The Battle in Seattle: Pillow Fight Edition

April 6, 2015 Comments Off read Attractions, Pacific, USA, Washington, West

This past Saturday was International Pillow Fight Day, a day to gather with your fellow humans and pummel the hell out of each other. Like the Seattle Cardboard Tube Duels, the mayhem went down in Cal Anderson Park. The rules were simple: bring your own pillow, and try not to hit anyone with a camera. Face shots? Acceptable. Groin shots? Acceptable. Ganging up on Pikachu? Acceptable. Unlike the cardboard tube fight, the kids were super into pillow fighting. I saw one girl run by, her face twisted with concentration, screaming “GET HIM!” with almost primal fury. It was like Lord of the Flies out there.

I split my time between taking photos and engaging in tactical pillow warfare. It was a strangely uplifting experience, raining blows down upon others and having them returned in kind. There was a lot of concern before the event about the post-battle cleanup, but from what I saw, the pillows held up really well so there wasn’t much to clean up. And all of the pillows in good shape were donated to Compass Housing Alliance afterward!

Bits & bobs from the week

April 3, 2015 Comments Off read Pacific, USA, Washington, West

I’m always poised, waiting for the shutter release so I can close my eyes and take the least-flattering photo possible. That’s where I’m a Viking.

* Jason’s family was in town last weekend, so we did a ton more eating out than normal. First, we went to the Portage Bay Cafe for breakfast last weekend, where the slogan is “eat like you give a damn”. They’re all about organic, sustainable, ethically sourced foods, which is how they can get away with charging twelve bucks for oatmeal. I ordered a goat cheese omelet, imagining pillowy eggs slathered in creamy, tangy cheese. What I got was eggs with about an eighth of a teaspoon of goat cheese on top. I think I would have had to break it apart at the molecular level to get it to spread across the entirety of my eggs. Now I have to assume that was the ethical portion of cheese to include, and every other restaurant that uses more than a whisper is using cheese from a goat who has been waterboarded into giving up her cheesy bounty. If you haven’t already imagined the sounds a waterboarded goat would make, give it a try. It’s been cracking me up all week. BAAAAAWHARRGARBLE. BAAAABLLLLLL. BAAAABGBLLLLLL.

* We also hit up my favorite breakfast place that weekend, Mon Amie bakery. As it turns out, the owner goes to the same church as my brother and sister in law (formerly often referred to as a ‘cult’ in the news, so hey, that’s something). I’m used to being recognized by the employees there, but I was surprised that the owner recognized me as well, because I think she’s maybe helped me once. And when she said she recognized me, it didn’t come out in what sounded like a positive fashion, so now I’m wondering what I did or said. I always tip well, I’ve never gone in crabby, so I’m at a loss. And then when one of the baristas came to the table to clarify my drink order, I heard the other one call out “I told you so, that’s what she’s always gotten for like the last year.” Uh, maybe I need to change things up a little bit. For the record, it’s an iced blackberry white chocolate mocha and it is the fucking bomb and I only get it like once a month.

* I got my brand new camera from Olympus this week, which wraps up that saga. It both turns on AND focuses so it’s already leagues ahead of the previous two cameras. There’s a small issue of the battery catching inside when I try to remove it, but I think I’m just going to let it go for a couple of reasons: one, I am so tired of dealing with their CS (and I’m sure they’re tired of dealing with me), and two: there’s no way I could get the camera to the repair center and back before my upcoming trips. Let’s just call it good enough. For now.

* A friend recently announced her upcoming birthday theme: Jem and the Holograms. I somehow missed this one as a kid, so I’ve been watching through the series on Netflix and have subsequently been way overanalyzing a show for seven year olds. I have spent a truly outrageous amount of time thinking about the show’s message and underlying themes and rolling my eyes at myself. I’ve also been watching a lot of Walking Dead, and last night, the theme songs blended in my mind in a truly, truly, truly horrifying way.

Nom or Vom: Peep This

April 1, 2015 3 Comments read Nom or Vom

What the hell, dairy industry? We’re only supposed to get thirty sweet noggy days in December, and spend the rest of the year atoning for our eggnog overindulgences. But now there’s an eggnog or an unusual flavored milk for nearly every season! I’m still waiting for the limited edition Patriot Nog in July with a mix-in packet of pop rocks so you can drink fireworks. Or rose-flavored Mother’s Day nog. Year round birthday cake nog!

Peeps have never been on the top of my Easter candy consumption list, and this seems to be true for a lot of other people as well given the proliferation of things around the internet people have done to avoid eating them. Now their very essence has been drained, their tiny Peep-y souls sucked out and blended with milk for your pleasure. You monster.

But wait, there’s more–one of them is pastel yellow, the most appetizing of all milk colors next to green milk (Let’s be real though, all non brown or white milk colors are kind of nauseating)! Is that the nog? Or the marshmallow, as a homage to classic Peeps yellow? Either way, you’re in for a, uh…treat.

Pros: We’re getting older, time is going by faster, why not use strange milks to mark the seasons? You could probably make fancy starbucks style drinks for pennies on the dollar if only you can look your checkout person in the eye when buying Peeps milk (but that’s what robo registers are for!). These are absolutely loaded with sugar so soon you’ll be hyped up with Peeps Brand Energy!

Cons: The inevitable comedown from your Peeps Brand Energy high and chasing that limited edition Peeps Brand Dragon which means eventual Peeps Brand Rehab, yellow milk, if it’s anything like an actual Peep it will manage to be stale, chewy, and grainy (mmmmm!), eventual burnout on festive nogs, isn’t it getting a little too warm out for nog anyway?

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