The Underground Tour

As promised, I will now tell you about the tourist-traps in Seattle that I actually liked. I know that all of the... one or two... of you have been just dying to get my take. I have to say, I loved the underground tour. The tour guides are charming and hilarious. You pick up a lot of fascinating Seattle history (our founders were CRAZY). My favorite bit was the story of the... ahem... sewing industry in the early days. It was lovely. Also, there is a bar.

The Crocodile

This fabulous little music venue used to be one of Seattle's greatest music-type-dives. Then it mysteriously closed up shop about a year ago. It has reopened with a pretty swanky new interior, and it is hosting some amazing shows. I saw Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground (a great Seattle band), as well as The Builders and the Butchers there the other night. It was lovely. The floor is small enough that those of us who barely break five feet don't get swallowed up in the crowd, unable to see anything. They also have a great balcony space, if you (as a fellow vertically-challenged human being) want an even better view. The bartenders are great; the drinks are reasonably priced; overall, I'm in love with the place.

Dooce

Dooce.com is a blog run by Heather Armstrong. I suppose it would fall into the category of a mommy-blog, but it is so much more than that. She is a former-Mormon living in Utah (an experience I know well). Her writing is funny, engaging, and poignant. I met her last night at a reading for her new book, It Sucked, and then I Cried, about her experience with postpartum depression. She was brilliant and hilarious (and very pregnant). She read an excerpt from her blog about being in Washington years ago. It was about a fart. I would recommend her blog and books to anyone, whether or not you dig the mommy-blog bit.

The Space Needle

Have you ever noticed that when you live in a city, even if you are new to it, you tend not to see all of the tourist-y things it has to offer? I've found this to be the case here, but the solution to the problem is to have someone from out of town to come to visit. Last week, my dear friend from Kansas was here, so we went to see all of the sights. Some were amazing, and those I will talk about later. I have to say, though, that the Space Needle, the iconic building that anyone in the country can identify as ours, is a complete waste. You pay $16 (no student discount) for a two minute elevator ride, and a somewhat pleasant view of the city. And, of course, coffee, food, and tchochkes are incredibly overpriced at the top. I've been told that there is a building downtown which costs all of two or three dollars to go to the top, and has a better view (I don't actually remember which one it is, but I will let you know). So, the moral of the story is, don't waste your money.

Battlestar Galactica

I was a late comer to the whole BSG craze. The series just ended, and I've only seen the opening miniseries. But, I can tell you, this show is my new obsession. All three hours of the miniseries are riveting. The plot races along, but the characters are still very well-developed and three-dimensional. Even if you don't love Sci-Fi (or SYFY, as the channel now calls itself), this show is brilliant. Watch it.

The Best Show

Simply not the best. So, on TBTL(if you don't know it, check it out NOW), they occasionally have call-taking segments. They don't screen calls, and people are allowed to talk about anything they want to. Most of the time, it is quite entertaining, and occasionally it is a train wreck. But, when that happens, they know when to cut it off, and the banter afterward makes the whole experience delightful. The Best Show is like a train-wrecky call in segment on TBTL that lasts for THREE HOURS, and has no witty banter to make up for the thoroughly un-entertaining calls. Ugh. Not even funny while high.

Pizza Brava

This is one of the eight-million-and-six pizza joints on the ave. It is definitely not the best. The pizza (post oven re-heating) has an odd, gummy texture. There is some seating, but it's not particularly comfortable, kind of a high-school-cafeteria vibe. It is, however, cheap, so that's a plus in a pinch.