I am a sucker for Olympics. It is like I am addicted? I will say though, I have been watching on CBC, because they are not on PST delay.

I just got back from Umi, oh how I love sushi. My friend met me there for happy hour. I think I could eat sushi everyday, every meal. I have to stop eating so much of the tuna and yellowtail though, because I think that I am forming a slight allergy to them... it is like I get a sinus problem after I eat a lot of tuna.

It is so hot in Seattle, and it is the middle of the night. Tomorrow is supposed to be 91, record breaking heat... I thought I left the gross heat when I left the midwest. I think I will go to kayaking and at some point jump in the lake, we'll see.

I kind of have a busy weekend ahead. Plus my uncle is in town, and we are going to see Shrek, the musical, which debuts in Seattle at the 5th Ave Theater before going on to Broadway in a few months. I never realized that Seattle has a pretty decent theater demographic, and a very good (Tony Award) winning theater (I think the Intiman?)

drama. yes, so much drama. i am not going to explain the whole story, but basically.. if you are a guy cheating on your girl... don't get me involved, and definitely do not, under any circumstances whatsoever have her call me, because i really do not need that. you're a grown man, deal with it yourself. and if she does call, do not expect me to lie for you and cover for you. oh, and don't lie to me, too. lying just gets you in trouble all around!

whew, now that venting is out... it is very warm in my apartment, i have the windows open and the breeze smells like clean laundry. it is because the street cleaning trucks put some type of detergent into the alley, and i know it is not natural, but i love the scent.

yesterday my friend and i went to cougar mountain to just... take our mind off of seattle drama and drama people. it was gorgeous, i have never been and we just went on one of the shorter trails, but here are the pics!

From 2008-07-13 Co...

After that we came to my rooftop, drank some beers, grilled some food and then off to Del Ray. We chatted with randoms, had some food there, and then eventually came back to my place to chill for a bit.

Then tonight I went to Umi Sake House for a late night dinner, with my friend Peter.

A side note, in the past week, I have had three people from my "past" re-enter my present life... and let me tell you... it has been wonderful.

It is almost 2am, on Monday night and I was abruptly woken up from my deep slumber... but the sheriff yelling "all of you put your hands up" on his loudspeaker. Now, I love the fact that crackheads are getting arrested/questioned/my alley is getting cleaned up... I really do. Just wish I were still sleeping...

I have been super busy with work as of late. We have a lot of cool things going on, and the start up is really starting to take off... but as most people that work for start-ups know... lots of work to do, never enough people to do it!

I should blog about my Sunday... My Montreal friend Peter came by with Starbucks, bless his heart... I dig the Cinnamon Dolce Skinny - and that is what he got me! We drove to South Center, ate at Red Robin - which pulled tomatoes because of this salmonella outbreak... and that is why restaurants, even chains, should only use local organic foods...

After that we went shopping at random stores, bought random stuff, I declined to impulse buy too much, which is good. The stores were crowded, lots of people meandering around and bumping into me!

And then came the reason why we were down south... Walmart. Well, anyone that knows me and my habits knows a few things... 1 - I hate Walmart and everything it stands for... and 2 - I hate shopping when there are large crowds... I have been to Walmart maybe 4 times in my life? Where I grew up they are sparse, you have to go way south or way west... and I just don't like Walmart. Often when camping though, you are forced to go to one, as it is the only store for miles. And silly me, I wanted this specific vacuum cleaner, and it has been discontinued for an upgraded model, and the current model was sold out pretty much everywhere in the country, except - Renton's Walmart.

The experience first started with us somehow getting lost. Then I called Walmart to see where they were located... um, the first chick says... right across from Renton Honda, so I say... where is Renton Honda. She says Rainier Ave S. I ask for the cross street, she transfers me. What? How do you not know the cross street?? So, the 2nd chick picks up... I ask again, she says... across from Renton Honda. What??? So, I say... where is Renton Honda located? She says Rainier Ave... I ask, do you know the cross street... she had to ask someone next to her... then she was able to tell me. How do you not know where you work, and why does Walmart have people answering the phones that do not know the location??

