Visit in a nutshell

I dropped suricattus at the airport about two hours ago. It would have been easier if I'd slept better the last two nights, but my insomnia seems to be becoming a more established thing. Phone calls to the doctor will ensue. In the meanwhile...

The meerkat arrived Tuesday evening. We spent some time roaming Fremont, where I introduced her to a troll, Vladimir Lenin and a man-faced dog. Dinner was at Chinook's. She was well-satisfied. Yesterday we parked at Seattle Center and took the monorail into downtown. We tasted our way through Pike Place Market and had lunch on the waterfront. There was light shopping (including the discovery of a pair of boots I may have to pick up), wine tasting (of course) and general merriment. I forgot how much I enjoy wine tasting, even if I am still, after all these years, a little intimidated by it. Must find a way to do more. Last night, we met wycz and singingnettle for dinner, then headed over to the U Bookstore for Suri's reading/discussion. She was, as I expected her to be, engaging and entertaining, and the excerpt she read (a brawl in a Starbucks) funnily appropriate. I know she had hoped for a larger turn-out, but there were book sales and stock signing. I suspect I count it more of a success than she may have.

Anyway, she's off to World Fantasy. She'll be back Sunday night for another full day's visit on Monday. I look forward to her return.

Glad to know I'm not the only one who noticed

The New York Times is running a piece called "Obama, McCain and 'The West Wing'," which compares current events to the events of the last two seasons of the show. It hasn't escaped me how similar fiction and reality have become. Clearly, I'm not the only one. In fact, I still want to know who's doing Senator Obama's speech writing because I've heard echoes of Aaron Sorkin dialog in all of his language. Maybe he's a fan . . . or maybe his writers are fans or, in my fantasy world, Sorkin's doing the writing on the QT, though I doubt it. Anyway . . . point is, in this case, reality isn't stranger than fiction; it's remarkably similar.

My Neighborhood(s) in the NY Times

The NY Times is currently featuring an article about the neighborhoods I live between, Fremont and Ballard. I live within walking distance of Fremont and spend quite a bit of time there. (My neighborhood is technically part of Queen Anne Hill, but I live on what's called "the back side," and it's far more Fremont than it is Queen Anne.) Some of my closest local friends live in Ballard. As soon as I saw the picture at the top of the article, I recognized it as the Ballard Sunday Market. Couldn't mistake it for anywhere else.

And, reading the article, you'll see some of the reasons I stay in Seattle.