Sunday, December 31, 2023

Looking to the Future: 2024

 So 2023 was tumultuous of a year. I am hoping that 2024 is a smooth, calm, lucky year (it will be year of the dragon!) and that we can settle into the house, make it out own, and enjoy our community.

I feel like what needs to happen most is further growth inwards though. I have been kind of a mess lately, due to bipolar shenanigans that I don't feel like myself. I need to fix that this year, whatever it takes, whether it will be meds, meditation, routine, etc.. 

Right now I have been worrying about a lot of unnecessary things. Like being in a car crash, or getting violently ill. Stupid stuff. But things nonetheless that make my mind spin out of control. I am also irritable to the millionth degree lately. That is usually a sure sign of mania but I also feel something else, that I can't quite put my finger on. It's not sadness, it's not numbness or anger. It's an unknown emotion that I am not comfortable with because I don't know what it is or how to describe it.

I am going to write my top 5 things that I want for my 2024 year:

1. Work steadily toward making the house our own (painting, decorating, etc)

2. Keep my job at **company I work for** which means continuing to raise my performance

3. Go for more walks and exercise more in some form or another

4. Keep in touch better with family and friends

5. Be a good person


It's not that I am a bad person, I'm far from it. But, it's just that I have some work to do. I want to have more enlightenment about myself and who I am. I want to hold myself accountable for each interaction I have in some manner. I want to know my place in life, and what I stand for. 

But most of all.. the goddamn number ONE thing that I want most of all in 2024: 

STOP BEING IMPATIENT AND LAZY. Take time to do things correctly! I think that is my biggest fault.

There you have it. That's how I want my '24 to look. Can I do it? I'm certainly going to try.

Happy New Year + Have a great 2024 everyone!

Random AI Art For You.



Saturday, December 30, 2023

2023: A Year in The Rearview Mirror

What a crazy year 2023 was. 

It started out with us still living in St. Louis, working from home like usual. Then sometime around my birthday in June, I said we should start looking to buy a house. We'd been kicking around the idea a little, so it wasn't out of left field. We started the extremely frustrating and grueling task of looking for a house and securing a mortgage loan. We had no idea what to expect or how long it would take. 

On my birthday we went to the Anheuser-Busch brewery and met the Clydesdale horses and went on a tour, it was fun, and we got some free beer. For my mate's birthday, we went ice-cream hopping. She decorated our faces with face paint and we dressed all vividly, in vibrant colors and went to a bunch of different ice cream shops and tried different samples and it was a lot of fun. The face paint was a hit.

We didn't really go many places or do a bunch of stuff while in St. Louis. We did see the Indigo Girls perform with the St. Louis symphony which was really cool. We drove to Kansas City to see Patrick Hinds for his book tour and in June, went to a comedy club to see one of our favorite podcast's live show, for I Think Not. Both of these were a lot of fun.

We stayed home mostly and I enjoyed cooking with Hello Fresh. 

In September, my mate came to me and said she'd found a nice house that we should buy. It looked like a pretty nice one and was priced lower than we were looking so we had our real estate agent (who became our friend) check it out, and it was pretty great so we put in an offer. The offer was accepted and we bought the house. We moved our stuff from St. Louis to a storage in Illinois, as a half-way point between St. Louis and our new house in Indiana, and made 3 trips on various weekends. On one occasion, there was a dirty drunk fellow with no teeth who's truck slammed into the back of our Uhaul. That was an adventure. Anyway, most of our stuff was safely in Illinois. 

The stuff that wasn't, was being moved from the apartment, to the storage units below us on the first floor. In the process of moving, we discovered someone, for the third time since moving there, had broken in (or tried; this time we had amazingly difficult locks to break) and stolen everyone's things. They could only get an arm in to one of the units we had, but ended up stealing some rare books that we had in there. Jerks. St. Louis is full of assholes. The theft and subsequent apathy about it is appalling in that city.

We went to closing in late October, and moved in to the house one month later, and now here we are.

It was rather sad though because in early November, late October, our oldest cat Goose started not doing well. We had to wrap him in  a towel, feed him, bathe him, and he couldn't walk or anything, it was not good. So, on our (unfortunately) 14 year anniversary we went to the vet to say goodbye to our little furry buddy. I miss him. He was such a sweet, gentle kitty, and had a big heart. He was my mate's best pal, and she's going to put his ashes in jewelry so she can have him around everywhere she goes. 

