new blog

i had to switch over to a more photo-friendly, video accessable site. much easier for all of us.

wiswash.tumblr.com

see ya there!

...and away

i saw "Up" while i was home. i'm not sure if it was the low, low, price of $6 that influenced my normally synical and critical head, or if it was the 6 pack of spotted cow my mom helped my sneak in, but i loved - loved loved loved - that movie. and, i didn't love it because of the chubby kid, or the talking dogs, or any of those sympathy-inducing ploys. instead, my heart was pulled along by the incredibly touching love story that moved the entire movie from start to finish. normally, i don't fall for these disney/pixar statement movies (see "Wall-E") and i particularly struggle to make it through a film when the sound cuts out 2 times, and the film strip falls off the wheel, etc. but, i loved it. enough said. go see it. now, enough said.

washwis

i depart for wisco in 3+ hours. i'm leaving behind my beautiful seattle home (picture number 1) and my well behaved rabbits (not pictured due to general lack of attention span) to attend the lil' bro's (pictured down below) graduation celebration. can't say i mind - the guy is totally worth a weekend dedicated to getting through life in tomahawk. plus, he's much cooler than i was in high school, so i'm hoping that maybe he can sneak me into some sweet high school parties and i'll finally be able to get in touch with my lost youth. and, mom's finally loosened up the cork on the wine bottles, so there's always that to fall back on. and, oh yes, spotted cow - how quickly i forgot. the more i write, the more i realize there's a lot to be pysched about. cheese curds, perhaps? maybe a trip to the Ben Franklin? ooooh yes. indeed.




so happy for you benny! spring break 2010!

menagerie

the following posts are a lame attempt at summing up what i've been up to during the last two and a half months. i had an amazing birthday weekend (exhibit A), moved to a new starbucks, was holed up in a boot for 2 weeks (and still have pretty much no idea why), watched nearly all of PlanetEarth, and moved to a new apartment.

(A)

somewhere in all the chaos i made some amazing (and amazingly messy) veggie burgers. i was going to post the recipe but have since learned that i sort of suck at tracking the important details of ingredients and amounts. i guess i'll just have to make 'em for you when you come to visit.

and - oh yes - spring in seattle is dang beautiful!

and the view from the new place aint so bad either.

(yessireee, those are, indeed, a lot of mountains in the distance.)

for lack of a better title: BEAGLE BEAGLE DOG BONE

jake really stepped up his game in the last couple months. the first was my wonderful, shiny, birthday present. the box alone made me gasp (those people have it down!). my guy knows what he's doing.


this was followed by a treasure hunt of an assortment of delicious pop-tarts. he even managed to get all the best flavors. upon posting these, i realize that he needs a little help on his "hiding" skills, but i think you get the idea.

residency

catherine is more on top of things than i am. she has her official WA paperwork in order, and i simply can't let go of my WI stuff. we tried to replicate them and it didn't go too well. our direction was completely off.

MBG

this one's dedicated to melanie....

she is, perhaps, my longest-lasting friend. so, it's a two-fold testament to how good i am at keeping in touch with people and how great she is with putting up with my aloof-ness. she generously coincided her visit with my first ever seattle birthday. it made for the best birthday i've had in years. (only beating out the birthday "where greta made me wear a leash" by a slight margin.) compared to our madison days, i think we kept it pretty much under control.

except for the high-school-photo-shoot in the art museum which got us nearly kicked out. seriously.

we shared secrets and - possibly - some drunken tears but, as melanie will emphatically tell you, we didn't get in a single fight. which, i guess, is some sort of record in our circle. and, we ended the trip on an epic note. to say the least.

jake gets on a boat

matt and amy moved here in january and currently live in bremerton - a one hour ferry ride away. so, in trend with all of these out-of-date photos and memos, we went to visit them a couple months ago. i got to break jakes ferry cherry. it was more than amazing. and very windy.

i wonder where BlackHouse WhiteMarket would fit in this ad

all credit due to hannah - who, by the way, i secretly blog-stalk. so, HI!, hannah, if you see this. sorry for being a creeper. but thanks for the wonderful, wonderful, video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnOyMSEWNTs

baller on a budget

almost exactly one year ago i developed a pretty strong crush on this guy.

