We have discovered the face of terrorism and it is us. Me. I mean my blond, blue-eyed 6-year-old. The dangerous one. She has many wea-pons in her arsenal, and you just never know when she may decide to tip the balance of power in her favor during a flight and hijack us all to Disneyland. As a family we travel to Las Vegas on a yearly basis. We go there for the [loose slots, comped drinks, wild dance parties] sun. Hubby's parents live there and they bring us down to visit each summer. We call it our Club Himka, complete with enormous outdoor pool, exceptional culinary experiences and chocolates left on our pillows. My in-laws are wonderful people.
It seems I get enough rain slogging through the streets of Seattle. This explains, in part, why I've never been to a Seahawks game at Qwest Field. Don't get me wrong, there are also a host of other reasons, including the high ticket prices, my preference for the college game and the heretofore-mediocre Seahawk squads. But rain is the main deterrent.I know, I know, there wasn't a drop of rain during the first 28 games at Qwest. However, if I purchased tickets, whether it be preseason tickets in August or postseason tickets in January, there would surely be a torrential downpour. A couple of years ago I carefully analyzed the University of Washington football schedule to pinpoint a date when the skies might be dry. Unfortunately, the date in early October was a disastrous pick. It rained on the way to the stadium. It poured during the game. And the rising tides nearly swept me away en route to the Ram following the game. At least I stayed for the whole affair. The Husky faithful departed in droves during halftime of a lopsided loss, and there appeared to be more people at the popular U District watering hole than at the stadium.
I've been back in Seattle for 46 months. The day I arrived from Hawaii, the first day of spring 2002, it was snowing. Since it had been sunny and 79 at the Lihue airport only hours before, I was, to put it mildly, a little shocked to step out in my Get Some Surf T-shirt and be snowed upon.Still, I was happy to be back in the Big Smoke on Puget Sound, the place where my kids and grandkids lived, and where most of my friends were meeting deadlines just as they had the day I'd flown away in the spring of 2000.But I was quickly reminded in good and bad ways that Seattle was not Hawaii.In two years of living "on the beach" I had never once been telemarketed. Within weeks I was calling Qwest to add Caller ID to my phone to help retard (the absolutely correct word for telemarketers) the glut of calls coming in from all over the continental United States, trying to sell me everything from light bulbs allegedly made by New Jersey blind folks (and isn't that a cruel twist of marketing fate, having blind people building light bulbs? Who runs the factory, the Marquis de Edison?) to time shares on the very Hawaiian island I had just left.Finally, despite current America's desperately craven approach to the big businesses amongst us, the feds did something about telemarketers. They created a Do Not Call list.Trust me, I'm on it.
Seattle Fire Department Chief Gregory Dean announced last week that he is recommending to the Seattle City Council that Fire Station 20 at 3205 13th Ave. W. be torn down and expanded at its current location. The station serves Queen Anne, Interbay, Magnolia and parts of Ballard, and the expansion plan entails tearing down three homes near the existing station on the west side of Queen Anne. That news was less than welcome for a large group of neighborhood residents who showed up at Coe Elementary School for what was supposed to be an open-house presentation designed to answer people's questions individually.But Chris Grekoff - who has lived for 30 years with her partner Garriel Keeble in one of the homes slated for demolition - suggested that it would be better to answer everyone's questions in a town-hall-style forum.That's what happened, but few, if any, of those at the meeting liked the answers they got.
Plans to fix up the Fremont Bridge have given residents on the north slope of Queen Anne a chance to remedy a long-term grievances over non-locals driving through the neighborhood on narrow streets like Queen Anne Avenue.But getting from here to there on Queen Anne Avenue and other residential streets is going to get a lot more complicated - if not seemingly impossible - under a proposed plan released last week at an open house sponsored by the Seattle Department of Transportation.Many, but not all, of those living in the affected area like the plan, which covers a territory bounded on the north by Smith, on the south by Florentia and Nickerson, with Fourth Avenue North to the east and Third Avenue West to the west. But the Queen Anne Community Council and most neighborhood residents outside of the area are vehemently opposed to a proposed SDOT plan that involves diversions, street closures and setting up new one-way streets to force traffic onto arterials.
