Sippin' Seattle.

...Communicating without words, eh? Oh good god, seriously Kellian. Do we *really* have the time and funds for another one of your ‘searching for some trite adage to believe in’ quests? We already passed Freshman Composition, remember?

Seattle, WA.

So I’m sitting on the plane with a notebook full of (notes!) reasons as to why I’m sitting on this plane. Because I need it. Because everyone thinks I’m slightly unbalanced. I open it and wonderifperhaps*- the girl who wrote it, er wasn’tinfactintoxicated*.

*you have no way of knowing this- but that is my Eddie Izzard voice. Yeah.

It says:
You have no idea what you’re doing or where you want to go with life. But you do know these things…
-you love life, people, and the idea of being in love.
-you like to travel and write
(And then in big bubbly letters)
PHYSICALITY, feel, touch, see, taste, do, *BE*.
I freakin’ hate thinking and talking about doing things.
Enough with the foreplay.

Oh well, glad you made that clear there Kell... ::sigh:: This might be an EPICfail moment. And I just remembered- I don’t really care for flying either. Great.




The plane lands. It’s 8:30am. I’m in Seat- er wait, where the hell am I? Turns out the SeaTac Airport is about halfways between Seattle and Tacoma. (OooOOohh... *that’s* why it’s called ‘SeaTac’) I’m the middle of nowhere. Luckily for me, a tour bus filled with sweet old ladies from Calgary let me hitch a ride into the city. I don’t know- I have one of those ‘ADOPT ME’ faces or something:) I expected some sort of folksy Canadian sing along during the trip but instead had all of my bigcity girl fantasies crushed by our backwards-yet-lovable neighbors to the north with exclamations of ‘Minneapolis! Aren’t you just a quaint little thing?’ ...I probably deserved that;)



I had no real agenda when I arrived (well, you know- except for the whole ‘no more foreplay’ thing...) so I just meandered around shyly for a while. There was so much to see and do- it was like I wasn’t even myself, just a vessel collecting images and senses. Queen Anne’s to Pioneer Square to Downtown and Pike Place Public Market. My feet are starting to ache but I can’t stop looking. I find a grassy knoll by the ocean and sit for a minute and then... I can’t contain it anymore. I actually scream out loud. OH MY FREAKIN GOD, I’M IN SEATTLE:D Happy dancing and some rolling about round the ground ensues. It’s the first time I’ve spoken since I’ve arrived. Thank god they seem to be used to insane tourists here. I feel good. No tension, no dramatic musings. Just happy. It’s getting late so I limp back to my hotel room a block away from the Space Needle. (Kudos to BW, I suppose- you know, for hooking me up and all)




After napping a bit (Hey- vacation) I decide I want to see the skyline at night. I manage to make it the block to the Space Needle without getting roofied or anything! It’s late enough that it’s just me and 4 other couples at the top. Every last pair asked *me* to take their picture. Yeah. I think I might be getting why I’m actually here. I glance at my fellow sightseers- arms wrapped around each other, heads nestled, contented sighs... ::sigh:: One of the lovers asks me if I’d like her to take my picture. And I smile and say no- but thank you. She asks if I’m lonely and I say yes, but being lonely is not so bad. And I realize it’s not.




And I managed to hang on to those feelings all the way back to my room- where it was *painfully* apparent (CALIFORNIAKING) I was all by myself. Shoot. Ok, I *may* have gotten just a wee bit mopey. A wee bit. ::tear:: You know that song? ‘All by myselffffff, don’t wanna be- alllll by mySEEEeeE-‘
*thunk*
*thunkthunk*
…what in the hell is THAT? :O
*thunkthunkthunk*
omg. Someone has a key to my room and the lock bar is preventing them from entering.

Belligerent Drunk Voice: Lemme in you stupid whore!
Me: :O!!
BDV: I’m gonna kill you *mumblemumble* bitch *unintelligible* I fucking hate you!
Me: *creeping up to the crack in the door- all eyes and nerves* Excuse me sir, I think you have the wrong room-

(In his state, he cannot even tell I am not the whore/bitch in question. Maybe now would be a good time to call the front desk)

Me: Hey, there’s a dude...
FD: Yeah, I realized I made the wrong key right after he walked away.
Me: *waiting*
FD: Would you like me to do something?
Me: Uh... *looks over and sees the guy trying to use his key to unhook the lock bar* Erm, maybe?

He promised to send security up ‘right away’. In the 10 minutes that followed BDguy switched his tactics up and starting professing his undying love for me. (You know, when I wasn’t being such a bitch and all... ;) Then he would try and kick the door down starting the whole cycle over again. Security then arrived! I’m saved! I won’t become the reason women aren’t supposed to travel by themselves! Yay! Wait, dude no, wha..? No! Don’t let him in *my* room!

Apparently FD didn’t tell security what was going on. Security just assumed he was with me and was going to let him collect his things. So now BDguy is crawling in my bed as I’m trying to explain that I’ve *never* seen this guy before. Guess what happened them- yep, Whore/Bitch showed up. (You know, I don’t mean to complain, but sometimes my luck just *sucks*) Turns out she was in the room right next door to me... Um, thanks for waiting there WB.

So now I have a drunk guy rolling around in my bed, a drunk girl shouting obscenities at the drunk guy, and a security guard standing there not knowing what to do. (Kudos revoked, BW) Screw this- I’m going outside for a smoke. And when I got back the room was empty and BDguy and WB were having incredibly loud, wild drunken monkey sex right on the other side of the paper thin wall. Ok, you know the whole ‘wanting to be in love’ ::tear:: thing? Yeah, I’m freakin’ cured!

