i love visiting Seattle. Recently I had the good fortune to skip up to the the city on the edge of the nation, see some old friends, and breathe in salty Northwest ocean air.
I stayed in Capitol Hill, a place I seem to end up in over and over and over. My bestest, oldest friend, the one who got matching ballerina with machine gun tattoos with me, lives there. She’s an amazing bartender, student, and womens’ shelter volunteer. Hustler since day one. Love that girl.
I’m a regular, even in cities I visit. My Seattle haunt is the UNICORN, ex-Neumos (another place I’d end up at over and over again), and the best part of the Unicorn now is the ultra-deluxe basement bar and pinball selection! Pinball, my love. In Los Angeles, as much as I love it, we don’t have a strong pinball culture. The Northwest breeds pinball junkies. Pinball gangs. Pinball rivals.
I have my own favorite game: Mideval Madness. I barged in on some kid playing intensely, wearing homemade wristguards to protect his skin and bones from the edge of the sharp pinball machine. We battled pinball-style, and it was epic. I can’t help it. It’s been years since I destroyed the castle.
In between hot yoga, coffee shops, and Viking museums, a friend and I connected over an Instagram image of the Space Needle. He was working at Sub Pop and did I want to come hang out? Of course I did.
Derek Erdman, best receptionist ever, is a favorite person of mine. He’s run record stores and art galleries, had the first (and still one of the best) personal websites I’ve ever seen, and creates the most genius asshole art on earth. Including Kathy McGinty and Rap Master Maurice. We caught up over tea (so excellent to connect with old friends! I met Derek as a teen!) and then I split for the Seattle Art Museum.
So much good stuff there: Pacific Northwest art, sculpture, costumes, video, and multiple artifacts. Something about the Northwest native art style draws me in and inspires. The simple lines, the repetitive features, the slight executions of scale passed down over centuries… It’s an ancient beauty of timeless design.
I drove back to Portland after the museum excited by the hours I spent there, truly on vacation, absorbing pieces of the past and ideas for the future. That drive has always felt incredibly cleansing and creative. I’ve had some of the best ideas driving that stretch, my mind going as fast as the car can take me. I miss the Northwest, but I know I’ll be back in Seattle, with my old friends very soon…
xo
suzymae