sleepless in seattle....

but don't be mistaken by the title, i am still the party pooper i have always been, it's just that i force paulu to wake up early so that we can do as much as possible...
So far, seattle has been very good to me although considerably colder than TX and starting to realise that i should have packed a few less fancy tops and skirts and a couple more less revealing garments.... oooh well...once again, my reputation as a "badpacker" shall be confirmed...
Paul is being a fine host so far, if you can ignore the tornado that blew his house inside out and upside down..... i have met many of his friends (all of them females so far) and am forced to come to terms with the fact that paul is a fearless womaniser..... i believe he has introduced a good 50% of his friends as "my future sister-in-law" which makes me think that it must come from the jordanian side of him.... still, it's fun and they are all nice, tanned (too many of them come from hawai) and like to take photos of all of them making faces or getting dressed up... yeah i know....
as far as seattle goes, i really like it but the weather is clearly a downside in my case (not for this week of course, who cares) but if i ever was in a situation where i had to chose a US city. seattle is cool but i need more sun!!!
I spent most of the day, yesterday walking around the downtown area. i started by a walking tour from the lonely planet and that wasn't the best so i took off on my own and that was better. i walked into a couple stores, and even bought some mega-touristy shoes that will be very good for lots of walking and also if we do some hiking/strolling with christo around sydney or in tazy.... i realised that i hadn't worn comfy shoes for decades and it made such a difference yesterday, i was bouncing off the sidewalks and so now, i categorically refuse to take them off..... i do look like a bit of a dagg but they are starting to grow on me or the opposite so i like them!!!
also, i have never seen so many starbucks in my LIFE, and i mean in my whole life, if you combine all the starbucks i had ever seen before. well of course, it's a seattlite company but still, what happened to fair competition laws!!! there is no way out of it so i think i already had about 5 starbucks coffees but i only get normal boring coffee unlike people who regurlarly enjoy mocha lattes with soy milk and raspberry dripping down a whole lot of cream and chocolate bits.....
anyway, all of this to say that when a group of tourists came over to ask me where THE starbucks was, i didn't even bother answering..... or i didn't notice their white canes.......
by the time i started exploring the famous market here, paul called me (he is taking a summer class) to come and meet him before we went to "gas works park" to watch the 4th of july fireworks. we went there with his harem and had a great time, except for the incident when i thought i had dropped fro's phone in the grass, only ot discover later that i had left it at home.... the park is really awesome, it has fanstic views of the city skyline and the harbour, plus it is the site of an old gaz factory of something but i'll show photos as soon as they are devellopped and they will speak for themselves. the fireworks were amazing and i don't have photos of them so you'll just have to take my word for it....
this morning i dragged paul to see the "experience Music Project", a big blob designed by frank ghery. we didn't go into the exhbition spaces but the outside was what i wanted to see so that was fine. i'm not sure how feel about it, it seems like a bit of a waste of resources to me and the area around is a bit sad compared to downtown, plus it was grey today... we'll see if the pix turn out.....
oh and of course, France is in the FINAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!