Last weekend was a good time from a cultural standpoint. I recommend both of the plays I saw:

Seattle Children’s Theater: Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks Like

ACT Theater:  The Clean House (Read the Seattle Times Review)

I’ve recently discovered Vernor Vinge and have enjoyed several of his books: Rainbows End, the Hugo award winning A Fire upon the Deep, and A Deepness in the Sky; notable from the standpoint of well thought out imagination and “first person” descriptions of non-human societies.