Isn’t it crazy that some people have a view like this from their house? Oh man!

While driving around with Mike one rainy night, we kept passing the darkened windows of coffee shops. Where are the night owls to go? Here’s a list I came up with – please comment if you know of others!

The main criteria here is a closing time of 10pm or later. These guys are listed in order of lateness.

2am : Café Presse – Capitol Hill | 1117 12th Avenue Seattle, WA 98122

1am : Bauhaus – Capitol Hill | 301 E Pine Street Seattle, WA 98122

1am : Barnes & Noble – U District | University Village SC 2675 NE University Village Street Seattle, WA 98105

12am : Trabant Cafe – U District | 1309 NE 45th St, Seattle, WA 98105

11pm : Caffé Vita – Capitol Hill | 5028 Wilson Avenue South, Seattle, Washington 98118

11pm: Cafe Ladro – Fremont | 452 N 36th St.

Numerous ideas and designs are floating about for the Seattle viaduct’s renovation, but this one has been under wraps for quite awhile. For good reason – a design sketched on a napkin may sometimes seem like understated brilliance, unless the head behind it has no training or experience for the task at hand.

Click here to see what’s going on.

Work. After years as a software engineer—usually at companies with products I didn’t believe in—I realized that the end product really did matter. Going out with the guys in a huge pack at lunch and listening to Lil John soundboards while coding didn’t cut it for job satisfaction anymore.

I moved away to the northwest with Mike, in search of a few things that may sound new-agey unless I explain in person over a plate of local produce or while gazing at the Olympic Mountains. I hunted for work thousands of miles from any contacts, and based my search on a fit of core philosophies. Luck? Determination? I’m not sure how things really materialized, but now I work for a company that I feel is innovative without being evil.

I work for an architecture and landscape architecture firm that specializes in projects that use green building techniques and tries to build sensitively on the land. There’s an importance placed on how culture and communities affect spaces, whether it’s a dwelling or an estuary.

My desk. Note the huge plants!

I wish I had photos of all my past working spaces. Some were horrid, dark, small areas with no windows and stained carpets. Most of them were fine. But now I can’t believe how much some natural light and a view looking out over a park can affect my mood at work.

I love open source software. I love working with guys that are quirky and a bit socially awkward, and goodness I’ve come to really like geek humor and talking shop. I still code. But the tech industry is just not my thing.

What I do love is going to a place every morning where I’m comfortable, use my computer to work on tangible results, and most of all feel proud of my efforts.

Seattle Central Library

My Dad asked me twice in the past week, “Have you been to the new library yet?”. It’s so nice to get pleasantly surprised when I don’t know what to expect! Holy cow what an awesome building. It was hard to appreciate what going on when I first stepped through the main entrance, but as soon as I got on the escalator I thought this is different… wow.. Seriously, I could spend all day at the Seattle Central Library.