Seattle: I Don't Get It

This little sweater-knitting project of mine is causing all my free time to disappear with a giant sucking sound. I think I’ve spent about 10 hours on it this week so far. That wouldn’t be so bad if I was actually making forward progress, but I’m not. I’ve frogged the whole thing twice and currently have only an inch and a half of collar—which is by no means unflawed—on my needles. By Sunday afternoon (the next class), I’m supposed to have all the collar and yoke done and be ready to start on the sleeves.

I don’t think I’m going to make it. B and I are driving up to Seattle tomorrow to see Radio Golf by August Wilson at the Seattle Repertory Theatre. B got me the tickets as a present for my birthday (which was way back in September). I have been so totally noninvolved in the planning of this trip that I just had to check the theater's Web site just now to find out the name of the play. It’s not that I don’t want to go. It’s just that I’ve been really busy (working and knitting), and I have this weird thing about Seattle.

I don’t get it. I’ve been there twice and it’s, like, what’s the big deal about Seattle? It’s 3 inches wide and 30 miles long. It’s got that Pike Street Market where they throw fish at you. It’s got an IKEA (ICKEA). It has Microsoft. It has traffic (lots more than Portland). It has the Space Needle. And B and I get into a horrendous row every time we’re there, because driving in an unfamiliar city is a foolproof recipe for an argument for us. So you can see why I’m sort of tepid on Seattle. Oh yeah, one more thing. It’s been raining in Seattle even more than it has in Portland.

There are reasons I should like Seattle. For one thing, my former best friend (FBF) lives there. You’d think I’d be going up to Seattle to visit her all the time, but she works for Microsoft, so she’s pretty much signed away her personal life. Also, Seattle is surrounded by amazing mountains and hiking opportunities. It’s supposed to have good restaurants. But in the past we’ve not availed ourselves of any of this, because we made the mistake of trusting FBF to show us around. She kept asking us, “What do you guys want to do? What do you guys want to do? Do you want to go visit the Microsoft campus?” (Yeah, right after I drink a glass of bleach.) Had we known she knew nothing about the city she’s been living in for 10 years, we would have come armed with a Seattle Lonely Planet or something.

This time we are ready. First of all, we’ve got ourselves some tickets to a play, so Friday night is taken care of. B has done all sorts of restaurant research, has compiled a list of both fair and foul weather activities, has been printing out Mapquest maps galore, and picked up some guidebooks from the library. I have not done jack. I didn’t even contact FBF to tell her we were coming. B did all that. I usually do the trip planning, so it was just great that he did everything. And I’m pretty sure that we will have a much better time this time, thanks to his thorough research job. Plus, B volunteered to do all the driving so that maybe I can get some knitting done in the car, although I’m sort of thinking that knitting in the car will make me feel like puking.

Anyway, yay for B for doing all the work! Let’s hope that this time we don’t drive the wrong way down a one-way street and find a garbage truck bearing down on us.