Back home in Seattle again

Well, for the first time since November 22, I'm sitting at home in front of my own computer.

I got a postcard from the Mariners while I was gone saying "We need you to renew your 16-game season ticket plan by December 2 at 5pm if you want to keep your seats", which sucks, being as I didn't see it until just now. Whoops. I suppose I'll call them tomorrow and see what's up. I was planning to try to change my plan/seats anyway, but I don't want to lose the third-year status on my account, since eventually I'm sure several years of loyalty will pay off for priority for good seats and postseason stuff, once the Mariners stop sucking. If anyone else is a lapsed season ticket holder, you might want to give the ticket office a call as well.

I do recommend being a season ticket holder if you're in Seattle and plan to go to a bunch of games, though. The 16-game plans are really pretty reasonable, and you get all the benefits of being a season ticket holder like slightly cheaper tickets, free media guide, 10% discount on stuff in the store, early gate days, special ticket hotlines, emails with ticket offers and discounts, etc; last year there was even an "exclusive" DVD of some fun stuff.

Speaking of things I recommend if you're in Seattle, let me tell you what I'll be up to the next two weekends. One's entirely not baseball-related, and one is.

On December 9th and 10th, the Northwest Chorale is performing Handel's Messiah, and I'm singing in the chorus. Admission is free, but we do pass a hat around during the intermission to collect money for Northwest Harvest, a local food bank. (The choir itself is a non-profit organization.) I sang with this group in the fall of 2003 as well, and we raised a pretty good amount; and as I understand it, this year the local food banks need donations more than ever due to a lot of funds going to non-local efforts such as the Katrina victims.

Both performances are at 7:30pm -- the Friday one is at the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, which is at 14514 NE 20th Ave in Shoreline, and Saturday's is at the Woodinville Community Church, which is at 17110 NE 140th Ave in Woodinville. If you were thinking of seeing Messiah this holiday season anyway, you might as well come see us, since you can't beat the price, and if you do pay at all, it'll go to a good cause. Even if you're not religious (and I'm not), it's still a damn cool piece of music. We are doing the entire Messiah, though, which runs about 3 hours total, so be forewarned.

On December 17th, as posted on USSM, there'll be a USSM/BP event at Third Place Books for the release of Mind Game. Jonah Keri and Jeff Shaw are two extremely entertaining guys, so I expect this to be pretty amusing, at the very least, and I can get some holiday book shopping done at the same time.