Posted Tue, Apr 17, 5:47 a.m.

It's actually a pretty big handful! According to its website, Starbucks had more than 1,500 stores in 29 countries in what it calls the EMEA Region (Europe, Middle East Africa) as of the end of second quarter, fiscal 2009.

Posted Sat, Mar 24, 8:13 a.m.

The program will be repeated on March 25, 3:30 PM; March 26, 12 noon; March 27, 7:00 PM; March 29, 11:00 PM; March 31, 11:00 AM. I'm looking forward to it (went to the World's Fair when I was 11).

Posted Thu, Mar 15, 10:54 a.m.

Thanks for this fine piece, Katherine. I finally went to see it on Saturday, and it was terrific. Now I'm inspired to go see the Mark Rothko retrospective which is at the Portland Art Museum through the end of May. Read more about it below in my post. Very smart ...

Posted Thu, Jan 26, 9:37 p.m.

But it does lend itself to a great country tune ... ala Nashville, the original Music City.

Posted Mon, Jan 16, 3:59 p.m.

Thanks for the tip ... I need to take more road trips. I was planning on going to Stevenson, WA in Skamania County and White Salmon is about 25 miles away. So I'll put it on my list (once the snow stops flying!).

Posted Mon, Sep 5, 11:44 a.m.

Our son bought the tickets for his birthday ... it was his gift to us, the parents. And I did watch the game, as disappointing as it was. The techy tykes in front of me, along with their Blackberry dad, were the ones not watching.

Posted Fri, Sep 2, 9:03 a.m.

Thank you, Peter ... poetic prose, indeed.

Posted Wed, Apr 6, 4:58 p.m.

Thanks for all the station input, good stuff. Also the heads up on the tower typo. As far as "White People" like me wanting the place I live to be Europe, that's a pretty silly stone to throw. Plus, I lived in Europe for a year back in the '70s, ...

Posted Tue, Apr 5, 10:36 a.m.

Yes, I'm being patient! Vancouver BC's Pacific Central Station also gets high marks; it just seems that Seattle is always a bit behind the other two cities in the transportation department.

Posted Mon, Apr 4, 8:26 a.m.

Thanks for the ride, Peter. As a Whidbey Islander since 1975, I've long thought it odd that we couldn't hop on a train and go south to Seattle. Thirty-five years later, it's real. Now, if they'd just add service on the weekends. I contacted Sound Transit about additional service and ...

Posted Mon, Apr 4, 8:20 a.m.

Paul Allen's memoir will be a nice balance to the other autobiography on my spring reading list, "Life", by Keith Richards. Apparently the Stones' guitarist has a few choice words about his sidekick Mick. Oh, you boys.

Posted Mon, Feb 14, 2:22 p.m.

It's my favorite way to travel between Portland and Vancouver, BC. Since I live on Whidbey Island, I usually take the train from Everett. I just booked a trip to Portland for next month, as that's a drive I truly dislike. Although it's not quite as scenic as the trip ...

Posted Tue, Feb 1, 7:31 a.m.

Yeah, I saw that heartscribe, really horrible. I'm familiar with that adventure company in Whistler. Watched a report on the CBC last night, very sad.

Posted Mon, Jan 31, 2:58 p.m.

Oops! Good catch. Tourism Vancouver sent me the numbers, and "275 million visitors" was in fact the number of visitors to http://www.vancouver2010.com. Interesting that they didn't provide the number of real visitors, just worldwide television viewers (3.5 billion). But there were 2,632 athletes; 50,000 workforce (including 18,500 volunteers); and 10,800 ...

Posted Mon, Dec 20, 9:09 a.m.

King's Klubhouse was my favorite kids' TV show. I loved watching Stan Boreson, Uncle Torvald, No-Mo and the rest of the gang at 5 o'clock every weekday. A number of years ago, I gave my hubby a video of The Stan Boreson Show. I recently checked on Amazon Amazon, and ...

Posted Tue, Aug 24, 8:58 p.m.

Oops. I don't think it was the 19th floor; the address is 1902 Second Avenue. All I know is it was the top floor, Penthouse C (too long ago for detail retention!).

Posted Tue, Aug 24, 7:05 p.m.

My grandfather Alexander Veilleux used to live in the Josephinum in the '60s, and my teenage friends and I would take the bus from Arlington and spend the night with him in PC (Penthouse C). I can remember all the lights/noise from the nearby restaurants/clubs and we were the first ...