Then we finally get there... and oh my goodness, so many people! You cannot get through, everyone was walking slow, leaving their carts in the way, misbehaving children running in front of you, just honestly, a bit chaotic. In addition, the store is merchandised in a way that reminds me of a garage sale. I get what I need, including face wash. Now, the face wash made me realize why people might shop at Walmart... it was 2 dollars cheaper ($6 down from $8) that it usually is at most stores. Now I usually buy it when it's on sale for $6, but that is a sale, this was Walmart's normal price... so I can see why people would chose to shop here, especially after my last post.. but for me... my sanity and staying in the city, rather than driving to Renton is not worth the 20-25 percent savings.

So, I am already a bit panicky, because... well, it is chaotic... so I go to pay. Oh my, lines, lines, lines... Finally, I choose a self check out. We got a dirty look and lectured by the chick that worked there because we didn't put the vacuum on the sensor, just left it in the cart after scanning. It's too big, but yet, she was rude to us about it. Well, then I go to pay... and it wouldn't take credit card number 1. I know there is money on it, so I try again... Won't take... Then I try card number 2, now I know there is a lot of money on this one... It won't take... What? Finally, it takes it on the 3rd try.

Moral of my story... do not go to Walmart.

After that, we came to my apt, dropped off the stuff... then went to Umi Sake House for happy hour. Always makes me feel better! Though the bar area got really crowded as we were about to leave and people kept bumping into me as I sat in my stool, which was totally the theme of my day... go figure...

Oh, I did see a funny sign in Renton...

Last night I watched and pouted as my Pistons lost game 1. Then my friend from Canada called because he is in town interviewing for Microsoft. He walked over, we walked to Umi Sake House. It was a little before late night happy hour, so we eat just got one thing and the Sake Sampler. The sake sampler is 6 different sake pours. I was so in love with one of them, but I cannot remember the name. I also ordered a tropical roll which has salmon, tuna, mango, rice, and blueberry sauce. It was amazing. Marc ordered the 7 Spice tuna, also amazing. We waited for happy hour and we ordered a ton of food and some Sapporo's.

After paying the tab at Umi, we headed over to Del Ray and it was bucket of Corona for $10 bucks night. My fav. Anytime you can order a bucket of something you should.

Marc had to make a midnight-ish bus for Bellevue where he was staying with his friends. He missed it and ended up crashing at my house... so we got back to my house and turned on music... and guess what... The old school rap channel is back! It went away for awhile, but now it is back. I love it.

Last night Randon and I walked to the market and then met up with Tom, Mike and Mike's son for the M's game.

We walked to the stadium, but on our way stopped at this Mexican restaurant at Harbor Steps called Guaymas Cantina. It was so-so. The service was pretty bad though, very slow and we were one of the only tables. They kept forgetting to bring our drinks and we had to ask for our drinks three times. They finally came with the meal. The margarita was watered down and the food was just OK. The salsa bar was fully stocked with a few options, which was good. It is convenient place if you are near it, but if you are craving good Mexican or margaritas... go elsewhere.



We went to the M's game and had pretty good 3rd row seats, but right in the section where you get all the line drives. Actually some girl got hit in like the 3rd inning in the section next to ours. This guy in the pics caught the ball, and he didn't give it to her. Instead like 2 seconds later he called his buddy to tell him he caught a ball. Really, douchebag, it's a foul ball, give it to the girl who got a broken nose by catching it with her face. Speaking of face, my face is still so swollen in these pics!





Yeah, if you know this guy, you should call him out.



After the game, we all went to Umi Sake House for sushi and some drinks. After that we cabbed to Ballard to meet up with my friend Greg at the Tractor. We stayed there a bit, had a few drinks... ended up closing out the bar.

We had to go out to Market Street to get a cab, and this cab slowed for us, and before he would let us in he called us to the window and said... Let me see you. He then said alright, get in. As we were driving he explained that lately he has been picking up a lot of "tweakers" and those people are crazy and will slit your throat for a few bucks... We obviously we not tweakers, so he drove us home. Weird.

