Doodling – most addictive!

And a very convenient pastime for an urban lifestyle – cheap, highly portable, can be undertaken just about anywhere, and takes up very little space. I picked up a little sketch book and some gel pens in gold and silver and have added them to my bag that I carry all the time. You might think that I am loaded down with a humungous carry-all, but I actually carry a rather modest shoulder bag. In addition to personal items, I have iPhone, e-reader, fold-up shopping bag, 12oz travel mug, and now some art supplies. A friend of mine goes a little further. She always has origami paper and something to snack on!

The doodling has given me another option to busy myself in coffee shops. Somehow, the Protestant work ethic, also known as ” idle hands do the Devil’s work”, has seeped into coffee shop culture, even here in laid-back Seattle.

When I first moved here, I enjoyed just sitting and watching the world go by. You won’t believe what a questionable activity that is – to sit alone in a coffee shop and do nothing! Could even get you on file at Homeland security. It seems that if you’re alone, and so have no one to converse with, you are supposed to read, write, work with a laptop… something! Anything to keep your hands and eyes busy.

I used to enjoy sitting outside a place near the Alaska Junction, just watching the lights change at that intersection, and the foot traffic along California Ave. Passers-by would often stop to remark that “it must be nice to have nothing to do” – and I didn’t always feel that it was nicely meant:(

Sometimes I will just listen to something on my iPhone, and that will prompt contemptuous glances to be thrown my way – even if I am listening to one of the Yale University “Open Yale” series from iTunesU! I think people must assume I’m listening to Britney Spears.

Incidentally, one of the sneaky things I enjoy doing is to enjoy some Google Earth therapy while wearing my earpods with nothing playing into them. People at the next table assume I can’t hear them, and I suspect I hear things that I might not otherwise:)

Anyway. I now have another activity to indulge in, and reassure people that I’m totally wrapped up in my own little existence, and quite oblivious to everything around me:)

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A trade off

Last night I was at a bit of a loss for a pastime while listening to podcasts. I can’t just sit and listen. But I have completed several crochet projects lately, and am (a) almost out of yarn; (b) getting a little oversupplied in scarves, ponchos etc; and, (c) in the mood to do something else.

A few days ago I was at a friend’s house. He is a serious doodler – does huge doodled freizes in oil paints. But that gets costly, so he also doodles on a smaller scale with colored pencils and a drawing pad. The other night, he wasn’t too talkative, so I joined him in doodling – and it’s a bit addictive:)

I always have plenty of art supplies (another key part of urban bliss is to relatively inexpensive hobbies) so last night, as I listened to Car Talk, I doodled with metallic colored-pencils on black paper. An example is given below. It was fun and I decided to enjoy that for a while – but I would need another pad of paper, and that meant a a stop after work that would take me away from my usual routine.

When I got downtown, I took the next bus back to West Seattle because I wasn’t too sure how late the art store would be open. It was a little after 5pm with rush hour in full swing. Usually I go for coffee first, and allow the traffic and crowds to thin out – typically not going for a bus until at least 6pm.

The bus that came was not overly crowded. But the traffic was thick, and it was a bit of an ordeal actually getting away from downtown Seattle. That hour makes all the difference. If there’s one thing I hate more than being on a bus held up by a long, indecisive freight train, it’s being on a bus trying to make a sharp right turn at a light, and having to go through 4 traffic light cycles to make it – all the time having never been more than the second vehicle in line. That’s why I go for coffee first!!

Anyway, we eventually got away from downtown and I was able to get a drawing pad in plenty of time. But there was still the question of coffee. Where to go? Not that selection was limited – but rather that none of the options appealed to me in that the coffee is either too aggressive, or that lattes end up overly foamy or not hot enough:( That is the primary reason for my all-too-frequent patronage of Starbucks – it’s the only place I can get a latte that’s entirely liquid.

But I was surprised to see an “open” sign illuminated in a bakery I rather like (I thought they closed earlier) and decided to give it a shot. And I got a latte made just the way I like it:) It was nice sitting in there, enjoying another Arabian Nights tale, and a couple more chapters of Roughing It. During the day, this place is busy, bustling and loud. This evening, both the lights and the music were low. I’ll add it to my afterwork list:)

I had the remnants of a gorgeous sunset to enjoy as I walked home. It was dark, but the Olympic Mountains were still crowned with a thin layer of golds and reds. I reflected on the day. UPS and FedEx brought manageable loads. I got caught up with my work. And all my emails were answered promptly and to my satisfaction.

As I passed the blackberry patch that I enjoyed for several months over the summer, I spotted two berries in the dark – still hanging in there at the beginning of November…. but I left them be.

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