In a quest to get ever more content on this site, I came up with a harebrained idea. On Fridays from now on I’ll throw out a Seattle-related question, and all 17 of you loyal readers can comment away with your answer.

So, here goes:
Almost everyone in this town has a Chinese takeout or sitdown that they call their “local.” It’s the place you order from when you don’t want to cook, or the place you load a booth up with kids and/or roommates and/or spouses to get some cheap Chinese grub. Or, it’s just a place you go when you want Chinese.

What’s your local?

Ours is Chef At Wok at 125th and Greenwood. They specialize in “East Coast” Chinese (that is, East Coast US, which has a different flavor from classic West Coast US Chinese), and they’re a short drive from our house. They really don’t have a specialty, but they do a good job with the classic meat dishes, and their potstickers are large. Their sitdown service is pretty good as well, offering some nice sub-$10 dinners and lots of black tea.

And, come on, you gotta love the punny name.

So, what’s your local Chinese place?

First, a robbery last week at the Ave’s new Taco del Mar involving a firearm. Then, a stabbing last night near the Bank of America. Is Seattle’s University District the scene of a crime wave?

Never one to give in to paranoia, I nevertheless felt a bit disconcerted two weeks ago when a quiet Sunday evening at an Ave cafe was interrupted by a shower of glass bursting into the restaurant. A fight had broken out outside the restaurant, and one man was pushed through the window above my table.

Local reporting points to increased drug traffic on the Ave, despite recent beautification projects. Are community patrols the answer? And have recent crackdowns in Pioneer Square and other neighborhoods pushed the problems north?

It’s interesting to note that narratives of rebirth and renewal have a history dating back to at least 1997 — a symptom of reporters’ looking for a positive story amidst a general decline?

Sadly, I am not one of those lucky folks who have a dog. I want one, desperately–an English bulldog named Haiku–but I live in a building that’s not at all dog friendly, and even if I could have one I’m just not home enough for it to make sense. But fortunately for me, this is a pretty dog-friendly city, so I get to run into them everywhere I go.

And fortunately for those people who get to own dogs, there is City Dog Magazine. City Dog is based in the Northwest and is directed towards urban dog owners. And that’s all well and good if you subscribe to the magazine or tend to pick it up at your local pet product store, but City Dog has done something even better. It also keeps a subscription-free online list of dog-related events in Seattle and the surrounding area so that you can take your pooch out to make new friends.

I’m not saying that you could use this list to your own advantage to make new friends also, but that might just be something to consider.

By now, complaints about Broadway are old news [mb]. However, today brings a new culprit in the de-coolification of what apparently used to be one of Seattle’s hipper neighborhoods. While the naive among us might have blamed the street’s troubles on the increasing homeless population, one merchant is setting the record straight.

The management of Broadway Grocery (which also houses “Pizza Passion”) is shutting down one of the area’s premier hang out spots. Which beloved hip locale, you ask? Why, the intersection of Broadway and Harrison, of course! And before you blame the transients, the owner makes it clear that the problem lies among the “posers, debutantes, and the tragically hip.”

So today, let’s all have a moment of silence for the passing of this cultural landmark. Even if we had no idea what we were missing until it was too late.

Seen on the 7th Avenue right next to the convention center: Random mushroom deal at 10 a.m.

No, not drug mushrooms, these appeared to be big cooking/eating mushrooms. The “salesman” had a car full of them and a portable scale. Is that a normal Seattle sight and I’m just a yokel or is that weird?

St. Clouds, part of the small, little-known shopping area in the Madrona neighborhood is one of Seattle’s hidden gems of a restaurant. St. Clouds has an excellent menu divided into two sections. The “dinner at home” section features hearty meals for a reasonable price. The “dinner out” section has fancier cuisine at a still pretty reasonable price. The herb roasted chicken is probably my favorite item on the menu. It’s a half chicken wonderful roasted served with a big plate of mashed potatoes and greens. The greens should not be underestimated here, as they are very much a fine part of the meal.

St. Clouds is child friendly and there’s also a small bar off to the side. Those in the know start off an evening on the town with a quick drink at St. Clouds. Get to know the bartenders and learn what their specialties are. This bar is one of the few in Seattle to rank a five martini glass rating from 570 Bars.

St. Clouds is also child friendly, though it’s better for children old enough to enjoy sitting for the whole meal. Toddlers who need to run would be better off across the street at the Madrona Ale House. That said, we bring our two-and-a-half year old to St. Clouds.

There are outdoor seating areas in the front (good for romantic intimate meals) and in the back (for larger gatherings, especially with children).

The hot fudge sundae is not to be missed.