He sleeps forever, I have been trying to get him to wake up for hours. He is on eastcoast time, you would think he would be up at 7... but it's now 11 and the kid is still asleep!!! I want breakfast!!

Oh, the cruise boat is in... which I do not know why that makes me so happy, but it does.

Today (Tues) is my 1/2 birthday.

Sunday night I went to Dan's house... cooked dinner and chilled. I made shrimp pasta with a white wine/garlic sauce and baked garlic to spread on french bread.

I went home Monday morning, worked all day, then met my friend Michael at Umi Sake House (yeah, I go there a lot.) We talked, I had to tell him a story, he had to tell me stories... it was good to catch up.

After I got home, I worked some, then watched Monday night sitcoms, which I had not done in awhile. Oh, I totally dig the shows How I Met Your Mother and Samantha Who.

After that I kept working and also got to witness a pimp sell his hoe to a crack smoking/drug shooting upper John. Yeah, I totally saw her give him a BJ and then have sex. It was horrible. I called the police about 2 minutes into it, but 20 minutes later when they finished up (I didn't watch the whole time!!), they police still had not come. That life is so weird, but really, there is no need for having to witness that where I live. It is funny, when you tell people you live in Belltown... they assume two things... one, you somehow have tons of cash and live in a million dollar condo, and two, it would be so cool to live in Belltown. I admit, it's convenient to live here. I walk everywhere, I love being by the water, by the bars, by downtown, by the market... but in all honesty, and I never thought I would hear myself say this, I think I am ready to move a bit north, to a less crack/prostitute/crime infested area.

Anyway, today was a weird day... some weird stuff happened that I am not going to blog about... but then Dan came over for a bit... we ordered Thai from Bell Thai, but he only stayed a bit and went back home.

Now I am going to work some more, till I fall asleep... Oh, and Jeff sent me the script for his movie, so maybe I will start reading that.

Oh, and apparently, they just announced more quake fault lines in the Seattle area... which made me find this:

I have been very busy these past few days with life and work. I've been working... Lame, I know. I did do something crazy and very unlike me though... I went to the Eastside!!! It was semi warm out, and I felt like driving my car. Plus there is nothing like the view of Mount Rainier from the 520 bridge. It really is one of the prettiest drives in Seattle. My friend Nick and I went to Inchin's Bamboo Garden in Redmond. I was not that impressed. Service was slow, the food was just OK (our noddle dish was bland as can be), and when asked how the food was Nick kind of said it was not that good and our waitress was kind of weird about it and did not offer to comp our bad noodles, just brushed it off as the kitchen's fault. I will not be going back there, especially since it is on the Eastside. I will say, however, it is nice to go to restaurants and not pay Belltown prices.



I was in bed semi early when my phone rang, and it was Dan. So, I put on some real clothes, got into my car and picked him up. We got back to my house and really, I was so exhausted we just went to bed. We watched random things on TV for awhile, and eventually I made us my fav sandwich... consisting of... tomato, fresh mozzarella, spinach, red onion, avacado, cucumber, balsamic vinegar and a bit of salt and pepper on the bread I always get from Metro Market. Oh, Dan had turkey on his, and rarely do I put meat on mine, but I put chicken breast on mine. Yum.

Saturday we slept in longer than we had planned... but got up... I made breakfast of french toast and berries. We made it out of my house by about 11:30, then went to Dan's house so he could shower and get ready - which takes that boy all of 12 minutes...!

The weather was so beautiful, it was a very very sunny 72 degrees. We went to Moss Bay and rented kayaks. We went all around Lake Union, through that canal at Montlake into Lake Washington, through the Arboretum, up by those random art pieces off of 520... etc. It was so amazing, paddling towards the mountain. We hung out in the waves for a bit, then headed back. We were gone for awhile, approximately 4 hours. Then I dropped Dan at his apt, I headed to Whole Foods.