The next day I had 3 caramel frappuccinos and 2 raspberry white mochas. Damn I’m gansta. Then I got on the plane home. My feet have taken strange new shapes and I haven’t slept in a week. Mission accomplished.

Eagle Street.

Her hands were heavy. Thick fingered and unadorned, her rough and ragged nails spoke to me as they signed before my eyes. Flashing eloquently, their very commonality heightened the beauty of her movement. I realize I'm eavesdropping and I drop my eyes, embarrassed. But I'm still hungry for more.

Olives off the branch. I smell the ocean. God, I’m starving.

I run my hand along the planks of the wooden, unfinished table- letting the imperfections catch along my fingertips and caress my palms. I press down and memorize the grain. I'm very aware of where my body connects me to the chair, down to the deck, to the street, to the earth. God, I’m happy.

The weight of his arm draped over my shoulder and the warmth of his side calls to mind the aqua blue sparkle of his eyes. Have you ever noticed how everyone's eyes are beautiful? I don't need to see them to know they are wide open and curious. Watching the musicians who are intimately watching each other- communicating without words.

Becoming a silence.

NO!!

"Kell, come on now, you’re making this really hard on us..."
"We don’t *want* to do this."

I’m backed into a corner. My arms are desperately clutching my computer monitor to my chest, head is frantically shaking from side to side to, eyes darting from one coworker to the next, catching their slowly advancing steps... One stops when my gaze finds him, trying to placate me with soothing song; another inches closer.

"Easy now Kell- it’s best to do this now when Noble’s not here."
"Hun, you know you brought this on yourself..."

I can’t believe they’re finally going to do it.
I’m having my internet privileges taken away.

::bereft::

I am the saaaaaaddest girl in the world. Sitting on the edge of the concierge desk, my head is too sad! to hold up on its own. Instead my chin sits in the palms of my hands- arms almost too sad! to lift. I’m impressing everyone with my HUGE dramatic sighs (too sad!) The AGM comes over...

"Go ‘way- I’m too sad! to talk to you right now."
"Kell- ::amused exasperation:: it’s only for a while, just to make a poin..."
"But what do you expect me to *do* now??"
"...you cannot be serious."

After pouting and feeling all guilty-like for half the day, I decided that I now had the perfect excuse to reconnect my apartment to the intrawebs (sad face inspired sales to hook me up with half price internets) and became happy:D But not obviously so as I still wanted management to feel guilty about ruining my work day. Management didn’t relent *but* our IT guy couldn't stand to see me too sa... well- you know:)

Happy x2. I’m still here. Shhhhh....

Don't mind me, I'm still 2 hours behind.

Employee #5129 Punch-In: 6:59am.

Huh, well isn’t that amazing?

Earlier this morning
I’ve slept in till the last possible moment. My apartment is beautifully cool (because 70 degrees is entirely comfortable but the first day it’s over 85, one has to refrigerate all of their spaces to below freezing to be happy...) I know I’m going to be late but my sheets are soft and cool and Norm is fuzzy and warm and I don’t care:) At 6:30, I finally roll out of bed and hop into the shower, still with this *meh* I’ll get there when I get there attitude. (I must say, I love this laid-back fabulous new lifestyle I blame on still being jet-lagged) Downstairs the Chai line is longer than it’s ever been but I graciously let a lady ahead of me who is stressing about being late for work. Silly.

Driving down Park Ave, feelin’ good- feelin’ fine, I know it’s going to be my day when Pictures of You comes on some top 40s radio station. Wha?? I’ll take it! Sipping on my chai, swaying to the ballad, I notice the car in front of me is... *dancing*. To my song. Huh, what are the odds? Staying within the lane but obviously steering to the music- he waves at me when we stop for the next light. Invitation- you’re doing it right! And we dance! He’s leading- all the way to Franklin… Onward to downtown. And then a right on some obscure little one way... wait a minute. Where the hell am I?

Oh dear. Paying attention, I’m doing it wrong. It’s mildly ridiculous- I mean, how can I be lost somewhere between the 2 miles from my apartment to downtown? But I am- in the lovely little ghetto of South Minneapolis. Come on! I can *see* downtown- but it still takes a while to make my way back. Suddenly the little swaying civic isn’t so cute;) But I *do* find the hotel, park, and mosey on in.

Employee #5129 Punch-In: 6:59am.

Huh, well isn’t that amazing?

Stan asks me if it’s raining outside. Harhar, you know- because my hair is wet and all... I do the obligatory groan and “Why no, I fell into a puddle of ‘you’re-hilarious’ on the way here.” (maybe you had to be there) Commence with the verbal sparring. He wins, he always does… Seriously though, BigBossMan Noble is on vacation. It doesn’t really matter what I look like. Yeah, he just took off on a flight to Alaska for a couple of days- for no good reason! Just to walk around and see and be in Alaska. Must be *rough* man... Oh wait

SGG: OOooohhh, nice way to open your Seattle story there Kell.
Me: Thank you! I thought so.

*Oh! By the way- I did mention I was going to Seattle, right? As in Seattle, Washington- (where I went)

SGG: Seattle, you say?
Me: Yes, I went there. To Seattle. *I* was there, in Seattle.
SGG: You might have mentio-
Me: SEATTLE!!

I have to go and freak out about the Republican National Convention right now as Melissa refuses to help me upload my Seattle pictures until I do the RNC rooming lists. She actually had the nerve to question my work ethic. Really, now.