Capitol Hill Block Party in Brief, Les Savy Fav in Briefs

The block party was a blast, but we're tired now. Read about it here!

Viva Park City

Made a quick trip to Park City, Utah this week for a work function. It was so great to be back in my old stomping grounds, even for only a couple of days. The weather was gorgeous, the food and wine delicious, and the people I met from other offices were really fun to be around.

Not long after taking off from a slightly overcast Seattle, we were met with this lovely surprise--Mt. Ranier:

The Goldener Hirsch Inn, where I stayed:
A couple shots of the wind sculptures outside our meeting area:

Ya Know, Ninety-Six Degrees isn't so Bad

When you're doing a backstroke in the crystal clear waters of Lake Wenatchee.

New Front Yard

2 weekends, 2 men, 1 woman, 3 rentals, 4CY compost, 4CY gravel, untold number of beers.

After lots of hard work and incalculable brawn, the new front yard is in.

There are still a few things to do, including the stone pathway, but if you're curious, HERE ARE THE PHOTOS.

Sasquatch! Photos

Three days in the sun. Three days of music. It was a blast, but I was sure happy to be home afterward! Here are the photos.

Sasquatch, Here I Come

It's almost painful sitting still these last couple days leading up to Sasquatch Music Festival.

This year marks the first time I will have attended a multi-day festival like this. Sasquatch runs three days this year and I'll be there for the whole damn thing! Should be interesting to say the least.

Anastasia and I will head out there together Saturday morning. Come Sunday, however, she's abandoning me and heading back to Seattle. I'll be rocking and camping with friends for two more nights and returning to Seattle sometime Tuesday.

And now, here is the Sasquatch Survival Guide I wrote for Seattlest yesterday.

See you soon you beast of a weekend...

Incredible Weekend

Stasia's parents, Paul & Kris, have been visiting us this past couple weeks and it's been a blast! We've had a lot of fun with them and have done too many things to list here with my current energy as it is.

For a recap of all the fun we had this weekend, click HERE.

The Magical Mystery Poo

Stasia and I went up the stairs the other day to check on Lily, the pregnant cat we're currently fostering. Stasia arrived on the scene first, saying, "Oh my god, you have to see this."

What I saw was staggering. Perched on the side of the litter box was a massive turd, standing upright, like a miniature brown snow man.

I have no idea how this cat managed to do this. It is a feat of incalculable proportions.

A Surprising Email in My SPAM Folder

What's Up?

Good afternoon, well-behaved citizenry.

It's Sunday and I'm sitting on a blue couch writing to you. The dog is napping somewhere. The cat is napping somewhere. The wife... is napping somewhere. I'm in my headphones, listening to a band called Arthur & Yu. They're an Indie/Americana duo from Seattle and their sort-of new album, In Camera, is fantastic.

The cat and dog don't really deserve their naps as they haven't really accomplished anything today that would warrant needing a nap. Anastasia, however, ran a 5K this morning; the St. Patrick's Day Dash. So, I'm letting her rest up while I read and relax a bit myself.

Pretty soon I'll be heading to the kitchen. Our office is having a St. Pat's pot luck lunch tomorrow and I'm pulling out all the stops. I'll be making in Irish Quick Bread and a double-batch of Guiness Beef Stew. Mmm...

In the meantime, I think I'll get back to the book I'm reading: 1776 by Pulitzer Prize winning author, David McCullough. As I'm sure you can surmise from the title, it tells the story of the Revolutionary war from both the British and American perspectives. I'd picked it up while just killing time in a bookstore downtown and by the time I was a few pages in, I was hooked!

Why I Love Jon Stewart

Yeah, it's an old video (2004), but still relevant and still warms my heart.

Perfect Weekend Away from it All

Just had a fantastic weekend with our friends Ryan and Tiffany at and around Mt. Bachelor, Oregon!

Check out the PHOTOS.

I Review: MAME @ 5th Ave Theatre

Review HERE.

Sen. Ed Murray on the Bigot Rev. Ken Hutcherson

This fantastic letter via Josh Feit, The Stranger:

Principal Randy Taylor Mt. Si High School 8651 Meadowbrook Way S.E. Snoqualmie, WA 98065

Dear Mr. Taylor,

Today, every American is familiar with Dr. Martin Luther King’s great leadership in the fight for civil rights for African Americans.

However, Dr. King’s example was not simply limited to the tireless quest for equality. It was also found in the manner in which he treated his opponents, embracing them with respect and without vitriol – even while they denigrated and insulted him. When we honor Dr. Martin Luther King, we would do well to remember this, too.

One man’s own personal experience of racism, while certainly regrettable, is not enough to qualify him as a spokesperson of Dr. King’s values. To truly uphold Dr. King’s example, one must also uphold his humility and his fundamental objection to derogate those who disagreed with him.

Rev. Ken Hutcherson decidedly does not follow in these footsteps.

Here is a man who, in his battle against equal rights for gays and lesbians has said: “You know how the Bible says, ‘Turn the other cheek?’ Well, I did that. But I’m not giving them the big cheeks.” These kinds of degrading remarks about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender citizens are simply obscene.

