Life on the Hill and other stories

Belated Catalog Christmas Days 9-12

2012-01-16T10:21:00.000-08:00

Emma and Thorstein were pretty sure this wasn't the way
to Grandma's House

It made Stephen a little nervous to see that special spark
in Shari's eye when she met his sister.

Miranda loved ushering for the Christmas pageant.
She never knew what she might find in the seats!

Catalog Christmas Day 8: Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T09:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to 2012 everybody. May your lifestyle choices be easier on you than Little Peter's are on him.

Catalog Christmas Day 7: Searching for Santa

2011-12-31T10:00:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year's Eve everybody. Here's one last Santa card, since I figure I can't really get away with them anymore after today.

Catalog Christmas Days 5 & 6: Creepy Santa

2011-12-30T21:09:00.000-08:00

This is hands-down one of my favorite cards I made this year.

Seriously, you don't want to eat that.

Catalog Christmas Day 4: Turkey

2011-12-28T09:30:00.000-08:00

I got these bitches a turkey.
Bitches LOVE turkey.

Catalog Christmas Day 3: Thankful

2011-12-27T23:26:00.000-08:00

She just looks so ... deviously self-satisfied ...

Merry Christmas with 12 Days of Catalog Christmas Cards

2011-12-15T23:09:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas, faithful readers, or at least Happy Boxing Day. This year, like last year, I'd like to celebrate the end of 2011 and the holiday season with some of my catalog Christmas cards. I made a raft of them, but I think I'll post about a dozen, one for each of the 12 days of Christmas. Here are two for today since I took the day off from the internet yesterday.

There was nothing inherently funny about the lady looking at her crotch until I figured I could put a wreath down there.

They were selling these things called "spirit hoods" and all I could think of was children raised in the woods by wolves. Or in this case, owls.

Selections from Occupy Seattle Weekly Issue 3

2011-12-15T22:42:00.000-08:00

Issue 3, 11.20.11 - The Good, The Bad andThe Ugly: Effective Marches, the Messy Business of Camping, and thePepper-Sprayed Face of Dorli Rainey

The Good

This weekwas filled with fantastic events and demonstrations:

Tuesday night’s extensively pepper-sprayedand photographed march in Belltown
Dr. Cornel West’s rousing speech at camp onWednesday
Thursday’s labor-led march and occupation of the University Bridge
Fridays’ march to the Police Accountability Office with speeches by two ofSeattle’s new pepper spray icons, 84-year old Dorli Rainey and Reverend RichLang
and the “Rise and Decolonize, Let’s Get Free!” concert and rally hostedby Hip Hop Occupies in Westlake Park on Friday night.

These peacefulrallies and direct actions kept Occupiers and allies motivated and square inthe media limelight. Keep it up everybody!

The Bad

While OccupySeattle’s demonstrations have been effective, camp hygiene has not. CapitolHill Seattle Blog reported on letters issued by King County Public Health andthe Chamber of Commerce regarding the public health hazard they perceive thatthe camp has become. The list of issues can be found here, but main groupings of concerns are:

food borne illness riskfactors
communicable disease risks
unstable structures with limited firesafety planning or access
reports of drug dealing and illicit drug use
sewageand waste water not properly disposed of
waste water disposal into stormdrains
no effective hygiene facilties
uncontrolled dogs defecating andurinating
rodent activity
discarded/used syringes and needles on theground

Some ofthese issues are almost impossible for OS to address – where else can water bepoured out in a camp on a street corner but down a stormdrain? And how on earthdo you build proper hygiene facilities without access to water main and sewerhookups?

That said,there are plenty of things on that list that Occupy Seattle can take care of.It’s totally doable to create better pedestrian access into and out of camp,ensuring dogs go to the bathroom outside of camp and their poo is picked up,and do daily sweeps for trash and discarded signs. Even though some of these issues (likeneedles and rats) already existed before Occupy Seattle moved in, it’s in OS’sbest interest to take care of them for their own sake.

In theletter addressing the Occupy Seattle encampment, Michael Wells of the BroadwayBusiness Improvement District and the Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce writes:

“While many of the businesses are sympathetic with the Occupy movement (75% ofBroadway BIA members are small, locally owned businesses) these sanitation andsafety concerns are very troubling…We would like to see occupy Seattle addressthe health and safety concerns around the encampment immediately.”

Occupy Seattle should also find these healthand safety issues very troubling: not only are they bad for the neighborhood,they’re bad for the campers.

11/17 - Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmesis preparing to file 1^st degree trespass charges against fiveprotesters arrested during an Occupy Seattle takeover of a Chase Bank onCapitol Hill on Wednesday, November 2^nd. (Publicola, Capitol HillSeattle Blog)

11/19 - The State Attorney General'soffice drafted an emergency rule that would create a 120-day window forremoving the Occupy Seattle encampment from the Seattle Central campus. The draft says the college needs to takeaction because of unsafe conditions at OS camp, including syringes and needleson the ground, drug and alcohol use, lack of hygiene facilities and other riskfactors near the college child-care center. (Capitol Hill Seattle Blog, SeattleTimes)

The Ugly (But in the end, also good)

Josh Trujillo of the Seattle PI’s nowiconic picture of Dorli Rainey just after she was pepper-sprayed by Seattlepolice at a peaceful demonstration

Seattle’smace sodden Wall St. March earlier this week seemed to be a culmination inlocal police’s willingness to use extremely painful but so far nonlethal forceagainst peaceful protestors. However,this pain and conflict brought with it a boon – the picture of 84-year-oldlifelong activist Dorli Rainey’s pepper-sprayed face, and story about policebrutality so blatant, well-witnessed, and unprovoked it was impossible toignore.

This picturewas soon followed by images of a young woman being sprayed directly in themouth with pepper-spray by the Portland PD and a peaceful sit-in of UC Davisstudents assaulted with mace by police called in by the dean. Images like thisbring desperately needed attention to the twin crises of police brutality andthe suppression of 1^st amendment rights, problems common toOccupiers across the country.

In Seattle’scase, we got another gift – an excellent spokesperson. Not only does DorliRainey appear to be a nice old lady, she’s also quite eloquent and has been anactivist since she escaped from Nazi Germany as a girl. Thanks for that, JoshTrujillo and the Seattle Police Department.

Selections from Occupy Seattle Weekly Issues 1 & 2

2011-12-10T04:11:00.001-08:00

Issue 1, 11.5.11 -While We’re Giving Banks a Hard Time, Let’s Think of the Little Guy

Since demonstrations and actions against unjust anddestructive financial institutions will continue into the near future, I feelit’s important to do something nice for all the 99%ers that happen work atthose places. There are a lot of lower level bank employees caughtup in the crossfire between the Occupy movement and Chase/BofA/etc. uppermanagement.

I’m making it my mission to bring flowers and a condolencescard (sorry about your bosses destroying the economy, we know you’re the 99%but sadly your bosses aren’t) to at least one Chase bank location on CapitolHill before Black Friday. Maybe I’ll add a little note about how itsucks to live in a world where we all have to live with the consequences by someill-considered risks taken with other people’s money.

What’s not to love about an action like this? It’sinexpensive, dispersed, easy to recreate and propagate, doable with groups to 1to however many can fit in a bank, not likely to bother the SPD, (hopefully)genuine enough to apologize to our fellow 99%ers, and quirky and whimsicalenough to want to post to Facebook. If you think I’m right about this, then goout and do it, post it to the internet and tell all your friends.

Issue 2, 11.13.11 - AQuestion of Numbers

The Seattle PI sez; “The city’s price tag to monitor the entrenched OccupySeattle protest ballooned to $529,609 this week, which includes last week’spepper-spraying and arrests of protesters in Capitol Hill.” Occupy Seattleorganizer Jesse Mulert sez right back: “How is it that that 50-300 peacefullyassembled citizens warrant such a concentration of resources?” (Seattle PI).You have to wonder how OS got pinned with a half a million dollar bill that’slargely for police time. It’s almost as if the City of Seattle thinks theproblems reported in and around camp didn’t exist before Occupy Seattle showedup.

Will Capitol Hill and the City of Seattle suddenly be freeof fights, drug use, vandalism and encampments of the un-housed if OccupySeattle disbands? Maybe the concentration of those particular issues willdecrease on that block, but they won’t really go away – they’ll just spread outthrough the city and the neighborhood again. It feels a little like the City isblaming the victim. For what are these things but symptoms of an economicallyunjust society and a massive wealth gap? The 99% didn’t create the disease, butit sure can get blamed for it.

Also: Who caused the Great Recession that tightened the cityand the police department’s budget? The banks and financial firms whose actionsled to the mortgage crisis. This cascade of economic disaster eventually led tothe creation of the Occupy movement. Why isn’t the city challengingthese banks with this half a million dollar bill?

The Occupy Seattle Weekly, writer and editor: Me

2011-11-21T12:24:00.001-08:00

For the last three weeks I have written, edited, printed. assembled and distributed the Occupy Seattle Weekly: Occupy Seattle local news articles on one side, Occupy worldwide news AP style on the other. I'm going to post up some of the local news section articles from the past three weeks soon. I'm proud of the world news section too, but AP style summaries of Occupies around the world will probably be less interesting to those who have access to the internet.

Welcome to the neighborhood, Occupy Seattle

2011-10-29T13:11:00.000-07:00

I am totally and unqualifiedly thrilled that Occupy Seattle is going to be my nighttime neighbor at Seattle Central Community College starting tonight. I haven't been able to interact with the Occupy movement much with being in grad school and rarely passing through downtown. But now they're going to be in MY BACKYARD! Yay, big social justice sleepover! Hot cocoa and equity for everyone! So excited!!

In the midst of my enthusiasm, I am still aware that there are logistical issues that may not make this feasible in the long-run: OC HQ is presently downtown, hiking up and down the Hill everyday isn't practical for everyone and bussing may not be affordable. Then there's the fact that SCCC is a very reluctant host.

I know it might not work out. SCCC might telling the kids to get off their lawn, SPD might flip and start teargassing right next to my window (I am right next door), and Occupy Seattle folks might not live up to their good-neighbor promises. All this is totally possible. But for tonight, I have a bunch of new fun neighbors, and I am super excited.

Rules of Avoidance: Restaurants

2011-09-17T00:25:00.000-07:00

These are just rules of thumb, and can sometimes be ignored to your great gastronomical enjoyment. But once I thought about it a little (once I was done laughing), I find that they have generally held true in my experience.

{My S.O. thought these up, so as a note to the interested digital archaeologists of the future, the credit for this blog post goes to John Sepulveda.}

When considering where to eat, one should avoid:

Restaurants with "hut", "den" or "shack" in their name. "House" is also suspect. I have never heard of a restaurant with the word "slum" or "tenement" in its title, but if I had I would not want to eat there either*.
Restaurants whose names include their primary menu attraction, such as fish, BBQ, sandwich, or lobster.
Restaurants named after a person who has, in all likelihood, never set foot inside the establishment named after them. Linda's is fine since it is named after local entrepreneur Linda Derschang and she does not yet have so many restaurants that she is not able to go and visit all of them. Marie Callendar's is not.

A hypothetical example of a place you probably don't want to eat is "Bob's Lobster Hut", unless of course Bob is right there in the kitchen boiling the fresh caught lobster and he has an ironic sense of humor.

*Though a place called "The Delicious Apartments" might be pretty cool, especially if it specialized in tapas that you could pick up out of little cubbies connected to the kitchen.

The summer that wasn't

2011-09-17T00:06:00.001-07:00

This year started with a cool spring that coasted into a summer of meh. If wanted to be completely accurate, I would call this the summer that came late, but I wanted a title that also referenced how little I've blogged this summer. I could blame the lack of sun, but the real culprits were grad school induced lassitude and sheer laziness for the first month and a half and the 12th Avenue Neighborhood Festival for the month after that. In August and September summer finally arrived, so I was busy rejoicing with the rest of the city and enjoying the late start of circus folk season in Cal Anderson Park.

I will try to make up for my lack of blogging with a flurry of slideshow updates before school starts. After that, it is up to the will of the professors, but I live in hope.

