So I woke up this morning (late, since I desperately needed to catch up on sleep after a crazy week at work), showered and dressed quickly, grabbed my stuff while running through my daily mental checklist ("Wallet, keys . . . oh, in the bedroom, phone . . . oh, crap . . . oh, in my pocket . . . okay"), and walked outside to find a grayer and rainier day than we've had in months. Summer is coming to a rapid end. I should have been upset, probably. And, to be honest, there was an element of "I'll have to find my umbrella . . . I LOST my umbrella on the bus six months ago . . . shit, I'll have to BUY an umbrella!" But mostly, without even thinking about it, like a gut reaction, I was just happy. The traditional Northwest weather that I, for some reason, love so much was back. There's something wonderful about a gray, rainy Seattle Saturday. Everything's foggy and misty, and you can just huddle up somewhere and feel like there's nothing in the world but you and the cup of coffee warming your chilly hand and the book you're reading or the homework you're doing or the nap you're taking or the friends you're with. So even though my car was a foggy wreck (the defogger is kind of a piece of crap), I was happy to see the rain.
I went with my friends Kristine and Mary from work to see the Inspiring Impressionism exhibit at SAM today. The art was pretty cool, and it was interesting to see that the impressionists were not as avant-garde as lots of people think they are (nothing is, really), but I thought the exhibit itself was way too crowded. I like to be able to just wander around museums without having to worry about bumping into people, read the labels on the paintings without having to crane over ten people's shoulders, and just stand and look at a painting for awhile without looking like a pretentious asshole, and it's easier to do those things if you're virtually the only person in the museum. There was one little girl that I thought was just absolutely adorable though. She couldn't have been more than ten or so. She was wearing a dress with skinny stripes in various shades of orange and pink with some rainbow striped tights (the dress and tights clashed horribly), and she had this long braid of hair down her back, and she was wandeirng around without any adult visibly nearby, just staring at paintings with this serious expression on her face. Not only do I love to see kids who aren't afraid to do something nerdy and awesome like wander through a museum without looking like they're bored stiff and were dragged there at gunpoint by their parents, but she was just so awkward and mismatched that she ended up being totally charming, at least to me.
After the exhibit, we went to Pike Place for lunch. We ended up eating at Pike Place Chowder in Post Alley. They had vegan chowder with cocconut milk and tons of vegetables. It was delicious and the service was quick. It was a little pricey, though (I paid slightly over $9 for chowder in a bread bowl).
So here's to friends, hot soup in a sourdough bread bowl, art, and rain. Also, here's to my first-ever entry on this blog, hopefully the first of many!!! And now I must go to bed, since it's already 1a.m. (there needs to be more hours in weekend days than there are in weekdays, just a thought).
