Wandering around Prenzlauerberg

A return to Berlin!
It's a big city and I have the fortune of being hosted in the Prenzlauerberg neighborhood for my first month back. I decided to walk around a "3-block radius" of my current home in Berlin to see what gems of the neighborhood I could find.

Mary Makes Stuff

Mary is a freelance graphic designer whose hobbies include making dinosaur, bug, and robot themed artwork. She let me follow her to a few of the Maker Market pop-ups she participates in. Then we had a chat about what she loves about Seattle, what she misses about her hometown of Cleveland, and how great wigs are at SUIKA Seattle.

Good food, good games, good times with Nicole

Nicole has been a friend of mine going on 6 years now, meeting through our love of games at Gamma Ray Games. She's such a fan of the hobby, she started a website with her boyfriend called Across the Board Games, which reviews the plethora of new games coming onto the market every day.
She took me on a perfect afternoon/evening tour of Capitol Hill, a tourists dream itinerary of food, museums, and relaxation.

Couchsurfing Pubcrawl in San Francisco

Every year I make a pilgrimage to San Jose for the fabulous Pantheacon Convention and I usually try to take a day before or after to wander around San Francisco. Just a 1.5 hour flight from Seattle, it's a nice place to take a weekend vacation.

This year I decided to join a pub crawl organized by a few hostels near Chinatown, including the Green Tortoise, who's representative made sure we moved along at a steady clip and was a delight to talk to.
Going on 4 years now, the rock-paper-scissors themed event makes it easy to get to know people. This was honestly the most fun bar crawl I'd ever been on. If you find yourself in San Francisco on a Wednesday evening, stop by The Northstar on Green and Powell by 9pm to join in the fun. You'll be happy you did.

A Streetcar from Capitol Hill to Pioneer Square, and Lunch

Seattle has taken its time getting transit, other than buses, built in the city. So it is with a, perhaps, surprising amount of joy that the first day of a new streetcar is greeted. Also, the train has been a local joke since it was supposed to open in 2014, so we've had more time than expected to anticipate the line.
I couldn't help but hop on on the first day and check out my new, convenient connection to parts of town that were previously quite difficult to get to, especially considering how close they were.

A Karaoke Tribute to David Bowie

My home neighborhood in Seattle is Capitol Hill, an historic home for the weirdos and freaks of the world. (Some may argue this is changing, and such is the nature of life, but there are still quite a few of us keeping the faith.)
The death of David Bowie hit us hard and almost immediately, people were organizing gatherings to celebrate the life of a man who shared his life with us. When I saw a call go out on Capitol Hill Seattle for Waking the Alien- David Bowie Singing Celebration at my #1 karaoke bar, The Crescent, I couldn't stay away.

Join us as we give thanks for being alive at the same time as The Great White Duke.

Brunch and a Walk

Kicking off the New Year with an American tradition of weekend brunch and a lazy walk. The weather cooperated beautifully this year, not a cloud in the sky, giving the air an intense, brisk quality. All the better to enjoy the spectacular views of the mountain ranges on the other side of Puget Sound.