Tale of Two Weekends
It was a wonderful weekend.
It was an awful weekend.
(It was really only one weekend, and the weekend it was meant to be).
Ray and I had plans ... plans that I had been hatching for over a month ... to go back packing at Mount Dickerman with Sze-lyn and Mark. Alas, the weather was not cooperative. Mount Dickerman is reported to be a tough trail with wonderful views. Not exactly conducive to continuous rainfall ... even if that rainfall is likely to be light.
Instead, the four of us split a really bottle of Temperillo at the Poco Wine Bar and talked. We opted for urban and indoors, instead of the opposite, but perhaps the backpacking trip is still ahead of us.
Since we wound up in town this weekend, Ray and I decided to check out the Bite of Seattle. Sadly, it was a pretty substantial disappointment to me. I was never a huge fan of the Taste of Chicago. Generally, the only way I could deal with the heat and the crowds and the smell of sweat and fried food and trash was to carry and continuously drink for a bottle of vodka and lemonade. The Bite of Seattle was less crowded and confrontational and ... well just less ... Chicago ... than the Taste, and for that reason I liked it. But I chose the wrong food and wound up a little miserable with a stomach ache that I couldn't quite beat.
Anyway, long story short, the Bite was nice but I didn't have any fun. We left and tried to see a movie, but that didn't work out, so I ended the evening by going home, ordering pizza, slumping on the couch, and trying not to annoy Ray too much with my sour mood.
Yesterday totally made up for the crappiness of Saturday, though. We started the day late, after laying around reading all morning. Then we got bagels and went to finally see that Die Hard movie (just to illustrate how crazy my life has been so far this summer, I hadn't seen a movie in over a month ... which is a long time for me). Live Free or Die Hard was awesome! Like the other Die Hard movies, it was everything an action movie is supposed to be: comically violent, filled with over-the-top explosions, and funny. I loved it.
Then we went to the gym got some of that tension energy out. It may not sound great to you, but an hour at the gym can improve my whole outlook on life.
Last night we went out the University of Illinois College of Engineering Alumni Reception that they hold in Seattle every year (pretty weird, huh?). Apparently, there are almost 3000 of us in the Puget Sound area. It was a good time. Plenty of wine and tasty appetizers. I caught up with one of the college liaisons on all of the gossip and changes to the campus and the department where I was really active for 6 years of my life.
In the course of the conversation, I got convinced to join that goofy ALWAYS Illinois social networking site for Illinois Engineering Grads. It's a little silly, but also kind of nice, since so many people I know and miss fall into that category. So ... if you sign up for it, add me as a friend. (Tim and Ray, if you sign up, you'll automatically have me as a friend, I think.)
It was an awful weekend.
(It was really only one weekend, and the weekend it was meant to be).
Ray and I had plans ... plans that I had been hatching for over a month ... to go back packing at Mount Dickerman with Sze-lyn and Mark. Alas, the weather was not cooperative. Mount Dickerman is reported to be a tough trail with wonderful views. Not exactly conducive to continuous rainfall ... even if that rainfall is likely to be light.
Instead, the four of us split a really bottle of Temperillo at the Poco Wine Bar and talked. We opted for urban and indoors, instead of the opposite, but perhaps the backpacking trip is still ahead of us.
Since we wound up in town this weekend, Ray and I decided to check out the Bite of Seattle. Sadly, it was a pretty substantial disappointment to me. I was never a huge fan of the Taste of Chicago. Generally, the only way I could deal with the heat and the crowds and the smell of sweat and fried food and trash was to carry and continuously drink for a bottle of vodka and lemonade. The Bite of Seattle was less crowded and confrontational and ... well just less ... Chicago ... than the Taste, and for that reason I liked it. But I chose the wrong food and wound up a little miserable with a stomach ache that I couldn't quite beat.
Anyway, long story short, the Bite was nice but I didn't have any fun. We left and tried to see a movie, but that didn't work out, so I ended the evening by going home, ordering pizza, slumping on the couch, and trying not to annoy Ray too much with my sour mood.
Yesterday totally made up for the crappiness of Saturday, though. We started the day late, after laying around reading all morning. Then we got bagels and went to finally see that Die Hard movie (just to illustrate how crazy my life has been so far this summer, I hadn't seen a movie in over a month ... which is a long time for me). Live Free or Die Hard was awesome! Like the other Die Hard movies, it was everything an action movie is supposed to be: comically violent, filled with over-the-top explosions, and funny. I loved it.
Then we went to the gym got some of that tension energy out. It may not sound great to you, but an hour at the gym can improve my whole outlook on life.
Last night we went out the University of Illinois College of Engineering Alumni Reception that they hold in Seattle every year (pretty weird, huh?). Apparently, there are almost 3000 of us in the Puget Sound area. It was a good time. Plenty of wine and tasty appetizers. I caught up with one of the college liaisons on all of the gossip and changes to the campus and the department where I was really active for 6 years of my life.
In the course of the conversation, I got convinced to join that goofy ALWAYS Illinois social networking site for Illinois Engineering Grads. It's a little silly, but also kind of nice, since so many people I know and miss fall into that category. So ... if you sign up for it, add me as a friend. (Tim and Ray, if you sign up, you'll automatically have me as a friend, I think.)