Andrew Taylor

• Tuesday 11/17/09, 6PM at Miller Community Center: Join former Mayor Norm Rice for the kick-off of a major update to Seattle's Comprehensive Plan "Seattle 2030 and Beyond". 6 - 8 PM, presentation at 6:30. Mayor Rice introduced the "urban village" idea to Seattle, back in the 90's.
• Most of you sensibly avoided going out last Tuesday to the "Neighborhood Plan Status Check" presentation. After an introduction by Sally Clark, the 30 or so of us Queen Anne/Belltown/Pike-Pine/First Hill/Eastlake/Cap Hill/Centralites were treated to a brief Powerpoint presentation, and then broke into our separate areas (I attended the Central Area one). We discussed minutae, voted on priorities via sticky dots, then decided we couldn't even read the accursed neighborhood planning matrix in the time available, let alone comment sensibly on it.
• YOU can achieve much more, from the comfort of your couch, by reading the summaries of discussions and answers to questionnaires for the Capitol Hill area (attached here, more at Planning Commission site) and then answering yet another questionnaire (see overview here). Central Area info at CD news. Contact me for Pike-Pine, First Hill or Eastlake info or look on Planning Commission report (page 7)
• Sorry, Neighborhood Planning is NOT going away. Today's City Council press release on the budget ("City Council rolls out major budget highlights") notes the following: 

Planning for a strong future included not losing focus on the importance of strong neighborhoods and restoring needed funds benefiting neighborhoods.

“Preserving neighborhood planning and historic preservation programs are two of the ways that this budget sets the table for economic recovery,” said Councilmember Sally J. Clark. As the recession ends we’ll be better poised to make stronger communities in our built environment.”

McGinn's lead has dropped from 910 to 462 (less than the # of write-in ballots counted). Your vote really is going to count this time. King County lets you follow the path of your ballot through the system, which you might care to do.

See a problem? Contact the elections office:  http://www.kingcounty.gov/elections/aboutus/contactus.aspx (many ways to contact them)

While you're there you can check the number of votes still to be counted (King County 129,000 on 11/4). Seattle Times estimates that about half the mayoral votes have been counted.

This just in from the Slog:

Although some election watchers think R-71's approval has good odds, Friedes is concerned that it could fail if young urban voters don't mail their ballots. But whether it’s rejected or approved, the campaign has accelerated gay-rights organizing more than if the bigots hadn’t put the referendum on the ballot.

Here's how.

The other 15 might want to come and gloat??

Your ballot's around the house somewhere.  Remember that it has to be postmarked by next TUESDAY (good luck finding a pickup after 6 PM). A stamp (remember stamps?) is 44 cents. Safeway has 'em.

Voters' pamphlets, locations of 24 hour drop boxes, etc is all right here.

Nearest drop box: Central Area Neighborhood Service Center, 2301 S. Jackson

For the November 3 general, ballot drop boxes will open on Friday, October 16 and close at 8 p.m. on Election Day, November 3.

You all did so well last November. Please get out those ballots and make us all proud.

Thank you.

I've know Erin since she was about 6: she's the daughter of a former colleague at the Hutch, and she was (rather more recently) a graduate student in a lab down the hall. They really did walk and paddle all the way from Seattle to the end of the Aleutian peninsula, blogging as they went! You can read their adventures on the blog, or you can read the book and/or come to the slide show.

We also go to the same dentist. At one point their inflatable raft was ripped apart by a bear. The thing that impressed our dentist most was that they were carrying enough dental floss to sew raft (and tent) back together again.

It's a great story. See you there.

They'll be at the City Neighborhood Council meeting at the West Precinct meeting room (810 Virginia St) on Monday 10/26/09:

DRAFT AGENDA:

6:30    Introductions, review/approval of agenda and of September minutes

 

• Introductions
• Approve agenda
• Approve minutes 

6:40    Mayoral Candidates- Opening statements (3 minutes each)

• Joe Mallahan
• Mike Mcginn

6:50                   Question and Answers

• Pre-submitted to kenyland@comcast.net

7:40          City Neighborhood Council  Elections

• 2010 Nominees
• Slate of candidates

8:00                   Committee reports: each committee is allotted five minutes, unless they requested more time.

• Budget Committee—Ron Boddie, Chair 
• Neighborhood Matching Fund Committee--Laine Ross, Chair
• Neighborhood Planning Committee—Irene Wall, Chair
• Transportation Committee—Ref Lindmark, Chair             
• Youth, School & Education Committee--Mike Warren, Chair
• CNC executive committee

My (sadly) former next door neighbor Mark is having a show. If it's >= 10% as good as it sounds, it will be stunning.

See you there.

Prescriptions for Awe and Wonder

October 23rd, 9pm - 1am

1506 11th Ave

[map]

Seattle, WA 98122

Suggested Dress

Incognito: Wigs & Shades

The new Graypants mural

The most important piece to all of this is: I am very excited about this show. This all started off as a launch party for my mural I just finished over at Graypants (you can read a post about it on their blog here), but has sort of meandered about, as ideas tend to do, and in my excitement to make others grin and click their tongue on the roof of their mouth like I do when I see new things, the show has expanded to include some other projects I've been working on.

These additional works include an updated digital video filter piece that uses pattern formation algorithms (original here), an updated/revamped peep show (original here), some concrete sculptures, a video short and some plaster animals. I may or may not get some output from a wall drawing machine I've been dinking around with over the months, but if it's not there and you ask me about it, I will be very excited to tell you about it and perhaps give you a hug.

One small idea waiting on an ocean bluff as the sky turns three shades of blue and waves sigh and murmur about the past. This idea, though, will only look to the future.

Fortune cookies may be available. Beer and infused vodkas/gins/whiskeys made by my dear dear (and newly wed) friend David Howard. All welcome.

Browsing Redfin listings and took them up on their offer to show me local grocery stores.

They were using BING which gave rather idiosyncratic results:

• Rainbow Market still there (it's LONG gone)
• NO QFC's
• NO Safeways
• NO Trader Joe's
• NO Madison Market
• Lots of obscure little markets
• Biggest stores it found were the M Street Market and the Grocery Outlet on MLK

Thanks BING, but you're not quite there yet........

Update: look further down the list and you do find a main-stream grocery store: the Albertson's on Mercer Island.

(You couldn't make this stuff up).

See the attached brochure for all the details, or pick up a paper copy at the Center (330 - 19th Ave. E.)

•  Half-day preschool, Mon/Wed/Fri 8:30 - 12. Starts November 2nd. Follows Seattle School Calendar
• You must be 4 years old (by Dec. 15th) and potty-trained to join. You (or your parents) will need $220/month.
• 1:7 teacher to student ratio
• E-mail miller.preschool@seattle.gov with your questions, or call the Center at (206) 684-4753