My neighbor is the crazy Belltown gunman

I've lived in Belltown since I have moved to Seattle. Sure we have our crackheads, our prostitutes, our drug dealers. They are all scary, sure, but with the exception of asking for money, keep to themselves.

Well, last night I was with some friends at Del Rey, Belltown Pizza. It was a typical Thursday Belltown night where we were sharing some beers and having a good time in our local neighborhood.

As I was heading home, I saw my block was just swarming with police. Seriously, maybe 15 cop cars, a swat vehicle, bike cops galore. The whole part of 2nd Ave was shut down between Bell and Blanchard. I did not realize it was my actual apartment until I asked a cop if I could go home and he said no, I could hang out on the street corner but it should not be too longer as they were in his apartment.



I was not sure what was going on, other than what people were saying on the street. But apparently, my white haired neighbor with whom I have shared the elevator with a dozen times, was brandishing a gun and was held up in his apartment.

Really? A neighbor? My building does background checks and credit checks before anyone can move in. You have to use your key to enter the building and even to use the elevator. I thought I was perfectly safe in my concrete fortress in the middle of the city. Never did I think I would have to fear the neighbor in apartment #304.










When I woke up this morning I read the news and found out a bit more info. Apparently, the police found 16 guns from his apartment, according to the Seattle Times.

I am not sure, but I would have to guess this inmate is the gunman. He is the only person booked on weapons charges after midnight last night.

I do want to say this though, crazy gunman can be anywhere - the city, the burbs, churches, schools and everywhere in between. I know that, but yet, now I just feel a little less safe in my haven.'

Oh, funny bonus, here is the KIRO7 video and my friend Ed and I are in the back waiting to get in the building. As soon as they were trying to interview, I was out of the way. No one needs my drunky talk on camera ;)

My life is too random

So, it's late. I live in the downtown part of a major city and it's warm out. I have my windows open and I hear the woo's and the of girls leaving the bars on First Ave. Car doors are slamming and I am pretty sure a crackhead is peeing in my alley.

I am eating hasbrowns because that was about the only thing in my freezer that sounded OK. I had a piece of pizza at Belltown Pizza, but that wasn't enough. It was not hunger, as it's too hot to be hungry. It's more to help me sober up, as I drank too much.

My night was crazy. Red Wings meet up at Buckley's, shots at Del Rey, Belltown meetup at Rob Roy, Del Rey again for party, dancing, drinking, whatever. Belltown Pizza for late night food.

I wish I could get more into it, but it's too much for now. Maybe tomorrow I'll blog about my events.

I need to say this thought. Today was the first time I realized... I do not need Ryan in my life... Part of me is sad about that but most of me is OK with it. It's important. I feel like me again, finally. Hope this feeling stays.

Oh, I give mass hugs when I am drunk???

Bedlam Coffee Opens in Belltown - Yea!

So, I have to give a quick disclosure... I am not a coffee drinker. I drink tea. Having said that, they have 6 or 7 teas and the two I have tried were yummy. I have heard from my friends that their coffee is quite good, but you will have to try for yourself.

Bedlam Coffee is the newest addition to Belltown, and I am super happy about that. I love the feel of this place. The furniture is mismatched and recycled, kind of makes you feel like you are in your first college house, or your weird Great Aunt's living room, very comfortable. KEXP plays at an unobtrusive volume which is perfect as background noise. There are cool/weird/crazy decorations that are just interesting to look at and discuss with your friends. The walls are adorned with pieces from local artists. Also, the owners are super nice!

Bedlam has a bunch of snacks on the menu like Hummingbird Cake, Cookies, Cobbler, and dessert-ish items. Most look pretty good, though I have not tried any yet.

In addition to the sweets, they have toast. OK, this might sound weird, but toast is one of my favorite foods ever. I have it almost everyday and I am particular. The toast I just had, amazing. Who uses amazing to describe something as simple as toast?? Well, try the toast at Bedlam and you will understand.

Other notable cool things - Bedlam has their twitter stream, @bedlamcoffee, running on the menu screen. Their bathroom has real toilet paper, not that crap thin stuff (this is a big bonus for a girl!)

Bedlam is open until 10:00pm on weeknights and weekends they are open all night long! Even though I will probably not visit Bedlam at 3am on a Saturday night, it makes me feel safer that a business is open on the block that late, as I feel that may deter crime just a bit.

