Oct 25 2007
Wine and Coffee
I should be deliriously happy.
I’m in a state that is known for fantastic coffee and wonderful wine.
Interestingly, it’s also known for something else. A high suicide rate.
Hmmmmm.
OK, so it’s also known for RAIN. I was surprised to learn it’s known to be the birthplace of Grunge. I don’t know much about Grunge.
For some reason skateboards, worn and saggy jeans, unwashed hair, untucked shirts and poor posture come to mind. Just a whole lotta … UN if you know what I mean.
Hmmm. Maybe that’s the etymology of grUNge…
Grubby + UN (motivated? der-developed? wanted?) + [I'm just too old to know]
Still confused? Have some coffee.
Don’t care? Have some wine.
I’m in Seattle, Washington. It’s wall to wall coffee shops here. I can see the Space Needle from my hotel.
Am I deliriously happy? Well…no.
I’m too tired.
Theoretically the LAST thing I should be is tired, what with Seattle being the birthplace of Starbucks along with Seattle’s Best and Tully’s.
At least I’m not suicidal. It’s been gloomy and wet all day. I’m OK with rain. Snow…not so great.
You know what’s depressing? Bad Thai food. Read that again, BAD THAI, not PAD THAI. I went to a highly recommended Thai place and it ended up being Highly Americanized or perhaps Seattlized.
I ordered Chicken Pad Prik which is chicken, green beans, chili paste and a touch of peanut sauce. People raved about this place.
A touch of peanut sauce. Touch.
When you think of touch you think of light. Subtle.
Get out your favorite fruit spread cuz after I picked out the green beans and chicken you could have spread what was left and made yourself a class PBJ – Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich.
The sauce was sweet and peanutty and thick. Not spicy at all.
Ah, well. I expensed it and it really wasn’t all that bad. Just not what I expected.
The coffee is really-really good though. I’m staying in an area surround by used bookstores, used record shops, and every kind of restaurant.
I usually love the rain. I love the thrumming heaviness of a thundershower, the way it air is charged and I want to run out and be a part of the power of it all. I love howling winds and watching the way the rain hits the streets and sprays like an ocean wave against the rocks.
This is the first time I’ve experienced Seattle Rain and it’s … depressing. It’s a dripping faucet. It’s soggy sheets. It’s mildew. It’s tear-soaked tissues. It’s an intermittent plinking into galvanized buckets.
I’m tired. Can you tell?
But tomorrow is another day and what’s the day? The sun has risen. Maybe I’ll see it in Seattle. But the locals aren’t hopeful.
Maybe that’s why Seattle is the birthplace of so many coffee chains.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Seattle does sound lovely, and a lot like Warren climate-wise. I remember hearing in grade school that there are 250 days of precipitation in Warren (six months of that is either snow or freezing rain, blecht).
I think I would enjoy it there if I ever visited.
I also sympathize with you on the Thai. My first (and only) taste of Thai was in Australia. MMMmmmmm Divine! (licking my lips in the memory of it)
Hey maybe you could visit my high school friend Fran!!!!!!!!!!!!! That might cheer you up! I’m sorry your trip hasn’t been the cheeriest. I don’t think I’d do well in that climate.
I did know that about the grunge but the one I heard once was that Neil Young was “the grandfather of grunge”. I never have been able to find out if that one was true.
Sue: Local news is saying that the rain will be clearing up. The area IS nice and I had a lovely sunrise flying in. But I also was beat! It’s hard to feel uplifted when you’re tired (although somehow you barely rest during vacation and yet have tons of energy…but I’m not on vacation…)
Warren? Is there a Warren in Pennsylvania? I know someone in Warren, Ohio.
Jill: Wow, you still keep in touch with your high school friends? I don’t keep in touch with any of them. Most of the people I made friends with are from college.
