Bellingham, WA

On a whim, we decided to go for a drive up to Bellingham WA yesterday. Our plan was to spend some time at the farmers' market, go to the Museum of Radio and Electricity, walk through the Whatcom Falls park, head on over to the Fairhaven district, and back to Bellingham for dinner. We did all of the above with the possibility entertained for spending the night there, but that didn't pan out.

Bellingham is a nice town. I often think I might have liked to go to school at WWU. I was surprised at how quiet the downtown area is. I'm sure things clear out once the Spring semester has ended, but I guess I was expecting a little more activity. At one point, I was considering the possibility of relocating to Bellingham. Leilani wouldn't have bought into that plan, but it was an idea. I like how laid back it is up there, but I think for what the price of a home is, mixed with what I'd be giving up leaving the Seattle area, it would probably end up being a raw deal.

None the less, we had a nice day there yesterday, outside of Leilani finding a plastic sticker in her Thai meal.

Still Into Music...

Okay, I'm going to be 40 in a year, 2 months, and some spare change. I have a secret. I won't even let my girlfriend in on this one, especially when she plans on attending the Cure concert on a weeknight. Yes folks... I still like music. I like discovering new music. I like being one of a handful of people "cool" enough to know about and like some obscure band. I like walking down crowded 3rd avenue on my way home each day from work, with my headphones on and deluding myself into believing that I'm actually some sort of hipster... even with my tie and graying hair and middle-age gut. Somehow none of that matters.

Recently I dumped Rhapsody for Yahoo! music, and I've never been happier. Rhapsody is so damn buggy that I began wondering what I was paying for. Now there's no question. Songs download seamlessly to my Zen, I still have all my favorite selections, it's great! Passes the day at work in a wonderful way.

So what am I listening to these days? Well, here's the list:

1. The High Water Marks - "Songs About the Ocean"
2. The Arm - "The Arm"
3. The Ponys - "Turn the Lights Out"
4. Downpilot - "Leaving Not Arriving"
5. Sufjan Stevens - "Seven Swans"
6. Radio 4 - "Enemies Like This"
7. A Band of Bees - "Free the Bees"
8. The Marked Men - "Fix My Brain"
9. Peter Bjorn and John - "Writer's Block"
10. The Ponys - "Turn the Lights Out"
11. The Prids - "Until the World is Beautiful"
12. Blond Redhead - "23"
13. Brakes - "Beatific Visions"
14. Dirty on Purpose - "Hallelujiah Sirens" (5 out of 5 stars!)
15. Kings of Leaon - "Because of the Times"
16. Laura Veirs - "Saltbreakers"
17. Midlake - "Balloon Maker"
18. Nick Drake - "Pink Moon"
19. Nada Surf - "Blizzard of '77"

And yesterday I pulled out my Neutral Milk Hotel cds after not listening to them for over a year and realized that they're pure genius.

Yeah, I'm a dork.

P.S. been a while since I've posted. will try to do better.