Chez Blogazar: Living Room - One Week After Moving In

So I went to IKEA intending to buy a KARLSTAD sofa at full price, but managed to find one in the as-is section for half the price. On top of that - The IKEA mobile coupon of the day way 20% off as-is couches. Suh-weeet.

This good fortune allowed me the luxury of buying a TV stand for my too small TV. I was planning on getting something cheap like this or this. Once again the IKEA gods smiled down on me and I found this new series that coordinated well with my existing bookshelf. I can't find the series online and I threw the box away so I have no idea what it is called. All I remember is it was featured in the living room furniture section and it said new... and it was cheap at only $70 for the tv stand. The best part of the whole deal is that it has square chrome metal framing and heavy glass.... just like the bookshelf I got from the dead guy downstairs. Score!

Next steps for the living room:
1: No more IKEA.
2: A large area rug for the middle of the room. Something in a dark brown perhaps. I know brown seems boring but I gravitate towards white or brown and I am already heavy on the white. A brown rug would anchor the room nicely.
3: A larger TV.
4: Large white frames with blown up photos from my trips to NYC and Mexico City. The white frames are typical of me, but the photos are colorful and will add a nice touch to the room. I will move the large photo of the guy in the chair elsewhere and place the white frames down the entire wall in a straight line. Get it?
5: An armchair to replace my S chair. I love that chair but I need something more comfortable. I would love a chair like the one that guy is sitting in in the large picture on the wall... I don't think a leather armchair is in my budget. We'll see what I come up with.

Stay tuned.
-Blogazar

Roanoke Park Place Tavern - My New Favorite Place on Hump Day

$1 PBR. Amazing Nachos. Cheap tacos. Sold. Aqui.

Seeing Seattle: Today, Downtown - After The Gym

Song of the Day: The Sea

I picked up Corinne Bailey Rae's new CD, The Sea today. I have been wanting it for some time now but had not had not had a chance to buy it. Until I saw it today... at Starbucks. Yes, Starbucks. I bought a CD at Starbucks! It felt weird to say "A grande americano, and this CD". What has the world come to?!

In any case - the album is amazing. I played it for the rest of the day at the office and now I can't stop listening to the title track - The Sea.

Sadly Corinne Bailey Rae lost her husband in 2008. You can definitely feel her loss in the album. It's lovely, calm and a bit sad.

"The sea, the majestic sea, breaks everything, crushes everything, cleans everything, takes everything from me"

Makes me think of Ocean Shores in the fall.

"The sea, the majestic sea, breaks everything, crushes everything, cleans everything, takes everything from me"

Chez Blogazar: Day One

I inherited the desk below from someone who died in the building right before I moved in. His family did not care for the furniture so I nabbed it. I will refinish the desk. I'm thinking painting the drawers some color and white or chrome for the metal legs. Its pretty dingy right now, but the bones are excellent.

Before:

After: Still definitely a work in progess.

The dining room (below) has a pass-through to the kitchen. It is currently moving central. I am not sure what I will do about a table and chairs. I am kind of over this table but I don't know what I want to replace it. Not stressing about it though. I will know my new table, when I see it.

The kitchen was one of the first things I had to set up. I already cooked a meal in it :)

Stack of dishes I have to wash. The newspaper got black smudges all over them.

The bedroom is going to be only for my bed and clothes. So far I am right on track. Not sure what to do with the big wall behind the bed. I might paint it. The colors in there are very neutral so I will likely go with the same theme on the wall.

Hallway - I didn't know where to put this stuff so it makes sense here, for now.

Okay, so for the bathroom I was trying to choose a shower curtain at Target yesterday and I was about to decide between this, this and this one. All very typical choices - hotel-style, masculine, safe stripes. Then I turned around to what seemed to be the kids bathroom section and found this beauty below. I think it has a certain mid century flair and its fun. I decided I would move away from a hotel-style bathroom and have something more mid century, but playful. I think its perfect.

(Below) Trite but I love it: My Keep Calm and Carry on poster needs a home. Bathroom? Hallway? Hmmm.

Soon I will have a couch to go with this coffee table. Soon, I will also refinish this table.
I am thinking the KARLSTAD sofa from IKEA, in white.

(Below) Another BEAUTIFUL piece I inherited from the dead gentlemen downstairs. Thank you for your great taste, and may you rest in peace.

Goodbye Last Year, Goodbye.

Dear Last Year,

I can't think of a more bittersweet and terrible year. March-December, you really gave it to me. January 2010 was good, February okay. Tonight is my last night in the dumpy studio I moved into in May in order to not spend so much on rent and get back on my feet. I guess that getting on my feet has happened because I am moving out.