One more thing, Bedlam has a secret. They will not tell you where they get their beans. Personally, I think it's kind of cool, but some people might have a problem with this? I say, really, do you care? Not like you are going to get the beans and roast them yourself at your house. When you eat a steak, do you demand to know where the cow came from? Get over it, try the coffee. If you like it, drink it.

Bottom line, Bedlam has a great vibe, something like hanging out in someone's house, that you will not get at a place like Starbucks. On top of that great drinks and great snacks.

Oh, and GET THE TOAST!

From Blog Pics

(pictured with marionberry jam, so good)

From Blog Pics

From Blog Pics

(sorry about the grainy cell phone pics)

Gambas - New Japanese/French fusion in Belltown

My friend Ed and I wanted to check out Gambas, a new restaurant in Belltown. The restaurant opened on 3rd Avenue at Bell, where Mom's Teriyaki used to reside. The restaurant says it is a Japanese/French fusion, but we really only checked out the sushi.

We walked in about 7:10PM, and there was no wait, as we were the only patrons. We were immediately greeted in a friendly manner by the waitress (Sally) and the sushi chefs.

Here is what I liked - Green Tea is free, prices are very affordable (especially for Belltown), service was excellent, rolls tasted great, portion sizes were large,
open for lunch, they DELIVER!

The look of the restaurant is clean and simple. Many tables are available, as is a sushi bar with a large (muted) flat screen TV, which is perfect for those that lunch alone.

What could be improved - no happy hour (I hear they are working on that), need alcohol (working on it).

We ordered a ton of sushi and miso soup. We totally gorged ourselves and even had leftovers.

From Blackberry Shots

Here is the breakdown:

2 Seattle Tempura Rolls
1 Cucumber Roll
1 Avocado Roll
1 Salmon Roll
1 Yellowtail/scallion Roll
1 Spicy Tuna Roll
1 Salmon Skin Roll
1 Order (2 pieces) Salmon Sushi
1 Order (2 pieces) Roe
2 Miso Soups

Our bill was about $60 with tip (no drinks)!

It was amazing sushi! The prices were less than most other Belltown sushi places and the quality was high. And to top it off, they offered us complimentary dessert. I chose the Green Tea Mochi, delicious. I doubt that will promo last long, I think it was a special for living in the neighborhood and the fact that we promised to tell our friends.

Also, I need to say this - their spicy Tuna rolls do not have Mayo (for those of you that know, I LOATHE mayo!) and their sushi pieces are large cuts. I hope it stays that way.

Gambas does not have a liquor license yet, but they said their temp one should show up in about 2 weeks. Apparently they will carry wines and beers first, then a full bar.

All in all, Gambas is a great addition to Belltown. They might have more traditional rolls than Umi Sake House, but they have yummy foods at very affordable and "non-Belltown" prices. I am excited to visit again and explore their entree menu, as it looked very appetising.

Please, go visit this restaurant so it will stick around!

Yesterday my friend James and I met up and went to Leschi to a park there and worked on his screenplay a little, and just talked about random stuff. We also pretended we were little kids and we found swings and had a good old time.

From 2008-07-12 Le...

Last night I met up with a friend, Moss, and his friends at Twist. They were just finishing up there, so I was kind of just in and then out. We walked over to Karma and had a few drinks there ($10 drinks at Karma is no fun!!) and we danced a little bit. Then Moss and I ran to my house which was only a few blocks away so I could switch purses, weird, I know. Then we went back to Karma, where Moss stole a blinking Ciroc Ice Cube, then to Del Ray, but there was a line, then Twist, there was a line, and Moss and I decided we wanted to go dancing, and his friends wanted to go to Amber or somewhere, so we split for a little bit.

Moss and I went over to Twilight Martini Lounge, which, let me tell you... wow, um, I probably will never go there again. That's all I can say about that. Though we did dance a bit, and Moss bought a bunch of drinks for us, oh and he stole the second thing of the night... a Corona...

We ended up meeting up with his friends, but I cannot remember if we went to another bar, too. Then we went to my house so I could get some stuff cuz I was going to head to Fremont with them, and Moss told me he would drive me home in the AM and to grab sleep things, so I grabbed a toothbrush, flip flops, pajamas, etc.

