4rth of July in Seattle
I must have a lucky charm about Seattle – whenever I go up there the weather is *perfect*. We had a particularly nice 4rth of July in Seattle. Our good friend Katie Lake took us to a party at her friend’s houseboat on Lake Union. Not only was the house super super cool (3 stories with a fire pole to slide down, hot tub, etc), but they had a trapeze hanging over the water! Nothing makes for better party entertainment than people hanging off a trapeze and then dropping into the lake. And as you can tell, we had some pros in the crowd (seriously – a couple who teaches trapeze and had been on national TV with it!) I had a good time trying it out myself, but only got one good run of it – by the second time I tried my arms were already too tired! Gotta work on that upper body stamina…
So what were we doing in Seattle, anyway? Well… Heraldo had never been to Seattle, so it was fun to go check it out. And we had various and sundry awesome friends who we wanted to visit. Liz took us on the grand tour of all things Japanese, and we enjoyed feeding the koi at the Japanese Gardens.
We also did some obligatory sightseeing (especially since it was Heraldo’s first time to Seattle), and got the mandatory “I’m in Seattle, see, it’s the space needle!” photo.
It has now moved on to Arkansas, but they did have a pretty neato traveling exhibit at the Experience Music Project. The EMP is there year-round, and is definitely worth a visit if you’re in the Seattle area. But they had a special Jim Hensen exhibit there as well when we visited. I love seeing some of Hensen’s early work, his work in advertising, and some of the other projects he wanted to do (like a disco??) but never got to finish.
The sky really is bigger in Texas
How is it possible that the sky is really bigger? Is it just that there aren’t skyscapers obstructing the view? Are the clouds somehow farther up in the sky?
Whatever the meteorlogical reasons, Austin’s sky is beautiful. So are a lot of other things about the city – including how Austin seems to embrace the desert. Desert plants figure large in city yards, and there is a relaxed feeling of letting nature take its course in the byways between planted areas. It feels almost like the city is happy to let nature take its course all around the city, instead of feeling the need to control and build up every square inch of land (as the Bay Area feels!)
And if you want to party, don’t miss the downtown district at night. Holy cow, I’d never seen so many clubs, bars, and parties, happening as on the 6th street club district. I was impressed of course with the music and energy, but also with the lack of cover charges (yeah!). But perhaps the best part of my evening out on the town was that I could dance, even dance on my own, and not be harrassed or spilled on or otherwise bothered. I don’t know if this is part of the chivalrous Texan code of honor or something, but I found it a really nice relief that I could go out dancing and be allowed to just dance!
I also enjoyed visiting my college friends, Autumn and Justin, who just had a beautiful baby girl, Osa (meaning little bear in Spanish – she’s a pretty fierce little baby – even punched some nurses in the hospital nursery!) It was great to see this pair in their home before they head back to NYC.
Also great to see another KSL property courtsey of the Decathlon Club. Just like our stay at La Costa in Carlsbad, staying at the Barton Creek hotel is quite a treat. If you need a beautiful place to stay in Austin, check it out. Because it’s up on top of a hill, there’s usually a nice breeze that keeps the place cooler than down in Austin proper. The staff is whipped in super friendly state, and the rooms and view are beautiful. I was a little disappointed at the rather small pool, but the wine bar was fun.
It’s always nice to see a new corner of the world, especially one that still has a distinctive flavor and culture. The tex mex food, BBQ, and lounging at Barton Springs made me really feel like I was in a different place. Austin, definitely worth a visit.
How much do you see your friends and family?
When scientists have gone around the world searching for the “happiest people” or the “healthiest people” there’s one trait that comes up that ranks highest on both lists. Time spent with friends and family.
How much time do you spend with your friends and family? Whoever it is that you like, your social support network – it doesn’t matter if it’s your blood relatives or your new found “family” in a hippie commune. It seems that the more time you spend with the people you like, the happier and healthier you will be.
This should be an easy prescription to fulfill. Who doesn’t like seeing their friends? After time with your good friends you can feel refreshed and revitalized. They can give great advice and perspective on problems you may be having, or things you find stressful. Or hearing about their problems can help you shake you out of your own head, and help you to become stronger and more generous as you help them with their problems.
But count up the actual hours we spend with people we don’t know or don’t like (at work perhaps, or commuting, or in obligatory social settings we don’t actually enjoy) and add to that the hours we spend effectively by ourselves (watching TV, on the computer, on the blackberry), and there are very few hours we actually spend interacting with our friends.
By the way, I do not count sitting in the same room as friends and watching TV as time interacting with the friends. I know many people do count this time as social time, laughing at youtube videos, watching movies, etc. But I feel in these cases that people are interacting with the screen that is manipulating them emotionally. They are not getting real time human interaction with another human that is responding to them. A screen gives out one way, it is not a give and take relationship. And thus many people end up spending many “empty” hours feeling like they are interacting with people while on facebook, email, or while watching TV. But I do not think it subs in for actual time engaging with another person in the same room at the same time.
So in short, take a little tally this week. It may be more important to your health than getting exercise or eating right. Post in the comment field below – how many hours do you spend a day or per week with people you like?
Backpacking Rocks
So I’d never been backpacking before.
Camping, yes.
Hiking, yes.
But never backpacking. And it sounded like fun – so after sending a shout out to various friends who I thought might be interested, I ended up making reservations through Big Basin to hike the Skyline to Sea Trail with 10 of my friends.
And it was awesome – I think I have found a new hobby (like I needed more things to do??) I enjoyed the social time with friends – especially over spam fry in the morning or a plastic cup of wine at night. I enjoyed the occasionally scary adventure aspect – just fyi rattlesnakes can make some of the most frightening noises I’ve ever heard. And even if your big brother is standing in between the hissing and rattling snake den and you with a big stick, it is still quite unnerving. I enjoyed the creativity that necessity makes us invent – including the 3 person carrying sedan the same big brother and corp of engineers built to carry Rainbow when she twisted her ankle. I enjoyed the beauty of Castle Rock and Big Basin parks, especially the gorgeous series of waterfalls during the 3rd day. I enjoyed the quiet alone time with the woods – I haven’t been doing nearly enough of that kind of thing. It was great to get out into nature, even when nature came with so many mosquitos we needed to hide in our tents until night fell.
So thanks to all who helped with preparations and carried all the masses of extra food that I thought we would eat (hey – so I get hungry – k?). Shouts out to all who started the trip, and the 5 survivors who made it all the way down to Waddell Beach.
Exact routing and more details to follow when I’ve had more sleep..
Humorous
Apparently, I’m meant to be a teacher.
Even Myers Briggs thinks so.
I score an ENFJ, which is one of various personality types that they have.
When describing this type, they list it as, The Teacher. Must be easy to make your quiz more popular when all the descriptions are so flattering! Interesting to note that some things never change – this is the same test result I got when I was 15 years old!
Ha!
Thanks Kim for getting me re-interested. It’s been ages.
What’s your Myers-Briggs? Do you feel like your job matches your test score? Share in the comments field!!