All of that made it so that It was a crazy year because there were up and downs both in the events and also in my mood and it made things a little more difficult. And, Let me tell you, this house is IT! So glad to be free of renting, and also, it was such a pain to buy a house. I didn't realize all the steps you had to take. It was insane doing this and that to end up living in it. And we made a cool friend out of it which is great. But wow there's a lot involved!

We are still not exactly settled in, we have a lot more unpacking to do. We have to kind of wait though, because we need to paint the rooms first before we put stuff in them so it's kind of a weird limbo.

So.. 2023. It was rather tumultuous and I think it was a year of transition, definitely. I was disenchanted with St. Louis and felt like I wanted to hurry and get out of there. I'm glad I did. So this wasn't a year of opportunity, or luck, or settling into things, or anything like that. It was a year where we were meant to be in the middle of changing our lives.

If there's one thing I've learned in 2023, it is that I'm an adult, and feel grounded now that I am in our own house. I feel responsible, mature and hopeful again. 

Cheers to 2024.





Sunday, December 10, 2023

The State of Indiana: A Preliminary Review

 I have lived in many places. Six states and about a million cities/towns. I decided I'd like to write a 'review' for each state that I have lived in. Maybe it will help others decide where to go, or just entertain those who want to know more. My life, in terms of moving, has been quite an adventure. I have much to say about the 6 states I have lived in; their differences, their similarities, and everything in between. 

Indianapolis, IN


That means this last review is about Indiana which is located in the midwest. Still. Same as Missouri, only further east. The first thing I noticed about Indiana was how I had thought it was very industrial, after all it is a Rust Belt state. But it is actually mostly farmland. I was surprised. It is also super flat! I am from all over the west side of the country, where every state has mountains of some sort. So it was a little bit of a geographical shock. 

Farmland in Indiana



I am also not used to living in a smaller town. Granted there is 70k people, so it's not too small, but I'm a city/suburb gal that is used to actual metropolitan living. The town we are in has like, 40,000 churches. Ok not that much, but seems like a lot. Which leads me to notice how this is a very churchy state, so no doubt it is a red state full of Republican farmers, that even the democrat-voting populous of Indianapolis (the main large city) isn't enough to change the political landscape. Not really my cup of tea, but I've lived in Utah, so I can handle this.

The biggest problem I am encountering, is the beer in this town. They boast about 3 or 4 liquor stores, none of which have craft beer! I couldn't believe it. They have a great liquor selection, and a wonderful domestic beer selection (Bud Light, etc.) but for actual, real, good beer: None. We had to drive 45 minutes to the suburbs of Indianapolis to get our beer at Total Wine & more. We stocked up pretty big so we wouldn't have to keep going there too often to keep getting beer. I can't believe that craft beer is not really big in the town I live in. So weird. Again, I am from the west where craft is king.

Beer in Indiana



It is a cute town though, with downtown being reachable by walking further up my street OR taking a trail that goes from behind us to downtown over a creek. Either way, in just under a quarter mile you end up in downtown and there's several breweries (with their own craft beer/restaurants...at least there's that!), book store, government buildings (library anyone?), a crystal/hippy shop (love those) and lots of other cool stuff. I am seriously hoping that there are now Christmas decorations and that they will have maybe a little festival or something there. 

Downtown in the town we live in



The town is littered with creeks and parks. They have an aquatic center, as well as a pool in their YMCA so that is neat. I look forward to walking everywhere. Me and my mate have walked 10 miles around in Arizona, and 11 miles one day in St. Louis, so if we work up to it, the 10 miles of town shouldn't be too difficult. Only when the weather is nice though. Not during the winter.

I also find it strange that the northwest and southwest corners of the state are in central time, and the rest including where I am, is eastern time zone. WTF? It doesn't make sense to be in eastern time, either. The sun doesn't come up until 8am in the winter. WOW! That is bananas. I am used to a 6:30am sunrise in Washington in the winter. The state has more in common with the central time states, so it is weird to me.

Indiana license plate



So far we like it here, despite a few bumps. I will write more as life happens.

