A Very Busy Bite

 Pictured above: Kalua Pork Rice Bowl with Cabbage and Cilantro Lime Sauce (Good Vibes Concessions), Fried Shrimp Skewer (Potato Hut), Lobster & Crab Umami Cheese Fries (Unami Cheesy Bomb), Hush Puppies (True Cajun), Ice Cream Sandwich (Snoqualmie Ice Cream)

Hey friends, it has been awhile, I know.  For several years I have reviewed The Bite of Seattle. Covid hit, so they didn't have this event for a few years. It came back last year, and my dad and I were so excited until we found out we were going to have to download an app in order to order and pay for our food. It didn't even sound like The Alley (which is the main reason we have been going all these years) was going to be there. It also sounded like there were upgrades for the entertainment if you wanted to pay extra. It just didn't sound like what we thought of as The Bite of Seattle that we had come to know and love. So, we did our own version of Bite of Seattle last year. There were a couple of really interesting foods we really wanted to try advertised for 2023, so we actually took ourselves to two different restaraunts and ordered those things instead of heading down to the busy Seattle Center that year. It actually worked out pretty nice.

Anyway, since they did away with the cashless app only thing this year, and they advertised The Alley coming back, we decided to give it another go. Unfortunately, my dad now has some health restrictions, so we were not able to stay as long as I would have liked, and I missed out on some photo opportunities I would have liked to have shared with you. Anyway, I know the event is almost over for this year, but here is my review.

The first thing that happened once we got to Seattle was that our normal parking garage was completely full. That actually turned out to be okay, because we found another parking garage that worked better for our needs this year. We arrived hungry, and were anxious to find The Alley.  There did not appear to be any sort of paper maps around, so I tried to find a map online. That map was usless, as it was too small, and when you tried to make it bigger, to see the letters, it just got blurry. Useless.

I went to the first area I thought it could be. Hmm. It wasn't there. We went almost clear over to the other side of the event.... not where it used to be.... only to find the first area was about right, but we were standing just above it.

Usually The Alley has a long line. The rest of the vendors had long lines, it was overly crowded everywhere else.  More crowded then we ever remember it being. At The Alley, this year, it was the first time we saw that there was absolutely no line at all. We paid for our food, and it was efficiently loaded onto a plate. An ice cream cookie was handed to us in addition to the plate full of food.

As soon as we exited The Alley, we had a bit of trouble finding a place to sit. There only appeared to be one long table towards the beginning, that already was full of people. We wound up sitting next to some steps on some terraced concrete in the blazing sun.

It was pretty warm out, so I decided the first thing I should try was the Ice Cream Sandwich (Snoqualmie Ice Cream). It was solid as a rock, which was a great idea, because it gave me time to enjoy the rest of my food first. What I tried of the cookie at that point, was really good.

The next thing I tried was the Kalua Pork Rice Bowl with Cabbage and Cilantro Lime Sauce (Good Vibes Concessions). I really liked that. Especially with the Cilantro Lime Sauce. There was a good portion of it, so it was quite filling.

The next three items were fine. However, I felt they all tasted way too similar to each other. All deep fried, most likely in the same vat of oil, and kind of ... bland?

The Shrimp Skewer (Potato Hut) was cooked nice, not to much or too little. On it's own, I think it would have done well.

The Hush Puppies (True Cajun) were all right, too. I dipped them in some spicy sauce that I don't remember if it was for them or the Shrimp Skewer, but they went well with it.

The Lobster & Crab Umami Cheese Fries were probably the biggest disappointment. The cheese had been melted, then solidified into a big clump, making the fries difficult to separate and eat. I could not really even taste the crab or lobster meat. It wound up being very messy.

My main thought was, "this all tastes the same!" Except for the rice dish and the ice cream cookie sandwich, which wound up being my two favorite things, especially the cookie.

One thing I did notice about the advertising of the Ice Cream Sandwich was there were two options (we only had one option) one being a Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie with Vanilla Ice Cream, the other being a Cranberry Cookie with Mountain Berry Ice Cream. Ours was definitely a chocolate chip cookie with Mountain Berry Ice Cream, and it had chocolate sprinkled on the outside. It was incredibly good, but I found it odd it wasn't exactly what appeared as advertised. 

In past years, we had found The Alley to be an exceptional experience. It started with John Hintenberger, a food critic, who had access to several fancy restaraunts willing to donate some of their best dishes to taste. Then, a couple of different chefs were in charge after that (Kathy Casey and Tom Douglas).  This year, I believe that a few vendors from the rest of The Bite were picked, and it just didn't work as well this year. We did leave the The Alley with our bellies full, but I am not sure we were all that satisfied. 