From the Washington State Nonprofit Conference: Jabez Lebret on Generation Y

2011-05-10T18:53:00.000-07:00

Jabez Lebret's psychological profile of Generation Y for their future bosses:

We want to make a difference and we believe we can make that difference: Sometimes it feels like we've been raised to be a generation of optimistic activists. This is great, because it seems like this is just what the world needs. This can be irritating, because it means your 25 year old new hire will show up in your office with suggestions on how your organization can do things better on day two.
We want to be part of something bigger than us: This is great for the same reason as above. It also means we expect more out of our professional lives and volunteer experiences. But when we believe we're part of a good cause and that we're making a difference - watch us go.
We're natural collaborators and prefer to work in teams:
We want to be told when we're doing things the right way: Generation Y sometimes gets a bad rap because it seems like we need constant encouragement and pats on the head because of all those participation medals we got growing up. But another way to look at it is that positive reinforcement is
We have grown up with information always at our fingertips
We believe in work-lifestyle balance: I think the cliche is "work to live, don't live to work". Again, Gen. Y can get a bad rap because of this. The thing is, we're willing to work hard, but we don't think that working part time, having full sleeve tattoos, wearing hoodies to work, or wanting to be able to take a couple weeks off to hike cross country gets in the way of having a career.

And Now for Something Completely Different: The Washington State Nonprofit Conference

2011-05-07T10:50:00.000-07:00

I don't usually blog outside of geek, green and Seattle here on Life on the Hill, but I'm going to make an exception for the Washington State Nonprofit Conference, which I attended this Friday at the Meydenbauer Convention Center in Bellevue. I am making this exception because it was an excellent conference and I had a wonderful time. The Meydenbauer Center was a lovely venue, the staff of Alliance for Nonprofits kept everything running smoothly (special thanks to Erin Tierney!), and all the conference sessions I attended were full of useful information. There is a lot I could write about, but I'll keep it to my two favorite presenters, Erica Mills and Jabez Lebret.

Erica Mills of Claxon Marketing told us all about Nonprofit Marketing Trends to Watch, Try & Avoid (you can find her full presentation here). The basic message I gleaned was that 1) it's all about your organization's story and 2) deliver that story in the way your potential members/donors want to get it. Which means translating your mission or brand into a story and finding a way to tell that story over social media, on smart phones, and broken up in chunks over time rather than once a year in the annual report.

I really appreciated that Erica also told us all what not to do, notably not to spread your organization too thin by trying to do and be everything. For social media, pick three outlets and do them right. Focus on the folks who are interested in what you, don't spend time on those who don't. Frame your message, but once it gets into the hands of your supporters on the internet, let them run with it.

I liked Jabez Lebret's keynote address on Generation Y so much that I decided to attend his afternoon workshop, "The Value of Attracting and Retaining the Social Media Generation." It was a little strange to go to a workshop that was focused on how to hire and keep my generation, but very useful.

Cheap Date: Opening Night of The Great Puppet Happiness Machine

2011-05-04T10:06:00.000-07:00

My boyfriend and I were fortunate enough to catch the opening night of The Great Puppet Happiness Machine by Puppet This! at Annex Theater. We had seen the posters go up last week and decided it would make a good event for date night; wandering in on opening night last night was just our good fortune. Our decidedly peculiar ideas about what makes a good date paid off - The Great Puppet Happiness Machine is ridiculous and well worth $10 ($5 for students).

There are basically two premises to the show: 1) a bunch of puppets decide the best way to make their sad puppet friend happy again is to visit a mad scientist and 2) improv. Improvisational comedians running around a blackbox stage with puppets on their hands does not sound like a recipe for success, but it works. Watching puppets gesticulate and flop around is way more interesting than watching the people behind them (pay no attention to the man behind the curtain...). It helps that the crew of Puppet This! are pretty funny, even when things don't go quite right.

The BF and I agree that the show was a little rocky: some of the song numbers stuttered when the puppeteers couldn't make up lyrics fast enough, and the crew was still trying to figure out who should chime in when. That said, this was the very first show of the run and my BF was so enthused about the whole thing he wants to go back again. I admit I'd be interested in seeing how the show changes over the season, and would find it vastly amusing to watch my friends discover the puppet-y wonder of "The Great Puppet Happiness Machine".

[TGPHM shows Wednesday nights at 8pm through May 18th]

PS This makes me really regret missing Manos: Hands of Felt.

Important and Free: Tax Prep Help at Seattle Public Libraries

2011-03-30T14:42:00.001-07:00

The robins are chirping, the daffodils are blooming, oh crap, taxes are due soon. I did mine ages ago with TurboTax because I make hardly any money and can use the free version. However, if your taxes are a little more complicated or you just don't like the Internet, the AARP, Seattle Public Libraries and King County have got your back. These groups are collaborating to offer free tax prep to individuals from January 18th through April 17th at 11 library locations. The closest branch to the Hill is the Central Branch library and its tax help hours are below. For the other ten locations, see the Seattle Public Library website.

Central Library
1000 Fourth Ave.
Mixing Chamber, Level 5
206-386-4636
Tuesday, Jan. 18 through Sunday, April 17
Drop-ins are welcome, no appointments.

Noon to 7 p.m. Tuesday
Noon to 7 p.m. Wednesday
Noon to 7 p.m. Thursday
Noon to 4 p.m. Saturday
1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday

Save Evans: A Plea to Preserve the Independent Status of the Evans School of Public Affairs

2011-03-08T01:17:00.000-08:00

I wrote the letter below because the Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington might lose its independent status and be consolidated with another (unnamed) school. UW President Phyllis Wise wrote in a letter to Washington state legislators on February 23rd that the consolidation of the Evans School was one of the options being considered in the face of $190-250 cuts in state funding to UW. There's more on why this is a terrible idea in the letter, but basically, consolidation would destroy an excellent public affairs school in order to save an amount of money that's exactly piss compared to the budget cuts that UW is facing.

This matters a great deal to me because I'm an Evans student. I think that training cohorts of clever

and dedicated people to be servants of the public good (as the Evans School does so well) is a very important and worthwhile undertaking. There is a painful irony that during a nationwide governmental budget crisis of epic proportions, a school might be destroyed that is training people to deal with problems just like epic governmental budget crises.

====

March 8th, 2011

Interim President Phyllis Wise
Provost Mary Lindstrom
University of Washington

Dear President Wise and Provost Lindstrom,

The last thing I thought I’d hear when I started at the Evans School of Public Affairs was that the President of the University would consider doing away with our status as an independent school. The economic environment being what it was, harsh budget cuts from the state legislature were bound to be on the horizon. I expected that the Evans School would get their share of tough financial decisions along with everyone else. However, I never thought that an option as drastic as consolidation would be on the table.

After all, the cohort starting in 2010 was the largest and most competitive in the school’s history, and the Evans School ranks fifth in the US News World & Report’s listing of best schools of Public Affairs among programs in public universities. Evans School students can be found everywhere in the public and nonprofit sectors in Washington, making the Evans School of Public Affairs a name synonymous with quality public policy work throughout the state. This was, in fact, the reason I chose to apply to the Evans School of Public Affairs. Evans graduates are everywhere in Seattle, talking about the quality education they received in the program and doing the sort of work I’d like to have a career doing.

Knowing all this, it pains me that you would consider “consolidating the Evans School of Public Affairs with another college and significantly reduc[ing] course offerings” as an acceptable course of action. The grand total in financial savings of this plan would be a mere $700,000, the amount of state funding that the Evans School receives that does not go to tenured faculty. A budget reduction of less than 1% of the total cuts that the University of Washington is facing is a pittance compared to the damage that would be done by eliminating the educational quality and high-grade academic brand of the Evans School of Public Affairs. I hope that you take this into consideration as you move forward with budget decisions, and choose to make cuts that will preserve the independence of the Evans School.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Power
Masters of Public Administration candidate, 2012
Evans School of Public Affairs

2/26 - More cheap fun: Saturday University @ Seattle Asian Art Museum and Yoga in Volunteer Park

2011-02-23T19:01:00.000-08:00

Saturday University: World Little Known

Central Asia, its Histories and Place in Today's World

The Silk Roads: Central Asia in the Wider World

February 26th - 9:30am-11am

Prof. Daniel Waugh, University of Washington

Seattle Asian Art Museum (Volunteer Park), Stimson Auditorium

Central Asia played a crucial role in cultural and economic exchange across Eurasia along the many routes that made up the historic "Silk Road."

Come early to stretch! Yoga classes offered by 8 Limbs Yoga at 8:30 am (beginners welcome); pay by voluntary donation. Please bring your own mats.

From Silk Road travel to contemporary social and political challenges in post-Soviet republics, this series investigates the region from Uzbekistan to Mongolia. Cosponsored by the University of Washington Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington. Teacher clock hours available.

Other lectures in this series:

Mar 5: Crafting Culture in Soviet Central Asia: Writers, Actors and Ordinary People

Mar 12: Religious Pluralism of Central Asia

Mar 19, Part 1: Central Asian Nomads Today: Musical Storytelling

Mar 19, Part 2: Esoteric Buddhism in Japan: The Lineage of Shingon

Mar 26: Colorful Ikat Textile Design and Central Asian Aesthetics

Apr 2: Women’s Work in Central Asia: Past and Present

Apr 9: Struggles of Central Asia Since Independence

Apr 16: Creating Community Solutions to Rural Issues in Central Asia

Questions? Email Gardner Center for Asian Art and Ideas: gardnercenter@seattleartmuseum.org

Tickets

(buy them here! by phone: 206-654-3121 or email: boxoffice@seattleartmuseum.org)

Series

Members: $40.00

Adults: $80.00

Individual Lecture

Members: $5.00

Adults: $10.00

2/26 - Free "Plan Your Veggie Garden" Workshop by Howell Collective P-Patch

2011-02-23T18:30:00.000-08:00

The robins are chirping, the crocuses are blooming - spring is on its way. Despite the fact that it was sleeting today and may snow tonight, it's time to start planning your garden for the year. In case you're a newbie like me and could use some guidance, Howell Collective P-Patch has got you covered with its "Plan your Veggie Garden" workshop.

Plan Your Veggie Garden

February 26th, 10am - noon

Madison Market (16th & Madison/ 1600 E. Madison)

FREE WORKSHOP!

This class will help you decide what to plan, when to plan and where to plant. Learn where to find organic and heirloom seeds, how to decide where crops should be placed in the garden and create a plan so you can be harvesting fresh veggies all year round.

Please RSVP by emailing registerhc@gmail.com, including your name, neighborhood, and how you found out about the Howell Collective P-Patch.

Slight Awkward Holiday Humor

2011-01-06T21:09:00.000-08:00

The homemade Christmas cards below are a product of my relative poverty, perverse humor, three weeks off for winter break and a few strange photographs from catalogs that I will not name (they know who they are). I've only put up the ones I figured wouldn't keep me from getting jobs in the future. I swore to myself that I would get these posted shortly after Christmas. At least I've gotten them up before Epiphany.

Belated snOMG 2010 slideshow: views from North Broadway

2011-01-02T02:04:00.000-08:00

All photos courtesy of me (see above, in fuzzy hat) on 11.23.10, taken with Metrix Create: Space's amazing shopcam.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T23:15:00.000-08:00

I braved the drunken mobs in Belltown to visit some friends and watch the Space Needle fireworks go off at midnight. Totally worth it.

This video is thanks to the kind woman standing in front of me and my friends who was recording the proceedings with her iPhone. If you listen closely, you can hear myself and my friend Dave laughing and exclaiming about the pinwheels.

Happy New Year everyone. Hope 2011 goes better than 2010!

Dueling Plant Events: John & Summit Bedspread Party and Native Plant Salvage

2010-11-30T23:56:00.000-08:00

This Saturday there's double the plant fun with a mulch and bedspread party at John & Summit Park and a Native Plant Salvage down in Black Diamond. Details below:

John and Summit Bedspread Work Party

When: Saturday December 4th, 9AM (Rain, snow or shine . . . we're working!)

What: Distributing organic coffee chaff, chocolate mulch and leaves into the garden beds, then covering it all up with our burlap bedspreads

If you have small tarps, please bring them. We have everything else you'll need to help.

We really need your help! Come and bring your friends, too! We'll be moving soil in rain, snow or shine.

Delicious coffee and treats are being provided! Please RSVP to Barbara at gingergooddog@gmail.com so we know how many to expect.(Even if you forget to RSVP, come garden with us!)

King County Native Plant Salvage
Join other volunteers digging up trees and shrubs from this site scheduled for development in the morning. In the afternoon, we’ll be potting up the salvaged plants so they can recuperate before going to King County habitat restoration sites. Once replanted, these native plants will help reduce erosion, shade streams and provide habitat. Special thanks to Yarrow Bay Holdings for providing the salvage site.

