One last post related to the removal of the monkey from my back and then I’ll retire the subject for at least two days. 

My backpack felt so unnaturally light and empty last night that by the time I got up on Capitol Hill I decided that, if my dancing and pack mule muscles were going to be allowed to atrophy, I should at least do a bit of spot-toning of the book-shopping muscles, so I popped into both Twice Sold Tales and Half Price Books, replenished some of the weight, and then actually went home and read.  Poetry.  (Thanks, M-----l, for the Billy Collins recommendation.)

Also, I noticed that Twice Sold Tales has dedicated the litterbox in the new store:

where Marco poops

So Marco now poops in honor of the editor of one of our local free weeklies.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

I wonder if the sign art people leave clues and secret messages for each other. 

Walking home up Olive today, I saw several Poo In Your Shoe stickers along the way:

bunny loves poo in your shoe

The dog on this sign is painted on a piece of cloth with a stitched border.  I was tempted to rip it down and take it home, but that would have been as wrong as picking that tulip (which was still there this morning, delightfully).

oh beautiful for spacious skies

 This one, along 11th next to Cal Anderson Park, is a floppy disk.

teeny

Teeny has a close neighbor:

heart heart heart

 I walked along Denny between Olive and 11th, to see if Marco had made the move yet.  He had:

el marco is over there now

He was lounging in the new children's room:

el marco in the new children's room

I bought this book, and hope it's not too scary:

From the Teeth of Angels

Jonathan Carroll

The new store is larger and more labyrinthine than the old store, and doesn't reek of litterbox - yet.  As soon as the new carpeting finishes outgassing, it will be a fine place for getting lost.  I hope the carpet doesn't poison the cats and the employees in the meantime.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Changes are happening in my neighborhood since I moved here only ten months ago that make me sad.  Capitol Hill was already well into the process of becoming condo-ified before I even thought about becoming a first-time home-buyer.  Knowing the light rail station was planned, it was incredibly naïve of me to think things would stay at all the same, for even a little while.  I settled on into a newer building, so I am at least secondarily guilty of supporting these changes.

Efforts are now underway to establish an “improvement district” organization, intended to make the neighborhood feel safer for the residents (now that stabber guy is in custody it feels safe enough, thank you) and shoppers at the new upscale shopping that is making its way here.  Part of this organization’s mission will be removal of graffiti and no doubt other things which give this neighborhood its appealing scruffiness. 

Saddest for me personally so far is the sale of the Oddfellows Building.  For over a decade, this historic building has housed a good number of the arts organizations that contribute to Capitol Hill’s vibrancy, including Velocity.  I moved here to be within walking distance to their studios.  Velocity can no longer afford the rent, like most of the other long-time tenants of the building, because the developer which bought it doubled the rent.  By the end of the summer, Velocity plans to move to an as-yet-undetermined temporary space and hopes to make a permanent home (in a building which will require several years to renovate) in an adjacent neighborhood that is as yet not quite so appealing to developers, but surely can’t be far behind. 

041108_08471.jpg

IMG_0580

On a happier (and equally self-interested) note, I was relieved to learn yesterday that Everyday Music (which is being displaced by the light rail station) has lined up a new location just a few blocks away (conveniently along my walk to work).  Tonight, if it has opened yet, I’m gonna check out the new location of Twice Sold Tales.  Its new store is also just a few blocks from the old one, but smaller, and won’t be open till the wee hours of the morning.  At least Marco can still be counted on to be there, which is reassuring.

Marco #4

Read and post comments | Send to a friend