(there are other, "better", pictures of us together but they merely shed light on the fact that we drank waaaay to much in our stalking efforts).

c.dog bought me tickets to see him for my birthday. due to our amazingly great streak of luck we were able to figure out the hotel he was staying at, where he was eating breakfast, and, most importantly, his room number. i'm pretty proud of us for keepin' it in our pants for the weekend. we thought it'd be best to give it at least one more year before we camp out in his hotel lobby.

my crush = hero. hero of my life.

misc. life moments

my new fave bob dylan quote:

“i wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes…you’d know what a drag it is to see you.”

one of my more recent drunkisms:

"keri got a SUITCASE FOR HER WAFFLES!!!!" (i think all you smarties will be able to figure out what i was talking about)

and i made veggies enchaladas. pretty delish. pix will be provided once my computer is in a healthier state of being.

yum.
5-6 sweet potatoes (boiled, peeled, cooled)
1 8 oz. package cream cheese (room temp.)
8 green onions (or whatever you like)
chili powder (1 tsp. - i used more)
cumin (1 tsp - i probably doubled it)
ground oregano (1 tsp - again, probably doubled it)
salt and pepper (to taste)
corn tortillas (about 15 fit in a 9x13 pan)
your cheese of choice (to generously melt on top)
enchalada sauce (19 oz. can)

- preheat oven to 350
- mash the potatoes with the c.cheese and all seasonings
- heat a lil veg oil and fry up the tortillas
- fill each tortilla with a generous scoop of potato mix and roll up. place "seam" side down in the pan (no need to pre-grease). squish 'em all in there.
- dump the can of sauce on top
- top with cheese
- bake ~25 minutes - until the cheese starts to brown
- eat up.

upon re-reading my notes, i realize i would make a terrible cook book author. another career crossed off the list! yesssss!

i shall call this "stupid things"

1. bikes
the 10 minute bike ride from my house to work is uphill, and therefore stupid. i haven't ridden a bike in 5+ years so, in turn, i'm pretty out of decent bike-riding condition. this adds to the stupidity of bikes. i can not wear a bike helmut on days that i've washed my hair, which is stupid on so many levels. my butt and legs already hurt. this means tomorrow is going to be really stupid.
2. lady gaga
3. pop quizzes
i already went to school. i already sat through excessive and annoying pop quizzes. i passed them (and usually with flying colors), and, in doing so, felt nicely un-stupid. no one at this age should have to take a pop quiz. and then fail. (nor should they be told to sit at seperate tables with their backs facing one another so as to avoid cheating.) the pop quizzes should not ask questions like: "name the french preparation of an artichoke. here's a hint - it's a man's last name!" i'm not sure how i still have a job.
*sentiment remains regarding spelling quizzes/contests
4. sandwiches
always too much bread. always sticks to your mouth. always fall apart and always messy. always stupid - even when grilled and cheesy. texturally overwhelming and dumb. not really that healthy. the only slight exception is peanut butter and jelly. but still stupid.
5. two buck chuck
last i checked, it's 3.99 plus tax. or something like that. math?
6. jaywalking tickets
the biggest possible ticket for a jaywalker is getting hit by a car. if you're so stupid to not know how to cross the road, then you will suffer physical damage. no need for a cop on a bike to issue you a $110+ ticket because you didn't pay attention to the red hand. stupid, stupid, stupid.

address book

in apartment 409, of the Metro on First building (located at 215 first ave w, seattle, wa 98119), there resides one "thomas ray". i just about crapped my pants. i'm debating whether or not i should introduce myself to T.Ray Version 2.0 or count on the fact that the deck is already pretty stacked in my favor.

5 = "did i punch your face?"

the madison ladies came and left, and left me with very fond memories of everything i love about madison. as much as i am loving everything seattle, it's safe to say i haven't laughed that hard since, well...., since i left mad-town. my lucky little heart is about to become more lucky: one of the girls (along with her kick-ass boyfriend) will be here - permanently - in a month and one of the other girls will hopefully be here in nine months. there have already been talks of getting a house that will contain all of us (which would mean 4 guys and 5 boys. ya know, real world style?) you're all invited once we find a housing unit willing to take all of us and our menagerie of animals. feelin' jealous that you missed out on all the laughs? here's a taste for you:

heather's response when i tried to insist that my RealWorldSeattle name was Deluxe:
"since i'm a prude from green bay, wi, i refuse to refer to someone as a hamburger variety. therefore, you shall remain Shaina."


so, i'm pretty psyched they visited and even more psyched they're coming to stay. until that happens, i think melanie will be more than enough to hold me over.

