Some time this past winter or early spring, I got an email from my Uncle in Dutchland, Oom Max. He and my aunt were planning a summer trip to the United States and were wondering if, hypothetically, we would be “willing” to have them and Oom Max’s sister stay with us a few days in August. Michelle and I are very fond of them - Tante Doortje and Oom Max - and were delighted at the idea of having them stay with us.
Dutch Lesson: “Tante” [tahn-tah] means “Aunt” in Dutch, and “Oom” [oh-m] means “Uncle”. Doortje is pronounced as Door-t-yah, and has the American equivalent of “Dorthy”. Max is pronounced with the same “ah” that my name has, M-ah-x, and has the American equivalent of “Max”. Max’s sister’s name, Anyez, is pronounced as Ah-n-yez, and has the American equivalent of “Agnes”. Take-away message of the lesson: Dutch people rule.
My response back to them appears to have been a bit “overly excited” because, in hindsight, I’m quite convinced they had not finalized their decision to come to Seattle, but my enthusiastic reply left them with no choice but to come visit us.
A few months later, they emailed again, wondering if we had any suggestions for a car route from Minneapolis to Seattle which avoided the usual suspects like Yellowstone National Park and Mount Rushmore (which looks “fakey”, by the way). We were stumped, but, as luck would have it, we met a great guy at the Tasting Room who highly recommended the Canadian Rockies via Banff as a worth while route.
Taking nearly two weeks to drive from Minneapolis to Seattle via the route we suggested, they arrived in Seattle on Wednesday evening. Unfortunately, we were both unable to take much time off work, so we were left with evenings to spend with them. We recommended various activities for them to undertake during the day while we were at work, including the Underground Tour, Pike Place Market, the Japanese Garden, the Ballard Locks, and a drive along Lake Washington Boulevard. Each evening, we met up with them and showed them a part of Seattle that we love - like Fremont and Ballard - and then we went out for dinner.
For us, this was a wonderful three days of spending quality time with dear family and sharing with them our favorite parts of town.
The basic trouble with seeing family is that it really makes you miss them just that much more.
When you’re Dutch, you find yourself surrounded by famous friends. Or, it may simply be the case that friends become famous because they know a Dutchman. Chicken or the egg. (By the way, what’s the politically correct version of “Dutchman” that encompasses both men and women? I ask because Michelle’s suggestion of “Dutchie” doesn’t quite have the nuance I’m looking for.)
Back to business. It’s well documented that Tommy M considers me a dear, dear friend - that’s not news. But, our friend Jess has recently also rocketed to stardom. We’re proud to say she had pieces published in both Seattle Metropolitan and Seattle Magazine this month. Here is her Contributors summary from Seattle Metropolitan:
Coincidentally, the Thomsons moved to Seattle from the East Coast the same month we did, and her article talks about her first experiences here. The piece is wonderful, and Jess graciously made it available for reading online for those of you who aren’t local and don’t have access to the magazine. If you live in the area, help support her and get yourself a copy!
As I glanced through the Official Local Voters Pamphlet that arrived in the mail today, I realized that I am nowhere near my Coolness Potential. There’s some dude here in Seattle who kicks so much ass, it’s hard to keep from getting dizzy. His name is Goodspaceguy Nelson. Here is a guy who is so cool that his old name wasn’t cutting it anymore, so he changed it to Goodspaceguy. He is running for King County Council Candidate, County District Eight. I have no clue what his platform is, but I have a hunch it has to do with liking Space. Sounds good so far. But lets not get carried away. We need to judge this matter dispassionately.
First of all, notice his picture. One word: awesome. Check. Next, review his statement:
People-with-problems have difficulty finding employment. Let’s raise the living standard and quality-of-life…Competition is good. King County should not hand Boeing Field over to the Port.
To glorify King County, ask that governments make it easier to make movies here. Let’s raise the living standard by getting a larger percentage of our people working. Employment cures many problems and helps some homeless people buy vans.
Governments should make showers available to our people and should give employment as helpers to minimum wage applicants. We could then open our libraries more and investigate more crimes…Unemployment is a huge waste.
Goodspaceguy studied at universities in Germany, Sweden, and America. Goodspaceguy earned a university Master’s and a Bachelor’s degree..
My first thought is, he must have said to himself, “Well, if George W pulled it off, then I’m trying.”