The Seattle Asian Art Museum is welcoming visitors to its renovated building in Volunteer Park with four new exhibits that span 16 centuries and include sculpture, paintings, calligraphy, sacred vessels, fabrics and even a video. Each exhibit offers a different perspective on Asian art and culture. "The Orchid Pavilion Gathering: Chinese Painting from the University of Michigan Museum of Art" is the first exhibition of Chinese painting at SAAM in 15 years. These paintings come from one of the nation's most acclaimed collections of the genre. Because of their fragility, they don't often travel away from the museum. The opportunity to see them here will be particularly appreciated by those who know and love Chinese art.The title of the show is taken from one of the highlighted works, an elegant hand scroll depicting a famous literary gathering. Forty-one revered scholars met for intellectual and social enjoyment at an annual Spring Purification Festival. Seated along a stream, they played a drinking game which demanded that each compose a poem before a floating wine cup passed him by. No poem ... then drink the cup. As you might guess, the merriment increased as the celebration went on.
When Pacific Northwest Ballet artistic director Peter Boal scheduled the third "rep" of his season, he was thinking about the dances rather than the names of the pieces: "Ancient Airs and Dances," "Kiss," "Nine Sinatra Songs" and "Red Angels.""When Ellen Walker [PNB's marketing director] saw the titles, she snapped her fingers and said it is a Valentine program," said Boal. "It is a sexy program. I didn't deliberately try to make it sexy, but I've been watching it in rehearsals and ... wow!"Now grouped under Walker's suggested title of "Valentine," the program, opening Feb. 2, is Boal's love note to four choreographers who have impressed him. Some are old colleagues; some are new discoveries.
Commerce faces off against conscience in August Wilson's "Radio Golf," the last play written by the Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatist before his death in October 2005. This work, now running at Seattle Repertory Theatre, fulfills Wilson's promise to write a play chronicling the African-American experience during every decade of the 20th century. Beautifully directed by Kenny Leon, "Radio Golf" features a stellar cast of five actors, all of whom have appeared in one or more of Wilson's plays regionally or on Broadway. Wilson was still revising the script when he died, and the Rep's production is the first to include his final revisions. As he did in all but one of his dramas, in "Radio Golf" he frames his metaphor in Pittsburgh's rundown Hill District, where he grew up. But instead of his usual crew of socially powerless characters, Wilson mixes a trio of affluent African Americans along with two neighborhood eccentrics more typical of his theatrical fodder.
Good day and happy February to all. As I write this column tonight, the rain has stopped and the weather forecasters are telling us we may even have a few days in a row without rain. As much as I like the rain, I am ready for a break from the wet and looking forward to the spring, which seems to me to be just around the corner. In January, the North Rose Hill Neighborhood Association met for its general meeting with the intent to celebrate the past year's success, elect new officers and board members and to set goals for 2006. The group was able to fill all open positions except the association president. I think this might be the first time the association has begun the year without a president.I would be remiss if I didn't write a few words about why no one was willing to become president. But honestly, I do not know why this has happened.
70 years togetherDewey and Elna Burnette just celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. Congratulations! Seventieth? Just how long is 70 years of marriage?Thank you for asking. When the Burnett's married, Chuck Morgan was 24. Downtowner Lauren Parson's mother was learning to talk.Seventy years of marriage. The couple holds hands when we meet, smiling at each other as they recount stories for their silver-haired interviewer.So just how did their love story begin? Friends of theirs were getting married. The friends needed witnesses, so Dewey and Elna agreed to go along. On the return trip. Dewey kept thinking about how easy it had been. "It only took three minutes for them to get married, and we were headed back," he said. "People got married sort of on the run a lot in those days. I said to Elna, 'that was so easy, why don't we get married? She agreed, so we turned the car around and went back to the justice of the peace and were married.'"They pair were neighbors in Rustburg, Va. Dewey said that he "went to a sideshow one night. I got a prize in a Cracker Jack Box."
It is time for the city council to venture out to the "hinterlands" of the city this month. We are excited to have them back for the South Juanita Neighborhood Association Meeting this month. When I received notification of the meeting in my mailbox, I was surprised to find that the meeting was planned for a location not actually WITHIN the boundaries of the SJNA. A quick call to city hall and Kari Page, neighborhood services coordinator, led to a rather interesting discussion.First, the location was based upon site availability. I can truly understand these things. There are limited public spaces for these kinds of meetings and finding the right schedule is difficult. As we continued our conversation, however, I brought up the topic of confusion over the boundary between the two associations. Kari mentioned that this location actually could be a good thing in light of an idea that has begun to surface recently.It seems that both neighborhood associations have been floundering a bit in the past year, with leadership expressing some burnout and the Juanita associations (both North and South) are experiencing a need for new momentum and life. Historically, Juanita has been one neighborhood association. It has only been in the past six or seven years, due to some internal strife among some long-gone leaders, that the group was split in half. In the past month, the thought has emerged to reunite the two groups.
Orienting ourselvesTwo orienteering events are planned for Bridle Trails State Park. If you have never heard of this sport, it is a competitive form of land navigation and provides the suspense and excitement of a treasure hunt - sort of a combination of hiking and treasure hunting.The object of orienteering is to locate control points by using a map and compass to navigate through the woods. Each orienteer is given a map with the various control points circled. Each control point throughout the forest has a marker and a distinctive punch that is used to mark the scorecard. Competitive orienteering involves running from checkpoint to checkpoint.Orienteering challenges both the mind and the body; however, the competitor's ability to think under pressure and make wise decisions is more important than speed or endurance. So, if you know your way around a compass and a map, or are interested in learning more about this sport, you might enjoy this challenge.
Kids in actionA friend of mine has a bumper sticker that says: "Be nice to your kids - they'll choose your nursing home." I suppose the corollary could be: "Teach your kids to be nice - they'll run your nursing home." I'm pleased to live in a community that is teaching kids the value of being nice. Eagles in Action is a service learning program that started at Peter Kirk Elementary School in 2003. The purpose of the program is to encourage students to volunteer in their school and community. The program founders believe that community service contributes to kids' self-esteem, compassion for others, appreciation for diversity and pride in their school and community.Recently, five Highlands kids received Eagles in Action awards for community service: Sydney Kamuda, Bridget Wittke, Connor Gerth, Preston Ballou and Katie Raabe.Kids in the program record their volunteer hours, and twice a year they are recognized at a school assembly. Kids who reach a goal of 10 hours receive a stuffed eagle (see photo). Additional hours earn bronze, silver and gold pins. Sydney Kamuda, beaming a Texas-sized smile, told me: "My favorite most fun thing to do was hang candy canes downtown at Christmas! The most useful thing I did was pick up litter by my friend's house."
Artist Reception: Feb. 9, 6-9 p.m.Exhibit runs: Feb. 10 - March 4Kirkland Arts Center presents "Pattern," an exhibition that explores the scale and use of pattern through the eyes of four contemporary artists. Curated by Teresa Redden, "Pattern" features artwork by L. John Andrew (Milwaukee, Wisc.), Kristine Bolhuis (Ferndale, Mich.), Julie Custer (Seattle) and Teresa Redden (Seattle), each of whom uses pattern as a central element of motif in their art.
Parklane Gallery, once described as "Kirkland's best kept secret" with its self-described eclectic collection of fine art at affordable prices, will be showcasing all 38 artists in February. Each artist has his/her own wall space. Kirkland's only artist-owned gallery was formed in 1991 by a small art club group as a venue for showing their work and contributing to the community. One of the gallery's original members, Ross Nicoll, has been actively involved in its transformation.