Friday, December 8, 2023

The State of Missouri: A Review

 I have lived in many places. Six states and about a million cities/towns. I decided I'd like to write a 'review' for each state that I have lived in. Maybe it will help others decide where to go, or just entertain those who want to know more. My life, in terms of moving, has been quite an adventure. I have much to say about the 6 states I have lived in; their differences, their similarities, and everything in between. That means Missouri is next! (Spoiler hint: there's a reason why they call it 'Misery' jokingly).

St. Louis, MO


So in the last entry I talked about how our jerk landlord in Arizona raised our rent immediately after COVID 25%. We said no thank you, and moved to Missouri to be close to the only work location that sounded even somewhat reasonable. 

What an absolute FUCKING NIGHTMARE moving to Missouri was. We were in a time crunch, and I went with the first movers offer that came across. I had no idea what amount would be appropriate to move from AZ to MO, so I took the $2800 offer. It turns out, I had been speaking with a broker, who didn't work for the actual moving company. The day before our utilities were to shut off, the moving company came, told us that the broker had put down "27 boxes" (we had more like 200) so the guy said it would be "thousands and thousands more". In the end, we got charged $10k, which we basically didn't even have. Then They proceeded to break our things while loading them on their truck. They left, and we had told them what date we wanted them to arrive in Missouri. When we arrived, we called the company to confirm they'd be there the next day, and the lady laughed and said they were storing our stuff in a Warehouse while they find more people moving to that region of the country, then they'd load our things up with other people's shit on a giant 18 wheel truck. What?! Why didn't you tell us that before! We had no bed, no eating utensils. No anything. We had to go to Walmart and purchase an air mattress and baby silverware to use in the meantime. The truck finally arrived 10 days later, after calling every day to get an answer as to when the truck would arrive. It was the truck driver unloading, who took about 20 minutes to back up the truck. You could tell he had COPD.And then, someone they'd hired from Craigslist who lived in his truck, took our items into the apartment. He too, sounded like he had COPD. He was friendly, but drug the furniture across the walls of the new apartment, making marks that were difficult to scrub off because the walls were only painted with matte paint, so it came off when you scrubbed.

Anyway the whole thing made us broke and gave us PTSD. It was hell dealing with those people. Shame on them. Anyway, once we got settled, we got 4 storage units on the first floor next to the lobby. We put all the yard stuff, and house stuff from Arizona in there. More to come on that later.

We enjoyed walking around St Louis (carefully and paranoid-ly) at first, and then I realized how dangerous St. Louis actually was when in late July of 2022 I awoke to automatic gunfire, and when I looked out the window, there was a freaking automatic weapons gun battle taking place between to rival parties. What the ever living fuck. After that, I thought less of St. Louis, and we took one of our mattresses off the bed to make it so the bed was no longer level with the front window - in case of gun fire that I felt could erupt at any time.

Our storage units were stolen from 3 times. Whoever was doing it broke the locks off, and the apartments never told us what they did to solve the problem. Probably nothing. They didn't even give us an update if they'd caught the person who did it.

I started to grow even more disgruntled when someone kept stealing our packages from the lobby shelf, where all the carriers put our stuff when delivering. I don't know what came of it, or if they ever caught the person. Our warranty rings (maybe I will write an entry about that sometime) made of Dinosaurs and meteors were stolen, so we had to order new ones. The car window had been busted, as someone broke in to steal something but realized we had nothing in the car, for that very reason. But we were still having to purchase a new window, and it happens so often in St Louis that Safelite was backed up for 2 weeks. 

The people were interesting. They'd say hello and hold a door open for you when you still had 30 feet to go.. but they'd rob you blind as soon as you weren't looking. Half the apartment building was made up of AirBnB units. People were always coming and going from other places and that made it kind of sketchy, too.

We did have some fun, so it wasn't ALL bad. We went to the baseball game one day (we didn't go see the actual game, but we dressed in Cardinals colors and ate out in the ballpark village which was cool. For my birthday we went to the Anheuser Busch headquarters and pet a Clydesdale horse, while learning about it all. That was pretty cool. 

Busch stadium, St Louis, MO


Delivery was always a pain, too. We lived on the second floor, so I'd have to get a bra  on and go downstairs to get our food. The order was usually always missing something. It happened nearly every single time we ordered from Taco Bell. The Under Over restaurant had amazing buffalo chicken dip that we loved, and some other good food. We had a favorite beverage place where they served alcoholic slushies, called Narwhal's Crafted which was very cool.

