My Gastronom

Today my memory was jogged of my year in Ukraine by this photo from Kiev (explanatory caption below).

Police officers in riot gear detain activists of Natalia Vitrenko's Progressive Socialist Party who tried to break a cordon of a rally to mark the 65th anniversary of the anti-Soviet Ukrainian Insurgent Army in downtown Kiev on Sunday, Oct. 14, 2007. The anniversary and calls to recognize the anti-Soviet partisans as World War II veterans has divided Ukraine, with the more nationalistic west supporting recognition, and the Russian-speaking east opposing it. Hostility runs deep because in the war's early years, the anti-Soviet partisans aligned themselves with the Nazis, seeing the invasion as a way to get rid of the Soviet regime. (October 14, 2007 -- Associated Press)

And I remembered that the grocery store in the background was my grocery store, the Centralny Gastronom on Kreshchatik. Here's a photo I took of it nine years ago, in more peaceful days.

Beacon Hill: No Great Shakes

According to a story in today's PI, it looks like Beacon Hill, Rainier Valley and the middle of West Seattle are going to be the best places in Seattle to ride out the next big earthquake.

Walking to Work

I walked to work today. I was headed for the tall black building.



It's no secret that people live in the greenbelt around Beacon Hill.



Saw this outside the Frye Art Museum. I like to think that it's been there since spring.

Nighttime Photos of Georgetown

Now that I have a fancy new camera, I am going to reshoot and repost pretty much every photo I've taken in the last year.

Old version, of a pinball machine at Jules Maes in June.



New version, from tonight.















Calamity Jane's. The first time we've come here since our friend Hamish's last night as bartender/server last Wednesday. His replacement -- the cool ex-Smarty Pants bartender who sort of looks like Z-Man from Beyond the Valley of the Dolls -- told us they're going to start having Sunday brunches on Oct. 21.

("It's all here -- love, rape, murder, dope, grass, abortion, suicide -- something for everybody.")

Georgetown Haunted History Tour

La Dele at Friends of Georgetown History was sweet enough to e-mail me a copy of their poster for the third annual Georgetown haunted history tour. She even remembered that after last year's tour my husband and I interrogated her and the other FOGH folks about the Comet Lodge Cemetery because on their laptop they had a bunch of old aerial pictures showing how houses had been built right on top of the old grave sites.



If it's anything like last year, they'll split us up into groups and feed us lots of chocolates at Coliman restaurant, then we'll leave at staggered start times off into the neighborhood. It's a bit of a walk, but it's fine if you wear a coat over your costume. They'll show us where the old county poor farm (and hospital and crematorium) used to be, and then they'll point out haunted stores, churches, and houses, including, of course, Georgetown Castle. Last year I was in a group with some local ghost hunters, who chimed in about the freaky experiences they'd had there.

Bring your kids, bring your friends, bring your warm coats. Last year we brought along one of Peter Steinbrueck's staffers, who then advocated mandatory attendance for all City Councilmembers. (I hope to see them all there this year, excusing McIver, of course, if he's still in the slammer.) It'll be the best $5 suggested donation you make all year, I promise.

Confidential to La Dele -- If you want to thank me for this ad, secure me an invitation to the after-party, which I assume you guys are having, and which I assume is happening at the Castle! I've only ever been there during the day, and I would love to have a Halloween drink in that place. Cheers!

Out of Town

Sorry for going incommunicado -- I went to Portland and got a new camera.

Coming soon, maybe: sleazy real estate agents on Beacon Hill, sex in public bathrooms in Georgetown. I'll try to get photos with my fancy new camera.

My "Goth-Girl Bag" in Seattle Magazine

Even though I think my neighborhood crank persona suits me really well -- it's an easy fit for an old married lady -- sometimes I wish I were still young and sort of cool. Worse yet, sometimes I like to pretend I still am.

This morning, while I was wearily hauling my aging ass from gym machine to gym machine as if they were the goddamn stations of the cross, I flipped through the pages of Seattle magazine (which I think is specifically designed to appeal to old married ladies who like to pretend they're still young and sort of cool, come to think of it), and I saw a picture of my Chemical Wedding backpack on page 42!

The Goods: Goth-Girl Bag

Part goth, part punk with a Western twist, this unique backpack, by Seattle husband-and-wife design duo Jon and Tracy Haaland of Chemical Wedding, is fashionably edgy and durable as well. Made from smooth black cowhide with tan crocodile embossing, it has antique brass rivets and a sturdy zipper closure. The perfect piece to liven up your fall wardrobe and haul that extra wrap in, its unique design will have heads turning. $300 at Clementine (West Seattle, 4447 California Ave SW; 206.935.9400; clementines.com) and chemical-wedding.blogspot.com.

Since I had a small part in the design of this bag and Jon and Tracy even named it after me, today I feel that I've earned the right to pretend I'm not Neighborhood Crank but Goth Girl, fashionably edgy, part goth, part punk with a Western twist.

Yee-haw! I'm putting on black eyeliner and heading to Georgetown, the next fashionably edgy Center of the Universe.