Things That Have Changed

I've been very fortunate.  There haven't been a terrible number of things for me to complain about yet (green penis aside - ed).  And since this blog has been mostly positive, I'm going to continue that trend with some observations.

New Music:  The thing about Seattle is that the music here is great.  It's been years since I've actually heard music on the radio and gone "Wow!  What is this song?  I actually want to hear this at home."  I also think it's very cool that Adam Carolla has a morning show and Dr. Drew from Loveline has a talk show at night.  A few examples of songs that get played on the radio here, and that I recommend for your listening pleasure, are:
1.  Cath...  Deathcab for Cutie
2.  Human  The Killers
3.  Spiralling  Keane
4.  Shattered  O.A.R.
5.  Between the Lines  Sara Bareilles

New Clothes:  This is a minor thing but my wardrobe has changed, mostly because things are reasonably priced here.  And since its a bigger city than most I'm accustomed to, they have discounted items in my size.  I actually have things by Marc Ecko, J. Crew and Eddie Bauer now, in my size, that were reasonably priced and not found at an outlet store.  More of a personal observation, because I never saw myself as some one who would own brand-named clothes.

New Food:  We're still on the lookout for new restaurants but we've already found a few pretty good ones.  It's also amazing to me that a ton of restaurants deliver here... in fact there are so many that restaurants give out a delivery guide for the entire county!  There's this place about 5 minutes away with excellent Teriyaki recipes, which is pretty impressive considering that I'm Asian and my mother is an incredible cook.  One of the top three pizza places in the city, according to The Seattle Times, is right next to where I work and $20 will get you a large pizza!  Plus there's the International District, which specializes in oriental foods and even has a Japanese supermarket!

New Places:  We've been the Blueberry Farm on Mercer Island, where you can pick your own produce during the summer time.  They have this great trail that runs around the farm with blueberries and blackberries ripe for the picking just growing in the wild.  We also love going to Pike Place Market, though we don't go very often.  We recently found our way to Archie McPhee's so my wife could buy a corporate zombie action figure pack.  And we went to the Kubota Japanese Garden and the Washington Park Arboretum!  They have this river that runs through the park, and you can actually rent a canoe and paddle your way through it.  Very cool.

At the moment, there's a possible chance that I'll get promoted, which would be amazing right now.  I've been thinking about looking at buying a house next year when our lease is up - and have had several places recommended to me by strangers in conversation.  I've yet to make any close friends but the people here have a tendency to be friendly, which makes a world of difference.  Even our current location, which is a lower income area, is the equivalent of Coldwater back home.  And I can live with that.