Back to the T.dot

As I write this, I am waiting for my connecting flight to Toronto!! This will be my first time home since the move to Seattle. I’m pretty neutral about it, a lot has been going on here and I’m amazed at how fast the time has gone by.

The journey from Seattle to Vancouver, normally a 2.5hr drive, took only 30 minutes in the air. I got to go on another one of those propeller planes, except this time the plane was only 16000ft in the air. I got a beautiful look of Seattle and Vancouver at night. The terrain in Vancouver was extremely hilly and when cover in grid like lights, looked like something out of Futurama.

Two of my roommates are moving out of the house. The last couple of months have been unsteady there. Three of the girls are constantly fighting while M and I try to stay out of it. M found a job closer to southern Seattle and will be relocating. I’ll miss her sanity. The remaining ladies L, C and I have agreed to recruit a couple of guys to move in, so as to keep the drama between them.

Did I mention that I have a kitty? She is L’s foster pet, but did not get along with the other cat in her room, so she moved in with me. It’s great to come home to a cute little animal who really needs me. She gives me hugs and plays fetch, which is as much as you can ask for out of a cat. I miss her already! She’s getting left along in the house for four days.

I’m looking forward to seeing a couple of friends in Toronto, but this weekend is about spending time with the family. With the extra vacation days I have to take before the end of the year, I’m not sure why I didn’t extend my stay in Toronto (I’ll be leaving Sunday). Maybe once I remember what -10degC feel like I’ll be glad to return to the west. or maybe the general admission concert to Broken Social Scene will warm me up tomorrow!

Fall in Seattle

It’s been a while, I last left off at the anticipation of going on a business trip almost three months ago. I’ve been putting off on writing because I had made some entries in China and was too lazy to type it all up. Stories and events just kept piling up, and eventually discarded from my plans to get them into words.

Life in Seattle has been great for the most part. I say that with joy and gratitude. Mostly I’m glad that music is following me in my career path, something I am thankful for everyday. To be exposed to a kind of work environment where I am among passionate and talented people has been the biggest benefit here. Due to the gradual nosedive of the economy, I had to say goodbye to a few of these talented people, in particular, Rolf. They were very saddened to leave this place and I think about them often.

Remember when I wrote about the “mandolin guy” that I wanted to befriend at work? He has since become a great friend and mentor. A product manager for guitar amplifiers, he is the inspiration for new products in the biggest names in amps, working and spending time with him as allowed me to cross paths with real geniuses in the industry. Mandolin guy hereby deemed Z, has been teaching me guitar on weekends too, I am not an ideal student by any means, my attention span is a bit better than a 5 year old’s, so I’m glad he’s being patient with me.

Since my last entry, I have seen some spectacular concerts, NM and I went to Jack Johnson at the Gorge amphitheatre when he came to visit in late August, NM has since moved up to the Yukon for work. From our infrequent emails, he is enjoying his time and will forever associate me with Jack Johnson’s songs. I also saw My Morning Jacket, if you haven’t heard of them, look them up! They play soulful bittersweet rock. And the highlight of my concert experience for fall, Ray Lamontagne at the Seattle Center last Sunday. Just a simple artistic guy with a guitar, but his voice is so genuine I shed a tear during his solo performance of “Winter Birds”, you could hear a pin drop in the theatre during the song, and judging by the sniffs from the people beside me, they were equally moved. Z, who had never heard of Ray before, enjoyed the show very much. I hope our next concert will be to see his band perform!

Seattle itself is an amazing city. I am so fond of it, autumn has almost come and gone, and it was beautiful. This place might have more maple trees than Canada does! Watching the changing colours on my way to work was worth the 25 minute bike ride every day.

I’m making my second trip to Vancouver this weekend. Hope to take advantage of the cheap Chinese food and sushi.