When: Saturday, December 4, 2010

Time:
9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m: Salvage plants
1 p.m. to 4 p.m: Potting at Holding Facility

Where: Black Diamond for salvaging/ Issaquah for potting

Directions to the Salvage site: From I-405 near Renton, take Highway 169 past Black Diamond. Turn right onto SE Green Valley Road. Go approximately 1.5 miles and watch for sign on right. Turn right into site on gravel road. Volunteers who dig for King County from 9:00 to 12:00 are eligible to dig plants for themselves from 12:00 to 2:00.

Not a morning person? Volunteers are also needed at our Native Plant Holding Facility from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. to help pot up the salvaged plants. Volunteers who help with potting are eligible for free native plants.

Directions to the Native Plant Holding Facility:

From I-5 or I-405, take I-90 east to Highland Drive exit (exit 18) in Issaquah. Stay left on the off ramp to continue onto Highland Drive through several lights. Turn right onto Issaquah–Fall City Road. Just past Endeavor Elementary School, stay straight onto Duthie Hill Road.
The Holding Facility is in Duthie Hill Park (on the right) at 27101 Duthie Hill Road. Drive to Nursery at the end of the road.

Notes: A parent or guardian must accompany volunteers under 16 years old. Dress for the weather and be prepared to get dirty. Sturdy shoes or boots are recommended. We’ll provide gloves, tools and light refreshments.

Please call Cindy Young at 206-296-8065 or email cindy.young@kingcounty.gov if you plan to participate.

{And yes, I've been hearing "da dah ding ding ding ding ding ding ding" in my head ever since I thought up the post title}

Burlap Quilting Bee for John and Summit Park!

2010-11-30T22:04:00.000-08:00

There is an important 'burlap coffee bean sack quilting' get together tomorrow, Wednesday, all day and evening (9am to 9pm) at the nearby Seattle Presbyterian Church.

Unpaving Paradise will be amending the soil at John and Summit Park this Saturday with rich nutritive greens and browns. When finished UP will put the soil to bed for the winter by covering it with mostly pre-assembled quilted-together burlap coffee bean sacks. UP wants to give a 'nice look' to the garden for the local community to admire over the winter months. Therefore getting the 500+ coffee bean sacks stitched together in shapes mirroring and custom fitting the designed plots is important. Not only for appearance but to quickly and deftly cover the soil without walking on the soil and compacting it.

The plan is to have pre-measured template patterns on the church floor and then to quilt together the coffee bean sacks to fit the patterns. Many of the sacks have been already stitched together in strips so as to save time on Wednesday's assembling project.

The stitching is simple and requires no previous experience. We will have all materials ready for you. And feel free to be creative by sewing in thick colored yarn!

Please come and help out even if only for an hour. There are two volunteers so far who are coming. Consider lending a helping hand.

They have free church parking on the north side of the building and you are allowed to park for free from 7 to 9 pm in the pay parking lot just across the Street (Howell). The Church (located just behind the Seattle Central Community College) is a block south of East Denny. The quilting bee will be in the downstairs Fellowship Hall; entrance thru church's north side parking lot.

1729 Harvard Avenue
Seattle, WA 98122-2227

Thankfulness

2010-11-27T15:42:00.000-08:00

On and right before Thanksgiving, I got some very sweet texts from good friends of mine about how thankful they were to have me in their lives. Right back at you, guys. I was struck by the trend, at least in my little friend circle of Seattle 20-somethings, of seeing Thanksgiving as a day to be thankful and express gratitude for the good things in one's own life. It made me happy and made me think about all the things I'm grateful to have in my life, which in turn made me happier.

Even if my faithful readers didn't have the chance or time to be thankful on Thanksgiving, I hope that you will at some point (or at several points!) during the holiday season. My bet is that it will give you a breath of space and happiness in this midst of the next month's short days and busy schedules - that's what it did for me, anyway.

Fresh from the Inbox: FREE TREES for Seattle Volunteers and Upcoming EarthCorps Volunteer Opportunities

2010-11-25T11:57:00.000-08:00

Pre-Script: Chris LaPointe is a fellow student at the Evans School of Public Affairs at UW. If you do go to one of the volunteer events (which are good fun if you like digging in the dirt), please compliment him on his general badassery.

===
Hello Volunteers, Partners & Friends:

That's right Seattle volunteers, we are offering you FREE TREES for your service! During this Thanksgiving week, EarthCorps and the City of Seattle want to say thanks for volunteering and helping restore our natural areas. As recognition of your hard work, the Seattle reLeaf Trees for Neighborhoods program is excited to be able to offer you free trees to plant in Seattle yards.

The details: Trees must be planted in yards (and not as street trees) in Seattle. Tree supply is limited. Applications deadline is Dec 6. Program participants will receive up to 4 free trees per household, watering bags, a bag of GroCo compost, and training on proper tree planting and care. Trees can be picked up on December 12 between 10:30 am – 2:15 pm in Crown Hill. More directions will be sent when your application is accepted.

Available species include:

-Shore pine (Pinus contorta ‘Contorta’)
-Katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum)
- red oak (Quercus rubra)
- red cedar (Thuja plicata ‘Excelsa’)
- Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii)

To receive a free tree, you must meet these guidelines:

- Live in Seattle, and plant the tree on your property (renters must have their landlord’s permission)

- Plant the trees in your yard, and not as street trees

- Do NOT plant the trees under power lines (these are large trees that will eventually grow into the lines)

- Commit to caring for the tree in the future, including watering for the first 3 summers

To get your trees, send in the attached application ASAP. Questions can be directed to:

Jana Dilley
Seattle reLeaf
jana.dilley@seattle.gov
206-615-1668

===
In volunteer event news, things are slowing down a bit this holiday season but we still have a few events scheduled. It’s easy to sign up just visit the volunteer calendar on our website at http://www.earthcorps.org/volunteer.php, choose the project that you would like to participate in and click on Sign up for this event and complete the on-line registration process and we will handle the rest. All you have to do is show up (on time, please).

Save the Dates:

January 8, 2011 – Kiwanis Ravine – First EC Volunteer event of 2011

January 15, 16 & 17 – MLK Jr. Weekend of Service (Jose Rizal Park, Dearborn Park & Cheasty Greenspace)

April 2011 – EARTH MONTH

April 16 2011 – GLOBAL YOUTH SERVICE DAY

THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Please notify me if you wish to be taken off of this distribution list. You are receiving this email because at some point you volunteered with EarthCorps or expressed interest in receiving information on EarthCorps volunteer events.

Sincerely,

Chris LaPointe
Volunteer Program Manager
EarthCorps
6310 NE 74^th Street, Suite 201E
Seattle, WA 98115
206.322.9296 x217
www.earthcorps.org

EarthCorps is a community of people dedicated to restoring the Earth. Join us!

Sledding Mayhem on E Denny Way or An Ambulance Arrives at the Sledding Party

2010-11-23T01:46:00.000-08:00

This evening I repaired to the spontaneous Son of Snowpocalypse sledding party down on Denny and Bellevue with Mark Atwood. I went down the hill twice - once in a turned-over recycling bin with two other fellows (one of whom was Rob, a frequenter of Gamma Ray Games) and another time on a borrowed baking tin. The first run went very quickly and very well. The second time was fine until I got hit in the back by two goths on a table. It hurt, but I stuck around awhile longer until the ambulance showed up.

Maybe ten minutes after my 2nd run, two groups of sledders in recycling/trash bins went drag racing down Denny. They were doing fine all the way down, no tip-overs or collisions, just one successful dismount off the back of the right-hand bin (I was very impressed).

Then a four-door sedan came cruising up the obviously closed E Denny Way. One of the sledder-filled bins hit the car and made it spin. I heard from another onlooker soon after that in the collision/spin, the car rolled over a sledder's leg. The ambulance came to pick up said sledder soon after.

Recent Events: SteamCon II and Son of Snowpocalypse

2010-11-23T01:18:00.001-08:00

It has been an exciting fortnight. I got to spend a week home sick, got well enough thanks to modern medicine to work at SteamCon II, and now it's snowing like mad in our fine city of hills.

At SteamCon the 2nd, I mostly admired other people's costumes and helped them accessorize further with the wares of Realms of Regalia. RoR mostly sells the extra fiddly bits - pins, feathers, ribbons, lace, cords, applique, jewelry. You can imagine our booth was extraordinarily popular at a steampunk convention. I'll have another post with pictures and stories to follow.

As for snow...wow, what a fitting start to the beginning of steampunk season: the more layers the better! I was delighted to wake up this morning to a fine view of our winter wonderland. I only have to commute to UW and back (Evans School, whatwhat!) so when evening classes were cancelled, it only took me two hours to get home. Steve, the driver of bus #2384/ the #48 this evening is to be commended for his commitment, skill and dedication to duty. Even though we crawled along more slowly than an arthritic hamster, Steve got bus #2384 up the back of Capitol Hill. This is way more than the drivers of the 10 or so cars we passed on the way up can say, that's for sure.

After a couple of hours of excited tweeting and Desert Bus viewing, I made my way down to the inevitable sledding party on E Denny Way. See next post for details.

(sledding picture courtesy of David Lichterman)

My Mom Has a Blog

2010-09-29T20:26:00.000-07:00

My mother, of My Mom vs. Tom Carr fame, just started a blog. It's called Dickens 3 in the OC, a reference to where she lives now and the old style of telephone prefixes from her childhood in the San Fernando Valley*. Basically, she's going to write the kind of stuff she'd write in exasperated letters to the editor at the Orange County Register. If you saw the email fight between her and Tom Carr, you'd see she's a dab hand at this kind of thing. So if you think my mom is awesome, and you want another amusing blog to read when you're killing time at work, it's worth a look-see.

*The prefix used to be Dickens 3 or DI3, which translated over to 343 when they changed from letters and numbers to just numbers. That was also, by the way, before area codes. This led to a conversation about how she used to use a manual typewriter to write up papers in college. And now she's in the blogosphere. Kind of a weird thought that technology has changed so much in such a brief time.

William Gibson Book-Signing at U Village B&N

2010-09-10T01:45:00.000-07:00

Before I arrived, I think I expected to see what I had seen at the last booksigning I attended. It was at the University Bookstore, where Jacqueline Carey was doing a signing for Naamah's Kiss. There was a small crowd of about 50 or so people.

For some reason, I forgot that William Gibson is just a wee bit more popular and well-known than Jacquline Carey. Just a bit. So it was a little surprising to see a more than a hundred people lined up outside the Barnes and Noble auditorium. Even though I didn't line up in time to get seated, I still had a good enough view in the back to see Mr. Gibson (his whole head!). The B&N soundsystem was good too, bless their little souls.

W.G. read more slowly than I read his books in my head, so the rhythm of the text was different than I was expecting. Then again, it would take a very bad reader to ruin the first chapter of a Gibson novel. I appreciated the most what he said before he started reading. It was that he only really got to read the first chapters of his novels when he first read them while on tour, to an audience. So during the first few stops on the book tour (like this one), he and the audience were both experiencing the book for the first time.

I liked the Q&A better. Even though I couldn't hear most of the questions, it was still lovely to hear him answer them. The quotes that I caught via Twitter are below.

"I'm not really writing about the future...I'm just trying to create mini fugue states that help us make sense of our alien present."

"I'm more interested in travelling to the same place repeatedly...I'm reluctant to add another city to the capitals of my imagination"

He is one of the most quotable people I have ever met in person. When I got "Zero History" signed (see left), I mentioned that I appreciated his tweetability. He said that he thought it was the technology training him to speak in soundbites. Perhaps, but it's also that he's quite clever and has a lovely way with words. He also has a nice measured cadence to his voice, so I have time to catch up with his thoughts while I'm twiddling away on my cell phone, talking to the Internet.

Though I know he's been writing for more than 30 years and I've seen his recent book jacket pictures, W.G. was unexpectedly old...especially his voice. It was clear, it was strong, and he's obviously as sharp as ever. It just had that timbre to it, of wearing thin. This must be the arrogance of youth, but it's strange, realizing that someone so bleedingly current is an old man.

9/10-9/12 Seattle Geekly Garage Sale

2010-09-10T01:35:00.000-07:00

It's a two-bus trip to there from the Hill, but I think it's worth a look if you're into nerdy bargain finds (esp. if you have access to a car). Also, the Seattle Geekly folks are pretty cool, so you should give them some of your money and help them get rid of stuff they don't want to have to take with them on their move.

SEATTLE GEEKLY GARAGE SALE!

