why yes you MAY!

(one of) the May Day protests went directly past my work. at this point, it was just a snarl of earnest young people and some dude feebly playing bagpipes and a bunch of smartphones raised aloft and about 150 cops. the cops looked bemused and bored. 

my first, admittedly shameful thought: this would be an excellent time to commit a crime. all the cops are babysitting this parade. 

when did I reluctantly stop believing that shit like this was going to change the world and started seeing it as disorganized borderline-brattiness that really solves nothing? I mean, fuck, I'm still a throbbing liberal. I'm not too old. I used to be these guys. kids. whatever. I've marched defiantly and yelled back and hung fliers and fancied myself the one person that could change the world. we can all, each of us, possibly be the tipping point, the reason for things to finally make sense and be better. I still mostly believe that.... 

but I'm cynical because it's not the fucking efficient way to do things. it doesn't actually communicate what needs to be done. consider the Occupy movement: it irreversibly devolved from something everyone could agree with and get behind and feel passionate about, to a haphazard shitshow of inarticulate bleating and no tangible solutions. 

I saw on the news the next day that, unsurprisingly, everything went to shit at the Seattle protests and people were injured and windows were smashed. and I just rolled my eyes. it explains the three separate helicopters purring directly above my lair all evening. 

I guess I relate more to that quote from Harold & Maude: "still fighting for the Big Issues, but now in my small, individual way." I like how cheerily she said that. 

anyway, enough curmudgeony pontificating.

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I love this building. I love this city in the springtime. Seattle is unsurpassed at baring its plumage. 

I have also always loved buildings that go directly to the sidewalk. another good example is at 65th & Phinney. it feels very European. these are the Serena apartments, 12th & Roy, built in 1926. 

Volunteer Park. there are a fuckton of gnats in this city! I wonder how many insects I eat and inhale every day simply by walking around. 

the sun at my back. 

the new growths on the cactus pear are already biting back. 

another view of the LimeIce simply because I'm so fucking impressed with my underwhelming domesticity. 

wisteria! 

last night I watched the bird on the wire for about fifteen minutes. he was an asshole, even in avian terms. he would fly to other trees and bitch out the birds there, then come back to the wire and shriek. at one point he flew to the very top branch of a birch tree and swayed in the breeze. black bird, small, long beak, makes a noise like a slide whistle...? 

I also discovered that my upstairs neighbor has mounted a birdhouse directly above my living room window. this explains the birds I see flying almost-directly into the building.

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I like her style.