Narwhal's Crafted


But none of the good stuff was enough to make me want to stay in Missouri. So we decided that when we moved next, it would be our final place. We looked at over 16 cities in almost every state. We scratched all but 2 off the list, and it came down to Cincinnati or Indianapolis. We made a power point comparing the two cities in terms of saftey/crime rate, mental health care, lgbt rights, cost of living, etc. We made the move finally, and bought our house! This occurred only about less than a month ago. 


My next entry will be about my first impression of the city we chose. 

Self explanatory image

Missouri License plate




The State of Arizona: A Review

 I have lived in many places. Six states and about a million cities/towns. I decided I'd like to write a 'review' for each state that I have lived in. Maybe it will help others decide where to go, or just entertain those who want to know more. My life, in terms of moving, has been quite an adventure. I have much to say about the 6 states I have lived in; their differences, their similarities, and everything in between. So I will go from first to last. So, next we have Arizona.

Camelback Mountain, Phoenix, AZ


When we felt we were over Utah, we moved to Arizona. We ended up staying for 5 years. We had both been to Arizona before when younger, and really liked it so we thought it would be a great place to end up. We first rented a truly shitty, small, cockroach ridden apartment in Mesa, because it was cheap, and you know moving drains your wallet for a while. Later on we moved into a rental house that was pretty decent, in Tempe where the AZ State Sun Devils are.

We worked for a pharmaceutical company and then later on, for the company that handles most state and some federal run medical plans. 

We enjoyed going to Phoenix Suns basketball games (by way of light rail) and we went to several Inningsfest and Tour de Fat festivals which were a lot of fun. Right there in Tempe, at the beach (of the Salt River) There was even an arts fest, although much smaller than the one in Utah. We even saw Dave Matthews Band there at Inningsfest, in 2020 about a week before the panic broke out over COVID.

Inningsfestival, Tempe AZ

Tour de Fat, by New Belgium brewery, Tempe, AZ

Phoenix Suns @ Talking Stick Resort Arena


When the pandemic hit in Arizona it really didn't, like, hit. Not hard anyway. I don't mean that COVID19 wasn't a big deal in Arizona in the amount of cases; I mean it wasn't a big deal to the politicians and half the people that live in Arizona. We barely had a true quarantine. It was about 2 weeks long. Golf courses remained open, the Gov stating they were "essential."


Since me and my mate enjoy staying home and chillin' anyway, we discovered the expansion of delivery from Doordash, Uber, Instacart and Grubhub as well as many amazing pizza places were a welcome addition. We stayed at home for an entire year. We sat out in the yard and drank Epic stouts while listening to our fave comedian, Kathleen Madigan on her pubcast whilst eating buffalo and onion & mustard flavored Schneider's pretzel pieces. We picked oranges and made orange juice from the orange tree in the yard. It was a peaceful, comfortable time in our lives. Most people complain of being miserable during this time but not us. 

Epic Brewing's 'Big Bad Baptist' Stout beer


The governor of Arizona was a douche bag with a highly punchable face. His name was Doug Douchey Ducey, a Republican (ugh of course) who treated the pandemic like anyone who made a fuss about it was crazy. He was besties with Trump (another total piece of garbage human), and they wanted to defund education in the state, and then they wanted to build a wall at the Mexican border (like that was a be-all-end-all solution to illegal immigration? Ugh). He was the one who was insane, and we yelled at the TV every time we saw him on the news. 


Repukelican Gov Doug Ducey circa 2020

 
The state did legalize cannabis which was great. But... in January of 2022 our landlord informed us that he was raising our rent by 25% (yikes!) and we couldn't afford to live there any longer. We felt like Arizona wasn't going to be our "forever place", and it had become too expensive to live there, so we had to decide what to do and quickly. We chose Missouri next because we, at the time, were working remotely but had to be near a work location. Headquarters was in St Louis, so we weighed all the options for work centers, and that was the only one that was neutral to us. 3 weeks before we were to move, I walked into the cannabis store (yes wearing a cloth mask) and promptly contracted Omicron, and was sick for 11 days, with the 2 weeks afterward consisting of me experiencing extreme cognitive impairment. 

