Ian Pierce

Tag: Seattle

  • CHOO CHOO MOTHERLOVERS

    It was a huge day for transit nerds in Seattle this Saturday! Well, not in Seattle specifically, but the wild border country between the airport and Tacoma. Yes, as an early Christmas present, the Federal Way Link Light Rail extension opened, and since I had the day off, I spent the afternoon riding it!

    I began at the light rail station near my home, U District Station. Immediately upon entering, something was different. Instead of saying “Angle Lake” as the terminus for the southbound line, the transit signage said “Federal Way”.

    Even knowing that the signs would change, it was kind of a shock to see. I’ve lived in Seattle for nearly a decade, and seeing anything other than “Angle Lake” was a little startling, in a pleasant way.

    After passing through downtown Seattle, Rainier Valley, and the airport, I got to see the new section of track and the new stations for the first time!

    Speeding past cars on I-5.
    Kent De Moines Station.
    Star Lake Station.

    Then, after a scenic trip past interstate highways, RV parks, and patches of bog surrounded by damp hemlock trees, I arrived at the terminus of my journey in the exotic southern climes of distant Federal Way!

    Since I had come all this way, I spent a pleasant time shopping at Federal Way’s premier bookstore, a combination bookstore/cafe called Barnes and… something? Barnes and Mobile? Not sure what mobile phones have to do with books, but it had a pretty good selection!

    After shopping and getting a li’l soupçon of writing done, it was 4:30, well past nightfall, and time to head home. Overall, an excellent excursion! If ever you are forced to be in Federal Way, the Link is an excellent way of getting there. And I’ll be able to take it all the way to Tacoma someday! Hopefully before I’m 50, but you never know in this town…

    Goodnight, Federal Way and all of South King County! I probably won’t ever visit you again for years, but it was nice while I did!

    ~ Ian (listening to Strega by SubRosa)

  • i like to be here when i can

    I was just down in California last week, visiting family and friends for the traditional autumnal bird consumption ritual festival. It’s always a little weird going to California for me. I spent years being miserable there, trying to get out. I’m surprised how much I enjoy it, although that’s probably just because that’s where my family lives, as well as most of my friends.

    The story of my moving to Seattle basically boils down to “I wanted to move here, so I did”. What I didn’t know is how quickly it would become my home. Seattle felt like home to me within six months, something that never entirely happened in my hometown. I feel a kinship with this place, despite its flaws, and whenever I return here, no matter how fun the trip was, I always feel a sense of unclenching, of being in a place where I belong.

    This begins as soon as I get off the plane for one reason: fonts.

    This was the view as I left my plane from San Jose at SeaTac Airport. The font on the sign up there is called Humnst 777. All the signage in the airport is in that font, which isn’t unusual, since all airports have some manner of unified typography. But the use of this font continues once you leave the airport and get onto the Link light rail. All the station signage is in this same font. So are the signs in bus stations across King County. In fact, I’d argue that this font is as much a symbol of Seattle and the larger Puget Sound as the Space Needle, Starbucks, and annoying tourists who refuse to drink any beer that doesn’t have enough hops in it to turn it green.

    It’s funny how we create these signifiers of home within our minds. Maybe someone who doesn’t ride the Link every day like I do wouldn’t have such associations with this font. But for me, it’s just a reminder of the human element of good design.

    ~ Ian (listening to I Heard It’s A Mess There Too by Aesop Rock)

  • how i spent my saturday

    I had a pretty eventful Saturday, and I figured it might be nice to share some photos from it. As I’m sure people are aware, the No Kings protest went on across America, from massive cities to tiny hamlets, and Seattle was no exception. I went to check it out and show my support in the fight against fascism, and it was a great time. I’m so glad that across the country and the world, there were no violent incidents at all. I worried that if some idiot tried to start some shit, the right-wing media (and probably a lot of the mainstream media too, let’s be honest) would be trying to paint this movement as a violent insurrection no matter how small the incident was. That’s how they did after George Floyd’s murder, after all. The fact that they decided to drop the “scary violent Hamas Antifa Marxists” angle for a “these are just a bunch of old white people” argument just shows how successful we were in puncturing their bubble.

