Karen at the Living Room

Karen at the Living Room
Originally uploaded by Suevisions.

This is probably my last entry from Seattle. Karen has left now for a conference and its my last day here today. And if I return the Living Room too will be gone, replaced by the Abbey arts centre over the road, so its a bit sad really, but after 3 weeks it'll be really nice to be back home. One of the things that makes saying goodbye easier is that Karen, Ryan and Lacey are coming over to Greenbelt, so we only have to say "See ya in August!" which is a whole lot easier to say. I'm off out now to enjoy a bit of the sunshine before finishing my packing.

Concert

Concert
Originally uploaded by Suevisions.

I went to a concert last night. We saw four bands with Gwen and Gary. I recon the Crystal Skulls were the best. With a name like that you'd expect a Goth band, but actually they were playing happy indie rock. They had 4 people on percussion (and some pretty strange pieces of percussion at that!) at one point which was fun. Everywhere around here that serves alchohol requires ID. Its a bit annoying really to keep heaving out the passport. But maybe its flattering too...do they *really* think I look under 21??

Seattle from Fremont

Seattle from Fremont
Originally uploaded by Suevisions.

I went on a good wander round today, taking some photos. This one, I recon, says a lot about Seattle.
Its a city, but a lot of it is really green, so you get views of the skyscrapers from wooden houses with lots of trees around them. All the trees can be a problem in the city centre. Their leaves obscure some of the road signs, but I'm glad noon has chopped them. They're lovely!

The Shore at dusk

The Shore at dusk
Originally uploaded by Suevisions.

Steve and Anne Hollinghurst have been over in Seattle this week too. Karen and the rest of us went to a fish restaraunt this evening which gave them the chance to try Copper River Salmon, which is a local delicacy that is only available for a couple of weeks at this time of year. I tried some last Sunday barbecued. Its an amazing bright red colour, and tastes beautiful.
Tonight though, I tried some other fish, which was also delicious! This is the view of the town from just near the restaraunt. It also had some great views of the sea, but the bay scenery is so big that its hard to capture it on camera really.

Instant Abbey

Instant Abbey
Originally uploaded by Suevisions.

Lacey, Ryan and I found some really interesting abbey-shaped garden trellises at the supermarket, so we bought three of them to make a set of screens. This afternoon we bought some fabric to go into them, and a glue-gun to stick it all together. We also "sized" them with PVA glue, to make them stiffer and more hardwearing. I'm really pleased with the results. They'll look great in the Abbey arts centre over the road when it opens and they'll be able to project on and through them. The other thing that was really cool, was the whole attraction of making things in a public space like the cafe. We were working at the front in the "stage" area, and a couple of people popped over to see, ask questions and make interested comments. It almost felt like we were doing performance art.
Something I'll have to bear in mind for the future I think. Public art production seems a powerful thing.

Sculptures in Macy's

Sculptures in Macy's
Originally uploaded by Suevisions.

Today I decided to do some exploring and some shopping. I felt brave so decided to try going into town on the bus by myself.
Actually it was pretty easy, and I stopped off near Macy's. When I wandered through there were these amazing sculptures near the escalators, so I was pleased that I've taken to keeping my small digital camera with me or I'd have missed them. I also noticed the big difference in coffee prices in Starbuck's here. They seem to be the same prices in dollars as they are in pounds at home.

Gorillas

Gorillas
Originally uploaded by Suevisions.

This afternoon we went to the zoo. Its a really nice zoo, as the environments are very natural and the animals have lots of space. I got some great photos and video footage, which I'm sure will come in useful sometime. We finished the day with compline at St Marks cathedral. Its an unusual service in that its straight compline (night prayer) , sung by a male choir, no congregational participation, but loads of people come as the lighting is gentle the music echoes around, and you are allowed to sit or lie on the floor a bit like Taize and chill-out. Powerful stuff.

Saturday's service

Saturday's service
Originally uploaded by Suevisions.

Once again I helped in the service. This time rather than helping with the music I did the teaching. This service was a bit different to last week, as there were projections around the building and everything was in the round. It looked fantastic, but most of my shots are on video. Today there were lots of visiting Lutheran pastors who we chatted to over pizza afterwards. It was very interesting swapping ideas and chatting to them.

The Market

The Market
Originally uploaded by Suevisions.

Went to the market with Karen and a visiting lutheran
pastor called Ryan. There is a very nice chocolate stall there which does homemade dried cherries in chocolate. Also visited the first ever Starbucks (as its just over the road from the market) . Funny to think that there was a time when only 1 of them existed.

skyscrapers

skyscrapers
Originally uploaded by Suevisions.

Finally got round to going up the Space Needle. (its one of those places that you really have to go to). We
went up at a really good time as we got to see the whole view in the daytime and at night as well. So, here are some skyscrapers that I took from the top.

Ray also took me to the experience music project.
(but they wouldn't let us take photos in there). They had lots of stage costumes, a huge guitar sculpture that played music, and lots of "hands-on" music exhibits.

Tea! (and lots of it)

Tea!
Originally uploaded by Suevisions.

Today I'll be learning all about tea. And as you can see
there are many different teas to learn about. Those
shelves at the back are all full of tea, and they go right down behind the counter. There's something kind of funny about a bunch of Americans teaching a Brit about tea, but I'm looking forward to having a go
at being a "tealady".