Please ignore this post, just trying something out.

No, I’m not getting a cheetah. But it all goes as planned… don’t ask what the plan is… I’ll be getting a puppy. He/she would be born in 9-12 weeks + 8 weeks of growing = new family member. Here’s potential mom when she was a smidgen of a dog.

I’m like a nervous expectant parent.

At the top of the Space Needle is Sky City restaurant. It’s the oldest rotating restaurant remaining in the United States. You hover at 500 feet, and it takes 47 minutes to make a full rotation. If you think about it, the spinning can be a bit nauseating. Sky City was the second rotating restaurant built, the first was in Honolulu. Apparently the Hawaiian restaurant is closed now, but when I visited in 1999 it was still operational and a nice place for lunch one day.

Back to Seattle though, my mind is wandering somewhere on the beach in Hawaii. Last week, Andrea asked me to join her and some others for dinner to celebrate her mom’s birthday. I agreed without knowing the dining location. Checking in a few days later, she said “at the Space Needle.” I swear, my eyes rolled into the back of my head and little money signs showed up where my pupils once were. I could only imagine how much it was going to cost… and the online menu confirmed. When you look this place up in your dining guide, it’s one of a small handful with the dreaded FOUR dollar signs next to it.

Putting the cost aside for a moment, I’ll get to the food. It’s actually pretty good. It’s not the best food I’ve ever eaten, and definitely not worth the price (there I go talking about the cost again). Overall, the meal was enjoyable. I had a goat cheese appetizer. It was beautiful, of course, but when you combined the tart cheese with the earthy greens and just a bit of the berry puree, the full effect was rich and warm — sort of a maternal flavor.

My entree was seasonal vegetables served in a puff pastry. I usually expect the vegetarian option to be lacking at nice restaurants, but I was fooled here. The puff pastry was plain and tasted too much like shortening for me to eat much of it. The filling was a delicate mixture of vegetables and mushrooms in a cream sauce. I enjoyed the mushrooms. Most restaurants will use one type of mushroom in a dish, but this had three at least, some light and others meaty and tender.

We all split three desserts, mostly because I don’t think anyone could choose just one. The one food item remaining from the Worlds Fair Space Needle restaurant is a dessert called the Lunar Orbiter. It’s essentially an ice cream sundae, but wait… there’s more. The sundae is on a small silver tray will nickel-sized holes around the edges of the tray. Then the tray is placed on a glass bowl filled with dry ice. When it’s brought to your table, the server pours warm water over the ice and the whole table fills with a cloud of smoke. It’s a lot of fun, no matter how cheesy it seems.

So if overall the food was decent, but not amazing, the view made up for it. Seeing Seattle from that perspective is fascinating. From ground level, the city can seem daunting and hectic, but from 500 feet up, it seems more vulnerable. The big estates perched atop the hills look like big doll houses. The port seems less industrial. It’s really worth it just for the view. In fact, if you have someone visit from out of state who’s never been. Paying the $13 to get to the observation deck is totally worth it. Pick a clear day though. I can’t imagine it being so moving with Seattle clouds looming.

Alaska sailor killed in Guatemala by machete-wielding robbers, and I want to go to Guatemala? Hmm… maybe Belize is a better idea. Speaking of Guatemala, isn’t Joe there? I should e-mail him… make sure he stays away from machetes.

I’m a nerd. I’ll admit it. I was tipped off at the beginning of July to keep an eye out for developments at the Volunteer Park botanical Conservatory. Waldo was getting ready to bloom. I checked the site religiously every week, watching his growth and waiting for him to bloom. Last week, it finally happened.

Waldo is an Amorphophallus titanium, or corpse flower. It’s definitely not the prettiest flower, but that isn’t the draw. Amorphophallus titanium is a flowering plant with the largest unbranched bloom in the world. It is a carnivorous plant and uses its rotting flesh stench to attract flies and other insects for lunch.

Walking into the conservatory, I’m actually nervous with excitement. I expect to walk into the room and be overwhelmed from the stench, but I’m not. The room smells like soil, not rotting flesh. The phallus is much larger than the bloom itself and I’m kind of under whelmed. I take a few pictures and move along the barrier that keeps people from disturbing Waldo. As I am abeam the flower, I smell it, and dry heave. It reeks worse than anything left too long in the fridge. I don’t have anything to equate it with, but it does smell like spoiled meat… just much stronger. I smell again, this time expecting it, but still I’m overwhelmed by the sharp, sour scent.

The bloom only lasts a few days and was already withering by it’s third day of blooming, but now I can say I’ve smelled it – and it really does stink.

It appears I haven’t downloaded the pictures from my camera in weeks. Once I did, it was all the inspiration I needed for posting.

About a month ago, I went to the Seattle Aquarium. It was a Saturday afternoon, which would be a really good reason to avoid the pier area. Any day with decent weather (or not so decent) means that the piers are crowded with tourists. On this particular day, the aquarium was swarming with children. Too many children, uncontrolled by careless parents. Maybe I’m a curmudgeon, but kids wear on me very quickly. The well behaved ones are tolerable, but those left to run from display to display, yelling and being under foot — those are the ones I can’t handle.

Suffice to say, the experience was dampened by the children. Sure, it’s a learning experience for them, but only if there parents are involved in the activity and teaching them. Otherwise it’s a “let’s poke the starfish” play time.

Besides the children, the aquarium doesn’t strive to be more than it can be. Most of the species are native to the area, and the exhibits look like the beaches and tide pools on the Washington coast. The water movement imitates the ocean, which is actually pretty interesting to observe. There are also birds (some wild that have found their way inside) like puffins and shore birds. They have the sea otters, seals and sea lions that make aquariums slightly more appealing. There is also a dome tank where you are surrounded by big trout, salmon and sharks. I’ll admit I got a bit of vertigo, but it was really cool to see.

I appreciate the Seattle Aquarium for not trying to be bigger than it can. Since all of the creatures are local, and the tanks are ocean fed, you learn about your local environment, rather than sea turtles and sharks that are native to warmer waters.

I’m having writer’s block, or a lack on inspiration as of late. I’ll call it blog hiatus and be back in a few days. In the mean time, I’m going to make some toast and enjoy the rain.

Here’s a link to an interview that appeared (in a very edited version) in The Stranger. David Sedaris interview. It’s good.

As promised, here are my top 5’s:

Best album track one to end for a road trip:

• So far in 2008: Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend; mellow, indie, reminiscent of Ra Ra Riot or a less polished Band of Horses.
• Of all time: This is impossible to determine, but Highway 61 Revisited – Bob Dylan competes very well.

Top 5 songs necessary for any road trip mix tape: If we’re talking classics (especially those about road trips), I’m going to have to go with:

1. I’ve Been Everywhere by Johnny Cash (we all try to sing along)
2. La Grange by ZZ Top (that beat is too perfect for driving)
3. I Wanna Be Sedated by The Ramones (the inspiration for most road trips, wanderlust/boredom)
4. California by Led Zepplin (this song is hypnotic)
5. Fast Car by  Tracy Chapman (it doesn’t fit with the rest, but it’s just so good)

Now, more contemporary, although only five (of many) necessities (in no particular order):

• Float On by Modest Mouse
• Freedom by Jurassic 5
• West Coast by Coconut Records
• Crash by Dave Matthews Band
• Mr. Jones by Counting Crows

This was just too funny not to post. Someone needs to proofread. Click the image to see full-size.