Seattle: Danny Woo International District Community Garden

How's the weather where you are? Here in Seattle it's been pretty grey and chilly the last few weeks, as the stereotype of the city likes to suggest. To be fair, this late fall season of 2019 has actually been pretty mild compared to recent decades, with low-snowfall occurring in the mountainous areas up north and a light drizzle rather than a downpour. Mild, of course, is not to suggest that it's been particularly sunny or warm- simply that it's not as chilly as it should be. Could that be global warming at work? You betcha! I'm not going to lecture you about the climate situation right here and now, but it's certainly a topic we should all be mindful of, if not deeply invested in. #Reduce, #Reuse, #Recycle . I'll step off of my tiny soap box now...

If you so happen to find yourself in the city of Seattle and able to partake of this especially "mild" late-fall season, you could pop over to the Danny Woo International District Community Garden for a quick stroll between bites, since it's mere steps away from one of the main drags of the International district, with access to a wide array of delicious restaurants within either short walking or driving distance. There are many public gardens dotting the cityscape of Seattle and they're all as unique as the areas they thrive in, so I think it's worth taking some time to visit them when you spot them. On the day we visited this garden there was a consistent drizzle plopping down upon us, so the garden grounds were well-saturated and a bit soggy, to say the least. It's probably better to visit when it's less likely to be so over-hydrated, but this is Seattle we're talking about, so your mileage may vary. While the ground may have squelched a bit below our feet, and we may have slipped a smidgeon once or twice, we quite enjoyed our visit and were happy to have found this little green gem tucked in among the sloped streets of the International district. Besides, it's good for your health to take a walk in nature, so not only are you upping your step count but getting to take in some hidden nature!

Korea: Revisiting Namsan Seoul Tower

If you're looking for some of the most expansive and stunning views throughout Seoul, a romantic destination to take a dearly beloved one and add to the locks of love, or simply want to get some distance between you and the sea, Namsan Seoul Tower is an excellent destination to choose.  I'd actually visited the tower once before on a prior trip to Seoul, but this time I visited with my friend Carmen and added a lock representing Antho and I to the incredibly crowded walls and barricades that have come to house an insane amount of locks. A lot of love to go around! Supposedly, affixing your padlock to one of the surfaces is meant to "lock-down" your love, and give it a similar sort of longevity and durability going forward. While there are plenty of Youtube videos demonstrating how to break a lock, I can't help but feel a little cheesy at the romanticism of the idea and wanted to contribute my own small gesture towards it. Even if you have visited the tower before yourself, it's always worth taking another trek up the very-steep mountain to see it once more. 

During my previous visit, my digital camera was very very new to me, and I had a difficult time figuring out how to capture the views at night- but this time through, I'm a bit more familiar with how to operate my camera and I'm a lot happier with the results, though I'm rapidly nearing the time when I'll have to bite the bullet and invest in a newer model. Totally worth taking that ridiculously, absurdly steep hike up from the last bus stop to snap these, though, and I'll gladly do it again. Why do they drop you off so much further down the mountain? I certainly don't know, though maybe it has something to do with the deep love for hiking and mountain climbing many of the Korean natives seem to have, or simply a practical measure to keep the busses from going beyond their means...whatever the case, strap on a good pair of walking shoes and get out to the tower! There's so much to see, and it's always evolving in some new, exciting way. Any visitor to Seoul should be remiss to miss out on the stunning sights offered by Namsan tower! Even if you decide not to opt to pay for the additional elevator ride up the tower, you can take in some seriously breath-taking views of South Korea's world-famous city of Seoul. #WORTHIT