Posted Tue, Aug 24, 2:09 p.m.

Yes, Seattle needs to get with the two-wheelin' option. I was in Montreal in November and they have BIXI, the city's public bike system launched in the spring of 2009. Simply put, you pick up a bike from one station, travel to your destination and return the bike to another ...

Posted Wed, Jul 21, 9:42 p.m.

OK, Knute, I also took the "Who do you write like?" test on Facebook. I submitted three Crosscut articles: "Stalking Anthony Bourdain in Seattle" (Chuck Palahniuk); "Free and Highly Rated - Seattle's Frye Art Museum" (David Foster Wallace); and "Trains, Planes & Ferry Boats" (Cory Doctorow). I haven't read anything ...

Posted Sun, Apr 25, 1:43 p.m.

Now that my son has moved from NYC back west to Seattle (which is a good thing), my trips to the Big Apple are much less frequent. Thanks for the heads up; it will be my next lunch spot the next time I'm in the city.

Posted Wed, Apr 14, 6:33 a.m.

Thanks for the info. I've seen the buses on the freeway but wasn't sure what travelers/routes they were geared toward. Good to know!

Posted Wed, Mar 24, 4:19 p.m.

I can't wait to be the first on my block to sport the bumper sticker, "I Saw Elvis at the Chihuly Glass Museum in North Tacoma." By the way, the Space Needle's PR machine is rallying the troops. The "Chihuly at the Needle" Facebook fan page currently lists 1,150 fans, ...

Posted Mon, Feb 22, 4 p.m.

I'm heading back up to Vancouver via Amtrak this week ... just going to hang out and soak it all in. I don't really care about seeing any events; I was there two days before the Opening Ceremony and the place was hoppin' so I'm sure it's really lively now. ...

Posted Mon, Feb 22, 10:45 a.m.

Yes, CTV won the Canadian broadcasting rights for the 2010 Winter Games And since Comcast (Xfinity) doesn't carry CTV (why would they, they're in the process of buying NBC Universal?), we're pretty much stuck with NBC. Surprisingly, there was live coverage yesterday on MSNBC of the hockey match between Canada ...

Posted Wed, Feb 3, 12:13 a.m.

I think we should do what Brewster says about theater ... "besides going." We need to donate. But we also shouldn't feel guilty about where we spend our time and $$. I just saw "A Little Night Music" on Broadway with the timeless Angela Lansbury and the talented Catherine Zeta-Jones. ...

Posted Tue, Jan 19, 8:41 p.m.

My husband and I were there for Sunday's matinee performance. I loved everything about it: the music, the sets, the costumes, the humor and the fact that a young/stylish couple from Milan was sitting next to us and seemed to revel in it, too. The senior couple to our right, ...

Posted Tue, Jan 5, 5:51 p.m.

Thanks for the well put reminders, Peter. The only thing I don't agree with is the oatmeal routine. I grew up having to eat some horribly mushy stuff called Zoom! and to this day, I don't go near anything that even resembles it. I'll stick to my smoothies made with ...

Posted Tue, Jan 5, 1:55 p.m.

Lovely piece, Judy. I'm off to Italy in September ... will be on the lookout for gorgeous seatmates (yes, I'll be with my hubby, but it's nice to have a back-up).

Posted Wed, Dec 30, 10:18 p.m.

Curmudgeony? Why not? Who knew that "blogosphere" would be a word or that "unfriend" would be the "Word of 2009"? It's all about thinking out of the box. One of the fun aspects of blogging is the creative factor ... I'm glad that Crosscut embraces that. As far as my ...

Posted Fri, Dec 18, 10:10 a.m.

Thanks for this lovely piece about your aunt, Knute. I was a soap fan in the '60s and '70s, tuning into The Doctors, Days of Our Lives ("Like sands through the hour glass, so are the days of our lives") and Another World. Funny, but they were all on NBC ...

Posted Mon, Dec 7, 7:13 p.m.

I often wondered what it was like to be black in my hometown of Arlington, Washington. We had only one black family in our small community; they attended Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. I can't imagine how odd it must have been for them to be in our all-white town. Funny, ...

Posted Sun, Dec 6, 2:37 p.m.