As I was packing everything today I was forced to sort through my life as it has been for the last year. I used to be the kind of person that organized everything. I knew what was in my drawers and what was on my shelves. For the last year that changed and I have just been putting things down, shoving them in drawers, forgetting they were there. Until today. I spent the last 6 hours sorting through every piece of paper, file, envelope, legal document, notes I wrote to myself when I was sad, dead flowers that I forgot were there, cards, notes about things that don't exist anymore, concert ticket stubs, boarding passes and so on and so on.

I threw a lot away and I put a few things in a small box and pressed a flower into a book. I don't think I will look in that box or open that book for years, now that I know what is in them.

I am beyond excited about my new apartment. Its spacious, with a balcony and its near my favorite part of Broadway. I have lived in the Pike/Pine corridor since I moved to Seattle and am ready to move on. Along with my excitement to finally close the door on the last year I am sad to let you go. You (Last Year), made me be tough when I did not want to be. You made me love when I did not think I could. You taught me to make the best of it. More importantly you taught me about what I never want to experience again and I will do everything I can to not have another year like you.

Thanks for nothing and for everything,
Blogazar.

Moving Weekend!!!

I have lived in dorms, shared apartments with more than one person or lived in studio apartments alone. This is my first one bedroom apartment! I am beyond excited to have more space and the simple reality of having my bed separate from my living area. I feel like a grown boy.

I am moving in tomorrow. Get ready for lots of photos and decorating updates. Blogazar is back to its roots.

Oh, and I am still on Capitol Hill.

photos from original Craigslist ad

Blogazar Believes?: An Exploration of Spirituality in Seattle

I don't believe in anything. I am not saying that to get a reaction out of anyone or to brag about how I am free of religious and spiritual attachments. I say it because it is true. I can't bring myself to believe in anything. That may change someday and this blog post might be the first step in what I am assuming will be a long process.

A little background on me: I grew up Catholic. Whatever that means. My family is far from traditional and my folks just never forced religion down our throats. I was baptized,went to catechisim and had a first holy communion. That was the extent of my Catholicism. In high school I went to Lutheran church with a friend who I thought was pretty and cool. I am not sure if that is why I went, but I cant think of any other reason.

Despite not having a super solid religious upbringing, I did pray a lot. I used to talk to God in my head all the time (Yes, I capitalize God - never kicked that habit). I used to pray to God for strength. When things did not turn out in my favor I used to tell myself that it was God's way of teaching me about myself. I remember even saying a little prayer anytime I would hop on the freeway back in Arizona. That all sounds silly to me now.

Somewhere around 2004, when I became more and more interested in what was going on around the world I started to see that religion was at the core of most conflicts. Meanwhile my growing frustration with my need to talk to this imaginary friend of mine led me to just stop speaking to him. From that day onward I am the only person who I have to answer to. Me me me. It has worked. Lightning did not come crashing down on me and I survived some pretty troubling times.

That brings us to now.

But first- Last year I went through a pretty terrible experience and definitely hit what was perhaps the lowest most desperate moment of my life (so far). Even thought I was desperate for some sort of comfort I could not bring myself to talk to God. At this point I don't believe there is anyone on the other end of my prayers.

Ok. Back to the present. Life is good. Things seem to be falling into place in a way that I am pleased with. I have worked my butt off to get to where I am but now I am beginning to wonder if I am missing out on something. I was thinking the other day about how I really don't believe in anything. Its not like I think God is out there and I am just not speaking to him. I don't think he is out there. There are no clear reasons why or why not. This is just the way I feel. I feel nothing when I think of spirituality or God. Nothing.

I could just leave it alone and carry on as I have been. In fact, that is probably what I should do. Instead I am choosing to explore spirituality and see if there is room for it in my life. More importantly, if I can buy into it.

I meet people all the time who are not religious, but are spiritual. Maybe a cop out, maybe not. I have met Gay men who go to church on Sunday. Church. Gay. Church. Weird. These people are not idiots, in fact they are among some of the brightest and most stable people I know. They at least do a good job of fooling this guy.

My goal is to explore spirituality here in Seattle, specifically on Capitol Hill - and blog about it here. I have some research to do about what is available. Please send me any suggestions you might have. This could be anything from discussion groups, churches with "all are welcome" signs outside, lesbian minister joints, websites, buddhisty things, indiany ideas... anything without a uniform or confessional.

I don't know how long this journey will last but hopefully I will figure out a thing or two about myself. At the very least I might have actual reasons why I don't believe in anything. Or, I might find Jesus, be saved, born again or end up in a temple with a shaved head. Who knows.

Any ideas? suggestions? thoughts?

Bike-azar: My First STP Training Ride