While slapping green icing on the shamrock-shaped cake I had created for a St. Patrick's Day Party on Queen Anne, my thoughts wandered to St. Patrick's Day celebrations on Queen Ann and Magnolia in the past, remembering the time we had an international St. Patrick's Day progressive dinner, starting on Queen Anne and ending up on Magnolia, hosted by the Cohens, Kellys, Campbells, Martenellis, Wangs and Suzukis. Yes, we did have corned beef and cabbage but started with sushi, bean sprouts followed by chopped liver and matzo ball soup, lasagna followed by trifle and Dundee cake, lye cheese, tiramisu, and fortune cookies, washed down by mass quantites of good Irish Guiness beer, sake, Chianti, Mogan David concord wine. I'll leave it to you to figure out who provided which dish.
On a recent Tuesday evening that otherwise may have seemed like any other random weeknight, Barack Obama eloquently and oh-so-presidentially provided our country and our community with a critical segue into a long overdue conversation. It's a conversation speaking to the racial and socioeconomic disparity dividing our communities, a conversation those in "polite" circles might prefer to avoid.
To the editor:I'm flattered that Mr. Sondheim accords me so much power in his letter of March 12. But I'm afraid his characterization of the extent of my powers is as inaccurate as the rest of his missive.
In recent months, the police have launched crackdowns on homeless encampments that have popped up with increasing frequency in our city's greenbelts. Housing and homeless advocates have tracked the cause of these recent crackdowns to the mayor's office. The assumption prevailing there seems to be that you've got to clean up these problems as soon as they appear, cite the people involved, arrest them if necessary or just order them out of the area.
Last week, Sonics fans were up in arms about the failure of the state Legislature to act on a last-second request for state funding to upgrade Key Arena. Much grumbling about a "legislature that doesn't do anything!" ensued on sports talk airwaves, not normally an arena for political analysis. And talk about sore losers! You'd think, after giving up 168 points in one game last week and having the second-worst record in the league so far this year, that they'd be used to losing. But I digress.
The following are based on incident reports from the Seattle Police Department's East Precinct. They represent the officers' accounts of the events described
John Marshall not only sells poetry but is known to write it very well.Now, Marshall, who (along with this wife, poet Christine Deavall) owns the poetry-only bookshop Open Books: A Poem Emporium in Wallingford, has won the prestigious 2007 Field Poetry Prize.Oberlin College Press, which sponsors the contest, has just published Marshall's winning manuscript, "Meaning of a Cloud." Marshall, a 1970 graduate of Queen Anne High School, said he received notification of the award last July in a fortuitous way: Deavall, who regularly checks their computer's spam filter just in case, happened to spot the message.
Relta Gray was 60 when she started her own public-relations firm. She retired when she was 88. Then she wrote the book "The Independent Elderly" when she was 91. Now 92, Gray hadn't expected to live as long as she has and is taking advantage of her years by keeping busy.The book idea came when her doctor suggested Gray do something with her time because she was bored. Her doctor also knew that she had done a lot of writing previously and encouraged her to write thoughts down that would help open up communications with younger people. Gray had originally intended to write the book for her family so they could be more aware of the condition of being elderly. The book is strongly based on the five senses. "Our senses don't go away but they do diminish; that's where problems come in," Gray explained. "My sense of smell is almost gone, and my taste has changed tremendously. At times, we almost fall down trying to pick up the phone or that our fingers aren't strong enough to tear envelopes anymore, but we never tell people that," Gray said.Gray said that a helpful hint to the younger generation is to open up and talk to each other, to ask questions "because it's true that the elderly won't say anything, but they will talk if you ask about all kinds of little bumps in the road."
I enjoy going to visit my grandfather, and I try to do so often. Unfortunately, twice along the drive home, I pass by residences that I formerly visited with great hope while dating an inhabitant - both of whom proved to be romantic disasters.I dated Mr. Childless a few times. I liked him, and it pained me when he stopped calling. Perhaps the deepest blow was to my ego. After all, I'd already realized his almost pathological fear of children would collide with the pleasure I take spending significant amounts of my time with the chronologically challenged.As for Mr. Jekyll, we had fun together for about two months before I ended it. The third evening he turned aggressive and abusive, while inebriated, I called foul. He denied being an alcoholic, and I declared my unwillingness to risk another encounter with Mr. Hyde.Yet, as I drive by where these two men lived, a certain amount of wistfulness is part of the glance I give - or deliberately abstain from giving. When engaged in a successful romantic relationship, I drive by with a smirk. When at a low ebb, I drive by wondering what might have been.
Blane and Rosemary Fisher, of View Ridge, announce the engagement of their son, Edward, to Alexa Hambleton, daughter of Sammamish's Bert and Melissa Hambleton.Fisher, a 2003 graduate of Roosevelt High School and a 2007 graduate of Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash., is a medical student at The Pennsylvania State University in Hershey, Pa.Hambleton, a 2003 graduate of Skyline High School and a 2007 graduate of Whitman College, is a market analyst for Woodstream Corp. in Lititz, Pa.The couple are planning a July 5, 2008, wedding in Seattle.
Jerold B. Van Faasen, 94, passed away with family members at his side on Feb. 22, 2008, after battle myelodysplastic syndrome for six months.
(Editor's note: This letter was originally sent to Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. It is reprinted here with the author's permission.)I grew up playing on the shores of Lake Washington, catching pollywogs with my brother, canoeing in the moonlight, while searching for the elusive Guardian Spirit of the Lake. We all knew from an early age this beautiful place was sacred Indian ground, and we delighted in learning about all the myths and spirits of the lake. I'm writing this letter to plead for your help in saving Hangar 27 at Magnuson Park as our home for The Best of the Northwest and keeping the building open for as many public uses as possible.
Hangar 27 is a much needed venue for community and indoor recreation. There are no other locations in Puget Sound that are the size of Hangar 27 (80,000 square feet, which is two football fields). The proposal set out by the nonprofit Hangar 27 Organization has space available for trade shows (which helps pay the bills), indoor recreation (including soccer) and community and special events.[On] March 14, 15 and 16, the only indoor juried art show in Seattle was held at Qwest Field West Plaza (the Best of the Northwest). This is our 20th year, and this fall will be our 50th art show. We provide the only indoor marketplace for "Art Made by Hands You Can Shake" in the Seattle area.We moved to Hangar 27 after the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall [used from 1993 through 2000] was taken out of use when Pacific Northwest Ballet was remodeled. When it became available again, it was two-thirds of its previous size and not practical to use any longer.This most recent move to Qwest Field has been devastating to Northwest Crafts Alliance, and the more than 500 individual artists that we work with annually. We had one-third of our usual audience, and the location and logistics worked against us.
Lumping Sunset Bowl in with the Fremont stores that have closed is a mistake, not only because it's in Ballard, but it's part of a unique way of life that's passing ("Fremont Enters New Retail Era," Feb. 8). Is Sunset Bowl, symbol of affordable entertainment, exercise, good fellowship, friendly competition and decent employment practices now too "working class" for its increasingly gentrified neighborhood? Many people say no: The business is thriving and is just as important as the newly preserved former Denny's.
Last week, Sonics fans were up in arms about the failure of the state Legislature to act on a last-second request for state funding to upgrade KeyArena. Much grumbling about a "legislature that doesn't do anything!" ensued on sports-talk airwaves, not normally an arena for political analysis. And talk about sore losers! You'd think, after giving up 168 points in one game last week and having the second-worst record in the league so far this year, that they'd be used to losing. Thing is, in any legislative session, whether 60 days (as in this and all election years) or 90 days (in the odd years, when budgets are passed), Olympia does a lot.