Considering the number of people I meet who say things like, "???why Seattle??? It's so rainy!" or "I've heard Seattle is a little dreary," or even, "doesn't that place have a high murder rate?" I have also met more than one kindred spirit who is as obsessed with this Pacific Northwestern city as I am. It is the city where the commercial empire of expensive artisan coffee began. Never mind the fact that I truly do try to avoid drinking coffee. Except during final exam week. Damn the singular and historically unprecedented struggle of a student who has had everything handed to her since the day she was born. Damn those hardships I must suffer with only my five-dollar latte to keep me company. It is the city where a sprawling and suspicious market obstructs the view of Elliott Bay from Pike Street. A makeshift thoroughfare that greets me with the sight of luscious fruits, the smell of fresh pastries, and the din of sociable and responsible drinking... I can't quite put my finger on it, but something fishy is going on. And it is the city in which sleepless vampires fall in love. I mean, that's what I've heard... It really does seem like Seattle is playing hard-to-get, but I love it all the same.