Tempe, AZ


The people of Arizona, in general, I found to be cold and offputting. Wait staff at resaurants were the worst. We never had good service, except the one time we were visiting before moving there. I don't miss the people. Or the weather. "But it's a dry heat." It's a dry heat that's 120ºF for F's sakes, people. It isn't pleasant, unless it's 50 in January maybe. In summer, you can only go outside for fun or gardening between 5am - 9am or else prepare to be scorched to death. 


Arizona License Plate


Of course, two months after moving to Missouri, our company changed the rules and allowed us to work anywhere. On next, to Missouri!




Monday, December 4, 2023

The State of Utah: A Review

  I have lived in many places. Six states and about a million cities/towns. I decided I'd like to write a 'review' for each state that I have lived in. Maybe it will help others decide where to go, or just entertain those who want to know more. My life, in terms of moving, has been quite an adventure. I have much to say about the 6 states I have lived in; their differences, their similarities, and everything in between. So I will go from first to last. That means next here, we have: Utah.

Ok first of all, you're asking yourself, "Utah? Where the Mormons live? Aren't you gay though?" And yes to both.

From Spokane, WA we decided to move to Utah. The reason why, is that my Mate, L, had gone and got a post-bac in Audiology at the Washington State Riverpoint campus in Spokane, and one of the closest schools for a degree in Audiology to WA was in Salt Lake City, Utah. We took a Greyhound there (for fun AND lack of funds) and ended up liking it. It was beautiful, first of all, with the city up against the Wasatch Mountain Range, which were part of the Rockies. They boasted the best skiing in the country, and overall it had a nice vibe. My job working for a pathology lab company also had a joint venture in Salt Lake City, so we worked there when we moved.

Salt Lake City, Utah


First of all, it is definitely Mormon land. The vibe in the city is so weird though. You are either a Mormon, or you are strongly anti-Mormon, and very vocal about it. Not much in between. The Temple in Salt Lake, the main and foremost place of worship and other things Mormon, is located in the middle of the city and it is beautiful. In winter, they decorate every inch of that place for Christmas - it is truly a sight to behold. Very well done. One of the best displays of Christmas lights and decorations I've ever come across. 

The Mormon temple, Salt Lake City UT


The alcohol laws, as a result of the Mormon influence, are very strict and kind of weird - for instance you couldn't buy alcohol at a restaurant unless you also ordered food. I don't even remember the others, I just remember being inconvenienced many times by the strict laws regarding my favorite beverages. But... due to the strong anti-Mormon influence, the city had some great bars and drinking establishments. The Bourbon House was one of my favorites. It was down in some basement of a building, and played hosted the best Jazz bands. The vibe was classy but down to earth, the wait staff was nice, and we had fun drinking and listening to the bands play. Gracie's was another favorite, particularly their patio which was amazing. Squatters was another favorite. 

Gracie's patio

The Bourbon House

Squatter's




We wanted to go Snowboarding at one of the many resorts near Salt Lake City, but it's not very Snowboard friendly there. Everyone is a ski snob, and most resorts did not allow Snowboarding. But we saw Brandi Carlile perform at both Deer Valley and at the Red Butte Gardens, which was a lot of fun both occasions. 

Snowbird Resort, Alta, UT


On my birthday in 2014, we decided to check out the Great Salt Lake, which obviously is a lake with salt water. It turns out, you can't swim in it due to chemicals and gross stuff, and no one boats on it. It isn't really a recreational lake. It smells like sulfur, too - rotten eggs. Gross. It also turns out, that when you seek shade in 100ºF, you probably won't find it anywhere on Antelope Island - but you will find a random, weird diner out in the middle of nowhere that sells Bison burgers. They were pretty good.

We went hiking a lot in Utah, but apparently everyone else had the same idea, because the trails were crowded which made it not as fun. We walked up to a rather Alpine type of lake once, behind a group of maybe 30 people and in front of a group of another 30 more. The lake, nestled in the mountains, was picture perfect and beautiful, but the amount of people tainted the experience somewhat.

