So, things have been pretty rough in terms of finance and free time since Jarrad and I moved up here to Seattle. He took a demotion for the move, and we both work kind of on opposite ends of the city, and sine we share a car, that means a LOT of driving time, which equates to lots of money spent on gas and not a lot of free time before or after work.

However!! Things look as if they're finally turning around.

( Read more! )

Saturday afternoon: Jarrad, Ashleigh, and I are going to the U-District for the street fair! Anyone want to join?

Saturday evening: Party games on the Wii and Terminator 2 on blu-ray! Also, probably just a bit of vodka and orange juice.

Let me know if you'd like to attend any of the above. =D

I've been starting to Facebook more and more recently, and it's become my primary online communication method. It's actually a pretty cool application.

Anyway if you have a Facebook account, please add me by searching for the name Stephen Pipoly. Or if you don't have one, feel free to make one. =)

Anyone know of a good hangover remedy? @_@

And I didn't even think I had that much to drink. >.>

Cristi must have been hiding somewhere refilling my drinks.

Jarrad and I got tickets to go see the new Star Trek movie a day before it premieres at the IMAX theater downtown! Thursday may 7th. It's gonna be sweet. =D

I have a feeling today's going to be a good day.

I have my brand new Nintendo DSi.

My friends are in town!

Unfortunately I have to work for most of the day, but still! I'll keep my fingers crossed it will go by quick and that tonight... SMASH BROS! And maybe volume 2 of Baccano. =D

So today was my first day of work, and I got to experience a long bus trip for the first time in my life. Now, Jarrad and I took the bus before. We took it from our house to the downtown area. It was about a half hour trip. Driving was easier, but we didn't have to worry about parking. We also weren't on a schedule, and didn't have any plans that day, so it was relaxing and an experience we hadn't had before.

We also discovered something really cool about downtown Seattle that neither of us had even noticed until we took the bus. There's a huge systems of underground tunnels that the buses drive through. There are literally streets and stairs and platforms underneath much of downtown underneath the shops and surface streets. The buses drive through them with maybe only a foot on each side in some places, like worms tunneling through gravel. Perhaps this is something all cities have and not impressive at all to most people, but to somebody coming from a city that has such a limited public transportation system as Phoenix, it was pretty cool.

Today I took a bus ride all the way from my work, which is South of Seattle at Southcenter Mall, to my home, which is on the very North edge of of Seattle near Northgate Mall. When I took the car to work in the morning, it was about a 30 minute drive.

Now, fast forward to 5:45 PM when I left work. Note that this was past rush hour, so the traffic wasn't even that bad. I didn't get into my apartment until 8 PM. OVER TWO HOURS LATER. It was not something I want to do again (although I'll probably have to).

First, I barely missed the bus at the stop outside my work (bus route 150). Fortunately this bus leaves every 10 minutes or so, so I wasn't worried about it. I hopped on the next bus, and about 50 minutes later the bus arrives downtown. I exited in the bus tunnel downtown, because I needed to transfer to another bus to go farther North. There's a great bakery downtown that serves Russian pastries called Piroshky Piroshky, and it was only right around the corner, so I head over there to grab a snack. Unfortunately, though, they close at 6:30, so I had just missed them. =(

So I headed back to the bus tunnel to look for the place were bus 41 was leaving. Now, the last time I took bus 41 (which is when Jarrad and I visited downtown before) it left from the tunnel, but apparently after 6:48 the buss no longer departs from the tunnel, and instead departs from the street up above. I realized this after waiting around for a couple of other people until a security guard walked up to tell us that the buses weren't running in the tunnel anymore... So I headed back up to the street, and after walking to four different bus stops, I finally found the one that bus 41 leaves from... and saw my bus departing right as I approached the stop. Unfortunately this bus was running every 30 minutes, so I had to wait a while.

So at about 7:15 I finally got on bus 41, which brought me to the transfer station at Northgate Mall near my house by about 7:40. I quickly hopped on bus 347, which seems to always be there waiting for bus 41 to arrive, and 10 minutes later I was dropped off right near my apartment. 10 minutes later again, and I was home.

I decided that, since there's a liquor store right next to my apartment, I'd pick up some vodka and orange juice to make a screwdriver for myself and relax after the irritating bus experience. Unfortunately, the store closed at 7, so again I missed it. Seriously though, what kind of liquor store closes at 7 o'clock!? More about that when I get around to posting about Seattle's strange food, restaurant, and alcohol scene.

