day one hundred and seventy-three

thanks to a well-timed half-off coupon, we went go-kart racing (#19)! kyle, jim, serah and i headed to redmond's k1 indoor track for two races - not against each other like i expected, but for best single lap time over fifteen or so laps. it was super fun! some other things i didn't expect: these things are fast, the steering wheel takes some muscle to turn, and apparently every fun activity makes me dizzy. much like when i went surfing a few months ago, i had to cut my playtime short due to motion sickness. and so i sat the second race out - sort of a downer, but it's ok because it gave me a chance to take some pictures i wouldn't have otherwise been able to. i also got to hear the onlookers ooh and aah at how fast our crew was.

ninjas in headsocks

someone is working his helmet.

thumbs up before race time! this was the best i could do through the glass. also, this picture captures perfectly how i felt after the first race.

the standings after race number two

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kyle and i saw another live show too (#35): madeleine peyroux at the jazz alley. the venue was super hip, and her voice really was something special. i didn't think i knew any of her material - i was just up for a classy night out. but the second song, "don't wait too long," was so familiar to me, and by the end of her set i had figured out it was definitely used in a commercial i must've liked. some googling yielded this hilarious pants-related result.

lastly, i finally contributed to public radio (#94). i don't know exactly why i waited so long to do this; i've been a happily negligent benefactor of public media's free rider problem for years. but it turned out that i was just waiting for a sign, and i got it last week while listening to kexp, an alternative station owned by the university of washington and operated in partnership with the experience music project. it's an office favorite, and the three o'clock dj's decision to play a "whole lotta love" + "drop it like it's hot" mashup sold me. my complimentary t-shirt should arrive any day now.

day one hundred and sixty-two

there have been some major list happenings - good thing too because i was starting to feel like i've been falling behind.

instead of the same-old-but-never-the-less-delightful seattle visit, this year my mom and i decided to meet up in san francisco for a weekend o' fun (#71). she's a strong advocate for my list progress and helped me cross a couple things off.

for one, we rode segways (#13). and it was awesome. i almost can't find the words to say how awesome. the electric company segway tour took us through fisherman's wharf and the north beach neighborhood. it's a great way to see a new city - you're at street level but you're moving more quickly than you could walk those streets. and our guide was hilarious. but what i loved most was how easy it is to just cruise on these things. the tour company gave us an extensive training - probably thirty minutes' worth before letting us out on the open road - so by the time we were motoring it was just a solid, wind-in-your-helmet joy ride. admittedly, i was slightly bummed i had to wear a fluorescent safety vest, but that evaporated immediately when i stepped on my sweet ride. i truly don't know why people are so quick to diss them, or question why i've always wanted to ride one. because, man, so fun. and what's more, we made the super-hip electric company facebook page! check the 4/8 guest pics album, and haters to the left.

i've made a huge mistake

group shot taken by our tour guide (mom and i are third and second from the right, respectively)

this is harder than it looks, and exactly as cool as it looks. but well worth the effort for the best photo of my mother and myself that exists. fun fact: that's the golden gate bridge in the background!

to cool down the next day, my mom and i spent some quality time at the chakra spa (#40), where we were seriously taken care of. back rubs, foot rubs (thirty minutes dedicated just to my feet?!), facials, and even a lovely little lunch.

it's weird to take pictures in a spa, but i had to. so i found this little guy and pointed to him.

we then moved on to the polished lounge to get our nails done, which was a bit of a whirlwind. fingernails and toenails done in under twenty minutes flat.

i may or may not have fallen asleep while my nails were drying

mom got a much more sensible color

to sum, the trip was fabulous. lots of shopping, a fair amount of sightseeing, exploring lots of fun neighborhoods in gorgeous weather, and great food (had one of the top ten meals of my life, accompanied by a live jazz trio, at cafe claude).

a ride on this streetcar will cost you five dollars and you could get to your destination faster doing the crabwalk... but it's important.

quick stop on the segway tour - city in the background

it's alcatraz! this scares me! no really, i joke to hide the terror.

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in other parental-aided list news, my dad surprised me with a sunday subscription to the new york times (#10), and i arrived back from san francisco to find the first ten-pound issue on my doorstep! thanks pops! i plan on making it a secondary goal to finish a crossword - if i can find it.

and there's even more planned listiness in the works - soon enough i'll be painting our kitchen table and chairs (paint purchased!), seeing another live show (tickets bought!), go-karting (admission paid!), and jogging a 5k (registered!).

day one hundred and forty-nine

quick update entry: i finished life of pi, recommended (and gifted) to me by my good friend kristen (#7). and i loved the story - shipwreck, survival, just enough gore to pique my interest without giving me bad dreams. with a lot of books i have to set a goal to reach a certain page number before giving up in favor of doing something else, but i would guess that i happily finished this one in five or six sittings. and the author, yann martel, had me up until the last two chapters. i mean, i was in it. but then he pulled a shyamalan on me! AND made me feel like a jerk for favoring science over faith. truly, i dug the twist. but part of me wants to get together with a group of folks who have read this and talk about what pi's message about god meant to them. never before has my experience and understanding of a story hinged so fundamentally on one sentence.