Hey....can you believe it is summer time? How crazy that this weekend is Memorial Day weekend? This year has been zipping by...probably because I am old now. People always say as you get older the time goes by faster...and it is just flying...I guess since I am in my late twenties now(wait, no, no...I forgot, I'm only 22, nevermind)...I can tell I'm getting older because of that AND because my knee has been hurting- I'm guessing from the rain (isn't that why old people get aches and pains- the rain?). Here is your Friday Five for the week:
1. I went with Ian and the band over to Banks Lake last weekend for a Blues festival. There were definitely some funny moments on the trip (playing a drinking game in the van without drinking because we didn't have a radio, being told by the merch guy next to me that the lube they sell is the best effing stuff there is- yeah, they sold lube-, hula hooping contests, etc) But what really stuck with me from the weekend was how unbelievably beautiful our state is. I always think of Seattle-the city- as being so great...with the mountains to look at over the puget sound, but driving over to Banks Lake...seeing geology in action (that might be an oxymoron)...it was all fairly breathtaking...I'm glad I wasn't driving or we may have ended up over a cliff. On our way home, we stopped at the Grand Coulee Dam, which is just so massive and impressive (until you read about all the damage it has done to the fishing industry here, and how the native americans haven't had a first salmon ceremony since 1940.) Sad. BUT, it is the largest electric power producing facility in the US (fifth in the world).
2. I got a new bed this weekend. Well, I got the mattress and boxspring- and I guess it isn't really new- it was my little brother's. New to me. And a real bed. Not the blow up mattress that I've been using for the past couple of years. What is going on with me? I painted my room, made a work desk space and now HAVE A BED? Wowza. I'm undecided on my thoughts of the new bed though. I kind of miss the inflatable. I'm going to give it a little bit longer, but I might switch back. It isn't UNcomfortable, it just isn't that great...though I can hide my closet doors underneath, instead of keeping them propped against the living room wall. So that's useful. We'll see.
3. I went to the Mariners game on Monday. Can I just tell you, I LOVE baseball games. Like, there was definitely some skipping going on as we got closer and closer to Safeco. I haven't been to a game yet this season (don't ask me why!), and I got a last minute invite from Jen and her work peeps. Grabbed some peanuts from a crazy karate chopping, yelling man (how could I buy from anyone else?!), Amy and Jen did the hot dog thing...I just couldn't bring myself to pay $9 for a hot dog...maybe if I liked hot dogs even a little bit, I would do it for the sake of the game, but I don't like them, I don't like ketchup or mustard, and I have had my fill of unknown meat for a little while (scrapple in philly...yikes). Despite my love of the Mariners and the whole baseball experience in general, I was SEVERELY disappointed by our fans. The stadium was pretty empty. People weren't that into it. While I was already aware of our city's lame-o sports fans, especially after having lived in and experienced the awesomeness of Chicago fans, it still made me sad. My friend Amy reminded me that Seattle people are lame in other arenas as well-such as concerts...we have a reputation of being too cool to have fun at the show...people standing around with their arms crossed, looking bored, at shows that they actually are really enjoying- they just don't want to show it. Lame. C'mon Seattle...have some fun, support your teams (I miss you Sonics!), dance a little!
4. I read a really interesting article in the June edition of the Atlantic. It was talking about a long term study that has been going on, figuring out what makes a good life- what makes people happy over the long run. Dr Vaillant took a group of Harvard college students- 72 years ago, and has followed them through their life, checking in on their physical and mental health, work successes and failures, marriages and divorces, children and grandchildren...long term studies like this don't happen often- mostly because of funding. The study has found some interesting information...such as: regular excercise in your college age years predicted late life mental health more than physical health; Your cholesterol at 50 actually has nothing to do with health in old age; pessimists suffer more physically than optimists; alcohol is actually the horse, not the carriage- in general it was not the hard time that lead to the alcoholism, it was that that caused the problem in the first place- Vaillant talks a lot about the negative effects of alcohol use; and finally, when he was asked "what have you learned from this study?" he said "the only thing that really matters in life is your relationships to other people." He talks about how relationships with people matters more than intelligence or social class in succesful aging- and in particular, he found, was relationships with siblings. Interesting. Go call your brother or sister right now. The article has a ton more information (it's long), and I totally recommend reading it: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200906/happiness
5. I got a library notice yesterday that my held copy of "Perfect Fifths"- the final book in the Jessica Darling series (remember, the books I was reading while walking down the street and nearly running into people?) was waiting for me to pick up. Woohoo...I skipped (okay, I didn't skip...that's hard to do uphill) on up to the library after work today and picked it up. Yay for taking the bus to work and being able to read on the way home. I have much planned for this Memorial Day weekend, but I am sure I will find moments here and there to slip in some time with my favorite fictional snarky pal, Jessica. Can't wait...how's it all going to end?!
Hope you all have a great weekend- be safe! Until next Friday....
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