After a couple of weeks of mostly uninterrupted sunny days and warm weather, we finally got a mostly cloudy and somewhat rainy day here on the east side (can’t speak for the other side of the lake, since I didn’t go over there today). It was still a bit on the warm and humid side, but the rain was rather refreshing. I ended up spending most of the day chilling at the bookstore, running errands, and just lazying about the apartment. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday.
The rest of the weekend was pretty busy. Actually, I’ve been quite active since last Thursday, so it was good to have a relaxing day. Thursday evening was the monthly Seattle Flickrite’s Brews and Views meetup. We all met up at Bal-Mar in Ballard for a night of photography, drinks, and general goofiness. The meetup was quite fun, but driving over there was absolute hell. In addition to the normal evening rush-hour traffic, a car was stalled on the 520 bridge, effectively making it a one-lane highway. That turned a 40-minute drive into a 90-minute trek. It really sucked.
Despite the unusually long drive across the lake, the rest of the evening was a blast. I got to hang out and have drinks with most of the Seattle Flickr Meetup regulars and got to meet a few new faces. As expected, cameras were out and firing most of the evening, and I got a few good shots which are now in my Flickr photostream.
Friday night was guys’ night out. We had dinner and beer at Rock Bottom at Bellevue Galleria, then we went over to Lincoln Cinemas to catch the premiere of Miami Vice. Despite what a lot of reviews and critics have said, I though it was a good movie. It was totally about style and mood and atmosphere. Dialog was pretty slim, events moved pretty quickly, but it really felt like a nice modern update for the 80’s TV show.
Saturday was the day of the arts for me. I spent the entire afternoon walking around the Bellevue Arts and Crafts Fair in downtown Bellevue. Although there were 120+ artists exhibiting work there, I zeroed in on all of the photography booths. Most of them were pretty nice, but I had more than my fill of landscape photographers. One photographer, Lisa Kristine, was the standout artist of the show for me. Her work ranges from portraits to landscapes to abstract textural images, and all of them feel like they in the Magnum Photographer and National Geographic league. Simply amazing work.
On Saturday evening, I met up with the gang over at the Luther Burbank Park Amphitheater on Mercer Island for Wooden O Theatre’s free performance of Hamlet. I hadn’t actually seen a live performance of a Shakespeare play in years, so I was really excited to see one, especially since it was free. It wasn’t the best version of Hamlet I’ve ever seen, but it was still fun. Everyone in the audience knew the play, many of them regulars of Wooden O’s performances, so that made the whole experience very enjoyable. Add to it sitting on the lawn out in the warm evening air, snacking on chips and drinking water, and you’ve got a nice way to spend a Saturday evening. Afterwards, we all migrated over to The 9 lb Hammer in Georgetown to cap off the night with beer and peanuts.
And now it’s almost 2 AM on Monday morning, and I have to be up in a few hours for work. I really should’ve spent time earlier today writing this blog post. Oh well. Thank goodness for flexible work hours. :P
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