image/info: www.littlechefclub.com

If you

Garage sales are a uniquely American pastime. No other country in the world (correct me if I am wrong) opens their property to strangers to haggle over their used crap. They began to gain hold sometime in the mid-twentieth century and are credited to Alma de Bretteville of San Francisco, who held them continuously to raise money for France and Belgium after WWII. We thank you, Alma, for your gift of great bargains.

It is the great bargain that causes us to set our alarm on a weekend and cruise around neighborhoods looking for hidden treasure. There are many to be had, especially on these warm, summer weekends in the Puget Sound. Seattilites need no reason to get out in the sun when sun is to be had; if you can tickle the tightwad in us, so much the better!

Of notable mention is the annual 500 family garage sale down at Sandpoint this weekend. It began Friday, but will extend through Sunday. Head onto Sandpoint Way and look for the yellow signs on the sidewalk.

If that kind of chaos isn’t your thing or you don’t feel like renting a U-haul, you can always go to Craig’s List and scour the ads looking for something in your area. Being the end of the month, many people are moving (like myself!) so the next two weeks are ripe for stellar bargains on furniture and clothing.
The pros tell me the best deals are in the nicer neighborhoods where people buy better quality but don’t hesitate to sell it for next to nothing.

This weekend I will be baking my Latin skin as I sit out and sell my consumerist spoils in a last ditch effort to get rid of the excess of my early 20′s. If you are on the Eastside, trek on up to Glen Grove Apts. in downtown Bothell and see me. You can find directions on Craig’s List.

Happy Hunting!

Now that summer is here the thing I really love to do is get into my car and drive. All I need is a bag full of CDs, some good conversation, and a full tank of gas. I know that probably we all don’t have time to drive three hours south on any given night, but if you didn’t do that last night, you missed one whizbang of a sunset. I only caught it because I was on my way to Oregon for a wedding.

The sun turned from yellow to a deep dark gold, and as the sun sank below the horizon, it set the Olympics on fire before turning red and purple, and fading to black.

Sure there are people who love to do nothing but sit on their duff and watch the world go by, but I can’t stop now to debate that; I have a long, straight road, unwinding in front of me, and miles to go before I rest.

PS: Thanks to the Cornerstone Coffee Roastery in Mcminnville, Oregon, for the free wifi!

Well, not the street, exactly — more like the patch of dirt alongside the bus stop at Republican (snicker) and Bellevue. I happened to notice this as I was walking home from work. Yeah, it’s pretty darn lowbrow political “commentary”, but it got a chuckle out of me.

It’s kind of amazing that someone went to the trouble to make a fancy little GW flag and then find a big pile of dog dookie to stick it in. Have they created more of these … objets? Any other sightings in the area? Is this a purely Seattle phenomenon, or have similar things appeared in other cities?

I think it’s the law that every weblog related to Seattle must post a link to the story about Seattle being the most overpriced city in the United States. [forbes]

Before you start packing your bags to move to a cheaper town just remember that last month the country’s mayors voted Seattle the most livable large city in the country [seattletimes].

In other news, it rained this morning.

one of 24 suggestions. see the others [seattletimes]

In world-historical terms it’s nearly 2007, the year that Washington will have its moment in the spotlight by being featured on the quarter-dollar coin! Just try to contain your excitement as you browse through the slideshow of suggestions submitted to the Seattle Times. [#]

The best part of the piece is comparing the ideas from readers to a 2002 story that tried to explain why the state quarters were all so ugly. [slate] Let’s hope that the people responsible for the actual design will come up with something reminiscent of Rhode Island or Connecticut rather than South Carolina or Ohio.

What would you put on our quarter?

related:

(image from thislife.org)

Stranger obsessives, “Savage Love” readers, and general appreciators of public radio will want to tune into this weekend’s episode of This American Life. Scheduled for broadcast on Friday at 7:00pm and Saturday at 11:00am on KUOW, “A Little Bit of Knowledge” includes a story about Dan Savage’s homelife:

Six-year-old DJ, with his two dads, Dan Savage and Terry Miller. DJ is being raised by two gay men, but he has a six-year-old’s understanding of what gay means. Which is to say, he doesn’t understand it at all. Though he does oppose gay marriage. [thislife]

For those who are really interested in the story of how everyone’s favorite syndicated sex-columnist came to be a father, check out The Kid : What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Go Get Pregnant [$] or search the This American Life archives for the occasional updates.

[re-posted to say that the episode (which is very good) is now online]

When I was growing up there was a show on TV that was called “Evening Magazine” (Some areas called it PM Magazine) Your local station could order a few community bits that didn’t really identify the community in question and then add in one or two actual local stories.

The one local bit I remember was the “Phantom Diner.” He’d go into restaurants and do the full top to bottom shake-down. Nobody knew he was (Except his editor, I guess) and as a result, no one could prepare for him. I always thought the idea of mystery shopping and the ilk would be… well, kinda keen.

Now, I’m of two minds when it comes to reviewing food. Personally, I could stand to loose a pound or two.. or…well maybe 10. But that having been said; I’d like to point out one place that you really need to try.

Hidden under the bridge and around the corner off Lake Union is a restaurant called Ivar’s Salmon House. Now, the real secret to Ivar’s is not merely it’s tricky to find location, but it’s amazing Happy Hour menu. With everything from Salmon Skewers to Salmon Tacos, this lakeside experience is worth every penny.

Those pennies are even more worthy when you learn that just about everything on the Happy Hour menu is only $2.95. We fed three people thoroughly on about $21 dollars. The menu will definitely please, the lakeside dining is zen-like and… well the decor… A touch of Native American with a surprise in the bar that will teach you once and for all that Walruses are not the best endowed of the mammals. (Remnants of whale form the corner “posts”)

Check them out at http://www.ivars.net

Happy dining.

As I was on my usual sweep through the city

The Metroblogging family just keeps getting bigger — today marks the arrival of two shiny new weblogs in the international network of people writing about cities: One in the USA (phoenix.metblogs.com) and one for the UK (birmingham.metblogs.com).

Check them out if you’re looking for a change of scenery.