it's shit hot outside!i haven't done much at home other than sit outside on the front stoop and cool off with the neighbies and most of the past week has been spent on dave and michelle's porch.

i'm trying to finish curtains for philip and patrick's supervan but standing next to a hot iron and pressing curtains is not fun.

off to meet brian for lunch soon. i think we will dine inside today. after work we are checking out a SIFF movie, art & copy. and then just mayybe i can convince him to have a drink with me at sun liquor. yum!

camping this weekend with brian, maeve and philip. i'm bringing the holga too. i know it's supposed to cool off quite a bit but i think i'm not too bother by that notion

today I am volunteering for SIFF and then in the night time...an evening with anthony bourdain and mario batali and luke burbank. oh shit!

oh shit is right.

last night's georgetown ride was hella fun. the bike ride was super easy! afterwards we rode back to downtown seattle towards the crocodile where we watched the maldives. the new crocodile is an interesting place...drawing random people from the street i heard a lot of "what band is playing tonight?" and was pretty sure people were there to drink and less about listening to music. oh well. it may never have the ambiance it once had before.

pictures from last night:

the maldives at the new crocodile

a welcoming a-frame sign outside smarty pants

brian and michelle

ps i love anthony bourdain!

hello summer, the sunshine outside is ridiculously gorgeous! 70+ degree weather from here until...

brian and i both rode our bikes to work (last day of bike to work month) and at 5pm we are meeting dave and michelle on their bikes. we are all heading down to smarty pants in Georgetown for happy hour beers and the outdoor patio.

SIFF movie count: 2
i'm gonna explode (mexico)
all tomorrow's parties - documentary

it's wednesday night.

i started a new knitting project. a scarf. can you believe that? tomorrow's high is in the mid 70s.

i actually had an anxiety dream about this yarn last night. i bought it with the intention that i would crochet a bulky cowl scarf similar to this one but i lost the only crochet hook i own! in my dream i found crochet hooks everywhere...under the carpet (i don't have carpet), in small nooks and crannies, places that crochet hooks would not fit in. so i got home, changed straight into pajamas and began knitting (yes, knitting) with this bulky yarn.

check it, using moss stitch pattern on #15 needles

moss stitch
1st row: K1, *P1, K1; repeat * to end
2nd row: P1, *K1, P1; repeat * to end
3rd row: repeat 2nd row
4th row: repeat 1st row
Repeat these 4 rows


to get perspective on how huge this ball of yarn is (that is an 18oz bottle)...


well at least the bulkiness means quick results.

while i am knitting, brian and i are also watching the who documentary, the kids are alright. i like this movie but i am not sure i am a fan. i do like their more "mod" style but the zeppelin type songs are just well, too zeppelin and almost on the brink of cheese.

SIFF movie count: 1
- All Tomorow's Parties (documentary)

SIFF is upon us and great movies are waiting to be seen. i hope to catch a handful of movies with the 4 volunteer shifts i scheduled for the festival. first up is a documentary about all tomorrow's parties showing at the Egyptian on May 26th. others include the shorts night (not sure on which one) and a couple of German, Turkish drama type movies and the cutesy movie with Zoey Daschanel, 500 nights of summer of something like that.

brian and i finally watched our netflix movies. man on wire and rebel without a cause. man on wire was excellent! full of tense moments...i can't believe phillipe would lie down on his walking wires hundreds of feet above the streets. it was inspiring that so much footage was videotaped too, i want a video camera now!. rebel without a cause was really weird. it was the first time either of us had ever seen it. the kid without parents was creeeepy! oh and of course james dean and natalie wood were fine to look at too. i read on wiki that james dean was gay...i didn’t know that but that little juicy tidbit makes we want to read a biography on him.

by aaron osborn

i'm volunteering for SIFF right now at the harvard exit. the weather looks so grim from in here. dark and cold. i'm not looking forward to my bike ride home. i woke up early enough to get to joe bar at 930am, order my pre-paid double short latte and enjoy the delicious savory crepe that they make so well. i was sitting outside enjoying my food when an older woman walked by and said to me "well at least you are enjoying the spring". well i don't know if i'm enjoying the spring all that much but i'm trying to make the best of it that's for sure.

tonight is the opening of joel and justine's gallery called cairo. it's opening was announced in a daily candy email. props to your good pr skills dudes. i have a feeling the party will be fantastic. the pic above is by aaron osborn. his show titled make me one with everything is to be the first of many exhibits to be shown at cairo.

hopefully after that i can try to check out the midnight movie at the egyptian called sukiyaki western django by director takashi miike. jermaine is a fan of his work so maybe we can get him to come out too.

i think it's time for another double latte.