Neil Young and Grunge? Huh. It’s not computing for me but from a hair point of view, maybe…
Today will be nice. I’ve caught up on sleep and had a workout and I’ll have a 20 oz coffee at the Starbucks that is ATTACHED to the hotel so I don’t even have to go outside and get wet in the remaining rain.
And it’s home to the Seahawks – that’s a good reason not to commit suicide. Talking of which I am off the NFL game at Wembley this weekend – Giants vs Dolphins. Looking forward to that one even though London doesn’t have as many coffee shops….
Alistair: long time no see! I don’t see how any place can beat Seattle when it comes to coffee shops per square foot.
Gorgeous day today … I enjoyed seeing the Space Needle surrounded by beautiful bright clouds and now everything is super bright – the sun is bouncing off the pools of rainwater on the rooftops.
Yeah…Seattle doesn’t sound too great to me. I’ve been there only once or twice, and I also thought that it was a little bit depressing to have rain for such a large part of the year. Although I guess that might be preferable sometimes to what I have now in southern California: hot and dry (which greatly contributed to the fires going on now). At least with rain you’re always fresh and good. Well as long as you don’t get flooded.
Oh and as for bad Thai food, I must say that I definitely think that expectations cause such huge disappointments because you’re (obviously) being let down. Do you think that not having expectations is the way to go? (sometimes I think that)
Seattle sounds like my kind of town. Rain does something for me. I came across someone who was into the grunge look. They went to school in Seattle. Go figure. Didn’t know the connection prior to this post.
I like how you describe your Thai experience. Here in NYC we have plently of Thai restaurants, never had a bad experience (keeping fingers crossed).
I meant “plenty” not “plently.” LOL
Derek: Well, Seattle is lovely now. Sunny (if a bit cold) and the leaves have turned color. The Space Needle is quite a sight and the place seems like a walking town (see plenty of bus stops) which is a good sign, too.
I rarely get bad Thai food. I didn’t have high expectations just regular ones based on my prior experiences. This place was a bit of a hustle – the waiters came around constantly and that peanut sauce was really-really thick.
I just had lunch at another Thai place and it was delicious and maybe just a dollar more than the other place.
UT: You probably would like Seattle. Like I mentioned to Derek, it seems like a walking town (buses) and there’s Puget Sound and mountains and right now, fall color. It has a college town vibe to it at least where I’m staying. So far lots of different foods.
There is “plently” to enjoy around Seattle!
I was tired last night and wimpy drippy type rain just added to my low energy levels! Today is brisk and there’s a lot of brightness. MUCH better.
If you want to be hip (and I already pointed out how hip you are) about grunge, talk about the band Green River. They were the taproot from which the famous bands evolved. It was still a Minnesota thing first, but if you mention that in Seattle they might get defensive.
I was only there once. I did the usual touristy stuff. With the whole suicide thing going on, it sure must be tough to be a weatherman there. “Well, folks, hope you’re feeling okay. Tomorrow’s weather, um, tomorrow… let’s just go to sports.”
I only keep in touch with three or four high school friends & barely at that. Fran I probably have the most contact with because myspace is so easy. It’s probably a little more often than the once a year Christmas card thing, if I did Christmas cards (Which I don’t – I gave up a long time ago after figuring out it only caused me grief).
I keep in touch with a few friends from college, but I quit so many colleges so many times before graduating I was bound to befriend at least someone worth hanging on to!
(Totally kidding – there are actually more of my college AND high school friends I wish I had worked harder at staying in touch with…)
the frogster: Sounds like I need to take hip lessons from YOU! You mentioned Grunge starting in Minnesota but then Wiki said it began in Seattle. So you’re way more on top of this grunge thing than I am.
Weather was really good the last couple of days. Cold but bright and sunny.
Jill: I run into a few of my high school classmates but that’s because I’ve lived in the same place all my life. I’ve made my close friends in college and through work. High school…it was a whole other life. A whole different me.
Keeping in touch with friends can be challenging.