Come Friday night 9/10/10 from 6-9pm for a Garage Sale Preview! DVDs $2, CDs $1, come get the best stuff before the neighborhood does! Or...

9/11/10 Saturday 10a-4pm, 9/12/10 Sunday 10a-3pm. A couple of geeks are
...trying to move! Come buy CHEAP DVDs, CDs, books, yarn, fabric, beads,
and other miscellaneous stuff! Back yard of address: 5810 8th Ave NW,
Seattle 98107.

Call our 206-201-2352 number if you have questions!
Hope to see you here!
--Shannon

Blackberry Picking at Magnuson Park

2010-09-07T14:40:00.000-07:00

One of the things I resolved to do before I start grad school at the end of September was to go berry-picking. My friend Anne agreed to be my berry buddy, so we set a date (yesterday) and figured we try out picking at Magnuson Park.

Despite general sogginess, Anne and I persevered and went a-berrying in spite of the weather. As far as large parks go, Magnuson isn't too far away from my usual haunts - 43 or 49 to the U District, and then take the 30 or the 75 to Sand Point Way and the park's entrance. From there we trekked in toward the lakeshore, having heard on the internets that that was the best place to find blackberry bushes.

The internets were right (hurray internets!). We found a bunch of brambles all along the paths near the lake, though not all of them had many ripe berries. I was worried it'd be too late to find many blackberries, but it looks like we're right in the middle of the season. The berries were in all stages of ripeness, including too-dried-up-to-be-edible. The dried up berries kind of weirded me out - aren't birds supposed to eat those before that happens?

Anne and I ended up off-roading and finding a couple of clearings in the middle of some really great blackberry thickets. We were drenched and tired, but we kept feeling compelled to stop and pick because there we just so damned many berries. When we finally left after about 2 or 3 hours of picking, I think we both made off with 2 or 3 pounds of blackberries (1lb/hr, woot). We're totally going back in a couple of days - even with that haul, we're going to need more berries if Anne's going to make wine or I'm going to make jam.

Nightlife: Report from August Capitol Hill Community Council Meeting and Reflections

2010-08-22T13:14:00.000-07:00

This last Thursday night, James Keblas, Director of the Seattle Music and Film Office, came to the Capitol Hill Community Council meeting to talk about the Seattle Nightlife Initiative. Before I go on, here are the bullet points of Mayor McGinn's Nightlife Initiative:

1. Code compliance enforcement
2. Flexible liquor service hours (This links to the Report on Flexible Hours, created of the City of Seattle by the Responsible Hospitality Institute.)
3. Noise ordinance enforcement
4. Security training requirements
5. Precinct community outreach
6. Professional development
7. Late-night transportation alternatives
8. Targeting public nuisances

Ok, short explanations first. "Code compliance enforcement" and "professional development" are about the city working with nightclubs and bars to make sure they're doing everything they're supposed to to be good neighbors, like helping a nightclub figure out where they should put baffling to keep the noise down. "Security training requirements" requires clubs to send their security staff to Seattle Police Dept. security training classes at a cost of $90 per employee. "Precinct community outreach" is the SPD talking to and getting feedback from the community about nightlife. I'm not clear on if the City plans on adding to the SPD's outreach budget or if the Mayor's office just threw that one in there to remind everyone that the precinct already talks to the community about safety issues already.

As you might expect, "flexible liquor service hours" got a lot of attention; allowing some bars to stay open and serve alcohol longer is controversial here, even if it's not in other places around the country. There wasn't a lot that Keblas could concretely say, since that's the part of the initiative that will take the longest to roll out. Every other Nightlife Initiative plank can be taken care of within city government or between the city and nightlife businesses. Flexible liquor service hours is dependent upon the Liquor Control Board, who isn't beholden to the city and has the whole of Washington to worry about. What Mr. Keblas could say is below (quote courtesy of Cienna Madrid, but it's pretty much what I remember him saying, too):

I don’t want to get too far ahead of the process now...but here’s a hint of what we think would happen. It would be a privileged license with a tremendous amount of conditions attached...You have to be able to measure it, in order to do it successfully. Measure SPD calls, drunk driving issues, economic impacts. Set these measures in place, say 'here are the numbers right now.' Then we'd grant something like 200 licenses spread among numerous neighborhoods, and build it up intentionally over time.

Mr Keblas also said something interesting about the Liquor Board's reaction to the Mayor's office's proposal of flexible liquor service hours. It was that the Liquor Board will be willing to have a conversation about flexible liquor hours if the City can show they have the people of Seattle onboard. Hmm. This could be interesting.

"Noise ordinance enforcement" is about making sure that noise complaints about clubs are valid, and when validated that those complaints are pursued by warnings and fines to the clubs in question. Validation entails an enforcement official taking a noise measurement in the dwelling of the complainant with all doors and windows closed. I thought that sounded kind of weird until Mr. Keblas explained that someone wasn't going to show up on your doorstep to do a sound measurement at 3 o'clock in the morning. Complainants would need to make an appointment for the enforcement official to come by and take the measurement, presumably sometime in the evening.

"Late-night transportation alternatives" are stuff like taxi stands, drive-u-home services, and being able to pay the parking meter till 10am the next day. This all seems like commonsense to me, and really, it's weird that we don't have any of this already. Sadly, there is no money to extend bus hours til the wee hours of the morning.

"Targeting public nuisances", aka the asshole ordinance, has already been put in place; said ordinance was passed about a month ago. It lets police officers ticket noisy, stupid drunk people instead of having to wait for them to commit an offense (assault, destruction of property) and then taking an hour off the street to arrest them. On the face of it, it sounded great, because nothing sucks more than some jackass yelling their head off at 3am. I totally want those people fined for being noisy idiots.

The problem is that it can be used in a discriminatory manner, like loitering laws. I was also concerned that a ticketing a noisy jerk might also be used as probable cause for a search, like a traffic stop. While I'm happy to have someone have to pay up for being a pain in the ass late at night, I don't think it's cool for them to have their pockets riffled through by the cops in the process. I checked up on this with Mr. Keblas, however, and he said that the police wouldn't be able to use the ordinance in that way.

UPDATED: Craft Pretty Things at Metrix: Create Space

2010-08-12T15:07:00.000-07:00

Because our manager's out of town, I've been working a lot more shifts at Metrix. Which makes me work on projects more, which means that I end up here every day of the week even when I'm not working. I've been missing out on some nice sunny afternoons [):], but I have been getting an extraordinary amount of sewing done and finishing a lot of purses (for me, anyway). And the shop is a lot cleaner than usual...

Below are some pictures of my favorites:

I am extra proud of the messenger bag. I figured out how to make a working strap and how to line it all by myself! Hurray for perseverance and reverse engineering!

MORE PICS/UPDATE BELOW:

Yay, free stuff! 6/29 - The Best Films You've Never Seen @ Roy Street Coffee

2010-06-24T17:45:00.000-07:00

I like free stuff and I like independent film. Roy Street Coffee & SIFF's Best of Fest has done the courtesy of putting those two things together with "The Best Films You've Never Seen", showing next Tuesday, June 29th at 8pm. Roy Street hosts the BFYNS every last Tuesday of the month in addition to their Wednesday and Sunday night 8pm Indie Flick.

6/25 - 1st Annual Prom Dress (Quake) Rugby Exhibition Match & Brocklinds Summer Garage Sale

2010-06-24T15:52:00.000-07:00

In the fine tradition of gender-bending summer sporting events in Cal Anderson Park, Quake Rugby will host their first ever rugby exhibition match played in prom dresses. This means if you're looking for any larger or plus-sized formal dresses at Value Village right now, you're screwed.

However, if you really do need that large-sized prom dress in time for Pride (or just some bargain-priced formal wear), you might have some luck at Brocklinds Summer Garage Sale. The sale is this Friday (9a-6p) and Saturday (9a-5p).

Capitol Hill Crossing, Watch Out for Hauls

2010-06-22T15:26:00.000-07:00

Life gets even more interesting for Capitol Hill pedestrians on July 1st when big dirt-haulers will start trucking from I-5 to the Broadway Light Rail Station site and back again using Olive and Denny. Recent pedestrian improvements at Boylston, a curb bulb on Denny and a crossing refuge on Olive, will make things a little less precarious for the pedestrian, and giant safety signs like the one above should keep everyone on their guard. Just be careful out there, and like they told you in kindergarten, don't forget to look both ways when you cross the street.

Karaoke is the new cupcake?

2010-06-15T16:13:00.001-07:00

With all the new karaoke nights and venues that have been popping up in the neighborhood this year, I'm starting to feel like karaoke is going to be the new cupcake: nice, but far more popular than it is enjoyable. This April brought us the advent of Frances Farmer Organ Karaoke, upbeat & underprivileged songs accompanied by an actual organ ever 1st and 3rd Thursday at Vermillion. If you hang around CHS Blog or Cal Anderson Park, you already know that Rock Box will be bringing Japanese-style booth karaoke to the neighborhood sometime this fall. And now that Highline is settled in on Broadway, they've brought back Cake-arokee from the purgatory it languished in after the close of its previous location, Squid and Ink. This particular karaoke event tonight (June 15th), and will occur every Tuesday night from 10am til closing time in perpetuity.

So, ok, FFOK sounds amazing. We'll see how the rest of them turn out.

Holy Christ, it's been awhile

2010-06-15T14:03:00.000-07:00

Sorry about that guys. Between writing for CHS Blog, Metrix:Create Space, All Things Cupcake (see sidebar for links) and getting ready for grad school I haven't had a lot of time for Life on the Hill. Which is wrong. How could I abandon my sweet little blog baby that way?! In the next few somewhat less hectic weeks, I will endeavor to rectify this grievous error.

2010 Bend-It Extravaganza Call for Queer Artists

2010-04-19T21:32:00.000-07:00

Bend-It is calling for all Queer Artists to be a part of the 2010 Bend-It Extravaganza

We are currently planning our 3 day art festival which will be June 25th-27th in Cal Anderson Park and Hugo House on Capitol Hill. Get the word out there!
We are hoping to showcase some new talents as well as some beloved favorites.

That means all you Acrobats, Singers, Breakers, Jugglers, Storytellers, Burlesquers, Poets, Pop Divas, DJs, Painters, Photographers, Hip Hop Artists, Drag Queens, Dancers, Film Directors, Clowns, Actors, Body Painters, Fashion Designers, Drag Kings, Boylesquers, Zinesters, Ukulele Strummers, Belly Dancers and Rock Bands AND artists! We are especially excited about young, local, and people of color artists.

Check out our website and use the Get Involved section to submit information if you have interest in performing, organizing, or just learning more.

Or, you can contact one of these organizers directly:

Sam - Sam.J.Irish@gmail.com
LT - ltmkt2@gmail.com
Quinn - quinnwyatt@gmail.com
Eden - Ourrainyparade@gmail.com

This year as part of the Bend-It Extravaganza , we will have a table where queer zinesters can leave, or pass out their zines for free. Everyone who contributes is guaranteed free photo copies for work sent in by June 11, so tell all your friends. If you've never written a zine before, but have always wanted to, now is your chance. We are accepting all kinds: lit zines, comics, poetry, adventure stories, cooking, mental health, DIY, etc., but would ask that they be in agreement with our mission statement and values.

Mail your submissions to:

Bend-It
PO Box 20252
Seattle, WA 98102

All submissions must be postmarked by June 11

For more information contact Quinn at
quinnwyatt@gmail.com
and go to benditbandits.org

Bend It is a queer artist activist collective that makes the world a more fabulous place by building welcoming, liberated spaces, strengthening community, and creating meaningful alternatives for queer young people and their friends.

Since 2003, Bend-It has been organizing a three-day arts festival during the weekend of the Seattle Pride Parade in June. We designed our festival as a meaningful, non-corporate, proactively inclusive alternative to Pride, hosting community artists-led workshops, concerts, photography exhibits, film festivals, fashion/drag/burlesque shows, and spoken poetry open mic nights. We have encouraged DIY (do-it-yourself) and DIT (do-it-together) mentalities by offering reciprocal skill-building workshops—as opposed to top-down, one-way interactions.

The Radio8Ball Show, or The Pop Oracle

2010-04-11T21:54:00.000-07:00

Michael Upchurch of Seattle Times says "You'll have fun at this show." I wholeheartedly agree, though I might be just a wee bit biased since I've been live-tweeting for them all season. Then again, if I didn't like the show, I wouldn't still be running Radio8Ball's Twitter for them, now would I?

