It’s not often sunny in the Pacific Northwest during the winter months. When it is, though, it is truly spectacular. An hour and a half from home, we were skiing in the midst of snowcapped mountains. When we got back in the afternoon, it was sunny and 60 degrees in Seattle.
As Jim says, the quintessential Seattle winter day is skiing at Steven’s during the day and grilling on Shilshore in the evening.
Every now and then, I watch a scene in a movie or TV show that is so awful that I have to assume it was a one-take deal and the director didn’t know you 
could have a do-over. As much as I love Star Wars, Mark Hamill’s acting in the “Luke, I Am Your Father” scene is a perfect example of this scenario.
I always assumed the Google logo was one of these cases. I have a lot of admiration for the people at Google, and thus had optimistically imagined a scenario where someone used the free PhotoShop clone GIMP in a 10-second “My First Logo” exercise to get a logo up on their beta site. Then, I imagined, no one got around to updating it before the release, and before anyone knew what had happened, their logo was too recognizable to allow changing it. It’s the only feasible excuse I can come up with for such an awful logo.
As it turns out, though, this is not the case. Apparently, someone actually went through various iterations before arriving at the world’s ugliest logo. I should have known, because that kind of ugly can’t possibly be an accident.
Michelle and I don’t really follow any “team sports”; we follow “spandex sports” like cycling, Nordic skiing, and alpine skiing. 
I don’t think it has anything to do with any particular love of spandex; it’s just a coincidence.
That said, we have a dirty little secret: we love college basketball. Anyone who follows that sport will know about the rivalry between Duke and North Carolina, and that the rivalry cannot be classified as “friendly”. After having lived in the Chapel Hill area, you simply can’t help but get swept up in it.
As with everything else in life, one has to choose a side. Michelle worked in Durham, so she swayed towards Duke. My choice to support Carolina was a little more complicated.
Back in 1992, Sidi came out with the Genius II cycling shoe. Up until then, cycling shoes were black and boring. The only “exciting” thing you could get from a cycling shoe was a set of velcro straps - if you could afford it. But the Genius II not only had a ratchet, but were also royal blue. They were awesome, and I fell in love with that color.
Carolina Blue just so happens to be pretty close to that particular shade of blue, so I had no choice but to choose their side. It also isn’t the first time this color has pulled me into a lifelong love affair: when I first met Michelle, she owned a freshly remastered copy of the Star Wars trilogy. As if that wasn’t enough to make me fall for her, she also owned a pair of those royal blue Sidi Genius II’s. I was a puddle on the floor.
I have to say, though, that one of the highlights of living with a Duke fan is that it’s the only time of year that I get to watch Michelle jump to her feet, shake her fist at the television, and scream, “SINK IT, BITCH!!”
The last month has been a busy time for Michelle and me. When I’m busy, I notice that a strange thing happens: while my patience normally knows no limits, my 
patience seems to diminish somewhat when I’m under stress. By “diminish somewhat”, what I mean “disappears entirely”. This is especially true for anything involving (A) inanimate objects and (B) driving.
Exhibit A. Inanimate objects are my nemesiseses. There is little I have less patience for than, say, a bungee cord that somehow manages to hook on the one hookable object within 27 square yards of where you’re walking. This brings into sharp relief the fact that I’m easily tripped, and it just pisses me off all the more when I wipe out because a bungee cord got hooked on a pebble.
Exhibit B. Driving - or, more specifically, the way other people drive - is one of the most infuriating experiences when you’re in a hurry to get somewhere. Especially in Seattle. Damn all of you laid back hippies who are “West Coast Chillin’” on your way to work. I’m in a hurry, so you better fucking floor it when that light turns green. And don’t you dare wait for a pedestrian who is about to cross the street.
Which brings me to another pet peeve of mine: people who obey the laws of traffic. Just because the posted speed limit is 25 miles per hour doesn’t mean you’re going to go to prison when the needle hits 27.
Another problem with driving is that no one seems to realize that I’m the best driver in Seattle or whatever town I happen to be in. I can judge perfectly just how fast to drive, or which pedestrians to wait for, or which cars to let in, or which yellow lights to run through and which to wait for. It’s hard to say if this is because I’m Dutch or because I’m awesome, but it’s a fact none-the-less, and the sooner everyone gets on board, the sooner we’ll all get along.
So, to get this ball rolling, here are the rules of thumb about driving: if you’re driving faster than me, you’re reckless and endangering us all. If you’re driving slower than me, you’re an idiot. Repeat logic for all cases.
