This week, the crow learned that it feels pretty good to have made it through another Seattle winter. What did you learn?

SHELITA, undisclosed

May I ask your age?
That’s information I don’t reveal, but I can tell you it’s a prime number.

What are you up to tonight?
We just played a sold-out show at The Jewel Box theater.

Congratulations! Tell me about your music.
It’s hard to describe. It’s new, eclectic, soulful…

Do you sing or play an instrument?
I play instruments with an “s”—cello, guitar, bass. And I play my voice.

What’s the name of your band?
Paperwork.

How long have you been together?
Oh… forever!

Is forever a prime number ?
A prime number plus one.

Are you a professional musician?
I do it professionally, but it’s not what I do for a living.

What line of work are you in?
I’m an engineer.

A musician and an engineer—so you’re both left-brained and right brained?
I haven’t seen my brain, so I can’t confirm that.

Good point. Do you live on the Hill?
I live in Bainbridge Island.

When’s your next show?
This is my last show before I go to Europe—I’m going to be working in Europe for all a long time.

Where in Europe?
Spain, France and Holland. I’m going to be working there.

Working in music, or engineering?
Engineering. But I’m hoping to do a music tour there as well, and I’m going to try to get my band there.

Do you ever hang out on the Hill?
Sure, all the time.

Any favorite places?
Lots of them. I like the Wild Rose, for one.

Any thoughts about life on the Hill or life in general?
I think if people knew more about math, they would make better decisions about their lives, and set a better path for themselves.

ERIC, 47

The birds have returned. The sun is shining. And you, sir, are the first guy-on-a-lawn-playing-a-guitar of the season. How’s your day going?
Good. I’m just practicing, enjoying the weather.

What kind of music do you play?
Mostly pop. Sometimes I put together my own stuff.

How long have you been playing guitar?
A couple years, I guess.

Where are you from originally?
I’m a native Seattleite.

How long have you lived on the Hill?
Over a decade. I’ve been at this place for about a year.

Why do you live here?
It’s convenient. Beautiful. Lots of variety.

So, the adorable mostly-white fluffball who just walked past—is that your cat?
Yes, that’s Pasha.

On more than one occasion, I’ve seen Pasha get into it with Zulu, a.k.a. Brindle Cat, from the other side of the street.
They don’t like each other They both think this yard is their territory.

Pasha and Zulu are kind of the Tupac and Biggie of this neighborhood.
Yeah, Pasha had to go to the vet last week. He got bit.

What line of work are you in?
I do child care, at a place here on the Hill.

You must have a lot of patience. What’s the biggest challenge of working in child care?
Probably making ends meet on the money.

Do you have any favorite restaurants on the Hill?
This time of year, I like Pho Tran Brothers.

l love that place. . Do you have a “usual” that you always get?
I get the veggie pho.

Are you vegetarian?
Yeah.

If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?
Probably Spain.

Why Spain?
A combination of the culture and the climate.

It’s a nice country place. Have you been there before?
No.

Is there anything you really like or dislike about living on the Hill?
I like the variety of people. Sometimes the trash gets me down.

The trash?
The litter on the streets and stuff. Especially down by the college. Broadway looks a little trashed right now because it’s in transition. It’s gonna look so different just a year or two from now, but it’s kind of caught in that awkward phase.

What do you think will be most different about the area in two years?
The tunnel’s going to be open, and it’ll be more dense. There’s a lot of construction, so when that’s gone, it won’t be such a mess.

ISAAC, 27

What are you up to this evening?
I’m getting some food here at Healeo.

What did you get?
A mix between the tahini bowl and the black bean quinoa bowl.

That sounds painfully healthy. Are you vegetarian?
I’m actually vegan.

What are some good places for a vegan to go on the Hill?
That gets pretty rough sometimes. I like Plum, sometime they’re a little too greasy. Also, any Indian restaurants. Like at Annapurna, you can always substitute coconut milk for cream. But there’s not a ton of vegan options on the Hill.

Around here, it seems much easier to find meat on a stick than seitan or tofu on a…anything. How long have you been vegan?
About two months, but I’ve been vegetarian for seven years.

Do you live on the Hill?
I’ve lived here about a year and a half.

Where are you from?
I’m from Kent but I also lived in Issaquah for about five years.

What brought you here?
I wanted to have more fun. The Eastside is very, very boring. It’s full of soccer moms. There’s nothing wrong with them, but I like more excitement, and being able to walk everywhere.

What line of work are you in?
I’m an accountant. An accountant wanting fun—it’s kind of weird.

Not really. I’ve found that accountants party harder than most rock stars.
My friends who are accountants are even more fun than I am. They go out during the week, which generally don’t do. People think accountants are boring, but I’ve never met a boring accountant. I’ve met plenty of crazy ones—but they’re never boring.

Why do you think accountants like to party so much?
Your mind is so fried at work, if you’re trying to deal with a lot of analytics. You don’t have much energy left over to deal with stress outside of work. That’s why a lot of accountants drink.

“Go into accounting, kids, it’ll drive you to drink!” That’s your Career Day speech?
Also, most accountants are a little eccentric. They do accounting because it makes sense; it’s a way of finding order in chaos.

Any favorite hangouts on the hill?
That’s a hard one. I guess Healeo—I really like Healeo. And Annapurna, it’s a nice place to go and sit and have dinner. Also, Poquito’s—they have good drinks. And the Elliot Bay bookstore. I try to go there at least once a week.

Today, we have nice weather—it feels like we’re in some old Disney movie. Did you get a chance to take advantage of the Technicolor weather?
I actually did. I usually get up and run in the morning, so I got up and went for a run.

So, you’re one of those super healthy, vegan, running-in-the-morning types who make the rest of us look bad?
Exactly. What I try to do is to park my car when I get home from work, and then get out and walk and enjoy the city—I don’t care what the weather’s like.

Do you have any big plans for the summer?
I’m going to Whistler.

Interesting— I think of Whistler as more of a winter destination.
I actually prefer it in the summer. The snow’s gone, so you can rent mountain bikes, and do all the outdoorsy stuff. There’s always stuff to do there.

Any last thoughts on life on the Hill, or life in general?
Life on the Hill is pretty awesome, as long as you pick good friends.
More CHS Crow:

• Marina & Ranny, John & Craig, and Erin — ‘I’m a Buddhist and I work in IT’
• Alliedean, Michael & Marty — ‘It’s the closest real city to Boise’
• Rina, Terry & Tania — ‘I just want to live a good life’
• 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.