Here is a man who, after viewing the movie ‘The Passion of the Christ’ told a reporter that the Jews were responsible for killing Christ: “The truth is that they did push to have Christ crucified. That’s just plain truth… that’s Biblical truth.” This libel has resulted in the suffering and death of millions over twenty centuries of Western history.

Intolerance and contempt are objectionable enough. Using Christianity to support them – to use, in other words, the tools that Martin Luther King developed not to extent rights but to deny them – is a cynical order of magnitude worse.

History has taught us that we must speak out, and speak out vigorously, against these slanderous attacks. There are many leaders in the African American civil rights movement, including some who oppose my position of sexual orientation, who would have better represented the example of Martin Luther King.

As an agent of intolerance and contempt, Hutcherson should not have been invited to speak at your school’s Martin Luther King Day event. I have no doubt that he has very painful stories of the inequality he has experienced in his life. But his story today is about perpetuating inequality among gays, lesbians and Jews. And that cannot and should not be condoned.

A member of your staff thought as I do, and, at the end of Hutcherson’s remarks, respectfully questioned him about his commitment to the values of acceptance and respect as they apply to gays and lesbians. I was shocked to learn that you issued Hutcherson an apology as a result. This – and your subsequent “fact-finding” inquest into your staff’s actions – only adds insult to injury.

Although a minimal amount of circumspection alone might have helped you determine that inviting a known bigot to speak on Martin Luther King Day may have offended members of your student body, staff and faculty, I am heartened to know that you plan to examine your policies and standards related to speakers and presentations at your school.

However, to not disavow Hutcherson’s presentation at your school will continue to amount to an endorsement of his views and values – neither of which follow in the footsteps of Martin Luther King.

Sincerely,

Sen. Ed Murray

Snowy Morning

What's Going On

Well, for starters, we had a great time in Chicago with Stasia's brother. Deep dish for dinner and an awesome brunch the following day -- a day which was colder than should be allowed.

From there, the three of us drove to Lansing Michigan, home to Stasia's family, where we commenced with a week of reading, relaxing, eating too many cookies and generally slothing about.
Whilst in Michigan...

We watched two movies: The holy-cow-funny-and-fantastic Charlie Wilson's War and the way-more-brutal-than-I-thought-it-was-going-to-be Sweeney Todd.

I read a book: The Road by Cormac McCarthy. It's an Oprah selection, but don't let that fool you. This was one of the most intense and satisfying books I've ever read. A story about a father and son struggling to exist in a post-apocalyptic world. Yeah, I know, sounds like a real pick-me-up, right? Well, it's not. In fact, I've kind of felt the need to recover or "come down" from that book before starting another one. Like I said, it's pretty intense.

Part of that intensity stems from its simplicity. The writing is very minimalistic. The scenery very drab. The emotions very numb. Humans are knocked down to a very primal existence. Some choose to follow the moral compass they've always known, while some spiral into methods of survival that sit in your stomach like a brick.

What else is going on?

We're having our roof replaced this week -- well, depending on the weather of course. Forecast shows lots of rain this week, but we'll see. If it's just a drizzle, I think they can still work on it.

We're pretty excited to see the finished product. Yesterday morning we woke to find a big truck parked in front of the house -- there to deliver materials. It's all stacked up on the roof now, waiting for workers!

Closing of the Crocodile Cafe

Here's my two cents on the demise of Seattle's famous Crocodile Cafe.

just four more days...

...before we're off on a much needed rest. Off to Chicago for a day with Stasia's brother and then off to Michigan for another nine days. Throw in New Year's Day and that's eleven all together. An eleven day break from project deadlines, from the daily yuk of Seattle traffic.

Viva Michigan!

Silly Rain

The snow melted... fast.

And then it rained all day and all night.

Had to leave work Monday morning to take care of the house. Thought I'd be back after lunch but ended up having to take the day off.

Our driveway slopes toward the garage and the house. There's a trench drain in front of the garage that pipes to a catch basin in the street, but somewhere along that drainage line there's a blockage and so, the water rises and rises. Had to drain the driveway four times -- and thanks to the City of Shoreline, we were able to sandbag the front of the house to keep the water at bay.

Compared to a lot of others in Washington and Oregon, we were lucky. No damage. Just a soggy annoyance.

Kudos to Eliza & Levi for for doing their part to protect their neighbor's homes!

Photos from the Seattle PI HERE.

Wintery Weekend

Was skeptical on Saturday. The weather reports tend to exaggerate. Come about 3pm, however, Seattle was being blanketed by a flurry of fluffy white stuff. Nice!

Ended up being a (mostly) great night for Annabelle. Stasia and I took her down to a nearby football field to get her snow on. There's nothing like watching a dog in the snow. She ran and ran and buried her face, rolled around, did her little "swimming" moves.

Somewhere along the way, poor Annabelle Fuzzypants hurt her paw. We didn't notice until we got back home and saw that she was tracking blood through the house. Looked like she broke a claw somehow. So, we bandaged her up and her spirits didn't seem to suffer at all for it.

Now it's Sunday. Stasia is off with friends at a craft fair and I'm just having a relaxing day at home with the fuzzy beasts.

It's a great day all around -- especially since the Seahawks beat Philadelphia 28-24. Lofa Tatupu is king!

Bandaged paw

Deep in thought


Evil Kitty... is making her plans...