Smart piece, Knute! Love the image of Seattle cloggers (I have a favorite pair of rain-stained red suede clogs that I've worn for more than a dozen years, but never off the island). And I'd forgotten about Dick Balch, who does look like a Three Dog Night band member. Whatever ...

Posted Sat, Dec 5, 10:05 a.m.

Love hearing about the early days of TV ... thanks for sharing your father's role in it. And I agree, Comcast shines in the customer service department, from the friendly/helpful telephone people to the installers in their little blue booties.

Posted Sat, Dec 5, 9:54 a.m.

Miss both Nita and your column, Jean. Today's hairdressers, as talented as they may be, aren't made of the same stuff as the beauticians of yore.

Posted Tue, Nov 24, 3:34 p.m.

For me to pass up a party means I really couldn't make it! Hopefully I'll be at the next one and meet some of the Crosscut readers -- I do enjoy being part of the Crosscut team. And no, I don't think I'd go to jail ... well, maybe if ...

Posted Mon, Oct 5, 7:18 p.m.

I was introduced to Sunset magazine back in the '50s by my grandparents. In addition to Sunset, they subscribed to LIFE, LOOK, the Saturday Evening Post and for those dreary Pacific Northwest winters, Arizona Highways. I always thought Sunset magazine was musty -- maybe that's because a lot of the ...

Posted Sat, Sep 26, 10:12 p.m.

I don't know if I could write without a keyboard, as I write as fast as I think, and always have. Even on the old IBM Selectrics, I typed 150 WPM and it was an instant transfer from head to hands. As "romantic" as journalling is purported to be (and ...

Posted Thu, Sep 17, 1:06 p.m.

Love the Lopez wave. We wave a lot on Whidbey, but not so much now that everybody seems to drive a PC colored Prius. I think they're too busy figuring out their carbon footprints to wave. I get waved at a lot, sice I'm still toolin' around in my 1980 ...

Posted Sun, Aug 16, 8:10 a.m.

Wow, six TV sets, impressive. We only have three and although I missed the Tour de Sports on Saturday, I did see Beckham get a red card. No sign of Posh, though. I'm be tuned into a sport of another kind on Sunday evening, when season three of Mad Men ...

Posted Fri, Aug 14, 4:24 p.m.

Hey, there's always my hometown of Arlington! They now have the Garlic Festival -- all we had back in my childhood days were the Fourth of July Parade and Frontier Days, when the business guys grew beards or else they were thrown in "jail." My grandfather and then dad ran ...

Posted Wed, Aug 12, 1:02 p.m.

And I was born and raised in Arlington, which recently somebody made a joke about. Did I miss something about my hometown?

Posted Mon, Aug 10, 10:23 p.m.

Yeah, there are people who wear "driving shoes." Often called "driving mocs." I think they live behind gates; I only know one person who has them. They're very expensive and have some special rubber heel deal to make it easier to drive your ... Bentley? I prefer my red suede ...

Posted Thu, Aug 6, 10:21 a.m.

Although I don't think we yet have a gated community here on Whidbey, there are some gated houses sprouting up. Of course the owners drive old island pick-ups so they fit in and look like the locals. The truth is, anybody who lives in a gated house will never be ...

Posted Thu, Aug 6, 10:03 a.m.

Thanks for this, Catherine. I've been to Quebec City a half-dozen times and the focus has always been on the St. Lawrence River. Next trip, it's the St. Charles! Let's hope that the Duwamish can some day morph into something like QC's little river.

Posted Wed, Jul 8, 10:23 a.m.

nludd: Now, now. I have friends in SEA and they are allowed on the island. They usually help out with the cooking and clean-up, too. Knute: Yes, I'm always shocked at the pathetic state of our ferries. They're not only rusty and in need of some serious paint, the ferry ...

Posted Wed, May 20, 6 a.m.

Yes, the Americans could definitely take a lesson from our friends north of the 49h Parallel. Sometimes Canadians just "get it" better than we do. Being a travel journalist and a fan of Canada, I've spent a fair amount of time in the Kootenays. It's a beautiful area and I ...

Posted Thu, Mar 26, 9 p.m.

OK Peter, I know you, so I'm biased. Plus I write for Crosscut. This is the first sports oriented article that I have read and enjoyed in a long, long time. OK, I liked all the heat that Matt Lauer took when he ran into a deer while bicycling. That ...

Posted Mon, Mar 23, 7:33 a.m.