Check Upchurch's article for a good explanation of the show, but the one I nicked off the Radio8Ball Blog works too: it's the show "where questions are answered by picking songs at random and interpreting them like musical tarot cards". It's also group therapy, intentional/unintentional comedy, really New-Agey meaning-making and a really intimate acoustic basement show all rolled into one. It's not for everyone (especially if you're allergic to words like "synchronicity" or "feelings"), but if you're into it after one show, you're hooked.

I certainly am, anyway. And now so is my S.O. after I towed him along to celebrate my upcoming birthday and got my question picked(!) - "Question #5 (me!) How can I help my S.O. realize his dreams? Song answer: Say you love me [by Jenny Jenkins]". It was really the cutest damn thing ever. If you really feel like reading how that particular musical question & answer went, backwards, see below. I gotta warn you, it's pretty mushy.

(happy birthday to me!)

John sez: I love you too - you are my dream.

I say: I love you John Sepulveda!

Andras sez that sometimes all you need is to realize your dreams and get thru life is someone who believes in you and loves you

trying to understand her S.O.'s language of love

Jenny sez that this song is about

I dont' know much about being stable/ but thanks for cleaning up after me /sorry I'm not making any money

When you're gone I go neurotic/ now you're back it feels exotic about

Question #5 (me!) How can I help my SO realize his dreams? Answer: Say you love me

Call to Artists: Capitol Hill Station Wall Project - Roster of Artists

2010-04-02T01:02:00.000-07:00

This particular call to artists is of very personal interest to me. I live not too far away from the station site and wish to be treated to challenging, boundaries-pushing, world-class art on a daily basis. I'll also be on the selection committee (I got to help pick DK Pan as lead artist! So cool!), so I really want a great group to choose from. And, yes, I also happen to like Broadway and wish the best of financial success on its businesses, and I do believe that great art on the construction wall can do a lot to keep foot traffic from abandoned the street in droves.

So, tell all your awesome artist friends who do large scale, edgy work to send in an application. The future of Broadway and my viewing pleasure depend on it.

R.I.P. Mold, or, Seattle Household Tips

2010-03-06T23:45:00.000-08:00

I hate mold. A lot. I come from Southern California, so when I was growing up mold was something you had to take of the bathroom from time to time. Now that I live in a janky apartment in Seattle, it's something I have to address on a weekly basis during the winter in the bathroom, in every windowsill, and occasionally on things that lean against outside walls. So I really fucking hate mold.

I finally got around to looking up how to kill this stuff right the other day. The CDC says that a 1:16 solution of bleach and water, sprayed onto and left on the affected surface, should do the trick. I wiped down everything first and then sprayed it with the milquetoast bleach solution just for good measure. I really hope it works.

Beard & Stache Fest comes to the Hill

2010-02-07T20:13:00.000-08:00

Beard & Stache Fest is a month-long homage to facial hair and an extended fundraiser for Treehouse, a non-profit committed to improving the lives of foster kids in Washington state. It's had some events around Seattle previously, but today is the first day it came to Capitol Hill with the Wifflebowl in Cal Anderson Park. I only walked by, but I must admit, it looked like a lot of fun.

If nothing else crazy gets planned for Valentine's Day, I fully plan to attend the next Beard & Stache/Cal Anderson event, the Lover's Quarrel Cardboard Tube Fight. You bring the cardboard armor, the enthusiasm and lots of friends; the Beard & Stache folks will provide the cardboard tubes. It's free (though donations are appreciated) at Cal Anderson Park on 2/14 from 1-4pm, w/a pre-quarrel brunch at Bluebird and an afterparty at Po-Dog.

This Week's Events of Note

2010-01-24T20:00:00.000-08:00

It's Hunger Action Week for King County from Jan. 25th through the 29th - can you feed yourself on only $7 a day for a whole week? Many, many people do that every day since that's the maximum food benefit for an individual in the state of Washington. This week in particular however, a bunch of people are going to try it even they don't have to, including the mayor and a hell of a lot of bloggers. What about you?
PubliCola is having it's first birthday this Wednesday, January 27th down at The Crocodile from 7pm till they kick everyone the hell out. Come schmooze, drink and celebrate a year of local news and political coverage for FREE.
If you're not feeling like a wonk schmoozefest, there's also a Haiti Benefit (Jazz) Show at Faire Gallery and Cafe the same night from 9pm on.
The first Seattle Startup Drinks of the year is this Friday, January 29th from 7-10pm down at Two Bells Tavern. Come on down to Belltown and talk about what you're up to.

Rent's Due

2010-01-24T02:55:00.001-08:00

I recently discovered that a favorite (delicious and affordable!) restaurant of mine that did not wish to be named is moving out of the center city in favor of more affordable pastures to the north. Even though they're on a main thoroughfare, that thoroughfare's been hitting hard times as of late. Despite the decline in foot traffic, rents are still at the same levels as several years ago. This bums me out. In a time when we're all still broke and in need of comfort food, a decently priced restaurant gets pushed out beyond reasonable bussing distance by an unyielding landlord and an unequally unyielding rent. Rats.

Recently, on CHS Blog: Pies in Mason Jars, Carbon Coaching & an Urban CSA

2010-01-17T01:32:00.000-08:00

These last two weeks I've posted on CHS Blog about Mini-Empire Bakery, David Lyman's upcoming free Carbon Coaching class, and Alleycat Acres. (I can't really count the John and Summit naming stuff cuz I didn't post about it, even if I did help write the letter.) I feel accomplished :)

Kiki the Robot: Origins

2010-01-17T01:15:00.002-08:00

Upon learning that Metrix: Create Space had a soldering room, my friend MJ decided it was high time to finish building her robot Kiki. While Kiki is presently a mere pile of parts, she will soon become an adorable (I presume) little bot that can navigate mazes with the help of her wee little light sensors. Once she's up and running I'm sure I'll write a post in the Metrix blog, but for now, I just wanted to document her very earliest beginnings. Think of it as the digital version of bronzed baby shoes.

This Week in Kickoffs: The Uprising Art Opening, Office Nomads Resolutions Party, & B-Way Light Rail Stations Construction Begins

2010-01-11T18:15:00.001-08:00

The Uprising, this Tuesday night's (8-11pm) Zombie Art Show Reception & Zombie Potluck at Zero Zero, begins my week in Capitol Hill kickoffs. This is a must-attend: you can meet Zero Zero's Jason of the amazing double handlebar mustache, and of course, there will be zombie art.

Thursday is going to be an event double-header with Office Nomads Resolutions Party/Winter Open House and then the Capitol Hill Light Rail Station Construction Kickoff over at Seattle Central. The party at Office Nomads goes from 6-9pm and the Construction Kickoff presentation will go from about 6:30 to 8pm...yeah, so maybe it isn't actually physically possible to make it to both. But I can try.

Cal Anderson Park Alliance Looking for New Board Members

2010-01-09T14:30:00.000-08:00

Kay Rood, Hill-famous CAPA President, has requested that I spread the word about CAPA's search for members to fill their newly-expanded board. The Cal Anderson Park Alliance is the continuation of the badass community group that convinced the city to turn Lincoln Reservoir into a spectacular park rather than a big cement lid. They're still active and making Cal Anderson Park activated and amazing, so if you've got the time and that's what you're into, I recommend applying to become a CAPA board member.

The Cal Anderson Park Alliance is accepting applications and will start reviewing them at the end of January. You can find the application form at the CAPA website.

Grand Openings: Inauguration Day Seattle, Kraftwerks Night, Salvage Marsupials, Radio8Ball Show

2010-01-04T01:02:00.000-08:00

This Monday's pretty momentous if you're a massive local politics nerd like I am: at 2pm, Mayor-elect McGinn, City Attorney-elect Pete Holmes and the Councilmembers-elect Sally Bagshaw, Mike O'Brien, Richard Conlin and Nick Licata will be sworn in down at City Council Chambers. I'll be there, shaking hands and taking pictures. Slideshow coming soon :)

This coming Tuesday night is going to be much more interesting than the average Tuesday night because it will be the grand opening of the weekly craft night at Metrix: Create Space and of my wee Etsy store, Salvage Marsupials. Kraftwerks Night (hee hee) will go from 6pm till midnight, and the grand opening of Salvage Marsupials will occur once I show up to Metrix with celebratory cookies.

This coming Sunday evening will be extra exciting too because it's the first Radio8Ball Sho w of the season and my first time twittering for said show. It should be interesting posting tweets about a "show where questions are answered by picking songs at random and interpreting the randomly chosen songs as the answer to the questions, like shaking a musical 8ball." Wish me luck!

We Wish You a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2010-01-03T13:31:00.000-08:00

So, here's the belated cheesy Christmas cracker joke I owe my faithful readers:

What is a minimum?
A very small mother

And as a New Year's Bonus, here's Steve McQueen the Cat, to the tune of the opening theme of McGyver.

We wish you a Merry Christmas (2)

2009-12-24T12:40:00.001-08:00

A Christmas card for my faithful readers, courtesy of St. Matthew-in-the-City of Auckland, New Zealand and AP News.

Outside:

Inside:

The true meaning of Christmas...

Happy Hols everyone,
Jen

We wish you a Merry Christmas

2009-12-24T02:01:00.001-08:00

In the fine and upstanding Life on the Hill Christmas tradition, it is customary to post bad jokes that hail from the British Christmas Crackers that my mom buys every year. Since she told me one a few days early, I will now deliver it fresh to you:

What do you call a video game system in a Nativity Scene?
A Wii In a Manger

Don't worry, there's more where that came from.

P.S. Courtesy of XKCD, here's a much better Christmas joke.

Busy week for the Community Council

2009-12-13T23:17:00.000-08:00

This week is going to be a busy one for the Capitol Hill Community Council: the CHCC Holiday Benefit Bash is on Tuesday (12/15) and the December General Meeting is just two days later (12/17). I will have the pleasure of attending both.

If you find your holiday schedule too tight to handle this much civic participation, I suggest the Holiday Benefit Bash: it's more laid-back, you still have the chance to find out about what's going on in the neighborhood, and there's jello shots. They are asking for a ten dollar suggested donation (i.e. we understand if you're poorer than we are), but it's a good value for live music, pizza, Rock Band with your neighbors, and the charm and wit of the officers of the Community Council :)

UPDATE: Turns out that the Holiday Benefit Bash was THE event of last Tuesday night - about 100 people came, the Council raised about $400, and everybody had a good time (and possibly a few jello shots).

All Tomorrow's Parties: Cap Hill Holiday Hoopla

2009-12-08T02:09:00.000-08:00

Since the Capitol Hill Community Council is one of the co-sponsors of the Capitol Hill Holiday Hoopla, I'll be there this Tuesday night at the "So You Think You Know Capitol Hill" Trivia Table (complete with lovely assistants and sugar-filled prizes).

After looking at all the RSVPs on the Hoopla Facebook page, I'm really, really happy I'll be tabling there that night - it looks to be an excellent outreach opportunity plus I don't think I'd be able to fight my way in otherwise. But what do you expect when there's an absolutely free party/food/drinks to be had on Capitol Hill?

This week in obnoxious side projects: S.T.E.A.M. Assembly at Metrix Create Space

2009-11-05T22:33:00.000-08:00

Words are more potent when spoken to a group of creative, like-minded people. Instead of simply being idle, talk becomes action. When one speaks to steampunk types about creating a union for airship mechanics, zeppelin grease-monkeys and the like...idle talk can become extremely silly action. And hence I will be serving tea and cakes in Metrix Create Space at 3PM this Saturday afternoon to the members and supporters of the newly formed Society to Emancipate Airship Mechanics. First a Facebook group, then a blog, and now plans to agitate openly in the streets for the rights of airship workers everywhere. I'm almost afraid to ask what's next...our own cooperatively owned and fully functional airship?

{image courtesy of the ineffable Molly Friedrich}

Fare thee well, sweet Bailey Coy

2009-11-05T22:21:00.000-08:00

I was bummed when I heard Bailey Coy Books was going to close at the end of November, but Cheesecake's video interview of Michael Wells has me sniffling. All good things must come to an end and all, but watching this interview makes it feel like closing this bookstore is kicking people out of their home.

Anyway, I'll see you at the wake.

Fresh from my inbox to you: SNG Landlord Training - Nov. 17th

2009-11-04T09:47:00.000-08:00

Seattle Neighborhood Group offers training workshops for landlords, property managers, and real estate managers! Seattle Neighborhood Group is a local non-profit organization dedicated to making our communities strong and safe places to live. We support local property managers and landlords by providing critical information on keeping properties safe and crime free.

