I’m new to Seattle, and was tagged by Correr Es Mi Destino and here is my response…sorry if it’s not that adequate.

I moved to Seattle the day after I graduated college. I hated life at school in the last quarter. The teachers were forcing me to be creative in a place where “art” is the name of the game. I hated it. Santa Monica is where I lived for a few years, and lived my first 6 or so months of married life. It was hard. I lived in a closet sized apartment with no kitchen, and a small closet. It was bad. Things were bad. But through the Grace of God we made it. We finally made it through school, and now we are in Seattle.

The best of…the worst of……so far….

The Coffee King - The Coffee in Seattle is crazy. Coffee is king, Coffee is the majority profit on every corner. Every corner has espresso, every corner has coffee, and lines are out the doors and around the corner. Starbucks is over saturating the city, but at the same time they are paying my bills. They make some of the bitterest coffee in the world, but around the corner from where I work there is a place that sells the smoothest coffee…Everyone seems to drink Coffee. I drink it daily. Coffee is king….

Rain…What Rain? - I was told that there is a lot of rain here in Seattle. So far It hasn’t been a factor. I’ve been here since March, and spent my honeymoon here last year and well…the Rain is a non factor. When it does rain it’s cold and windy, and yet it doesn’t bother me. I wear a hooded sweatshirt often, and it feels nice to not be out of place. Everyone in california was warning me about the rain, and well…it hasn’t been a factor at all!

Music Scene - Music is life. Live Music is one of the things that I enjoy greatly. I love hardcore, punk, indie, and ska…as well as other things. I love being in the pit and messing people up. No, not beating them down, but sharing the sweat and jumping on stage, tackling the singer, then jumping off of ledges into crowds that carry me through the sound waves and basslines of the metal tinged music that I love. “STAND UP, STAY STRONG, BELIEVE!” I can hear the yelling of my favorite singers, and bands that created passion through screams of real emotion. It connects with me…Norma Jean, Hatebreed, Figure Four, Anguish Unsaid, Trivium, Opeth, Rollins Band, Black Flag, Rise Against, Few Left Standing, No Innocent Victim, Flee The Seen, and other bands come through or remind me that things aren’t that great in the world but there is a family of believers in a music that keeps our ears bleeding and our hearts reaching out for the mic…for seconds of glory. Seattle’s music scene sucks. I come from L.A, Southern California…”where everybody’s somebody…” 5 dollar hxc shows, 5 dollar punk shows, you can see Rise Against in a 100 person venue, or check out rollins yelling inside a small standing room only box…here in Seattle it’s 25 dollars and up for a show that costs 5 dollars in L.A. I hate that. I saw Mxpx twice here. For Free…Mxpx still has a hope inside me…Here’s a video for you.

Books…Books…and more books - Since arriving in Seattle I’ve read more than I have ever read. Not just religious studies, I’m reading about culture, food, obsessions, murder, and the terror that involves the mind. I am writing for more blogs but at the same time I’m filling my head with a lot of ideas. More ideas than I could imagine, and that’s a part of “living” I think. I believe that there is a purpose in the forcing education upon youngsters. If nothing else let us celebrate the literacy that our forefathers died for…the freedom to pick up the written word. Not just reading, but I have been able to purchase more books for less than ever thought. There’s used book stores, chains, mom & pop stores and a lot of reading material at my disposal. I purchased 10 books last week for fifty cents each! I read up on Rollins for instance for fifty cents! “Black Coffee Blues” was amazing!

Idaho! - My In-Laws live in in Moscow Idaho. Idaho is also the home of my first niece! That’s right, my first niece! She’s so cute! Seriously, a cute kid, and an awesome family. They are five hours east of me, and I love them a lot. But what has captured my attention is “casa lopez”. The best mexican food that I’ve eaten since arriving in the desolate place called Seattle. Seattle is home to the worst mexican food I’ve ever had. From mixing pork and cheese with green sauce, to subpar standards in the “chain” restaurants, or over analyzing the food, there’s horrible things coming out of the Mexican food here. What’s worse is that I have caught real genuine Mexicans selling watered down Horchata at 9 dollars a 20 oz because White folks will buy it….Idaho visits mean that there’s a chance to eat at Casa Lopez…oh and hanging out with the family is cool too.

Skateboarding - I skateboard daily. To and from the bathroom, and I’ve already got my “ollie” back. All 18 inches of it. Sometimes I pull a 2 footer over a crack in the warehouse, and the occasional kickflip is also made by yours truly. I skate daily. It’s so nice. I love skateboarding, and I love working for a company that sells skateboards and snowboards. I’m fascinated by the industry and hope to continue to make a career out of the business of skateboarding. I even have an online skate shop of my own.

Canada - I went to Canada this year. I was scared out of my mind. I am the product of illegal immigration. I grew up for 16 years scared to death of crossing the border, and although I am a citizen now, I was still scared stupid crossing the border for the first time. It was easy, but I realized that Canada is nothing more than America Jr. (sorry Zhu) At least Vancouver seemed like “America Jr”. With starbucks on ever block, skate shops, game shops, and dare I say…McDonalds is everywhere. I even went to 7-11 and APu was there….he told me…”Thank You Come Again” in his native Indian accent. It was odd. Even Canada houses that stereotype. I felt like the only Mexican in the city…I was surrounded by white people. Grr….

Ok…that’s enough writing…about Seattle. I spent a lot of years in Los Angeles…and well…Murs really captures what it’s like in this song below:

Further Reading

• First Rain
• Selling Out and Giving In
• Still No Rain
• Back In Action
• Family Relations & Supreme Doctrine
• Senses Fail
• 1000 Books You’ll Never Read and Where to Buy Them

Netflix Fund

Filed under: Uncategorized