Musings by Shelly

Some job openings

2009-11-14T01:24:42Z

I spotted a pamphlet detailing government part-time census jobs for $17.50/hour. Website HERE. Or call toll-free 1-866-861-2010.

Also, if you're looking for money, many retails outlets are already hiring holiday help. One friend is working the graveyard shift doing inventory, so you can earn some extra money on top of your regular job.

Best of luck to everyone seeking a job or more hours!

Finally finished my voting

2009-10-27T23:44:17Z

Voter Recommendations for WA state/King County
Mostly, I went along with Grubb Street except I chose Tom Albro over Max Vekich for Port of Seattle Position 4. I already explained in my primary endorsements why. (Cheat sheet at the bottom for those who don't want to go over to Jeff's blog.)

City of Seattle
Wow, I've been following this one closely, since Seattle has such an impact on the region. While Michael McGinn has great people skills and his heart in the right place, his budgeting and administration skills are lacking and those exactly what's needed during this worst fiscal crisis I've experienced in my life. Want him instead being the anti-Tim Eyman proposing good initiatives and going against bad ones, which would play to Michael's strengths.

However, I have yet to find anything that would compell me to vote for Mallahan except that he's an unknown and Gov. Chris Gregoire (who I love) endorsed him. Maybe his biz experience would be good, but who knows? So, only can hope for the best but kind of fear that Seattle will be screwed.

City of Kirkland
I recommend Joan McBride, Brad Larssen, Karen Tennyson, and Doreen Marchione for Kirkland City Council. And a YES vote of Propositon 1, which will raise the utility tax to cover revenues. Hopefully this will help provide much needed revenue AND encourage people to save more energy.

Ashamed to say i started doing research on the school district and hospital commissioner votes, decided that I'm too sick to put in the time and won't vote in those elections unless I hear compelling reasons from someone soon as to who I should choose. There just wasn't enough info on the web to decided and I've learned to not trust the voters pamphlet.

Cheat Sheet
No on 1033 (another Tim Eyman mess)
Yes on 71 (US always best when we live up to our promise of equality)
Yes on all King Co amendments (Trusted Jeff on this one, since I was too sick for research)
Dow Constantine for King Co. Exec (Shudder at the thought of Susan hutchison)
Bob Rosenberger for Assessor (Most on Jeff Grubb's recommendation, though I did some research to concur)
Anne Ellington Court of Appeals (per my primary notes)
Rob Holland Port #3 (per primary notes)
Tom Albro Port #4 (per primary notes)

Geeky fun

2009-09-18T23:13:13Z

"I gave them a Jedi church business card." among the great quotes in this very funny story about the founder of the Jedi church in Wales vs. Tesco (British grocery chain).

This is why I love non-fiction more than fiction most of the time. No one would find this believable in a fiction book yet there it is, at the grocery store.

Just add Cassis

2009-08-31T05:06:07Z

I'd put off drinking the Illinois vignoles wine (yes, you read the state right) for two years. Mostly, it was bought on a whim and I new it was a bit too much like alcoholic grape juice to drink unless I was really in the mood.

Last week, I realized that if I just added Cream de Cassis, it would make a good kir (white wine + cassis). I was so right.

Yesterday, Wolf brought home some hard cider that tasted too much like unsweeted green apples for me. I my glass down after one sip and walked away. Wolf, however, remembered my trick and added some cassis. While not technically a kir, it added the right amount of sweetness to make it yummy.

RIP Senator Ted Kennedy

2009-08-26T05:54:05Z

I would say my level of respect for Sen. Kennedy was one of appreciation rather than adoration. Still, I find myself feeling his death today as the Kennedy politcal dynasty becomes fully past rather than present.

I also have to say I'm very worried about what this means for health care reform. Senator Kennedy was one of its champions and I think his loss has already negatively recalculated the health care debate.

My Watercolor Palette

2009-08-16T21:57:53Z

Watercolor colors low rez
Originally uploaded by shellyinseattle

My Friday project. More details on my art blog if you're interested.