So, anyway, it was an experience, and I learned enough to hopefully shave at least 30 to 45 minutes off the trip the next time I have to do it. I also learned that there's no way I can read or play my DS on a bus - I get motion sick way too easily. I'll either have to stick with my iPod, or take a Dramamine before the trip.

On the bright side, the whole trip only cost two bucks, and would have cost a quarter less had I had exact change.

The Nintendo DSi will NOT have two touch screens! Please stop saying that it does.

It's driving me crazy. @_@

*pinches you all*

If I used this Live Journal as a medium to post some of my short stories, would any of you be interested in reading them? I'm looking for a way to get my stories read by people so that I can receive feedback and encouragement, and also as a way to motivate me to keep writing. One day I'd like to get a short story published in a collection or magazine, and the only way to do that is to keep writing and keep improving.

If you would enjoy or like to see some short stories posted on my LJ periodically, please let me know.

"Sure, I admit God watches over the rest of the country, but he does it from Seattle."
- Crazy old homeless lady in my store

So, it's time for my Seattle update! I'll try and keep it brief. As some of you may or may not know, I moved up to Seattle, WA, a couple of weeks ago. It's a lot different from Arizona, where I've spent the rest of my life up until now.

Anyway, this place is great. The weather has been nice so far, and it surprisingly hasn't rained all that much. We did get snow a couple of days, and it's been colder than usual for this time of year (apparently). Still , there have been quite a few days where the sun has shown, at least most of the day. The rest of the time it's been cloudy, but with very little rain. And, anyway, I love the cloudy weather. It's part of the reason I moved up here in the first place. =)

Daylight Savings Time sucks! I went two whole days before I realized all my clocks were wrong. The fact that AZ doesn't participate in daylight savings time is one of the two things about Arizona that are awesome. The other is Harkins Theaters. The theaters up here, well, the best ones we've been able to find are AMC theaters, which pale in comparison to a good Harkins. There are a bunch of independent theaters up here, though, that have single screens or only a couple of screens. Apparently a couple of those are decent, but we haven't had a chance to scope them out.

Our apartment is very close to downtown Seattle. It's only about a 10 minute drive, traffic permitting. Of course, once you get there, it takes twice that time to find parking. The first week, before we started work, Jarrad and I visited the different sections around downtown almost every day. There are so many markets and shops and fun things to do, not to mention tons of things to eat. The people who work downtown must have a different option for lunch every day.

Seattle is all about independent chains and mom & pop stores. They don't even allow a Wal-Mart within city limits, which is kind of annoying at first, but I'm getting used to it. There's still one about 10 miles North of here just outside the city. Anyway, I don't agree with the regulation on a political level, but it doesn't really bother me much on a personal one.

The people here tend to be very liberal, democratic, and progressive. I tend to disagree with democrats on economic topics, and take a more libertarian stance. When it comes to social laws and such, though, it's pretty awesome having a progressive group of people around. There are gay couples just walking around the city holding hands, an oriental district, churches, book stores, and restaurants from a huge variety of ethnic backgrounds, gay literature displayed publicly in coffee houses, and things like that. Arizona was definitely a red state when it came to social equalities such as this. It's refreshing and nice to be in an atmosphere that is accepting of people who aren't in the social norm.

Oh, and everything is green! Very green! Even the parking lots seem green because of all the moss growing everywhere. What a change from AZ, in which everything is brown, with shades of dirt. Although, to be fair, there are beautiful sunsets there.

On the way out of Arizona, Jarrad and I took a drive through the Joshua Tree Forest. What a wonderful way to say goodbye to the beauty of my native state. The plateaus and red mountains were etched along the red and purple skyline with the huge Joshua trees silhouetted against their base, running all the way up to our car as we left the state. I will miss the sunsets, and the mountains. I will miss the monsoon season, and the smell of the thunderstorms as they roll in and the moisture mixes with the dry air and dust. I remember sitting outside my grandma's house as a child on the porch swing, watching the storms roll in and the rain pelting the scorched earth. And when it was over, the sound of frogs chirping in the rain calling for mates.