This workshop is great for managers who want to brush up on their management skills, as well as for people who have never been landlords before.

After attending this workshop you will be able to...

• Screen applications fairly & legally
• Create excellent rental agreements
• Deal with problems before they escalate
• Identify illegal behavior, especially relating to drug activity on your property
• Avoid situations that lead to difficult evictions
• Learn about recent changes to landlord/tenant laws
• Prevent illegal activity
• Work with your residents to make your property a great place to be.

SNG's upcoming training is 8 hours, and costs $25, which includes a comprehensive Landlord Manual, and of course...snacks! (breakfast, morning, and afternoon).

The workshop will be held at the at 3515 S. Alaska on November 17th. Check-in begins at 8:00.
You must register before Nov. 17! Register online at: http://www.sngi.org/landlord_register.html

Workshop presenters include:
Ron Oldham, National Association of Housing & Redevelopment Officials Director
Gary Kinner, SPD Narcotics Detective
Chris Benis, Attorney, director of Rental Housing Association of Puget Sound
Michael Neguse, Community Organizer, Seattle Neighborhood Group

Register online at: http://www.sngi.org/landlord_register.html
More information at: http://www.sngi.org/landlord.html
Or call Seattle Neighborhood Group at 206-323-9666

And finally, the picture show - images of Steam-Con 2009

2009-10-29T00:05:00.001-07:00

A Busy Halloween - Life on the Hill's Schedule of Events

2009-10-28T00:20:00.001-07:00

Friday Pre-funk, 8pm to 10pm (ish) - Nuns Go Bump in the Night: Sisters of the Motherhouse of Washington, fundraiser for Lambert House, Cafe Metropolitain
Saturday, 10am to Noon - Chamber of Commerce Monster Cleanup: civic engagement, breakfast and luncheon with neighborhood movers and shakers
6pm to 8pm - Capitol Hill Community Council Broadway Trick or Treat: small children in cute outfits, lots of candy from kind and generous businesses
10pm to late - Depthcharge: deep benthic theme, goths, underground (literally) club, cheap strong drinks

The last one is up in the air at the moment since a friend of mine is trying to lure me to Sand Point with the promise of good company and pumpkin cheesecake. We'll see where I end up.

Rise Up, O Workers of the Air!

2009-10-27T11:22:00.000-07:00

One of the side effects of a good convention are all the new projects that pop up afterward. It's just what happens when creative like-minded people gather in those numbers. I don't know about all the creative fallout after Steam-Con, but I do know about the part of it that fell on me: the Society To Emancipate Airship Mechanics. One moment I was just a simple zeppelin grease monkey enjoying my day off and then - BAM - I'm in charge of an airship workers union. I must have been extremely charming on Sunday. That and everyone must be really tired of losing extremities to unprotected propellers.

In case you missed it: Article and Video on CHCC sponsored Mayoral Candidate Forum

2009-10-23T17:00:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday's Mayoral Candidate Forum went remarkably well, especially considering it was the Council's first venture into wrangling political candidates to be at the same place at relatively the same time. We had a good crowd (approx. 100) and good press: CHS blog sent along their intern and their videographer to cover the event. You can see Lucas the intern's article here and cheesecake's video here.

Even Localler: Ads now available on Life on the Hill from Instiads

2009-10-23T15:22:00.000-07:00

I've been doing Google ads for awhile now, but they've been fairly unsatisfactory. As a hyperlocal blog, I want hyperlocal ads, right? Instead I get randomized selections of advertisements from the Google bin based on keywords from my latest blog posts. Luckily, they pull up a lot of Seattle stuff, but sometimes I get weird picks...I may write about the Seattle city attorney, but I'm pretty sure no one is coming to my site to find ads about Seattle lawyers.

So when Justin of Capitol Hill Seattle Blog started talking about a system that would let me sell my own ads to local businesses, I asked where to sign up. InstiAd's has a setup a lot like the ads on CHS blog - once the blog owner has an account, buyers can go to that blog's InstiAd site and make their own ads whenever they want. You can find my InstiAd account here. I can guarantee a focused audience (geek, green, Capitol Hill) for low, low prices. You know, if you're interested.

Sky Pirate

2009-10-22T22:58:00.000-07:00

I signed up for the listserve at SirThomasRiley.com because Nick Valentino's new steampunk novel looked interesting and they said that they were recruiting sky pirates. I thought they were just being cute until I got my enlistment papers and flight credentials:

This is fan-fuckin-tastic - I am so showing this off at Steam-Con this weekend.

Grand Opening - Metrix: Create Space

2009-10-16T00:59:00.000-07:00

After this month's Capitol Hill Community Council meeting and a quick stop at "Dead Stay Dead" at Cafe Metropolitain (more on those later), I finally got a chance to visit Metrix: Create Space's grand opening. The quick way to describe it is Best Crafty Geek Basement Ever. It's a little bare since they're still working on decor, but they've made a good start with the art they've already got up on the walls. And anyway, it's really about the geek tools, of which they have an impressive array at decent hourly rates.

The only slightly negative thing I have to say is pretty peripheral- it would be nice if their coffee didn't come from a push button machine. That said, it's not like you can't just walk upstairs and find real espresso within spitting distance. And who knows, maybe some folks will think it gives the place some extra geeky atmosphere.

Anyway, congrats to owner Matt Westervelt, and may we see many crafty endeavors enabled by you soon.

Bioneers Free Webcasts All Weekend :)

2009-10-16T00:22:00.000-07:00

Fresh from my email box: news of free online eco lectures courtesy of Bioneers. Last year's Bioneers Conference had really good speakers (I interviewed a few of them here and here) so it's fair to expect they'll be spot-on again this year. Not to mention, it's free and you can watch it at home in your jam-jams :D

=======================================================

We know that not everyone could make it out to San Rafael or to one of our 19 Beaming Bioneers sites, so we've decided to do something unprecedented this year and bring part of the conference to you.

For the first time ever, we will be offering a live webcast for free of two of our keynote speakers on each day of the conference, this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

On Friday:
· Sarah James will report from the Arctic on climate change and its impact on indigenous people.
· Michael Pollan will speak on reforming our broken industrial food system and what it means to for our health.
This webcast will begin Friday, starting at 11:30 AM PST.

On Saturday:
· Jason McLennan will talk about living buildings and the future of architecture.
· Lily Yeh will recount her experiences with the Rwanda Healing Project.
This webcast will begin this Saturday, starting at 9:00 AM PST.

On Sunday:
· Jerome Ringo will address the reality of green jobs in our re-made economy.
· Annie Leonard will help us find our way beyond the Age of Stuff.
This webcast will begin this Sunday, starting at 11:30 AM PST.

In addition, on both Friday and Saturday at 4:30 PM PST, we will be webcasting a panel and workshop on sustainable social media, in partnership with InfluenceXchange.

To view these live streaming webcasts, just go to this web address:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bioneers-conference-09

These amazing presentations will be live, so don't miss it!

10/17 Capitol Hill Community Council Presents: Mayoral Candidate Forum @ Seattle U

2009-10-14T23:47:00.001-07:00

I've been so busy putting this event together that I haven't had a chance to put up a post about it. Here's the boilerplate:

Seattle Mayoral Candidate Forum

Date: Saturday, October 17^th, 2009

Time: 4:30-6pm

Location: Pigott Auditorium
Albers School of Business & Economics
Seattle University

The purpose of the forum is to provide an opportunity for residents and other stakeholders on Capitol Hill and the surrounding neighborhoods to meet the candidates and learn more about them. More specifically, the Council will engage the candidates in dialogue concerning their vision for the city and how they will seek to improve the quality of life for the citizens of Seattle. We will discuss topics such as the relationship of city government to its residents & neighborhoods, city planning in regard to open space & land use, and transportation.

Crafty with something to show for it

2009-10-08T00:16:00.001-07:00

As I've said before, I've been feeling awfully crafty lately. Behold the fruit of my labors:

Not only are they shiny, they're green too - I made 'em from upholstery remnants I found in the Value Village basement. Since I still don't know how to use a sewing machine (working on that), I've been making them by hand. My fingers are crossed that I'll have enough of them done by Steam-Con that I can make a good showing...though to be honest, I have no idea how much demand there is for these things, so maybe fewer is better.

Sign of the Times - Paramount Theater Sign Replication

2009-10-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

I was heading up the hill from downtown about noon on Tuesday when I saw this nice lady and her homemade sign.

It turns out that she has this fun job because the old Paramount sign is being replaced. We got to talking about the process - the historic Paramount sign had been up since 1930 and was now about as sturdy as the Viaduct, so it was coming down and being replaced by a super eco-friendly down-to-the-bolt replica made of recycled aluminum and LEDs.

The work was going pretty quickly. At about eight that morning I had seen someone up at the top of the sign with an arc welder, but by afternoon

it looked like this.

I asked the nice staff lady what was going to happen with the sign. She said that they wouldn't know until it was evaluated for structural integrity, but that the most likely thing was that it would be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

Much better than ending up in a landfill. I just hope the highest bidder is someplace I can visit in Seattle :)

Spirit of the Hill in Pictures

2009-10-07T22:59:00.000-07:00

I got there right at six and Poppy was packed. Luckily Hong and Razz and I found a nice little table with a good view of the room.

Barefoot Wines donated the red, white and bubbly - I was fond of the champagne and the white they served, but the red was a little too tart for me.

Everyone else had roasted black cod, but I called vegetarian so I got the salad course instead. I was only a little jealous - the vinaigrette balanced nicely with the walnuts and the figs in the salad. Though I wasn't so sure how I felt about the little berries.

Chanterelle, Leek and Chard Lasagna - the slices between layers aren't noodles, but thin little slices of parmesan. I am presently drooling just remembering it.

Herb Gnudi (ricotta dumplings) with King Bolete Mushrooms - again with the salivation. This was so very rich I was not at all envious of the meat-eaters option, Lavender Crusted Duck Breast with Lavender Sauce.

I did try a little of the mushroom majoram bread pudding and the sage roasted delicata squash. Freakin' amazing.

Dark chocolate terrine with ginger, sesame and pine nut - world's fanciest brownie. Also, chocolate nirvana. I think there was some cayenne pepper in there too.

Our lovely tablemate Lisa with her raffle winnings, six bottles of wine hand-picked by the Chamber board members.

Speaking of crafty - Metrix Create:Space

2009-10-06T12:36:00.000-07:00

Jeanine of the Capitol Hill Arts Walk tipped me off to the arrival of Metrix Create:Space on the Hill via Twitter (here's her full write-up on CHS Blog). It'll open up on Oct. 15th in the basement of 623 Broadway E., which'll make them next door neighbors to the Museum of Mysteries. I've never heard of the like of it before - it looks like the love child of an indy coffeeshop and a crafter's co-working space. They'll have all kinds of crafty tools available for use: sewing machines, soldering irons, laser cutting services and even a MakerBot. Wowzers. I feel compelled to investigate.

(picture courtesy of Metrix Create:Space wiki)

Spirit of the Hill

2009-10-05T22:34:00.000-07:00

Oh. My. Goodness. The Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce always has the best parties - everybody who's everybody was there so it was like attending a super-concentrated dose of schmooze. I'd take up a blog post and more if I wrote down all the people I ran into. But I can tell you that Leslie Lippi of B-Bam (and the Chamber VP) was at the table across from me, I was introduced to Chip Ragen of Ragen and Associates, met the head pastor of Capitol Hill Presbyterian, and chatted up the table of my alma mater, Seattle University. Among other things.

Oh yes. And then there was the food. I had heard meh reviews of Poppy before - I will pay no heed to them now. That dinner was tasty foods heaven. I will have rants and raves of it soon, along with pictures, once I have enough perspective to be able to put words to the experience.

Congrats to Michael Wells of Bailey Coy Books and Chip Ragen for receiving the first ever Spirit of the Hill awards. I didn't get a good look at the trophies, but I heard them described as "flaming crystal"...which is a remarkably appropriate representation for the spirit of our neighborhood.

That said, a first event of any kind is not without its problems. While Jerry Traunfeld is an excellent chef, he wasn't the best keynote speaker. I also heard that some people were asked to give up their tickets, though I have no idea why ... I certainly hope they get their money back. And maybe their own private wine tasting party or something. Because that was quite an event to be asked to miss.

Feeling crafty

2009-10-02T14:04:00.000-07:00

Since it's now autumn and Steam-Con will soon be upon us, I've been feeling exceptionally crafty of late. The problem is, as always, I don't have any money but I really want to go out and buy supplies. What is an impoverished crafter to do? Get salvagepunk and hit the bargain bins.

