Tuesday, November 17, 2009

It Rains All the Time with Scattered Bursts of Sunshine!

The weather forecast this week says that it's going to rain every day with scattered occasional bursts of sunshine to remind us of what we're missing. But that sounds like last week! Seriously, I think we've got a bit too much monopoly on rain, and maybe we should share some with the other states.

Experience Washington: 10 things to do in Seattle When it Rains

Seattle Rainy Day Guide

Wise Bread: Free and Cheap things to do in Seattle

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Great Chinese Food at the Jade

The Jade Resturant is one of my favorite places to eat in seattile. The staff is made up of a very friendly local Chinese family, who always make sure to take good care of the guests. The food is always fresh, hot and tasty- and they're happy to get creative with dishes and make them to order. It has a spacious dining room, a gaming room with pool and darts, and a dance floor that frequently has great local DJ's and Bands making music. You should definately check it out if you're in the mood for some good Chineese food, I'm sure you'll go back many times.

http://www.jaderestaurant.net/

Monday, October 5, 2009

Putting the "Eat" in Seattle #2

As I said, Seattle is not a place where you have to go hungry if you know where to go. Almost every area has it’s own food bank services, and most of them will give you temorary assistance no matter where you live and long term assistance if you reside in whichever zip codes they serve.

The University District has a good food bank, which operates five days a week. More information can be found at their website.

http://www.udistrictfoodbank.org/

Like North Helpline, they provide a lot of staples, and it’s a fasirly comfortable experience. Once you sign up they give you a card based on the number of people in your household, and you are allowed to go through a store like setting with a cart and choose what you want. Sometimes they even have flowers, and other useful household items.

One thing that is really nice about the university districrt food bank is their hours of operation. Some days they run early in the day, and other days they run in the evening which is conveniant for working people that need a little help but have a schedule to keep. Currently they run 10-3 Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and 3-8 Tuesday and Thursday. Current information about their services can be found at their website.

Putting the "Eat" in Seattle

No matter how poor you are, you will not go hungry in Seattle. You can eat for free here, and not only that, but some of the places that help with food also offer other services.

One such place is North Helpline; which runs the Lake City Seattle Food bank on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It is located next to the old fire station at the lake city little city hall building, at 30th and 127th.

You can have a look at their website here to find up to date hours and information:

http://www.northhelpline.org/about.htm

The Saturday food bank is almost a neighborhood social event. Lot’s of people who are in various circumstances go, and all have coffee together while waiting outside. You will see the obviously homeless and down and out, and you will also see teacher, doctors, lawyers, the unemployed, the elderly, and the local store clerks and workers. It’s sometimes very entertaining, and always provides a good amount of food for free. They have great breads and sweets, on top of meat, cereal and other staple items. You don’t always get everything your household needs, but it will certainly help. If you live in the lake city area you’re eligible, you just have to go in and give them basic name and address information. They don’t ask anything about your income, just proof of address.

If you live in Seattle but not in the lake city area, you can still go at least once, and they will tell you where to find other resources.

North Helpline also provides other services such as emergency food packs during the week, bus tickets, pet food, toiletries, items for baby's, and some rent/utility assistance. (up to $100 once a year)

North Help Line: 206-367-3477

Making random amounts of money in Seattle

No matter what you do for a living, extra ways to make money can be useful.One thing I did a few months ago to come up with a few extra dollars was a paid survey about aome new design for a cell phone. Another thing I did was a paid Game Testing session for Big Fish Games. You can often find short paying studies like this listed in places like craigslist, in the ETC section of the Job listings.

Happy Hunting!

http://seattle.craigslist.org/etc/

http://seattle.craigslist.org/

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Honk Fest !!!

So, I was sitting here at the Blue Moon, asking folks what they thought the most fun things to do and see in Seattle were. Mary, one of the sexiest bartenders in the city said that Honkfest was the best fun she had all year. It's a "radical Marching Band Festival".



You and I both missed it this year, apparently- but it's well worth thinking about for future fun. Thanks Mary! More information can be found here:

http://www.honkfestwest.com/

Friday, October 2, 2009

Seattle Music Sceene: Blue Moon Open Mic Night

If you happen to be up in the seattle area and want a fun evening, the Blue Moon hosts an open mic on Wednesday nights. It starts around 8pm and is run by Angry Joey and co-hosted by his talented daughter Leanne. With any luck I may get to film and post her awsome rendition of "Mad World" by Tears for Fears in the near future. Last nights open mic was amazing from start to finish. There were some noteworthy blues tunes sung by Daddy Treetops, a musician of local folk fame, and also an amazing set of Rastafarian fun lead by Abdulla and his friends.

The crowd on Wensdays is warm and friendly, so if you live in the area or are visiting bring yourself out. If you play, show up with your guitar or a song and sign up with Joey. The crowd is weloming to beginners as well as seasoned ( bad-ass) performers. ;-)~ The Blue Moon is located on 45th street in the U district.

Must be 21 and over to attend, with ID.

Life in Seattle

I currently live in Seattle, and am really enjoying exploring it. It's definately full of some of the most beautiful natural spots I have ever seen inside a city.One great thing about Seattle is how much use they make of space that would ordinarily be empty. There are parks, walkways, mountain bike parks, and dog parks everywhere.

I'm still very new to seattle. I moved here about a year and a half ago from New Orleans. The lifestyle is very different up here, but I'm enjoying meeting new people and exploring new places.

The public transportation here is very good compared to other cities. Although you may spend a little time waiting on busses, they go all over the city and have fairly reliable routes. Downtown there are even zones where it's free to ride. That makes getting around without having to worry about parking pretty easy.

On the whole, people also seem more educated and enviornmentally conscious here than in other places I've lived or traveled to. Even the homeless folks at the corner may have an errodite and engaging conversation with you if you care to listen.

Come with me on my exploration of the Emerald City- that's what this blog is all about.