It's time once again for the award shows to come pouring out of Hollywood like a tsunami of ooey-gooey, back-patting excess guaranteed to raise your blood sugar level just by watching the promos. "I'd like to thank all the little people... without whom..." I'm one of the little people. Okay, not little as far as physical size goes but, you know, little as in not famous. 
By Korte BrueckmannAbout 20 people gathered last Thursday on parking spots 34, 35 and 36 of the parking lot at John and Summit, all interested in talking about turning the parking lot into a community garden.The lot, due north and across the street from the Olive Way Starbucks, was recently purchased by the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department as part of the Pro Parks Levy program to acquire green space in residential areas.The score of area residents that gathered on Aug. 16 all agreed they wanted to see the property relieved of its paving and given over to some form of community gardening.<br
The weekend rain nearly obscures the Space Needle from Broadway and East John.
Most of us in the Pacific Northwest have no idea where most of the Mexican states are. Some of us don't even know that Mexico has states, but patrons of the new El Tajin Mexican restaurant will soon become familiar with the cooking of the state of Vera Cruz - and they are going to like it.Vera Cruz is Mexico's third most populous state. It lies on the southwest coast of the Gulf of Mexico and, like many Mexican regions, has a distinctive cooking style."Every time we wanted to go eat, every [Mexican] restaurant had the same thing," said Luis Martinez. "We wanted the home cooking of Vera Cruz."Martinez said that most of the Mexican restaurants in this area feature food exclusively from northern Mexico. He said he thought Capitol Hill might be ready for something else.
One of the tools of the trade when you're working with the (mostly) elderly folks who suffer from some sort of dementia is memory care - talking to folks about the things they once liked to do. Some people with Alzheimer's can't seem to remember their former hobbies, homes or even specific family members. But others, in the early stages, respond well to brief talks about favorite foods, places, seasons and even movies and sports.I've been doing so much memory talking lately that I find I've honed my own aging memory a little bit. And I think I've come to the conclusion that even if you can't tell whether a person is good or bad by what they can or cannot remember, you certainly can get a window into someone's personality talking over faves.
More than 70 kids brought back Motown music, and brought it back respectfully, in "Cinderella - A Love Story with the Sound of Motown" at Seattle Repertory Theatre.The Sunday, Aug. 19, afternoon dress rehearsal put on by Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center surprised and entertained an audience of family members and friends. From the ultimate '60s outfits - shiny white knee-high leather boots included - to the voices that emanated from the youth in the play, the show goes slightly beyond unique and becomes enchanting for the audience."It's a really different experience," said Jordon Bolden, who plays the character Buttons, best friend to Cinders, the Motown Cinderella. "Most times you come to a performance, you kind of know what might happen, or you have a feel for what might happen. Here, it's totally different. Everything is off-the-wall different.
University Heights Center for the Community recently received a matching grant from the city of $59,438 to aid its efforts to purchase the building from the the Seattle School District.Although the organization already has $4.3 million set aside for the purchase, the grant will help University Heights Center to get organized with project management and possibly a capital campaign."We're working out the numbers, working out the plan. We're working with an architectural firm," said the Center's executive director Richard Sorenson. "One of the themes we want to have is sustainability and a green building."
An arsonist set the second of two fires that broke out in one night last week in a house slated for demolition at the east edge of the Roosevelt neighborhood, according to investigators. The first fire at 1322 N.E. 65th Street, was reported at 10:41 p.m. Aug. 13, according to Helen Fitzpatrick, public information officer for the Seattle Fire Dept. Another, more serious blaze was reported just over two hours later at the same house, according to records."Flames were coming from the basement, but the fire was confined to the basement," Fitzpatrick said. "This was a set fire. It was determined to be arson."
Mrs. Fields contest puts N. Seattleite into semi-finalsNorthgate resident Karen Krebs has been named semi-finalists in the Mrs. Fields & iVillage Search for the 30th Anniversary Cookie.Krebs said she entered her coconut oatmeal cookies in the online contest on a whim after seeing the competition mentioned on TV."It was a happy coincidence. I was watching "Oprah," and the recipe just popped into my head," she said.She got the recipe from someone in college and hadn't made it in years; in fact, she said, she had almost completely forgotten about it.<
Nestled in the heart of the Maple Leaf neighborhood, off 15th Avenue Northeast, just north of Lake City Way Northeast, is a stately building guarded by a forest of beautifully matured trees. Morning sunlight barely finds its way though the lush, green canopy, often creating waves of dancing sun sprinkles across the earthy ground. The air around this place feels crisp, and it is a spot famous locally for eagle sightings.This is the home of Waldo Hospital, as it has been for the past 80 years.
 Editor:...I received the latest issue of the North Seattle Herald-Outlook, and despite being very busy I set it aside so I could read the cover story ("Beyond the glass ceiling," Aug. 1) as soon as I have a moment.  Today I unfolded the magazine and was struck by the pull-out quote right on the first page, "We're not just staying home and breeding.  Women are going for it." What an incredibly insensitive thing for Ms. [Gayle] Nowicki to say, and how insensitive of your paper to give it such prominence.  My reaction was to think the article is likely to be filled with other such ignorant stereotypes and not worth my time to read it.  
At a low-income housing development in White Center, determined students gathered in a stuffy YWCA computer lab to learn to answer questions such as what is the supreme law of the United States? When it came time to name the 13 original American colonies, the students teased and challenged each other until they came up with the answers.On hand to assist when necessary were Miranda Bodfish, Citizenship Program coordinator for Literacy Source; and Diana Timpson, volunteer class assistant.
Karen Brody has always believed that it only takes a group of committed people to change the world. All you have to do is be bold. A writer and mother of two, Brody decided to start a global movement to make maternity care more mother-friendly. So, in 2006, she created Birth On Labor Day (BOLD) in 2006. "One woman dies every minute throughout the world from a pregnancy or childbirth-related cause," Brody said. "As a writer I wondered, why are we not telling this story? And as an activist I wondered, how can we tell this story in a way that will make a difference?"<br
Lili Stevens of Lawton Elementary School won First Place in the annual Seattle Aquarium "Your Ocean - Our Home" Art Contest. Keynote for this year's competition was the local giant Pacific octopus. Stevens' work was selected over more than 600 other submissions. Her prize is a $2,500 T. Rowe Price College Savings account and a family membership at the Seattle Aquarium.
At Fountainhead Gallery, longtime Queen Anne resident John Roberts is one of three artists included in "Pacific Northwest Landscape." The exhibit is due to end Sunday, Aug. 26. The gallery is at 625 W. McGraw St.