From Leeds To Seattle.
Consider England as the foundry of passive aggressivism, and within that, Leeds might well be the cradle of shit talkin'.
So without me actually enjoying the experience, there was a level of familiarity to the mindset i encountered on arriving in Seattle this year.
I was fortunate to be offered a job pretty quickly, slingin' cocktails in Pioneer Square. I think its the first job I've ever had whereupon i was promptly 'let go' without being told why! The job was an insight to the Seattle mindset for sure. At one point during a busy portion of my evening, i noticed every single conversation at the bar was about someone not present and thus not able to defend them self.

My journey here was buffered by twenty years in New York City; a town where lets just say, i had learned how to be forthright, and just a little bit guarded. Being ex New Yorkers, my partner and i resolutely refused to buy a car: Every time i took a bus i was overwhelmed/appalled at how friendly everyone was. 'Piss off!' i would be thinking as the third crazy person engaged me in a conversation.
The logical destination for us was Capitol Hill, it perhaps having more in common with where we had come from than other more suburban locations. Even so, it didn't stop my sixteen year old daughter in England from having a sob when we skyped: I showed her the view from my apartment window. Gone were the high rise tenements and graffiti daubed factories, replaced by craftsmen cottages and dense foliage. She was convinced we had moved to a retirement community!

Having said all this though, i haven't missed New York one bit. Whatever you might think about the gentrification of your city, the fact is that it's happening in all the major cities of the US and beyond, and no less so than New York. As an artist i was finding it increasingly difficult to survive there. Even on the fringes of Brooklyn, it has become mad expensive, and i have yet to drink the Koolaid on LA as much as i enjoy visiting.
What you have here (in case you need reminding) is a beautiful city, a vibrant scene, and a great balance of nature and civilisation. I'm looking forward to rendering that cultural vision on the pages of this blog with some degree of enthusiasm. So don't go hankering for the metropolis too soon eh?