Category Archives: Friends

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Didn’t Even Use My AK

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So one event in our super duper fun week was that we went and shot guns. They actually have ‘Ladies Night’ over at Wade’s Shooting Range… all that sounded to me was unsafe.

(Tangent – Wade’s? In TX, it was Red’s. Are all gun ranges owned by guys with cool hilarious first names?)

I had never ever shot a gun before. As opposed to the people we went with, that brought their own. Fancy guns too. We had Thai for dinner first. That’ll rev you up- or something.

The guys there basically showed me how to load and cock the thing. And the rest, well, I was supposed to figure out myself. That was a little strange to me. MK and NN and MP were all there to guide me, but the first 9mm that I shot scared the crap out of me. Then the second time, the shell fell down my shirt. Those are hot. I also realized I kept closing my eyes and freaking out a little. So I stopped. I felt like a giant wuss. MK went to get me a smaller caliber gun. NN decided to let me shoot a bigger gun. I did it. It was hilarious to see MK come back with a .22 (smaller gun) and I’m in there shooting a .45 (bigger gun). He was confused.

For whatever reason, the .45 was much easier to shoot. Less kickback or something. The best part was getting the body target. NN drew a mean face and made it so the ‘body’ was giving us the finger, so I would hit it. I actually got the guy right in the heart, over and over…and over. I was a pretty good shot with the little gun.

Other than that, what I learned was that every woman (and man for that matter) should go shoot a gun, in case they might ever need to, so they don’t freak out in a real life situation. I kept imagining real life situations where I’d be shooting – much to the dismay of the hardcore mean chick that kept rolling her eyes at me. She apparently shoots for ‘recreation’. Whatever. I shoot to LIVE lady.
😉

This is me shooting:

shootin.jpg

This is the other big gun I shot:

gun.jpg

This is the giant gun I did NOT shoot:

big-gun.jpg

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Random Photos

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Since there are so many things that I’ve done this week and want to share with you, I started with the easiest – the individual pictures. We spend most of the first of NN’s day in Seattle doing the ‘touristy’ stuff.

Here’s my favorite that I’ve ever taken at the Fremont Troll:

Fremont Troll

And here’s a good one of the Pike’s Place Fish Mongers:

pikesmarket.jpg

The Space Needle at night from my roof:

night.jpg

And a wind surfer over at Alki Beach:

surfer.jpg

As usual, these will get bigger if you click on them!

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Five Thousand Stories

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It’s going to be complicated relating my past week to you, as I’ve had more firsts and more excitement than in quite some time. Of course, it’s always more fun to share through pictures. Thing is, we took something like 257 399 (per comment). So it’s going to take a little while for me to find the best ones. I did however, download Picasa, Google’s free picture editing software. I love it already. I just have to figure out how to use it…

Here’s an example of our fun, the fact that NN knows more people in Seattle than we do:

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Common Goals

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Recently at a party, MK was telling the story of his old roommate, the sweetest guy ever. He was independently wealthy and a college student for life. Well, MK’s going on and mentions our favorite fact about the guy, “His goals in life were to try to amass every college credit there, and to find the perfect third ingredient for Mac and Cheese.” This always make me laugh, since there’s a nice little dichotomy between those things.

Apparently, it’s not as outrageous as I thought. Party-goers all began shouting their most obvious answers.

“Hot dogs!”
“Crackers!”
“Peas!”
“Salsa!”
“Hot Wings!”
“I like carrots.”
“Lemon Pepper, totally!”

I couldn’t breathe, stuck in that silent laugh I get when I’m totally shocked. So, I learned that many more people have tried this than I imagined.

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And We Danced

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So, I went to that dance class the other night. It was a small studio near Greenlake. With no air. What is it with these people? They tell me it’s not that hot, then we’re all sweaty and gross. Right. MK thought I must have danced like crazy. I couldn’t tell if I got any exercise or was just too hot.

We warmed up. A lot. It was kind of fun to be able to do all the sit ups and push ups and such, something I wouldn’t have been able to do a while back. But that was enough. Then we stretched, and flexed, and stretched to music… I understand they don’t want you to hurt yourself but maybe it should be your responsibility to limber up a few minutes before you get there. Because, when is the dancing? I got a little worried, it was getting late. You could tell we got rushed on time pretty quickly. We learned an 8 count for about 15 minutes, then one more for 5, and then 16 counts practically walking out the door. I might remember a few moves. Maybe.

Don’t get me wrong, it was fun. It’s been, about.. 12 years since I did any formal dancing classes, which reminded me I’m clumsy! And I can’t catch on as easily as I used to! which all =

I’m getting older.

Ugh.

MW’s friend brought 4 girls so it was like being at home with a workout tape, not all that intimidating, but by the end I gave up trying to look like a hip hop dancer. And realized I haven’t been out to a dance club since Austin. And you lose your ability to shake your money maker. So I either don’t set foot in a club again, or I am going to look like “THAT LADY”. Yikes.

elaine dancing
www.ohiopike.com

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Meet The Peeps

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There’s a party brewing in the building. Sounds fun, right? But what do you wear? What do you bring? How much do you drink? I’ve never lived in a building. And not one that had parties. To meet strangers. And, the median age in this place is 89, unless you’re gay. Then you’re hot, and rich, but not my type. At least that is a sign there will be good wine…

The building is getting busier and busier. That should also be good, but so far only means less parking, more people enjoying my roof, less room in the elevator, longer waiting for the elevator, and more people looking at me funny in the gym when I sing out loud. Oops.

