Posted in Gardening, Seattle, tagged consecutive days without rain, creative writing, drought, gardening, rain, Seattle, weather, Writing on 10 Sep 2012| 2 Comments »
I was torn.
It was 3AM, and I was torn between sleep and listening to an old friend. We hadn’t talked, hadn’t seen each other for 50 days, and for us, that’s a long time. Usually, hardly a week goes by without at least a chat. Sometimes we’ll lose track of the days and, especially in the summer, a month will pass us both, but soon, we always meet up. We might meet on the street, or when I’m out in the gardens, or, like today, I look out the window and realize my friend is out there. (more…)
Posted in Seattle, tagged baseball, Felix Hernandez, perfect game, Seattle, seattle mariners on 16 Aug 2012| Leave a Comment »
I was born with a birth defect. I was born without the “sports gene.”
Not that I don’t enjoy sports, and not that I wasn’t absolutely chained to the television during the past Olympiad in London, no. But when regular boys were out playing football or shooting hoops, I was practicing my Frisbee forehand flick. For years, I was passing; I would sit with my dad and brothers, watching the 49ers play through the autumn months. I cheered with them all during the Montana-Rice years. But in my mind, I was visualizing my bicycling jockey technique, so I wouldn’t have to take my feet out of the pedal clamps at stop lights.
But in recent years, as I’ve grown older, I’ve found an area of intersection, an area where despite my Sports-Gene Deficiency, mainstream sports and I meet: Baseball. I’m not a number-crunching, score-card ticking rankings hawk. I’m just a guy who enjoys the game, appreciates its subtler aspects, enjoys its open-ended pace and its long, storied tradition. And that’s why yesterday was a very special day.
Posted in Seattle, tagged Seattle, sign of the apocalypse, weather on 14 Aug 2012| 4 Comments »
You do not know how close we came.
There’s a reason we all like that old joke:
What do Seattleites call the first sunny day after two days of rain? Monday.
We like it because it’s true. If we’re going to have only two days of rain in a given week, they’re going to be on the weekend. (more…)
Posted in Culture, Seattle, tagged Agile, Corporate America, IT, modern culture, Seattle, software development on 04 Aug 2012| 8 Comments »
I’m going to say it. Kids today…
When I began working in IT, men wore ties to work. This wasn’t back in the Don Draper Days…this was only a couple of decades ago. The corporate culture was professional, dignified, and respectful. Not that I’m a fan of neckties—far from it—but they were an indicator of how we treated one another, and how we thought about ourselves. We were professionals, and we were adults.
Posted in Seattle, tagged Blue Angels, F-18, Hornet, Seafair, Seattle on 02 Aug 2012| Leave a Comment »
It’s that time of year again. It’s time for the caverns of downtown Seattle to rumble with the reverberated roar of afterburners.
Yep, Seafair 2012 is almost here, and the Blue Angels are practicing over Seattle. I know there are some people who complain, but frankly, I haven’t met any of them. Everyone I know finds any inconvenience created by the quintet of F/A-18 Hornets buzzing through our skies to be minor and totally, totally worth it.
Every year, during the break in Seafair’s hydro-races, there’s a air show and, for most of those years, the USN Blue Angels have been the headliner. But, like any good performing troupe, they have to rehearse, and that happens on the Thursday prior, so today, it’s like we’re at DefCon4. The skies are filled with contrails and the streets echo with the sound of sheer, unadulterated power.
If you’ve never been near one of these stupendous machines, here’s an example of what I mean.
A couple of years ago I left work and headed home at my regular time, 2:30pm (hey, I get in really early!). I got the bus stop just as the Blue Angels began their afternoon rehearsal. I saw one as it peeled off and zipped uptown. The jet was probably a mile away when the pilot turned away from me and hit the afterburner.
I felt it. I saw the fire of his exhaust and in my chest, I literally felt the power of that engine.
Sound and fury.
k
Posted in Food, tagged dining out, Food, Mexican food, restaurant, Seattle on 29 Jul 2012| Leave a Comment »
Seattle’s offerings in Mexican cuisine are usually pretty pedestrian, but if you look off the main tracks and take a chance, sometimes you can find something fresh and interesting.
