My mind was still in South America as the plane took off for Seattle. I was surprised to be detained while security screens for the Swine flu and happy that while on the plane, they served Tortilla’s filled with ham and cheese. Arriving in Seattle was surprising also, it was sunny. I could actually see the city glinting up at me as we flew over. My friend Erin was nicely waiting for me at baggage claim, it’s been 5 years since I’ve seen her and she still looked just as I remember her, all Seattle through and through, pale, healthy and organic.

Before she dropped me off at what I consider one of the best luxury hotels in Seattle, she took me to Queen Anne for brunch. I barely could wait for my first bite of the Eggs Benedict. I missed American food tremendously. I missed my friend horribly. We had a great time catching up with what’s happened to us in 5 years. After lunch, she drove me through the city to show me what’s new, I felt like I had my own personal tour guide, but one who dissects the city apart like a surgeon looking for a bleeder.

Erin again offered for me to stay with her, but I politely declined, explaining to her once again, how I adore staying in a luxury hotel where every whim of mine is met. She laughed and told me that her parent just bought a place on Lake Sammamish and not that she could meet all my whims, the place was absolutely gorgeous and lazy. She said I could lay back on the dock and fish, or skip stones. This time it was me who laughed. As she dropped me off at the front lobby of my hotel, I told her to come to my room and spend the night, so we can catch up some more, and I’d make sure her every whim would be taken care off by the staff of the hotel and then tomorrow, she can drive me out to her parents place.

It only took her two seconds to say yes.

Filed by Dylan at 4:09 pm under People
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There’s always time for your favorite hobbies, and it’s important to remember that the way people spend their spare time is how they really like to live. But it’s never all that surprising to learn that young people like to drive fast. There might be any number of certain sociological factors that go into the need for speed, and it most certainly comes from the lore of love for the automobile. Taylor Swift can probably be very articulate about why she likes fast driving, but chances are, this country music sensation will be better off singing about it.

It seems like everything she touches turns to gold these days. When she makes a new record, Swiftranks higher than anyone else on the charts, because her music is, like her driving, unstoppable. She certainly can’t be slowed down, and there’s no reason to see any kind of slowing. It’s one of those celebrity phenomena, where the young talent, in this case just two decades old, will find her own drive met with equal enthusiasm from record producers and a hungry public. It’s a sure formula for success, but it’s one that we’ve learned over the years to be a bit wary of. There are too many stories about fantastically talented young people who got famous too quickly, and didn’t know how to handle it.

There’s good reasons, however, to suspect that Swift does know how to handle the elusive mutual attraction fame has toward her. Her songwriting keeps getting steadily more self-assured, and simultaneously more revelatory, as the records go by. She is also in a new kind of world marketplace, where digital airwaves and social networking sites play as much a part of the show as the persona of the country girl who likes to walk by creeks. It may be a very difficult road to negotiate, but it’s got to be an amazingly fun drive.

Filed by Dylan at 4:09 pm under People
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