It's been so long since I've been a brunette, I forgot how to spell it :-).

Posted Tue, Mar 17, 7:39 a.m.

Steptoe.fan: I'm a bit confused as to why you used a Boston Globe columnist as an example...did that piece run in the P-I? Seems like you could have selected a P-I staff writer to prove your point. I just returned from ten days in Antarctica where it was 37 degrees, ...

Posted Sun, Mar 15, 10:43 p.m.

Benjamin: I've never understood the radically left-wing label either, as I don't consider myself such a creature, and I've been a reader of the P-I since I started reading newspapers. The word on the street is that there will be an online version of the P-I, and I assume that ...

Posted Sun, Mar 15, 8:53 p.m.

So out of curiosity, what are your newspapers of choice in the Great Nearby?

Posted Tue, Feb 17, 7:06 p.m.

Ben: Yes, BNL sang their $1,000,00 song (and many other of their tunes) on the Caribbean cruise. They're talented AND very funny. Oops. I think "Hopeless" is a typo on my part -- it should be "Helpless" by Neil Young. I hope that's not some subliminal statement on my part! ...

Posted Thu, Jan 22, 6:28 a.m.

Glad you made it. Thanks for the up close thoughts. Frame those hand warmers.

Posted Tue, Jan 13, 9:40 p.m.

dbreneman: There's ongoing talk about moving the Coho out of Victoria's Inner Harbour to either Sidney or Esquimalt. You can read more about it in the Peninsula Daily News (Jan. 13, 2009): http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070814/NEWS/708140306 Benjamin: As far as the ferry relationship between Washington state and British Columbia,, here's an article from ...

Posted Mon, Jan 12, 7:11 p.m.

Although I was raised Catholic, I attended Saturday morning Catechism Classes, not Sunday School. We didn't have Sunday School at Immaculate Conception Church in Arlington (Snohomish County, not the Arlington near DC). "They" wanted us to attend mass on Sundays -- which I was, high up in the choir loft, ...

Posted Sat, Jan 10, 10:50 p.m.

Yup. I'm in concert with Amgiz. Thanks, Knute.

Posted Sat, Jan 10, 10:46 p.m.

Thanks, Mr. Jackson. I think our responses crossed in cyberspace, and I did admit my "error" and made a "correction." As an aside, the last time I used any type of "gun" was shooting clay pigeons on the Isle of Lana'i in Hawaii. I think I was awarded some glass ...

Posted Sat, Jan 10, 10:10 p.m.

OK. So I've had a few personal emails from folks who didn't wanna post comments. Turns out I was reading the wrong "stats" on Amazon ... Yes, the calendar is still #1 in Office Products at Amazon. I was looking at the WALL CALENDARS list, and somehow was not reading ...

Posted Sat, Jan 10, 6:11 p.m.

This was a fun read, Lisa. I don't think I've actually ever read (let alone purchased) a book on fashion. But I enjoy reading about them, and of course I devour the fashion mags when I'm in a salon, etc. So thanks for the comprehensive review. Plus, it's a nice ...

Posted Sat, Jan 10, 4:53 p.m.

Well, when I checked on Amazon.com her calendar was #31. Maybe I need to refresh my page on my MacBook. You're right, I'm not up on my NRA stuff, I should have consulted my gun-totin' buddy with the gun rack in his pick-up. Funny, but I never really thought of ...

Posted Sat, Jan 10, 3:45 p.m.

We need to get you up here on Whidbey Island -- lots of Pugetopolis type bookies here on the rock! If not, I'll catch you somewhere ... looking forward to reading your book.

Posted Wed, Jan 7, 7:20 p.m.

Well, that was illuminating! I've never even thought of BYOW on a flight. I did get busted once for bringing a bottle of vino aboard Amtrak from Vancouver, BC to Everett. They confiscated it and gave it to me shortly before we de-trained. I'm not sure if the vino aboard ...

Posted Sat, Jan 3, 9:44 p.m.

And there's a classic line in [i]Sleepless in Seattle,[/i] where Rob Reiner says to Tom Hanks: "You know it rains 9 months a year in Seattle." That'll help keep 'em away ...

Posted Fri, Jan 2, 6:36 p.m.

Reading Seattle's Sunday paper has become an exercise in speed reading -- there's nothing there. The first sections I read after the front page and local news are arts/entertainment and travel. They've both become increasingly skimpy over the years. Now with the departure of Farr, and Seattle Times Travel Editor ...

