Welcome to Bumbershoot!

This weekend, in spite of not going to Burning Man or because of it, I attended Seattle's resident music festival of the past thirty years: Bumbershoot. I had asked for the time off from work for Burning Man, but then figured I only needed the weekends off if I was staying home, so I gave myself a four-day weekend.

My plan was to take in Rufus Wainwright on Sunday, but earlier last week I received a reminder email that Blooghag was playing at the EMP Sky Church stage. So I ended up purchasing a two-day pass and spent a lovely Friday at Bumbershoot.

I walked around looking at the art exhibits in the Northwest rooms and stopped in at the Bookfair where I chatted with two of my most favorite cartoonists, Roberta Gregory and Donna Barr. Dennis Eichorn was also there. I ended up spending all my lunch money with them. I had to buy lunch at Micky D�s so I could use my ATM card.

At the Bloodhag show, I ran into Charlie, who is a punk (seems odd to call a guy who�s older than me a punk, but that�s what he is) and hangs out at Bauhaus Caf�, which is kitty-corner to my apartment building. We chatted for a while before the show, but I had to leave early to catch Spaulding Gray at the Opera House.

I�ll write specifics on the performances in my vices sections.

I was making it my habit to stop by Coffee Messiah, which I've discovered serves very delicious coffee. They also have expensive and not too delicately made pastries, but which I can recommend because they are handmade with lots of fruit in them. There is a handsome, tall, very thin man with bleached hair who serves coffee at the counter and on my third visit he finally smiled at me and even joked with me. I could become a regular even yet. Anyway, enough about chasing boys.

Saturday found me heading again to Queen Anne (where the Seattle Center is located), but not to take in Bumbershoot. Last Monday, after filling in for someone at work, I stopped by Landes House, a local bed and breakfast, where my friend Addison works occasionally. We had a pleasant chat and when I made to leave he invited me to visit him on Saturday at the house he shares with his sister.

The bus again was packed and the hot, slowed by traffic, standing-room-only bus ride was almost not worth the effort. I threw my coffee into my knapsack when the bus came by, so today I was peeling pages apart from the dried coffee that had spill in my bag. Then I pulled out my map that Addison had drawn for me and walked to his lovely appointed hovel.

Actually it is not a hovel, Addison just calls it that. I was also able to meet his terrier, Sophie, but not before his sister, Elizabeth mistook me for someone else she was expecting. Then I had to reintroduce myself because she didn't recognize me for the blue hair. It was delightful visit and Addison ran me home in his car.

Sunday found me attending Bumbershoot again. But I visited with my friends at Charlie�s on Broadway for brunch first. Purple was waiting when I arrived and Carolyn showed soon afterwards. We had to order entrees because we were too late for the breakfast menu. And there was a new, very humpy bus boy I took the opportunity of ogling.

Purple Mark had brought with him his CD of photos taken with his new camera and wanted to see if we could download them to my computer and email friends with them. So after brunch I took Purple to my apartment and we spent sometime figuring out how to configure my CD player so it could read the photos off the CD. Unfortunately, Hotmail was not allowing us to attach photos to email so I promised Purple I�d do that when I had some time this week.

We then walked up Pine Street to the front of a house where Purple had noticed a table sitting by the sidewalk that he thought might make a perfect sewing table. There was someone coming out of the house when we�d arrived so Purple asked if the table was free for the taking, which the man confirmed. I�d plucked a rose from the garbage can at my apartment, which I offered to the man, who heartily accepted it.

Mark grabbed the tabletop and I grabbed the legs and we set off to Mark�s apartment. We switched twice on the way, and towards the end of the jaunt, I discovered an empty black metal steamer trunk by the side of the way, which I carted home and think I will fill with comic books.

I was able to catch a #8 bus to the Seattle Center that was not packed to the gills. I don't know what was different other than the time of day. Both Friday and Saturday I�d come early and this was almost six. I walked directly to the Opera House where Rufus was performing, but they first had the line of people wait in the Exhibition Hall next door. Almost as soon as I�d sat down, a man walked over to me.

It was my friend Scott, who lives in California! He was up visiting a friend and attending Bumbershoot. We caught up with each other for the next hour, which passed very quickly. He was looking quite well and although he didn�t have many anecdotes about his life for me, we still carried on some lively conversation.

I was planning to attend Fetish night at the Vogue when I got home from the concert, but I just was too exhausted to go out again. Even so, I didn�t go right to bed because I had some work I had promised to do this weekend to finish.

Today, Monday, was very slow and nice. I didn�t have any money to spend and my friend Amy of Pistilbooks.com had invited me over for coffee so I spent most of the afternoon chatting with her. She served me a very interesting cheese custard and peach pie, which had a delicious walnut, brown sugar and flour, �crumb crust�. Yum! She drove me home with a huge box of books that I don�t know what I am going to do with, Doteyevsky and such. I�ve spent the rest of the evening ripping CDs and finishing projects. Now I�m running out of time. Damn!