I will be moving back up to Seattle next Wednesday. I found an adorable apartment over the weekend: hardwood floor studio with windows on three walls, overlooks a little grassy courtyard on one side and the parking lot of one of Seattle’s largest health food stores on another. Classic 1920s-era brick building with lots of characer, two closets, right on the busline, tip top of Capitol Hill. And only (New York friends, prepare to grind your teeth) $650 a month. Proof that it’s perfect? They only need first and deposit and the lease is 9 months long, which is exactly how long I’d planned on staying, since Andreas finishes school in June. Then it’s down to LA. At least that’s the plan this week.

This whole “moving back up to Seattle” thing is very good. There is no work in Olympia, nor has there ever been, and my ability to telecommute has been minimized greatly by the inevitable slumping of the the dotcom world. I also have been a bit of an emo mess lately, as I always am when I don’t have my own space. Need I remind everyone that I am an only child? Andreas’ basement room is just fine, but it’s not MY space, and all my shit is in boxes in another room in the basement, so finding my own space in a place where there’s actually work for me is a really good thing (oh, and did I tell you about how my new personal biz cards are going to say “Ariel Meadow Stallings: Writer, Editor, Stater Of The Obvious”? Well, they are.) I will miss living with Andreas, but at least he’ll only be a short drive away instead of a four hour flight (as he would be if I were moving to NYC). We lived apart last year for six months or so, and I’m sure we can manage this year.