I was too traumatized earlier this week to post about my five hour voyage home from SeaTac to Ravenna, but amidst all the repressed memories of waiting for the ShuttleExpress I did also notice that the former Cinnabon store in the N-terminal food court area seems to have been replaced by a new Starbucks. Anyone else notice this?

Interestingly enough, the chain got its start at the former SeaTac Mall (now renamed The Commons at Federal Way). Wonder if it’s still anywhere else at the airport?

High fructose corn syrup is America’s latest dietary enemy. It has pervaded our food systems and a lot of people seem to think that it’s what’s giving us an advantage in the international obesity race [believer]. The Oprah has encouraged her legions to avoid the stuff. Other smart people have blamed the corn lobby for standing in the way of a better sugar-based ethanol future [newyorker]. Things are looking pretty grim.
Yet a tiny light of hope on the horizon from Seattle. Just when it seemed that it was impossible to avoid, our local soda heroes are kicking the high-fructose demon from their most popular flavors. By early next year, you’ll be able to get the most popular flavors of Jones Soda, they of customer-submitted label photos and sometimes inadvisably quirky flavor options, made with good old fashioned cane sugar.

While this year’s holiday pack [#] of Turkey & Gravy, Sweet Potato, Dinner Roll, Pea, and Antacid flavored sodas will still be chocked full of fructose syrups, everything is expected to be switched over by the middle of next year, leaving you to worry only over the calories¹ and the next weird flavor to inflitrate your beverage.

(story, via the post-intelligencer [#])

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1. except that the holiday dinner pack seems to be calorie-free, thanks to a nonnutritional sweetener.

Seattle isn’t the birthplace of coffee–that’s Ethiopia. We didn’t invent the coffeehouse, either: the Turks did. If you enjoy your coffee with milk, sugar and other flavorings, well…you should thank the Austrians. We’re not even responsible for giving coffee to the United States, early English settlers brought coffeehouse culture with them. Still, it’s beyond a doubt that Seattle, Washington is one of the coffee capitals of the world.

If you have to ask why Seattleites love their coffee so much, you obviously haven’t been here during the long, dank winter when it feels like the whole world is made of grey. A little liquid love goes a long way towards easing the daily doldrums.

image via Wikipedia

The ubiquitous Starbucks is the name the whole world knows (I predict that one day soon Starbucks will be more well known than even Mickey Mouse and McDonald’s), but they are far from the only coffee in town. Some folks love Tully’s, the soft-spoken team trainer to Starbuck’s peppy cheerleader, but my local favorite is Caffe Vita, whose rich, flavorful coffee is pure perfection. Espresso Vivace lives up to their “a beautiful cup of coffee” motto with coffee that stirs the tastebuds just as surely as Uptown Espresso truly is the “Home of the Velvet Foam”. (This is a bit of a turn-off for me, but some people really, really like foam.) Victrola’s coffee is pretty fine, too, a palpable manifestation of their mania for careful roasting. Smaller roasters like Lighthouse Roasters, Zoka Coffee, and Seattle Gourmet Coffee have every reason to be proud of their products, as do Poulsbo’s Grounds for Change, Bellingham’s Toad Mountain Coffee, Sumner’s Dillanos and Yakima’s Whatcha Know Joe, along with the many other fine local roasters.

There truly is something for everyone’s coffee taste here; if you think you don’t like coffee, maybe you just haven’t found your perfect match. (My own great love of coffee didn’t begin until one day on the Ave when I ducked into EspressoRoma to get out of the wind. One latte “just to give it a try” later and my life had changed.) Light or dark, regular or decaf, peppermint mocha or “just black”, the possibilities are endless. Mr. Spot’s will give you chai with your espresso (so not for the weak of heart) and Monorail Espresso will give you maple syrup (it’s unbelievably delicious). There are more coffee houses, kiosks and carts here than you could shake an entire forest of sticks at, each of them with their own unique spin and vibe. If you live here, take the time to check out your local coffee shops (I highly recommend Trabant Coffee & Chai), both big and small, corporate and independent. If you don’t, well, you can always order coffee online, brew it up, and drink a cup under your lawn sprinkler.

