Arts & Culture

  • Seattle’s Bungalows

    On Saturday and Sunday, I had the pleasure of representing the Library at Historic Seattle’s Bungalow Fair, an annual gathering of enthusiasts of bungalows and the Arts and Crafts Movement. Continue reading

  • Surfing in Washington state: Part 2

    Steevie pulled up at my place at 6:30 a.m. on a Friday. The conditions were simple: go surfing, and a ride to a softball tournament outside Vancouver, WA will be had. After picking up Teresa, another teammate in need of a ride, we set course for Westport: a two-and-a-half hour drive southwest of Seattle. Apprehension,… Continue reading

  • Master Gardeners

    With my innate brown thumb, I have been helped many a time by Master Gardeners – or more specifically, the Washington State University Extension Master Gardeners of King County.  When I killed shrubs with liberal applications of nitrogen fertilizer (too much of a good thing) or hacked away at my rose bushes too enthusiastically (only… Continue reading

  • Two Outrageous Danish Films

    If it is healthy to laugh then it must extend your life by quite a bit when you laugh hysterically. If this is true then I would say that watching a DVD from the library is one of the best things you can do to extend your life. I prescribe two dark comedies by the… Continue reading

  • Uncertainty

    I remember the first time I saw Splendor in the Grass I cried hysterically. I saw it at a time in my life when the one relationship I thought I would be in forever had ended. I was at a crossroads and didn’t know who I was or what was going to happen. The uncertainty… Continue reading

  • How to Surf in Washington state: Part 1

    Surfing in Washington state may seem incongruent with the likes of hiking, recumbent bicycling, and extremely short summers, but it’s amazing to discover its hold on a growing contingent. In Seattle alone, there are at least three surf shops that cater to those wishin’ to hang ten or go SUP’ing, also called stand-up paddleboarding. Throughout… Continue reading

  • The Capitol Hill Branch of The Seattle Public Library proudly presents…Elvis!

    At 6 p.m. Thursday, August 12 in the Capitol Hill branch meeting room, local music author Gillian G. Garr will read from her book Return of the King: Elvis Presley’s Great Comeback. She’ll do a reading, show some video clips and then open up the floor for questions. Ms. Gaar is the author of several books about… Continue reading

  • Meet Me at the Fair!

    What better way to celebrate summer turning into autumn than to visit Western Washington’s annual fairs? Whether it’s stomach-churning rides, admiring quilts, catching live entertainment, communing with chickens, or indulging in that once-a-year-deep-fried-decadence-on-a-stick, there’s something for everyone. Here are the 2010 dates for our local fairs: The King County Fair in Enumclaw happens August 12th-14th;… Continue reading

  • Cool Clear Water

    Water is 70% of the earth’s surface. You can drink it, wash with it, swim in it and find it underground by using a stick. It is the universal solvent, colorless, odorless and just right for tea and Tang. Here are a few more tributes to the glory of H2O. Water edited by John Knechtel.… Continue reading

  • By the Sea Shore

    It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of ANNABEL LEE; And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me… Living in Seattle and having access to lakes, rivers… Continue reading

  • Héroes: el momento en que gente común se hace extraordinaria por John Quiñones

    Our library serves people speaking many languages. Here is one of them. Below is a review of  Héroes: el momento en que gente común se hace extraordinaria, the Spanish-language translation of John Quiñones’ book with Stephen P. Williams, Heroes Among Us: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Choices.  John Quiñones es un periodista de la cadena ABC, presentador del programa… Continue reading

  • Library Imitating Art

    As a teenager in the ‘90s, ‘grunge’ was the word. So I was particularly excited to learn about the Seattle Art Museum’s current exhibition, “Kurt,” which features works of art inspired by Kurt Cobain and the Seattle Grunge music movement. But before I throw on my oversized flannel shirt over my baggy jeans and head to the… Continue reading

  • Celebrate Pride with Two Seattle Films

    June is GLBTQ Pride month. Seattle Pride Fest is coming up on June 27th. The Seattle Public Library’s own Bookineers will be marching once again, so look for us there. Looking for other ways to celebrate Pride? Here are two films with ties to Seattle. Alice Wu designed software for Microsoft before she became a director.… Continue reading

  • I Want to Ride My Bicycle

    When I was in college, I lived off-campus with a small army of roommates. I had a great time, and I don’t have any major complaints about my roomies. However, young people often become obsessive with music and play the same albums and songs over and over and over again. For example, I had one… Continue reading

  • Celebrate Mother’s Day

    Why not celebrate Mother’s Day with some books? Here are a few picture books celebrating mothers: Olympia papercut artist Nikki McClure just released a picture book called Mama, Is It Summer Yet? In her beautfully simplistic papercut style, each page depicts a mother and son as they have a conversation about looking in nature for signs… Continue reading

  • The Modern Widower

    The neighborhood is alive with gardeners mowing lawns,                                        and trimming hedges,                  the mechanized hiss of twirling sprinklers           and for those just joining us,            it’s a beautiful day and Hailey is dead and I have nothing to do, nowhere to be. ~ How to Talk to a Widower From 1960s TV sitcoms such as the Andy Griffith… Continue reading

  • Peter Dinklage: Larger than Life

    It’s funny how people see me and treat me, since I’m really just a simple, boring person. There is just something about Peter Dinklage that I find so fascinating and it’s not the fact that he is a little person. The depth of his characters far exceed his four feet five inches. After his father’s… Continue reading

  • Technical Proficiency, Part II

    As promised in Part I, here is a criminally incomplete selection of non-standard, modern folks well deserving the title of Virtuoso. Jean Luc Ponty is a classically trained violinist and was accepted to one of the premier music schools in France at age 16. Afterwards he had a pretty good gig going with one of… Continue reading