Last night I saw You, the Living at the Egyptian. The movie, as the presenter described it, is a “Swedish surrealist film”. Whatever that meant, I knew to expect a weird movie. I enjoyed the first half hour very much then the last hour dwindled quite a bit with very few themes connecting the 50 different stories. Oh well, that is what SIFF is all about. Somewhere along my way to the theater I lost my id too! What a bummer! I’m positive it flipped out of my pocket as we were walking. I traced back my steps all the way home, even stepping into Café Vita where I got coffee. Nothing. I’m hoping someone threw it in the mail but a highly unlikely scenario so I will most likely be at the DMV this week.

I’m supposed to volunteer tonight but all I can think about is getting items ready for Fake Banana at the Fremont Market on June 22^nd. I have a lot of sewing to accomplish and jewelry to create so I just may have to cancel. This would be fine with me since I have already volunteered something like 12 hours. Sorry SIFF, see you on Saturday though.

The weekend was full of awesomeness. Friday, Brian and I met Michael and Matt in the park for some afternoon frisbee fun. I couldn’t help but notice how giddy and happy we all were just throwing the Frisbee around. Afterwards we headed to Hopvine for drinks and food. Our neighbors had some wonderful photographs hanging inside one wall of the bar. They promised a picture if I decided I liked any so I picked out a really nice sunny picture of boats at a pier. I know exactly where the photo will go in our apartment.

Saturday morning we woke up early. I volunteered for SIFF at the Harvard Exit. Working will call is a lot of fun. Being at the Harvard all morning long gave me a glimpse at what it’s like to work at a theater. Every paid employee I met was so nice. I pre-paid 3 lattes at Joe Bar so I had coffee for my next 3 Saturday shifts at the Harvard.

Later on Saturday evening, Regina, Maeve and I set out for a serious opening weekend screening of Sex and the City movie. Rachel would have had a ball with us ladies. The theater was a spectacle of women dressed up in high heels and short dresses. I felt like I had walked into a room filled with the pigeons. There was not one straight man (in his right mind) in that theater on Saturday evening. When the movie started, all the ladies clapped. You could hear the “oohs and ahhs” echoing through the theater when Carrie appeared in a new outfit. The movie was pretty damn ridiculous but I’m such a mega-fan that I chose to ignore the cheese factor. You had to! Afterwards, we got pretty damn drunk at Sun Liquor. I drank 3 punatazos almost setting a Chris Price record. Oh well!

Sunday was the best bbq ever at Chris’s new house in the U-district.

Cedar planked smoked salmon
Bbq ribs
Roasted red potatoes
Salad with homemade croutons
Cheese dogs
a cheese plate filled with crackers, salami, fruit and an assortment of cheese

It was a glorious afternoon filled with delicious food, champagne mixed with guava nectar, and Rainier beer.

SIFF Gala Update

So there were 3 star sightings: a grumpy Michelle Rodriguez (we all know her as Analucia from Lost, so glad Michael shot her ass), Andre3000, and Charlize Theron. My duty was to pour champagne and serve. The serving part was a bit tricky, I was so sure that I would throw champagne all over some “Platinum level” guest so I put down the tray. For a Seattle event, the SIFF gala was posh. After the pre-party was over, the crowd moved into the theater for the screening of “Battle in Seattle”, then it was time for the real gala. I ran into a few friends during the event, Jason, a girl I used to work with at CW, and a sighting of a friend’s ex-girlfriend. I did make some cool new friends though. Leah and Noah are the cutest most hilarious couple I know. I took those two and two really darling Japanese guys to the Metropolitan Market with me so we can buy $55 in ice and just so you know that is 33 bags of ice. It was obvious that we were really overstaffed with volunteers so taking 5 people on a task to push two carts of ice was just the kind of thing that happened all night. Oh well, it was fun. Pouring champagne was fun, drinking the remnants of open bottles after clean glasses ran out was fun, serving sushi to really rich people was fun, watching bitchy girls get turned away from the VIP tent was even more fun. Hahaha. SIFF was a success but in the realm of movie premieres and film festivals around the world it was small beans for sure.

Pictures I found on The Stranger’s blog, The Slog. I figured they were just about as quality of a pic I would’ve taken. Haha.

The legs of Charlize Theron

Andre 3000 - so dapper

the grumpy Analucia

Brian and I are going into SIFF with a strong focus. Tonight we have tickets for two movies at 630pm playing at the Egyptian, Auf der Anderen Seiten (The Edge of Heaven) and at 930pm playing at the Harvard Exit, The Wrecking Crew. Tomorrow, Portland! Have a good holiday weekend.

sew cool!