Bummed About the Bite, but It's Okay

Fancy Fork Model

Last year was a pretty good year for me.  So, I was not exactly looking forward to 2020, like some people were.  Some of my friend's 2019 years did not go so well, so I had hoped maybe this year would help them. I think some have benefited somewhat from this outbreak, while others have not.

Earlier this year, before COVID-19, I was already getting excited about my yearly tradition of The Bite of Seattle. I was so busy at work, that I wondered if I should take the Friday of the first day of the Bite off, to go that day. I was planning ahead. When I was sent home from work, because of the outbreak, we thought it would only be two weeks.  I thought, "This is great! I have so much I need to get done, and this will give me the opportunity to do everything I have been wanting to do, but never had the time to do it....and we will be back before The Bite of Seattle even starts!" Silly me. I have got some of the things on my list done, but everything?  Who was I kidding? As the weeks turned into months, my excitement over my yearly tradition was fading.

Unwinding by the Pool

For the first time in 38 years, The Bite of Seattle had to cancel. It is no surprise. I do not blame them - it is what needed to be done at this time. They even tried to move it to August, but unfortunately, that is not going to work either. Bummer. I feel bad the restaurants, and their employees. The musicians who lost gigs there.  The people who benefited from the charitable contributions.

Barbeque with Bees

Despite that, I am making the most of my time, though. I have learned some new recipes.  Learned some tricks that do not set my fire alarm off every time I try to cook things, and also realized I can press a reset button to temporarily disarm it for a few minutes, if something does make it go off for a minor reason. Obviously, if I had a real concern, I would not press that button.

Cooking Pancakes

Today, I found out it is National Ice Cream Day.  I was going to make cookies earlier today, but as I was gathering the ingredients, I realized I do not have everything I need.  Plus, it is too hot today to cook cookies, anyway.  I do have some ice cream, so I think I will have some of that for dessert.

It won't be this fancy.

It looks like The Bellevue Arts Festival, that would have been next week,  is also cancelled this year.  That is okay, too.  I need to save my money this year. Plus, there are so many tempting bargains on the Internet as it is. Instagram has many artists you can view and support, as well, if you wish.

I continue to draw every single day, myself. It is very therapeutic, and it keeps my mind off of some of the more bothersome news of the world. Other times, it inspires my work. I am not currently selling my work, but you can go to my Instagram to look at it, if you wish.

Fashion 2020

This time has allowed me to be thankful for the things I do have.  I still am able to buy food, even if I cannot always get the food I want. I am able to cook. I have shelter. I have family and friends that care about me. As far as I know I am currently healthy. Right now, those are the most important things.  I hope you are able to have those things, too.

Want to see more of my art?  Go to justanotherplainjane on Instagram to see more.

Finding Happiness Through Hobbies

Hey guys, I know it has been a long time since I have written on here, and I was actually surprised to see a comment on one of my blogs recently.  I have been meaning to write, but have been keeping myself busy with other projects.

I thought this plant was done for this year, but it proved me wrong!

A couple of years ago I got out of the driving department, which was a very good change for me.  My new supervisor was great. So, I was sad when, after a year, he quit, as well as our General Manager.  I managed to stay. It took about 9 months before we got a new supervisor, which kept me very busy at my place of work. Eventually, we added some more people, but I was still working tons of overtime hours. I do like the new supervisor, though, which is good. Unfortunately, because of COVID-19, none of us, have not been able to work for about a month now.

I still have my other hobbies, though. Whether I am working at my regular job or not.  I have actively done Inktober for 2 years in a row, now. For those who don't know, Inktober is a worldwide individual challenge inspired by prompts put out by Jake Parker.  He created it to get better at his inking skills.  I tried 3 years ago, just doodling from a few of the prompts, but never posting.  Then, two years ago, I committed to do the whole thing, no matter how bad my art looked.  Last year, I even bought a sketchbook, some new pens, and an official shirt, to motivate myself.  My cousin even sent me a fountain pen for my birthday, to motivate me as well.  She participated with me, but did not post her drawings.  She did show me, her artwork, however.  It was fun!

I did buy new art supplies, but I actually only used half of the ones shown here (last year).  The other half, I used the year before. Shown:  Official Inktober shirt, pencil, India ink, ballpoint pen, Sharpie, eraser, and sketchbook (I didn't use the India Ink for either Inktober... maybe next year?).

Two years ago, I had some vacation time to do my drawings, and they were pretty easy, and went quickly. Last year, everything I thought of took a little more planning and work. When the list was put out in September, I did some pre-sketches, so I would not forget those ideas.  All the inking, however, I waited till the day of. It was definitely challenging, especially with as many hours as I was putting in at work, but I felt it was worth it.

This was my pencil sketch of "Legend" Daryl Hall.  I debated whether I should ink this one or not.  I should have not.  At least I took a photo, first.  I still need practice on drawing people.