We went to Fremont, hit the hookah a bit, I made a banana and honey sandwich and we eventually passed out. Moss drove me home at like 7:30, because he had a cricket game and now I am trying to go back to sleep, but it is not working!

Last night I met my friend Ed at Del Rey. We watched the Pistons lose terribly... sad... and then during the commercials I would switch to the Wings game. They won. After Del Ray we ran to QFC in Capitol Hill, picked up some beer and a fire log.

We hung out in the courtyard behind Ed's place. A bunch of his neighbors were out and we were grilling and had a small bonfire. One thing I noticed about Cap Hill, neighbors were hanging out together! I have not experienced that in Belltown yet. I see my neighbors on my rooftop deck, and yet we never really interact. Us Belltowners are weird. I should move.

We drank beers and I went to Ed's house to season the chicken we had to BBQ and I walked into the wrong apartment! In my defense, they all have the same layout and look exactly the same. I was in the wrong building, but the correct apartment, actually. I think Ed's neighbor seemed a bit surprised, but he was nice. I asked him to join us, he declined.

Finding firewood in Capital Hill is not easy, even though there are a million trees around. We ended up burning an old cutting board, cardboard and other random things. It was fun, but I got tired so I took a cab home.

I also got a bit text-ie... which is never a good idea when you have been drinking... but it was a good experience... this time ;)

Today I met my friend Blake at Uptown Espresso in Belltown. We hung out there for a few then we walked over to Blake's apartment, which was strangely familiar, as I had been in the building before...

We took a drive to Alki Beach, and he has a convertible, but I was OK with it... though he is a crazy driver! Well, I think everyone is a crazy driver! We went to Cactus Restaurant for lunch. OK, they have amazing guacamole!

After that we walked along Alki for a bit, it was a beautiful day out and the mountains seemed so close, as if you could reach out and touch them. We drove back to Blake's in Belltown... I hung out there for a bit, took a video of his cat doing a trick...



Then I walked home, stoppped at Endless Knot to see if there were any dresses that stood out... now I am home and I just took a Benedryl because of the cat allergies. I probably will need a nap, but the Pistons are on in a few... and I must watch!

Dan and I went fishing on Pine Lake in Sammamish again yesterday. This time it wasn't very busy. Pine Lake is just far enough out of Seattle to be "country" but not too far of a drive. It was beautiful, and full of wild life.

So, after fishing for a bit, and getting pointers from the avid fishermen that were almost at limit for the day, Dan finally caught a fish! Naturally it was when I took a bathroom break, so I missed the action, but here is proof!

Also, we saw a Bald Eagle try to swoop and get a duckling. It never succeeded because some kids in a rowboat came and saved the duck. Truth be told, I kind of wanted to see it happen. The bald eagle was huge though, and not a site you would see everyday back home. Apparently there is a decent population here, though. Besides the bald eagle, there was a large loon flying about and swooping fish. I felt like I was camping, but we were about 25 mins from Belltown!





When we were driving back from fishing, we were on 1st Ave by the Stadiums, and some guy on a unicycle cut us off. Seriously, Dan totally could have hit him. Really, who rides a unicycle around town, and who cuts car traffic off in one? He crossed the road when we had a green light and he had a red!

On the way to my house, Dan and I went to Metropolitan Market to get some dinner since that trout was not going to feed us both, then back to my house, played some Wii, and then gutted the fish on the balcony. OK, Belltown apartment balconies are not made to gut fish. It was so gross. We did not exactly know how to do it, so we went on youtube, found a video and tried to copy it. Um, we - wait, I should say Dan - was not as good as the guy on the video, but he did do a pretty decent job. It was so gross though, here is the video!





We cooked the trout and made dinner. It was pretty good, not a lot of meat and you had to pick the bones out, but it was very fresh and yummy. Then we played Wii and the Wii boxing I was getting all into and even sweating. Yes, I am addicted to my Wii.

We also watched this movie - Into the Wild. I really liked it. It is about this "rich" kid who gives away all of his possessions, except what he needs for the road, and just travels for two years before ending up alone in the Alaska Wild. It was very long, but good. I suggest watching it. I kept talking about it today... analyzing it. Oh also, it is based on a true story.

