"We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time." T. S. Eliot
Living in a new part of the continent has introduced me to all sorts of new brands of weather inconveniences. Atmospheric river paints a pretty vivid picture of what is about to happen to us.
I was excited to see that UW has a popular player named Penix. The jokes write themselves.
Ernie Wernie is pretty good at playing catch for such a lil guy.
Lydia strapped Ernie in for an early test of the baby carrier. We'd tried it before but his neck was still wobbly and he was too small still I think. This time worked much better. We walked over to the Google offices to check out their Christmas light set up.
I'm one year older but like six or seven years wiser.
Lydia got me some boba tea from the new joint Bobae delivered. So thoughtful.
This is kind of random but this is out front of Google's Kirkland office. I think it may be where the internet begins.
We did some strolling around Seattle.
The Olympic Sculpture Park is kind of odd because it doesn't really have that many sculptures.
The former Seattle Post-Intelligencer headquarters. The newspaper was founded in 1863 and existed as a rival to the Seattle Times until 2009.
We picked Sushi Kashiba as the setting for my birthday dinner.
The guy on the far end behind the counter is master sushi chef Shiro Kashiba. You can read about his amazing life here, but if you're into the whole brevity thing the Seattle Times referred to him as the "Mick Jagger of Mackerel". He apprenticed under Jiro Ono of Jiro Dreams of Sushi fame.
He even had a little cameo on Northern Exposure, which was filmed in Washington.
We opted for the "chef's counter omakase experience" which involves sitting at the sushi bar and letting them do whatever they want to your plate.
They had a lot of sake to choose from but in fond remembrance of my days as an exchange student I chose an offering from Kyoto: Konteki Pearls of Simplicity Junmai Daiginjo Sake.
I kept asking our chef what things were and he was happy to tell me. I soon realized my embarrassing lack of knowledge about tuna anatomy.
The shrimp were alive and then they weren't.
At the end of our set course meal our chef was like "ok that's all, but if you're still hungry I can make you something awesome". Then the blowtorch came out.
The Seattle Golf Show at Washington State Convention Center was probably about how you would imagine: full of booths advertising golf courses, resorts, golf clubs, etc.
I didn't super care about any of that though. I was primarily here to see Macklemore. We found the line and I was so worried about not making the cut that I started waiting immediately, even though he wouldn't arrive for another hour or so. I think Lydia was annoyed that I was so intent on waiting, despite the fact that I freed her to look around if she wished. I just didn't want to have bought my Bogey Boys gear last night, driven all the way over here, bought tickets, and then somehow miss my chance to meet the man.
Things were not very well organized, but everything ended up working out. The line got very long behind us so I was happy with my decision to start queuing when I did. Some of the people in line ahead of us were there to get autographs, which I hadn't even considered. They did point me to a autograph hunters Facebook group which I've found useful. I don't care about autographs but it's a good way to keep an eye on fun upcoming events.
Macklemore was super nice. I was one of the few people in line wearing his Bogey Boys gear and he noticed and said that it looked good on me which was awesome. I think he mentioned something that I wasn't doing my peace sign at the right angle as him in this photo which was funny. It was a really fun interaction despite the fact that we didn't talk about anything profound. I never know what to say to famous people when I meet them. Oh well. I was a little bit annoyed that we had to wear these damn masks for the photo, but you can still tell it's him so whatever. I bought the shirt he's wearing last night as well. It would have been really funny if we both showed up in the same shirt.
Back in Kirkland at the Kirkland Urban shopping area near our place, Google has moved in and put up big signs everywhere. I'm thirty to work here and super jealous of other people that do, so seeing their offices all the time is kind of damaging. Like seeing an ex girlfriend out partying or something.
We had some friends over for games and Lydia made an awesome charcuterie board.
I bought a king cake to celebrate our Frenchy St. Louis Mardi Gras heritage.
Our friends like to play Mexican train dominoes. This was a slight bit tamer than past Mardi Gras celebrations we've had...
I've been doing a lot of interviewing lately. I've been getting a lot of FAANG interest which is pretty cool on one hand, but on the other their interview process is cutthroat and gives me a lot of anxiety. I feel like they don't really care about my work experience or education, and they only thing that matters to them is that I memorize a bunch of stupid coding problems.
I felt a little guilty that we rarely eat at the restaurants in Kirkland because I'm always tempted by the awesome stuff happening over in Seattle. The highlight of our meal at Lynn's Bistro was Lydia's very first escargot.
We have a trip to Paris on the books so Lydia had to do some training with these buttery, buttery snails.
Google Wave has me excited. I can't really explain what I've seen, so I'll let Google tell you about it. "Google Wave is an online tool for real-time communication and collaboration. A wave can be both a conversation and a document where people can discuss and work together using richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more." The website is over here.
This demonstration video is pretty long but it's really cool.
It's funny because I've felt the need for an application like this lots of times. When I am planning a trip with another person, say to Thailand for example, we are both doing lot's of research and trying to find the best places at the best prices. Then we have to dump links into email and hope the other person reads them or likes them and just wait for a response. Then after an amazing adventure, we'll have pictures on several different devices that we want to share quickly. These little snags are compounded when your travel group is four or five people. Google Wave sounds like it will make this process smooth like butter.
Now the question is, who is going to be a pal and give me an invite to Google Wave?
Just for the heck of it, I googled my own name to check out where I am on the charts. It seems that Amazing Adventures has finally completed its meteoric rise to the top! Strong competitors John Milito (the sports-related crossword puzzle book author) and John Milito (the head chef at a top New York restaurant) have finally been beaten to take the top spot. Sorry gents, it takes more than an excellent name to make it in this business.
