Not much to comment on today. 'Twas a typical Friday rush at work. I managed to slog through my stack of work and have ten whole minutes left over to work on our new online order system. (Did I mention the online order system? No, I didn't. Maybe I'll get to that tomorrow.) I also skipped my regular breaks, instead working my daily blog and comics check in between sundry tasks. One item of local interest was a discussion about this post on the Beacon Hill Blog. When Wendi asked people to list the things they liked about Beacon Hill (in a previous post), she got nice, positive responses. When she asked about things to improve, well, that started to generate controversy. When your looking to clean up the 'hood, you will invariably try to get rid of someone's sacred cow.

Labels: BeaconHill, commentary, work

We saw a handbill the other week that caused quite an uproar on the neighborhood listserve. What had happened is that a neighbor who runs some second amendment rights group (and lists the same in his e-mail sig) talked about starting up a sort of citizen patrol--basically a group of neighbors strolling about and hopefully spoiling the general inner-city atmosphere for those loitering with criminal intent. Because of his e-mail signature, some of the other folks on the mail list started freaking, imagining that he was calling out an armed posse to start mowing down Beacon Hill's criminal element or something. It even got press in the Seattle Weekly. But, as listserve frenzy is bound to do, things soon settled down to normalcy. Then after a few weeks, the controversy suddenly flared up again with the posting of the handbill pictured above. In case you don't feel like venturing to Flickr to look closer at the pic, I'll reproduce the text here. And since the Jedi council governing html hasn't yet approved the <sarcasm> tag, I'll enclose my comments in italics.
________

THIS MAN CARRIES A CONCEALED WEAPON.
(Concealed? I can see that sucker right there in his right hand!)

Beacon Hill needs less guns, not more. (Um, this guy has been living here for years. Where do you think he's been keeping his weapons? Ballard?) A vigilante group (You mean like the "Safety Walkers" who strolled the neighborhood a few years back with their dogs and cameras?) has taken up walking the streets of Beacon Hill armed with concealed weapons.

We love our neighborhood and want to feel safe, not under attack. (Why would he attack me? I wasn't planning on threatening him or anything. Were you?)

Our parks, stores, coffee shops, schools and streets are safer when we know our neighbors. (So next time you see someone dealing drugs on 14th Ave, go up and introduce yourself!) Safety comes from conversation and building community (As long as you avoid the controversial topics that lead to fist-fights.); it is our right to know when guns are present. (Yeah! Make your choice, gun-boy: right to bear arms or right to privacy.)

Concealed weapons do not belong on Beacon Hill!
(Unlike anonymous, muckraking posters of questionable veracity that might be violating copyright.)
________

Hmmmmm. Then again, I wonder if maybe the Mad Poster-er hasn't got something here. I mean, with a laser printer and a bucket of glue, one could make a strike against all sorts of inappropriate behaviors: "THIS MAN CARRIES A PACK OF SMOKES." or "Beacon Hill needs less dogs barking in the middle of the night, not more." or "Poorly landscaped lawns do not belong on Beacon Hill." Visualize a neighborhood where people care. A place where neighbors take their concerns to the streets. A community where all are respected and included... providing they adhere to the established standards and declare their firearms at the door. It would be a neighborhood that truly lives up to the name "BeHi".

Labels: BeaconHill, commentary, freespeech, mockery

Ooooh wow! I got my name in the paper! A few weeks back, we had a little discussion on our neighborhood listserv over the use of the term "BeHi" as a nickname for Beacon Hill. Well, it turns out that yesterday was a slow news day and the Seattle Times ran an article on the gent who came up with the moniker. The author of the article also lifted my listserv posting in its entirety. Now I'm aglow with my new found fame.

Last I checked, the responses to the article are nigh unanimous in their distaste of the nickname. Either "BeHi" is not as popular as the article makes it out to be, or the "BeHi" faction were out enjoying the sunshine. I mean, if I was younger, hipper, more urban, had a sense of humor and didn't take life too seriously, I suppose I'd be out there too.

Labels: BeaconHill, commentary, Seattle

I took the long way home from work this afternoon. In honor of Presidents' Day, Noodles and the girls took the car and drove up to Mt. Rainier for some snowshoeing. This left me with the choice of either Metro transit or my own two feet to carry me home. Since it was a sunny day and I don't get enough exercise, I chose the latter. This is the first time I've walked home from work since 1991. Of course, back then it was a less than five minute walk. Today's commute took me about an hour.