After that, we passed out.

This morning I made breakfast for us with these eggs I got from Metro Market - um, out of 4 eggs, 2 had twins! Then I looked at the package and it said Double Yolk Alert. These eggs say that are all natural, but really, can they be with all the double yolks and hugeness of the egg?

On of the funny things about Seattle is - when there is a nice day, take advantage of it, because you do not know when another one will come around!

I did just that. I went to Charlie's apartment in Leschi and after a few hours, we went out on the boat into Lake Washington. Mike and Chelsea were there and it was odd (in a good way) to hang out with a bunch of Michigan people again. Also odd that a lot of Jeff's friends live out here. It was so warm and sunny, the lake was cold but people were still jumping in and cooling off. I did not. We went back in about 6:15pm and I took off and picked Dan up on my way home. To get from Leschi to Downtown you have to go through some weird areas on Yesler, it was a warm day and everyone was out in and it was just... weird.

After getting Dan we drove to my house, approached my alley to get into my garage and this cracked out hooker - who was wearing very little clothing (in fact I don't think she was really wearing a shirt) - walked infront on my car as I was pulling into the garage. I stopped so I didn't hit her, she approached my car, knocked on my window and I think she was asking to perform a sex act for $2 dollars? I freaked out, honked my horn, she wouldn't get away, I yelled, she finally backed up and I went into my garage and called the police. They did not come. In reality, I probably should have said she needed medical attention, because she was so cracked out. We went up to my apartment and when we went to the balcony to see if she was still there, and she was for quite awhile, acting crazy, putting on tons of clothes, taking all the stuff out of her bag and stacking it in piles on the ground. Weird. Drugs and mental illness is a bad combination and I cannot understand why this goes on in every alley and street in Downtown and Belltown.

We went to the roof and grilled out dinner and ate up there, too. I tried beef. It was a piece of Porterhouse cut into small pieces on a skewer and it was honestly pretty good. I ended up having two pieces. I have not had steak in forever, but Dan was all about me trying it. I do not think I would ever order it at a restaurant, but he thinks I will - we'll see.

We then went to Blockbuster, where we rented Charlie Wilson's War, and when I was driving back - another street person is knocking on my window! I pull into the parking lot on 1st to get into my alley and my garage a lot and what the bums do is get a credit card (I am assuming stolen?), and buys parking, gives it to you and they you give them a few bucks cash. I told him like 4 times I was not parking there and he is still knocking on my window, as I am waiting for the cab to move out of the way so I can get home.

We watched the movie and passed out about midnight...

Dan and I woke up this morning, and I got the idea that we should go fishing. So, we make breakfast (ate it on the balcony - I love warm weather!), showered, went to Dan's got the fishing stuff, and we were on our way. We actually got fishing licenses, lunch and random stuff at the Fred Meyer in Issaquah, and then we went to the mountains, to this "good fishing spot" that we found online.

First we drive to Lake Alice by Fall City, which is a very cute non motor lake, but not a good place to fish unless you had a canoe or boat of some sort. Then we drive to this spot on the Snoqualmie River, it's beautiful, here are pictures. The river was very high and flowing very very fast...

We started fishing, and maybe fished about 4-5 minutes and then a Washington Dept. of Wildlife Officer came down. We thought he just wanted to check our license, but he made us stop fishing. We went back up to the car, and low and behold, we were totally fishing illegally! Well, first, we were not just on the Snoqualmie River, we were at the part where Tokul Creek empties into Snoqualmie River, and second we were fishing illegally, because we had bait and we were a few weeks early as you cannot fish the Snoqualmie in that area until June 1.

Officer Chandler was his name, and he was great. He told us how to read the Washington fishing guide, and told us where to go, and that the State stocks local lakes with trout?? He said Green Lake and Pine Lake in the Seattle area were just stocked with trout. We still cannot use bait, I think, I do not really know I will have to look at the guide. So many rules, so confusing!! Dan is used to Florida and I am used to Michigan where you just get a license, you can fish where you want and you can fish like up to 10 fish a day. But like I said, no tickets, the Officer was great and now we know where we can fish legally, but again, no bait??

