07-27-07_1908_sml.jpgMost of you know that I’ve spent the last few days in the crown jewel of the pacific northwest, Seattle. It’s the second time I’ve been there and it provided me another occasion to practice what I call planned serendipity. Now serendipity*, as you might know, is when good (unexpected) things happen because you’re in the right place at the right time. Now the time part is tricky and hard to control, but fortunately the place is easier to influence. What that means is that if you want interesting things to occur, you must get yourself to exciting locations. Sitting on your couch watching Seinfeld reruns is not one of those places, by the way.

When I arrived in Seattle, I had precious little detailed plans for entertainment**, but due to a dash of luck and some frenetic driving (to effect planned serendipity), my sister and I experienced the :

  • Bellevue Arts Festival (where an Asian girl at the info booth told me I had pretty eyes. The art was nice too.)
  • Pikes Fish Market (lots of screaming and throwing of fish)
  • Olympia Farmer’s Market (hippies galore plus fruit aplenty)
  • State Capitol Building (they’ve got one big’ ol dome and a huge chandelier. Also we chatted with the assistant secretary of state)
  • Jack in the Box (largest gathering of nerds. ever)
  • Fox Island (you can drive right to this scenic hot spot to observe the well-fed flora)
  • Tacoma Narrows Bridge (which once fell down, but they put it back up again)
  • Torchlight Parade (simply amazing people watching)

* English author Horace Walpole coined the word serendipity from an old name for Sri Lanka, Serendip. Serendip was part of the title of a “silly fairy tale, called The Three Princes of Serendip; as their highnesses traveled, they were always making discoveries, by accidents and sagacity, of things which they were not in quest of”

** I did have plans to have dinner with a friend or two (see previous entry)