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CHS is an experiment in collaboration. When you leave a comment here, you are working with the group to expand the conversation. Users post stories, pictures and videos. More and more, we're finding ways to work together in significant ways -- I'm looking forward to seeing what Cheesecake and EmilyP cook up with his next video episode and her design skills. In that spirit, we'd like to try another new thing -- CHS Giving Snowball 2008, an experiment in holiday giving. At the center of any community collaboration, there needs to be a driver. For Snowball 2008, it's neighbor pffft who wrote in looking for a way to expand his plans for holiday giving. Pffft will help get the Snowball rolling by throwing $100 in the group pot (see below) and pledging $400 to Northwest Harvest if we meet our $700 giving goal. Thanks pffft! CHS is also throwing $50 in the community pot to get things rolling. And there is no time like the present to get things rolling -- I'm hearing all sorts of anecdotes about challenges faced by... This sums up my frustration over the last several days...
In northern towns where 6 inches of snow falling overnight is a regular occurrence, the spring thaw of icy rivers and crusted drifts is called "the break-up." It is mostly celebrated by people who live in these places -- the end of freezing cold, the start of warmer days. There is also an unease about it. Near rivers, giant ice drifts cause blockages and flooding. The retreat of the icy snow drifts reveals lost items, piles of trash and, worse, evidence of crimes and various misdeeds against nature and humanity. Seattle, it seems, is going through a similar thaw. Where the snow was good fun and an unusual opportunity to play, it also overwhelmed many services -- and our streets and sidewalks. Today, we are left looking at the lost items, the trash and, worse, evidence of crimes and various misdeeds against nature and humanity. There are many categories to discuss:
From Sea-Tac Airport website (12/24/08): The Airport Parking Garage is currently full. Parking is also full in off-airport lots (map); even parkers with reservations are being turned away. If you have a reservation, call ahead to your lot. (This worked well late late Monday night. Your mileage may vary). Google map of the route.
I rode the bus with a colleague yesterday and we had a good laugh about our (relatively) identical Capitol Hill residential trajectories. Feel free to share your CHR! 
My cycling companion and I spotted this typical pre-sharrow on Sunday. Lots of sharrows are finding their way onto Capitol Hill to advertise the presence of bikes on popular arterials. Sharrows don't actually *do* anything. The Seattle DOT website states that both motorists and bicyclists should "follow the rules of the road as if there were no sharrows." Got that? Sharrows "do not designate a particular part of the roadway for the use of bicyclists." That said, my guess is that the vast majority of cyclists and motorists DO think that sharrows indicate where cyclists should ride. I did. This is why the placement of these pre-sharrows, most notably those coming downhill on 10th and Harvard, is terrifying! Note the deep grooves in the pavement on either side of this sharrow -- grooves that no sane road-bike-riding cyclist would go near. Yet some sharrows are being placed near or even ON TOP of these grooves. So now cyclists will: a) ride on top of sharrow and risk crashing, b) avoid sharrow and risk pissing... 
Here are the lovely felines of Capitol Hill! Thanks to everyone for sending me pics of their adorable kitties! Thought I'd create an open thread to let everybody check-in from your various holiday travels (and non-travels). Leave a note, say where you are, add a picture if you're savvy (you can use standard HTML in comment field). Happy holidays, all. Stay warm. 
If you are reading this, I just wanted to say thanks for letting my kids join in on the snowball fight over at Cal Anderson. They were still talking about it when I was putting them to bed. It's nice to know that awesome people do exist and are not above playing dead when a five year old hits them with a snowball.
To the man in the orange hat, the man in the fuzzy hat and the woman in the white scarf: My son said he's gonna look for you all tomorrow so he can get you all with a really, really, super big snowball. ^_^ Snowball fights. WIN!! (X-Posted to my LJ) Found this very talented guy outside the Harvard Square QFC. He was using an amp with the cello. Very talented. He really cranks it up near the halfway mark. I think he said his name is Brandon Smith.
