A THREE-HOUR TOUR (a three-hour tour)

One of my dearest friends from the Bay Area is coming up for a visit.  (YAY!!!) He is bringing a very special sweetheart who I can't WAIT to meet. I know they are coming up to go dancing, there is a huge blues scene up here. Still, I'm happy to steal a few of their moments.  He asked me to show them what I love so much about Seattle.  Ohmyword! Where do I START?? I quickly realized that I could never show them all of my favorite pleasure spots in just three hours. So, I decided to create a blog.

TA-DAAH!!

I grabbed my camera and got into my all-northwestian VW Golf and set out on a photo scavenger hunt. I thought I could do it all in an afternoon. Truth be told, I barely left my own neighborhood. It's Saturday and one of my favorite DJ's, Michele Myers, was introducing her newest documentary on the history of electronic music and plugging the Decibel Festival. Fall is here and the sun was out, so I slid back the sun roof and enjoyed a few songs she dedicated to those protesting wall street.

First things first. I LOVE KEXP. Every show is vastly different and I'm always learning about some new artist. Since my friends are blues dancers, I have to insist that they tune in to preach with Johnny Horn on Sunday mornings. Amazing show!!  So is Shake the Shack with Leon.  All surf, rockabilly, swing and blues on Friday nights.  Can't. stop. hips. from. moving.

KEXP just finished their Fall pledge drive.  Normally, I just sort of put up with these things, but this year was different. People are more and more fed up with corporate rule. There is something moving about people donating anything they can to support a radio station that isn't run by corporations.  Power to the People!! Makes me want to rent Pump up the Volume for ole' times sake.

There's no place like home

How?  I took a very deep breath and gave myself exactly two minutes of alone time. 

I don't mean that I went to read a book, or indulged in a matinee. I mean I truly quieted all of the advice I had asked for, the white noise, the shoulds and coulds I had been clinging to and quietly resenting. The truth is, everyone was very supportive and wanted me to do what I wanted to do. The trouble was, I didn't know what I wanted. I had spent six years in Japan and I desperately wanted to move on, but I didn't know where to go. India? Korea? China? Germany? England? America?  If America, where in America? And why? What would I do? What is a "home" anyway? What does that mean?

After chasing my tail for months, I finally gave myself permission to want. I closed my eyes and asked, "If no one else mattered but me, where would I want to be?"  The answer was immediate. Clear. Definitive. Seattle.

That was a year and a half ago and I have never once questioned that decision. An old friend turned out to be the love of my life. I walked into a job that was exactly right for me at the time. My kilt lad and I live in the sweetest cozy house, I've fallen back in love with crocheting, I've been cast with the Dickens Carolers and am singing again, the swing scene is just what the doctor ordered and I have a number of amazing people in my life. Music, beer, geeks and queers. The Emerald City, yes. It truly is at the end of my rainbow.

Best. Decision. Ever.