Today I had two goals. Walk downtown to get my ORCA discounted bus pass and fill out the application for a new social security card. Naturally, walking in a new city alone, I packed my pocket knife. I never really got scared walking in Memphis because I know how to walk in that city – rarely. So far, walking in downtown Seattle doesn’t require that much situational awareness but new is new. I may be Memphis as fuck but it never hurts to have backup. Continue reading Federal Property
I almost walked by. The bar on Google maps I was heading for was closed for repairs so I just started strolling. Checked out the block with Safeway and a yoga studio on it. Took another turn and saw the sign for The Mecca. Given the name and prevalence of Asian cuisine in the area I almost dismissed but something made me turn. The door has two martini glasses crossed behind a high ball glass. Yeah, that’s my jam.
The all-day breakfast was a pleasant surprise also. This could be my everyday joint if the food tastes good. I’m already drinking an Irish coffee that warms me to the soul. The waitress/bartender is the perfect type of don’t-give-a-fuck nice person that gets to you when she gets to you. A patient smile and tired eyes are the only thing she’ll show the customer. I’m at the worn Formica bar running the length of a shotgun diner. There’s burn scars from coffee pots and miscellaneous scratches and dents that only comes from years of consistent use. Most of the people trickling in are disappearing into a room left of the door. I spotted a pinball machine in that direction that warrants further inspection.
Oddly, this breakfast diner qualifies as a dive bar also. It’s not pretentious or overdone. I would guess they keep the same chill vibe no matter what time of the week and then weekends are jam-packed with yuppies looking for hangover cures. The place I originally started toward is labeled a dive on Google but the fact it’s listed there has me inherently suspicious of its qualifications. This place is hidden in plain sight on a busy street near a tourism hub and only lucky looky-lous and those guided by locals get to experience this blast from the past.
So far the food is good. I know this is a place I’ll come again. If for no other reason, they serve a $6 waffle.
I spent so much of my life representing an unheard voice in American politics I’ve almost forgotten which stance I used to take. Continue reading Political Fiction
I didn’t remember I had use of my center rear view mirror until 45 minutes outside of Portland. Why, you might ask, am I driving back to Portland after making the daunting trek across the country only stopping to eat, sleep and see the Grand Canyon? To see a show of course. Symptoms are playing at a club near my friend’s place.
I need internet at home. It’s the last link in this chain of support I’ve rigged up. I’m on the west coast, I know what I want – now I just have to do it. Driving South for the first time this week, I decided it would be poignant to cue up the Dead Soldiers. The twang in Teddy Gene Mountain echoed off the evergreens around I-5 and I caught myself welling up. By One More Last Goodbye I was bawling like a baby. The Soldiers encompass a musical style that can only be described as Memphis. It’ll take me right back every time.
I’ll be there again this weekend for my official goodbye. It’s not that I won’t ever go back, I just know it won’t be for an amazingly long time. I can already tell that this side of the country is my new home. I know who I am and I get at least 6 months to figure out what I’m going to do with that.
I’m going to be perpetually wet while I’m in Seattle. At least, that’s how it feels right now. The hills makes this an impossible bike city. I debate the walk scores I saw on Zillow too. The grade is so steep I’m literally leaning backwards to not fall. I will invest in some industrial galoshes. And drive if I want to wear heels. Sigh.
My first cafe is nice. It’s been so long since I’ve been near someone familiar I almost want to cry. Good thing I have a vacation to Memphis this weekend! I almost don’t miss the cats. Almost. Only because I can barely keep myself together. I feel drained and I can’t seem to find any balance.
The rain is letting up, time to get some food and toilet paper!
I just now discovered which two voices in my head are the main characters in the story. A boy and a girl – obviously.
This game is beautifully crafted. The watercolor-like scenery and low-gravity flow of movement lends an airy, relaxed feeling. The music composed primarily of piano and minimal arrangement supports the easy-going feeling. Playing on casual seems like the only real option because the interactive play control is painfully slow.
Of course, this is just the tutorial. The battles are a mix of meters and turn-based actions. Interactive enough to keep my attention but lackadaisical enough to avoid pressure. This little girl carries a big sword and her leveling system encourages me to use it.
Plot is pretty cute so far. Little princess falls into a mysterious slumber. She’s trapped in a mystical dreamland that Tim Burton might create for Bethesda. There’s a blue teardrop that aides the redheaded protagonist with advice and ambient lighting. On my Surface, controlling the mouse-based bugger is awkward. When I’m settled in my new place I’ll have my old gaming desktop set up. Can’t wait.
Last night, a truly odd series of steps led me into a parallel universe where people I’ve barely met know me better than anyone in the world. Among strangers, I’m able to shed pretension and relax. No steering against the whirlpool of emotional insecurity, avoiding the eddies and whorls of assumptions and misunderstanding. Previous house parties were always a syncopated dance among cliches of old friends and other-peoples-dates, never quite settling on any real conversation for safety’s sake. I’m unfamiliar with the freedom of tacit acceptance, so easily offered when you come with the right references. I’m not sure I made a good impression, but I definitely didn’t leave a bad one.
Happy New Year.
If you like to play games, check out this web series.
Deep down, we all love games in some respect but it’s easy to get lost in the frills of lights, color, marketing! From sports jerseys to quarters in a pool table, money spent on fun is often intrinsically linked to a game in some way. And money is only the surface cost of the recreational aids we choose. There’s the time and energy devoted to pastimes once considered only for “kids”. When MMORPGs emerged, full-grown adults lost jobs due to the siren’s call of DING. Games make us feel rewarded and satisfied with ourselves. Tangible goals and achievements used to brighten the barren landscape of daily living.
Most of what I understand of gaming as an industry is tempered through the lens of Tycho Brahe of Penny Arcade, an unconventional think tank of creativity and marketing based in Redmond, WA. Tycho’s way of phrasing things generally blows my mind about once or twice a year, on average. He provides consistently incisive perspectives that target the human element of gaming and amplify it for effect. Tycho, joined by his heterosexual life partner Gabe, also regularly appears in a PATV series called First 15 which I directed you to earlier.
Video games come in so many different formats it’s hard to like them all and yet Penny Arcade manages to play all the fields. Marketers of the marketers, they provide an environment that filters through all the nonsense and reduces all gaming to the fundamental question – is is fun? From innocent, easy games developed to help children with learning disabilities communicate are weighed on the same scale as the most recent megacorporate flagship release part IV. It’s a refreshing oasis in a world that is literally dedicated to horsing around.
If you don’t believe me, just watch this one video. It’s the First 15 for Crypt of the Necrodancer – a game I would never even glance at before but now I’m interested in playing. During the video you get to watch Gabe face something he admittedly sucks at and by the end he’s at least given it a fair chance. It blows my mind to watch human nature unfold like that. At the end, Gabe an Tycho summarize their opinions thusly:
“I think that’s something from a nightmare realm” – Gabe
“I want to invest some time in playing co-op by myself.” -Tycho
And yet the game itself is not crucified for not pleasing everybody. And trust me, some of the games they play are put on a cross and left to die – justly.