November came.  I noticed one of my favorite cartoonists, Michael Jantze was having a challenge in drawing characters from his comic strip The Norm.  He called it "Normvember."  I came up with some ideas, and drew them up.  He really liked them.  In fact, he sent me some hand-drawn post-its of his own work, which was very cool. It was fun.

My mashup version of The Norm and Doctor Who for Normvember.

A cute little gift my sister brought me from Japan on her last visit here.

My sister and her family visited from Japan back in August of last year.  She ordered herself an iPad, and told me about a drawing program called "Procreate." It looked pretty awesome.  Last December, I received an iPad as well, for Christmas, and downloaded Procreate. It is very much like Photoshop to me, so I learned it very quickly, and am still learning new things about it.  I have drawn on it every day since.  I get ideas from prompt lists on Instagram.  There are so many talented artists on Instagram! One of my favorite musicians, Alex Band even started following me.  That was exciting.  Just recently, I participated in a challenge called #6fanarts.  I had friends tell me who to draw for most of them, but I decided to choose to draw Alex Band for my first slot.  I was so happy that he, and many of his fans, liked it!

My stylized version of Alex Band for the #6fanarts challenge.

Another hobby that I have been doing is reading a ton of books.  3 years ago, I started doing a 50 book reading challenge, that one of my friends started.  She uses a list from the Idaho Falls Public Reading Library.  They give a list of 50 categories, and you get to choose a book from each category.  It really expands the type of books you read.  I read categories I would not normally pick, but I found out there are so many categories I like.  After each year of reading, we meet at her house for a party, that usually involves good food, and a white elephant book exchange, games, and prizes.  The first year, I managed to read all 50 books, in each category.  Last year, there was an option of three different tiers.  I chose the lowest, the 25 books.  Thank goodness I did.  There was no way I was going to get through 50 books last year.  This year, there was no other option, so I am trying to do 50 books again.  Hopefully, with this isolation period we are in, I can catch up, and make it.

Lots of books to read, so little time, well, maybe not now.

A current thing, that I am proud of, is, I have managed to keep two of my plants alive for several years now.  They only seem to like the light from my bedroom window, so it really limits the plants I can have, I guess.  I have a geranium that bloomed twice.  Not many blooms the second time, but I was surprised, because I heard they do not bloom more than once.  The impatiens, I thought were done for, and I wound up trimming them back so much, they looked ridiculous.  Then, last year, they filled out, and had a ton of blooms throughout the season.  I was thrilled!

More blossoms!

I am also enjoying cooking again, even if it is on limited ingredients, because I have only been to the store once since this whole isolation period started. When I did finally go to the store, I forgot to get some things!  Oh well!  I am finding things in my house I forget I had, or realized I haven't used.  I am now putting them to use. Making me glad I purchased them in the first place.

Through all this, I have had my good days and bad days. I feel grateful that I have time to do things I like, and also get things done that I did not have much time for.  I worry sometimes how long this will last. Will my job really be there when this is over?

This was a doodle for "Wind," but it feels appropriate for these uncertain times.

The worst news so far, was hearing that one of my favorite YouTubers took his own life.  In his last video, he admitted to being bi-polar.  It would sometimes take a long time for him to post a new video, but I didn't mind, it always made me happy when he did.  I did not know him personally, and I never made any comments on his YouTube account.  I did wonder earlier in the week he died, how he was doing, personally. I wondered if this isolation period was hard on him.  He hadn't posted any videos for awhile, and I just figured once we got through this, he would post one.  I was devastated when I heard the news. He did the videos called "Talking Kitty Cat." It was videos of him, of his cats and dog.  The main star, being a cat, named Sylvester.  Sylvester's character was a foul mouthed, selfish cat, but you couldn't help but love him, anyway. Steve Cash was humorous in how he brought new life into his pets.  He also sang sometimes. One catchy tune is called, "What the Kitty Doesn't Like."  He had a really nice voice.  I am really going to miss Steve Cash, and his awesome videos.

Unrelated, a day or so after, Alex Band went live on Instagram. He talked to fans, brought out his son, talked a little bit about fatherhood, and sang two of my favorite songs of his, "Anything" and "Euphoria."  That cheered me up a bit.  It was really nice for him to do.  He did more songs the next day, on his Patreon page.

As I was writing this, I caught the last half of a live show on Instagram with Mandy Moore (another favorite singer and actress) and her husband, Taylor Goldsmith. They sang very well together.  They seem to compliment each other very well, as a couple, too.

I was just happy to have toilet paper before the news of isolation hit.

Everybody is dealing with things in their own way.  Some of us are able to work, helping others.  Some of us are able to be with our families and teach them. Some of us are able to do things to cheer others up.  Wherever you are at, you are important. Whether you know it or not.  It may be difficult, but we will get through this, one way or another.

I believe we will.  More of my artwork can be seen at my Instagram site.