Emergency Pinball

Lydia and Zoe hosted their book club at our apartment, so my duty was to entertain Spencer out on the town.

I took him to a few places in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood, most notable Shorty's pinball bar.

Just because Spencer was my guest doesn't mean I would not wreck his ass at Street Fighter. Sorry not sorry.

Taylor Hawkins, drummer for the Foo Fighters, dying made me feel kind of weird. I didn't even know who this guy was until I saw him play a few months ago but now that I have I feel a little bit sad that he passed away.

Cherry Blossoms

I don't like to brag but I'm so fancy that there was a film crew at my local Kirkland Urban QFC grocery store today.

Today we took Zoe and Spencer to check out the blooming cherry blossom trees on the University of Washington campus.

I'm into cherry blossom watching from my Japan days but apparently the word is out. The place was packed.

Your Arena is a Wonderland

Today's big ticket item was seeing John Mayer live at Climate Pledge Arena. Now, I haven't been back to the scene of the crime since I got fired from my job here for talking to Dave Chappelle, so I felt very weird about returning. It was kind of like going back to your ex-girlfriend's house.

This is random but my Aunt Rita is a very nice lady and randomly sends me scans of old pictures of me. Pictures of me are among my top five favorite types of pictures.

I was sort of dreading seeing someone that I know, but on the plus side most of the people I know work in the rich people seats, and we definitely were not headed there today. Another funny thing is that when and if I do see someone I recognize, they are in their silly uniform and I am dressed like a human, so I have a huge advantage is identifying them. Also masks were required the entire time I worked there, so some of my coworkers have maybe never seen my entire face. The perfect scenario to do more Dave Chappelle related crimes.

We were in the cheap seats but I actually thought it was kind of cool to see him from this angle. I could see how everything was set up on the stage, and the screens gave me plenty of close ups of everything.

Going to shows for people like John Mayer who has some hits but who I wouldn't seek out is fun because I am surprised which songs I like that I did not know that particular artists played.

I didn't get kicked out or fired again so I counted the experience a success overall. I did not get paid to be there, and in fact had to pay them money, which was weird. I think I'm glad I'm on this side of the zoo's bars though.

Keep Clam and Carry On

Ivar's is an interesting local chain, because they have different restaurant concepts happening at the same time. We visited Ivar's Acres of Clams which is a legit sit-down full service restaurant, but they also have little fish and chip shops here and there.

I liked all the fun Ivar's history they had in the waiting room.

World famous first in the early 1990s, Ivar's Dancing Clams are another expression of our abiding commitment to the "Culture of Clams". No matter how Hollywood howls, we will go on dancing with clams.

The restaurant is right on the sound and has a great view.

I was doing keto and so was ravenously hungry by the time the food came. I figured I couldn't possibly go wrong ordering the restaurant's namesake.

Acres of Clams

2-lbs local Manila clams, fennel, fingerling potatoes, carrot, celery, white wine, bread

We finished the night with a visit to the super cool Starbucks Reserve Roastery.

McMenamins in Bothell

We did some social multitasking today and took Zoe and Spencer to meet our friends Gabby and Derek to have some good times and passport stamps at McMenamins Anderson School in Bothell, WA.