At Whole Foods I picked up food to grill for us. We grilled on my rooftop deck...Steak for Dan and Salmon for me. I also made baked potato and asparagus, not to mention a spinach salad with lots of veggies. We also drank a few Pyramid Hef's...

Then we went back to my apartment, we were pretty sunburnt so instead of going home, we ended up just hanging in my apt, talking a lot, drinking beer, watching bums off my balcony... talking some more and then falling asleep to SNL.

Sunday was rough because I think we were a bit hungover but we went to Kingfish Cafe for Brunch with Dan's brother. I had the buttermilk pancakes, they were pretty good, but I wanted some scramble that has meat in it, without the meat - they couldn't do that because it was already pre-mixed or something.

After lunch I went to Tom's apartment. He had been in Tennessee for his brother's wedding, so it was the first time I had seen him in a bit. I ended up falling asleep for a quick nap on his comfy chair and then waking up and ordering Umi Sake House take out. We ate there, watched some Big Brother, and then I went home and worked some more.

Yesterday I actually went to Umi Sake House again with my friend Tony for happy hour. Then today I worked a lot!! And old friend, Pilot Mike, called me today and it was nice to catch up. I also had to drop off my payment to the MI Treasury, yeah, I owed Michigan tax, blah! I took it to the post office at 5th and Wall. I think it is independently owned, or something, because it is half post office, half store with odd and random items like Endust and sparkle hair clips and they do not take credit cards. But the nice thing was... at 4:30pm on tax day - no line!!

Now I am here, home, working, just got off the phone with an old friend from Montreal, Jeff... We had had a falling out, but apparently are back in one another's lives... funny how that happens... a lot.. and nice, too.

So, Monday... Well, for a Monday it was a beautiful day. I woke up, went to my doctor for a general check up at 5th and Olive. I walked there, which is a bit odd sometimes. Drunks are out at 8:30am, drinking 40's... I walked on 2nd to Virginia then up to 5th and over to Olive. I do not understand why Seattle is not more strict on the bums... but I digress...

Today, after I got back I worked until about 5 when Jim called me and we went to Umi Sake House, again, for happy hour. We then came back to my apt, sat on my balcony and watched the sun go down, and watched crackheads underneath us sell drugs and smoke crack. Yeah. I called the police, but they did not show. Sad.

Now I am going to do a bit more work, then watch some E! and go to bed!!!

So, this weekend was pretty low-key. Friday night I went over to Tom's for a bit, waited for Dan to call... we just rented a movie from Blockbuster in Queen Anne then went to his place, watched it, and fell asleep early.

Saturday we went all over including rode the Monorail, which is cash only and $2 bucks each way for adults. I also feel it is even more pointless than the Detroit People Mover. He lives right by Westlake, so it was easy, but really we were being lazy and could have just walked it.

The Monorail ends at Seattle Center, which includes the Pacific Science Center, where the IMAX is located. We saw Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure. It was only 30 minutes long, but it was a pretty interesting story about Ernest Shackleton and his journey to Antarctica that did not go as planned, to say the least.

After the IMAX, we crossed the street to Cafe Darclee where we had yummy panini sandwiches and coffee. I first discovered this cafe with a friend in 2005 and have been many times since. The crepes are quite good and the selection of ingredients is impressive.

Today, also a chill day, was spent cleaning my apartment (it was much needed!), hanging out with my friends, and then hitting up happy hour at Umi Sake House.They have an excellent happy hour, great prices, great food. The service is a bit slow, but the prices and happy hour selection make you forget about it. Also, the restaurant is set up much like a house including a three season type back porch. You almost feel like you are eating at your wealthy friend's screened in porch.


After that I walked to Endless Knot (cannot find their website to link), this really cute little boutique type store at 1st and Bell. They always have cute dresses in the windows and their prices are totally affordable. One thing I learned though, if you see something you like - buy it! They do not stock a lot of the same thing and their merchandise is forever changing.

And now... time for bed...,