It used to be one of my favorite ways to get to know a city. I've done it in Vancouver, Portland and Seattle. I manage to do it on a small scale, too, like say, in a rest area parking lot, the mall parking lot, a casino - any casino. Oh, can't forget about, Kirkland, Bellevue, Renton....
I can get lost anywhere. Really. Just ask my family. They saw me come out of a restroom at a rest stop and stop and look left, right and left again. I was looking for the car. One time I managed to drive clear across town, back in my days in the 'Couve. The sad part is that my starting point was just one neighborhood away from the neighborhood I had lived in for 10 years. I got turned around in her neighborhood, which, to my credit, I had only been in like once or twice before, and I kept turning and turning and before I knew it I was on the other end of town.
Today wasn't that bad but I kind of thought I've moved beyond the hopelessly lost phase of living in Seattle. This fall will mark my 10th year in the Emerald City. Hopeless is not a good word to describe the state I was in because I recognized the neighborhoods as I tried to weave my way to the highway to get home.
So, this is how it should have gone down: Quenn Anne, Highway 99, home.
Here is how it went instead: Queen Anne, Fremont, Ballard, Fremont, Phinney, Wallingford, I-5, home.
A trip that should have only taken 15 minutes went beyond 30 minutes. Oy.
On the bright side I now know how to get from Queen Anne to Ballard super fast.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Sunday, January 09, 2011
Transparency
Have you ever feared your two worlds colliding? No? Have no idea what I'm talking about?
Well, congratulations are in order, for you are a transparent person.
In High School I had long talks with a girlfriend about the many different roles we played in our lives. Of course, we were trying to figure out our roles in life, where we belonged in the grand scheme of things. Like all teenagers we had drama with our parents, real and imagined, drama with our friends, drama with our classes, drama with our teachers, drama with the boys we pined after. Oh, the boys. So many boys and so much pining. I'm surprised my heart never gave out with all of its pitter patting over the silly, silly boys. I was a silly, silly girl.
I think I was pretty transparent at school when I saw a boy I liked. The blood in my face shone right through my white skin. Some days I cursed my fair skin. It's so hard to deny being in like (I may have been a silly girl but I knew I wasn't in love) when your skin is flaming red.
As I've grown and matured, at least I would like to think I've matured, I'm settling into the person I am. I'm comfortable in my own skin. Mostly comfortable in my beliefs. That didn't come out right. I am confident in my beliefs but sometimes it is hard to reconcile my beliefs with the world I live in - and often times embrace.
I suppose this is the crux of my problem. If I am completely transparent then I feel like I will offend a lot of people. The conservative base from which I come would find my beliefs horrifyingly liberal (my family has NO idea how liberal I've become - they only think they know) while the left leaning Seattleites would find me to be Neanderthalic in some other beliefs.
Oy. What to do? Keep my opinions to myself? Bite my tongue? It's hard to keep quiet - just ask Ryan. Or my brothers. Or my mom. Or my dad. Anyone who knows me, really.
Well, congratulations are in order, for you are a transparent person.
In High School I had long talks with a girlfriend about the many different roles we played in our lives. Of course, we were trying to figure out our roles in life, where we belonged in the grand scheme of things. Like all teenagers we had drama with our parents, real and imagined, drama with our friends, drama with our classes, drama with our teachers, drama with the boys we pined after. Oh, the boys. So many boys and so much pining. I'm surprised my heart never gave out with all of its pitter patting over the silly, silly boys. I was a silly, silly girl.
I think I was pretty transparent at school when I saw a boy I liked. The blood in my face shone right through my white skin. Some days I cursed my fair skin. It's so hard to deny being in like (I may have been a silly girl but I knew I wasn't in love) when your skin is flaming red.
As I've grown and matured, at least I would like to think I've matured, I'm settling into the person I am. I'm comfortable in my own skin. Mostly comfortable in my beliefs. That didn't come out right. I am confident in my beliefs but sometimes it is hard to reconcile my beliefs with the world I live in - and often times embrace.
I suppose this is the crux of my problem. If I am completely transparent then I feel like I will offend a lot of people. The conservative base from which I come would find my beliefs horrifyingly liberal (my family has NO idea how liberal I've become - they only think they know) while the left leaning Seattleites would find me to be Neanderthalic in some other beliefs.
Oy. What to do? Keep my opinions to myself? Bite my tongue? It's hard to keep quiet - just ask Ryan. Or my brothers. Or my mom. Or my dad. Anyone who knows me, really.
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