We were very close to Snoqualmie Falls and I had never been there, so we went there for a few minutes. It was packed with people today, but it was beautiful. There is a gazebo that comes out a bit over the cliff and if you look down, it is very scary. There were too many people, and I cannot handle huge crowds, so we took off.

Well, after our run in, we went to Pine Lake in Sammamish. There were so many kids swimming, but we put our feet in and it was semi warm. We sat down, ate our sandwiches, watched a bunch of dogs play with each other and swim, then walked to the fishing pier. A lot of people were fishing and we saw at least one person catch a fish, so there must be fish in the lake. We'll go back this week one day, when it isn't so busy.

One last thing before going to bed - it is nice out in Belltown, the bars have outdoor seating... But I must ask, why do people feel the need to yell "Wooooo"? I do not think I have ever been to a bar that is not in like, Cancun, where I have ever felt the need to scream "Woooooo". Seriously, it is Sunday night in Seattle and I hear a Woooo every 2 minutes or so. I just do not get it.

Yesterday Ketrin wrote me an email to meet her for happy hour. It was gorgeous outside so we went to Amber and sat outside. One drink led to a lot and for four of us (and like 2 beers for Dan) our bill was around $220. Crazy!

Then Dan and I went to Ballard to go to La Carta De Oaxaca for yummy Mexican. It was my idea, and I think Dan tried to talk me out of it, but when I have an idea in my head there is no stopping me! We took a cab and I was trying to tell the cab driver which way to go, but then I told him to ignore me, I had been drinking and I was a bad driver anyway. He then told me I was a good driver because I had not killed anyone, though I did kill a deer. He dropped us off and we had to wait a few mins at the Mexican place, we got a table, ordered Negra Modelos - YUM! I ate so much pico de gallo and Dan suggested I try his beef - I did, it was gross. Why do I keep trying beef? I'll try again, but it needs to be good meat, like from a steakhouse.

We then walked down the road to this bar called Kings that had an outside deck. Dan got us beers and I found this random table with two guys there and asked if we could sit. Well, my drunk ass started giving the one guy advice about his divorce? What? He was listening to me, I think. Dan is so patient with me, too...

Then we got into the cab, came back around 11 - yes, 11, and literally passed out.

Dan and I woke up this morning, we went to the Bagel cafe near Pike Place for breakfast, then I dropped him off and home and I went to Whole Foods. I bought a bunch of stuff, including food for dinner later that night. They had chicken, beef and salmon skewers on sale, so I picked those up to grill later on.

I was supposed to Ride the Ducks with Tom, but he ditched me, and then couldn't understand why I was upset about that, and also upset that he chose to tell his friends a secret of mine, even though he promised he would not tell anyone. He said he told them to help me, he had my best interest at heart, which maybe he did... but still does not give him a right to blab something to his friends that I tell him in confidence and put a rider on it by saying - Tom, you cannot tell anyone. He told two of his friends the very next day and somehow he thinks I am at fault cuz I got bitchy about it? He did not even apologize until I asked - why haven't you apologized? Then he gave me some forced half ass I am sorry. All he had to do in the first place was say... "Elise, I am sorry I broke your trust, I promise I will never do it again." Instead, he just kept saying how he had my best interest at heart, so then it was OK to break my trust??? I get weird when people lie to me or break my trust, I cannot help it, I take it very personally when someone disregards something that is very important to me. It was not his secret to tell, it was mine, and I did not even share it with people very close to me - why should his friends get to know when my friends do not even know??? Yeah, I am hurt, can you tell?

Now I am going to try to find something to do on this nice and sunny Seattle day.

Here I am... row 16, seat C on US Airways flight 1248 from Seattle to Charlotte. It is still always a bit weird for me when I realize that my new home base is Seattle and not Detroit. I am flying on a free ticket that I got when I took a work trip to LA in September. These red eyes are harsh but I cannot sleep quite yet as it is only 11:17 Pacific Standard Time and my usual bedtime is around 2:00am PST. Also, the flight would be so much better if it had Wi-Fi, as I could post my blog in real time, but in truth, if there were Wi-Fi on this flight, I would have, however, probably lost about $30 bucks on Full Tilt Poker by now.

