George RR Martin reading, Shotstravangaza™, housewarming/birthday party, Sangria-off, Charles: Ace of Bass

That's a lot of stuff to put in a blog post title. That's also a lot of stuff to do in one weekend. Actually, the first three events are occurring in one evening. I've made sure to get plenty of sleep over the past few days and I will be fueling up with plenty of caffeinated beverages, you can be sure.

First, there is the sold out George RR Martin "Dance of the Dragons" reading/signing at Town Hall. A friend sent out a plea asking someone to attend the reading to get a book signed on behalf of her French exchange sister whose boyfriend loves the Song of Fire and Ice series and since I was working my way through the first book with full intentions of reading the second, third, fourth and fifth, I was happy to oblige. She purchase two tickets to the event so I get to take a signed book home as well and I'm pretty freaking excited.

Then, off to a local Chinese restaurant/lounge for a going away party for one of the bartenders there that I am friends with, she'll be moving to Portland for a wonderful job opportunity and we'll be downing jello shots in her honor at the Shotstravaganza™.

Another lovely lady friend of mine is having a housewarming and joint birthday party for herself and one of the coolest almost-six year olds that I know (her kidlet Cash) and this is an additional "must-stop" scheduled for tonight.

Saturday, there's the Sangria-off at my homegirl's place with three different sangria "contest" contenders, plenty of adorable gays and cute little hipsters, of course.

As for Sunday, it seems due to my recent post about how much I enjoyed the Ubiquitous They show I've been invited to another local sketch comedy show, Charles: The Ace of Bass at the Satori Loft. It's an unfamiliar venue but UT will also be performing that night, so I'll at least know some of the faces. I have no doubt it's a good show, Lindy West from The Stranger has been singing their praises lately and my friend Gabriel from Seattle Show Gal (who has fantastic taste) had very nice things to say about their set at Laffhole. The show goes for 2 more weekends: this Saturday and Sunday and then Friday and Saturday of next week, with the doors opening at 8 PM each evening and show starting at 8:30 PM. Tickets are only $10 at the door and can also be purchased in advance at brown paper tickets so you should go see them too, because I'm sure you also like funny people, right? Here's a little taste of what we can look forward to:

If only this was a dating blog...

...I'd have an endless stream of entertainment for you here.

Unfortunately, most of the guys I hang out with or have gone on dates with read and some of them definitely know the address of my blog. Honestly, they would probably (or should probably) be quite embarrassed if I called them out on their antics here and that's not really my style, though I'll most likely have an anecdote or two that I'm willing to share.

A fine example: the date from weekend before last not only doesn't read, he goes to Mars Hill Church. He repeated the phrases "holy firecracker" and "god didn't have to dam it, he could walk on water" too many times for me to count, but definitely enough to annoy me. After our date, the correspondence became increasingly pushy and then petty when I failed to be as responsive as he had apparently hoped.

I'm just not that into him.

Also, I am just not that into my neighbor who likes to play the drums between the hours of 10 PM and 12 AM with his windows wide open.

So, I have updated my list of dating rules to include "no boys who don't read (ESPN magazine doesn't count.)" and "no drummers. period."

In nerdy balcony vegetable garden news: my chive seeds have started sprouting, chard seeds are planted and in the next few days I'll get the broccoli seeds going. I'm stealing a "rustic" picnic table bench from the Madre's backyard to make sure the containers are high enough to maximize the sun exposure and I found the cutest little set of string lights to start creating some ambiance, bitches. Pictures soon, since I know you're all incredibly curious, right?

Late in the season.

Now that I have a nice, spacious balcony I find myself inspired and excited to delve farther into container gardening in hopes of possibly saving money and greening up my outdoor space with useful plants in addition to pretty ones. Unfortunately, it's a bit late to start seeds for most of the things I'm interested in growing and I'm still trying to suss out what might actually do well on my West-facing deck.

So far, I have chocolate mint and Moroccan mint already growing, chive sprouts are coming up and I was hoping to get some swiss chard in soon. I'm considering broccoli since it is usually planted in the later summer and I love to eat it, but I think most of the magic will happen next year when I have time to prepare and make a real plan. My goal is to try my hand at growing eggplant or cucumbers and hopefully tomatoes and/or peppers.

I think once I get the greenery going I'll copy my friend Mary T. of Shelteriffic and steal this fun, cheap lighting idea (that she stole from The Art of Doing Stuff) to continue my Domestic Goddess sanctuary outside my back door.