Ye Olde Space Needle	Lake Union, NE from the Needle
	Downtown Seattle, SE from the Needle

I picked up Nicolai after a short nap, and he somehow managed to talk me into going to the Space Needle. I've lived here since 1996 and I've never been. So we went. The weather was pretty good, although the smog was pretty bad. We took tons of pictures and looked at all the informational stuff they had on the walls. I actually found my Starbucks in one of the telescopes! Nicolai also recorded footage with his Super 8 camera.

Seattle/Queen Anne/Magnolia, NW from the Needle

Nicolai recording

The sunset - W from the Needle

Check out the smog crawling up Mt. Rainier!

When we first got to Seattle Center, there was music being played from the fountain, and Nicolai taped it. He carries his audio recorder, Super 8, and camera with him at all times. While we were in the promenade I made him one of those squished pennies with the Space Needle on it. I'm sure he will carry that with him at all times as well (right, Nicolai?) The sun was setting and we were in quite a rush because we still had to make dinner to take to Josh & Emily's (Josh & Emily are part of the Six Arms gang).

This is Carkeek Park, which is a few blocks from my house.

Us at Carkeek

	Nicolai at my Starbucks (Brian, Robin, Nico, Andrea, Karrie)
This is Jim Cave, my favorite checker at Central Market. And just so you know - there are no photos allowed in Central Market. I have dozens of pictures from Central on my site. ("I'm a loner, Dotty, a rebel....")

Just part of the mess we made

Kolja & Alexandra at Josh & Emily's

German American Manicotti
Big ole tub of ricotta (strain over a bowl overnight in the fridge to strain out all the water)
Two eggs from neighbor Sylvia
Onions & garlic
2 jars Newman's Own Marinara Sauce
Big manicotti tubes
Box of frozen chopped spinach - defrost and press out water
Loads of cheese - we did parmesan and fontina
Saute onion & garlic in butter, beat/whisk eggs, then mix in ricotta, spinach, onion & garlic, shredded parm & fontina, and salt & pepper. Pour sauce in a pan to cover. Load tubes with mixture - Nicolai scooped the filling into a Ziploc bag and cut off the corner, and I was stuck with the task of holding the pasta tubes open while he plopped warm filling turds into my hand while the filling squished out of the top between his fingers ("The closing system isn't working!") and it made the most *vulgar* sounds (We laughed until we cried). Give up on tubes and slice them open, load like a taco, set in pan, cover with sauce and shredded parm. Voila! You now have no idea what they looked like. Bake at 350 for a really long time.

I miss you Nicolai.