    First off, before heading to the Seattle Center for the protest, I had to get there. The Link was already crowded by the time I got on, and got more and more crowded with every stop.

    After I got off at Westlake and grabbed donuts and coffee at Top Pot, I made my way up 5th Avenue towards the Seattle Center. By that time the speeches had been going for about an hour, but there were still plenty of late arrivals.

    Then I finally arrived at the west lawn of the Seattle Center, where the speeches were being held. Back in April, I went to an earlier protest at the same site. There had been a lot of people there: tens of thousands.

    This put all of that to shame.

    I literally couldn’t fit through the crowds of people to see my representative, Pramila Jayapal, speak. I have been in mosh pits with less density. It was glorious.

    But we had only barely begun. It was time for the march down 5th Avenue towards downtown. The atmosphere was excellent. It was like a parade, which is exactly what it should have been. The best way to fight anger and hatred is with love and joy, and there was so much of both in that march.

    Even my axolotl brethren came out of the canals to join in the fun!

    We passed under the monorail tracks, waving and cheering every time a train went by. I sang verses from the Monorail song from the Simpsons episode “Marge vs. the Monorail”, much to the amusement of nearby fellow nineties kids.

    As we approached the convention center, I broke away from the crowd because I had plans to hang out with a friend at the Oddities and Curiosities Expo. When I arrived at the convention center, it was easy enough to follow the steady stream of alternative kids to the show floor, where plenty of strange and wondersome artifacts were on display for our purchasing enjoyment, from the bones of beasts…

    …to snakes in jars and butterflies in boxes…

    …to beautiful art and apparel in any color you want, provided it’s black…

    …to taxidermized beasts of many varieties.

    I ended up buying a shirt with the Sigil of Baphomet and the legend “KEEP ABORTION LEGAL”. My friend wasn’t quite so lucky. She ended up spending nearly $200 on fox skulls and various other bones. Still, I can’t think of a better way to spend a Seattle Saturday, from coffee and donuts in the morning to bottled snakes in the afternoon, together with friends old and new.

    ~ Ian (listening to Psychotic Banana by Hand of Juno)

  • portraits of a seattle autumn

    Growing up in California, I was always told that my home state didn’t have seasons. I knew that wasn’t true. California, especially the Central Coast where I spent my childhood, has seasons that can largely be determined by the color of the hills. Roughly, the three seasons are when the hills are green, when they’re yellow-brown, and when they’re orange and smoking.

    Still, here in a more northerly city, the changes in seasons are more dramatic, with flowers in spring, red leaves in fall, and even a scattering of snow in winter, on occasion. And autumn in Seattle is a special time. People claim that summer is the most beautiful season in my city. I admit that the clear blue skies, warm temperatures, and endless evenings have their charm. They certainly trick tourists who visit in July, all of whom are confused that they don’t need an umbrella or a rain jacket.

    (Side note: carrying an umbrella, especially for only slight rains, is one of the most telling signs that you’re a tourist in Seattle. The only more obvious indicator that you’re not from here is calling it “Pike’s Place Market”.)

    But in my opinion, Seattle is at its most beautiful in the rain. With the sharp edges of the world blurry and smeared by mist and rainfall, the streetlights reflected in puddles, the subdued colors… it may not be the sort of weather that gets put on the postcards, but it’s ours. And when the clouds crack and kindle the red and gold and green trees into bright fire… it’s enough to make you think this place is magical.

    Autumn is the perfect time for spookums and spectres. It’s a time for leather jackets and big boots. It’s a season for sitting inside a cafe with a nice beverage and a book, staring out the window and thinking about death. Since all of these things are my favorite, it stands to reason that fall is as well.

    Plus, this fall feels especially charged with meaning in Seattle. There’s a mayoral election, and to the shock and delight of many in the city, the Mariners are one game away from the World Series. They say autumn is the dying time of year, but somehow everything feels more alive than ever.

    ~ Ian (listening to Holocene by The Ocean)