This week, the crow learned we might find a CHS intern in Northgate. What did you learn?

EMILY, 23

What brings you out tonight?
My friend told me about this networking event tonight. I recently graduated from college, so I’m on this road, but I’m not sure where I’m going. I just want to get a better idea of what I could possibly do.

What did you study in school?
I majored in English and Creative Writing.

So, which restaurant do you work at?
Actually, I’m a barista.

As a fellow English major, I think food-service and coffee-making skills should be part of the core curriculum…Do you have any particular medium or genre that you specialize in?
Fiction, mostly short story writing. I like poetry, but I don’t think I’m a great poet myself; it’s something I like to play around with as a challenge.

At the risk of sounding like your parents, what do you see as your career path?
I’ve always had a passion for fashion, and the writing thing just sort of came to me towards the end of college. It all started when wrote an essay about Coco Chanel, and a writing tutor said I should be a fashion journalist. I’d like to work in fashion, but also entertainment.

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What’s life like for a recent graduate?
It’s hard—it’s SO hard! I honestly wish I’d done more internships during college. A lot of the places I’ve applied to want experience, and I’m just starting out as a writer. I started a blog with a focus on urban life in Seattle, food reviews, and Seattle fashion.

What’s the name of your blog?
It’s called A Stain, at www.astain.wordpress.com. It’s about fashion, but also food—I’ve been exploring a bunch of restaurants and taking pictures. I love to cook, and I love to explore places and share with people. I want to be able to inspire people, and increase awareness of what’s available in Seattle.

It seems like the fashion publishing world is mostly in places like New York, although that’s changing.
I really wanted to go to school in New York, but I got into UW, so I ended up going there. Over the years, I’ve started to fall in love with Seattle, even though I’ve lived here my whole life. At some point I’d love to live in Seattle, and then come back here, and bring something back.

Do you have any favorite spots on the Hill?
I really like Roy Street Coffee. All the restaurants that come to mind are in Ballard.

Do you live on the Hill?
No, I live in the Northgate area, but I come here pretty often.

If any CHS readers want to offer you an internship, I guess they can contact you through your blog?
Yes, please!

 

NEIL, 34

What do you do for a living?
I’m an attorney.

What’s your specialty?
Intellectual property, business law, and entertainment law.

How did you get into this field?
There’s this school we go to. It’s like dental school, only for law.

You have to go to school? Can’t you just watch a bunch of back episodes of Law & Order, and be done with it?
It’s frowned upon in most legal circles.

(Cough.) Elitist.
What was that?

Just a cough! What’s your favorite attorney joke?
There’s nothing funny about being an attorney.

So, all those jokes about attorneys—do they hurt you in your feelings?
Yes. It’s very painful. Please move on.

You’re good at redirecting a conversation. I bet you excel at… you know, lawyer stuff. Moving on–are you a Seattle native?
No, I’m from Cleveland.

People who are from Cleveland seem to love it. I mean, really love it. Like, they never shut up about how great Cleveland is.
And yet, they do not live in Cleveland. Or even visit Cleveland.

Is there anything that you really miss about Cleveland?
(thinks…) No. It’s a great place to be from. It’s not a great place to live.

Why Seattle?
Why not? It’s the Sapphire by the Sea. The people are great. The weather is beautiful in the summer. It’s a great place to live, as long as you can avoid the suicides.

In other words—the winter months. How do you get through them?
You have to go to Hawaii every other month. Or Cochella—that’s Palm Springs—for March, or Miami for Christmas. November was Maui. Why would anyone stay here all winter?

A lack of funds, maybe?
You can drive to San Francisco pretty easily.

Do you live on the Hill?
Yes, I live and work here.

When you’re not working, what do you like to do?
Climb, snowboard…

Any favorite local hangouts?
All of them! I think my favorite hangout right now is Canon.

Is that still on the Hill?
It’s like 12th and Madison. Can they get the Capitol Hill blog down there?

Yes, but you have to use the long-distance Internet. Do you have any favorite cocktails at Canon?
They have a bunch of great drinks. Their alcohol album is a bible. I think they have $1,500 shots of stuff from the 1800s.

Have you ever had a $1,500 shot?
No, but I think I’ve had $80 shots. Somebody else was paying.

Do you have any thoughts about life on the Hill?
It needs to be a little bit cleaner. Compared to, say, Georgetown in D.C., it’s really filthy. Also, it’s interesting how nobody is out on the streets at 9AM. It’s like a ghost town in the morning.

 

KORY, 25

You’re sitting in a tattoo shop –are you getting or giving a tattoo this evening?
Neither. I do hair next door, at Zero Zero. But I like to hang out here at the tattoo shop.

I see you have a lot of interesting tattoos. Did you get any of them here ?
Some of them, others I had done in Portland and Spokane.

Do you have a favorite?
My favorite would have to be the octopus taking down a pirate ship on my thigh.

Is there any unifying theme to your tattoos?
I like to do the traditional old-school style of tattoos. I really like the Day of the Dead, how Mexico celebrates their Halloween. That style inspired my sleeve. And I feel like my spirit animal is a fox—that’s what inspired the fox on my hand.

I see you have a tail—does that represent your inner fox?
Yes.

Why do you think your spirit animal is a fox? Because you’re foxy?
The fox represents courage and loyalty. It’s also spunky and intelligent. I’ve really had a thing for foxes for quite some time. I’ve always loved them, ever since I was a kid. I would collect fox toys and pictures and books, and try to draw them all the time.

Are you a Seattle native?
No, I just moved here four months ago from L.A.

How do you like it so far?
I love it. But I’m definitely feeling the “Seattle Freeze” that everyone talks about around here.

I think that’s the actual freeze this time of year. People here are much less social in winter. Seattleites are like some strange species of hibernating hipster bears…
I can’t wait until the summer, so I can start making new friends. It’s hard not having anybody to hang out with or connect with.

L.A. is very sunny and warm. How are you dealing with the weather here?
I don’t mind it. I love wearing hoodies and hats and scarves and boots. Fashionably, it’s really fun.

Is there anything you miss about L.A.?
The sand between my toes. But that’s about it. The people there are pretty different — it’s a very different scene.

Why Seattle?
I came here on my vacation during spring break last year, and was here for about four days, and completely fell in love with Seattle. I was walking around, and thought, “Why am I not living here?” So I waited until my lease was up, and I moved here.

Is there anything you wish you had known about Seattle before you moved here?
How expensive it is to live here.

That’s surprising. L.A. seems pretty expensive…
It’s about the same price—it’s about $900 for a studio in L.A., and it’s about the same here.

Do you live on the Hill?
Yes, just a few blocks from here.

What’s something you like to do in your free time?
I like going to Re-Bar poetry slam, every Tuesday night at 8PM. It’s really cool. Every week they have a featured famous poet, and they’ll come and speak their poems, then it’s back to the competition.

Do you write poetry?
I used to in high school, but then, college and career, things change. But it’s given me the inspiration to start again.

More CHS Crow:

• Anna, Zach & Perry — “I’m a citizen of the planet”
• Audrei, Tim & Jennifer — ‘I create things, I sew, I make corsets…’
• Stephen, Karyn & Whitey — ‘Yes, and I’m an herbalist’
• More…

Marguerite Kennedy is a freelance writer, semi-professional thumb wrestler, and recovering New Yorker who currently resides on Capitol Hill. She blogs at www.marguerite-aville.com, and does that other thing @tweetmarguerite.