I’m not sure who he’s talking about when he says “people-with-problems”. This could be anyone. I’m guessing he’s referring to people who like blue cars. In that case, I agree. 2-0 for Goodspaceguy. Next, I totally agree with not handing Boeing Field over to the Port. I’m not a pilot myself, but I can imagine that having the airfield under water in the port would make it tricky to land and take off. Check. 3-0 for Goodspaceguy. Second paragraph is a no-brainer. Movies rule. 4-0 for Goodspaceguy.
Now we get into the real meat of his platform. Minimum wage workers who shower = more libraries and crime investigation. I’m surprised not more people have made this connection. 5-0 for Goodspaceguy. Unemployment is a huge waste. Duh. And we’re at 6-0. Goodspaceguy went to school. 7-0.
So, obviously, I’m on board. If this guy keeps on the same Coolness Trajectory, he’s going to have to change his name to Kickingassandtakingnamesamesspaceguy. And, I’m betting he does that before I get cool enough to change my name for the first time. Name suggestions welcome. Names on this list are excluded.
Seattle is a Hippie town. It’s Liberal, it’s health-conscious, it’s environmentally-friendly, and Hummers are about as common as facts in a Bush Administration War update. It is also a town which fiercely supports independent establishments and shuns corporate chains. It’s hardly acceptable if a local coffee house or burger joint opens another location in Seattle. If they open one in Redmond or Bellevue, it’s over. And Starbucks is evil.
A few weeks ago, the seasonal farmer’s market opened in our neighborhood, Phinney Ridge. It was typical Phinney: simple, but everything you need. Just being there made us feel healthy and wholesome. Inspired by the fresh garlic and piles of basil, we decided to make fresh potato gnocchi with a basil pesto sauce and lemon-crusted chicken. We got what we could at the market, and then headed off to the grocery store for the rest. Did we go to Fred Meyer or QFC? Hell no. We did it up hippie-style, and went to Whole Foods. We almost always shop at Whole Foods and we feel good about that. They have organic foods, work hard to provide fair trade prices, and provide locally grown produce and humanely raised meats. It makes us feel like we’re helping the animals lead better lives before they’re ruthlessly slaughtered for our meals.
When we came home, we came upon our neighbor lighting his grill on his front porch. Now, I have to say, this guy can make a grill smell so incredibly good that I have on more than one occasion considered stealing the meat off his grill when he’s not looking. Thinking I’d lend an amusing anecdote to the conversation, I told him this. He wasn’t surprised. In fact, he revealed that it has happened before. Breaking the awkward silence after the revelation, Michelle asked him what they were planning on having that evening. “Ribs,” he said.
It appears he had been planning to grill ribs for a few days, and he had run into some difficulty obtaining them at the co-op he and his wife belong to.
They haven’t had the ribs for a while now, and I said to the butcher, ‘What are you doing to me, here? You’re going to make me go to the Dark Side.’ And I did! I had to go to Whole Foods!
He shuddered when he said “Whole Foods” like he had just swallowed stale motor oil. And that, my friends, is what Seattle is all about.
Note: I think my spell checker needs to be trained. The suggested spelling for “gnocchi” is “genocide”.
My friend Kevin mentioned yesterday that he and his wife conducted a focus group session to evaluate which posts on this blog suck and which don’t. According to this fair and balanced study - which sought the input from a wide range of audiences, including two sexes (which is the maximum number) - posts containing pictures of Mack are more popular than posts about Dutch guys. I am certain the study is legitimate because it included a graphic. It is a little known fact, however, that graphics can sometimes be misleading. Assuming I was misinterpreting the graphic, I sought clarification. Surely the entries about Dutch guys intersects with the set of popular posts. The response I received was as follows:
Sorry to disappoint, but she does say that the set of entries about Dutch guys doesn’t intersect with the set of entries she likes.
It has something to do with you not being as cute as Mack.
trip to the United States and were wondering if, hypothetically, we would be “willing” to have them and Oom Max’s sister stay with us a few days in August. Michelle and I are very fond of them - Tante Doortje and Oom Max - and were delighted at the idea of having them stay with us.
Coolness Potential. There’s some dude here in Seattle who kicks so much ass, it’s hard to keep from getting dizzy. His name is Goodspaceguy Nelson. Here is a guy who is so cool that his old name wasn’t cutting it anymore, so he changed it to Goodspaceguy. He is running for King County Council Candidate, County District Eight. I have no clue what his platform is, but I have a hunch it has to do with liking Space. Sounds good so far. But lets not get carried away. We need to judge this matter dispassionately.
are about as common as facts in a Bush Administration War update. It is also a town which fiercely supports independent establishments and shuns corporate chains. It’s hardly acceptable if a local coffee house or burger joint opens another location in Seattle. If they open one in 
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