviews > 3 second interviews. If I get this position, my ego may just blow up.

It's a happy day. The sun is brilliant, the air is sweet. On the bus, I just ended up with one great song after another on my mp3 player (stuff like THIS and THIS and THIS and THIS). Amazing how music can affect your mood so.

Now I need to get this leftover interview nervousness out and go find some good climbing trees...

Cartoonist Kate Beaton is the coolest.

She is smart, funny, and draws really fantastic comics about historical figures.

Can I please be just like her?

Artopia and Georgetown

Yesterday I took a two-hour bus ride to Georgetown to experience the much-touted Artopia art and music festival. Not worth it; especially when I waited an hour for the bus coming back. They had power-tool derby races, some garage bands, and a couple booths selling things. The coolest thing there was ARTOPIA painted in blue letters on the ground. At first it looked like this:



But then the letters became uniform when you stood at a certain point:


Georgetown itself was interesting. Lots of crumbly brick factories and hairy hippies.

wwwoooooh, originally uploaded by sem.

It's frustrating how nowadays unless you have a facebook page you may as well not exist. Even with the Internet, some people are so mysterious. I'm left wondering about an old friend from college...and wishing I would have gotten to know them better while I had the chance...

Low Tide at Golden Gardens

I woke up feeling like something crucial is missing from my life.

I think it's sleeping in this damn huge bed.

Spent 'til noon researching jobs, and getting more and more depressed. So I made myself a delicious breakfast feast.

Oh San Francisco

I made a headband!

Anthropologie's: $42
My cost: $2

This morning I went to the Ballard farmer's market and bought some radishes, apples, lettuce, and snap peas. I love the music they have there - both times I've gone it's some combination of fiddlers, banjo players, harmonica, and other supercool instruments. I couldn't help stopping and watching a couple of fiddle players with a group of toddlers dancing in front of them.

Later on, Linnea (my roommate) and I drove the short distance to Fremont to visit our other roommate Andrea at work at Starbucks.

Wouldn't you like to walk into a Starbucks and see this smile?

Today was the Fremont street fair, so afterward we walked around part of the HUGE fair, perusing the wares, sampling, and even participating in an open-to-anyone painting project (walk up, grab a brush, and get to work). That was the highlight of my day. I was inspired by all the foxgloves around the neighborhood:

Up, Up, and Away

Last night I went to see "Away We Go" with Chris (Sarah's brother), and some of his friends (co-workers?). Incidentally, yesterday the new iphone came out ("What's the difference?" I asked, trying not to sound too much like I thought the whole thing was ludicrous - which was the truth), and all these guys had their phones out comparing applications and ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the features. Truthfully, it was kind of cool. Somehow it can pinpoint your location on Googlemaps and I was most impressed by the compass application! Amazing!

The movie was a little disappointing, and I'm still thinking about it today. I had really been looking forward to it, but I walked out of the theater feeling a little nauseated. Realistic relationships in movies make me want to hurl. I'm not going to give anything away, but my biggest complaint was with Dave Eggers' screenplay. I don't know why I expected his screenplay to be any different than his narrative prose. It's so ME ME ME - this is how I feel / what is best for me (in the case of the movie, "us") / what can I do to make myself feel better? I felt semi-neurotic...like watching anything Larry David has a hand in. I was surprised how funny - hilarious - the movie was, though. And I think every girl in the theater was in head-over-heels in love with John Krasinski by the end.

I never thought that I would like Seattle this much.


Yesterday I went to a job interview for a coffee shop downtown, and I have another for an administrative assistant next week. I can't believe my luck - on Craigslist no less! Two others (box office for a theatre and preschool teacher - said they might get back to me as well).


The roommates and I are planning a Christmas party...for June 25th. There will be gingerbread men and Christmas clothing, and entertainment... Basically, we just want someone to come over and play music, since Sarah left her piano, guitar, and saxaphone here, and between the three of us they've been very quiet.


The other day I wandered around Fremont, where they have a fantastic troll living under a bridge who collects the toll. It's certainly more interesting than a toll collector. Plus, he eats the cars that can't afford to cross.

I just calculated that in the last week I've walked about 28 miles (that's counting the 10 at Disneyland - no wonder your legs always ache after days like that). Trader Joe's is a mile away, Safeway even less, and downtown is maybe 1.5 miles. I haven't really ventured outside of Ballard yet, because everything I could possibly need is within walking distance (uh oh, I'm becoming like that creepy guy on "Sex in the City" who hadn't left Manhattan for ten years). On Monday I even walked to a lake. A LAKE! An honest-to-goodness lake with water and bright blue sky above and ducklings in a row and thousands of people jogging around the perimeter at 6pm. There were two lanes on the path - one for bikes and the other for two directions of runners and joggers. I stood on the side farthest from the water. All I wanted was to go sit on the edge of the water and read my book about Washington history, but I would be risking life and limb to throw myself into that stream of moisture-wicking Nike garments and ipod armbands. I took a deep breath and ran across to what was left of the Green Lake Aqua Theater - built in 1950 for swimming / diving shows. The 5,000+ seat amphitheater's last event was a Grateful Dead concert in 1969, and after being mostly demolished all that's left today are two concrete bleachers. Runners were running up and down them like a training montage from a cheesy movie.

Once upon a time:

Nowadays (not my picture):

5th and 58th

Today is my third day in Ballard, Seattle, Washington. So far I love it. Here's my new house:

This morning I walked down to the small but wonderful farmer's market and bought some snap peas -- and flowers for my new roommate who is graduating from college today:


I walked a couple miles to the Nordic Heritage Museum, which turned out to be three floors of Scandinavian antiques, overly-detailed signs (frustrating to someone like me who likes to read all the information...this is why I like to go to museums by myself), and creepy mannequins. Definitely a two-trip museum.

Other interesting sights on my walking travels from the last couple days: