What is a gift? Is it something to give/receive or something you have? As we approach the gift-giving season, I'd like to ponder this question from the perspective of health and wellness.Gift: something that is given - a present. The power or act of giving. A special aptitude or ability - a talent.Repair and replenishing the withinAre you fully connecting with your gift? We all have combined strengths and weaknesses which uniquely qualify us to share our gift: our talent. Often, a hardship is simply a flag pointing us in the right direction so we're fortified to more fully experience our gift.We've all likely heard the expression, "the squeaky wheel gets the grease." As we turn our awareness to repair and replenish what is dwindling within us, we ignite our vitality and enhance our giftedness.You may feel indulgent to allow yourself healthy choices - many people do. Can you afford the organic produce, the filtered water, the EMF protective products, the time to exercise, the time to be quiet and aware or the time to express yourself creatively? Wonder for a moment, how might your life be different if you regularly chose to INVEST in yourself?
Seattle has never been the same since (fill in the blank) left us.Some nostalgia buffs would stump for Frederick & Nelson; others, Ivar Haglund or Bob Murray's Dog House or Chubby & Tubby.In "Vanishing Seattle," Seattle writer Clark Humphrey has come up with more than 200 photos of past Seattle icons, both people and places, and provides an insider's commentary on what we've lost.The 128-page book is an ode to Seattle before it was so darned "livable." And expensive.Obliterated pastAs Humphrey notes, "Real estate hyperinflation helped obliterate the remaining vestiges of the city's more downscale past."Humphrey, editor of the Belltown Messenger, former staffer for The Stranger and retro Seattle hunter and gatherer, has linked up with Arcadia Publishing to produce the book. The cover shot sets the vernacular tone.
In 1986 Pat Migliore tested positive for HIV. She was a married, heterosexual woman during the 1980s, when HIV/AIDS was still considered a gay man's disease. When Migliore looked for HIV/AIDS support groups in Seattle, she did not find one for women. However, she did find other women like herself who were HIV-positive.In 1989, Migliore, along with those 12 other HIV-positive women, hosted a potluck dinner to get to know one another, and to begin talking about living with HIV/AIDS. Originally male-centeredDuring the first meeting they described their frustration with the male-centered AIDS services in Seattle, and the many challenges they faced with stigmatization, childcare, and domestic violence. The group named themselves Babes with AIDS, and the circle of women continued to grow. Babes continued to meet every week over dinner.Migliore describes what it was like to have AIDS during the first days of Babes. "We didn't have AIDS back then," she said sarcastically, referring to outsiders' denial of the disease. "It was a very isolating disease, which is something that is true today. People were getting sick and dying very quickly. The support group was a lot about daily living, but it was also a lot about being with people while they were dying."Migliore's husband died in 1989 of AIDS, as did two of the original members of Babes.
At Thursday's practice, as 50 miles-per-hour wind gusts battered the South End and the entire Puget Sound region, the Rainier Beach boys basketball team heated up the gym with their consistent shooting outside the key, finesse and strength in taking the ball to the hoop and quickness in sprinting up and down the court during their Thursday practice.With the first few games out of the way, the Vikings start the 2006-07 season with a record of 4-0. The team this year is the most balanced that head coach Mike Bethea has led."We have guys that can score 11 to 12 points off the bench," Bethea said. Last year, the Vikings finished fourth place in the 3A state tournament after a heartbreaking 64-60 quarterfinal loss to Lynden High School. Currently ranked first in the 3A state conference, the Vikings are led by team captains Shawn West, De Angelo Jones and Emeka Iweka.
From Homeland SecurityThe U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is urging Americans to make a New Year's resolution to prepare themselves, their families and their businesses for emergencies.A recent national survey conducted by The Advertising Council found that 91 percent of individuals agreed that it is important for all Americans to be prepared for emergencies, but only 55 percent said that they had taken any steps to prepare. A survey of small businesses found more than 90 percent recognized the importance of business emergency preparedness, but less than 40 percent said their company had an emergency plan in place.Individuals interested in more information about family and business preparedness can visit www.ready.gov or call 800-BE-READY to receive free materials. Citizen Corps, a DHS grassroots effort, localizes preparedness messages and provides opportunities for citizens to get emergency response training; participate in community exercises and volunteer to support local first responders. To learn more and to get involved, contact the nearest Citizen Corps Council by visiting www.citizencorps.gov.
Nearly a week later, South End residents are still reeling in the aftermath of the Dec. 14 windstorm that walloped the entire Seattle area. Approximately 175,000 Seattle City Light customers were without power.With regards to the South End, City Light public information officer Peter Clarke said that Seward Park was still out, as it is part of a major line. (This was as of press time Monday afternoon.) He said that they were down to 873 people without power from Seward Park to mid-Beacon Hill."We expect by midnight Tuesday for the bulk - 90 to 95 percent - of all customers to be reconnected," Clarke said.
Fall is a time of letting go. As winter blows in, we connect with a less visible source of vitality. The aligning of resources accomplished during this season is essential to sustaining a healthy process of renewal-a virtual fountain of youth.Every day, we've a vast array of internal housekeeping goals to accomplish. A short list includes metabolizing our food, eradicating a barrage of germs, arresting cancerous growths and regularly growing/replacing cells throughout the body. We're high maintenance - especially those of us who want to be high achievers! We all know the tension of stress feels bad. I often encounter complaints of neck and shoulder tightness, headaches, digestive disorder or lower back pain. Typically, these discomforts are triggered by stress - a state of allocating resources to address the world outside. Once tension sets in, it can become a vicious cycle. And, prolonged stress inevitably leads to more serious conditions.
What is a gift? Is it something to give/receive, or something you have? As we approach the gift-giving season, I'd like to ponder this question from the perspective of health and wellness.Gift: something that is given-a present. The power or act of giving. A special aptitude or ability-a talent.Are you fully connecting with your gift? We all have combined strengths and weaknesses which uniquely qualify us to share our gift: our talent.Often, a hardship is simply a flag pointing us in the right direction, so we're fortified to more fully experience our gift. We've all likely heard that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. As we turn our awareness to repair and replenish what is dwindling within us, we ignite our vitality and enhance our giftedness.You may feel indulgent to allow yourself healthy choices-many people do. Can you afford the organic produce, the filtered water, the EMF protective products, the time to exercise, the time to be quiet and aware or the time to express yourself creatively? Wonder for a moment: how might your life be different if you regularly chose to invest in yourself?
Jaime Bagnariol has always dreamed of getting a job promoting events, and this year she got her big chance. A part-time waitress at the Paragon Bar & Restaurant and full-time staffer in Nordstrom's accounts-payable department, she organized this year's Holiday Magic event on Upper Queen Anne Hill on Dec. 1.Paragon co-owner Todd Ivester knew of Bagnariol's interest in event promotion and recommended her for the unpaid job, she said. Her timing was perfect, too. "Some of the people who had done it in the past were burned out," Bagnariol explained.
Christmas is nigh. Perhaps you have some last minute shopping to do-one more venture out into the madness we call the holidays. Christmas trees roll through the streets on tops of cars; others sit in the front window of houses, decorated and lit.Colored lights brighten our city like no other time of the year, and pumpkin-scented candles remind us of a time when grandmothers baked pies.Thousands of people will pour into churches, celebrating the birth of Jesus, listening to sermons about love and fellowship, and praying for peace. We have sent out our greeting cards, and received cards, extolling the virtues of this holiday and wishing all close to us good will and peace on Earth. Do we really mean that?
A bunch of people at the Mecca Café and bar in Lower Queen Anne are sporting new tattoos. That's not such a big deal in a neighborhood joint where a majority of regulars and staffers are fans of inky body art.But the latest tattoos are different. They're small green pickles that, with one exception, are on the right-hand finger you use to flip people off, and the tats memorialize Joey Norwark, a long time regular at the Mecca who died recently.It's an appropriate gesture for a couple of reasons, and one of them is the fact that Norwark, 56, was also known as Joey Pickles. It's a moniker Joey picked up when he was running with an Irish street gang in New York City's Hells Kitchen during his wicked youth, regulars and staffers said at a Dec. 12 memorial gathering for the man.But there was more to Joey's life than just being a tough-guy. Joey had a soft side, and he accomplished a lot that had nothing to do with the serious crimes that landed him in Sing Sing prison for a few years at one point.
Niggle. What kind of a name is that? One that probably only a mind like J.R.R. Tolkien could think up, imagine a character for and write into a short story. Which he did, by the way, in "Leaf By Niggle." Niggle is an odd little man who can't quite seem to get everything - no, make that anything - done. He's an artist who can't finish a painting, a neighbor who gets grumpy with his neighbors and an errand runner who can't find the people he is sent to call on. With the best of intentions, he misses things he should notice and gets distracted by things that are unimportant. We are, I suspect, more like Niggle than we care to admit.We're heading into the Christmas in America season. I realized it when Starbucks decorated their store on Nov. 9, and radio station 106.9 FM started playing 24/7 Christmas music just a few days later. Christmas in America is the season that is practically guaranteed to make you feel like Niggle: "I just couldn't quite get it all done." Couldn't get all the presents, couldn't get them wrapped, couldn't get the Christmas cards done, couldn't get them mailed on time, couldn't go to all the office parties and family parties and friend parties, couldn't stay on my diet, couldn't get "the feeling" I thought I should have, couldn't find space in the middle of chaos, couldn't be creative with the kids, couldn't have people over, couldn't, couldn't, couldn't.When Tolkien dreamed up Niggle, he dreamed that Niggle's life journey took a sudden jolt and ended. He found himself in a solitary place filled with bare routine and lonely projects.
A couple of weeks ago I wrote my first column about weather since I lived on Kauai and occasionally had to write about hurri-cane and tropical storm warn-ings. Little did I know mere rain and snow was nothing without the wind.Millions of dollars of property damage in our latest bout of really bad weather.Four people in this area dead due directly to the wind, rain and flooding.And a million people without power, including moi.Our building did without for about 20 hours.My appreciation for old Honest Abe Lincoln, who supposedly educated himself by candlelight in a Kentucky log cabin, increased ten-fold after trying to read for a half-hour by flickering candlelight, while encrusted in quilts, wrapped around my hooded sweatshirt.If I were Abe, I would have stayed a railsplitter - I think my one night of candlelight reading has doubled my myopia (nearsightedness).
Seems up here in the dark, rainy Pacific Northwest, we had a little stink on our hands that's made national news, especially among those phony War on Christmas types who can never keep their facts, or religions, straight.You see, over at Sea-Tac International Hyphenated Airport, they put up the usual, you know, Christmas trees. And some rabbi threatened to sue if they didn't also put up a display of a menorah to commemorate Hanukkah. Just like they put up at the city of Seattle and any number of other government-owned properties in the region. So what did the Hyphenated Airport brain trust do? Against the pleadings of the rabbi and his lawyer, the airport took the trees down instead.And then, if you'll pardon the Satanic reference, all hell broke loose. That includes Bill O'Reilly, pronged tail and all.The upshot now is that the airport has redecked its halls with trees, the rabbi says the whole thing has been blown way out of proportion (and he won't sue), and some panel will meet - after the holidays, naturally - to discussion among themselves how to be more inclusive.And the hell of it is (there's that word again), the Christmas tree is not a Christian symbol. It predates the birth of Christ by a couple thousand years. As does the yule log, mistletoe, gift giving, the works. That whole just-after-the-longest-night rebirth of life thing. I'm even betting the fat guy with the reindeer and sleigh didn't come from old Judea, either.
Boxing Day is celebrated in Britain, Canada and parts of the British Commonwealth on Dec. 26, the day after Christmas. It's a public holiday dating back to ancient times, when leftovers from the great feasts were distributed to the poor. Servants and family retainers also received their Christmas boxes on this day. Christmas boxes of money and gifts are given to the postman, the milkman, the dustman (garbage collector) and others who have given good service throughout the year. It is a time for riding to hounds (fox hunting) and taking the children to the pantomime.It was an occasion of great fun and revelry. Plays and pageants were performed for the audiences, and in the absence of microphones and loudspeakers, the action had to be done in mime because nobody could have heard what was happening.The first pantomime, as we would know it today, was performed at London's Theatre Royal Drury Lane in 1716 and billed as a "New Dramatick Entertainment of Dancing, after the manner of the Ancient Pantomimes." In Victorian times, pantomime took on some of the characteristics of the old music hall (burlesque) tradition and became more oriented toward children and audiences participation, albeit retaining all the earlier spectacle and special effects.