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493 days ago
The Seattle Lindy Exchange is next weekend, August 2-3. There is dancing all weekend but I wanted to mention one event in particular. Just like we did in Portland, dancers will be taking over a downtown square in the afternoon. If you want to see me (and others who are better than me) dance but you don't want to go to a ballroom, this might be a good opportunity. It's not a performance or anything that organized, just a bunch of Lindy Hoppers having fun. We'll be at Seattle's Westlake Plaza on Sunday August 3rd from 2pm to 6pm.
493 days ago
I'm not going far -- just to downtown Bellevue. I started this blog over three years ago with stories of my house search and purchase. But for about a year now, I've been thinking about moving again, and I will finally do so next month. It's not that I've been dissatisfied with my house -- it fit very well with what I was looking for at the time, and it's been a setting for many good times in the last three years. Still, it feels like it's time for me to move on now, a little sooner than I would have expected when I bought the place. But first, I'd like to point out that none of my reasons for wanting to move has anything to do with my recent... umm... house guest. Christina has been living with me for a little while now, but she has never expressed any discontent with the house or its location or neighborhood. While nobody has asked me directly, I'm sure they were thinking it or talking about it behind my back -- for the record this was completely my idea, and ...
495 days ago
If you've heard me make comments about Apple, you might have thought I would be one of the last people in the world to get an iPhone. I might have thought so too. Ever since I had a few bad experiences with Macs back in college (late 90's), I have pretty much avoided and looked down on anything with the Apple logo. In the last couple years those annoying, misleading, and downright false Mac-vs-PC advertisements have only reinforced that tendency. On top of that, I can't stand the zealotry that Apple seems to inspire in many of ill-informed its users. And that branding strategy of putting a lowercase-i in front of any common word to make it their own? iHateIt. But aside from their marketing I do have to admit that Apple has come a long way in the last 10 years. They have a real OS that runs on mostly-standard hardware components, their hardware engineering is very impressive, and they seem to be very in touch with what is important to mainstream consumers. So given all this I finally ...
627 days ago
This past weekend I drove down to Portland, Oregon for the Portland Lindy Exchange. A "Lindy Exchange" is a type of big swing dancing weekend event hosted by various cities around (and outside) the country. It's basically an excuse for lots of out-of-town dancers to converge in one place to meet and dance with everyone else. There are typically no classes or workshops -- just big dance floors, great live music, and more DJ'd music late into the night. This was the first exchange I've been to, although later this year I plan to also go to at least the ones in San Francisco, Vancouver, and of course Seattle. I'll spare you all the boring details and stick to a couple of the highlights. One neat part of the weekend was dancing in Pioneer Courthouse Square on a sunny Saturday afternoon in the middle of the city with lots of people watching. This was one of the planned events so there was a DJ and sound equipment there and plenty of others to dance with. I've never ...
669 days ago
Sorry it's been a couple weeks, but I did promise you a report... On Saturday morning I took the express bus into downtown Seattle and got off at King Street Station. It was a really nice train station... 100 years ago, but the years of neglect definitely show. They're trying to restore some of the original finishes now, but it will never return to its former glory -- especially with the new Link Light Rail line stopping at nearby Union Station instead. Anyway, the station served its purpose well enough, and I got on the Amtrak train which left on-time at 7:40am. Overall, my impression of the train ride was... not bad. The seats are big and comfortable with plenty of legroom. The upper level of the central car (of three) of the train has floor-to-ceiling windows with unreserved seating facing outward, allowing some decent views of the coastline of northern Puget Sound. However I spent most of the time sleeping or reading. (Fortunately I don't have any problem with ...
