Seattle

Everywhere i look i see actual landscapes, not just a flatliner environment. i see Asians, indians, Mediterranean peoples, and lots of fiesty-looking white girls. Incidentally, i've had several carloads of girls do drive-by-checking-me-outs ( which i don't mind). The cafés and coffee shops have recycle bins. i only see coca-cola products in the chains. The local breweries make great-tasting dark beers (i am becoming more snobbish Blake, Darren, and Garth). The bus system, which is used by many demographic groups, runs until 3:30 am. People use the Ride-Share buses to work and back and these buses get their own traffic lanes. There are art galleries everywhere. i have lost count of all the mom and pop restaurants and coffee shops. There are actually active volcanoes here! Mt. Saint Helens, etc. (Uh, like, yeah, there's a real mountain range here too.) The big Asian population means that i will find clothes to fit. There are printing companies in the downtown area! (If worse comes to worse at least i can work prepress again until finding something better.) Two Apple stores. Oh, my God, actual skylines! A Vespa dealership along the Riverside! (Hm, i can see myself scooooooting around.) Hills meander abountifully as the city is laid across multiple topographies. Oh, "Seattle" is a native-american word meaning "City on Seven Hills." Local reports tell me that the mega churches aren't populated with wall-crawlers and that wall-crawling is actually quite sparse here. Have i mentioned that the Asian chicks here are quite hot? When you drive across the floating bridges -- yes, floating bridges -- you can see yachts, powerboats, marinas, ocean liners, freighters... real sea-faring vessels, not just mudwater metal floatees. There are places with gigantic type on the sides of the buildings! It rarely snows here because the Pacific ocean regulates the atmospheric water content. There are four seasons here, not just "ball hot" and "less ball hot." Mountains are beautiful if you've never before seen them in person, which i haven't. Oh, they have real outdoor stuff like stuff here: real terrain to climb and explore... you do realize that bayou walls don't count as elevation, right? (i might actually become an outdoorsy-type dude.) The sports architecture isn't the center of the city's layout. (Wait, sports ain't the ofishul ruhlijun here... dat ain't raht boy.) The ocean breeze always whispers it's cool, clean scent over the inhabitants. The water is blue like the way God wants it to be. The streets are clean, in fact, i have seen so little cigarette butts compared to Louisiana (sorry, Seattle, for comparing you to anything in Louisiana) that i wonder if people even smoke here. i'd spend less on a monthly bus-pass than even insurance on my car for a month! i could go on, but here's the final statement: the people here actually like their city.

-isral