My favorite Hill stop in the autumn and winter is the Value Village basement. They're open late and they price all their stock to move cuz they're constantly getting new stuff in. Also, since garage sale season is over, if somebody's moving and wants to get rid of all their extra crap, a quick stop to drop things off at Value Village is the best way to do it.

Second favorite is the Capitol Hill Trading Post on 12th. They're prices are a little higher, but they have the neat vintage shtuff that is essential when putting together steampunk contraptions. The only real problem I have with the place is that they're hours aren't too extensive, which makes spur of the moment shopping a little difficult.

I'll be honest - you need to have a practiced eye, adequate self-control, and a willingness to sort through lots and lots of crap. But it's totally worth it when you figure out that all that lovely cloth you found as fabric samples turns out to cost all of $2 a yard.

I Heart (Affordable) Massage - Introducing Casey Shea

2009-10-02T13:16:00.000-07:00

I am a huge fan of massage, but it has sadly gone on the list of "things that the recession won't let me do anymore". So when I was heading out of 8 Limbs Yoga on Pike and I saw a massage chair with a "free chair massage" sign next to it, I was hooked. When I got a massage, my next thought after :D was "Hello, new best friend!"

The kind and generous soul giving away massages was Casey Shea, a long-time masseuse who's recently started practicing at 8 Limbs (they have a massage room, who knew?). Since she's new to doing business in the neighborhood, she's been doing free chair massages as a way to drum up business. Best. Advertising. Ever.

Not only is Casey good at what she does, but she's got really reasonable prices too: $55/60 min., $70/75, and $15 off your first massage. For now, Casey's just working at 8 Limbs on Fridays from 2-8pm. You can get ahold of her at caseyshea(at)gmail.com or at 360-820-2279 and 360-671-4489. Here's to massages that poor Hill kids can afford.

10/3 - Co-op Conference and Groundbreaking for 16th & Howell Park

2009-10-02T11:46:00.000-07:00

I got their letter in the mail awhile ago, but Capitol Hill Seattle blog was also kind enough to remind me that Madison Market is holding a Co-Op conference this Saturday at Richard Hugo House (you can see the schedule here). It's $30 for the day, but Mad Market being the kind hearted folks that they are, scholarship and work-trade opportunities are also available.

If you're thinking about running your own business or community concern someday, I would recommend attending the SLICE conference. A co-operative is a good model to work with, and even if you don't decide to go that route, there are plenty of things from this model that apply to others: financial planning, figuring out what the community wants, how to lead effectively, etc., etc.

= = = = =

They beat John and Summit to it by a long shot - 16th and Howell Park is having their groundbreaking ceremony this Saturday from 4-5pm in the parking lot that will become the park. There will be a poetry reading and community members are encouraged to bring a favorite line from a poem or play to add to the community poetry tree (communi-tree?). This all sounds lovely as long as the weather doesn't get too soggy.

No HUMP for you >:(

2009-10-01T10:39:00.001-07:00

Gay Cap Hill just reminded me that HUMP 5 is next weekend....and that I can't go because I'm flying home for a friend's wedding at noon on Friday. Please, The Stranger, add a Thursday showing! Maybe Sunday night?

For all of you staying in town from October 9 - 10 who haven't yet gotten their tickets to everyone's favorite amateur porn film festival , it's your lucky day - The Stranger just added two matinee showings on Friday because all the other ones sold out. Act now or forever hold your...hump?

Sunday at ROW Garden

2009-09-29T23:37:00.001-07:00

More pictures of everyone's favorite Capitol Hill gardening collective.

Getting ready for fall.

The vegetables of our labor :)

The gardeners victorious - myself and our fearless leader, Kristin.

Seattle AIDS Walk with the Sisters of the Mother House

2009-09-29T22:35:00.000-07:00

When I signed up for the Seattle AIDS Walk with the Gothic Pride Seattle team, I did it because Dizzy (now a Rep. of the Capitol Hill Community Council :D) would be there and it's always fun to go on a promenade decked out in my gothic finest. I did not know I was also going to have the company of these fine ladies:

Meet the Sisters of the Mother House of Washington, the founding and recently resurrected charitable drag nun sisterhood of Seattle. Sister Angela Merici (flying nun hat with blue boa, novice sister on the lower right) was the organizer of the Gothic Pride Seattle team and also a gracious answerer of questions about the Sisters of the Mother House.

The park was just full of people. It would've made finding the team interesting, except that I was walking with towering drag nuns.

McGinn sighting! Seriously, this guy is everywhere.

No event with the Sisters is complete without lots and lots of photo ops. The nice man on the left without the flying nun hat is Ambrosio de Membro Sancto (heh heh), a guard of the Sisters of the Mother House. He's there expressly to make sure that the Sisters get where they're supposed to be on time and don't get completely sidetracked by said photo ops.

On the road with the Gothic Pride Seattle team.

We arrive at Harem for a welcome cup of Turkish coffee and are greeted by Dizzy in his....festive...hat....

M. Theresa Nervina of the Mother House of Washington and Sr. Dorothy Faith of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence of the Abbey of St. Joan.

The Mother and a possible future Sister of the Mother House.

The organizer of the Gothic Pride Seattle team, Sr. Angela Merici, plus admirers.

And of course I had to have a picture with the Mother of the Mother House, M. Theresa Nervina. I'm happy to announce that there will be more opportunities for photo ops soon - the Sisters of the Mother House will be accompanying the Capitol Hill Community Council's Halloween Walk. I'm delighted - what better way is there to start Halloween on Capitol Hill than going door to door for candy on Broadway with a charitable sisterhood of drag nuns?

Last Minute Plans: Seattle AIDS Walk

2009-09-24T23:46:00.000-07:00

I just heard about this Saturday's Seattle AIDS Walk earlier this week. Just today I found out that the Gothic Seattle Pageant has a team in the walk. So of course I had to sign up with them. If you want to help me contribute some last minute money to charity, you can donate here.

Haunted by Street Art

2009-09-24T18:35:00.000-07:00

I found these little buddies on my street just this week. They're all along Boylston and Olive. Thanks artsy neighbor!

Looking forward to fall: Events in October

2009-09-21T10:42:00.000-07:00

According to popular belief, things slow down in Seattle once summer ends and the rain curtain falls. This is crap - all the cloudy days don't catch up with us until after the holidays. Until then, we're all still sailing on a Vitamin D high til we can coast on holiday bonhomie/grinchiness, which eventually runs out in January. This means I'm going to be socializing around the Hill for at least three more months until we all go into collective hibernation til Spring.

Anyway, I've already pitched about all the steampunk-y goodness that's coming up this month and next. I'm even more excited now that I've (only just) realized I can recycle all my new steampunk goodies for Halloween. One mad Victorian scientist, coming right up.

It's fortunate I have a relatively family-friendly costume for Halloween this year since I'll be one of the chaperones/shepherds for the Capitol Hill Community Council Halloween Walk. I know that two hours of herding small children up and down Broadway doesn't sound like a ton of fun, but little kids in adorable costumes makes me happy. Especially since the little blighters would be cheated out of all that tooth-rotting goodness if the Council didn't do the Walk on Broadway -it's kind of hard to go trick or treating at apartment buildings.

In nerdier (and consequently more exciting) event news, the Capitol Hill Community Council is going to host it's very own mayoral candidate forum on Oct. 17th at Seattle University's Pigott Auditorium. I know it's not an event venue that non-alums are very likely to see, but I can guarantee you - it's a very nice auditorium. The acoustics are so lovely you can forgive the fact the whole place is painted mauve.

The focus of the forum is on community and neighborhood activism, so the Council is inviting attendance and questions from as many Cap Hill community types as possible. If you'd like to help out with the event or just throw in your two cents, but the Policy and Planning boys at chcc.planning(at)gmail.com.

Park(ing) Day - Live at Central Park Seattle Pictures

2009-09-21T00:10:00.000-07:00

I can finally put some pictures up because of the wonders of Flickr and the generosity/quick postings of a person I only know as gravitysalad. I did take pictures on Park(ing) Day, but since it wasn't my central goal for the event there are a lot of things/ interesting shots that I missed. This wasn't so for gravitysalad, bless their little heart, thus I can finally present some pretty pictures of the day.

One puzzle - who the hell is this person? There are some shots of gravitysalad's I remember being taken, but for the life of me I can't picture the person who took them. I'm blaming the long hours and the hot sun for that. Anyway, if anyone knows who it was who took these lovely pictures, please tell me so I can thank them and invite them to all of the Council's future events (their camera is invited too :D).

The grand view of Park(ing) Day Central Park. 4-Play Park, winner of the Most Playful Park award, is in the foreground. The fact that a group of Portland design professionals came all the way up to Capitol Hill just to make that innuendo made me very happy.

Here you can see the elusive 12 Hr Notice, a DJ that recently rolled onto the neighborhood scene with only his beats and a shopping cart.

Here's one of the pictures that I swear I remember someone taking, but I can't remember who it was. Argh. It's one of the shots I'm especially grateful for - lots of people activating the space and me looking useful explaining something. It's kind of hard to get pictures like that when you're the only one manning the booth.

A collection of sites at an event like this was bound to get some high concept parks - Park(ing) Day Central Park was no exception. Above is the sign for Brite Collective's contribution, Negative Space. Their spot boasted vegan cookies and creating your own map of the city (with markers!), but I think they got their picture taken so often because of their sign and its placement. The angle of the light made for an especially clever picture, too- one that I took that I'm actually in.

Speaking of high-concept, here's the winner of this year's Park(ing) Day Seattle Prize: air-stream by Signal to Noise. This is what happens when you ask design professionals to define a park. It's a lot more personable when you add people to it, especially if they're under 5 years of age and apt to treat the whole thing as a modified ballpit. This happened more than once during the day. It was very cute.

I was so amused that the Capitol Hill Community Council park got picked as a backdrop for KOMO that I just had to get a picture. In order to do that, I had to walk right behind Denise Whittaker as they were shooting, hence why you can see me briefly in KOMO's Park(ing) Day video below. Please note the elegant demeanor and the "sash of state".

--

UPDATED Park(ing) Day - Live at Central Park Seattle

2009-09-18T14:44:00.000-07:00

Wow...it has been quite a day. We had visits from KOMO, Mike O'Brien, Sally Bagshaw, Seattle Post-Globe (i.e. Kery Murakami). Also, many small children and assorted residents. Hollow Earth Radio is here with their confession tent, a bunch of architects went conceptual and made an Air Park (huge hit with the kids), 12-Hour Notice is down the way playing music out of a shopping cart, Webster Crowell is here with his start-up seltzer company, and of course the Community Council's "Paradise Unpaved" park is gorgeous.

Pictures will come when I get some more time and a better internet connection. Totally looking forward to the Toy Box Trio's concert later this afternoon, and the awards ceremony tonight :)

UPDATE: My pictures and the KOMO video of the "Paradise Unpaved" park are over at the UP Blog. Also, here's the listing of the Park(ing) Day Seattle Prize winners - congrats to Signal to Noise for coming in first! (Sorry, still too tired to post twice.)

A Conversation with Friends of Seattle Public Library

2009-09-16T22:42:00.001-07:00

A while ago I got to sit down and talk with Sarel Rowe of Friends of Seattle Public Library about how I use our public library system, what our library contributes to the neighborhood, and what libraries will look like in the future (two words: info portal). This conversation was part of a survey Friends of SPL put together for their Neighborhood Report on library value, an important subject in the light of the recent week-long library closure. I was just lucky enough to be able to take the survey in person with someone as nice and fun to talk to as Sarel. Apparently, Sarel felt the same way, so now you can see what I said in a post at the Friends of SPL blog.

My Mom vs. Tom Carr: The Last Word

2009-09-13T18:50:00.000-07:00

To all who have been following this epic story: Tom Carr decided not to appeal the Washington State Liquor Board's decision to grant Faire Gallery and Cafe's request for an extended liquor license. In short, Faire can now serve cocktails because our city attorney finally decided to back down. The end.

Good times at the Broadway Design Charette

2009-09-12T21:58:00.001-07:00

I know it sounds weird to say that a four-hour community meeting was tons of fun, but I had a really good time at the Broadway Design Charette this afternoon. Everybody, and I mean everybody, was there and there was a lot of excitement and energy going around. It helped that Seattle University's new Admissions and Alumni Building is spacious, light-filled and lovely. Also, there were tasty snacks :D

The whole write-up will go up on CHS blog soon enough, but there was some consensus around the community benefits that were most desired. Community meeting space, Nagle St. as a green pedestrian corridor, artist live/work or performance space and affordable housing were all quite popular as possible features in a transit-oriented development over the light rail station.

