Thursday, October 11, 2007

Walking to Work

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

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

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

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Wednesday, October 10, 2007

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.

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New version, from tonight.

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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.")



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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.

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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!

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

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.

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Wednesday, October 3, 2007

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.


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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.

South End City Council Candidates Forum

My neighbor Lisa-Marie, my Sierra Club pal Brady, and I hung out in the sadly booze-free Georgetown Ballroom last night for the South End Candidates Forum.

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Hopefully The Paper Noose, in the row in front of me, will provide you with a thoughtful recap of the night's proceedings. I only have time to post snarky comments right now.

Tried hardest for South End cred: David Della, who reminded us that he's from Beacon Hill at least twice after I started counting.

Shamelessly name-checked: Jean Godden and Sally Clark, who both mentioned they'd attended Walt Crowley's memorial service.

Most shamelessly name-checked: Venus Velasquez, who said she'd just been on the phone with Peter Steinbrueck and that he wanted to say hi to everyone.

Most egregiously misjudged her audience: Jean Godden, who proudly claimed that Georgetown was "poised to be the next Pearl District" or "Fremont, the Center of the Universe."

Most out of her league: Judy Fenton, who seemed to be a really nice lady, but not quite ready for prime time. [Update: OK, she did seem like she was a really nice lady, but in fact she's the nutty right-winger who's running on the platform that Seattle needs "public art which families are comfortable with" (her own words, in the Municipal League questionnaire). Thanks, anonymous commenter, for pointing this out.]

Best-looking candidate: Venus Velasquez, by a mile. Rowr!

Best-looking audience members: the group of young firefighters (supporting Burgess?) who passed out Red Hots and Sweetarts after the meeting. Ssss!

Most likely to get e-mail from me about adding Jefferson Park to the list of protected viewpoints in Seattle Municipal Code 25.05.675: all of them, because they all said they supported it, or were likely to support it if they knew more about it.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Jefferson Park in the News

Thanks, Kat Marriner, for this incredible photo of the view from Jefferson Park.

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Kat and a bunch of other neighbors in the Jefferson Park Alliance have been working tirelessly for years and years and years to turn Jefferson Park -- the site of two reservoirs that are currently being lidded -- into the type of beautiful public greenspace that the Olmstead brothers envisioned for it 100 years ago.

After helping fight the Parks Department's plans for erecting a dozen 100-foot light poles at the top of the site and then fighting the Department of Planning and Development over the construction of a huge T-Mobile cell phone tower in the corner of the park over the last year and a half, I'm thrilled that the park development is finally starting to get the kind of recognition it deserves. From a story in today's P-I:

Jefferson Park on Beacon Hill is becoming the stuff of neighborhood dreams, thanks to years of citizen activism and city of Seattle inventiveness.


I don't want to speak too soon -- because, if I've learned one thing from living down here in the South End, it's that once you start to think you're out of the woods, you're likely going to have to fight off yet another big mean bear -- but, OMG, HALLELUJAH.

Hey, city council candidates, if any of you are reading this, be prepared to tell me what you think about Jefferson Park and that view shown above tonight at the South End Candidates Forum. Do you think that panorama -- which affords views of the Olympics, Puget Sound, the Space Needle, the Smith Tower, the downtown skyline, Mt. Baker, and the Cascades -- deserves the same sort of protection as the views from 80 other parks and playgrounds in the city listed in Seattle Municipal Code 25.05.675? (Stumped? I'll give you a hint: YES.)