National headlines and news reporting from around the country made Seattle the star of the evening news uncovering yesterday’s fatal shooting at the Federal Courthouse, on 7th Avenue and Stewart Street in downtown Seattle, after a man carrying a defused fragmentation hand grenade whom they said was making “serious threats” was apparently upset over paying child support and felt he was not being heard by the court. [CNN: "Police shoot man in Seattle courthouse to death." Seattle Times: "Man killed at court was upset over child support."]

The media fiend I am receives to-the-minute breaking news alerts from various sources as news happen.

Yesterday at around 12:36pm, I received this breaking news flash:
“Federal Courthouse Locked Down: Police with guns drawn have surrounded the new Federal Courthouse in Seattle and they are telling bystanders to get out of the line of fire. More details to follow.”

With my heart twitching a beat, my initial thought right after reading the message was: God, I hope it’s not a person of color. It’s just not the climate to be.

Good stuff. [image: Origami Restaurant]
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Lately, I’ve had sushi on my mind. I can eat sushi for lunch and dinner for days in a row until my next food hankering kicks in.

It’s easy to indulge my sushi cravings in Seattle. In downtown Seattle where I live and in the International District where I work, both are saturated with oodles of scrumptious sushi spots that makes it trouble-free to cure the pang. With an abundance of sushi joints in our city, it seems more convenient to locate a sushi eatery than a pizzeria in this town.

Sushi is really healthy for you. I love it! I dream about noshing on the savory small flavorful bites of this miniature piece of art carefully wrapped in the chewy sapid seaweed, then dipped sparingly in the soy sauce and wasabi mixture and finished off with a pungent sliver of fresh ginger to cleanse my palate for the next mouthwatering morsel of sushi goodness. Delicious!

After eating heaps of sushi from various sushi hotspots locally and throughout my travels [sushi in Hawaii are the best, because the fish is served fresh-off-the-ocean, literally! Next for freshness are sushi in Seattle, because hey, we're also surrounded with water!], I

The Masses At Solstice

Just in case you were the one person in all of King county who did not attend the Fremont Solstice Fair over the weekend, here are some photos taken by yours truly as well as by other attendees who have graciously posted the images at the best photo sharing site around, Flickr.

Traffic Jam

Obviously the worst-kept secret in town is that UW rents out boats, and canoes to anyone with a valid ID, money, and who knows how to swim. Come spend the weekend playing tag with speedboats heading in and out of the Ship Canal.

Personal: To the guy hollering at that speedboat around noon to SLOW DOWN and watch for canoes, thank you, sir. You are my hero, and I hope one day I have enough lung power to project my voice as loudly as you did.

Late last night I rode up Broadway in a Shuttle Express van that was taking me home from Seatac. Traffic was backed up down the strip, Dick’s was packed with Friday-night revellers, and flocks of pedestrians staggered off to the bars for one more drink before last call. Fueled by jet lag loopiness, my boyfriend, myself, and our (obviously gay) driver got a good laugh out of imagining that the van was a float in the Pride Parade, carrying dancing van drivers dressed only in their uniform ties.

The boyfriend and I were out doing some grocery shopping this afternoon and we noticed a number of signboards on Broadway protesting against the plan to move the Pride Parade to the Seattle Center after this year’s march. When we got home, I googled and found an article about the proposal in Friday’s PI (“Gay Pride Parade plans to leave Broadway: Festival moving to Seattle Center next year”).

I can, to a certain extent, understand the parade organizers’ desire to mainstream the event by taking it to the Seattle Center, but it breaks my heart to think that it may abandon Broadway after this year. Moving the parade would be yet another blow to this struggling neighborhood (and it’s clear from the article that Broadway business owners are upset because losing the parade will mean a significant loss in revenue). But I can’t help but feel that the parade itself would lose some of its vitality and effervescence if it leaves Broadway behind. The Seattle Center is a generic festival space, without the historical ties and sense of place that Broadway provides. Maybe I’m being selfish, but I sure hope something can be done to convince the Seattle Pride Committee to keep the parade on Capitol Hill.

When you get on the plane in Cincinnati to make your return connection to Seattle, you know you’re on the right flight because:
    a. Every other passenger is wearing Northface, Columbia, and/or Tevas with socks
    b. The first thing you hear is a gay man discussing his love life on a cell phone
    c. The first t-shirt you see says “Free Speech”
    d. The toddlers have laptops
    e. All of the above

I guess that one’s pretty obvious, eh?

A week on the East Coast was great, but it’s always nice to come home to Seattle.

Imagine my dismay to hear that the fragrant waterlily is considered a weed because of its super-duper abilities to infest lakes that have extensive shallow areas. Such as Lake Washington around Foster Island, judging from the bumper crop of white blobs I see from the 520 bridge. I’m pretty certain there’s at least twice as many there this year as there was last year.

Gosh, I think it’s be-yooo-ti-ful to see fields of waterlilies blooming as far as the eye can see. The whole world is probably mad at me for saying that, seeing as how, wherever waterlilies grow, you can’t swim, or canoe, or fish, or water ski. And that’s just humans. On the flip side (underneath those foot-wide leaves), oxygen levels get low, and that’s just a huge turn-off for everything in the water, except for algae and bacteria. Yummy!

image: movie, Tudo Azul

The 2005 Seattle International Film Festival is now behind us, and the city can proceed with a whole slew of summer outdoor festivals and street fairs ahead.

Unlike other cinemaniacs who paused their life for 25 days

School will soon be out and that means it’s time for Seattle Public Library’s summer reading program! This year’s theme is “Reading is Natural”. Kids who keep a reading log (available at any library branch) will receive a sticker for each book read; after 10 books they’ll receive a paperback book of their choice and are entered for a chance to attend the City Librarian’s Breakfast of Champions (hosted this year by KING 5’s Dennis Bounds).

But wait – the kids don’t get to have ALL the fun. SPL has a program for adult readers too – Dive Into Summer Reading. Read just three books and you’ll receive a “Literary Latte” good for a $4 purchase at Starbucks. You’ll also be entered to win a Booklover’s Basket of Goodies; every three books gets you another entry into the drawing (though sadly, not more free coffee).

Mighty Music is a non-profit artist collective based here in Seattle and is intended as a platform for artists of all genres (music, visual arts, literary, dance, painting, etc.) who believe that the experience of art can be transforming; and who want to positively impact the world by being sources for that.

Founded by song writer and performer Suzanne Turner, Mighty Music puts on shows of music, poetry and art around the Seattle area featuring artists that want to make a difference.

Next Show:

When: This Wednesday (tomorrow), June 15th from 8pm until 12.
Where: CAFF