3 more days!!!!!!!!!!

smells like home

My aunt and I finally celebrated dogmas. I think her concern for making sure my Seattle living experience is as complete as it can be is pretty evident.

"Dream with Incienso,
- of morning and evening smoke rising in sleeply little towns and pueblos
- of chuck wagon cooking fires out on the range
- of campfires by the singing trout stream
- have jolly picnic fires on the mesa and in the canyon
- of the tall yarns around the glowing fireplace
- of memories of friends
- of visions of new adventures in the far west
Incienso: The Dream Maker"

Clearly, we got this move all wrong. I have never sang by a trout stream but, upon first wiff of these little mesquite scented cones, I wish I picked the "far west" they are talking about it. How does one go about telling a tall yarn?

moral conundrum

can you still call yourself a vegetarian when all you ever want to eat is the chicken liver pate at le pichet? i gotta figure out a way to make this work because that dish is damn tasty in my mouth. it's at the top of my "force your friends to do this when they visit" list. it's not really up for debate.

good morning sunshine

i wake up to this everyday. can't wait to see what happens.

you'll notice it's pretty sunny outside. it has been since....well....pretty much SINCE WE MOVED HERE. seriously, other than the occasional snow flurry or drizzly afternoon, the days have been sunny and beautiful. i'm telling ya, seattle-ites are a bunch of whiny liars. maybe they should make more friends.

double espresso

fantasy vacation starts in six days and i just bought a case of van gogh dbl espresso. it's going to be magical.

pda

there was an older couple at the bar the other night. they were heavily making out with legs intertwined, hands in the hair, etc... our gm stopped by and said: "this isn't really a make-out sort of joint." and continued on his way. they were pretty pissed. they ended their visit with this dramatic goodbye:

"i have never been tamed at a bar before."

i also learned what a "snow leopard" is. do you?

pappy

jake and i got to house-sit/dog-watch for our friends rob and sarah. the house was pretty darn great, but the best part was pappy. this isn't the best picture of him or jake, but it's the only one i have that comes close to accurately depicting his size. when pappy and i sat side-by-side, you could barely see me on the other side of his profile. he.is.amazing.: the biggest chunk of muscley love i've ever had the pleasure of chillin' with. now we just need to find an apartment/house that is big enough that he can fit in the hallways.

you know it's going to be good...

jake and i celebrated our anniversary last month. we agreed to not buy eachother any gifts. i came home to this lil' treat. and i know you're all very jealous. it was gone in 4 days. and we didn't give any to the dog.

which of these don't belong?

despite generally having a lot of free time on my hands, i sometimes find myself far too hurried to get anything into some sort of proper order. thought this summed it up nicely....

pseudo-roomie

ross has been staying with us for a few days. and he might be staying for a few more. no one's really sure yet. the dude has the best one-liners and, thus, i don't want him to ever leave.

b: "ross, what would you name your sail boat?"
r: "Plan B"

ross, speaking to my rabbit, while playing his yukele: "you really like the GED cord, don't you?"

this girl

happy birthday to my lady friend, my best friend. she makes a mean beef stew and a lot of baked goods, and these are some of the main reasons my boyfriend loves her just as much as i do. he also really likes her cat. i prefer her more for her ingenious ability to make me giggle, make me mixed cd's, make me jealous of her creativity, and make me wish my african dance moves (and all interpretive dance moves) were even somewhat good enough to compete with hers. i also love her for playing along with my really inappropriate concert-going games. and i love her for already getting annoyed with me for using this picture of her. and i love her for letting us squish her head into this childs helmut. she only cried once.

dear c.i.e. have the happiest birthday. and the happiest year yet. i am happiest that i get to be your friend and happiest that you were born. nicely done. i know it's your birthday and everything, but, if you could work on re-stocking the cupboards with chocolate and candies, that'd be super. love you. love your style.

tidbits

people from seattle really like to drink their coffee with straws. hot or cold - they'll use a straw and suck it down.
- this confuses me.

people from seattle are overly kind to drug addicts and homeless hecklers. maybe i notice this more because both of my jobs are oddly close to drug hot spots. and maybe i'm more sensitive to this because my time "on the clock" is spent on the phone with 911/non-emergency/detox van/etc. (please keep in mind that these duties were not - and are not - included in either job description.)
- my friend/co-worker adam put it quite nicely: "try to order a lot of complicated cocktails tonight. you don't know what it's like to be a bored bartender in this place. i just sit up here and think of different ways to kill bums."