Today is Veteran's Day, one of those federal holidays that few non-governmental employers honor. But apparently there are enough of us governmental employees to fill every single cafe on Capitol Hill. Joe Bar? Packed. Vivace? Packed. Victorla? Packed...except for 2 seats (!). (Fuel was next on the list. Anyone have a report from there?) Yes, there are about 25 people staring into their laptops, but there was also a stich'n'bitch crew knitting in the corner, a lot of novel reading, and plenty of lively conversation. A good cafe day - if you can find a seat. My Hillcats 2008 t-shirts are scheduled to be delivered today! But -- dum da dum dum -- the package was shipped UPS which means there is about a 2% chance of me actually receiving it at my residence. See, my experience with UPS is that they pretend apartment buildings don't even exist. I have been home, with my name clearly labeled on the building's (functioning!) buzzer, and still received the infuriating little yellow post-in on the front door. "Sorry, we missed you!" No, you're not! You didn't even try, freakin' UPS! We'll see what happens today.
One of the highlights of last night's CHS happy hour was meeting a fellow CHSer who used to be an intra-apartment neighbor. We actually became aware of this through a post on CHS! This led to a conversation about how we meet our apartment neighbors. I know that Seattleites have a bad reputation for avoiding eye contact, but we CHSers are a friendly bunch*, so I assume most of us have met at least a few neighbors. For me, the ice breaker has been having a newspaper subscription. At both of my last 2 apartments, the first people I met were fellow newspaper subscribers. Since so few of us remain, we must stick together. *As we discovered at happy hour, the majority of CHS readers/writers have roots in the Midwest and, thus, have amazing small-talk capabilities. I rode the 43 from Miller Park to Broadway this weekend and caught one of the "back-to-base" runs. These are the inbound 43s that make a left turn onto Broadway and head back to their home in the ID rather than continue down Olive. What's tricky is that these buses often only display "Capitol Hill" rather than "Downtown via Capitol Hill," and many people don't catch this subtle difference. Instead, they end up getting dropped off at Denny and Broadway and have to schlep back to Broadway and John to catch another bus. Of course, all (or at least most) of this is avoided when the driver announces this deviation. But in my experience, only about half of 43 drivers do this. Instead, the driver continues to pick up folks, giving no announcement, and then makes that left-hand turn which infuriates the novice (or just unaware) passengers. On my most recent bus, I felt particularly bad for the two men who got on at 11th and John (!) and were "in a rush to get downtown to the symphony." Yet, in typical Seattle fashion,...
Hi Capitol Hill,
Here are three polls to gauge how the blog-reading residents of Capitol Hill are voting in November 4th's elections. This only includes that top three elections that are probably of most interest to Captiol Hill residents. Other issues this November include legalizing doctor-assisted suicide, Tim Eyman's carpool lane elimination initiative, and various legislative elections. If you need to register in Seattle or want to check to see if you're still registered and what will appear on your ballot, check here or call 206-296-VOTE (which might be easier to ensure you'll get a ballot, since the website isn't that great). You only have until October 4th (next Saturday)! First: Who are you voting for president? During Slog's debate Liveslog from Cafe Presse yesterday, 99% of the respondents said they were voting for Obama. Can we beat that? Second, who are you voting for Governor? Dino Rossi has been running ads nonstop and Gregoire's campaign seems to be asleep. Hopefully my grassroots banner for... Yesterday, we brunched at Table 219 (30 minute wait for a table for 6 at 10:45 - and all the people in your party must be there for them to seat you). Still a favorite for brunch though we have yet to try out their dinner menu. Afterwards, we walked over to the Harvard Exit and saw Slumdog Millionaire. This is one of my favorite movies of the year - an exhilirating, beautiful film. Roger Ebert says it better than I could: "This is a breathless, exciting story, heartbreaking and exhilarating at the same time, about a Mumbai orphan who rises from rags to riches on the strength of his lively intelligence. The film's universal appeal will present the real India to millions of moviegoers for the first time."
I heard on NPR that our Major gave himself a B grade in response to the snow storm. I wonder if this grade from one of the schools that do not meet the National standards. I am one of those unfortunate health care worker that has to be either on the road or use the buses to get to work since people need me no matter what the weather happens to be. Tried to get on the bus but they were not running; thank God I own one of those hated SUV's since the city decided to make the roads semi adequate for us to get around. Lots of my coworkers were not as lucky; they had to spend the night at work. It is more than an inconvenience when essential workers are not able to get to work and replace the ones locked in due to the conditions. You can not run a city in this manner; I am just asking for the major to use his critical thinking skills. He is getting his salary from us; the city needs to keep moving. Peace.
