12:00 PM – Poetry Appreciation Group: Discussion
SPL Central Library, Microsoft Auditorium
Join fellow poetry lovers to read and discuss poems.
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Richard Jesse Watson: The Boy Who Went Ape
Secret Garden Bookshop
Ultimate Tuesday!
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Rudy Rucker: Reading & Signing
UW Bookstore U District
Presented by Clarion West: “Rudy Rucker is a startlingly original writer and thinker, a teacher, philosopher, mathematician, computer scientist, and the author of thirty books of fiction, biography, and science. An influential cyberpunk ally and the originator of the term “transrealism,” Rucker is an inspiring lecturer and a proponent of “gnarl,” the creation of art that lives at the boundary between order and chaos. Rudy Rucker is the 2009 Susan C. Petrey Fellow.” (UW Bookstore)
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Rick Bass: The Wild Marsh: Four Seasons at Home in Montana
Elliott Bay Book Co.
“Classic in form, the journal of a year in an old loved place, The Wild Marsh is a lovingly wrought chronicle from a writerly soul that has found its spot in the world: the one-of-a-kind Yaak Valley of northwestern Montana. Sure-footed in his approach, whether the topic is a forest fire in his front yard or the excitement of the first tiny, cheerful glacier lilies in spring, Rick Bass is a stirring companion on the trail that leads west from the Walden Pond of Henry David Thoreau and the Sand County of Aldo Leopold.” – Ivan Doig
[LINK]

photo by jean-marc luneau [flickr] via our group pool [#]

• Nicholson Baker gets a Kindle, writes 6,000+ words about it, and decides that he likes the iPhone/iTouch version better. [newyorker]
• the PostGlobe, who started writing an online news magazine a few month ago, would like you to pay them $120 a year to keep them afloat or for a few good wealthy people to kick in some major capital. At present, they’ve scrounged enough cash to stay open for a few more weeks. [postglobe]
• While Capitol Hill was sweating at a music festival, Ballard was soaked in seafood. [myballard]
• When are we doing this in Seattle? New York’s Foursquare mayors get together for a “Town Holler”. [nytimes]
• Marisa Meltzer’s serial novel makes a visit to the northwest. [theawl]
• Francis Ford Coppola writes a love letter to Seattle. [publicola]
• You might like to know that there is a band called Enumclaw. [mbv]
• Capitol Hill crowdsources a search for air conditioned drinking establishments. [chs]
• Mathew Baldwin and Caitlin Burke take a stroll down First Avenue. [themorningnews]

mad rad, inviting softballs. from my chbp photoset [flickr]

The summer weather must have made dunk tank duty a whole lot more desirable. To raise money, the Vera Project sold chances to send local celebrities into a giant bucket provided your aim was good or your determination to break the rules was strong enough. Sound on the Sound pals captured some choice moments of Murder City Devils’ Spencer Moody taking a dunk for the kids [sots]. Above, Mad Rad invites pitchers; after the jump, a real live juggalo and the Stranger’s nightlife photographer Matt Hickey take the plunge.
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sonic youth, from my chbp photoset [flickr]

I’m so glad that the powers that be decided to schedule the Capitol Hill Block Party on Friday and Saturday (instead of Saturday/Sunday), because I needed at least a full day of brunch and mojito sorbet and air conditioned photo sorting to recover from the sweltering weekend of fun, bands, gooey folded Tribunali pizzas, afterparties, beer gardens, and races through crowds and bottlenecks to catch bits and pieces of as much of the stacked Saturday lineup as possible.
The locals more than held their own against the nationals, the new layout helped a bit (though bottlenecks seem to be a fact of life for a festival set among intersections), and although I saw only three sets top-to-bottom — the Pains of Being Pure at Heart [swoon], the Thermals [awesome, now with even more amazing covers], and the Gossip [amazing, block party winners] — I heard a whole lot that’s sending me to my nearest record store this week. I also snapped far too many pictures (day one [flickr], day two [flickr].
If you don’t have time to wade through the photosets, snaps of most of the bands I caught are curated after the jump.
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Go fishing! We are fortunate to have a ton of rivers in the region. Here, my husband practices his cast on the Skykomish River just outside of Gold Bar, WA. Fishing licenses are cheap: $22 for a year. Even if you don’t catch anything, nothing beats standing in a nice cool river with a beer.

