Ann Rule suing Seattle Weekly

So Ann Rule is suing one of our city's local alt weeklies over an article written by the fiance of one of the killers she wrote about. This is such an odd story. I read the book and the fiance's defensive article and come on! He's her FIANCE. What is he going to say? Hardly an objective opinion.

I will always love Ann Rule -- no one has mastered the tricky true-crime genre like she has. And that is one bloody awful caricature of her.

Seattle--snobby, yet beloved?

So I'm from the Twin Cities, but live in Seattle now. Some people absolutely have a weird reverence for Seattle. It's like the Ellen DeGeneres of cities--most everybody loves it.

So I wasn't that surprised to find out that Seattle was rated the most-liked US city in 2012 (last year, I know), though a little surprised to find out that BOTH Seattle and the Twin Cities ranked high on the snobby city list. I blame Frasier.

Seattle has best burger joint in nation?

This is ridiculous. Dick's Drive-In has grown on me (really disliked it when we first arrived), but no way is it the best burger joint in the U.S., topping Five Guys and In N Out. The fries are practically liquid and I don't get the fascination with tartar sauce.

Still, Esquire proclaims it the best. Dudes, it's like Ringo and drumming, it's not even the best burger joint in Seattle.

Why did no one tell me these things 10 years ago?

10 things you should know before moving to Seattle. It's like the first one was written just for me, what with its "You'd better stay in Minnesota if you think a city should be able to function in snow."

Hi, future man!

A Seattle homeowner found a note in the wall left by a previous owner in 1973. "I hope your world is a little bit better than ours," he wrote.

Is it? In some ways, not in others.

And now I want to hide notes in my walls.

Naked bicyclists

Every year at the Fremont Solstice parade, people strip naked, paint themselves in elaborate body paint, and ride bikes through my neighborhood and into Fremont for the parade. They got a little rained on today, but that didn't keep them from doing it.

Photographic proof.

In Seattle? Join us!~

Seattleites: Join us at 6:30 pm tonight (Saturday, June 18) at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park! 70s-80s trivia! Prizes! More!

No one's going to show up, are they? Man, I bet Stephen King never has that worry...

Seattle book readings

Just a reminder that the first of our two Seattle book readings is this Saturday! I'm kind of terrified no one will come to these. Brian and I will both be at them...his very first visit to the Emerald City!
Saturday, June 18: Third Place Books, 17171 Bothell Way NE., Lake Forest Park
6:30 PM (I feel like this is a weird time...but it is at 6:30 not 7)
We'll have 70s-80s trivia, prizes, snacks, props, will do a little reading from the book and sign books for anyone who wants. Completely casual but would love to see you there.

If you can't make it, there is another one!
Monday, June 20: University Books, 4326 University Way, N.E., Seattle
7 pm (this seems a more normal time)
And again, retro trivia, prizes, snacks, props, a reading and book signings.

Please come to either or both! Bring friends! Relatives, even!

An apology to Cafe Besalu

Cafe Besalu is a much-raved-about bakery in my neighborhood that I've never been to since the line is always down the block.

Apparently this woman and her mom's group hang out there, and have for years, since their kids were much younger. She wrote a beautiful paean to the place after, of all things, being asked to leave after hogging a table! Makes me not only want to visit, but to set up a similar tradition with my friends.

Spicing it up

Hooray! According to this job ad, there'll be a Penzey's Spices opening in Seattle sometime soon. It's about time! I always mean to load up on spices when I go home to Mpls., but good luck packing weird smelly powders in your luggage.

As you were

Sign welcoming people to Kurt Cobain's hometown.

I find this kind of touching, though I wonder what he would think.

Ha

Way to go, Bellevue bride.

Playing chicken

When I was a kid, we used to go to Wisconsin and Minnesota taverns on weekends with our parents, generally when they were driving up to our farm, and it seemed to me that I always had fried chicken.

I rarely eat it these days -- it's not exactly great for you -- but I'm saving this list from Seattle's Stranger of the supposed best places in town for it, just in case. (On this list, I've been to Ezell's...it was fine but really seems overrated by this town.)

...to the wall

Pete Carroll coached his first Seahawks game tonight (they won, but it's preseason anyway).

I found this from his Wikipedia bio pretty funny.

"Because of his aggressive style, the USC band has given him the nickname Big Balls Pete. At football games, when Pete Carroll decides to go for it on fourth down, the band will start a chant of Big Balls Pete that carries over to the student and alumni sections."

It's on like Donkey Kong

Seattle's own "King of Kong" has been dethroned by his nemesis. A great movie, by the way.

File under "Duh"

Now I'm a Vikings fan first and foremost, but I've taken to the Seahawks as my second team, and of course Rob and I went to a big party in 2006, when they were in the Super Bowl against the Steelers. AND LOST. (Familiar place for me as a Vikings fan.)

It did seem that the refs were blowing the game for Seattle, but I know every fan says that when their team loses the big one. But now even the refs are admitting they blew it.

Got $5 million to blow?

This is an odd feature in the (online only) Seattle PI: Droolable houses no one can afford these days (or...ever?).

The comments on this latest house crack me up. Also, not that I have five mill, but this house does not seem worth anything near that much.

Writes one commentor: "Gross! I have to drive past this monstrosity twice a day. A spec home created over a year ago by someone who thinks they know what will most certainly sell. Unfortunately, if I were spending $5 mill on a home, I would insist on something other than the 1313 Mockingbird Lane look."

Java jive

20 most caffeinated cities. Duh, Seattle is #1, with 35 coffee shops per 100,000 people. That seems low.

Eye of the Needle

Beautiful 1962 photos of the construction of Seattle's Space Needle.

It looks even weirder half-built. What a leap of absurdly wonderful futuristic faith that thing is.

(Via My Ballard)

Well, poop

Warning: This is kinda gross, but it still made me laugh.

In Seattle, a ticket for dog poop will cost you more than one for human poop. Ha, and ugh.