We went to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT in 2017. We were part of the first Women's March, by accident. Chelsea Handler and Laura Dern lead the way, and L saw Laura Dern by nearly walking into her and didn't realize who it was until much later. We froze our assholes off and decided to try going inside an establishment to get warm. L put her gloves on her feet to keep them warm by the fire, where we took off all of our outwear to get it dried off from the snow. 

We went to Arts Fest, a huge outdoor arts festival in downtown Salt Lake City that was one of the best festivals I'd been to. It was huge, and had every type of art you can imagine, not to mention a huge stage where the likes of Slow Magic, a Symphony, and Beats Antique performed as the headliner (at 10pm and we had to work the next day so left after 3 songs.. boo hiss because I really like Beats Antique).

Arts Fest


The more immersed in the culture we got, the stranger it felt. The city itself, with its Mormon owned City Creek mall, and the giant Mormon Temple was juxtaposed with the artsy, craft beer feel of the city. Definitely a weird clash. SLC had a lot of neat murals, too. Overall I had fun while living there, but it began to feel too small to me. Outside of Salt Lake, you had a few smaller cities like Ogden, but nothing of note. 

SLC mural


When we first moved there, we lived in the Wasatch apartments, right across from an oil refinery. There were lots of those in and around the city, and it caused a huge inversion, especially in the winter time against those Wasatch mountains. The Republican politicians sure liked to blame car exhaust for it though. Anything to keep the oil refineries in business, right? Money money money.


Politics. It was a red state, and probably always will be due to the extremely large number of Mormons, who are right-wing extremists that do not tolerate LGBT people or any other fun stuff. The Pride Parade was a lot of fun, though, and pretty large. My favorite part of the parade was when the Mormons for Pride came out and just gave everyone hugs. Made me spark a tear or two, really.

SLC Pride


I didn't come across any discrimination being gay, except for ONE incident. I'd called ahead to the Melting Pot for me and my mate's anniversary and when our waitress found out it was our anniversary and not like a birthday or something, suddenly she was no longer our waitress, and switched with another waiter. She didn't end her shift, or anything, just suddenly was no longer helping us any longer. We knew why.

The quality of safety and lack of crime went downhill though, and we left our Wasatch apartment due to someone trying to break in to our apartment from the alley through our bedroom window - while we were home. Three different times. Meth heads were living in our parking lot, and strange people came from the mountains to use our community laundry room. So weird. So we moved into an apartment complex in a 3rd floor apartment across town, closer to our workplace, but it was a crummy layout. You couldn't put furniture anywhere. We just weren't feeling the vibe anymore so we decided to move. To Arizona! That will be the next entry.

Utah license plate


Overall, if I had a choice, I would not move to Utah or live there ever again. I would, however, LOVE to visit Bryce Canyon and Arches and Zion national parks. It looks beautiful. Also, Lake Powell that borders Arizona looks really pretty too.


Sunday, December 3, 2023

The State of Washington: A Review

 I have lived in many places. Six states and about a million cities/towns. I decided I'd like to write a 'review' for each state that I have lived in. Maybe it will help others decide where to go, or just entertain those who want to know more. My life, in terms of moving, has been quite an adventure. I have much to say about the 6 states I have lived in; their differences, their similarities, and everything in between. So I will go from first to last. This means we start with the state of Washington.

I was born in 1979 at a hospital in Tacoma, which is south of Seattle by approximately 30-ish minutes. I grew up, mostly, in Puyallup (pronounced 'Pew-All-Up'), but also the small town of Algona (which is surrounded by other towns so the small size didn't really matter, it was like one giant city in the Seattle metropolitan area). I also lived in the small, desolate central Washington mountain town of Entiat, which was quite an experience unto itself, which I won't get into. I have also lived in the northend in my 20s, in the city of Everett, as well as various other northend towns like Bothell and Lynnwood. I was a southsound gal at heart, though.

I ended my western Washington journey with living in the actual city of Seattle. That was also a whole different type of experience than living in the suburbs. After living in Seattle for 2 years, me and my mate moved together to Spokane, in eastern Washington. 