For quite some time I’ve been meaning to go up to Edmonds and catch the ferry over to Kingston; today’s heat finally inspired me to do so. When it’s hot out there are few places nicer to be than on a ferry crossing the Puget Sound.

Puget Sound’s water is always beautiful and cool.

The “Gateway to the Olympics” is lush and verdant.

A mama seagull made a nice little home for her babies on a beam at the Kingston ferry terminal.

You can look across the Sound and see Seattle.

Downtown Kingston is quaintly charming and very small; it doesn’t take much time to walk all the way through it unless you stop to visit all the neat little stores they have there, of which there are quite a few. The Kingston Quilt Store had some amazing quilts; when it gets to be that time of year that I stop complaining about the heat because I’m cold, I’m definitely going to get some of their quilts to keep me warm. Before then I may go back to visit for their Saturday night concert series that runs through the month of August, the 2009 Tribal Canoe Journey or the First Annual Slug Hunt on August 8.

Despite its small size, Kingston hosts a number of ice cream places; I found myself drawn into Mora Iced Creamery where they have small batch ice cream and sorbet made from fresh ingredients in flavors like Cinnamon, Spicy Chai, Goat Cheese with Fig, Cantaloupe and Pink Grapefruit. I had a scoop each of Lavender and Lemon Bar (made with bits of real lemon bar crust mixed in!) and can’t wait to go back and try more flavors.

Kingston is definitely a fun place to visit. The ferry ride there and back is pleasant and the town is adorable. It’s well worth the trip.

2:00 PM – Laura Mamo: Living Green: Communities That Sustain
Elliott Bay Book Co.
The co-founder of Social Green discusses real communities striving to create “a more just, verdant, and peaceful world,” to steal a line from the MacArthur Foundation.
[LINK]

mika miko closing the vera stage on friday. photo by josh [flickr] from the day one photoset [flickr]

More coherent ramblings later, I’m sure, but for now a batch of pictures from a somewhat lazy day at the Capitol Hill Block Party, as the mercury rose so did the thickness of the crowd converging on Pike Street, especially for mainstagers Deerhunter (a few technical difficulties), Built to Spill (jamming into the sunset), and Jesus Lizard (rocking away after 13 years). Inside, Sleepy Eyes of Death killed it with noise and lights. And on the Vera Stage, Micachu and the Shapes made for enthusiastic afternoon listening, kids went justifiably wild for Starfucker (toppling fences and nearly tipping speakers), and Mika Miko closed the stage with a bang. The night ended with a massive dance party at Neumo’s hosted by Sing Sing.

Today looks even sunnier, warmer, and with an even more action-packed line-up. The doors are open and the music starts at two. The popsicles from the Washington Bus are definitely worth the pop quiz, too. See you there!

P.S. people seem to be tweet-crazy; so join the fun or follow along at Follow along at twitter/#chpb;

12:00 PM – Luis Castillo: Echoes of Time
Seattle Mystery Bookshop
A professor goes searching for an 18th century galleon and is drawn into the underworld of corporate intrigue. Dreadful cover.
[LINK]

4:00 PM – Drash: Northwest Mosaic
SPL Fremont Branch
Local authors will read from Seattle-based literary journal Drash: Northwest Mosaic. Drash is a new literary review filled with poetry, prose and photos encouraging the redemptive way of life from Jewish and other perspectives. And I’m pretty sure I cadged this text from somewhere, but I can’t remember where. Misera sum!
[LINK]

There are so many free things going on that I don’t even know where to begin, so let’s go in alphabetical order:

-Ballard SeafoodFest is here Saturday and Sunday for its 35th year of long lines and yummy smoked salmon.
-Green Lake Star Party is nice simply for the fact that it’s supposed to be hella hot tomorrow. Since most of us don’t have air conditioning it’s a great excuse to still be outside at night, while staring at the stars really close up.
-KiteFest is a one-day only event at Magnuson Park that kids and people like me will love!
-Seattle Really Really Free Market is something I just found out about (thanks poster on tree). Looks interesting, and I’d love it if someone could tell me if you can actually get good knick knacks from this event. This free market takes place every last Saturday of the month.

Have a great free-filled weekend folks. I’m leaving work early to enjoy Careek Park (for free)!