people from seattle like to tell me how to correctly pronounce wisconsin. apparently, it should sound something like: "whi-scayn-syn".
- shut/up/please

can i take your order?

today, for (approximately) the third time in my life, my mind became very preoccupied with the fact that i might, just might, be a service-industry lifer. this thought process followed a quite positive, yet very ambiguous, conversation i had with the gm of zoe. i don't think it's necessary to go into the many emotions running behind this prospect beyond the fact that a) it frustrates me to no end that i've yet to come up with any idea that puts my 30+ year-loan-repayment-college-education to any significant use and b) going through life with absolutely no inclination towards any specific dream or goal makes me feel a little worthless at times. ok, ok....i've started the endlessly circular conversation...simply put, i have felt - for a long time - that the money and time i put into college was completely not worth it. and don't give me the bullshit "life experience" conversation: the $8,000 spent on three crappy weeks in london would have been better enjoyed and more educational if i'd targeted that money towards a self-directed summer in italy where i would actually learn and remember the damn language. AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!

paying off student loans until 2025 a talented waitress it does not make. nor does it make an editor. a book agent. a zookeeper. a psychologist.

nor a good speller.

*this is horse shit*

bear with me on this one.

take your vitamins

to start. apparently there was an earthquake this morning. they're telling us it occured at 5:25ish - right as i was laying in bed waiting for my starbucks alarm to go off. so - i was awake and i still missed the bastard. it's been the one thing i've been majorly looking forward to since we moved here. you don't need to tell me...it's not something i should be wishing upon...like when i was younger and i thought it'd be pretty cool to get mugged and my aunt repeatedly, and sometimes angrily (word?), tried to convince me just how stupid this was and why would anyone ever want to get their stuff stolen and the shit scared out of them?!?! i now acknowledge the error in that thought process but still hold on to the dream of an earthquake. some day.

now, my recent trip to the lady doctor resulted in the Mrs. giving me a very stern lecture on how i needed to immediately start taking a vitamin D supplement. i feel like i'm pretty up on my mineral/vitamin knowledge and was slightly offended that she would assume i'd be so dumb that i would be blatently ignoring the health of my bones, and so on. i shrugged it off until she sent my results, along with a very informative tidbit on vitamin D:

"Most of the body's vitamin D is generated when ultraviolet B radiation from the sun penetrates the skin and triggers production of active vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency is very common in the US, particularly in regions above 35 degrees latitude. Seattle lies at 47 degrees latitude. Therefore, even when the sun is shining, residents here receive very little of UVB radiaton needed to generate vitamin D in the skin." - New England Journal of Medicine

point well made. and point well taken. hopefully the next time an earthquake hits the area my amped up bones will be better suited to withstand any blows and falls that come my way. and, dear NEJoM, you might consider adding something about earthquake protection into your vitamin D Q&A. just a thought.

rip city

jake and i went to portland for a day in a half - it's just under three hours away from seattle. i was skeptical at first; hadn't heard very many good things about it...plus, jake had already been and had decidedly told me that i wasn't going to like it at all.

my boy was mistaken. i *fracking* love that city. very much reminded me of madison: the good parts of madison. everyone was immensly friendly, and not in the fake seattle way of friendly. i realized that i really miss being able to walk from bar to cafe to shopping to dinner to basketball to more bars, and so on, within minutes from each location. yes. i love portland. i can't wait to go back and do more exploring. but, yes, it felt good to drive back up the 5 and watch the seattle skyline come into view. it makes me feel like home - a solid "i.live.here." sort of home. that's pretty great too.

part of the reason i loved portland so much (and why i will be returning regularly). and why can't i work there?

meanwhile: the bunnies are trying to make friends with joss and she just hit beater on the nose. i have some parenting to do.....

january in seattle

This both re-affirms my decision to move to Seattle and helps me forgive Seattle's poor response to the terrible week of snow. I took this yesterday - Jan. 19th - while walking along Elliot Bay. For the record, the only difference between his outfit and mine was that my legs were fully covered and I had a shirt on (short sleeve, mind you). This is saying quite a bit as I think I'm a little notorious for always, always, always being cold.

I only feel slightly bad for everyone still in the mid-west. But...I only feel bad because if I didn't have any pity, and instead chose to mock all of you, I'd be completely friendless. Once I convince all of you to move this way, I'll really start rubbin' it in.

from this day forward, i travel only by train

chicago o'hare international airport.

at 4 a.m. they turn the lights up and wake you up so they can clean.

just like a homeless shelter.