Looking forward to fall: Steamcon and the Browncoat Ball

2009-09-07T21:11:00.000-07:00

I know that PAX 09 is just barely over, but I'm already looking forward to the event of the fall geek season in Seattle: Steamcon, the very first steampunk convention ever. The prices are reasonable ($40 for 3 days if you buy now), and if the Steampunk Swapmeet is any proof, I'm sure the vendors will be excellent. Even if the presenters and speakers are uneven, Steamcon will be well worth the price of admission. Now if I could only figure out how to get down to the SeaTac Marriott by public transit in less than an hour...

This is a little far afield for me so I probably won't attend, but the Portland Browncoat Ball certainly deserves a mention. It's a weekend-long shindig all over Portland for Joss Whedon/Firefly/Serenity fans. Nothing more needs to be said.

Hot and Steamy: Steampunk Swapmeet and Fantastic Voyage

2009-09-07T00:16:00.000-07:00

In case you needed an excuse to dress up like a mad Victorian inventor and buy up costumery in preparation for Steamcon, Diana Vick and the Steamcononauts have kindly provided these events for your enjoyment.

PAX 09: What a way to spend a Saturday

2009-09-05T22:06:00.000-07:00

I headed down to the Convention Center this morning for the Seattle Geekly Tweetup thinking that I'd be there for a cup of coffee and then head back home. I got up the hill at about 7pm. This has been the longest day I had at PAX without actually being at PAX.

The SG Tweetup was lovely - Shannon and Matt were great hosts, all the folks at the Tweetup were geeky and nice, and Caffe Dior makes something addictively tasty with milk and ginger called Royal Tea. There was also a lovely, lovely woman from Wizards of the Coast there who gave us all D&D goodies. It was kind of like geek Christmas.

After that I wandered the halls playing games. I got a chance to try out Munchkin Cthulu (hilarious) and Living Labyrinth by Bucephalus Games (adorable), and played a couple of rounds of Fluxx with some friends (still confusing). All in all, a lovely day.

Geek of the Week special edition: PAX is here!

2009-09-04T11:31:00.000-07:00

PAX is this weekend! And while I can't attend (sigh), I can still celebrate its coming by drooling on the sidelines. On my way to work I saw signs on all the Convention Center doors announcing that PAX is completely and utterly sold out (which is news enough to make it on the front page of the Puget Sound Business Journal). On coffee break I walked by a block-long line in Freeway Park for PAX goody bags. 60,000 geeks from all around the country...on one hand, wow. On the other, holy crap that's crowded.

But maybe not too crowded to make my way over for this - @seattlegeekly: Please RT! Tweetup at #pax09 on Saturday 9/5 at Caffé Dior lvl 1 in the convention center 11:30am. Come get buttons! #fb

This reminds me - I recently got my monthly sales email from ThinkGeek, which is always worth taking a look at so I can see all the shiny new nerd toys they just got in. There was one so ridiculous that I need to share it with you. Two words: Tac Bac.

Friends of Seattle Public Library: Because Even Libraries Need Friends

2009-08-31T21:03:00.001-07:00

If I could add a subtitle to this post, it would be: "Especially when budget cuts mean that our libraries are closed for a week". While the libraries might not have been able to do much about it, the Friends of Seattle Public Library didn't take the closures sitting down. Instead, they blogged about it. (Twice!)

"Wah, wah, more blogtivism," you might say. But getting the word out, especially word that this closure is hitting disadvantaged folks hardest, is important. Turn their word into action by donating your time or your money, whichever one you have the most of...which, these days, is probably time.

A quick way to help is to fill out the Friends of SPL's "Neighborhood Survey of Library Value". If you'd like to do the survey in person, set up an interview by emailing Sarel Rowe, Advocacy Chair of the Friends of The Seattle Public Library: advocacy(at)friendsofspl(dot)org. I recommend the latter option - Sarel's really nice and a delight to talk with. If you end up having a really neat conversation with her, it just might end up on the Friends of SPL blog :D.

My Mom vs. Tom Carr: Reprise

2009-08-28T11:35:00.000-07:00

The recurrent theme in the emails and comments I've gotten about the epic email battle between my mom and City Attorney Tom Carr is that my mom is frickin' awesome. This is absolutely true.

However, the best thing to do in this situation is not to merely admire your newfound civic hero. You should emulate her by writing or calling Tom Carr yourself in support of Faire Gallery and Cafe getting their hard liquor license. (Mr. Carr's contact information is below.) Since Seattle is filled with smart and educated folk, I'm sure you too can achieve a level of letter-writing badassery comparable to my mom's.

Again, it's not as if Faire is getting a hard liquor license because they want to corrupt the youth of Capitol Hill. Times are hard, and they need the extra money they can make from selling cocktails and spirits to stay in business. They've been responsible the last few years while serving wine and beer, so I'm sure they can manage serving the harder stuff responsibly as well.

Seattle City Attorney's Office
thomas.carr@seattle.gov

600 4th Ave., 4th Floor
PO Box 94769
Seattle, WA 98124-4769
Phone (206) 684-8200
TTY Phone (206) 233-7206
Fax (206) 684-8284

My Mom vs. Tom Carr: Epilogue

2009-08-27T15:18:00.000-07:00

Wow, my mom is such a badass at angry letter writing that she got Life on the Hill featured on The Slog. Oooh, and CHS Blog. Go Mom.

I really hope that the end product of this kerfuffle is Tom Carr leaving poor Faire alone and letting them get their hard liquor license. I like the place. I feel welcome when I come in and I feel safe when I walk by there when they're open late at night. I just want them to be able to stay in business.

My Mom vs. Tom Carr Continued

2009-08-27T12:43:00.000-07:00

Faithful readers, it appears that the saga of My Mom vs. Tom Carr continues. I had no idea that our City Prosecutor had this much time in his schedule to go back and forth over email with a concerned citizen about a cafe's hard liquor license. But he does, and my mom continues her email salvo unabated. So the story continues...

(My Mom's emails are in white, and Tom Carr's are in blue)

=======================================================

I have not decided to appeal. The clerk in the department of executive administration routinely checks the appeal box to preserve our rights. The appeal deadline is September 9. I am concerned about the liquor board’s policy with respect to DUIs. We raise them as a public policy concern. What really bothers me is that the Faire Gallery’s lawyer is making this a political issue when In fact it’s a real public safety question. There is a clear effort to intimidate me. I wonder did anyone tell you the basis for our objection?

=======================================================

I read the story in the Stranger, about the DUI, and the circumstances of the warrant, yes. As to the Faire's attorney, I am not a local and am not influenced by local politics. I formed my opinion based on my knowlege of Faire, (from my visits) on the merits of the original objection, and the proposed appeal.

What you perceive as an attempt to intimidate is really a question of simply not agreeing with your position on the matter, and saying so. I simply do not view the Faire having a hard liquor license as a public safety threat. Nor does the liquor board, who had all the facts and made their decision accordingly.

That being said, I am happy to hear that you have decided not to appeal.

Thank you,

Elise Power

=======================================================

I am sorry. I am a lawyer. What I wrote was, I have not decided to appeal. That is different from I have decided not to appeal. I just received the Liquor Board decision this week. We have until September 9 to make this decision.

=======================================================

Ah, well, thank you for that clarification. My misread.

I do hope you do decide not to appeal. I think the liquor board made an informed decision, which the bulk of the local public, which you are seeking to keep safe, agree with.

I think that the appeal would be unnecessarily obstructive, and a less than effective use of the City attorney's time. There are far greater crime and public safety issues in Seattle that require your attention.

Faire is a dinky little cafe/gallery that the locals like. The public is in no more danger from their having a hard liquor license than they were in all the time they have been serving beer and wine, the owner's having married in May a man with an old DUI (now resolved to the liquor board's satisfaction) notwithstanding.

I hope you come to see it that way.
Elise Power

{and now the Epilogue}

Oh Snap: My Mom vs. Tom Carr

2009-08-27T09:08:00.000-07:00

I posted about Tom Carr blocking Faire's attempt get a hard liquor license a few days ago, and I've been meaning to write a letter in support of Faire to our City Attorney ever since. Well, my mom beat me to it. And she has a lot of practice writing cranky letters to city officials (let's just say Garden Grove doesn't have the world's best city council...). She is so good that despite the fact that she lives hundreds of miles away, she got Tom Carr to write her back. The correspondence is below.
(picture courtesy of my mom :D)

======================================================

Sir:

My daughters live in Seattle, and I am a frequent visitor. I find your targeting of Faire distressing. They are good people, hardly the supporters of drunken louts or disruptive partying, and you are wasting your time and theirs by delaying their liquor license.

If you succeed, by your delays, in putting them out of business, you will have done no favor for the neighborhood. Cap Hill does not need, nor does its residents want, to be protected from Faire by you.

Leave them be, and let them get on with it.

Thank you for your attention,
Elise Power

=======================================================
We are not targeting Faire. They have a liquor license. They applied for an enhanced license to sell hard liquor. At the time of the application, one of the owners had a warrant out for his arrest in a pending DUI case. We brought this fact to the attention of the Liquor Control Board as is our duty. I don’t know where you live, but here, we are concerned about people who can’t control their own alcohol intake being responsible for serving others. I have a particular concern about someone who is told to do something by a court and needs to have an arrest warrant issued to get him to do it.

You have no idea what Faire Gallery will be like when serving hard liquor and neither do I. I do have questions about one of the owners, which it is my job to raise.

Thank you for writing.

Tom Carr
Seattle City Attorney

=======================================================
I read the story, I know about the DUI case, I also know about the details of the outstanding warrant and why it was issued, as do you. We here in Garden Grove CA worry as much as the next person about people who drive drunk.

Faire is a gallery, not a party venue. If a person attending such a place has a problem with drinking, they can do so on the license in place, they don't need hard liquor served to them to do so. If Faire has done just fine on the alcohol that they have been serving, they are more than likely to continue to do so.

I stand in support of them, as does most of Capitol Hill, whom I presume you are trying to protect. We are saying we don't feel the need to be protected from Faire having its hard liquor license, and want you to know.

I also presume you care what the neighborhood (and their friends and family who visit there) think, so we are here to let you know.

Thanks,
Elise
-----
In re-reading your reponse, I must agree on one point. Raising the questions about one of Faire's owners was/is indeed, your job. However, having heard all of the circumstances, the Board ruled in favor of Faire's hard liquor license.

Your intent to appeal then takes on the appearance of being merely an obstructive delaying tactic, and thus punitive in nature, even spiteful.

EP

{This post is getting long, so the saga continues here.}

The Blogger's Blog and 1001 Ways to be Popular on the Interwebs

2009-08-26T17:23:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Twitter and @TheNewsChick, I just discovered EcoConsultancy's blog. Within two minutes on the site I found articles on 25 things journalists can do to future proof their careers, how to write for SEO, and the A-Z of online copywriting.

Usually when I find how-to's like this, they're boring, semi-useless, keyword-crammed search engine attractors. Instead, EcoConsultancy has created a blogger's blog, a gentlemanly club of experienced online writers sharing their knowledge with their peers and the next generation. It makes sense since it's the blog of a digital marketing company...but where's all the class coming from? Does EcoConsultancy just hire really cool people?

Any minute now, I will ease off the awe. I'm just really impressed at finding that much bloggy usefulness in one place.

PS Just found out why they're so classy - the blog's based in the UK.

PPS In case one blog is not enough to satisfy your need to know more about blogging, here are some online journalism tutorials. Not necessary for the "here's a picture of my cat" blogger, but probably useful for indy neighborhood news chasers like myself.

Pourin' out a double shot of hot jams

2009-08-26T15:35:00.000-07:00

You know, I would say "only in Seattle", except for the fact that this weekend's Latte Art Throwdown at Victrola is a qualifying round for a West Coast Showdown between LA and the Emerald City. Amazing. Coffee Geekgasm. This Saturday.

What's in a name?

2009-08-26T09:30:00.000-07:00

I saw this in my inbox last week, but jseattle got the scoop - a handful of Cap Hill domains are up for sale. With 40,000 people in our neighborhood and more blogs per square mile than I thought possible, any interested parties better make a bid while they're still up for grabs.