When I first saw the link to scans [moonwashedrose] of Courtey Love’s soon-to-be-published diaries, I assumed that they were some sort of FARK or Worth1000 horribly photoshop joke gone wrong. But apparently Dirty Blonde [$] is the real thing.

Unlike her husband’s journals, we won’t have to wait for Courtney’s death (assuming that she survives through this October) to read her innermost thoughts, decipher her scribblings, and view her personal collages.

(via awesome newish weblog, I Heart Seattle [#])

Ok, so this week the Egyptian gives us The Big Lebowski, a Coen brothers movie where Jeff Bridges wears Jellies. His own Jellies, too–not stunt Jellies.

So, ok. Jeff Bridges plays “The Dude” Lebowski, a “lazy time wasting slacker” who gets mistaken for the millionaire Lebowski by a couple of thugs who soil his rug. He goes looking for restitution for the rug, which really pulled together the room, and ends up embroiled in a series of shenanigans involving Nihilists, porn stars, and a real scary Julianne Moore.

The character for The Dude was based on a man named Jeff Dowd who was a member of the Seattle Seven. There’s no word on whether or not he wears Jellies, but he did help the Coen brothers secure distribution for their first feature, and is apparently haphazard about grooming.

I think you either love the Coen brothers or don’t, and there’s not really a whole lot of middle ground. As long as we pretend that The Ladykillers never happened, I’m in the first camp. In case you were wondering.

Alright, quick show of hands: how many of you already own this shirt? Ok, good. Now, how many of you had already planned to wear it to the Egyptian this weekend?

KOUW reports that this will be the last week for car tab collections to pay off our failed experiment in rapid transit optimism:

The Seattle Monorail Project says it will stop collecting its car tab tax by the end of the week. The tax has been in effect since June 2003. Most Seattle drivers have paid it three times, while some have had to pay four times. But it’s still too early to tell if the agency will issue refunds. [kuow]

Because people don’t pay on time, and lawsuits drag on approximately forever, the agency doesn’t actually know how much money it will have to fulfill this pipe dream of rebates for unlucky four-time payers.

Carousel horse image courtesy Woodland Park Zoo

Woodland Park Zoo’s restored 1918 carousel opens July 22nd at noon. If you’ve always wanted your own public memorial in brightly colored equine form and have a spare $30K floating around, please consider buying one of the five remaining carousel horses still for sale.

Don’t have that much cash but still want to contribute to cause? Consider making a donation to the zoo which helps fund its many fine programs including the carousel.

Me I plan on eating cotton candy and then riding the carousel til I hurl, just like when I was a kid.

It looks like the Benson Streetcar Line, Seattle’s glorious anachronism that shuttled tourists between the waterfront and Pioneer Square, is doomed yet again.

Of course, it’s easily saved, but Greg Nickels is too busy with HIS streetcar line and plowing the city’s history under for more luxury condos. Word is he’s just gone ahead and moved his personal gold-plated Royal Mayoral Toilet on top of George Benson’s grave, just to make it a little more comfortable to piss on Benson’s grave every day.

And look, The Stranger is using that toilet, too.

I met George Benson while he was still alive. Nice guy. One of our best city council members, even if he was a little conservative. Greg Nickels is no George Benson. Boss Tweed? Richard Daley? Yeah, I can see those.

Really? Alive and Kickin’ as the theme for this year’s King County Fair [metrokc], in Enumclaw?

For centuries, urban detritus served only to amuse the few. Someone would find a lost note or grocery list, read it, and have a moment of private amusement before moving on with the rest of his or her afternoon. Perhaps the article would be shared with roommates or co-workers, but the sharing was fleeting.

Now, however, there is Found, a multi-medium project from Davy Rothbart. Unwilling to let the funny, heartwarming, weird, creepy, or otherwise interesting discovered scraps of other people’s lives fade away like yesterday’s news; he began cataloging the best of them in both website and magazine format. Since then, the best of Found has been turned into a book (including one of all of the “dirty” findings) suitable for coffee-table browsing.

The second volume is now in stores for your purchasing pleasure [$]. To celebrate this milestone publication event, Rothbart is taking the show on the road, with two stops in our fair village. Tonight, he will be at 826 Seattle sharing the secrets of his success while raising money for the writing center:

Davy Rothbart, creater of Found magazine is coming to 826 Seattle to teach you things you never thought you wanted to know: How to write like he writes, for instance, and how to balance on a basketball and rap at the same time. [826sea]

The event is a rather intimate gathering — there’s only room for fifty guests — and, as of last night, a few tickets were still available for those willing to part with thirty-five of their hard-earned dollars. It’s recommended that attendees bring both something they’ve found and a basketball. A found basketball might also be acceptable.