Gouache Colorwheel after Quiller low rez

2009-08-16T00:45:44Z

Gouache Colorwheel after Quiller low rez
Originally uploaded by shellyinseattle

A new piece from my art blog..

Publisher's Camp/ Cowgirl Camp

2009-08-14T23:49:45Z

Wolf took off this whole week and while others were at Gen Con, we both went to work at home trying to get ahead of the curve for Open Design/Kobold Quarterly. To be productive, this meant the little one went to Cow Girl Camp the whole week. Hence the theme that Wolf and I were at Publisher's camp.

Had some especially good meetings. Only downside -- they generated more work so our to-do lists just changed items rather than shortened.

Primary Voting Guide

2009-08-03T20:50:31Z

Just a reminder that fewer people vote in the primaries. It's almost like ballot stuffing to vote in them, since your vote is less diluted. Also, some elections, esp. judges, are decided in the primary; the main election for them is a formality.

Of course, the problem with primaries is that there's less reliable info out. Hence, I rely heavily on endorsements from groups I trust for my decisions. I've listed the group endorsement in parentheses to help you.

Shelly's Voting Guide for King County
King County: Dow Constantine (Jeff Grubb and The Stranger both endorse)
Court of Appeals Div 1 Dist 1 Judge 3: Anne L. Ellington (per King Co Bar rating "Exceptionally Well Qualtified" vs. Opponent Kelly's "Not Qualified")
Port of Seattle Commissioner, #3: Rob Holland (per WA Conserv Voters)
Port of Seattle Commissioner Position #4: Tom Albro (per WA Conserv Voters & the Stranger. Disagree with Mr. Grubb here.)
City of Kirkland: Matt Gregory (per Muncipal League. While I liked Karen Tennyson, felt she wasn't as viable as a candidate and wanted someone to defeat Amy Walen who is running a fairly big campaign.)

While I can't vote in these elections, here are two I have an opinion on:
Shoreline: Janet Way. I worked with her in the past. Would vote for her if I could.
Seattle: Greg Nickles -- despite the snow debacle he is still overly the most effective. Worked with Michael McGinn and like him personally. He's good at talking people into things, not nearly so good at running an effective organization as he thinks he is.
King Co Dist 9: NOT Reagan Dunn. I've met him, and "Deer in the Headlights" applies here. He gets by on solidly hewing to the Republican planks and avoids Palinesque fire and brimstone statements.

Helpful Endorsement Sites
Jeff Grubb's endorsements are HERE.

Wa Conservation Voters list found HERE

Municipal League ratings HERE.

King County Bar Assoc is HERE.

The Stranger endorsements here.

I rarely bother with The Times endorsements, because they lean too heavily to the right for me. Though the Stranger often leans a bit too left (like mayoral endorsement for Mike McGinn), I still consider them.

I pretty much ignore the Voters Guide, because it's easy to be mislead by a well-written statement masking a candidate that you'd never ever vote for if you really know what (s)he were like.

Non-partisan Offices
Let me state once again that I HATE that candidates no longer declare a party for most of these positions that really are partisan. It becomes a way to hide where you stand and makes it one step tougher to choose candidates for the smaller elections that you don't have much to go on anyway. Jeff Grubb agrees with me.

Art Shows & Personal Best

2009-08-01T01:09:34Z

Art Shows
I spent time at two different art shows, the biggest and best being the juried Bellevue ArtFair. Got some ideas for framing, displays, and more. Wish I had time to pitch a tent and do a show, but having a three-year old, I'll just have to put one more item in the "When My Child Goes to School" list.

Productivity
This week, the temperature in my area reached 107 degrees (official temp Redmond, WA), which was a personal best! It's the highest I've ever experienced and I believe the highest recorded here. Seattle reached a record-breaking 102/103. My productivity as well as everyone else's nosedived as everyone in the area sought air conditioned public places for a few days.

Today felt more like summer in the Pacific NW. I was able to work more on content for a new website I'm creating with a coding-genius and friend, Anne Trent. Also practiced a bit more on Roman capitals.

Prehistoric Art

2009-07-08T22:35:30Z

An unusual place to find art keeps coming up for me: National Geographic.

