16 January 2007

Lake City=Sunset Town

Reflecting on MLK day: Arb and I were visitng with Peter Arthur this past weekend, going over an old map of Seattle, when he mentioned that the city north of the Ship Canal was a “Sunset Town,” as in closed off to minorities after the sun goes down. It was a bit of a shock, given Seattle’s reputation as a progressive city. Dave Neiwert goes on further:

Here in Seattle, University of Washington history professor James Gregory has begun digging through the records, and we at least are beginning to get a little better glimpse of our true historical selves:

Seattle thinks of itself as a liberal city, one that has a reasonable record of racial integration. But we are also a city with a short memory. One of the things we have been forgetting is that only a few decades ago, Seattle was a sharply segregated city. It was a city that kept non-whites out of most jobs and most neighborhoods, even out of stores, restaurants, hotels and hospitals.

... Until the late 1960s, Seattle north of the ship canal was a "sundown" zone. That meant that virtually no people of color lived there and it also meant that African Americans were expected to be out of the area when the workday ended. After dark, a black man in particular was likely to be stopped by the police, questioned about his business and informed that he had better not be seen in the neighborhood again.

North Seattle was not alone. Queen Anne, Magnolia and West Seattle also were sundown zones. The suburbs were even worse. Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Bothell, Bellevue, Burien, even White Center, vigorously and explicitly excluded people of color. But the ship canal was a special kind of boundary, an unmistakable dividing line between the part of Seattle where anyone might live and the part of Seattle that was off-limits to those whose skin was not white.

Until the early 1950s, North Seattle was also home to Coon Chicken Inn, which for almost 20 years stood as a beacon of bigotry on Lake City Way Northeast. Whites of a certain disposition made it a hugely popular restaurant and no one could drive along Lake City Way without noticing the massive grotesque "coon" head and the big-lipped mouth that served as the restaurant's front door.”

I did some quick digging, and found out that the CCI was located at the current site of Ying’s Drive In on LCW, which Arb and I pass every day going home. Here’s a postcard image, look how huge these restaurants are:

Ugh. Does this history have anything to do with why the North End is not more integrated? There is still some kind of de facto segregation operating in Seattle, though I think the forces of gentrification are changing that, perhaps for the worse. We’re becoming a Latte city.

Arb and I are struggling with this as we plan our family. We would like to move south, closer to friends and with cheaper housing costs, but lacking in quality public schools, particularly at the secondary level. Is this race or economics? Both? We're a long ways off from answering that for ourselves.

11 January 2007

Shenanigans


(h/t AWOT)

We just received this report and photos of a massive First Goatse that was deployed yesterday at the San Francisco Apple Store during Macworld 2007. First Goatse is project where people are shown the infamous Goatse image and then their reactions are photographed. This is the first known instance of a First Goatse of this magnitude.

Check out the Flickr First Goatse pool for some more hijinks. High-larious!


Updated: If you don't know what Goatse is, click here before delving in too far. Not for the squeamish.

10 January 2007

Fight on, Goober


Goo's going in to the vet Friday to have a couple tumors removed. Hopefully it's not a big deal.

Update: She had an epulis removed from her mouth. Doc says they got most of it, we'll get the labs back in a week to see what we need to do afterwards if anything. She seems a little out of it, but is starting to come back to the old Goob.

09 January 2007

synchromaticity

From BlindWriting:

Here's what was posted on Sting.com:

01.03.07 30th Anniversary of the First Police Single - Official NewsAs numerous rumors have started circulating regarding plans for a celebration of the 30th anniversary of the release of the first Police single, the following is an official statement released on behalf of the band by a spokesperson at Interscope Geffen A&M Records:

"As the 30th anniversary of the first Police single approaches, discussions have been underway as to how this will be commemorated. While we can confirm that there will indeed be something special done to mark the occasion, the depth of the band's involvement still remains undetermined."
Color me cautiously excited. As long as they really want to do it, and not just go through the motions, like some "Bands Reunited" special on VH1.

"T minus 100," or "Im in Ur cribz, ste4lin Ur sL33pz"

If the magic dial-a-thingy at the doctor's office is right, Ray Ray will be here in 100 days.

I’m better at reflecting on the past than I am at getting a handle on the present and future, but here goes: This year, I resolve to remember how the world looks to a child, where everything is new and wonderful, even a little scary sometimes.

As fatherhood approaches (week 26 already), I’m a bit suprised by the lack of fear and trepidation I have about it. We can’t wait to meet Ray Ray, not because arb’s tired of being pregnant (yet), but we excited to get to know what this little squirming, kicking mass inside her belly is all about. It’s a role I wasn’t sure I wanted in the past, maybe out of selfishness, thinking that the kid would take over my entire identity, that I would just be someone’s dad. Yet I’ve always felt I had things to pass on, besides ½ of my genes, like how to throw a football, skip stones, multiplication tables, make the armpit fart sounds, you know, the important stuff. Now that I think about it, being someone’s dad sounds pretty good.

Name update: Lionel, Andre, Rocco and Theo (not short for Theodore, just Theo)…just letting those marinate, seeing what sounds right when we’re yelling it out the back door…

05 January 2007

Way to go, Ohio



Had fun in Columbus a couple months ago for arb’s brother’s wedding. We were tempted for maybe 2 seconds to move there-housing prices are quite reasonable (huge houses for maybe ½ what we pay here), but a trip to the mall for a gift quashed that in a hurry. I’m not a Buckeyes* fan and it’s a little too Red-state for my blood.

Still, I got to meet the remaining members of arb’s immediate family. They were very welcoming, made me feel like a part of the family (even if I hadn’t already fornicated my way in). It’ll be good to have them all here in the summer, but how am I going to entertain 6 nieces?

*Maybe it’s me, but I hate it when someone says, “THE Ohio State University.” Puh-leeze.

04 January 2007

Bon Voyaging

Mom and Dad leave in a couple days for a 3.5 month cruise on the QE2 around the world. I hope they have a lot of fun…they better, AJ and I are paying for this trip (with our inheritance anyway)…arb made me promise I would take her around the world when we retire.

I doubt we’d take the exact same trip, we’re the type that would have more fun exploring one place for a week or two instead of hitting a bunch of destinations. That said, I’m glad they’re going, they’ve worked hard for it.

03 January 2007

Bloggerizing the blog

Converting to the new blogger version, hopefully this works...if you don't see this, then something's gone wrong...

UPDATE: The switch went off without a hitch, for the most part, lost a few links and my flickr photostream badge, will get those back on...