Korea: Nostalgic Views in Hwajeong

One of the best parts of living in the little make-shift office turned bedroom I had in Korea was the largely unobscured view offered by the large windows within, offering me a glimpse out onto the city of Hwajeong as the sun rose or faded into the horizon and all the various shades in between. Hwajeong, while not really Seoul proper, is still quite a bustling little suburb and full of life, so I'd often overhear whooping shouts and excited calls from people celebrating below, at all hours of the night. It was fascinating, and often quite beautiful. The trade-off was that occasionally I'd be awoken early on my day off and told that the office was needed for the home owner's work purposes and to, more or less, make myself scarce. These things. In theory, I could have found a small apartment somewhere in Seoul and rented it for cheaper than what I paid for my sometimes less-than-private space, as many of my friends and their cohorts in a different field emphasized, but my living arrangement was already predetermined in a contract that outlined my work requirements and obligations prior to my even arriving to Korea. I'm not bitter about it, though there were times during my stay where I'd get frustrated by feeling trapped in a situation that wasn't always to my benefit. The other rooms in the apartment were rented out on AirBnB for a higher rate than what I was paying, so I was getting a deal, but there were often strangers coming and going outside my bedroom, or an awkward wait for the shared restroom in the morning when several of us had obligations to tend to. Some of the AirBnB guests stayed on for a longer term, and we got to know eachother a little better in the brief encounters in the kitchen or hallways, but some nights I'd find myself answering the door to an exhausted stranger I hadn't been told to expect, a potentially spooky situation depending on the circumstances. I digress. In the end, I'm immensely grateful for having had the opportunity to live and work in such an incredible place as South Korea, and while I certainly wish I'd had more information going in, I'm still very much glad I went. 

Seattle: Sunset on the Waterfront

When it comes to the Emerald City (in this particular case we're talking Seattle, not Oz), there are no shortages of places to take in stunning views of the varied and vibrantly vivacious greenery, but perhaps the abundance of waterways available would surprise you...or perhaps this abundance of aquatic resources is no surprise- after all, all those trees and gardens need hydration, and Seattle is certainly well-endowed with water. Whether you're taking in the scenic views of the Puget Sound, or enjoying a leisurely picnic at Gasworks Park over Lake Union, or simply taking a stroll alongside any number of smaller or residential lakes, ponds, water constitutes roughly 40% of the overall city's footprint and that's not counting the long months of drizzle or occasional snow. Of course, Seattle is a city that is ever-changing and ever-growing, so that balance of land to water is likely to change as time goes on, and the city's not afraid to utilise the waterfront spaces to reclaim land and literally build their own ground upon the seafloor, as they did around Occidental Square and nearby sports stadiums.

All this water, however, is absolutely wonderful for desert-born and raised weirdos like Antho and I, so we rarely grump about this abundance.  When we had the opportunity to make our way down to the beautiful, scenic walkways alongside the Waterfront, we went for it! You can easily access it from Pike's Place Market, so if you're visiting there you could squeeze in a walk along the water and take in an array of sights, snacks and scenery. Now that the Alaskan Way Viaduct is closed up for good, the Waterfront is going to change and expand immensely over the next decade as an ambitious redevelopment plan sweeps through the area. During this particular visit, however, the Viaduct was still operational, so this preserves a snapshot of a bygone era.  Crazy how these things can happen, one day a familiar icon and the next it's being deconstructed to pave the way for bigger, purportedly brighter, things. Whether all this change will end up being for the greater good, or simply result in the pockets of several developers getting fatter, is up to time to determine, but given that the Alaskan Way Viaduct was a known safety hazard in the event of a serious earthquake, I'm actually leaning towards the former option. I know, a bit of a shockingly optimistic view coming from me, right? I guess all this sunshine has me feeling some sort of way. 

(RIP Viaduct)

Grab your fursuit and get ready, there are plenty more photos below!

Seattle: Walking from Capitol Hill towards Pike's Place

Seattle, for all it's many acres of parks and labyrinth of bike lanes and trails, is a bit of a challenge at times when it comes to parking. Some days, you get lucky-maybe that particular day of the week street parking is free, and if you're really lucky it might be unlimited, but generally speaking a two-hour limit in exchange for a free place to park isn't such a bad bargain these days. When free parking is, unfortunately, not an option, you'll have to look towards pay-to-park, whether it's a lot that charges by the hour, a meter you can pay by phone, or a covered garage. In our case, the van is too tall for most of the covered parking garages, so that option is automatically out, and knocks a lot of potential parking spots out of the running. Capitol Hill is a pretty popular neighborhood, with a lot of apartment complexes and homes dotting the narrow streets, so it's often packed. If you're patient, and are willing to shell out a few bucks, however, you can find parking. We managed to secure a spot in this colorful lot, where the van's spot was paid for before safely locked up the vehicle. From here, we ventured out, aiming to get to Pike's Place Market, eventually. It was another nice, sunny day, which is a rare gift this time of year, so we took advantage of it and enjoyed our stroll. There was a lot to take in between the van and the Waterfront, after all; from the Jimi Hendrix statue rocking out on Broadway, to the curious nests of people without homes congregating under a bridge, even some serious demolition work going on, and a Christmas tree to top it all off (this was pre-X-Mas day). It was a pretty serious walk, one that took us all the way down the water's edge and back to Capitol Hill, and by the end of the day we were pretty pooped! It was well worth it, though. Sure, we eventually found a lot closer to Pike's Place that we could have squeezed the van into, but we wouldn't have taken in nearly so many different sights. Sometimes it's better to slow down and take it all in with a stride.  