1. Prehistoric Hand Prints
After analyzing handprints in prehistoric cave paintings, they've discovered that many of them are done by women. Indicating that many of the actual paintings are probably also done by women, which isn't what was commonly taught. The older theory being men coming down and painting hunting figures as part of a religious ritual.

2. North America's Oldest Art
A 13,000-year-old mammoth bone etched with a figure of a mammoth.

Good legacy from East/West Germany

2009-07-04T19:10:31Z

Someday, I'd like to do one of the very civilized walking tours of Europe where someone else schleps your stuff while you walk unencumbered between B&Bs for the night.

One intriguing tour would be the wildlife sanctuary and green belt left behind in the former divide between East and West Germany. It's a one of the few good legacies of the cold war detailed HERE in this Guardian article.

Heard by from Senator Patty Murray

2009-07-02T17:48:31Z

Some of you might recall that I wrote my federal reps/senators about the proposed banking regulations and Glass-Steagall Act.

To those naysayers who always say that their views don't matter and there's no point in participating in government, I'll point out that Senator Murray (or at least one of her staff) took the time to reply back to a degree that shows that my letter was personally paid attention to. It shows that if you do care about something, you should write/phone in to your elected officials because they do listen. Pointing out why you care, offering a solution, giving some details all help your cause.

While I don't believe one letter is going to change things immediately, at least not in most instances, having enough people write in about something will. Conversely, if no one writes in about an issue, if only the lobbyists are heard, then things will not be changed to your liking most of the time.

Here's Senator Murray's response:
Dear Ms. Shellyinseattle:

Thank you for contacting my office. I appreciate hearing from you regarding your views on reintroducing the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933. The views of Washingtonians are very important to my work in the U.S. Senate.

Please know that I will keep your thoughts in mind and encourage you to be in touch. Do not hesitate to contact me again to express your views on this or any other issue or if I may be of assistance.

I hope all is well in Kirkland.

Betrayed!!!

2009-06-29T21:56:52Z

So the little one is in swimming lessons for two weeks. They started rough with lots of crying and choking me and just screaming in my ear before she relaxed enough to have fun.

Mostly, the teacher has been building up the kids comfort level with the water. Building them up -- for betrayal! Just before class ended, all the moms geared up to do one quick dunk of the kids before they realized what they were in for.

All the faces afterwards were priceless. She did a bit of revenge on me, though. She held on so tight through the lesson that my hands started to go numb at times.

Eastside Seattle help needed

2009-06-29T01:13:26Z

If you know of a good engine/coolant/radiator repair place near Kikrland WA, please let us know what it is.

Thanks.

Saturday Night Date and MapMyHike

2009-06-22T22:02:31Z

Date Night
Saturday night, Wolf & I joyfully dropped Heidi off at a Kids Night Out while we went for a hike through blueberry fields and parts of the Bellevue greenbelt. It felt like we were in the countryside complete with a fresh produce stand at the end, which would have been even better if it had been open that late at night.

MapMyHike
MapMyHike worked well for figuring out good walks, though I couldn't get the map to print well. For locals, the U-pick blueberry patch is part of the Lake Hills Loop hike. Phantom Lake had some nice views from a couple of docks, and the water lillies were almost in bloom. There's also the Lake Hills Library along the route, which would have been nice to visit if it had been open.

Top Gun Seafood Restaurant
Afterwards, we were quite chilled from hiking after the sun was going down.

So hot pots at the Chinese restaurant Top Gun were fantastic to warm us up. Got to view King Crabs both lived and served up in splendor. Meal presentation was great whether it was ours or any other table. Ambience isn't bad, though not especially romantic. I think we were the only all-Western table in the restaurant at the time. They serve excellent dim sum during the day. It's located close to Paizo, if you're near there, and appropriate it was our Paizo friend P. is who introduced us to this great Chinese restaurant.

Factoria Mall
We had enough time before picking up the little one that we briefly stopped by the Factoria Mall so Wolf could show me exactly where the Children's Museum is. Both Wolf and my playgroup vouch for this museum, and I'll have to take Heidi there some time.