There's probably more to Arizona that I will miss then I realize. I grew up there, it's where I spent my entire life. Twenty-seven years is a long time. I have a LOT of memories about Arizona, about family and friends there, and about growing up. I learned everything I know in Arizona. It is the reason I am who I am. Maybe one day I will sit and try and remember some of the important things in my life, and post them in a separate entry.

Of course, the biggest things I miss about Arizona are all of my family and friends. To every single one of you, I miss you all and I hope I'll be able to see you soon! Hopefully I'll be able to visit AZ soon, and you're all more than welcome in our home here any time.

Anyway, there's tons more about Seattle and living here that I could share, but I'll save it for another time. I hope everyone back in Arizona, Idaho, and anywhere else is doing well.

Love you all,
Stephen

PS>>>> A few photos of Seattle!!!! http://s32.photobucket.com/albums/d30/furkitfox/Seattle/

That's my puppy!

Only one week left before Jarrad and I are living together again!

Yaaaaaaay!

Right now I'm watching this show on some Christian channel called Silencing the Christians. It's about how Christians are being censored and silenced because they are fighting the evils of homosexuality. This episode is about a poor woman who used to be a lesbian, had a kid with a woman in this relationship, and now she has repented. "Nobody ever told me homosexuality was a sin." So yeah, now she's a God-fearing Christian and her partner is trying to gain custody over the child and raise her in a horrible liberal lifestyle. What's worst about it is that this show is dragging this little girl into it and making a circus out of an unfortunate situation for the child.

The intro to this series starts off with a bunch of images featuring a variety of words such as "freedom of speech", "tolerance", "civil rights", and things like that. As each image scrolls by a big stamp with the words "NOT FOR CHRISTIANS" is stamped on each one. Pretty awesome.

I'm glad there are shows like this to educate me on the evils of the homosexual agenda. I almost NEVER hear this side of things. Poor silenced Christians constantly being censored by the San Fransisco liberals.

I'm in Flagstaff for a couple of days. There is snow everywhere!!!

I listened to the new FOB album on the way up here. With risk of sounding like a 15 year old emo girl or a fat Mexican girl I will give a short review.

The album cover is awesome.



The content, however... not so great. I was very disapointed. Sure, it wasn't horrible, and the tracks did get progressively better as the CD went on, but it wasn't nearly as good as Infinity On High. Not even close, actually. Also, I'm pretty sure that Patrick got some vocal lessons from Justin Timberlake before recording this album.

Overall the album was just kinda boring. I found myself forgetting I was listening to it time and time again. It didn't keep me involved, even on a boring car ride.

Oh well, better luck next time! When Pete calls me up to talk on the phone about his girlfriend (who I so totally hate!) getting pregnant before he tells the press I will ask him more about it!

Dear Bill,

Sorry I haven't written for so long. I'd give an excuse and say I've been extremely busy, which is true, but no matter how busy I am it's not a good reason for taking six months to write as I had promised. Another apology, the photos I promised to send you of myself are still in boxes somewhere, packed up, and I have no idea where. It might be a while before I get to them. Do you have the internet? If so I can send you some pictures of Jarrad and myself in an email. Please email me, if you can, at -----@gmail.com.

A lot has happened since we last spoke. I've moved back down to Phoenix and I'm living with my friend, Frank, and his girlfriend. Things are going pretty well here. It's good to be near my friends and there's more things to do in Phoenix than there was in Flagstaff. I miss Jarrad a lot, however. He's still up in Flagstaff. I visit as often as I can but sometimes I get lonely without him, even though I have all my friends around.

How are you holding up without Uncle Bill around? I hope you're doing well, and that you are finding some fun ways to pass the time. Have you done any painting or art recently? I'd still love to see some of that, if you have a way to show me. Please let me know what you've been up to.

I have good news! I think I told you before that I've always wanted to move to Seattle, well, it looks as if my dream is going to come true sooner than I thought. I won a good some of money (thirteen thousand dollars, actually) in a raffle through my employer, and I'm using it to pay off my debt and move to Seattle. If all goes as planned, and it looks as if it will, Jarrad and I will be there in March. I can't wait. So my address will be changing again soon, but I'll update you with the new one once I move. Also, hopefully I'll be able to get those boxes unpacked and I can send you those photos.

I'll write again soon, and I hope to hear back from you My new mailing address below.

Have a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Stephen

I put on my jeans instead of work pants and didn't realize it until looked in the mirror.

Sundays shouldn't start until at least 10 AM. >.>