Vegas: Drunkachu and so long to Stan The Man

We live in strange, unpredictable times where anything is possible, no matter how incredible or how awful it may seem. Some of our greatest heroes have left us behind as they venture off to traverse the Rainbow Bridge, leaving a gap that many fans of superheroes and comic books will sorely and deeply feel. So long, Stan the Man. It's been an incredible ride, and your empire of creative work will undoubtedly continue to inspire and strike awe into the hearts of young and old for decades to come. Sigh. Not only did we lose Stan the Man, but then we got the trailer for Detective Pikachu. A live action Pokemon film in and of itself doesn't necessarily bode of impending cinematic craptitude, though previous anime adaptations to the third dimension have generally struggled to bring their subjects to satisfying reality, but we get a wise-cracking Ryan Reynolds as the voice of the typically linguistically limited character of Pikachu. To be fair, anthropomorphizing the little squeak isn't exactly new terrain as speaking animals have always been a favorite in films for Disney, but when it comes to Pikachu the last time he(she?) spoke people lost their minds.  

I guess, if I were a real-life Pikachu, I might want to run away to Vegas for a weekend of debauchery in a futile effort to escape my situation or the reality of losing another architect of my childhood. The world can be a dark and disturbing place, and we need people like Stan Lee to help us reimagine things, to look for the good, the heroic in people. While sometimes the stories of Good Versus Evil can feel trite, it's because they've been built upon an archetype established by the imaginations of men like Stan early in the advent of widely accessible comics. The premise of this escape from the difficulties of life was a huge part of what inspired the founder of Critical Care Comics to establish his non-profit organization! It may be only 28 pages of fantasy, but when you're stuck in the hospital it can be an absolute lifesaver to have a distraction from the endless beeping of machines or unsettling nature of hospitals themselves. Due to my location, I'm no longer able to volunteer my services to the group, but it makes me so happy to see them out there still doing their good work for the community of Las Vegas and any nearby hospitals they get called to. They're a seriously wonderful group of human beings, and I know that they'll be mourning the loss of Stan over the last week and into the future. I guess we all kind of need an escape these days, huh?

Photos in this post were taken by Antho!

Reno: Surreal suburbia

Come along and join me for a bite of my favorite muffin, won't you?

All jokes aside, there's a surreal sort of nature to Reno that we discovered during our stay. There's the familiarity, of a city being somewhat akin-to-but-not-quite like our hometown, yet there's the weird throwbacks to the 80's and 90's that linger, giving an age to the city not unlike the crow's feet cracking through the thickly caked on makeup of your diner waitress clinging to decades past. We weren't finished with the city, not yet, as we still had a couple of errands to run while we were still surrounded by some vestige of civilization. On top of the usual things, like getting some snacks, vehicular fluids and checks, there was the shuffling of finances and additional fluids to purchase. Rather than try to keep driving through the dense forest of traffic cones that seemed to crop up once we left the downtown touristy area, we opted to walk to our next destinations. This allowed us the opportunity to appraise an area outside of the main drag, which is always a good idea for getting the true feel of a city beyond its neon-spackled traps.  I suppose I can see why many of my peers opted to go north and settle in Reno, but it's still a little too-close to Vegas for me to feel like I've truly escaped the vortex-like nature of the city...but for those who find this affinity appealing for nostalgic purposes, it's quite the nice touch, I suppose. 