An entire section of the mall right around the museum has imploded. About 15 empty store spaces. Impressive in a very eerie way.

Almost all businesses that are still open have all moved to the other side, clearly to make that section feel more inhabited and to help keep their own traffic up.

Victorian Naughty Book

2009-06-18T00:08:04Z

One of the delights of going to Chicago was a visit to the Newberry Library and their extensive calligraphy/illumination collection. They're a free-use private library with quite a few restrictions designed to protect their books. One restriction is only allowing you three books at a time, with those brought to you directly by the librarians.

My books arrive!
My first three books arrived with a very cheerful look on the librarian's face. Actually, smiles lit both the librarians' faces since the need to carefully cradle the books is so great that two of them brought the books to me. "Enjoy!" the first librarian said as she laid the books down.

"Wow," I think, "they seem to really love their jobs. Or perhaps they just really like calligraphy."

I take a look at what they gave me. Each book comes with its own padded cradle to keep them from opening fully and damaging the spine. I ask if I need gloves on to handle these. Nope, they were printed material and as long as my hands were clean that was good enough. Mind you, some of the printed books I handled were printed in the 1500s. Others, while later, were full of hand painted illustrations over the block prints.

The Victorian Naughty book
The largest book has a beautiful red leather cover on it with no words. I open it up and find many illustrations of Jane Austen-styled women with a twist -- they were showing an ankle. Or even sometimes a calf. I glance through other pages of the book. While several of the headers were indeed written in the calligraphy style of the time (copperplate), it just wasn't that interesting.

Then I think, "Hmmm....was this really the right book?" I look back at my call numbers, look at the call number of the red book. Nope. The numbers are one off. The original books still beckons, so I resubmit for it.

The same head librarian returns. This time she came with a chagrined look while profusely apologizing as she hands over the one I really ordered. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I hope you weren't offended. It's just that so many people order the Victorian Naughty book, that I just assumed that was the one you wanted when I saw the call number." I assure her that I was somewhat amused.

When I told the story to Wolf that evening he mused, "Maybe it would be fun for me to check out the Newberry tomorrow. What was that call number again?"

Neil Gaiman/Dave McKean stamps

2009-06-16T08:18:39Z

The UK has issued some mythological creatures postage designed by Neil Giman and Dave McKean. Read more HERE.

The pixie on a snail stamp is my fav.

I'm going to bet these will be collectible in years to come.

Finally wrote about financial regulation

2009-06-15T16:08:33Z

Here's a copy of what I'm sending to my U.S. senators &reps today as well as President Obamam about the proposed financial regulations:

Dear XXX:

I am very disappointed that the proposed financial regulations will not reintroduce an updated version of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933.

I think the repeal of this act is a primary cause of the current financial mess, because it joined the higher risks of stocks, etc. to what should be a very safe, conservative path of regular banking, such as Canada kept.

No regulations will ever be enough.

Firstly, because the companies have an economic incentive to find ways around these new regulations. Furthermore, we will never be able to hire enough regulators within our government to look after all of them. (And having a revolving door between our government regulators and Wall Street doesn't help.)

Really, if the SEC couldn't get Madoff when the evidence was handed to them on a silver platter, they're not going to catch more exotic problems.

Secondly, because there will always be the possibility of rogue traders and divisions. These could be company-sactioned, such as AIG's obvious approval of their London Financial Products Group's risky moves. It seems that the high profits from this division were allowed by the corporate bosses despite the top executives not really understanding or worrying about the full risk.

Or, it could be a rogue trader such Nicholas Leeson who brought down Britian's Barings bank a few years ago.

The example of AIG and Barings alone should be enough to prove that now matter how many regulations out there, that problems will happen, and companies will go under because of them.

Thus, we absolutely need to decoupling the riskier investments from the banking institutions to reduce the risk to the overall system, so a bankruptcy like Lehman Brothers will not cause a heart attack.

So, reintroducing a modern version of the Glass-Steagall Act is one of the best ways to protect the U.S. from a future financial meltdown. I realize that there are many financial interests aligned against this and it may take some doing politically. But it is absolutely necessary for the long-run.

