As Does the Bee, So Do I

Friday night: Helped Olaiya get moved into her new place. Dinner with Walaka and Otis at Pies and Pints where I got the greatest meal ever invented: a veggie potpie floating in a bowl of creamy potato soup (accompanied by sweet potato fries and a pint of porter!) Spent our first night together over at O's new house.

Saturday: Discovered source of strange smell coming from basement of O's new house. Ew... don't ask. Got up at butt crack of dawn (7ish) to volunteer with Andres over at the Habitat for Humanity Site down by I-90. Spent next 8 hours laying subflooring: Sort of like a giant build-your-own jigsaw puzzle. Got home, showered and changed and carpooled with CC Rider + friendo Bob, O and Dingo down to the Showbox Sodo for the Devotchka concert. A truly amazing experience, they featured more instrument changes than I've ever seen at a show. The bandleader played rhythm guitar, a stringed instrument that looked like a long-necked mandolin, sang, whistled (sometimes through a second mic with LOTS of reverb) and played a theremin! The drummer occasionally pulled out a trumpet for horn parts. The bass player whipped out a bow for some tunes, and often laid her stand up bass aside to strap on a sousaphone. The genius of the outfit was the bespectacled and balding accordion player. He also played violin, piano, one of those keyboards with a blowtube attached and a few other odd instruments. The band had a full string section (violin, viola and cello to accompany the bassist) on many numbers. For their encore they also had a lovely and talented aerialist performing on silk curtains hung from the rafters. We danced to song after song as they never seemed to slow down... They were like Gogol Bordello marrying the Gypsy Kings presided over by a Ukrainian Elvis impersonator with a Morrissey vocal range.

Sunday: Made sumptuous three course breakfast for O and myself. Sat in the sunshine of my dining room eating and talking about families and the future. This was one the most pleasant ways to spend a Sunday morning I can think of.

Then it was off to opening day of JCC Softball. Olaiya played in her first organized team sport game EVER. Despite some nerves, she hit the ball well and fielded her positions (catcher and outfielder) admirably. She got on base three out of four trips to the plate, scored a couple runs and knocked in three RBI! In my second at bat, I just missed my first dinger of the season, settling for a ground rule double. I was a bit wobbly at pitcher, but our team romped to a 24-14 victory.

Got home and scarfed dinner before dashing to the Cinerama to see one of Stave It Off's Officially Anticipated Summer Movies: Iron Man. The film was universally enjoyed by our crew: Walaka, Otis, Soapy, O, Dingo, Andres, Dan and myself. Lots of toss ins for the geeks to appreciate, lots of Robert Downey Jr. being ridiculously dashing, lots of big robotic armored suits going bang, whoosh, crack, pow. The script indulges in a sort of "fight violence with... um... better violence" mentality... but it was too much fun to worry about philosophical cheats.

Monday: Slammed all day at work. Made dinner for Courtney, emergency trip to grocery store because I've simultaneously run out of toilet paper, deodorant, toothpaste, dish soap, and bath soap. Good planning, eh!? Got my computer back to Wayne to look at the RAM issue, and because one of the two hard drives is failing (good thing I backed everything up lately.) Finally got a chance to watch a Mariner's game, which turned out to be the first one they've won in the last week. I'm looking forward to a whole season of watching the M's two rookies, Wladimir Balentien and Jeff Clement, prove themselves.

Whew.