Seattle, WA


The thing I love the most about Washington is it's ecological and climate diversity. You've got the Puget Sound, encased with the Olympic Peninsula and the rest of Western Washington including Seattle, Everett, Tacoma. There are many beautiful islands in the state, one of which is one of my favorite places to go: San Juan Island - specifically the town of Friday Harbor. The beauty of the islands coupled with the fun experience of traveling to them via Washington State Ferry is always a great experience. 

the San Juan Islands, WA


I also loved going to the Gorge Amphitheater to see Dave Matthews Band. The Gorge is located in the  middle of the state, in central/eastern Washington. It is one of the most sought-after places to see music live. It is on top of a cliff overlooking the mighty Columbia River which cuts its way through the center of the state. It is beautiful, and the acoustics are great. Whenever I go to a concert there, I see license plates from New York, New Jersey, Florida, Michigan, North Dakota, Texas -- just everywhere. Everyone wants to see a show there. 

The Gorge Amphitheater, in George, Washington

In the Cascade Mountains of central Washington, which separates western Washington from eastern Washington, there is a small but amazing town called Leavenworth, which is a Bavarian village. It boasts actual Bavarian architecture and shops (shoppes). There's a gazebo in the park in town that plays traditional German polka music, and the Icicle River is behind the town. My favorite shop in Leavenworth is A Matter of Taste, where you can sample mustards, jams, and hot sauces with pretzels and other goodies. They also sell honey too I believe, as well as other gifts. I only went to that establishment pre-Covid: Even though you're not supposed to double dip, I am sure people do, so it probably isn't very sanitary to do that now, who knows. We planned on taking a trip to Leavenworth in December of 2013 to go dog sledding, but ended up not going - I can't remember why. 

Leavenworth, WA


Western Washington, including the Olympic Peninsula (which boats the Hoh Rainforest and Olympic Mountain Range) is temperate, with large green Evergreen trees surrounding literally everything. A friend came to visit from California once and remarked that being in Western Washington made her feel like she was camping. It is only a 3 hour drive from the Seattle area to the Canadian border, where I spent my weekends, every weekend, for a year. You can even take the international ferry from Anacortes, WA which is located on Fidalgo Island, to Victoria, British Columbia. I went camping every birthday for about 5 years in a row on Mt. Rainier (Tahoma) which was beautiful and a lot of fun. I never did get to traverse the Wonderland Trail which goes all the way around the mountain, though. Always wanted to.

Mt. Rainier, WA


Central Washington is the 'gateway' that gently slides into the brush steppe desert of eastern Washington. Instead of the traditional Evergreen, the central part of the state boasts a lot of pine trees. As you go further east from there, you encounter the desert which doesn't have that many trees (of course). Once you pass over the Columbia Gorge, you are pretty much in farmland, with looming apple orchards, peaches, pears, and other fruit and vegetables although, not as expansive as the apples. You pass by little tiny towns on the freeway on the way to something bigger. Spokane is at the edge of the eastern part of the state, bordering on Idaho. That brings me to culture.


Western Washington, particularly Seattle, is actually pretty pretentious. I will probably get a lot of hate for that, but it is very true. Once while walking down the street in the Capital Hill neighborhood where I lived, I threw a plastic bottle in the trash, and some pedestrian passerby yelled at me, and told me to hold it until I could recycle it. Seattle prides itself on being very "green", climate friendly, and ecologically responsible. To the point where if you're in the city, instead of seeing PE trucks (Penis Extender trucks like a giant Doge Ram or Ford F150 etc.), you will see a lot of bicycles, scooters, and those little electric tiny egg-like smart cars. As soon as I moved away, they got a light rail to join with the Sounder train. I was so upset about it. Why couldn't they have had a light rail system while I actually lived there and needed it? Would've been nice. Speaking of Sounder - they finally got an MLS (Major League Soccer, for anyone else in the world) team in 2009. It was exciting. I was an instant fan of the Seattle Sounders, and went to a few matches in 2009 and 2010. They've won a championship, maybe two, since I left. I am also still a big Seahawks football (American) fan - you can take the girl away from the Seahawks, but you can't take the Seahawks away from the girl. We used to have a men's NBA (National Basketball Association) team, too, called the Seattle Supersonics, or Sonics for short. They wanted a new venue, or to completely renovate the Key Arena where they played, and the city said "Nope" so they left and went to.. uh, Oklahoma. Is that a place? Oh well, at least they have the Seattle Storm, the women's WNBA team that is usually, in most seasons, on fire, and big champions. 