Sincerely,
Shelly

Sparing my wrists

2009-06-13T17:34:22Z

I took a more realistic assessment of all the things I need to do around the house, and decided not to start advertising for more calligraphy work. I've volunteered art for a Children's Hospital auction. (If you've got a worthy auction cause, you're welcome to ask me for an art donation, too.)

Of course, I'm amost lalways able to push these house things aside for anything that literally falls in my lap, as some wedding envelopes just did this week.

While the final envelope specs get sorted out, I'm saving my wrists for calligraphy work by not refinishing the playset we were given until afterwards. The deck is already refinished, so we're enjoying outdoor living in some really spectacularly early high-summer weather for the Seattle area. I feel just a bit guilty that I'm not using the sunshine on the playset while I have it, but a calligraphy job is more important.

spectacular meteorite hit

2009-06-12T06:29:52Z

Would you try to catch a ball of flame shooting towards you?

This boy did.

Good time to travel

2009-06-02T16:01:21Z

I'll concur with what you'll already know, that the recession is generating some great travel deals.

Planes
Our round-trip airfare to the Midwest for 3 cost the same as our rental car. Both planes were on-time though full. (AA going out, United coming back.) We did pay the checked baggage fee for two bags, but even with this premium we paid about $150 less per ticket than a couple of years ago. I think travelling late spring rather than full summer also helped.

B&B
While we stayed with kind relatives most of the time, we did get a fantastic deal at the County Clare B&B in downtown Milwaukee, WI. $80 for Sunday - Tuesday. Down from $139/night. It includes a big breakfast in the Irish pub downstairs, whirlpool bath, walkable location, and great service. Only mild disappointment was having the restaurant closed on Memorial Day for service (though the pub was open). We've stayed here before, and give it our full recommendation.

Rental car
By renting through our Costco membership, we were able to hold the cost down somewhat, though I still think rental cars are over priced. Did pay the premium to pick up /drop off from O'Hare, but that was worth it.

Didn't get the free upgrade from a subcompact that we often get in the high season. Instead, paid $90 extra to have the four-door necessariy when you're installing a car seat. We got the craptastic Kia Optima that gave both of us back aches because the seats were so bad. Can't believe anyone actually owns this car even at Kia prices.

Having Sirius radio tuned into "1st Wave" gave us a musical nostalgia trip back to the 80s which perfectly matched when we last lived in Illinois. Cruise control was also good on the miles of prairie and corn fields that make perfect prey for the state patrol if you zone out too much.

Back home

2009-06-02T15:39:40Z

After a two week tour of the Midwest to see family and friends, we're home.

It's always good to travel. And it's always good to travel long enough that you're thankful to be home in your own comfortable bed.

We caught the first big wave of summer weather on the trip, so lots of playtime outside. Now Seattle's decided to be in summer mode -- dry, warm, and sunny. Most outsiders don't realize we get a great summer out here after the rainy season ends.

Now that we're back, I went into a cleaning frenzy trying to get everything back to normal in one day like go through mounds of Kobold mail from the PO Box. Decided I needed to get the outside ready for playing, so cleaned off the winter gunk from our outside toys. Disappointingly found that our deck doesn't just need to be cleaned but also needs a fresh coat of stain after only two years. (Given that I had bought Consumer Reports' top recommendation, it's a bit frustrating.)

Sold

2009-05-24T13:34:13Z

My art in the Gift of Water show sold this week! I'm about o99.5% happy and .5% disappointed it won't be coming home.

It feels a bit odd knowing that I won't have to go pick it up when the show comes down.

Phishing Warning

2009-05-15T15:19:52Z

Someone got really clever in trying to pfish today by pretending to be my internet provider doing anti-spam updates so they NEEDED my email details. Took me a couple of seconds to see through it, because I hadn't had my morning tea yet.

The offer of anti-spam IS pretty clever. Fortunately, nothing else about the message looked like it came from an official source.

Went to the real security site for my provider and turned the jerk in. Hope he doesn't really catch anyone with this. Thought you all would like to be warned.