P.S.: Seattle’s Best Coffee? VERY ironically named.

[Don't see your favorite mentioned in this post? Give 'em a plug in the comments!]

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See also: Gift the First, Gift the Second

Read about gifts from around the metroblogging world with this updated guide [la.metblogs] or follow some of these technorati tags being used across the metroblogging network: Metblogs7Gifts, 7Gifts, Metroblogging7Gifts.

As I’ve trudged through the streets of Seattle these last three days I’ve noticed something about the snow. It brings people together. I’ve had more conversations with people on the street in the past few days than I have all year. At first I thought it might be the Christmas spirit but I’ve come to believe that it’s Jack Frost’s doing.

As I slipped and slid up 107th yesterday I spoke with a guy trying to make his way across the street. We both fell numerous times, and it hurt, but the camaraderie of the situation was awesome. We spoke back and forth, giving each other tips for the best way to conquer this bitch of a hill and in the end we both made it to the top. Which is more then I can say for a poor Isuzu spinning it’s tires pointlessly trying to make it up the hill.
(more…)

• Although she trades some oddness for accessibility with the Greatest, Chan Marshall’s title for her latest Cat Power album isn’t too much of an overstatement, with the title track a regular go-to soundtrack for walks or waits at blustery bus stops. Tonight marks her third visit Seattle this year; once again in the company of the Memphis Rhythm Band. It’s their last stop on tour with her; so hope that the roads have thawed in time for you to get downtown. [showbox]
• the Dears bring messy, layered pop all the way from Montreal [neumos]
• Who knew? original indie rock pretty boy, Evan Dando and the Lemonheads are still touring. [crocodile]

This here metblogger lives just down the street from her office, so she had no excuse not to come in today. The official message from the office, a great big cancer-curing nonprofit, is that all essential personnel are required to come in. When I got here after my fifteen-minute tromp down the road (Guess how long it took me to get home yesterday? Fifteen minutes! Living in walking distance of work is awesome.) the office was empty.

None of my coworkers from the suburbs decided to brave the treck in, and I can’t blame them.

So now I want to know, boys and girls, how many of you are staying home in nice warm beds while suckers like me decided that there really wasn’t a good reason for not going to work?

The alert message on the UW intranet this morning:

UW Bothell has suspended all classes for Tuesday, Nov. 28. UW Tacoma has suspended operations for Tuesday, Nov. 28. There will be no classes and only essential personnel should report to work. UW Seattle remains open and operating on a regular schedule. This message will be updated if conditions change.

Yep. Tacoma and Bothell are shut down for the day, but the Seattle campus is wide open and operating despite the ice covering every sidestreet and hill north of the Ship Canal.

A few years ago, I had the following conversation with someone involved with determining whether the Seattle campus shuts down during bad weather:

Me: So how much snow does it take to close campus?
UW guy: Campus never closes.
Me: What if the streets were completely impassable, like in 1990?
UW guy: Campus never closes.
Me: You’re going to keep saying “campus never closes” no matter what I say, right?
UW guy: Yup.

In a way, it makes some sense — they can’t close the Medical Center during bad weather, so they can’t “close campus.” But getting them to pull the plug on classes, even just for the afternoon, is something akin to getting a Bush Administration official to admit their plans for post-war Iraq were an ill-conceived disaster. By the time they realize their mistake, you’re stuck and can’t get out.

Two 71 buses jackknifed into each other and completely blocking traffic on NE 65th street is not an auspicious sign for Tuesday morning’s commute.

photo, michael hanscom [flickr]

• Why look out your window when there’s the Seattle LiveJournal community and their breathless continuing coverage of (OMG!) snowpocalypse 2k6? Pictures of the snow from all around the city [seattle.lj]
• Compare & contrast with the most “interesting” pictures of Seattle snow taken after 24 November 2006 [flickr]
• facing an uphill marathon in mixed winter precipitation [seattlest]
• Snowballs on Capitol Hill recall memories of midwestern rageaholic drivers [slog]
• Waiting for a 12th Snowman joke. [wsb]
• the New York Times noticed our little rainfall record [nyt]
• Reminding you of the places with the most potential for sledding [chs]