Posted Fri, Jan 2, 1:25 p.m.

LOL dacbn! It's sort of like folks in "the other washington" ... I was at a party of Beltway types in the DC area back in the '70s and many of the people thought I lived in the boonies and were surprised to discover that we had theater, museums, etc. ...

Posted Fri, Jan 2, 12:24 p.m.

You're right ... true Seattleites don't use bumbershoots, they just wear Goretex to the opera! I recall a big snowstorm back in the mid70s when Seattle pretty much closed down, and I had to cancel my hubby's surprise birthday party in late November at a Pioneer Square resto. Now, for ...

Posted Sun, Dec 28, 1:41 p.m.

Wow, I've never been referred to as a "wordy nazi" before. My bumper sticker collection is growing. I'm currently commentless about anything else you had to say HBL, as I wrote what I wrote and I stand by my words. By the way, I'm a Daughter of Norway who was ...

Posted Wed, Dec 24, 2:24 p.m.

We stayed in downtown Seattle Monday night, as we had an early morning flight to NYC via Newark (thankfully not via Alaska Airlines, who didn't run out of salt, but were lacking in de-icer). The roads in the heart of the city were absolutely ridiculous. I felt like I was ...

Posted Wed, Dec 24, 2:17 p.m.

Zelicon: "Less Trees, More Plants. More Planet, Less Trees" - I asked both my hubby (63) and son (28), and they said it should be "fewer," and not "lesser." bigyaz: As far as the Caesar Salad -- sorry, I should have spelled it incorrectly. I see it spelled [b]Ceasar Salad ...

Posted Sun, Dec 21, 7:22 a.m.

Here in Langley we had 8" before last night's snowfall -- and we woke up to an additional 4". So a foot total. No power outage, so that's good. Now our next concern is getting to the airport as we fly out early Tuesday morning to spend Xmas in NYC ...

Posted Thu, Dec 18, 5:47 p.m.

Cast members of the movie "Mamma Mia" leading a group sing-along of all those wonderful ABBA tunes. Go Meryl and Pierce!

Posted Wed, Dec 17, 5:44 p.m.

Thanks for all your info, Ben. I worked at the Pacific Science Center back in the 70s, under a number of directors -- Dixy Lee Ray, Jim Backstrom and Ewen Dingwall. The arches are iconic, of course, but the fountains and walkway areas are just as important. The interior of ...

Posted Mon, Dec 8, 11:37 a.m.

Twitter drives me nuts. I "joined" but recently gave my "followers" a farewell message. I told them they could find me on Facebook.

Posted Sat, Dec 6, 7:34 a.m.

I love having my boots shine, either at downtown Nordstrom or at the WAC (Washington Athletic Club). One of my favorite hotel amenities is when you can leave your shoes/boots outside the door for a complimentary shine, and they're returned like new the next morning. I grew up with a ...

Posted Tue, Nov 25, 12:16 p.m.

Ratcity: I must have missed those tidbits of info while attending Seattle U -- guess I was too busy marching on the freeway protesting the war or drinking beer/playing pool with my fake I.D. at the Cellar Tavern. Thanks for enlightening all of us. Ahhh... too many places, too little ...

Posted Mon, Nov 24, 1:16 p.m.

Here's what the writer recommended in his NYT article for hotels (he didn't mention staying at either, so I don't know if in fact he did). I'm surprised he didn't mention any number of the new hotels that have sprouted up in Seattle (Hotel 1000, Pan Pacific, Hotel Max, Hotel ...

Posted Mon, Nov 24, 10:55 a.m.

I've never heard of the Squire Park or Cherry Hill designations -- I'll check with my mom, who went to Seattle University (back when it was Seattle College) in the 40s. She remembers The Cottage restaurant and dancing atop the Sorrento Hotel (I think that's a penthouse suite now?). So ...

Posted Sun, Nov 23, 9:01 p.m.

Yes, it's confusing in that zone. I never did know what the boundaries were, even in '69. I knew that First Hill ("Pill Hill") was where all the hospitals, St. James Cathedral, Frye Museum were located -- and I guess it included Seattle U. But I thought it was all ...

Posted Sun, Nov 23, 2:50 p.m.

