Previously on the Darren show...

I went to Seattle for an orthodontic convention a couple of weeks ago. Like I've told people, it's a pretty city, but not too cool. I stayed in a little dive hotel a couple blocks from the Space Needle, and the town is so small I was pretty much able to walk everywhere.

In the shadow of the Space Needle are both the Science Fiction Museum and the Pacific Science Center.

I first saw The Day the Earth Stood Still at the Sci-Fi Movie Fest at the Music Box a month ago. And here was Gort:

Since the Science Center was showing Spider-Man 3 in I-Max for less than I'd pay to see it in any theater in Chicago, and since I was flying solo that afternoon, I went in and saw it. Check out what was all over the walls of the bathroom:

That night, Isaac kicked my ass well and good while playing pool. Five times in a row, until the bar closed and kicked us out.

I think I-5 is the freeway that runs right through downtown Seattle. If you walk out the south side of the Washington Convention Center, you're in Freeway Park. It overhangs I-5, and while I could hear the traffic, there was none visible. It wasn't until I walked off the path and past a few trees and looked over a wall that I realized why the traffic was so loud. It's restful to have green spaces with such a secluded feel; I don't think we have such a deliberate clash of brutal urban architecture and greenery in Chicago.

Looking down First Hill:

People in Seattle weren't as friendly as in Chicago. It was definitely a different feel. It was odd to be in a city where the bicyclists all signalled their turns and didn't compulsorily lock their bikes up, and everyone obeyed the crossing signals even when no cars were coming. I talked to one guy, in fact, who was given nasty looks for crossing against the cross-walk.

I did Critical Mass with Danny and Tom for the first time in two months a few weeks ago. Such a blast, although I did accidentally drop and break an (empty) beer bottle.

Here we are heading north on Dearborn:

Tourists...

...who realize they aren't the only ones taking pictures.

I broke away from the Mass early so I could catch Propagandhi's set at the Abby. The crowd sucked, and they played a lot of songs off their latest and definitely not greatest, Potemkin City Limits. Still, I got into it during the old songs, although there were definitely a lot of Fat Wreck musclehead fans there. And $20 for a T-shirt? Fuck that. The designs weren't even that good.

I had one beer during the show at WNUR last night, but was still a little buzzed a few hours later. I think this is due to two factors:

1) I've been drinking less, so my tolerance has dropped
2) A 22oz., 8% abv beer is equal to about four regular beers

This is not the beer I was drinking. Laura W. and I polished most of this bad boy off late on a Friday night a few weeks ago. I think it knocked us on our asses pretty well.

I was rereading a novel I'd bought used several years ago, and at the end was a picture of Marta from four years ago, around when we first started dating. I must have used it as a book mark way back when. I was surprised at how forceful my emotional response was. I wanted to look at it and remember what I'd lost, but at the same time was very fearful that it would hurt me to do so. After I finished the book, I took a look at it, closely. It didn't match my memory of the time. My memory is nicer, probably because I don't have blinders on at the moment. I'd not seen Marta for almost two years, and I burned every picture of her I could find after we broke up as well. So it was nice to have a little confirmation that I'm definitely better off now without her, as lonely as I feel sometimes.

Since Chuck Wren usually doesn't show until after 10pm for Ska Night, I've decided I'm going to spin from 9pm until his arrival. I did it last week, he seemed grateful, I got a couple-three free drinks out of it and had fun playing music. Then I bought an $18 bottle of beer (plus tip) and pretty much knocked myself on my ass with it. The bicycle was definitely weaving a bit on the ride home that night.

Long-time readers probably won't remember the gorgeous girl I mentioned when I last spun Ska Night, in December, so check this old post out if you'd like background. Anyway, I think she was there at Ska Night last week, but with a guy who was obviously her boyfriend, by the low-key PDA going on.

I finally picked up my Vespa the other week. In early 2006 I started planning on getting one after I finished my residency, but my friend Patty told me to just go ahead and get it since we only live once - at least in our cosmology. So I started saving up for it last summer, mostly via student loans. And then I found out I need a motorcycle license for the model I wanted, with the 150cc engine - my dad wanted me to have something I could out-accelerate most tailgaters with. By the time I was able to take a rider course, get a license, and order the damn thing, it was already early May of 2007. And now I have it.

I've put about a hundred miles on it in the 2-3 days I've had the opportunity and cause to ride it - I still want to keep up the bicycling since the bike gets infinitely better mileage than does the Vespa. I've been up to Wilmette and out to Oak Brook on it, and spent the first 20 miles or so riding around the city, getting a feel for it. I took it to school one day last week where I didn't want to get super-sweaty riding my bike there in the heat, and it's pretty nice to just ride around the gate to exit the parking garage.