Book Review

So those of you who have known me for any length of time know that I do not find reading to be a pleasurable experience. Well, I've been trying to change that. Not because I have so much time on my hands (although, I guess I do), but rather because this journalism thing has been good for me and you know what they say--in order to write better you need to read other people's writing.

This summer I've read five books (this is when Kara gasps, right?!). The most recent was "True Grit: Women Taking on the World for God's Sake" by Deborah Meroff. This is not a light read, in terms of content. It covers the personal stories of many women around the world, who for the sake of the Gospel continue to fight the good fight. Some of the stories and statistics were disturbing. Statistics on child trafficking, arranged marriages, abortions, etc. These statistics are very real, but it just seems unreal that things like this still occur at such enormous proportions in other parts of the world.

I've been blessed to live in America, I know that. But reading this book made me appreciate my life more. It made me think: even though I don't agree with everything in my family, at least I haven't been sold off to some stranger, never to see my family again. It made me think: even though sometimes I get tired at work, at least I can work a "normal" day. It made me think: even though sometimes I don't approve of our government, at least I don't feel like I have to run for my life to escape (yet).

When I first read the book, my initial thought was, "Man, there are lots of spelling errors in here!" But then, I looked at the copyright and it was from the UK . . . so many of the common spellings in our stylebooks are done differently. After I got over that, I enjoyed the read.

Overall, good book filled with serious content.

The Bite of Seattle really did bite

So it was the long-anticipated day of my summer: The Bite of Seattle. I've been looking forward to it all summer because it is a festival involving lots of food, fun and sun. We planned to go right after church today and spend the day there before heading back north for church again tonight. This was truly an adventure and I almost cursed out my steering wheel. If this blog entry doesn't explain anything, just know that I realized today I'm very persistent. I really, really, really wanted to go to The Bite, and we eventually got there.

Bad thing #1: I forgot to charge the camera battery, so in the middle of church I plugged my charger and battery into the wall outlet in the nursery (I had planned to charge it while I was on nursery duty during Sunday School, but alas, I forgot to do that). We left church and got on the freeway before I realized I forgot to take my charger and battery out of the wall. No camera. Great. So we decided to come home to use Dad's camera. Problem solved . . . kinda.

Bad thing #2: Horrible traffic. Nobody had to tell me there would be bad traffic, but there was SO much traffic. We were going to park at my grandparents' house and take the new Link Light Rail down to Seattle Center, but we thought we'd try a parking lot closer to the Center. Bad idea. Circled around multiple blocks multiple times.

Bad thing #3: Low on gas. Yep, I didn't realize we were so low on gasoline until we got ourselves lost. Read on.

Bad thing #4: Lost in Seattle. This has never happened to me before--I've never gotten myself lost in the city before but today I got myself completely lost. I made ONE wrong turn and ended up on a road (Aurora) that has no option to turn around. So from Downtown we went . . . driving, driving, driving. More driving. We passed over Lake Union. We passed Queen Anne. We passed Woodland Park Zoo. We passed Shilshole Bay. We passed Ballard. We passed Phinney Ridge. We passed Green Lake. I knew we were going the WRONG way, but there was no way I was going to turn around and find which way we were supposed to go. I thought for sure there would be a freeway entrance soon. I was very wrong. I have no idea what road we ended up on, but it EVENTUALLY got us to somewhere in Seattle and I spotted a sign that said "Seattle Center." Wonderful! Finally (like 1.5 hours later, finally). We followed the sign and eventually saw the Space Needle in near distance. You see, if you can spot the Space Needle in some sort of eye-shot, you can normally find your way back to Seattle Center.

So finally after we got back to Seattle Center, the parking lot had some spaces open (the whole mess we got into started after the parking lots all said "full" posted on signs). We paid the $12 to park then we walked across the street to the festival. Finally!

We walked around through the mobs of people and scouted out places we wanted to try. The weather was really hot, so there were lots of people out and about everywhere. We tried some fried calamari with Greek sauce. It was great! Then we stood in line for some Filipino BBQ chicken on a stick. Again, very yummy! We made our way to the Snoo booth. I'm on this kick for frozen yogurt, so we had to get some. Also good! We took advantage of the free water stands and kept walking. Snapping pictures here and there. You know, it's the Asian in me to snap pictures of everything (especially the Space Needle). Our last stop was this Vietnamese stand where I got some fresh spring rolls. They were pretty good, not as amazing as I thought they'd be, but not horrible. I wanted to go all-out and try lots of things, but I had to remind myself that I'm trying to pay of a school loan so I can't be spending tons of money.

Overall, it was a good experience. I was really ticked on the way there and especially when we got lost. I'm definitely doing this again, but hopefully next time we can go with friends. And note to self: I am NOT going to park near the Center next year. Metro, here I come!

Whoever said it rains 90 days out of the year in Seattle was . . .

on crack! Seriously.

It does not rain 90 days out of the year here, but even if it did, it rains normal rain--none of that sideways, monsoon or flash-flood stuff. And the rain here is refreshing. Laugh if you want, but it's true.

Just a couple of weeks ago, our attempt at breaking the most recent no-rain-streak ended at 29 days. Not bad, huh? This week has been in the high 80s and sunny!

So for all you who are skeptics about visiting Seattle, come! Just believe me: it doesn't rain all the time. And we don't use umbrellas . . .

Independence . . . from what?

Today is the 4th of July--everyone knows it. But as I hear the continuous bursts of fireworks around the neighborhood and think of the BBQs and various other events of the day, I wonder: have we gotten away from what this holiday really means?

Do we really show our patriotism when we spend our three-day (or four for some) weekend blowing up fireworks, stuffing our faces with more food than some people will ever see in their lives, and spending time with our family and friends? Sure, I love doing all of the previously mentioned things, but really, does that show patriotism?

What am I celebrating? I need to remind myself that even with problems in society, with a government I might not agree with, with various family issues, that I am blessed to live in America.

So tonight, when the big firework shows begin, I'm going to try and remember why we really celebrate.