Tom drove me to the airport tonight. It was weird having someone drive me to the airport, because usually I am traveling for business and I get car service from Driver for Hire. I will post their phone number when I actually put this on the web, because they are wonderful. I've used them quite a bit, they always show up a few minutes early and their prices are about the same as a cab from SeaTac to Belltown, but they have towncars or Limos that are very very clean and smell really nice. Plus the driver are not crazy drivers like most of the airport cabs I have taken. I highly suggest Driver for Hire. Call them... 206-423-9603.

I am going to Siesta Key, Florida which Jeff tells me it is just sugar sand and sun. I cannot wait. I was trying to think of the last time I took a "real" vacation and really, it was October 2006, oddly enough to Florida, with Jeff. I travel a lot, but it is usually for work and when I can take an extra day here and there it is still never a destination I would normally not choose (except Chicago to see Warfield!!)

There is a baby sitting in the row next to mine, and he is slightly crying. Usually this would annoy me, like on my 7.5 hour flight back from Orlando a few months ago, but he is gently crying and in a way it is sort of cute...

So, I haven't blogged about my day yet so far... or last night. Last night Dan came over after a little work get together he had going on. I cooked us a dinner and then we fell asleep so early. Wait, no, Dan fell asleep so early and I laid there and worked for a bit, watched some SNL... listened to the drunks at Tia Lous in my alley... and then, around 1:30 I heard my door jiggle. I was about 1/4 asleep and thought maybe it was a dream. Nope, happened again... So I woke Dan up and told him about it but no more jiggles. I went to the door and no one was there through the peep hole, so I am assuming it was a drunk neighbor of mine walking to the wrong apartment or something. It still freaked me out, especially with the whole crazy exboyfiend type of thing.

Then Dan's brother called him early and they went to brunch. I stayed at my house and packed for Florida. Dan came back over about noon and we went to Pike's for some fruits to put into my juicer. We got pears, bananas, strawberries, and mangos. It made a yummy juice. Then we listed a bunch of his stuff and my stuff on Ebay.

After that we went to eat at this new restaurant in Belltown called Cellars. It opened a few weeks ago at the old Jai Thai on 1st and Blanchard. They have happy hour all day on Sunday, which is nice. The happy hour food was pretty tasty and not too expensive. Their happy hour draft beers were $2.50 a piece which is a steal in Belltown. They usually have Mack & Jacks but the keg was broken so Dan went with a Manny's and I had the Hef, which was Whistling Pig, and I loved it. We got some apps which were not great, but not bad either. Our server was really nice and very attentive. I think I want to check out the dinner menu at this place one time. They did have a garage door type of window which was open at the bar area, which made the crackhead watching even better than usual. Plus it was a nice day and nice to be in the open.





Then Dan went home, Tom picked me up... which leads back to where I am now... Flight 1248...

11:43pm

My friend Jeff is visiting from Detroit (which is my hometown...) In true Jeff fashion, we have been going out and everything has been "wasted lives"... which basically means that we drink too much and act like fools. That seems to happen when you are celebrating, which lead me to say this morning over breakfast - I am never celebrating again.

I am not sure why most celebrations involve a lot of alcohol, but they always seem to. I am fine when it is just beer, or wine... but get those shots in me and I become - well, annoying. I am sure this happens to most people.

So, to break it down... Jeff, Charlie, and I went to Del Rey for happy hour (in Belltown - $3 Dos Equis, $4 small plates). They have a great staff, amazing women's bathrooms, the food is excellent - especially for a bar, tons of options! Fri and Sat gets pretty busy at night, so you might not get a table and they often have a line out front. I like sitting in the large booths that can easily hold 6 people comfortably. Also, they always play great music.


Then we met up with Jim at the Sonics Game (they lost, again), Jim's House in Greenwood, some awesome Mexican restaurant in Ballard, Ozzies (denied entry due to Jeff being too drunk), Pesos (though Jeff was kicked out for being too drunk), Dick's for late night burgers for Jeff, and finally... my apartment. It was a rough day today, to say the least.

Then today we went kayaking on Lake Union (rented at Moss Bay (they seem to be the least expensive in the area, nice boats, too) and Tandoori Hut for Indian Buffet... then I dropped him off at SeaTac because he is going to Portland for a few days before coming back up here on Sat. I am sure Saturday night will be another "wasted lives" night...

Until then... enjoy some pics from the eve...









Here is a LINK to the full album... ;)