The Search for Pier 91

Anyone who knows me is aware that I am an ideas person- who perhaps falls short on follow-through. That being said, I was particulary ambitious when I sent a call out over email recently for volunteers to join me in a 4 month Seattle Works team.

Seattle Works is a local organization that offers one-time volunteer events targeted at 20-30 somethings. It's an easy way to get involved and it also offers the added bonus of meeting new people (I get the feeling most people join teams when they are new to the city- I've been here for 5 years, so that's pushing it). The team program places volunteers on teams of 15 - and the teams participate in one volunteer event a month for 4 months.

Tai was kind enough to not only indulge me by joining Seattle Works with me- but to also text me to make sure I was awake this past Saturday for our first volunteer event (8:45am!) and bring me a medium latte (thanks again Tai!). Apparently, Tai and I are on the Amazon.com team - the reason being that our team leader is an Amazon employee. However, we also have a couple of individuals from a local church group, the Gates Foundation, and some other people whom I haven't quite figured out yet.

So - we showed up diligently at Northwest Harvest at 8:45 this past Saturday - which is located on Pier 91 near the Magnolia Bridge. For those of you not familiar with this Pier - there are a lot of organizations located here, and also quite a few different enterances (one of my many reaons for being late). We sorted apples for about 4 hours - followed by a couple of bloody marys and beer at some place on lower Queen Anne. Not a bad way to spend a morning - do some good and have a drink.

The Greens and the Beer

Greendrinks Seattle
http://www.seattlegreendrinks.org/

In most areas and issues, the environmentalists and the corporate world are at odds. However, apparently there exists some common ground. I am speaking of the benefits of networking and of beer. Once a month, socially responsible and environmentally sustainable organizations host a happy hour for people in the green business (or just people who recycle) so that they can mingle, talk, hang out, listen to music, and have a few beers on the house. Kind of like a business networking event without the business cards, suits, and pretension.

Populated heavily by students and graduates of the UW in departments such as the Evans School (not surprisingly, the founder of Greendrinks is an Evans School grad), landscape architecture, and environmental studies, these events are also a great place to meet other 20-30 somethings who have some free time during the week and have the same "values". The events are all free and recent locations include the SAM Sculpture Park Pavilion and the Sightline Institute. The organization has just recently started a website where they post job openings, local events, and even member blogs (I don't think I will make the cut). It's worth a look and a visit.

Tonight the event was at EVO in Fremont - a business that appears to be a skater shop (I don't know, I'm not cool enough to shop here). Sierra Nevada donated the beer, Herban Feast catered, and there was a band for an 8:30 party afterwards. People are friendly enough but it pays to go with a few pals- the green circles in the city are pretty tight and I got the feeling most people knew each other from outside circles (such as grad school or the Sierra Club).

Back in the Saddle

PCC Cooks

With burn marks still visible on my hands and wrists from the unfortunate Cinco De Mayo tart debacle, I bravely attended my first PCC cooking class last night. With the kicky name of "Spring Fling" and an instructor that reminded me of the perky doctor on Greys Anatomy - I couldn't pass it up. Besides, I had pre-paid and God knows I need some instruction in the kitchen.

The menu for the night: Lamb Shanks with Pomegranate sauce, Sweet Pea and Mint Risotto, Fresh Corn Salad, Mediterranean Lentil Salad, Roasted Veggies with Feta, and Strawberries with a Balsamic Reduction and Cracked Pepper. We were split into teams of 3 and I luckily got placed on the "lamb" team - lucky because we received the lions share of the instruction and because I am even worse at cooking main courses than I am at deserts. The instructor mentioned that she brings her class from the Seattle Culinary Academy out to a farm in Washington to learn how to slaughter lamb - to better understand their relationship with the food they prepare. I momentarily thought how cool this would be - wouldn't it be so "Omnivores Dilemma" of me, so in now with the food awareness wave - then I woke up and realized that I wouldn't make it one minute in a slaughterhouse. As soon as the knives came out - I would hitching my way home.

The class was made up of mostly people in their 40's+ with a couple 20-somethings that appeared to be the children of some of the other students. This is not one of those cooking classes you go to if you want to meet people or get a date- but everyone was nice and pretty knowledgeable about food and cooking. We finished all the dishes in about 2 hours and then sat down to enjoy the meal. Afterwards, I hit the store to stock up on groceries - well, actually I stocked up on all things delicious mentioned in the class, not all of which went into the dishes (hazelnut smoked blue cheese from the Oregon Rouge Valley, french mustard, ice cream)- and the $10 coupon towards groceries you receive from the class helped me out a bit.

I made it out of the 2 hour class with no cuts, burns, and with my pride intact - so it was a pretty successful night.

Barnyard Orgy in Your Mouth...

Conor Byrnes - Brainiac Beatdown Trivia
http://www.conorbyrnepub.com/

There you have it- the winning name at Conor Byrnes Trivia Night last night. This was an actual quote from the food channel- describing the experience of eating a mixed meat sandwich. Not only did it crack me up - it also netted our team a round of drinks.

It was a big night for our team - in addition to winning the best name, we also walked away with the highest score and 30 bucks. We also managed to convince Graeme to participate in the bonus round which required him to speak in a fake french accent on stage (not to mention follow a scandalous performance by another contestant). Joining our team for the first time, and showing an impressive knowledge of random indie music, were Katz and Jess - still reeling from their domination of the Kings Hardware weekly Wednesday night Ski-Ball tournament.

The heartbreak story of the night belongs to Arkan and Paige's team - "It's Ok, She's my Half-Sister". After leading the competition by a 3-point margin heading into the final two rounds, they fell by 1-point to second place. Not even being the only team to correctly identify "Dinosaur Jr" during the music round could prevent their plummet. Better luck next time guys!