Yesterday

gmjambear and I decided to spend the afternoon looking at the Olympic Sculpture Park on the edge of downtown Seattle by the waterfront. We began with a drive to Mercer Island to park at the Park and Ride and catch one of the express buses into town.

We got off the express bus at the International District and waited for the Waterfront Streetcar bus line (a free bus route which replaced the actual Waterfront Streetcar when, ironically enough, its car barn was demolished to make way for the Olympic Sculpture Park). While we waited, an older Asian man lectured some Asian youths who were waiting for the bus, then boarded one himself. A fellow who appeared to be taking his family on a tour of Seattle remarked that alcohol fumes preceded the older Asian man wherever he went. Later, another man, black and approaching our age, began doing tightrope walks and tap steps on and off the curb at the bus stop. Gary remarked, "It isn't just 9:30 on a Monday night" that brings out the interesting people at bus stops. "It reminds me of New York," he concluded.

Once we boarded the bus and arrived at the Sculpture Park, we saw three cruise ships making their way from the Port of Seattle: the Norwegian Star, a Holland America ship (as my dad put it after cruising on one, "some -dam ship or other"), and another which was too far away to make out her name or company.

After viewing the sculptures we were rather hungry so we stopped in a nearby Subway for lunch. Afterward we walked back to catch the Waterfront Shuttle bus again. A fellow wearing only an olive Utilikilt and shoes with a guitar slung upside-down over his back caught my eye. Gary suspected he got a lot of different reactions from people as he passed, and remarked that he himself wouldn't be comfortable going shirtless in public even if he had a body worth showing off. On our return to the International District, Gary took some pictures of the new Chinatown gate while we waited for the bus back to Mercer Island.

When we returned to the car, Gary suggested we drive over to the edge of Lid Park and find the sidewalk that goes over the floating bridge back to Seattle. We got some interesting pictures from the middle of Lake Washington. I wanted to get a picture of this incredible expanse of green lawn (and not incidentally, the shirtless young man lying on that lawn) from the bridge, but Gary nixed that idea. Afterward, we sat in the park for a few minutes and I chatted with my folks, then we went for ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery in Factoria.

Today

Right after completing my last post I went with gmjambear to the Bear Brunch at Martin's Off Madison. We had an interesting discussion about current events over brunch. Our waiter was a fellow who had sung with SMC my first two concerts with the chorus but hadn't been much seen in those parts since; he had a duet with long-time chorister Thatcher on "He Was a Friend Of Mine" from Brokeback Mountain.

After brunch as we were wrapping up our discussion, a couple of guys who looked vaguely familiar came in for lunch. Turns out they were bukephalus and his friend Bruce. I got up to introduce myself and Gary stayed seated where he was and waved when I introduced him to them. I made an attempt to sell bukephalus on our upcoming concert and we parted with a "See you online."

I mentioned to Gary on the way to brunch that we should take a look around the University District, Ravenna, and Lake City, specifically the route of the express buses I would take to work should we decide to move there. The basic idea is that we would like to move someplace convenient to a bus line to downtown Seattle as well as to my office in Bothell. There are many buses that connect the University and downtown, so from a transportation standpoint, the neighborhoods along the way between Bothell and the U District would be ideal, barring any showstoppers like major gang activity and other crime. So off we went, taking a drive north along 25th Avenue to Ravenna Way and Lake City Way, then turning around just short of Ballinger Road and heading back along 125th Street to I-5 south. No property jumped out and said "Buy me" though.

From I-5 we headed to Bellevue on Route 520 and Gary gave me an impromptu tour of the Bellevue Community College campus. He's taking a class through BCC but it is completely online: no lectures or labs on campus, so really the only reason he has to visit is to register or visit his instructor or a counselor. The campus is a very late-1960s design, with a lot of elevated walkways connecting the core buildings, a style of architecture I find fascinating even if a bit utilitarian.

Mystery solved

In our last installment, I mentioned we had but one object missing from our cross-country move in 2005, a mantel clock. Well, I found it today -- in an unlabeled box otherwise containing bits and bobs gathered from the living room and dining room at the last minute. Judging from the packing or lack thereof, my guess is that this was one of the two boxes that did not get shipped, but instead rode with our luggage in the back of gmjambear's car. Gary put a fresh battery in it and it's good as new.