The SIFF Gala is tonight! I’m so excited. B and I picked up our badges and volunteer shirts on Monday. Hell, it was extremely difficult to find their damn office in South Lake Union. That area of town is a business park wasteland. I hope Paul Allen and company figure out a way to make that neighborhood feel more like home. At any rate, I received an email earlier in the week from SIFF ‘Special Events’ coordinator. I couldn’t believe that it read all volunteers MUST wear their volunteer t-shirt to the gala. Say what?! It’s a gala and there is no way I can make friends with famous people wearing a lousy t-shirt! Here is my answer to that problem – refashion!

The result - a boatneck, capped sleeve fitted tee. I used a pattern that I saw on Craftzine blog. Now I'm ready to make some new friends.

for inspiration

to all my homies whom dwell in small spaces. i long for a simple and modern space like this apartment in alameda, california.

my weekend was amazingly relaxing. friday night i went to an art show at the last waltz. a friend of our neighbors, mindy, was showing a collection of beautiful stitched art that she had been working on in the past month. the result - inspiring and simple creations of images stitched on vintage-looking fabric. a tape recorder, 3 speed schwinn bicycle, roller skates, and an upright piano. i wish i had pictures or a link or mindy's last name! bummer!

saturday and sunday, b and i volunteered 2 hours at the box office for SIFF. so so boring. i really hope ushering is more exciting, at least we may catch a few movies here and there if it's just as boring too. saturday night, i worked long and hard on my apron. it is still unfinished but i will show a pic of my work in progress anways. i'm pleating the top so it can be poofy and full at the front. yay!

so my best friends in austin got their package. i ended up sending 3 boxes of berry granola cereal, a bag of freshly roasted coffee from victrola, treats for the dogs from trader joes, katie's bag, and a podcast for libby's blog. they were so happy to get it. katie told brian on the phone that it was the best package to have ever arrived at their house. success!

i can see clearly now...

well, soon enough. finally, the owners of my apartment building are hiring window washers to come out and wash our filthy windows. apparently the windows have not been washed in years. it's disgusting and i can't help but think the lack of cleanliness is messing with my allergies.

this weekend was so chill and productive. so chill in fact that a co-worker asked me if i went to the spa because i looked so rejuvenated and relaxed. he asked me again today but i told him there was no secret to my madness.

regina came by on saturday and dropped off grandma's sewing machine. it is a fantastic little kenmore machine. the machine is simple to use but i plan on mastering many of the other stitch patterns so that i can teach regina how to use them. she and i went to pacific fabric supply on sunday, where i stocked up on notions and fabric. i'm very excited. i already sewed a tote bag for my bff in austin too. brian and i are sending our buddies down there a huge package filled with boxes of their favorite trader joes berry granola cereal along with other treats. i can't wait to hear from them when they get it.




next week i have an eye appointment at capitol hill vision on 15th. the office is located next door to smith so as soon as i get my new specs i can find a beer at smith quickly and more efficiently!? well, i can see fine now but man i get the worse headaches while i am at work, knitting, or sewing. my eyes are having a hard time adjusting while looking at very small objects so im thinking reading glasses are in order but we'll see.

this week i have signed up to volunteer for SIFF's gala event. i wish rachel was here to attend with me. we would have so much fun. brian and i are also signing up to usher many of the screenings so all you SIFF goers may see us wrangling people in line. the real plus of volunteering for SIFF is that for every 2 hours you volunteer you get a free movie voucher or you can collect your hours for a free SIFF membership for a year. it's the most lucrative volunteering program i've ever heard of. i can't wait!

i'm so happy it's wednesday. this is the day i grab this week's new issue of the stranger, buy a scratch ticket, and enjoy my bus ride home.

SIFF-alufagus

2008 SIFF trailer

this morning brian and i attended a volunteer coordination meeting for this year's Seattle International Film Festival. brian has never volunteered before so i think he may be a little nervous. i just think of it as a fun new job for a 3 week period. i signed up to be a guest relations person...hang out at the W hotel and help directors and other film people with hospitality. i wrote down on the sign-up sheet that i speak conversational german. god, i hope i meet some Germans!

meanwhile, it's fucking gorgeous outside. i know you are thinking "goddammit jessica! do you ever talk about anything else other than the effin' weather?" to firmly answer your question, "no, well at least not all the time." i've been obsessed with weather since i was 5 years old and learned how to ride my bike in a hurricane (by the way, there is VHS footage of that). pretty much all my friends know that i'm crazy about tornadoes. i wanted to sign up for a tornado chasing excursion for my 12th birthday. instead i got a lousy halloween party. and that my friends, is why i never have halloween birthday parties! i'm still bitter about it, a whole 12 years later.

i finally listened to last week's this american life podcast. if you have time in your day, i highly suggest you listen to it.

*update on bowling -
i did not bowl a 100. instead i bowled a 42 and a 69. far from, far from...