Originally I wanted to operate a ‘focused’ blog. One with a theme. I figured that Seattle was enough of an obsession that it’d suffice. Long story short, I don’t think I will ever be capable of writing continually on one subject unless someone is paying me. With that said, I’d still like to maintain an outlet for my creativity online. And I still live in Seattle (actual Seattle now). Thus I will keep this blog and post as I wish, about whatever I wish.

The entrance ramp from 405 N to 520 E. For those of you not familiar with it, I will do my best to describe. When you exit 405, you enter a 30mph curve that takes you in almost a full circle. The curve ends basically right beside 520, forcing you to merge with oncoming traffic. This entrance is awesome. If you can’t already visualize it, you’re going 30mph and then all of a sudden you really need to be going 70mph to not get run over. That brief 5 second interval of merging onto the highway hearing the engine roar just makes driving to work a few degrees better.

Achieved. Feels great to get over that hump and get on with my life. To everyone out there still looking for employment during this downturn in our economy, I wish you the very best in your search.

I find myself wondering, as I often do, what other people in similar positions must think or feel like. I’ve lived here for over a month now, and the process of “settling in” has been much easier than you might expect. In fact, I haven’t once felt like I’ve needed to adjust to anything at all really. Strange to say, perhaps, but it’s the truth all the same. However I have noticed a certain trend in my behavior. I’ve been gaming pretty hardcore. Now this in and of itself isn’t that strange. I am a gamer at the end of the day, and it’s not uncommon for me to get really into a game. What is slightly strange is moving from one game to another maintaining the same level of intensity the entire time, like driving 100 mph down the highway blasting Rage Against the Machine followed up by Tchaikovsky at the same volume.

It might be nothing. It might just be me getting in touch with my inner gamer geek. But because of the circumstances, I can’t help but think maybe there’s something else there. Maybe this is my own personal way of feeling comfortable. After all, nothing quite feels like home as playing video games. And if that’s the case well, I can only say it has worked wonderfully. I have never once felt uncomfortable here, out of place, or homesick. This place has felt like home ever since I arrived.

So maybe everyone has their own way of imprinting their homes. Maybe everyone has their own methods for “settling in” and getting comfortable. I wonder what other people do. If I was a dog, I suppose I’d pee on a couch leg or something.

Of course, part of the reason I’ve been playing so many games might have something to do with being unemployed and out of money to do much else. I’m definitely working on that, and if we consider it part of properly settling in then I guess technically I haven’t fully settled. But I better do it soon. As much as I love Seattle, I can’t really embrace the idea of wandering it homeless.

Haven’t been writing much as of late, despite having a great many things to write about for once. Ironic. Time to break the silence though.

Earlier this week I hiked to the top of Mt. Si located in or near Snoqualmie. I went with a friend to help him shoot a brief video clip for his job, and because I thought it’d be fun. He warned me beforehand that the hike was somewhat grueling, but I took no heed, thinking to myself that a hike couldn’t be that bad even if I was a little out of shape. Guess what, I was wrong.

The trail we took was four miles long with the peak rising approximately 4,000 feet above ground. On average the slopes we hiked were between 30-50°, by my estimation, and before the first mile was even over my legs were beginning to weaken. Needless to say, the last mile was slow, as I battled with my legs in an attempt to get them to obey orders from my brain.

Getting to the top made it all worth it though, arguably. The entire trail goes through forests of evergreens, but once you hit the peak it all clears away and you can see for miles around. It was a clear day and the sight was something else to behold. Above is a picture of me resting at the peak.

I’d recommend the hike to anyone who enjoys these sorts of things. Supposedly it’s a pretty popular attraction and thus gets pretty busy on weekends and holidays. I went on a weekday and there were very few people on the trail. It also looked like an ideal place to take photographs, though I didn’t have time to fiddle around doing that on this occasion. The forests you hike through are absolutely beautiful, and the sun peeking through the canopy creates some interesting ambiance. It also struck me as a great place to meditate, providing there weren’t many people there when you went. Then again, I suppose any temperate forest or mountain peak would seem good for meditation.

Mt. Rainier as viewed from our house (slightly stylized).

I’ve arrived in Washington in one piece. I’m not sure how I did it, but here I am whole. Actually I’ve been here for about 48 hours, but I’ve been too tired/occupied to write much. The trip was.. a trip. Never experienced anything quite like it, and I don’t know that I ever want to again. Lots of driving. Average of about 13 or 14 hours a day for three days, all done by yours truly. My sister came along with, but I only asked her to drive for one or two hours one day.

There is lots to write about, most of which I have no intention of touching with a ten foot pole right now. But I did feel it appropriate to at least write that I had arrived, and I suppose it fits to make some comment about how it feels. Obviously after driving for so long and so far a distance, one becomes a bit tired, but other than that things might not be so obvious. When I entered the Seattle area, I started feeling just a bit excited, which I imagine is probably pretty normal given the circumstances. And ever since arriving there’s just been a sort of strange amalgamation of feelings composed of confusion, respite, sadness, and reverie.

The respite comes from finally reaching the destination that’s been on the calendar for such a long time. That and the feeling that comes with reaching a personal goal. It’s like a weight finally lifted off your shoulders, though I still feel a bit weary from carrying it for so long. Much of the respite also comes from the environment here, which is also responsible for the reverie. It’s one of the things I love about Washington. The forests of evergreens and the big bodies of water that just visually speak of silence and tranquility. I get a certain sense of everything being alright for no other reason than that the environment here exists as it does. Silly, I suppose.