Lumen Field, Seattle, WA (used to be CenturyLink Stadium)


Spokane was a different vibe. No real sports teams to speak of except for Gonzaga University's men's basketball team which always made it to the semi-finals of the NCAA championships but never won. It was very outdoorsy in the hunting and fishing sense. Big PE trucks, rednecks, and trailer trash (in some areas). Also very conservative, and don't care if you throw plastic in the trash. It is still in Washington, though, so as much as it fancies itself part of Idaho, it actually is a lot more liberal than it realizes, which is why it wasn't difficult to live there as a LGBT person. I liked living there a lot. A half hour drive took you to Green Bluff, which is a conglomerate of farms that banded together to create their own little business ecosystem. You pick up a map of all the farms, and drive from one to the other, each with their own U-Pick farms and holiday festivals. It was enchanting. You're also only a 3 hour drive to Montana, or Walla Walla, WA which is a cool wine country town that has 120 wineries. We took a few trips out there and went wine tasting. I still think Walla Walla wine is better tasting than Napa Valley, California wine but shhh, don't tell that to anyone from California, they would get so mad. 


Spokane, WA

Walla Walla, WA



 The state is divided in this way politically. The majority of the geographical Washington is red, right-wing and Republican. But the majority of people live in western Washington, where they are blue, left-wing and Democrat. So it is thus, a blue state, meaning it is more liberal and progressive overall. Which I liked. They were the first state, along with Colorado at the same time, to legalize recreational cannabis use. This was of course, only two years before I moved to Utah, which.. wow. Very conservative in most areas. That's a whole different blog entry... coming up next! 

Washington license plate


Overall, I would say that if I had enough money to still be living in Washington (it has gotten way too expensive now with most houses on the market going for 700k or more) I probably would. Either that or Colorado. But I do miss my family, which is all located in Washington. It is a great state - if you can afford it.

2023 Top Chill Albums

Top 10 Chill Albums of 2023

Get ready to groove, because here comes the much-anticipated countdown of the top 10 psychill/chill/psybass albums of 2023! This year was an absolute arctic blast for chill music – a real treat for our ears. We've got tunes that are diverse, soul-stirring, and a whole lot of fun, all wrapped up with some seriously awesome production quality (and believe me, I listened to a ton!). So, without further ado, let's dive into the beats!



10. Klaada - The Remixes: A treasure trove of remixes by various artists, and it's got quite the variety. From psybass vibes to Middle Eastern flavors and a hint of dub, this one's a real gem. 




9. One Arc Degree - The Forest and the Milky Way: It's like taking a chill pill while watching the galaxy whirl by. There's a nice blend of ambient and groovy beats here, creating a mesmerizing experience. 




8. Perpetual Loop - SoloChillinInTheBackGardenOfMyMind: Chillgressive with a touch of ambient magic. Dreamy melodies and engaging synths make this a delight! 




7. Spoq - First Contact: This one's psychill with a focus on heavier beats and bass, creating a symphony of pleasure for your ears. 




6. Sundial Aeon - Regenesis: Get ready for deep and immersive sounds. It's a blend of ambient with a psychedelic melody and quick-paced beats. Complex and layered, deserving of a respectable 6th place.



5. Carbon Based Lifeforms - Seeker: If you're into chilled goodness, this one's a treat. It's like a nostalgic trip to the old-school sounds of CBL or Solar Fields. Intricate melodies make it an easy star!




4. Kayla Scintilla - Mumijo: This one's an awesome sonic journey with organic drumming and thick psybass. It's like a whirlwind of loops, synths, and organic instruments that'll take you to another dimension. 




3. Astronaut Ape - Openness: This one's a bit like a slow-burning campfire that grows warmer with each listen. It might not instantly grab you, but it's got those familiar vibes reminiscent of the 2016 album "Unknown Sector." Think lush soundscapes, groovy beats, and other sonic goodies. 




2. Phutureprimative - Mind’s Eye: Chunky basslines, dreamy melodies, and a dash of moodiness make this one a tasty treat. 



and..#1 is:


1. Auratech - Eternity: Delve into deeper psychill, bordering on psybass, with trippy and captivating sounds. Definitely worth a #1 placement. 




Redgloam Revisited

I started fiddling with making music on the computer in 2000. I called myself "Redgloam" and I had a lot of songs up on acidplanet...