Sept 11, 2009

One of the best things about Seattle is you don't have to go to Starbucks to get a good cup of coffee. There are plenty of local shops. Green Bean is one of my favorites but I've found others. Cherry Street is a couple blocks from school. Their coffee is really smooth. Sometimes coffee can have a sharp taste, which isn't bad, but Cherry Street's has a nice texture to it.

One in Ballard is Aster. Starbucks recently bought some coffee machines this place invented that are supposed to revolutionize coffee. They have a distinct taste and its good but their coffee is the most expensive brew I've ever had and I would never go in there to sit and enjoy a cup. The atmosphere feels uppity.

I tried out Quest Cafe today. Their lounge is roomy and inviting and the coffee was ok but not fantastic. I'll go again to try a different brew.

Oh yeah. Seattle doesn't do the stop sign thing. Been meaning to mention that. There are tons of residential intersections that don't have stop signs. When I first moved, I didn't notice I just blazed through the intersection without looking. Then I realized that everyone was doing that. Most of the intersections have a round concrete barrier in the middle of them to prevent head on collisions. So if you take a left, you have to roll around the barrier to do it. The general rule is that you're supposed to yield to the guy on the right but there are always cars parked along the side of the street so you can't tell if anyone is coming until you're committed.

Me, Dan and another Mars Hill student, Eric went to the zoo today. We saw a Sloth Bear. No kidding. It even looks lazy.

After the zoo we tried a nearby pub. Park Pub is what it's called. Me and Dan had a beer called Northern Lights Stout. The last two times we've been to a pub we've gotten the darkest beers they have and have loved both of them.

Never have I had to read so much for school. A couple hundred pages a week with journals or summaries on most of the readings. Papers in between. Reading groups to discuss it. Class to dissect it. I'm not complaining (yet) but it sure is a lot of reading.

None of us have a job yet. Which is disappointing. I need something to break up the reading sections.

Practicum Monday morning. Practicum is a group of first year students who, basically, get super vulnerable with each other. I'm not a fan of this. In college I learned not to be vulnerable with women and 7 of the 9 of our group are women. It's a two hour weekly session and from everything I have been told, it is the one thing about Mars Hill that will kick your butt.

Our neighborhood, Olympic Manor, is having a garage sale. All our furniture has come from Goodwill and Village People so we will probably collect some more trashy couches from our neighbors and add to the collection.

I miss a few people from home (you know who you are). You should all move to Seattle.