It's a little ridiculous for me to be doling out advice about cold and ice -- I grew up in California. But the NorCal hippie in me has to say something: Please, don't use salt to melt the ice on your sidewalk.
So, what is safe to use? Let's turn to a city that knows cold (and, btw, has a Capitol Hill of its own). Denver suggests kitty litter or sand. Here's an interesting discussion of the effectiveness for both options. If you only have salt around the house (my predicament tonight), better to make things safe than not. But try to pick up a bag of litter the next time you are out and about. 
EDIT: Over one month later they are still playing religious songs that can be heard at least six blocks away. The songs marking noon and 6:00pm go on for a minute. I understand that church bells evoke a nostalgic response from many of the commentators, but I find it hard to believe that if an Islamic call to prayer were blasted over the neighborhood you would approve.
For those of you who live within earshot you have probably already heard the All Pilgrims Church Christmas chiming. Starting on November 30 they have been banging out such classics as "Oh come all ye faithful" to mark the passage of time. While All Pilgrims should be commended for their inclusive style to... 
There are lots of ways to decorate for your Capitol Hill holidays. But if you are going to add a holiday tree to your living space, consider these two worthy Hill options:
Every year Miller Community Center and the Country Doctor Community Clinic (on 19th) work together to put on a giant holiday party for the clinic's patients and other (mostly disadvantaged) families in Seattle. The kids all enjoy games and their presents, and everyone gets a holiday meal. This year's party is on Saturday December 13th, and it would be great if you were available to volunteer your time to help things run smoothly: here are the details. Remember the time capsule celebration of the arrival of settlers on Alki 157 years ago? Here's where you can tell the future what you were up to on Capitol Hill today. Here is my less-than-historically-notable diary thus far:
Hoping to make it out and about to get a few pictures, etc. But help me out -- what are you up to? Comments please. (Message from S-DOT. bolding and links added by Andrew. See this page for general RPZ info and this one for details of the RPZ Policy Review)
SDOT is making final recommendations on the Residential Parking Program ( RPZ) Policy Review. We have a late-breaking idea and would like your feedback on it. By noon tomorrow if possible! Because the time is short, Mary Catherine Snyder and I are trying to call/email a number of people from various areas to get a range of thoughts and responses. Our original recommendation was to limit the number of permits allowed - in the highest use areas a household would be limited to 1 per household (examples Cascade, Pike Pine, Capitol Hill), moderate use areas would be limited to 2 permits (examples, Wallingford, University West), and in low use areas or 4 permits (Madison Valley, Licton Springs, Roosevelt). All permits would be $45. The new proposal is to not limit permits in any zone, cap all areas at 8, and to have permits escalate in cost: first 2 @ $45, next 2 @ $90,...
You know that gnawing sensation that there is something missing in your life? You need to create more art. Here's your chance. Artist Kuros Zahedi needs your help with one of his Urban Alchemy projects this Friday afternoon -- the work will be added to the Sound Transit-sponsored installations along Broadway. Litter will be picked up from the streets of Seattle and then transformed into a piece of art. We are looking for people to join the clean up effort THIS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 10th, from 4 - 6 PM (GOOD WEATHER PREDICTED!) The collected trash will then get sorted and utilized to create an artwork which will be displayed on Broadway, in the Capitol Hill neighborhood as part of their STart program. Hey, you billionaires in the Fancy Pants part of the Hill -- Kuros especially wants you! Part of the conceptual background for this art project is to have people from diverse walks of life working together to do something good. My aim is to be able to collect trash together and side-by-side with poor folks, senators and... so i know a lot of parents post here and, for some reason, parents seem to know more than school staff about this issue. Update by jseattle 12/8/2008 at 9:58 AM Here is the process set up by the school board. I would start with this -- with friends and neighbors dragged with me. There will be press coverage and a fair amount of attention so it's one way to... |
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