There are many pleasant routes in this here city for walking. I don't know if the route from Georgetown to North Beacon Hill is one of them. I mean, it's not horrible. There are sidewalks all the way, which is a big plus. But the scenery is a bit lacking. The first leg of my journey mostly followed Fourth Avenue South. There are a few businesses along the way, but unlike the pedestrian friendly storefronts like you might find in Ballard, they're all pretty much non-descript. Then you get to climb an artificial hill as the road bridges over the train yards. Seeing the Sounder train pass beneath your feet is somewhat less satisfying than a scenic, rushing river. And looking down upon people lined up to buy gas at Costco, while definitely a Northwest scene, lacks a certain... majesty. On the positive side however, I was nigh alone on the sidewalk and, with all the traffic noise, I was able to start singing to myself without disturbing anyone. (Now if only I knew the words to more than two or three songs....)

At Spokane Street, I hung a right. Of the three choices I have to ascend Beacon Hill, Spokane Street was the most direct. Spokane Street has the distinction of being the least and most interesting part of the walk. On one hand, it was definitely not designed for pedestrians. The sidewalk lies in the shadow of the viaduct up until Airport Way, and before you geth there, you have to weave around the ramps to and from I-5. Then there's... the stairway. A flight of concrete steps that takes you up from the tideflats, along Columbian Way to, well, Spokane Street. It's a good, aerobic climb. (one that would have been daunting before I went through the Yunnan Diet and Fitness Program)




(I also had a bit of good fortune on that stretch. A number of weeks back I took a stroll down that particular hill and stairway. As I walked along Columbian Way, I noticed a discarded paper cup advertising a place that sold "Chicago Style Hot Dogs". As one who sorely misses that particular delicacy, I stopped and investigated the bit of litter. I took note of the url printed on the cup and determined to check it out to see if it was from a local establishment or if some traveller from Oregon had waited until reaching Seattle before tossing out their trash. Unfortunately, I misplaced my mental note of the restaurant's name and so was left in ignorance. Today, however, I was able to examine the same piece of trash and discover that it was from Woody's Hot Dogs--an upscale establishment apparently located at many Lowe's hardware stores in the Seattle area. (Just not the one in my neighborhood. Rats.))(Um, no, I, uh, didn't take the cup with me and put it in a proper container. Guess I should have done that, huh? Maybe next time I walk that way.)

Once I got to the upper Spokane Street, I was back in the 'hood. The journey was pretty routine as I traversed streets that were all too familiar. Boring, even. (Though I suppose it's better than a treadmill in a gym.) The only thing of note was when I passed a guy talking on his cell on 14th Avenue. He was speaking rather loudly, talking about filing some class action suit in Federal Court on behalf of himself and his friends. He looked nothing like a lawyer, so I suspect he was blowing smoke. However, he's probably more able to accomplish such a goal than I would ever be, so I really should behold judgment.

I finally arrived home at 4:31 p.m. It was a great workout and only took about fifteen minutes longer than taking the bus would have. Of course, having a sunny day made all the difference in the world....

Labels: BeaconHill, commuting, hotdogs, life, litter, Seattle, walking

I saw an odd thing today. While we were walking down the hill today, we saw that someone had defaced a number of real estate signs. A real estate agent name of Henry Ung had placed a bunch of little green signs on a number of corners along College St., I guess directing people to various homes he's selling. One of the neighbors apparently is honked off about this and took it upon themselves to paste bright magenta stickers over Henry's name and number. The sticker offers a wordy diatribe addressed to Mr. Ung, railing against his "offensive" and "illegal" signs. Now while I hardly think that the real estate signs beautify the 'hood, I don't really think the magenta stickers improve the landscape much. I mean, I always figured that signage was just part of the urban environment, like cars parked along the street and bus stops. Anyway, I don't understand why, if those little signs are so offensive, the offended neighbor just didn't remove all the illegal signs. They could have just dumped them at Mr. Ung's office door. (I should note that they had already attempted to contact Mr. Ung directly. He didn't return the calls.) Or, to be really nasty, they could have just moved all the signs so that they directed Seattle's home buyers to Mr. Ung's own residence. Oh, well. I guess I'll never understand activists.

Labels: BeaconHill, life, neighbors, Seattle