Reno, like many cities favored by millennials, is growing. There are more little artsy-fartsy coffee shops popping up, along with multi-megaplex apartments that offer everything you could ever want or need in a residence, from gyms to pet parks. It's still a little city trying very much to feel like a bigger one, so for people who want that, it's got it in bounds. Reno isn't a bad place, not at all, and there's a lot of things to be said for consistent sunshine and cheap food and booze. Once we'd stretched our legs and tended to our various errands, however, we returned to our vehicles to strive outward and onward. While Reno certainly made for a nice pitstop, we weren't planning to settle here any time soon. 

Vegas: F*ck you. I'm trying to have a good time

Say what you will about Frank Sinatra and the Rat-Pack, and I don't give a rat's ass what any of those headlining mega-stars that adorn any given showroom on the Las Vegas Strip on any given night might hope to say, you've got to look out to the people on the streets to get the real read on Vegas. What sentence better sums up the ethos behind the city of sin and revelling in hedonistic excesses quite like his sign? Fuck you. I'm trying to have a good time. That could be the advertising slogan for the city, where your entertainment and depravity is of the utmost priority! Behaviors and ensembles that would be considered abhorrent or embarrassing back home are not only given the light of day but a green-light pass as every casino's glittering orifice promises to indulge you in excess, whether your poison be booze, boobs, or buffets. Eat to your triple-bypass-coronary-heart's delight and load up plate after plate with greasy glistening goodies, fresh from the kitchens! You can even get paddled for not finishing your towering portions of food at the Heart Attack Grill, if you're into getting food-shamed in front of strangers, because why not. Not enough alcohol in your Fat Tuesday's tower of neon-colored-oblivion? Get some extra shots in that beeyotch! Because, why not, baby? It's Vegas! If, in your pursuit of having a good time, things might get out of hand, never you fear. That's what it's all about, after all, isn't it? Should you find yourself laying spread-eagle on your belly upon a cold linoleum floor in front of the bathrooms at Harrah's, awash in the highlighter-hues of your drink of doom, security and medical staff will be there to hoist you back up again and jettison you off to a hospital for quick tending to if need be...if you're a tourist, of course. If, on the other hand, you look a bit more like our friend above, a victim of a good time that derailed hard, security will be happy to escort you from the premises expeditiously. Wouldn't want the out of towners to get a glimpse of their potential future, after all, should their good time get out of hand. 

But fuck you. I'm trying to have a good time.

Vegas: Cloudy Strip Sunset

Living in the desert, one becomes accustomed to seeing vast, open swatches of sky peeling out in all directions because most of the things that grow out there are stubby and low to the ground, including the residential houses, typically sprawling single story things, though more multi-story buildings are popping up more and more as the population grows. Generally speaking, though, once you move away from the teeming heart of the city, things tend to get low and long, creating an unobstructed stretch to the horizon. Even on the Las Vegas Strip proper the city has relatively few skyscrapers, and there's still ample room between the towering monolithic structures to keep that view of the sky wide open. There's a lot of open spaces, a lot of long, empty drives through deserted two-lane roads to escape that insane oasis and the horizon can seem an endless, unreachable stretch. It was only after living in Japan for two years and becoming used to the labyrinthine crisscrossing of electrical wires, the shadows of multi-level apartment buildings and business crowding in from all sides, and the comforting blanket of heavy urbanity that I started to realize how an agoraphobe might feel when trying to step beyond the confines of their nest. The first time I drove upon returning to the United States, a stretch from one small satellite city beyond the borders of Las Vegas metropolitan area to the big city proper, the sheer expansiveness of it all hit me. 

 There remains many open, empty spaces still in this country, patches where humanity has barely impinged, which is both gratitude and horror-inspiring.  When you seek to escape from the oppressive needs and rituals of the city, with their taxes and menial jobs and road rage, these empty, untouched spaces symbolize that freedom you're craving, but if you need help or assistance they can be painfully desolate and empty. Strange, isn't it? The sheer power of perception. The city of Las Vegas is kind of like that, too. It's something different for everyone who visits, and just like finding shapes in the clouds, it's entirely up to your own interpretation what you make of it. The expansiveness of it does allow for some nice views of the sunset, I suppose. All that emptiness has to be good for something, after all.