A very cliche day

I'm in Seattle and it's raining out--not a hard rain, a spittle--but it's cloudy and the mountains are hidden in haze and I'm drinking Chai tea from a paper cup with a big logo on it and even though it's NOT Starbucks it feels very much like Starbucks what with the coffee shop ambiance and plastic-framed-glasses wearing patrons and the easy listening music (John Cougar Mellencamp back when he still used the "Cougar") playing softly behind the whir of froth-making coffee/tea equipment. I'm taking a breather at Online Coffee Co. from an afternoon at the Pike's Street Market with some fabulous fish-throwing theatrics and a stop at a kick-ass independent book store. S met me for lunch at noon at a Mexican restaurant in the Queen Anne district. We sat by the window and he gave me some entertaining although not at all true history of the city: "the long, low brick hotel across the street from us was built in 1842 as a brothel and some nights you can still hear the wails and moans of the prostitute ghosts from the street."

My flight arrived yesterday about 45 minutes late. We boarded more or less on time but because of headwinds we flew up into Canada, somewhere over British Columbia, and then back down into Seattle. S picked me up and we went right to the Irish pub, Fado, where we (me, Ship, Lily I, Lily II, Laura, and Shane) took part in the weekly trivia game. Since it is so close to St. Patrick's Day all the trivia was Irish/Ireland related so my pop culture skillz were pretty much useless. Tonight we're having seafood and tomorrow we'll do an underground tour, kayaking, happy hour and getting drunk.

I've been pretty busy eating all the good food I come across, drinking lots of Harp and Pinot Grigio, oh and then eating some more.

Despite the general gloom of the weather I can see why Seattlites argue for the city's charm and get defensive when people say, "how can you live with that constant rain?" It's not a flat city. The streets are hills and they give it depth. The buildings are intricate and interesting, maybe because the city is so relatively new; many homes are craftsman and all the homes have huge, wall-sized windows. Pink-white cherry trees sprout up from the sidewalks and decorate homes in Magnolia where S and L live.

I could live here. Well, I could live anywhere, but I could enjoy living here.