Tonight I joined the fabulous Manuel for dinner at Alcena’s Crepes Cafe & Wine Bar in Ravenna. We have previously ventured to Bouchee Creperie in Fremont, which has both a house magician and delicious crepes, and is thus a hard act to follow. (I’m also a big fan of 611 Supreme in Capitol Hill.)

The restaurant is a little space with about a dozen tables and warm burnt orange walls lined with wine bottles. I asked the waitress to recommend a red wine, and ended up with a lovely slightly dry Pinot, served in a tiny individual carafe. After agonizing over the menu for a while, I decided on the “Mushroom Medley” and Manuel went for the “Island Girl.” His involved mango and looked great, but I was too busy being excited about my own cheesy mushroom concoction to pay any more attention. He was, however, briefly rendered speechless. I was a little concerned about the garlic cream sauce, as I am slightly allergic to garlic, but it wasn’t overpowering at all and two hours later I’m still alive. The mushrooms were just the right kind of chewy and my crepe itself did a great job of holding the flavors together without being noticeable.

The crepes come in a puddle of sauce, so we ordered a side of bread to soak it up with. It worked out wonderfully and is just a little tip from me to you.

For dessert, my companion started with a Jamaican hot chocolate truffle, which I’m pretty sure turned into a religious experience. He followed with the Crepe Suzette and I went for one with chocolate and strawberries. The waitress set the Crepe Suzette on fire and it certainly looked tasty, but again I was too focused on my own dish to come out of the experience with an actual valid review. I’m not a big sweets eater, and so I was pleased that there was more strawberry in my crepe than chocolate. The dish was covered in a very pretty pattern of circles that I was reluctant to disturb, and it was topped with a jaunty pile of whipped cream and chocolate chips.

Our waitress was friendly and more than happy to answer all of our questions. I have to say that these are the best crepes I’ve had so far in Seattle. If the place gets a house magician, I just might have to move in.

Last night, on the way from the Seattle Weblogger Meetup to the car, I briefly picked my 18-month old daughter up by the arms and swung her to and fro.

And dislocated her elbow.

BAD FATHER NO PIPE AND SLIPPERS FOR YOU.

Turned out that in toddlers it’s very easy to dislocate the elbow, a condition known as Nursemaid’s Elbow. It’s relatively harmless to the kid, outside of the shrieks of pain, sobbing, grasping at the arm, and the parent’s feeling of abject failure. But it’s easy to fix — a quick twist and the reduction is done with usually no long-term effects.

But this is not a post about my ability to cause my children pain and suffering. This is about me saying how much I like my first experience with the Children’s Hospital emergency room.

Daughter girl’s elbow self-repaired early on in the visit — it slipped back into place, and suddenly unhappy daughter turned into wired and past her bedtime daughter. But at a children’s hospital, it’s perfectly fine for a wired toddler to run in circles, play in drawers, and generally cause a ruckus. The doctors were very nice — and saved me on future visits by teaching me how to reduce an elbow myself.

Children’s is one of the best pediatric hospitals in the nation, and the emergency room demonstrated why.

So I had a bad day at work yesterday and while in the process of self-medicating (Manhattans work wonders), I had the pleasure of hearing Erin McNamee sing. She is a local Seattle musician, classically trained at the Cornish College of the Arts and (at least at the Swell) sings a blend of traditional Irish songs, covers, and her own work.

My friend said she reminded him of Sinead O’Connor, but I think that’s just because she was singing a SO song at the time. She definitely has a beautiful voice and having her perform definitely helped in the lifting of my spirits. But don’t just take my word for it, she’s got 5 songs for download at her website [#]. If you like what you hear, she sings solo at 8 p.m. on Wednesdays at the Celtic Swell but it looks from her webpage that you can catch her – solo or with her band Siren Song – elsewhere in the Seattle Metropolitan area.

Has your morning Starbucks soy no-water chai latte been feeling little bit too godless lately? A while ago [mb], Starbucks started adding a little bit of inspiration to each of it’s paper cup-served beverages. So far, the “Way I See It” campaign has stuck to secular themes to add value to your daily doses of caffeinated goodness.

However, this is all about to change. One of the 2006 quotes will come from mega-church Reverend Rick Warren [y!]. Warren is the author of the bestselling The Purpose Driven Life, which came into the national spotlight when an Atlanta woman, taken hostage in her own home, combined its wisdom with a little crystal meth to convince her captor to spare her life [salon]. Strangely enough, his contribution to the cup campaign was inspired by an evolution-related quote from Louise Leakey.

In the spirit of coffee house discussion and debate, Starbucks accepts customer submissions for quotes to include. Maybe Warren’s yet undisclosed contribution will inspire you?