Although I haven't been to Cafe Presse (on the list), I have dined at nearby Lark. And they are close to my alma mater, Seattle University, which I think is still on Capitol Hill. Maybe you were thinking of another Frenchy resto, Benjamin?

Posted Thu, Nov 13, 3:26 p.m.

I love the Portland Japanese Garden and the world of Andrew Goldsworthy -- I'm ready to hop Amtrak to PDX right now! Thanks for the reminder that it's time for another visit.

Posted Tue, Nov 4, 3:44 p.m.

Erin: Here is a link with most of the answers to your questions, I think. Word count precluded me from going much deeper than I did -- hope this helps Just copy/paste into your browser. Thanks, Sue Frause (The book mentioned in the article also has in-depth details on the ...

Posted Sat, Oct 18, 11:17 a.m.

I saw the show when I was in New York in March and wasn't surprised that it won the Tony Award for Best Musical. It was fabulous! The couple next to me obviously didn't think so -- they walked out (too much spring, I guess). There is a Pacific Northwest ...

Posted Thu, Oct 16, 7:23 a.m.

Although a lifelong Pacific Northwester, I didn't don a spray skirt until about ten years ago, during a two-hour kayak adventure with my hub on Galiano Island in BC's Gulf Islands. We watched a video first and BAM! they sent us off to paddle on our own. I thought we ...

Posted Sat, Oct 11, 2:31 p.m.

Well I'm happier already. Looks like bigger font size, so much easier to read. So far, so good!

Posted Wed, Oct 1, 9:11 a.m.

Things are heatin' up!: You missed my point. Tina Fey is as qualified to be the Governor of Alaska as Sarah Palin is to be the VP of the USA. Let's hope Sister Sarah gets her notes/facts straight at John McCain's Arizona boot camp this week in preparation for Thursday ...

Posted Sun, Sep 28, 11:54 p.m.

Potato, Potatoe: Sister Sarah would have spelled potato : SPUD (Sarah Palin : Uber Determined).

Posted Sun, Sep 28, 3:08 p.m.

I'm voting for Tina Fey!: I'm not a regular viewer of Saturday Night Live, but from now until November 4, I'll be tuned in to watch the brilliant Tina Fey. She's spot-on as Gov. Sarah Palin, and provides some much needed comic relief during these bizarre times. If you missed ...

Posted Thu, Sep 25, 10:30 p.m.

BC Hospitality: You're right -- with the US and CDN $$ hovering around par these days, the years of great bargains in Canada for US travelers are over. But I still find the Canadian hospitality more genuine and generous than south of the 49th Parallel -- and Vancouver and Victoria's ...

Posted Sat, Sep 6, 5:55 p.m.

Didn't Bill Clinton start the rock and roll thang?: I first noticed campaign theme songs during Bill Clinton's run for the oval in 1992. I've always been a Fleetwood Mac fan, so when Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow was the future prez's pick, I was a happy listener/voter. Fleetwood Mac ...

Posted Tue, Sep 2, 3:04 p.m.

RE: Huh?: Yes, I just passed through Wasilla when I was there. That's why the only impression I came away was from the sprawl and big box stores. I'm sure the folks there are nice -- I have longtime friends in Alaska (Anchorage, Ketchikan, Juneau) so I'm aware of the ...

Posted Sat, Aug 30, 2:51 p.m.

Nice Filson!: My husband has two Filsons, a moss green cotton Foul Weather coat that his office gave to him and my favorite, the red/black plaid wool Filson Mackinaw Cruiser coat. About ten years ago when we were in the Hawthorne District of Portland, a down and out street guy ...

Posted Fri, Aug 29, 2:13 p.m.

On second thought, maybe a Seinfeld character?: I just heard a supporter for Gov. Palin say, "Maybe America will fall in love with this woman." On second viewing of her debut as the Republican VP nominee, she's more like Elaine on Seinfeld than Tina Fey. I think I've been watching ...

Posted Fri, Aug 29, 12:14 p.m.

Saturday Night Live! will have fun with Ms. Palin: Oh, dear. I watched Gov. Sarah Palin's speech this morning and was underwhelmed, to say the least. OK, I'm a liberal Democrat, so the fact that she is pro-life, anti-gay and pro-NRA probably doesn't endear her to me. But hey, she's ...

Posted Wed, Aug 27, 3:50 p.m.

