Saturday, May 3, 2008

I can haz 1995 Subaru Impreza


I am finally a car owner. My very own auto is named Gracie -- the name just popped up when I was e-mailing my mom. It came out while I was typing, and I'm in no position to question the genius of my subconscious, though I did have a talk last night with a friend who reminded me that naming inanimate objects after women is kind of sexist. Still, my car is definitely Gracie. Her color would be described politely as blue-green and less politely as "what color is your car exactly?" She has 130,000 miles on her, yet she runs more or less like a dream. She was recently cleaned and un-dented. I'm so, so pleased to have her. I really can't even describe how pleased. Now I can explore West Seattle without having to take three separate buses, and Ballard without a 90-minute transit ordeal. Now, moreover, I can visit my friends in Lake City and Lake Forest Park who never quite make it to Seattle anymore. And I can drop by a Wallingford friend's house on the spur of the moment. This, friends, is what life was meant to be. No more taxis. No more Zipcars. No. More. Buses. (Except on the way to work, for another two weeks.) I'll have photos for you soon -- kind of like baby photos, when you have a new baby, or puppy photos, when you have a new puppy.

Awesomeness.

In other news, I had an amazing dinner at Elemental the other night with Angela. The flavors and textures of the meal were some of the best I've had in years. We had artichoke soup, a salad of dandelion greens and goat cheese, grilled asparagus with a poached duck egg, green chile cheesecake, ravioli filled with ricotta and green peas in a sauce that included mint, a fantastic cheese board, and a dessert sampler that included ice cream, little doughnuts, chocolate mousse, and a lemon-ginger pound cake with whipped cream. This is my new favorite Seattle restaurant, no question. I intend to get back there at least once more before I leave town. Maybe for my farewell dinner...

Finally, you may have heard that my alma mater changed its motto -- well, its marketing motto, at least. (The official motto is still "Learning and Labor," though you can expect an outside consultant to come in and mess with it any minute now.) This student film purports to uncover the dark truth behind the new direction, but if you really want some insight into Oberlin life and culture from an outside source, check out Lewis Black's visit, which occurred in the spring of 2001. I was still on campus, and I totally recognize some of the people in the video. I love that Black doesn't directly mock the square dancing at Hales Gym, he just stands in the foreground and lets it mock itself. Though of course it actually seems kind of sweet, especially in comparison to the harsher ridiculousness of the "real world." I miss the bubble sometimes.

1 comment:

John Rogers said...

Congratulations on the car. I also have a blue-green (green/blue? green/less-green?) car. It's a Hyundai and it's not quite as safe as a cardboard box on roller-skates. We fill it with gas every three weeks and poketa-poketa nervously about town.

Also, thanks for the tip on the new (marketing) motto. Can't wait to check it out.