2.20.2009

This is Only A Test


Something strange happens with the Emergency Broadcast System on my TV. Every so often, like most places, there is a test of the system with annoying beeping that never occurs during a commercial. It always appears to be a successful test.
Then one day I was watching TV and the emergency signal sounds and the incoming message screen appears. But instead of telling me the message, it switched my channel over to CSPAN. This would be great if something vital was happening on CSPAN, but it wasn’t! There was no breaking news, no national crisis. Just senators shuffling around plotting new ways to waste our money. No problem, I figured, I’ll just change back to the show I was watching. NAY. I even thought the remote batteries had died so I tried to use the cable box to change the channel. It was stuck there for almost an hour.
I’m happy to report, the system has been improved! Last night, I heard the emergency signal and a message on the screen said that they were interrupting the program to tell give WA’s equivalent of an Amber Alert. No problem, this is important news considering how close we are to the border. So I wait... and wait.. nothing. No audio. No scrolling text to tell you anything about who was kidnapped or where. No info on the person they’re with or the vehicle. Nothing. And then it switched to CSPAN.
Good job, Washington! We’re getting there one step at a time. First we let people know there is an emergency, the we improve the system to let people know what type of emergency. Before we know it, we’ll actually be able to receive real time emergency info on our TVs (like hey, that volcano is erupting RUN FOR YOUR LIVES.) We’re so progressive. Sigh.

2.17.2009

My New Favorite Commercial

It’s Stella’s dinner time, so I’ll keep this short and sweet. I see this commercial every morning and I love it.

2.16.2009

Adventures In Downtown Seattle

We’ve had our first visitors! Last Wednesday my parents flew in to see us before going on to Lake Tahoe for some skiing. They had been to Seattle once before. Back when I was 16-ish we came here on vacation, and I decided I had to live here. Now I do. It’s funny how things work out.
Anyway, we went downtown one day while Nate was at work to walk around a bit. We started with a delicious lunch at Ivars. They were smart enough to install heaters in the glass dining room so you now can dine next to the water year-round. After that, we walked through Pike’s. The fish guys weren’t throwing fish, but I did make two excellent discoveries. First, we found a booth selling flavored pastas that were excellent. I can’t wait to go back and try the flavored orzo. After we bought dinner supplies, we went to the outdoor vendors and behold- the hippie artist who sold me my seattle drawing when I was 16 had come back! I’d checked for him previously and he wasn’t there! He is still making the drawing I have, plus a ton of other awesome ones. I asked him what days he is open and he hesitated and mumbled for some time before telling me that Mondays are good. I think it depends on if he can find drugs or not.
We went back downtown again on Valentine’s Day with Nate and started at the Sci-Fi Museum. Yes, it’s still awesome. We walked around downtown a little and had a nice dinner at Ivar’s Acres of Clams (the sit-down restaurant part). Believe it or not, I had a salad and enjoyed it. Afterwards, we stopped at Albertsons to get whatever we all wanted for desert. Nate made me oatmeal chocolate chip cookies!
In between all of that, we mostly just hung out. Nate got my dad addicted to NHL on the Xbox, and my mom is addicted to a game on my DS. There was also an agonizingly long Trivial Pursuit game in which Nate and I won dinner. All in all, it was a fun time and most of all we liked sharing our city with visitors! My parents are coming back at the beginning of May and Perla and her friend are coming at the end of May. If anyone else would like to visit, we have a very nice futon! =)

2.06.2009

Happy early birthday to me

April 6th at the Showbox- Lily Allen! I had to click about a hundred times at 10am when the tickets went on sale. Then it informed me I needed a promo code for the presale but thanks to the Live Journal emo kids, it was easy to find. I successful got the capcha on the first try, but with only 2.5 mins remaining realized I already had an account that I didn't know the password to. A couple of tries using some common passwords got me in, but then I had to change out all of my old credit card and billing information. There was a typo in my zip code at the one minute mark that almost ruined the whole thing. I didn't even read over all of the shipping options- I just picked the free one. I also didn't have time to contemplate the extra $23.50 of fees included with $50 worth of tickets. WHY IS IT TIMED?! It was so stressful! I am a fast reader and typer and it takes me almost the full 5 minutes. Would the Ticketmaster universe be thrown into chaos if they had a 10 minute limit instead of 5?
ANYWAY
Thank you Nate for tolerating my love of British pop and sorry to my newish keyboard for the rough treatment you endured this morning.

2.03.2009

wedding pictures are coming!

Yesterday the photographer posted the online gallery with all the wedding pictures. They look really nice and it was fun seeing all of the stuff you miss being behind the scenes.
They also reminded me of the things that annoyed me, like not getting the ceremony music I wanted. Everyone looks depressed coming down the aisle, so there aren't any pictures worth printing from that part. Also, even the photographer's retouching couldn't make the bouquet look alive in the closeup. We're getting a partial refund from the florist in case anyone is curious. On the flip side, there are a lot of pictures of people having fun that we didn't get to see!
Anyway, you can go to the online gallery now to see all of the photos.
1. Go to http://www.poeticrealityproductions.com/
2. Click on "order prints"
3. Select our wedding from the drop down menu
4. The password is "Wedding" (case sensitive) and the email is your own email

You can order prints from them or, since we own the rights, you can get them printed anywhere. I don't know why theirs are so expensive- maybe the paper is nicer or something. Let me know if you want a copy of the whole CD, or if there are just a couple you want I can email them to you. She caught some really nice guest pictures!