Catalog Christmas Day 8: Happy New Year!

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

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

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

I got these bitches a turkey.
Bitches LOVE turkey.

Catalog Christmas Day 3: Thankful

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

Merry Christmas with 12 Days of Catalog Christmas Cards

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.

Welcome to the neighborhood, Occupy Seattle

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.

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

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

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.

Slight Awkward Holiday Humor

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

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!

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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)

William Gibson Book-Signing at U Village B&N

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

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

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

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.