Congratulations, Mike! Nice Shirt, Eric! And thanks, Mom and Cut Chemist

So, Mike and his wife Lisa have a new baby daughter! Congrats!

Tatum Morgan Campbell



Lisa with little Tatum (as her aunt put it, "What a precious little Tater tot")



Tatum


And please enjoy another happy event:

Handsome man, handsome shirt


Also, I recently obtained a cd full of photos from my Mom, so here's a sample:

Merrica in Tokyo (I think)



Believe it or not, these are the flowers that grew from the seeds we gave out as favors at our wedding, growing at my Mom's house



Believe it or not, this is me grilling some chicken and trying (and failing, note) to look like a hipster with rolled-up jeans (I think that date is wrong, don't you?)



Brunch at the Warsaw Inn with family:
Bob, Helen, Merrica, Mimi, Yancy, Ron, Mom, Dorothy



Ready to roll out of Rock Island (that stack on the left? yeah, it fell; yeah, some stuff landed on my face when I opened the truck; it's all good)


Finally, we got to see the Cut Chemist for free at this bar called Nectar, in the Fremont neighborhood in Seattle.

Yancy and Lenin
Yes, they brought a statue of Lenin over from Eastern Europe and put it on the street in Fremont. Yes, I do think that's super cool.



Yancy and Lenin, profile



Mimi with troll


We also found a great restaurant in Fremont, called Qazis Curry House. I can't find a website for them, but the food rivaled that of the India Palace in Lawrence, which (believe it or not) is really saying something.


Finally, he took the stage. Here's a crappy photo:

Incredible set; I've never seen such turn-table wizardry before. It was 3am before we got home, but it was a great evening.

Curious about his work? A funny video:

Flora

So we bought more flowers; nice, huh?



And we took a walk in Volunteer Park, and saw the Dahlia garden



Close-up




There are some big trees in the park too



And a water-tower, with pretty good views from the top (we even saw Mt Rainier, but the picture didn't turn out--guess you'll have to visit & see for yourself, reader)

Anyway, classes start tomorrow, so I really need to get to work. (What class am I teaching? There's a page up on my website, if you're curious: PHIL 210.)

Drinks, Offices, and PB&J

The first leg of orientation (or the New Faculty Institute, if you prefer) ended with free food and drinks at Garage, a pool hall/bowling alley/bar across the street from campus. So that's cool. Pictured above (I think): Yancy, Matt Rellihan (Philosophy), Jacquelyn Miller (Associate Provost for Academic Affairs), Lauren Weiss (Philosophy), Jessica Ludescher (Management, Philosophy), and Bryan (or is it Brian? sorry!--I can't remember)



Again, sorry! I had a great time, though, and enjoyed meeting everyone. If more names come back to me, I'll let you know, reader.


Some photos of the new suite of offices, where I'll be working:

Corridor



Kitchen



Office/cubicle. Not mine, but similar



Conference room (not bad, on the whole, don't you think?)



Lastly, we went to a great show by Peter Bjorn and John, at the excellent Showbox Theater:

I know you can't really tell, but Peter is doing the whistling part of that Young Folks song, which sounded surprisingly good. Mel Draisey from the Clientele did the other vocal (originally done by Victoria Bergsman).



Bjorn, John, Peter


Now the video for that Young Folks song is pretty cool (Emily really likes it, so you should probably check it out), but I'm offering the video for the song I've got playing, Objects of My Affection:

What I Like About Here

A busy week, but a great one. A surprisingly interesting and helpful orientation for me; a nice introduction to the archive and some of the Sisters of Providence for Emily. And on Thursday I even had a day off, so I was able to see where Emily's been working.


Taken along the bay in West Seattle



Emily at her desk at Providence



In the Providence archive



Not a bad view from the parking lot at the Providence Archives



Aboard the water-taxi/ferry from West Seattle to downtown (don't worry our free (Mimi) / subsidized (Yancy) bus passes covered the fare!)


Friday I had more orientation, including info on the rec-center (you can rent a tent; even snow shoes!) and the efforts to have a green campus. The entire campus is pesticide free, and a designated wildlife refuge; they have waterless urinals, and they make their own compost.

The school even generates solar electricity--who couldn't love that?



Women's soccer. It rained, but luckily the stands are mostly covered. And SU beat Western Oregon 1-0. Go Redhawks!



Oh my, aren't these heirloom tomatoes beautiful? We bought some at the Broadway farmers market, just one block from our apartment (!).

Speaking of our neighborhood, remember that photo of Dave at that roundabout? Here's a line from a recent New York Times story about the health and safety benefits of walking: "Seattle has reported a 77 percent to 91 percent reduction in traffic accidents after installing a citywide traffic-calming program that included 700 new residential traffic circles."


We've also found some excellent restaurants in our neighborhood, but I need to get to bed, so I'll end with a bit more from the farmers market. Cheers



Mimi with our new dining table (we carried it a mile; on our heads! (in a box, thank goodness)) and some flowers from the farmers market



Close-up

Welcome Home

For you, dear reader, a re-cap of the last few days or so. We went to Indiana (we have more photos, from Magen and Dave, but I'm holding off for the moment; please forgive me). And then we went to Chicago.


Yancy, Mimi, 'Manu,' Rodrigo, and Leeroy



That guy in front? No idea, but he really wanted to be in the photo



Chris and Rodrigo


And then we returned to Rock Island to get ready to move.

Have to clean the couch somehow, right?



Packing up in Rock Island


And then we spent the night in Omaha with Mike Battershell and his fiancée Alicia.

The guest bedroom at Mike B's



Mike and myself


And then we stopped by Mount Rushmore.

Spreading the word in South Dakota (the shirt, from Mike B, reads "Deport Ignorance Not Immigrants")



In that cafeteria at Mt Rushmore


And then we saw some friends in Helena, like Mike Campbell.

Mike & bike



Lisa and Mike (they're married--congrats! (just a year late))



Mike and Yancy



Mimi showing off the back of truck


We also saw Marisa and Ryan, who were awesome enough to let us stay and play disc golf with them.

Ryan



Marisa



um, Ryan again


Then we went to Missoula, saw more friends and family.

Rhonda and Gina



Eponine



Emily with Rhonda



Merrica and Ray



With Chet in Missoula.

Thanks also to Chet, who let us crash at his place, and who we had a great old time talking with, even though we were tired as f**k.


Then we made it into Seattle, where Dave was kind enough to help us unpack.

Dave in our new living room



A few boxes



Dave under some sort of oak tree in a roundabout one block from us


We even had time for the four-mile walk up to the U of Washington campus. Very nice.

Mimi and Dave on University Bridge near the University of Washington (we could see Mt. Ranier in the background, but I guess my phone couldn't pick it up)


So, you ask, what did the whole trip, all 2,800 miles, from the drive to Indiana on the 24th through arriving in Seattle on the 7th look like?
Enjoy:

View Larger Map


Anyway, I'll keep you posted, and I'll get you some pictures of the apartment once we unpack a bit more.