H&M Tips: Thanks for the shopping tips, Meredith. I didn't know about H&M until my son moved to Manhattan five years ago --- their signature red-white shopping bags are everywhere. I walked into one of their nine New York stores one Christmas and walked back out as it was (a) ...

Posted Wed, Aug 27, 3:39 p.m.

Rockin' Women: Michelle rocked! Hillary rocked! Rockin' on Whidbey

Posted Sat, Aug 16, 1:48 p.m.

RE: Chinese ladies for marriage: Acronyms can be unfortunate, and South Lake Union Trolley is a prime example. I live in Langley, home of Whidbey Island Center for the Arts. Yup, that's WICA, very close to Wicca -- the pagan, nature based religion whose members practice witchcraft. There was much ...

Posted Sat, Aug 16, 12:36 p.m.

Bigfoot belongs here!: I agree, those big bad Georgia boys need to bring him home to Seattle. Harry and the Hendersons, a 1987 film starring John Lithgow and Melinda Dillon, was all about Bigfoot and filmed in the Pacific Northwest: Seattle, Index, Lake Kachess, North Bend, North Cascades National Park, ...

Posted Fri, Aug 15, 8:25 p.m.

RE: why bother: I agree with the guy whose headline was, "Brother," but mine would be "Sister." I'm a big cynical fan of funny acronyms, so I was thrilled when SLUT hit the media. Especially when my son informed me about it (he lives in NYC). I was there for ...

Posted Thu, Aug 14, 5:54 p.m.

RE: iesling nearly 40 years later: It was pretty bad. I know he bought it strictly for the name/label, since I was attending a Catholic university. But it did turn me off from anything that resembled Riesling. I'm a big fan of French rose, and tonight is the perfect weather ...

Posted Thu, Aug 14, 4:05 p.m.

Riesling nearly 40 years later: One of the few times I've voluntarily sipped a glass of any type of Riesling was when an unnamed lawyer who I worked for at a large unnamed Seattle law firm gave me a gift of Blue Nun Riesling along with the best-selling book, Everything ...

Posted Thu, Aug 14, 5:58 a.m.

Bamboozled: That was a lovely post! We've had a large "clump" of bamboo at our place on Whidbey Island ever since we moved here 33 years ago -- I wish I knew what variety, but I don't. I love it and think it's only appropos that we now have bamboo ...

Posted Wed, Aug 13, 5:37 p.m.

RE: Love that gibassier: Yes, I'm going on Portland's newest addition in a few weeks, the one that features more chocolates and beverages. If you ever go to New York, I went on a wonderful tour there with Enthusiastic Gourmet. I wrote a feature for The (Daily) Herald and you ...

Posted Wed, Aug 13, 5:30 p.m.

Regarding that jacket: I think it's called pleather. In person it didn't look quite so dramatic, in fact I don't recall being mesmerized by it whatsoever! It sort of perked up the grey, rainy day in PDX. Appreciate your fashion commentary, however :-).

Posted Sun, Aug 10, 11:02 a.m.

RE: Some Issues are More Pressing: You're right, my comments probably came across as somewhat frivolous. However, I'm more than aware of the inadequacies of the Washington State Ferries, and blast them regularly in my Whidbey Island Life blog in the Seattle P-I (including the mechanical snafu in Mukilteo, when ...

Posted Mon, Jul 28, 12:29 p.m.

More pet peeves on the linguistic front: I recently saw a piece on TV about a guy going around the US and changing all the inappropriately used it's to its. That's one of my major pet peeves, and if I had the time and a big bottle of Liquid Paper, ...

Posted Fri, Jul 4, 8:27 a.m.

I liked OKC: You're right, I was there only three days, and attending a conference most of the time. I did go to the Myriad Botanical Gardens (walked through them to take the picture of the Ford Center). And one evening the conference attendees went on a cruise on the ...

Posted Fri, Jul 4, 8:14 a.m.

RE: Thanks for being courteous: Ha! Yes, several fans have told me I was too soft on OKC. I should fess up that I've only been to three Sonics games, so that probably doesn't qualify me as a fan. One was when Lenny Wilkens was playing with them back and ...

Posted Thu, Jul 3, 5:22 a.m.

RE: Thanks: I did fail to mention how nice the people in OKC are -- I'm not sure if they are nicer than Seattleites, it's just a different sort of nice! And yes, the real estate prices / rents are considerably lower than Seattle, with some lovely neighborhoods. Of course ...

