*Books, beer, and baba ganoush

This describes one of my favorite places in Seattle; if you’ve been there, you probably know exactly where I’m talking about.

Hidden away in Ravenna, the upstairs is a new/used bookstore and a Greek restaurant.  Downstairs is a well-lit pub, slightly reminiscent of a mountain ski lodge.  There are giant wood tables perfect for a game of Settlers or spades while having one of the NW’s great microbrews (I believe there are about 12 on tap).

I’d tell you the name, but it’s become overcrowded already and I want to make sure that I can still find a place to sit the next time I’m there.  If you’re curious, I guess we’ll just have to go together!

*Remember this?

So funny! I got an email from Lulu.com tonight informing me that 365 (not to mention my viscom portfolio) are now for sale on Amazon.com:

three-sixty-five :: a photographic chronology

When they put the book on Amazon, however, they included a HUGE $40 mark-up, making the book cost $90.22!  I don’t know who they think would ever pay that for the book, but it’s still kind of crazy that you can buy it on Amazon!

*Read This Book: Three Cups of Tea.

Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, is one of the best books I have read in a long time, and I encourage all of you to read it as well.

The book describes the incredible and completely true, story of how Greg Mortenson, a former mountain climber, turned his failed attempt to climb K2 (the second highest mountain in the world) into a successful quest to, “Promote peace, one school at a time.”

K2 is a mountain in the northern region of Pakistan. On Mortenson’s way back down from K2 he got separated from his guide and wandered into a small village called Korphe, where the inhabitants took care of him until he was strong enough to continue down the mountain. To thank them, he promised to build a school for the children there. Three Cups of Tea tells the story of how he far more than kept that promise.

The book is wonderfully well-written and caused me both to laugh out loud and to be moved to tears. It provides an excellent look into the Islamic world as it is not always shown in the media, as well as providing an interesting perspective in the fight against terrorism.

For more infomation, check out the Three Cups of Tea website here or Central Asia Institute’s website here.

Amazon Kindle.

I love paper books, but after watching this video, I am at least intrigued.

PS: I just wanted to point out to you all that that airport is Sea-Tac Airport and the coffeehouse part of the video is filmed in is definitely a Tully’s.