Diane ~

I'm really trying very hard not to be grumpy and bitchy, but it's REALLY sort of difficult right now. I guess there's always got to be that one cranky time during any vacation; like, for instance, the day at Disneyland when the hurricanes hit and I nearly went homicidal from being hot and wet and in the company of millions of hot, wet, cranky tourists. Today is sort of the equivelent of that day, and I'm trying very hard not to let it get to me...

Ian and Bronwyn and I came here last night for a little birthday party for Matt, which was nice, although I was pretty tired from my walk up that hill, and I didn't feel like being sociable... Ian and I slept on the floor in Matt's living room, and today's agenda included showing Matt's brother and sister around town. This wouldn't have been a bad thing, really, except Matt's sister and I just have NOT hit it off. She seems so terribly insecure; she's been nagging her brothers all day and this morning, she refused to go outside -- to the fucking GAS STATION -- without applying 45 minutes' worth of makeup. Dude. I've gone to the gas station in my NIGHTGOWN before. What's the deal with putting on makeup for gas station clerks? Please!

Don't get me wrong; we have done a lot of cool stuff today. We all went down to this little beach-area on the Puget Sound, and we poked around in a little shop full of weird musical instruments. We went to a neat little place called Ye Olde Curiousity Shoppe, a cramped gift shop and museum type thing full of ancient coins, shrunken heads (no shit!), mummies, and a two-headed baby pig preserved in formaldehyde. We had a good lunch (WHY are there taco places on every corner in this city? No wonder Ian's so obsessed with tacos!), we went to the Pike Place Market again, we sat down on a nice patch of grass under a nice tree and enjoyed the sunshine, we rode a streetcar... It all would have been really great if we'd been travelling with more hearty companions. Matt's sister complained several times that her feet hurt (obviously, she's not the sort who'd climb up Jaymi's hill on a whim...), and I kept feeling a very negative energy from her, as if she was trying not to be miserable. Or maybe she was trying to be MORE miserable so that somebody would pay attention to her. I'm not sure, exactly. Plus, she's been making comments all day -- and all of last night, too -- about how much younger we all are than her. Insecure much, big sis? I dunno. She bugs me.

I've had such a great time exploring on my own. It's very rare that I've gotten a chance to do things my own way, on my own timing, without worrying about anyone else. With four other people around, it's a little more difficult to have a good time, I guess, even though Ian and Matt seem pretty hearty and aren't the sort of people who need to stop at bathrooms at ALL the wrong moments, or need to curl their hair for an hour (which is what Big Sis is doing right now...). It's just so much easier when you're exploring for one.

One neat thing did happen today -- just thrilled me in a stupid way I guess... Our little posse was walking up a street when a tour bus passed us. It was full of older people and was called "Duck Tours" or something. As it passed us, the tour guide announced on his bullhorn, "And out the left side, you'll see some Seattle natives... Careful, don't feed them!" Then -- fucking WEIRD!!! -- all the old people grinned out their windows and blew little whistles at us that sounded like ducks quacking. Seattle natives? I grinned. None of us WAS actually a native, as Ian and Matt grew up in Idaho, and I think the siblings grew up in California, but it still made me feel warm and cozy... A native? Me? It was just a little comment made by a passing motorist, and gahd knows I know enough to ignore most of THOSE, but this one sort of touched me, assured me that I belong here somehow, that I fit in with the "natives."

Anyway, in a little while, we're heading off to Ian's house. Matt's girlfriend, Kathleen, has planned this huge surprise party for him, complete with a bunch of Matt's friends from his and Ian's hometown in Idaho. Matt is supposed to think he had his party last night, that the surprise was having his brother and sister in town and going out for dinner. Speaking of Big Sis, she keeps poking her head out of the bathroom and asking if her hair looks okay, so I'd better hide this notebook. Gahd knows I have NO intention of causing ANY drama in Seattle; I'll be facing enough of that when I return to Binghamton. I'm just going to cheer myself the hell up so that I can have a good time at the party tonight.