…a few freelance deadlines out of the way. (Oh, it’s so nice to finally have work coming in again, after a nearly two-year drought!) So I’ll take a few moments to describe my new (or is it “neo-“?) life in Belltown.

I’m at the Nexxus Caffé on Second Avenue this morning. I’m staring out the window, watching the post-rush-hour pedestrians about their business. The young Japanese women attending the Art Institute. The down-and-outers looking for the unemployment office (it moved to the new YWCA shelter building on Third). The condo construction crews on smoke breaks. The Pike Place Market tourists who’ve finally found a parking space. The mixed-race couples toting plastic blue baby strollers. The bicycle messengers laden with bright yellow backpacks. The homeless men trudging worn-out large garbage bags. The lunch crews from upscale restaurants reporting for work, allowing themselves one last moment of honest faces before they have to play perky. Truckers delivering big sacks of potatoes and onions to the upscale restaurants. Crinkly-faced but impeccably-dressed old men. Day-care leaders herding small packs of barely-walking-age children. Young black men hiding their bodies within oversize athletic wear, hiding their minds within iPods. Well-preserved women cooing their way out of the day spas. The loving boyfriend of an former unrequited crush of mine, grabbing to-go portions of coffee and muffins for a long day of computer-jockeying.

Later in the day, I’ll be likely to see the shoppers toting huge bags bearing the logo of The-Store-Formerly-Known-As-The-Bon-Marché. Sullen suburban teens lining up at the Moore; indie-rock shoegazers lining up at the Crocodile. Overgrown fratboys strutting and shouting their way toward the First Avenue bars. Sonics fans, full of hope and alcohol, on their way to the arena or the sports bars. Upscale restaurant diners shouting business deals and/or babysitter instructions into cell phones. The Lava Lounge/Shorty’s/Rendezvous/Mama’s/Whiskey Bar crowd, cavorting and flirting and gossipping along their moveable feast.

In the almost three weeks I’ve been back in Belltown, this is the first time I’ve been outside this early. I’ll have to make it a habit. This passing parade is a lot more fun than any dumb ol’ judge show, and I can make up my own storylines.

In other personal news, I’m now more or less completely unpacked and moved in. Housewarming party news will follow.