— छह हज़ार तिरानवे —
On Friday Shobhit and I did a new thing, albeit very much an extension of the First Thursday Art Walk in Pioneer Square: when we had stopped in at
N°85 gallery, they told us the artist
being featured there this month,
Kathryn Bilharz Gabriel, would be there in person for an artist's talk on the 18th. So, we signed up for it.
I really expected a much more packed event, but aside from the artist, her family (a husband and two preteen or teen daughters), and two staff from the gallery—that alone made six people—I would guess Shobhit and I were among six people who actually showed up. I want to say one of the women from the gallery said this was their first artist showcase like this at the gallery, so maybe future ones will have more? I don't know. Nor do I know if this was just normal for this sort of event. No one there gave any indication of any kind of disappointment in the turnout, though I certainly wondered how much would have been invested in shipping all the art (not in frames, but still) from Upstate New York, and whether the gallery sprung for the family's plane tickets or if they flew themselves out. Either way, the paintings and drawings are quite expensive, so I suppose if she sells even one or two then any investment might be worth it.
None of the pieces were marked as having been sold, but they are very cool, and it was even cooler to hear the artist herself talk about her process and what things from her life and background are referenced in them. The pieces are very abstract, with flowing lines integrated into very angular sections that look like diagrams of a sort, very much integrating her family lineage of engineers. I was really glad we went, as it was super interesting. Of course we didn't buy any of the art, so we just added to the small number in attendance and drank some of their sparkling wine.
When the artist was done with her talk, which was very informal, Shobhit and I were the only ones who asked any questions—Shobhit by far the most. Shobhit asks a lot of questions that kind of reveal his ignorance of the process of making art, but that's not a bad thing. As with any subject, the more questions you ask, the more you'll learn.
— छह हज़ार तिरानवे —
— छह हज़ार तिरानवे —
Shobhit had his play rehearsals from 1:00 to 5:00 both Saturday and Sunday, and I spent even more time than that on Saturday hanging out with Tracy. She suggested we get lunch at this vegan takeout place called
Quickie Too, and then eat at Own Beach at Point Defiance Park. I was down with that, and I caught the #594 bus down at 9th and Stewart in Seattle at 11:41, and was at the Commerce Street Station in downtown Tacoma at 12:45. Tracy picked me up there.
That takout place won't accept online orders until their operating hours have started at noon, and their website notes that it will take about an hour to prepare, "and often sooner." Maybe they get a rush of orders at noon or something, because I got my order confirmation at 12:06, and then the order was ready for pickup at 1:13. And we got to the restaurant at maybe ten till 1:00; we stood at the window and after a while a lady came, and when Tracy said, "I haven't gotten another email yet—" the lady said, "Because it's not ready?" She wasn't a bitch about it, I should stress.
The website makes it look like it's just run by these two Black women. They have tables and chairs inside but the door is closed with a sign saying they are takeout only. I can only surmise that they are still easing in and probably are not yet ready to hire the added staff they would need if they opened the dining area. Who knows? We finally got our food, and then drove to Owen Beach, which was a roughly 20-minute drive—a bit too long, as it turned out: I had a burger and Tracy had a club sandwich; we both got fries, and all of it was pretty cold by the time we actually sat down at a table to eat.
It was still good, though. I just have a feeling I'd have liked it a lot better had I been able to eat it while it was still warm. That said, both my burger and Tracy's sandwich were huge, easily fell apart, and made for pretty messy eating. Also, the fries are on the menu as "spicy fries" and they aren't spicy at all. They're very well seasoned and flavorful, but not spicy. I was fine with it, but someone like Shobhit would have been very disappointed.
Once we were done eating, Tracy and I walked along the shore from Owen Beach down to the Point Defiance Marina, a bit past Anthony's Restaurant and back—we barley stopped short of the "Shoots & Ladders" that I went down when she and I hung out on Dune Peninsula, which was right across a bit of water from where we walked to Saturday,
back in April. We even went into the Boat House Bait & Tackle Shop, which doubles as a gift shop, where I bought myself a hot chocolate, and
my new favorite sticker. Four dollars is way too much for a little sticker, but whatever; I really wanted it. It's a fantastic mashup of two things I love: the Pacific Northwest and the movie
Jaws. I brought it to work today and put it on my laptop, alongside many other stickers that are now on it.
We walked back again, and then sat on logs for a while as the day turned from cloudy with a bit of fog on the water to quite nice and sunny. We saw a seal swim by. I saw a hunky shirtless guy walk by carrying a boat. We saw two women in strange hats actually get in the water and swim, which was bonkers. Another woman wearing a lot of gear carried a scuba diving propeller out of the water. There was a lot going on. I haven't even mentioned the two different anniversary special event gatherings happening there.
According to the time stamps on my photos, we were there about three hours. Then Tracy drove me back to the bus stop, where I barely missed the northbound bus so had to wait another 20 minutes, which we killed by going into her friend's local store of vintage furniture and knick knacks. I always forget the woman's name, but I really clocked this time how she talks in a very similar way to Tracy. I wondered: do all of her friends talk like this? Maybe it's a Puyallup thing.
— छह हज़ार तिरानवे —
The rest of my weekend has been mostly catching up on TV, and yesterday while Shobhit was at rehearsal I took myself to see
Resident Evil, which, to me, really did not live up to the hype, and certainly not to the standards set by Sach Cregger's previous films. Lots of people disagree with me and that's fine. It was still plenty entertaining and gave me something to do that was not a waste of time.
— छह हज़ार तिरानवे —
[posted 12:33pm]