The confusion is also probably something of a natural feeling for someone changing their circumstances to such a degree. It’s not even that I’m confused about anything in particular, but rather that there is a dull, fuzzy feeling of confusion surrounding everything. Like parts of my body are still trying to figure out where they are or something. Sort of hard to describe.

The sadness comes from saying goodbye to a world I had so very well become accustomed to, I think. I love being here, but I can’t help but recognize the lack of familiar comforts and what have you. That and job searching is never an uplifting experience.

All told, I’m happy to be here. There are so many things to look forward to on the horizon now, whereas before there never seemed to be much beyond just finishing school. If Seattle is a beach, I can’t wait to dig my toes into the sand. And oh so many things to write about now, too…

It’s finally time to say goodbye. Born and raised here, and lived here all my life. Well, San Antonio and Austin, to be exact. Been to Dallas many times, and Houston when occasion required it of me. Obviously I’m choosing to move elsewhere because I think I’ll like elsewhere more, but there are still many redeeming qualities to Texas, San Antonio, and Austin. Dallas and Houston, well… not so much.

Austin is great because it is a hotbed of free thought, if such a thing truly exists. It’s a college city, through and through. And not just any college, but the University of Texas at Austin, which is truly unique among public universities. Not so much in its various attributes but moreso in the degree with which it exhibits all of the characteristics of big university life. Everything is bigger in Texas, they say. Austin is a city where you simply cannot be surprised by anything strange or unusual occurring. The city is infinitely forgiving for any quirks you have, and actually encourages being weird. The main reasons I couldn’t live there are the traffic, which is hell on Earth, and the immaturity of the populace. Free thought is great. Immature free thought is great, to a point, but it gets old. I prefer intelligent, productive free thought, Seattle style.

San Antonio, in a way, is just as unique as Austin. Just not so blatantly and loudly. One of my favorite rappers, Slug, says of his state Minnesota, “Minnesota is dope, if only simply for not what we have, but what we don’t.” That’s kind of how I feel about San Antonio. It’s a huge city, population-wise, yet it never quite feels like a big city. A lot of people like to complain that the job opportunities here aren’t that great, since we don’t have a lot of big corporations. This is true, to an extent, but it also allows the culture to express itself in society without being so saturated with big business. San Antonio, while it lacks all the big corporations that inhabit the other major cities in Texas, also lacks the negative aspects of all those cities. San Antonio lacks much of the suffocating pollution you find in other big cities. The citizens here aren’t pretentious, exceptionally stupid or immature, or especially mainstream. It’s like people from Austin and Dallas made a compromise and moved to San Antonio, replacing mainstream corporate culture and mindless self indulgence with down to Earth local family-centric culture. San Antonio citizens are nice without being loud and obnoxious. They’re friendly without being social leeches. They’re mostly quiet, but possessive of the ability to have a good time all the same. Moreso than any other big city here, San Antonio is permeated by Mexican culture, and that’s oftentimes a refreshing change from super-charged capitalistic consumerism. Not that I don’t enjoy super-charged capitalistic consumerism, but once in awhile it’s nice to be reminded there is another way.

Texas as a whole is pretty unique because it has such a wide variety of cultures and ways of life contained within its borders. The four major cities are all very different from one another, including the average type of person you’d find at each. And in general, Texans are friendly, polite people. If I wasn’t moving to Washington, I could think of very few places where I’d rather live than Texas.

I leave tomorrow morning, although I won’t technically be out of Texas until Friday. Adios Tejas, hasta luego.

Approximately 38 hours until I start this long drive. Tick tock tick tock. Is it soon enough for me to say I live in Washington?

Getting close to the move date now. I quit my job at the end of December so that I’d have ample time to prepare for the move. The idea was such that I’d use this time to pack that which I’m taking and do something with everything that I’m not. The ‘do something’ part was really never deciphered in greater detail than that, and as a result I’ve just been making a lot of spur-of-the-moment decisions on what to do with my stuff. I decided some time ago that I would move using just my car, meaning no trailer, no U-Haul, and little to no mailing of packages. As a result I’m not planning on taking much with me when I go. Just whatever can fit in my car.

I alluded to this possibility in an earlier post, where I broke down the prioritization of belongings. And as for what I’m packing into those boxes you see in the picture, it more or less mirrors the priorities I described in that post. To summarize what I wrote there, I’m packing mostly my electronics, including gaming and computer stuff, and clothes. Aside from a few other odds, ends, and necessities, that pretty much comprises the entirety of what I’m taking with me. It feels a little bit weird to set aside my collection of books yet pack boxes filled with nothing but spare computer cabling, but there’s good reason for my decision in this regard.

Much of what I’m not taking, if not the majority of it, is getting trashed or given away. I oftentimes wonder how other people feel about throwing things away. And not just anything, but the things you throw away that one time had value. The things that are hard to throw away. I tend to think I’m pretty good about letting things go, but even I have to pause for a moment before trashing things that hold very potent memories. Another obstacle appears when you throw away things that work, are not that old, or are in good condition. Many of the things I am throwing away or giving away are things I could probably sell for some meager sum of money if I so chose. Many of them I paid good money for to acquire. It felt strange to throw out my collection of music cds and dvd movies, for instance. At the end of the day though, the hardest things to trash are by far the ones that hold memories. Nevertheless I feel a certain responsibility inside of me to get rid of most of these items, as if I’m trying to avoid bogging myself down with the muck of nostalgia. Make no mistake, cleaning out the room you grew up in is an exercise in rigorous self discipline.