aka Steve -

And now, for your viewing pleasure (OK, really for my pleasure): A hovering hummingbird.
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Hummingbirds aren’t the only birds that come to my deck. I also receive occasional* visits from at least three gorgeous, bright-blue birds. They look like this:
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I think they’re Western scrub jays. Or Aphelocoma californica as they’re known in Wikipedia. In describing the appearance of these birds, the Wikipedia article (as retrieved on 12/23/08) refers to [...]

It’s snowing in the Seattle area today, and this poor hummingbird has not migrated to a warmer climate. First shot is a close-up of the bird; second shot shows the snow, with the bird at the top left.
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The Ballard Locks (a.k.a. the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks) are currently closed for annual cleaning and maintenance. And the lock that’s drained stinks. Of fish and barnacles, to be precise.
The grounds are open, but the actual locks are closed to boats until Dec. 7. You can read more about it here.

A display window at Archie McPhee. Currently in Ballard, Archie McPhee is moving to Wallingford some time next year. You can read about it here (or do a Google search for “archie mcphee moving to wallingford” and see what else comes up).

I love having a hummingbird feeder on my deck. At least 3 hummers dine at Steve’s Hummingbird Café. I frequently try to photograph them … and fail to get good pictures. However, one hummer obliged me a few days ago by hanging out on my windchime hanger/hummingbird perch* for several minutes and remaining fairly still. [...]

The Boyfriend and I drove to the Mount Baker Neighborhood, parked the car, and took a stroll. We started at the intersection of S. Mt. Baker Blvd. and S. McClellan St. and headed south (I think) along Mt. Rainier Dr. S. We continued along Hunter Blvd. S., then west down to 37th Ave. S. From [...]

As pleased as I am with them for introducing me to John Lautner (see this post), I’m also annoyed with them today.
I saw this article/link on the NYT site: Stalked: A Decade on the Run. My first thought was, “Scary. Must be about some man who’s stalked a woman for ten years.”
Then I noticed that [...]

Amazing find #1: The architecture of John Lautner, which I found about thanks to my daily e-mail from the New York Times. This link goes to the story and this one goes to the slideshow. “Bonding Humanity and Landscape,” the (partial) title of the article, is an apt description of Lautner’s vision and talent.
Amazing find [...]

Best. Coffee. EVER.
I read about cold-brewed coffee last year in the New York Times (Iced Coffee? No Sweat, 06/27/07). It sounded amazing.
When I stopped at my favorite Caffe Fiore the next day, I asked if they offered or were planning to offer cold-brewed coffee. The barista told me they were planning to offer [...]