For those short of cash or sporting equipment, the Found gang will also be making an free and likely entertaining appearance at the University Bookstore on Friday at 7 pm [#]. Those wishing to hear Rothbart’s voice reading from items he’s discovered without leaving the comfort of their own computers, a classic episode of This American Life is recommended listening [#].

The Space Needle, July 4 image courtesy Seattle Center

Every year on the Fourth of July, the Seattle Center hosts a naturalization ceremony in which hundreds of immigrants are sworn in en masse.

After years of meaning to get down to watch it in person “one of these years”, I finally made it in 2002. By the end of the day I was very, very sorry it took me so long to go. While it’s true that I cry over just about everything (there’s an AT&T commercial from my youth I still can’t talk about without tearing up), when I looked around me it was evident that I was far from the only person visibly moved by sharing in the joy of hundreds of people celebrating what is for them a very, very special day.

I was born right here in Washington; even when I lived in Europe as a girl I never had to think much about my citizenship, taking it entirely for granted. Watching people from all over the world celebrate becoming Americans was an excellent reality check. It’s easy to have a de facto patriotism but seeing all these people who didn’t have citzenship just handed to them but had to work for it instead–well, it’s inspiring, to say the least.

There are as many different stories as there are people taking the oath of alllegiance: why not go hear a few of them and welcome your new fellow citizens?

Where:Seattle Center’s Fisher Pavillion
When: July 4th, 11:00 am to 1:00 pm

You know what can smash down a steel door and isn’t fazed by two electric fences? Boo the grizzly bear, that’s who. Er, what.

Boo escaped from an artificial den at the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort in Golden, B.C. on Friday, so they caught him and boxed him up even tighter. I guess he caught wind of the fact that the staff planned to neuter him, and was having none of that, so he broke out and ran [P-I]. Can you blame him?

Boo’s been living with humans since his mom was shot in 2002, so it’s “unclear if he could fend for himself.” I don’t know, guys…he did manage to beat down a steel door. I imagine he’ll just wander over to another resort and shake kids down for their lunch money.

They’re still not sure what they’re going to do with him when they find him. It would be a shame to kill the freedom-loving bear, who after all is only doing what bears are meant to do. (Not the escaping part, but the living in the wild part.) They can’t really let him stay out there, though, because he’s used to humans and could be a danger, what with being a grizzly bear and all.

But right now they don’t know where he is, so y’all be careful out there.

This morning I was eavesdropping on the other regular 37 bus riders, as I am wont to do, and found myself disagreeing, again, with the general consensus that a local restaurant was good. Clearly these people have not eaten good Indian food if they think the new place on California is worth visiting. With so many good places around, hello Roti, I don’t know how people can get confused. Indian food should taste like spices not tomato paste. And Tex-Mex food should likewise be interesting, instead of weirdly sweet. One gentleman bus rider has shared my love of Mission (pictured right), so at least all their tastes aren’t bad.

As my thoughts in regards to specific restaurants faded I began to wonder if I have become even more critical than I used to be. Yes, a mediocre meal will stick out more plainly here in the land of a million good eateries than in the Midwest where I lived previously, but perhaps I am expecting too much. Maybe it is not the places but me?

Have I become more demanding and less flexible? I see evidence there, not just in my tough standards for eating out, but also in my judgment of movies and books. Not that I don’t enjoy them per se, but that I can always find a criticism. Is it possible that I’ve become more bitchyjerky? Now there’s a scary thought.

Okay. To ward off my vague feelings of being a old crank, I’m going to do an exercise: Here’s a quick list of 10 places/things here in Seattle I absolutely love without hesitation.

1. Peso’s Kitchen and Lounge. Great breakfasts, seriously.

2. Mission – Good drinks, good food.
3. Theo Chocolate – Divine confections.
4. My easy commute via the Elliott Bay Water Taxi.
5. Greenwood Space Travel Supply Company – presents/prizes for all occasions and for a good cause.
6. Black Bottle – The potato and prosciutto wheels are to die for.
7. Flowers – Great bar and vegetarian food as well.
8. My cheese guy at the West Seattle Farmer’s Market.
9. A branch of my place of worship (Fluevog) is conveniently located 5 blocks from my office, no longer do I have to browse (and drool) online.
10. The Big Picture. Super place to see a movie; good seats, great popcorn.

Phew! I can spend a few minutes without complaining. Imagine that. I feel much better now. Thanks for bearing with me. If you haven’t been to some of these fabulous places, I highly recommend you check them out.