PI

The word "flaneur" has gone through some gyrations over time: if you ask Google or a modern dictionary, you'll get "an idler or a loafer", but in times past, it's meant something less negative, more civic. To Baudelaire, the flaneur was a "gentleman stroller of city streets" or a "botanist of the sidewalks", for example. The Brooklynflaneur further quotes Cornelia Otis Skinner: “There is no English equivalent for the French word flâneur. Cassell’s dictionary defines flâneur as a stroller, saunterer, drifter but…

If you hear some caroling tonight (Wednesday, Dec 16), or want to join in some caroling, it's for a good cause. They'll be raising money as a gift to Patty and Joe, who lost their "holiday house" in a fire last month. Bette and Patti write: Come caroling with us for a good cause.  The “Holiday House” on Latona was recently gutted by fire. Its longtime residents, Patty and Joe, had insurance, but – as we all know – insurance inevitably falls…

Care about I-5 noise in lower Wallingford? Then it is important you attend this meeting on Wednesday night to show WSDOT you care: 7 PM to 8:15 PM at John Stanford International School (Latona) 241, 4057 5th Ave NE, Seattle, WA 98105. Room 320 (first classroom to the left of the main entrance) Sharad reports for the community: Concerned Wallingford residents have been trying to get WSDOT to do noise mitigation for the stretch of Wallingford that runs along I-5 where there is…

It's not too late to catch the Christmas Ships: The Argosy Cruises Christmas Ship festival is a holiday celebration that has been a Pacific Northwest tradition since 1949. Every year, the Argosy Christmas Ship sails to different Puget Sound waterfront communities, over 45 in total. Choirs onboard sing 20-minute performances to these communities, all broadcast via state-of-the-art speaker system. On shore, thousands of people gather around roaring bonfires anticipating the arrival of the Christmas Ship. This Friday, from 8:40 to 9:00…

It's been such a pleasure to see the neighborhood rally around our local food bank and family resource center, FamilyWorks. So far, 24 of you have joined in the giving campaign towards FamilyWorks, and we've reached $4,455, blowing past our goal of  $3,000. That means that the three donors (and yes, we got our third $1,000 match from another anonymous Wallingford neighbor) will be matching the first $3,000 of our campaign, for a total of $7,455 going to FamilyWorks. Wouldn't it be…

Buy! How about an HTC Envy or a Ford Exterminator or an Amazon Crap Box? Buy Buy Buy! Paris global warming talks and Grinchy fables about joyous singing without presents be damned, Christmas cheer is built on coal fueled crap from China. Putting aside carbon waste, there's also economic losses- Christmas destroys an estimated 13 billion dollars in value per year. It's called "dead weight loss" when you convert cash to something less valuable than the cash. If people want a pasta maker they'll…

Watch out, Wallingford retailers: Shana tells us someone tried to add a phoney $100 bill to Archie McPhee's collection of weird: It appeared to be a Caucasian woman late twenties with lots of black eyeliner, black hoodie, and rhinestones on her jeans. There was a fellow who waited for her who was tall with a white baseball cap. They didn't succeed with their ploy with us! Forewarned is forearmed.