La Casa Azul is a small but clean little restaurant right up along the northern Seattle city limit. The decor and ambience are intentionally reminiscent of Frida Kahlo’s home, covered with deep blues and bright yellows, and the walls are filled with examples of Frida’s artwork, and photos of her and her beloved Diego.
The menu casts a wide net, leaving behind the standard fare of chimichangas, tostadas, and fajitas, and offering instead some more unusual items, such as tlayudas, lomito puerco ala parilla, and alambres.
The service was exceptional. Our server (the only guy working the floor) switched flawlessly from English to Spanish, provided quick and friendly attention to our desires, was helpful with the menu without condescension, and worked prepping juices and such behind the counter in his free moments.
The sauces were excellent. The mole Coloradito on my wife’s enchiladas was especially good: a stunning melange that hits the palate with the syrupy sweetness of a plum wine, moves smoothly to the charred base and fruity flavor of chiles, and then backs you up against the wall with the threat of biting heat (but not too much). The cream sauce on the gorditas was a pleasant addition, and the salsa (though thin) was flavorful, tart, and zesty.
The presentation of the dishes was top-notch. In short, the entrees were beautiful to the eye and well-proportioned. We left sated but not stuffed. The tortillas and gorditas are made fresh, daily, and the quality shows there, as well.
On the not-so-good side…
The fillings need work. The chicken in my wife’s enchiladas was dry and bland, while the pork filling in my gorditas was both sparse and flavorless.
The sides also need work. The rice was starchy and bland (though that worked out well on my wife’s dish, as a contrast to the mole Coloradito). And the black-bean refritos, though excellent in flavor, needed a bit more body as they were more suited to eating with a spoon (which we didn’t have) than with a fork.
Overall, I would have given La Casa Azul four stars, had the fillings been better, but we’ll definitely go back and give it another try, just to try some of the remarkable items on the menu.
k
Posted in Food, Low Tech, Seattle, tagged brewing coffee, burr grinder, coffee, drip coffee, espresso, French press, low-tech solutions, Presso, Seattle, simplification on 24 Jul 2012| 4 Comments »
I live in Seattle, and we have a reputation for loving our coffee. I’m no different, however, I am not a purist by any means. I can’t tell if you brewed it with tap water or distilled water or filtered water or Artesian spring water, and unless your tap water is really awful, I bet you can’t either.
I have my favorite brands of coffee—Torrefazione Italia is the best I’ve had, but hard to find; Caffe D’arte is a close second, but not available in stores—but they’re so expensive that I only get them from a barista. For everyday brewing, I buy in bulk, try to get fair-trade beans of good quality, and grind it myself as needed in a good burr grinder.
But where I can make a huge difference is in the brewing.
I’ve tried almost every brewing method. I’ve tried brewing it cowboy-style in an open saucepan (toss in an eggshell to make the grounds sink), which I do not recommend, and for years we simply stuck with our standard drip-maker and a small Braun espresso machine.
On the more esoteric side, I’ve tried one of those vacuum-siphon brewers. Aside from the sheer coolness of watching it work, and the drama it imparts to the ritual cup of coffee, it only delivered a mildly better brew than standard drip coffee makers. High-maintenance to use, a bitch to clean, it also was so fragile that it broke after only a few days’ use; a disappointment, but not a tragedy, as I’d already made my decision that it wasn’t worth the trouble.
For pure outlandishness, I have also tried the Presso® espresso maker, which works solely on muscle power. A hand-pulled demitasse is pretty cool, and it cleans up pretty easily, too. It wasn’t expensive, and it’s very solidly built, so I’ll keep it around.
But, for the best cup of coffee you can brew, I say you can’t get better than the old-school, low-tech, tried-and-true method of the French press. We use a Freiling press (pictured top) that has double-sides of stainless steel, so it also acts as a thermal insulator, keeping the coffee warmer, longer. Put your burr grinder on “coarse” and brew up a cup. Steep it for 4 minutes (longer if you need a slice of coffee instead of a cup), keep the press on the table, and serve as needed. It is never bitter, never harsh. My wife, who gave up coffee because it upset her stomach, can drink it again, now that we brew it in the press.
Another win for low-tech!
k
Kurt R.A. Giambastiani 