Capitol Hill; butt; nails

[sistawendy]

I was on Capitol Hill for shrink & doc (about which more below), and I had some time in between the two, so I walked up and down Broadway and looked around.

Lots of for-lease signs on empty commercial spaces, lots of newish apartment or condo buildings (occupancy rate unknown), lots of stores I once liked gone, including Cafe Septieme and Bailey Coy Books. The places that survived seem to be the larger, older ones. Sure, some of those shops that went away were too silly even for me, but every one of them was somebody's dream.

And yes, much if not most of this is due to macroeconomic conditions, but an awful lot of it has to do with successive mayors in Seattle who were less interested in making the city safe for retailers and their customers than for property developers, or no one at all.

Before and for a time after Nibs got pregnant, that was one of our favorite places to just walk around. Even though the Wendling is now big enough to come with us, I don't think I'd suggest it. I miss the Broadway of ten or fifteen years ago.

---

I saw Dr. Leather Bear, my primary care doc, who ran a pap smear on me to check for HPV. He didn't do that earlier because the most likely way by far for (anatomical) men to catch HPV is through anal sex, which I've never had. He said that if I've got it, I'd only be his second "immaculate conception".

Another even remoter possibility is that my cipro trip may have caused Clostridium difficile to grow out of control and make lots of acid. That, however, usually causes severe diarrhea, which I've never had. He sent me to another GI dude, who I need to call.

Meanwhile he's suggested Tuck's pads and non-water based lube like Vaseline, not KY, which is what I tried. Once it dries, it's worse than nothing at all.

Dr. Leather Bear loves my 20-eyelet Docs and my leather Jacket. He covets custom leather. I am so wearing lots of leather whenever practical when I see him.

---

I'll be doing my nails for my office party on the 11th. I can't remember the last time I did my nails. Tips? Assume idiocy.

Comments

[schmi.livejournal.com]

Okay, I'll bite. How was Broadway different 10 or 15 years ago?

[sistawendy.livejournal.com]

The Broadway of today is somehow simultaneously more rundown and more gentrified than it used to be. The panhandlers weren't as prominent. There used to be lots more interesting shops.

One example was The Pink Zone, which sold "visibly queer gear". And Bailey Coy Books, which I mentioned, was tightly packed with people & books and had a wonderful selection; if Nibs was with me we always stopped in there. In the 90s, right where the main entrance to QFC now is there was a place called Gravity Bar, a vegetarian restaurant that had the coolest-looking interior in town. Dilletante used to be right across from Broadway Market and afforded some of the best people watching in town, inside the establishment or outside it.

I was walking down Broadway with my mother once. She got huffy about a man who she thought had called her a tacky tourist, until I showed her the flyer he'd handed me: he was with the Tacky Tourist Clubs of America, a gay (charitable?) organization.

Back then, if you weren't clubbing Belltown or Pioneer Square, you were hanging out & shopping on Broadway. I really hope new cool stuff rises from the ashes and moves into those vacant spaces.

[schmi.livejournal.com]

Lol@Tacky Tourists.

Thanks for the description! I first saw Broadway maybe 6 years ago when I first moved to Seattle. My first impression of it was that it was "dirty". :P This from someone who moved here from LA. ;) I think I spent more time on 15th Ave than on Broadway back then.

I liked Bailey Coy Books a lot and was sad that it shut down. I have mixed feelings about Dilettante - I really dislike their chocolate but I like their food.

The one place that I really miss off Broadway is the old Cafe Vivace that overlooked Cal Anderson Park. There is simply no other cafe that can replace that one.

[alexiarnps.livejournal.com]

I hate to say it, but have you tried diaper cream? The high zinc oxide ones are basically a graphite lubricant for your butt. Silicone anal lube? The Desatin extra something or another is what is usually recommended. It's basically 40% zinc oxide in a froth of petroleum jelly and mineral oil. Absolutely frictionless. We use the California Baby hippie version of that because we're, well, hippies.

[sistawendy.livejournal.com]

Funny you should mention diaper cream. Nibs got me some. Not that it hadn't occurred to me earlier.

[girlgoth.livejournal.com]

Everytime I go to the hill for something (not that often), I have a lot of mixed emotions about it. Most of them sad though, because so much of what I called 'home' for so many years is gone or completely unrecognizable.

As for nails, here's my tips:
Before you start, swipe your nails with a cotton ball saturated with nail polish remover. It'll help the polish stay on longer if there aren't any oils on your nails.
Start with painting the nails on your dominant hand first, as you're less likely to muck up the new polished nails as you're painting the other hand.
Also, try to go for 3 strokes. Middle, side, side. Any more than that and it starts getting drier and adding more room for error.
And if you don't have any polish dryer, polish can be cured faster in cold water. The faster they dry, the better (for me, I'm notorious for smearing *just* before they're completely dry).

Hope those help! :)

[sistawendy.livejournal.com]

Excellent advice! I'll take it and run with it. I should practice before Full Time.

[mahariel.livejournal.com]

Nail tip for me is to go to the salon and have someone else do them. I muck them up something horrible anytime I do it myself. I love the Tulip Nail chain - there's one by Southcenter in the strip mall in the Target parking lot. Wonderful prices, great service.

[sitapixie.livejournal.com]

I've noticed the similar stuff about Broadway...I miss the old stores (like gone since just after high school) and vibe that it used to have.

Sorry, no tips on nails...I'm horrible at it.

[princessgeek.livejournal.com]

I like Judy's nails on 6th and Denny-ish. I think she charges $10 for a manicure and it looks pretty. And you don't have to DO anything. :D

nails

[oracle2c.livejournal.com]

I am with Victoria, get your nails done at a Salon. I have acrylics because the nail polish lasts forever instead of only for a few days.

[martygreene.livejournal.com]

I'm due to go to the salon and get my nails done next week (I do a shellac manicure which lasts WEEKS because it's not traditional polish and it's a dry manicure). I go to Spa Scotta (http://www.spascotta.com/index.php/nail-therapy/) in right by the U Village. It's $60 for a solid color manicure with it, but totally worth it IMO- I'm hell on my nails, constantly in water (I freekin' work at LUSH), and my nails tend to break and peel, and this stuff lasts forever on me staying shiny and new and chip-free and wear-free until I go in to get it re-done due to grow-out. I've gotten a full month of wear out of it before, grow out being much more noticeable after that long if you've done a color, but yeah. I'd be more than happy to have you along with me, if it sounds like something you'd wanna try.

[martygreene.livejournal.com]

Also, this isn't like gel nails or acrylic nails, even though it's a soak-off polish. Your natural nail surface is not sanded or roughed up or thinned out at all, and it doesn't weaken your nails either.