So those will be the people I’m meeting. The ones that don’t talk in the elevator, the guy that parks in my spot – who I won’t be able to determine unless I go around asking people what they drive – which I’m considering!– etc. I’m bringing Two Buck Chuck.

I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes.

old man on scooter
www.flickr.com

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True Love

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There is no perfect way to start this great, awesome, lovely story. For that, I apologize. Just stay with me.

You will remember that when AC was here, we ran around all day and shopped.

You will also remember, that I found very little, but kept trying.

Finally, recall this post, wherein I debate the creepiness of my inner voyeur.

Well, what do I get in the mail yesterday, delivered, addressed to Mrs. Famous, other than

  1. A wallet, which I had been looking for and not been able to find, the kind that looks like a cigarette case but cooler.
  2. A magazine, full of shoes, and even labeled as to which might be appropriate so I make no mistakes in my picking and choosing.
  3. BINOCULARS!!!!!!!!

I’m fairly certain that there has never been a better care package sent to me besides my Grandma’s cookies, which will always be #1. But this is a close second. I love mail, so this was all the more special, as was the Ghostland CD that KD sent me. I feel loved. My friends are super awesome.

ladies.jpg

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First Time For Everything

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Oh, what a night. Here are the highlights.

Friday night, CD picked me up straight off the ferry and we made our way over to the Old Pequliar. I have to say, I have been to more pubs in this city than any, ever. There are so many. There’s one guy coming to visit me that is going to be very, very happy to hear that. Anyway, there were a ton of people there. And a cowboy. The cowboy wasn’t with us, but he (besides his pants) was cute. So us girls, we talked about him. A lot. Since I’m the married one, it fell upon my shoulders to go hand him a phone number of one of the other girls. He wasn’t very cowboy, he was from CA. After living in TX, I think somehow that’s the only place they really come from. That about rapped that up for me.

Anyway, we proceed to play darts, my team winning 3 of 4 games. When the party dies down a little, we relocate to Belltown, a bar called the Black Bottle. I don’t know why these things don’t happen when MK’s here, but CD was hit on big time. Or something.

By a drag queen.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that…

Right. I have to cross watching that off my “I never” list.

If that wasn’t odd enough, there was also my first conversation with a real live LA hipster, Indian. Between the sentences “You shut up” and “Don’t go there” he talked about the weather. Yikes. There might have been a couple “No you didn’t”s, I didn’t know people still said that.

CD also had the fortune of meeting a couple whose main features were “he drives a Porsche” “this is our first date” “no, we’re married” and “this time I don’t think he’s going to hit me”. Where do these people come from?

CD also got to learn my special secret after a night out drinking, when we returned to my place, and I made spaghetti.

drag queen
www.imageshack.us

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Going

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We’re already having a better time than you! This is going to be the best weekend ever! Yesterday is the longest day of my life. AC and I were up at six (in the morning), after picking her up at the airport the night before, driving through the city, and wine on the roof. It was glorious yesterday. We walked down to the water and down the trails that I take to run. We walked up and back through the market to get a glimpse, but it was still too early. We went home and got ready to go back out. I learned what shop till you drop really means, we were out all afternoon and at our late lunch it was tough to get back up out of the booth. We took her to Kerry Park, the best view of the city that I’ve seen yet. Back home we cooked out on the roof and had general fantastic times. My favorite guy in the building spent some time giving us Sasquatch tips. Of course, besides all this general information, was the guy that rapped to me about my shirt, the Andes Mountain band and dancers, the gutter punks, the tights debacle, the America’s Next Top Model photo shoot, the dying puppy, and the girly-let’s-play-dress-up that ensued when we got home with new clothes.

Unfortunately, since the day was so long, we decided to take a very brief little nap to regain our stamina. Which means I was reading a book, when RD called to let us know the day was going to be longer – his plane was delayed (he says the official announcement was ‘the plane is broken, we’re getting a new one’). That was around 9, and we got him at about 1. So I’m on maybe two hours sleep, I’ve already made breakfast, and when KD gets here, she won’t be able to see the floor of the living room. It’s a zoo of excitement. We’re coming back here for mimosas, we’ll run around the city, go to a cookout, and stay out as long as we can knowing it’s a three hour road trip to the Gorge tomorrow. Whoa.

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Here We Go

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Cleaning 100 square feet shouldn’t be taking this long, but we don’t own a vacuum. I’m getting creative. Flapping the floor mats outside on the balcony is way more funny when you are 16 stories up. We have RD and AC coming in tomorrow night, and KD the next morning. LC and RD too, of SXSW fame, but they’re staying with another friend. Which is really good, due to the 100 square feet. We’re going to rock paper scissors for the couch, guys…

The weather has been pretty crappy for the last two days, so I’m hoping it gets over it when they arrive so we can run around like little crazies. Even though MK and I don’t have this whole place figured out, there are those things we have seen that we know we have to share. And there’s so little time! SH has so kindly invited us for a cookout, and then we’re taking our mini road trip out to Sasquatch. I’m even relieved to inform you no one will be ‘sleeping under the stars’, we’ve all got our tents and thermal undies ready to go.

As always, I promise to take great notes and get back to you, even if you don’t hear from me until next Wednesday, think gladly about how much fun you know I must be having. I am on my way to shop for the necessities:

fridge of beer
www.chriscurtis.org