Welcome to 2002! 01-02-02 So it's official - we made a new tradition. Rum balls and bourbon balls for every New Year celebration. Minutes before heading to the sun dial hill at Gasworks Park, we did our countdown at Emily & Josh's (the neighbors must've though our clock was wrong because we did a countdown and cheer at twenty-till midnight). Once that was out of the way, we packed flasks and such for the walk, and Emily packed the booze balls in a giant baggie. (If you wanted one, she would hand you one. She was the sole possessor of the booze ball baggie). We got to the top of the hill just in time for the fireworks at the Space Needle. It was a very Seattle moment. 01-14-02 So far this month I've done, well.... not much. I'm still at Starbucks Monday through Friday at 4:15 a.m. and I'm working at Johnston Architects three afternoons a week now as well. I went to Botch at the Graceland, Hot Hot Heat at the I•Spy (they didn't show up); missed Juno (John Richards Morning Show special) and missed the Pinehurst Kids. I took down the Christmas tree sometime around the tenth of this month. I need a haircut. I've made a few batches of cookies. The garage is trashed. I read Fast Food Nation and started my second ASL (Sign Language) class on Monday nights. I attended an architecture seminar on the new Seattle Stadium that was fascinating. It's just one of those months where I patiently wait for the next month. The biggest thing going on that I know of is our Tofu Party among 6rms for Martin Luther King Jr Day. All tofu foods. Ugh. It was a novel idea at the time that will be, um, interesting to play out. Mom will be visiting next month and I will have a bunch of things for us to do. 01-20-02 This is an old picture of Shane in 1994 at my grandparents lakehouse in Michigan. Shane is in town. Shane is our cousin. Shane makes me tired. He came over with Jon and Jason last week for dinner and exhausted me. He doesn't stop moving - even the cats get dizzy playing with him. He was under the Christmas tree, playing with the kitchen cupboards, doing karate, doing the glow-worm, making food, rolling on the floor, finding the cats if they weren't right next to him.... I think he's like 27 years old now. He's always been like this - he can't sit still. He may be moving to Seattle if he can find enough work (Shane can make anything - he's a carpenter's son). I really really hope Shane moves here, because I adore him, but I hope I get plenty of sleep before he gets here. 01-22-02 So the tofu party was quite a success! I have to admit, I thought it may be pretty gross, but the food was a great mixture of a few appetizers, about eight entrees, and dessert (soy ice cream and Jon's tofu cake). Soo made our food for us (we cheated). She made shrimp tofu and beef tofu - both were hits (although Fernanda had a hot pepper that almost took her down for the night). So far every sentence I've typed has included parentheses (including this one). 01-26-02 So these people stop by my door today and show me this great drawing of, well, my corner of the world. As a matter of fact, you could say that person is me, since that's my yard. The point is, they are doing some major project in my ditch called the Carkeek Cascade Project, which is another Save the Salmon project (which is fine with me). It will improve the water quality in Piper's Creek, and therefore the quality of life for salmon. Neato. Here's the rub: it's going to take six months. What this lovely drawing doesn't show you is my bedroom window about 7 feet behind "me". They also say it's going to be "a series of wide, flat-bottomed stair-stepped pools that will slow the water down and remove pollution." I hear: standing water, lotsa bugs. So I look at this drawing and I think about a few things. First thought: how much money did the government spend for this terrible drawing? There's no tree there, they're on my side of the gate. Are we getting that tree? And the ditch is not near that wide. And those cartoon fish - are those real fish or a giant manhole cover decorated with fish? I mean, I'm all for it if I get a koi pond, but I have the feeling that's not gonna happen as drawn. Will I have grass and flowers? And who's mowing this crap? There's an open house regarding the project March 7th, but that's a Thursday, so hopefully my neighbor Sylvia will attend for me. fantasy reality 01-30-02 We saw 764-HERO at Graceland last Friday night and Dudley Manlove Quartet last Saturday for Julie's birthday. Dudley Manlove Quartet is a cover band doing songs by Captain & Tennile and Barry Manilow, etc. Yes, it was painful, and no, it didn't help that it took place at a sports bar in West Seattle, but overall I went home with some songs that I wanted to download that I had forgotten about ("Coming Up" by Paul McCartney & Wings, "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" by Rod Stewart, and "Evil Woman" by ELO). It was also a great anthropological study of the White People Dance, which invariably requires simply holding a beer and stepping back and forth. If it takes place at a sports bar, it also includes the proper dress of a tiny, short t-shirt and tight black or white jeans. Besides these studies, I am working and sleeping and reading. I read a really funny book called Eating the Cheshire Cat which was very similar to the movie Drop Dead Gorgeous. It was a good, trashy read. I wish I had more to tell you, but it's been a weird month. Hopefully I'll have more entries and pictures next month. Happy Birthday Dad Dayment!