Posted Wed, Jul 2, 6:09 p.m.

RE: No Water?: Well, of course by water I mean real water :-). Oklahoma does have more man-made lakes than any other state, with more than one million surface acres of water. And they have 11,611 miles of shoreline, according to the Oklahoma Water Resources Board. But it just ain't ...

Posted Sat, Apr 5, 8:45 a.m.

We don't need no stinkin' tassels: Back in the previous millennium, our family went to a New York Knicks game in the Big Apple. Somebody gave us tickets to see the roundballers play at Madison Square Garden. I don't recall who the other team was, or who won, I just ...

Posted Mon, Mar 17, 8:06 a.m.

How did Mike Henderson get so old?: I remember reading Mike Henderson in The (Everett) Herald years ago and thinking he was so much older than me. Now he's 60 and I'm quickly catching up to him. Being a freelance writer and photographer, I'm getting good at working with editors ...

Posted Thu, Dec 27, 12:53 p.m.

White Christmas ...: Thanks for sharing your non-traditional Christmas Day, Knute. Sounds refreshing. We took the noon ferry from Whidbey to Mukilteo, drove down the freeway and picked up Grandma (94) in Normandy Park before continuing on in the snowflakes to Sammamish for a family dinner. Afterwards, we headed back ...

Posted Thu, Dec 27, 8:18 a.m.

I didn't care for Young Frank either: I went to see Young Frankenstein in Seattle during previews. Although I'm a journalist, I wasn't there as the reviewing press, who weren't allowed in until the official reviewing night. But of course I "reviewed" it in my Whidbey Island Life blog in ...

Posted Thu, Dec 13, 9:13 a.m.

Uff da too ..: As a charter member of the Ester Moe Lodge of the Daughters of Norway here on Whidbey Island, I was ready to poke you about the Uff da - Swedish connection. But somebody beat me to to it. Actually, the Daughters of Norway are quite all ...

Posted Thu, Dec 13, 8:26 a.m.

RE: eal Estate Numbers: Astute observation, Knute! I was thinking the same thing while flipping through Alaska's inflight magazine on my way home from a conference in Palm Springs. As somebody who winters, springs, summers and falls on Whidbey Island (since 1975), I always wonder who lives in these high ...

Posted Fri, Nov 23, 10:03 a.m.

It's all about the leftovers: I'm watching the clock in anticipation of my first fabulous turkey sandwich on white sourdough bread with lots of real mayonnaise. Hold the Miracle Whip. Yesterday we cooked an almost 50 pound homegrown turkey (raised by my husand) for our 12-top dinner here on Whidbey ...

Posted Wed, Oct 31, 7:59 a.m.

RE: The dinner train is gone????: I was never on the original train but did go on the new route from Tacoma several months ago. Although the train itself was fun and the food just fine, the journey was a disappointment. The route took us through backyards, etc. and we ...

Posted Tue, Oct 30, 10:22 a.m.

I missed the whole thing: Thanks for posting the info about the photographer and a link to the Kitsap Sun article, Chuck. Being a Whidbey Islander, I received more than a dozen emails including the photos from folks wondering if I was on that particular ferry. Alas, I was up ...

Posted Tue, Oct 23, 9:22 a.m.

I'm concerned about Vancouver, too ...: I just returned from Vancouver, a city that I visit and write about regularly. I'm a bit concerned about where the city is headed. Thanks for your essay, Knute. Check out my Closet Canuck blog for today's post, Is Vancouver getting too big for ...

Posted Mon, Sep 24, 1:21 p.m.

Thank you, Jean. Thank you, Walt.: I never met Walt Crowley. As a travel journalist, I too use HistoryLink on a regular basis. HistoryLink has taught me more about Whidbey Island, where I've lived for 32 years, than any other source. I never met Walt, but I read him and ...

Posted Tue, Aug 14, 7:59 a.m.

Whidbey Island is still for locals: My husband and I have lived on Whidbey Island since 1975. It's changed, of course. There are now two stop lights on South Whidbey and the ferry lines are bring-a-book friendly year round. But unlike the San Juan Islands, people who live on Whidbey ...

Posted Mon, Apr 9, 7:31 a.m.

They like the park ... for the most part: I write a daily blog for the Seattle P-I on Whidbey Island and asked local architects, designers and artists for their thoughts on the new park. You can read them by clicking on Whidbey Island Life.